New Orleans Critical Mass

Megan and I partook in Critical Mass on Friday evening. It meets in front of St. Louis Cathedral on the last Friday of the month at 6:00 pm and gets rolling around 6:30 pm. It felt really good to ride up Carrollton with a gang of fellow bikers who could shield you from traffic if need be.

So, if you like to bike and want a safer New Orleans come out next Critical Mass! Can't you see it?? A skinnier city with less crime and bike lanes EVERYWHERE. It sounds like a Hotopia.

So True

Physical Therapy

Sandra Rae destroys.

Reach For The Stars!

So, I bought the Alan Moore documentary. It was $60. I have great, great ambitions.

TheGreenPartiers.jpg, originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

Also, I will be training to have a show at WTUL for the next couple of weeks. It will be from 4-6 on Thursday afternoons unless my schedule changes. That is 91.5 FM. I be bringing the fattest beats. I think I will post my setlists up here.

I have a love / hate relationship with College Radio. Mostly love though. I mean c'mon! That is Jella Biafra and Welsey Willis! Those two are what college is all about. And for some reason or another all of the new friends I have made since collge did college radio. Spooky.

OMG!

Much thanks to my brother for finding this. I have been searching for it since November 2006. Feast.

The Mindscape of Alan Moore

Style Icons

What I miss about Chicago most.

All the movies the Windy City gets to have. New Orleans doesn't get em' all. There Will Be Blood and Persepolis have not even come here yet. WTF? :(

Ahhh well. It is warm here. Suck on that Chicago.



I did get to see The Orphanage last night. I cried my brains out. Sure there are some plot holes - but it is a story about ghosts. They fill said holes with ecto-plasm and dread.

Happy New Year

Now that is what I call a good ol' fashioned Book Burning. I brought Harry Potter because it has Magic., originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

There is still time!

Christmas season isn't officially over. What do you get for the girl who has everything? Chigurh's air gun, doy! Or a Pit Bull that can swim really well.

Tuesday night

In case you wondering what I was up to or have been concerned about my well-being. All is well. And yes in order for Pug to sit on my lap I must put down a towel for fear of what might leak out of him.

Early Warning

Sparkly, originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

Endymion rolls in Mid City for the first time since before the storm, dudes. Saturday - February 2. Mardi Gras is on the 5th. If you can make it out and make it down.

Getting Well-er

DSC_0120.JPG, originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

Just wanted to make a quick post to tell everyone that my mom's surgery went very well. Lots of nail biting took place. My mom got a super sweet hospital suite by luck. The hospital is at capacity since the storm supposedly, so we had to wait several hours after her surgery to get a room. Long story short we had posh accomodations with a sleeper couch so Megan and I got to stay with her every night she was there. (Sleep over party and blood bag fight!)

The nurses and staff were great and we got to witness a Code Pink. I was walking up the stairs with celebatory cookies and a nurse popped out of the third floor door and asked, "Do you have a baby in there?" To which I responded, "You lost a baby."
As I made my way back to my mom's room I saw staff of all shapes and sizes squealing, "Oh shit! Code Pink!"

I think they found the baby later on.

Sandra Rae is recovering nicely though. She is throwing all of her troubles to the wind. Or to the ducks, respectively.

Katrina Kauses Kancer

So, tomorrow morning Pugsley goes in for the official removal of his balls. Say a prayer and shed a tear folks. Tis a sad day for all ball aficionados. He may or may not have Prostate Cancer. Three Vet fingers up a swollen Pug anus can only show so much. This will be revealed in the surgery I am sure.

On Wednesday my mother - my hero - goes in for a Bilateral Mastectomy.
Don't just say a prayer, but light a football field full of Novenas on
this one. Megan and I will be spending lots of time at the hospital
this week. We have great plans of graffiti-tagging a pro-life poster that is in front of the institution. Shhhh - don't tell anyone. (I am kidding.)

And I am well aware that there are three K's up there. That was just meant to be in poor taste. And kind of funny. And its true - Cancer rates have skyrocketed in the coastal region since Katrina. Stress = Cancer. Pugsley is stressed.

Pugsley, "Oh why am I cursed with such shiny black balls?!", originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

Youtube, will you marry me? I would make a great wife.

I Heart...Everything.

Did you see Alan Moore on The Simpsons with Art Spiegelman and Daniel Clowes? I met two of those people - but NOT Alan Moore. Le Sigh, someday.



Also, I saw Beowulf tonight so Mr. Gaiman gets an honorable mention.

Pssst... thanks everyone for the kind gifts, letters, words and phone calls. We really appreciate it down here. I heart you too.

Why My Sister is Awesome

She blooms bullets.

Balls.

So, I am in New Orleans rocking it hard with Sandra Rae. She is quite possibly stronger than Frank Miller's Batman in A Dark Knight.

