not that the past few were without merit– yesterday when i finally left the house me and baby bear went and got some technical pizzas ($2 smalls on tuesday), then walked around elm park looking at the new public sculpture installation, all of which is pretty great, and boy are we kicking ourselves for each talking ourselves out of it when the email arrived. boo us! my favorite piece was the small garden of enormous, striated buttplugs. also good was the three burned wooden obelisks crawling with all color of tiny insect, and the far-away listening tube for spying on park bench mashers and playground bullies. en route we saw jon “the prince of worcester” shirley, and all together we set up our own sculpture in the park, which was an artificial christmas tree we found on the sidewalk in a box. jon was on his way to look for the huge turtle that lives in the pond, and then he did look for it, and then he found it, and it was great– maybe three feet from nose to tail, with a head as big as a flatiron. we also saw several turtles of a more manageable size, and ducks, and a heron, and those fish that eat your spit when you spit in the water (you know, stupid fish). drove in with nik and jose lynn to providence, for that show at the stairwell, which was fun but as implied above, i was pretty out of it. eli keszler played solo drum set with bells and bowed cymbals, totally awesome and inspiring, as it was the last time. the other bands were on tour together, and it was a good tite jazz band called “other people do the killing”, and then that same band but with a singer, which was called “puttin’ on the ritz”. it helped that it was a beautiful night outside with fresh salad on a sidewalk table, but this second act really cleared the room, and even i eventually left– not offensive or actionable, just one joke that isn’t funny anymore over and over again, the joke being “inept lounge singer”. pretty miserable really, but the band, i thought, was great. i played not great, messing up a lot and to some degree “just getting it over with”, but there were times i forgot who and where i was and what i was doing and why, and how i got there, and that made it all worthwhile. again, super out of it, feeling better now.

playing a show tomorrow (tuesday) in providence, at the stairwell gallery at i know not precisely when and with i know not exactly who. but i know this: theh bands are friends of natalja (of the good good) and one or more are jazz-cabaret-y and feature drums matched with singing. and there is me.

this weekend was the big anniversary party at collective a go go, 14 years old now. it was fun with dinner and dancing and lots of the character-rich faces of old friends. GT (of Phone Book fame) was in town and the next day i hitched my wagon to his train and we puttered around all day, walking to ML’s in the miserable sun, drinking fountain sodas, and telling fine stories. worcester’s most ballinest player 2007.

the intern at the office where i now live (i know, right?) is just over from finland, but is actually from south dakota.

billy blue: what were you doing in finland?
jason (the intern): i have a finnish wife.
me: huh! i also have a finnish wife– everytime i get started, she’s already finnish.

points removed for not having said “husband”, as jumping the gun (as it were) is more commonly associated with the less-fair sex. so much so that in this form this joke actually doesn’t make sense. well, we do, doodley do, doodley do, doodley do, what we must, muddily must, muddily must, muddily must; muddily do, muddily do, muddily do, muddily do, until we bust, bodily bust, bodily bust, bodily bust.

today’s post on the HBML blog has turned into a reader-submitted list of candy crust bands, i only point this out because it’s super funny and you RSSivoir dogs might not get the comments.

been eating a lot of purple and blue foods (got blueberries to eat with my asparagus, plus cabbage rice and ginger tofu as a standard lunch until i eat all the cabbage / the cabbage goes bad). i keep thinking of what CK1 said to her little sis, taking home ec at the time, who told her that rice left out more than 20 minutes enters “the danger zone”: “melissa, everything i eat is from the danger zone”. also while i’m quoting our lady of stackitude, homegirl called to wish happy solstice and we discussed being recent aunts/uncles: “when i’m holding this baby, it’s the only time my brain isn’t singing la bamba”. GOD BLESS

i just realized i never finished serializing this, so for you internet-only readers, here’s white vinegar #1. next issue “soon” (if).

so, i have the digicam with me all the time now and i’m snappin’ lots. i don’t want to get a flickr account because it costs money every year, and the money goes to snitches. i don’t want to post every picture here, because that would overwhelm everything else (right?), so i sstarted a low-key photo blog, which maybe i’ll try and integrate into a sidebar here or something. catch the rss if you feel. prettyalright.com. billy, picture from the barbeque are here. uh, sure seems like i’m trying to make everything about my hair right now…

• 1.25 cups flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• .5 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1.25 cups water

this is the recipe i always use, which i got from the new farm cookbook. this is really the best recipe. and this post is for me, at other places, looking for this recipe. one trick to fluffy pancakes is don’t overmix– leave some chunks. OK!