welcome summer

i went out tonite to meet some friends and that monthly dance party known as The Bang was going on in the club upstairs from the bar we were in. This bang had a pirate theme. So I pull up to this bar and theres a schload of drunk, badly costumed pirates outside and on the street. And man, people were lookin. It was quite a scene. And then I realized I had left my camera at home. So all I have to show for my evening is this stupid hand stamp,























and an outfit that now smells like smoke (i also wish that pictures could transmit smells as well as images).

this was my earlier outfit. a skirt i got from H&M. its rare that things from H&M really fit well, but this one does.






















evelyn already made fun of me for this outfit, but kelly wanted to see it, so there you are. i love it. first days of new clothes are always the best. pocket detail.













and last nite i had barbecue with bobby and kira.













their cats were super into it.





























it was a beautiful night. we went for a long walk and kira talked to me about believing that everything happens for a reason.

































it is almost hot today. 84 degrees. a michigan heatwave.
its all about eating salads and drinkin cold drinks.












its been a slow week. ive been feelin out of it. i am stoked to go to madison soon. and im stoked about this puppet show im doing on the 10th. check back for an EXCELLENT show promo.

i didnt know it was dance night in the pacific.
check it out - within a day of each other, over 6.2 magnitude earthquakes in Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Indonesia. big international conference goin on seismic. wonder if thats it? i am again reminded about how small i am living on a big moving, changing organism.

have you seen my backyard? we live right on west park.













today was so beautiful that we decided to go take a walk.













also today i got all my immunizatios for traveling.
































without insurance, the fees were;
$110 to walk in the door
$100 to see the immunization doctor
$110 for four immunizations
$12 for a dose of antibiotics "just in case"

total cost = $340.00

i also went onto the lonely planet website (as i like to look at how we describe ourselves). i found the following info:
"Languages - English (official) - American English encompasses a multitude of regional accents of differing degrees of intelligibility."

"Health Overview - Because of the high level of hygiene in the US, infectious diseases will not be a significant concern for most travellers. The high cost of medical care could leave you feeling a little poorly though."

so i went to see the art school confidential movie the other night. the movie was fine - but the trailer for the al gore environmental movie beforehand, now THAT was a funny piece of cinema. its like a goddamn jerry bruckheimer film. my friend charles and i almost snarfed our food tryin to be cool. click the link below to watch the trailer at apple.
an inconvenient truth trailer

today we took down the digital kami installations.














i feel like i have reached some sort of benchmark.

i almost forgot.
please go here:
then click the link to watch the short film about dogs called "Birds". With sound please.

a lot of people have been out of town lately.













but a lot of people are still around.





















ive been working on this and that, but i dont feel like im making huge headway. maybe on this one project
(on which, as they say, "the jam is on"),














but otherwise something doesn't feel right.
its like im strugglin against something, but i cant see what. like im trying to put my coat on backwards. in the middle of the street. in summer.













what is it thats tripping me up? what is it i need to be working through? why does it feel like i just cant sit still?













maybe i dont need to be working through anything. maybe i just need to work and everything will be fine.
then why dont i just do that?

google image search time.
so things got a little slow today. a lot of things running in my head, but nothing really going on outside of that.
how can i translate in my head to here for you? google image search will help. lets try.
thinking of :
sharks












travel












food









dogs












spring fling






















communication






















michael jackson
























dtroit














things that start with the letter A

did anyone see this show?











me either. heard they are a good time. go elbow room.
my friend kathy took me instead to a show at a local comedy club. she wanted me to meet someone.













we didnt stay long, but ended up walking around awhile instead.

then this morning we went to the famer's market, but it was really rainy. so we came home, made grilled cheese and watched old movies by german filmmakers.

hmm.

isnt this interesting.
i got this from my friend kat's website - a link to a page where you can make your own ticked off countries of the world map. check it out. it also gves you the percentage of the world's countries you've been to. mine is below, with 16% of the world visited.



create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands.


also, speaking of internationality, the wikipedia entry about angelina jolie is fascinating. check it out here. especially the part about how her adoption agent was sentenced for visa fraud and money laundering and is under investigation for falsifying adoption papers and baby smuggling.
viva la glocal everyone!

been busy again. busy doin nothin, ha!
i have time for awhile to hang out, see friends.













this is a picture of ann arbor from the broadway bridge.
doesnt it look like a model? theres no people to be seen.













oh ann arbor. i love you in the summer, when you're empty and i can do things like ride my bike in the street or not worry when my double vhs tape rental wont fit into the drop box. because no one else will be coming by anytime soon anyway, so ill just take my sweet time.

































ill enjoy it now, as things may be different in the near future...

this evening there was a party to say goodbye for a friend from indonesia. i will see him in a few months, and we had fun, but it was a little sad too.
another student made him and his wife a book of photos from all the things they did while they were here. they loved it, and he said that his father (who is also a puppeteer, like he is, in Java) will love to see pictures of his work and life here.














sometimes it feels like he is going really far away, but its all relative i suppose.

why am i obsessed with airplanes and traveling lately? and why am i thinking a lot about identity and moving around a lot? I'm an american, we have all the land we could ever need and we dont go anywhere, except in our cars.














Who am I to talk to anyone about identity, feeling like Im floating around, lately always in the undefined and unknown, both in physical space and in my head?
and this thing about our memories and experiences, aren't they all colored by time and our selective memories, the focus and clarity of it all blurring up as we go on?










would we really want to remember it as it was?