In our daily coming and goings we often drive past the 17th street canal. You know the one:



Some awesome person has taken it upon themselves to build a huuuuuuuge mansion right where the levee broke. It is huge. But, not as huge as their balls. (Or ovaries respectively.) I love them.

Speaking of balls - imagine the Mona Lisa without her smile. Hurts, don't it?

Now imagine my Pug, Pugsley, without his big black balls. Hurts worst, right?

Pug Slurp, originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

After 14 years of life Mr. Pugsley may be facing his remaining years as a Castratto. (There are medical reasons for this.)

A shot in the dark.

Good Bye Chicago. You were an abusive boyfriend who loved me tenderly from time to time. I love the people I know there and miss them with all my heart.

It is against my religion to not like this movie.

Pretty dresses and shoes, dreamy cinematography set to Joy Division and Siouxsie Sioux, pastry eating, and pug snuggling.



It would go against everything I stand for to not love this movie. Sofia Coppola, you had me at "Lick the Star".

Ghost of Corporate Future (Past)

This song came on my shuffle as I made my way to my last day of work in Chicago. I thought it was appropriate.

Roommates of Past and Present Collide

enron shannon, originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

Erin is in town. She and I will snuggle soon. She got to meet my current roommate Lauren. Phoenetically their first and last names are very similar. I wonder what that means?

New Camera, Last Work Week, Soon - New Old Home

Art, originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

I finally got a Digital SLR. I was really scared to touch it. I brought it home as soon as I got it. I pet it and cooed, "My precious." That's how my roommate found me. Creepy. I think I will name my camera Ouroboros.

I spent all of Friday night trying to figure it out and taking pictures of my feet.

I also bore witness to Ms. Robin Mill's magical powers as she ran the Chicago Marathon with her dad. She also passed the Bar. Her next feat - beat up war. (I have used that line like three times already.)




Also, this is my last week of work. I will be packing up and hopefully spending time with YOU before I move to New Orleans. One of my oldest and dearest friends will be coming up to get me around November 2nd.



So get your Shannon time in before she devotes it entirely to Sandra Rae adventures. When I had a Myspace profile I listed her and Buffy as my heroes. Not much has changed.

And one final entertainment note - get thee to MCA. It is teh awesome. I especially liked the Slater Bradley installation and getting to see Thax Douglas walking through a rainbow room.

Things that I like. No, love.

buffy 5, originally uploaded by Gemini Ace.

Thanks to my roommate, I am re-watching a lot of old Buffy episodes. I used to think the first season was awkward and kind of hard to watch. Not so. It is awesome. I love Buffy so hard. I almost forgot how hard.

You want to know what I also love? You guessed it - the Tamales Man. I know its kind of sick, but the cheese tamales are so awesome with Beer or Shannon Tonics it makes me cry a little.

Full Nights at the Empty Bottle

Bat For Lashes, originally uploaded by Glastonbury on the BBC.

While all of the hipsters were geeking out to Dan Deacon, we saw Bat For Lashes with the Nerdsters. Their performance was like watching a History textbook come to life. In a really good – heart tingly kind of way.

Lewis and Clarke opened. They did a slow, creepy cover of Jackson C. Frank's "Carnival". I almost exploded.

It drizzled on our way home.

Crunked

Crunked, originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

This weekend was full of physicality, deep conversations, and copious amounts of alcohol consumption. To the max! I don't even remember taking that photo let alone putting on that headband. I just found this picture in my bag - hot.

I have two weeks to go in the corporate publishing world before I start moving my earthly goods to my sister's in Ann Arbor AND getting everything ready before I move down South.

I feel like Superman when he got infected by that plant from Krypton and he drove down to Louisiana and Swamp Thing saved him. I feel just like that.

In My Twinnies.

Get it? Ha ha, puns.

Song of the Open Road

Taking Off on the Open Road, originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

I have been thinking a lot about this man lately and this poem:

Song of the Open Road

1

AFOOT and light-hearted, I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune—I myself am good fortune;
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing, 5
Strong and content, I travel the open road.

The earth—that is sufficient;
I do not want the constellations any nearer;
I know they are very well where they are;
I know they suffice for those who belong to them. 10

(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens;
I carry them, men and women—I carry them with me wherever I go;
I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them;
I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return.)

2

You road I enter upon and look around! I believe you are not all that is here; 15
I believe that much unseen is also here.

Here the profound lesson of reception, neither preference or denial;
The black with his woolly head, the felon, the diseas’d, the illiterate person, are not denied;
The birth, the hasting after the physician, the beggar’s tramp, the drunkard’s stagger, the laughing party of mechanics,
The escaped youth, the rich person’s carriage, the fop, the eloping couple, 20
The early market-man, the hearse, the moving of furniture into the town, the return back from the town,
They pass—I also pass—anything passes—none can be interdicted;
None but are accepted—none but are dear to me.

