before we go

so this weekend is my 10-year high school reunion at Helena High School, so Emily & I are headed back to Montana, which should be fun--it's been a couple years since we've been there . . . aside from the person putting the reunion together & my sister Marisa (who's putting us up while we're in town), I was afraid I'd only see some acquaintances there, but I found that someone--Anne-Marie--I was good friends with will be there, so that rocks! and I found out that downtown helena is a wifi zone, so I may bring the iBook & maybe even post some stuff here while we're there . . .

anyway, I've been trying to soak up a little Lawrence before we go (I know it's only a 4-day trip, but still . . .):
so, Tuesday (after spending most of the day working on Aristotle & my Greek (I was working! I swear), we met Aaron at the Jackpot Saloon . . . what a swinging bar--though, actually, that night the dj cancelled, so the bartender just played the 1st season of the bbc show The Office, which is terrific . . . and $1.50 beers!

& yesterday, in the beautiful 25 degree weather (I'm trying to go metric; who knows why--it was like 80), I walked to beautiful downtown lawrence, ogled the british edition of the harry potter books at Brits (though I was listening to either fugazi or william shatner (it's pretty good, so whatever--Ben Folds produced it) & so flubbed my interactions with the guy at the counter); then ran into local quasi-famous author Laura Moriarty; then spent like an hour at love garden, where I heard some cool new stuff by Prefuse 73 w/the Books and Architecture in Helsinki . . . but all I got was the new Sufjan Stevens, which Emily really wanted--it seems pretty good; pitchfork seemed to like it, for whatever that's worth

and then, resisting the temptation to shop anymore, I went to the library & picked up the original movie version of The Bad News Bears, starring Walter Matthau, which we enjoyed immensely (we watched it after a quick game of folf and a trip through the Bucky's drive-in . . . so tasty, so affordable . . .)

and who knows? I may even have to hit the farmers' market today, to try to get a few chili peppers before we leave . . .

okay, back to work!
(& thanks for your patience while I experiment with trying to make every other word in this a link . . .)
pictures from the reunion soon!

it gets worse

I know I probably shouldn't waste the time it takes to put a new post up about this, especially since Emily & Diana (if them) may be the only ones who'll ever see it, but I just went out to get the New York Times (a great paper if ever there was one), and I saw this in our gazebo:

now, I know the gazebo itself is no great piece of architecture--it's falling apart, needs new paint, has moss and lichen growing on it--no seriously, look:


. . . but do we really need this nasty patio furniture? at least now the homeless people who frequent it will have comfy seating for six . . . (two weeks ago, a gentleman spent the whole day in there--except for a couple hours, when he was napping on our doorstep . . .)

& the worst part? they've chosen to chain a couple of chairs up & lock them, so they don't get stolen, I guess . . . but which chair did they make sure to chain, leaving most free? yep, the one with the nasty stain on the seat:


anyway, I don't like it one bit

but I really should get back to work--more Aristotle, if things go as planned, and maybe some AREIOS POTHR, that is, the 1st Harry Potter book as translated into ancient greek (just to keep my skills sharp . . .)
& all the while, I'll listen to the best radio station around, which I've added to my links list, kjhk

I'm a bad neighbor

I've never been very good at being neighborly . . . I rarely accepted beer from the guys who are now moving out from nextdoor (moving out because they graduated, of course--I'm not so awful I'd drive people away . . .)
and I know that it's really the wrong foot to be on, criticizing our new neighbor before she's even moved in, but here's what someone dropped off yesterday:


I mean, who could help being a bit, um, hesitant about such an item . . .

not that our more-dirt-than-grass, more oil-stain-than-cement back yard/parking spot is so classy, but come on . . .

as though all I do is watch tv . . .

so here's the look on my face that a) I'd like to have on my profile and b) trying to figure out what to do with this blog now that it's here causes (though the picture may actually be quite a few months old, as a certain clue indicates from the background) . . .

anyway, the temptation to put something potentially embarassing here is consistently difficult to resist . . . (see previous); so maybe I'll just say this: yes I did watch star trek (next generation) while I ate lunch (pb&j, carrots, water), though I also was reading the Times & learning about "vlogs", like rocketboom.com, where a sort of cute looking girl seems to deliver something like news (though I had to be very careful to avoid the episode with the harry potter spoiler (Emily's still reading the new one, and I'm only now finishing re-reading the 5th one, so it'll be a few days before that 'vlog' is really safe)) . . . I also looked into some of the stranger podcasts on iTunes, though none I'd feel confident recommending, though someone named violet blue does seem to have some, um, interesting things to say . . . and then it was back to Michael Loux's book "Primary Ousia," on Aristotle's metaphysics, about which maybe someday I'll have slogged through enough other research to write some sort of paper . . .

but it was really Diana who encouraged another post here, so a brief photo montage seems in order:
(& my aplogies to all involved that I only seem to have cell-phone pictures at hand . . .)


ah, the sepia-toned memories of the party at Kucinich-guy's house . . .


Janet & Diana, at what may have been our last meal together at Zen Zero, back in '04 . . .


I know I shouldn't post this, but look at that posture--way to go, Janet & Diana


what can I say about this excellent ring?

some favorite pictures

in, I guess, sort of a reverse chronological order (or maybe no order at all?), here are a few photos from our computer:


Merrica with my mom, at Merrica's graduation


Me with Merrica, at her graduation


Mimi an hour & a half before the KU-MU game in Lawrence, 2 February 2004


Mimi in Kansas City on July 4th


a fountain that Mimi liked at the WWI memorial in KC


Mimi & Todd listening to Split Lip Rayfield at the Wakarusa festival last month


Dave & Braxton Iwanski, myself, and Emily in Sedona, AZ


the wedding photo of Maria & Paul Kalucki, my great-grandparents


Alissa, Ken, Braxton, Magen, Yancy, and Mimi at the Pantry in Santa Fe


Braxton and Emily, w/purple ball background


Braxton & Yancy in Santa Fe


at the Arcade Fire show at the Jackpot Saloon in Lawrence


Fran & Dave on the water


some sausage at the Salt Lick outside of Austin, TX


from the Iwanski's, fog on Lake Agnes

a few days in Georgia

so we went to GA for a reunion of the Campbell family (Emily's mom's family, that is), and we saw a waterfall, ate lots of German food (for some reason the town, Helen, GA, (or "Alpine Helen") is some sort of German theme-town (?)), and hung out with more than a few small children . . . and despite all that it was pretty fun!


nice shot (Mimi took it) of a tree growing on a rock . . .

Magen, Mimi, and Braxton at Anna Ruby Falls

Magen & Braxton at the Falls

Dave Hughes tubing on the Chattahoochee River

Aliya Larkin in her room at the Helendorf Inn

Me, Mimi, and Braxie (as his aunt calls him) at the Falls

here's the sign over our hotel sink, just to give a sense of the sort of place we were at . . .

and here's what's clearly the best photo from the whole weekend