orange peel update

i got a sincere, thoughtful response from Dana, manager at the orange peel, after my bitching about the recent invasive bag search i encountered there at the ozomatli show:

Hi Heather,

I'm sorry to hear that you had an uncomfortable experience with our door staff at the Ozomatli show. I actually took the night off to attend the show and, you're right, it was great. We really try to encourage the staff to be considerate of both the customer's experience at a show and the security of the club. It is not an easy job and sometimes, in efforts to protect the club, a staff member can go overboard. We have reminded all of the staff that the thoroughness of pat downs/searches, unless otherwise dictated by the band's management, do not need to be quite so extreme and we think we have come up with a policy that is clear and noninvasive.
... I appreciate you emailing us as we are always trying to improve and constructive criticism is always welcome.

Sincerely,
Dana Redfield
The Orange Peel, Manager

i am happy with this response and plan to go back in the next couple months, and will bring my bag like i normally do and report back on the depth of search.

henry at the bank

henry at the bank, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

the people at the bank love my little brother henry. they give him treats so he loves them, too.

look homeward angel

look homeward angel, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

taking a trip to the northeast. hooray public transportation! hooray for no snow! hooray for blueberry muffins! hooray for furry brothers!

silent letters be gone

to make spelling match pronunciation, i think it should be changed to wensday instead of Wednesday and febuary instead of February.

the best of friends

brothers, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

like a band of gypsies we go down the highway

Please do not mix olives. and wings.

do not mix olives and wings, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

it's been a few months since i changed my brita water filter and there are carbon bits floating around the inside, so i went to ingles to get some more.

i checked the hardware aisle.

no filters.

i checked the bottled water aisle.

no filters.

i checked the baking aisle.

no filters.

i checked the jewish food aisle where i swear i'd bought them before.

no filters.

fine, you win, i'll ask a manager stocking shelves. i knew he was a manager from his white button down shirt and tie. he told me they no longer stock water filters.

he said there wasn't enough room for water filters anymore after the last 'reset.'

this store is huge. tens of thousands of square feet. it has a full pharmacy inside the store. it has a full deli inside the store. it has a freestanding starbucks inside the store. it has a full movie rental store inside the store.

they must've had to make room for this disgusting salad wing and olive bar and could no longer spare 1 square foot of shelf space for brita filters.

LAME.

APPALACHIA sung to the tune of LOCHLOOSA written by JJ Grey

this girl is 11 years old. 11 YEARS OLD! are you fucking kidding me?


http://www.almirafawn.com/

happy spring

from your neighborhood rodent

hellos and goodbyes

badminton yoga, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

it's now been 2 years since nacho, holden and i moved to asheville from sun diego. i had high expectations and they've been exceeded. it's a most accepting, creative place, aesthetically pleasing, with plenty of opportunity for recreation, full of relatively aware unfake people. i love living here.

yesterday was a goodbye party for friends who are moving to tennessee.
in the words of billy joel:
so many faces in and out of my life,
some will last, some will just be now and then.
life is a series of hellos and goodbyes,
i'm afraid it's time for goodbye again.

facedown on the sidewalk

facedown on sidewalk, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

it looked like a white rectangle, but was really the world's cutest baby picture

ozomatli + chali 2na

ozomatli + chali 2na, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

i went to the orange peel last night and the show was great.

we got there about 10 minutes before the band went on and the place was already pretty full. i showed my ticket to the guy at the door. i showed my license to the guy on the stool inside the door. then a girl behind him about my age said she had to look in my bag. it was sideways across my body so i started to open it up to show her the insides. she said no take it off and put it on the table. so i did. she asked if i needed to go put anything back in the car, any drugs or alcohol. i said no. she proceeded to open, unzip and unvelcro every pocket, took out my wallet, opened it, opened the change purse inside my wallet, pulled out my chapstick, tampons, keys, physically handled every single thing in the bag. i felt completely violated, especially since she asked if there was anything in there and i said no. i have been to many festivals and rock and jamband shows at big arenas with tight security and have never been searched so invasively as at the orange peel last night. it left a rancid impression and in this recession where i'm already cutting way back on shows i see, to avoid further hassle, privacy violations, and excessive searches, i will not be back to the orange peel unless it's a dire emergency (ie tea leaf green is playing).

heart

heart, originally uploaded by skippy haha.

you can chop down the tree but can't break its heart