3

You air that serves me with breath to speak!
You objects that call from diffusion my meanings, and give them shape! 25
You light that wraps me and all things in delicate equable showers!
You paths worn in the irregular hollows by the roadsides!
I think you are latent with unseen existences—you are so dear to me.

You flagg’d walks of the cities! you strong curbs at the edges!
You ferries! you planks and posts of wharves! you timber-lined sides! you distant ships! 30
You rows of houses! you window-pierc’d façades! you roofs!
You porches and entrances! you copings and iron guards!
You windows whose transparent shells might expose so much!
You doors and ascending steps! you arches!
You gray stones of interminable pavements! you trodden crossings! 35
From all that has been near you, I believe you have imparted to yourselves, and now would impart the same secretly to me;
From the living and the dead I think you have peopled your impassive surfaces, and the spirits thereof would be evident and amicable with me.

4

The earth expanding right hand and left hand,
The picture alive, every part in its best light,
The music falling in where it is wanted, and stopping where it is not wanted, 40
The cheerful voice of the public road—the gay fresh sentiment of the road.

O highway I travel! O public road! do you say to me, Do not leave me?
Do you say, Venture not? If you leave me, you are lost?
Do you say, I am already prepared—I am well-beaten and undenied—adhere to me?

O public road! I say back, I am not afraid to leave you—yet I love you; 45
You express me better than I can express myself;
You shall be more to me than my poem.

I think heroic deeds were all conceiv’d in the open air, and all great poems also;
I think I could stop here myself, and do miracles;
(My judgments, thoughts, I henceforth try by the open air, the road;) 50
I think whatever I shall meet on the road I shall like, and whoever beholds me shall like me;
I think whoever I see must be happy.

5

From this hour, freedom!
From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master, total and absolute, 55
Listening to others, and considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.

I inhale great draughts of space;
The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine. 60

I am larger, better than I thought;
I did not know I held so much goodness.

All seems beautiful to me;
I can repeat over to men and women, You have done such good to me, I would do the same to you.

I will recruit for myself and you as I go; 65
I will scatter myself among men and women as I go;
I will toss the new gladness and roughness among them;
Whoever denies me, it shall not trouble me;
Whoever accepts me, he or she shall be blessed, and shall bless me.

6

Now if a thousand perfect men were to appear, it would not amaze me; 70
Now if a thousand beautiful forms of women appear’d, it would not astonish me.

Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons,
It is to grow in the open air, and to eat and sleep with the earth.

Here a great personal deed has room;
A great deed seizes upon the hearts of the whole race of men, 75
Its effusion of strength and will overwhelms law, and mocks all authority and all argument against it.

Here is the test of wisdom;
Wisdom is not finally tested in schools;
Wisdom cannot be pass’d from one having it, to another not having it;
Wisdom is of the Soul, is not susceptible of proof, is its own proof, 80
Applies to all stages and objects and qualities, and is content,
Is the certainty of the reality and immortality of things, and the excellence of things;
Something there is in the float of the sight of things that provokes it out of the Soul.

Now I reëxamine philosophies and religions,
They may prove well in lecture-rooms, yet not prove at all under the spacious clouds, and along the landscape and flowing currents. 85

Here is realization;
Here is a man tallied—he realizes here what he has in him;
The past, the future, majesty, love—if they are vacant of you, you are vacant of them.

Only the kernel of every object nourishes;
Where is he who tears off the husks for you and me? 90
Where is he that undoes stratagems and envelopes for you and me?

Here is adhesiveness—it is not previously fashion’d—it is apropos;
Do you know what it is, as you pass, to be loved by strangers?
Do you know the talk of those turning eye-balls?

7

Here is the efflux of the Soul; 95
The efflux of the Soul comes from within, through embower’d gates, ever provoking questions:
These yearnings, why are they? These thoughts in the darkness, why are they?
Why are there men and women that while they are nigh me, the sun-light expands my blood?
Why, when they leave me, do my pennants of joy sink flat and lank?
Why are there trees I never walk under, but large and melodious thoughts descend upon me? 100
(I think they hang there winter and summer on those trees, and always drop fruit as I pass;)
What is it I interchange so suddenly with strangers?
What with some driver, as I ride on the seat by his side?
What with some fisherman, drawing his seine by the shore, as I walk by, and pause?
What gives me to be free to a woman’s or man’s good-will? What gives them to be free to mine? 105

8

The efflux of the Soul is happiness—here is happiness;
I think it pervades the open air, waiting at all times;
Now it flows unto us—we are rightly charged.

Here rises the fluid and attaching character;
The fluid and attaching character is the freshness and sweetness of man and woman; 110
(The herbs of the morning sprout no fresher and sweeter every day out of the roots of themselves, than it sprouts fresh and sweet continually out of itself.)

Toward the fluid and attaching character exudes the sweat of the love of young and old;
From it falls distill’d the charm that mocks beauty and attainments;
Toward it heaves the shuddering longing ache of contact.

9

Allons! whoever you are, come travel with me! 115
Traveling with me, you find what never tires.

The earth never tires;
The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first—Nature is rude and incomprehensible at first;
Be not discouraged—keep on—there are divine things, well envelop’d;
I swear to you there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell. 120

Allons! we must not stop here!
However sweet these laid-up stores—however convenient this dwelling, we cannot remain here;
However shelter’d this port, and however calm these waters, we must not anchor here;
However welcome the hospitality that surrounds us, we are permitted to receive it but a little while.

10

Allons! the inducements shall be greater; 125
We will sail pathless and wild seas;
We will go where winds blow, waves dash, and the Yankee clipper speeds by under full sail.

Allons! with power, liberty, the earth, the elements!
Health, defiance, gayety, self-esteem, curiosity;
Allons! from all formules! 130
From your formules, O bat-eyed and materialistic priests!

The stale cadaver blocks up the passage—the burial waits no longer.

Allons! yet take warning!
He traveling with me needs the best blood, thews, endurance;
None may come to the trial, till he or she bring courage and health. 135

Come not here if you have already spent the best of yourself;
Only those may come, who come in sweet and determin’d bodies;
No diseas’d person—no rum-drinker or venereal taint is permitted here.

I and mine do not convince by arguments, similes, rhymes;
We convince by our presence. 140

11

Listen! I will be honest with you;
I do not offer the old smooth prizes, but offer rough new prizes;
These are the days that must happen to you:

You shall not heap up what is call’d riches,
You shall scatter with lavish hand all that you earn or achieve, 145
You but arrive at the city to which you were destin’d—you hardly settle yourself to satisfaction, before you are call’d by an irresistible call to depart,
You shall be treated to the ironical smiles and mockings of those who remain behind you;
What beckonings of love you receive, you shall only answer with passionate kisses of parting,
You shall not allow the hold of those who spread their reach’d hands toward you.

12

Allons! after the GREAT COMPANIONS! and to belong to them! 150
They too are on the road! they are the swift and majestic men; they are the greatest women.
Over that which hinder’d them—over that which retarded—passing impediments large or small,
Committers of crimes, committers of many beautiful virtues,
Enjoyers of calms of seas, and storms of seas,
Sailors of many a ship, walkers of many a mile of land, 155
Habitués of many distant countries, habitués of far-distant dwellings,
Trusters of men and women, observers of cities, solitary toilers,
Pausers and contemplators of tufts, blossoms, shells of the shore,
Dancers at wedding-dances, kissers of brides, tender helpers of children, bearers of children,
Soldiers of revolts, standers by gaping graves, lowerers down of coffins, 160
Journeyers over consecutive seasons, over the years—the curious years, each emerging from that which preceded it,
Journeyers as with companions, namely, their own diverse phases,
Forth-steppers from the latent unrealized baby-days,
Journeyers gayly with their own youth—Journeyers with their bearded and well-grain’d manhood,
Journeyers with their womanhood, ample, unsurpass’d, content, 165
Journeyers with their own sublime old age of manhood or womanhood,
Old age, calm, expanded, broad with the haughty breadth of the universe,
Old age, flowing free with the delicious near-by freedom of death.

13

Allons! to that which is endless, as it was beginningless,
To undergo much, tramps of days, rests of nights, 170
To merge all in the travel they tend to, and the days and nights they tend to,
Again to merge them in the start of superior journeys;
To see nothing anywhere but what you may reach it and pass it,
To conceive no time, however distant, but what you may reach it and pass it,
To look up or down no road but it stretches and waits for you—however long, but it stretches and waits for you; 175
To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;
To take the best of the farmer’s farm and the rich man’s elegant villa, and the chaste blessings of the well-married couple, and the fruits of orchards and flowers of gardens,
To take to your use out of the compact cities as you pass through,
To carry buildings and streets with you afterward wherever you go, 180
To gather the minds of men out of their brains as you encounter them—to gather the love out of their hearts,
To take your lovers on the road with you, for all that you leave them behind you,
To know the universe itself as a road—as many roads—as roads for traveling souls.

14

The Soul travels;
The body does not travel as much as the soul; 185
The body has just as great a work as the soul, and parts away at last for the journeys of the soul.

All parts away for the progress of souls;
All religion, all solid things, arts, governments,—all that was or is apparent upon this globe or any globe, falls into niches and corners before the procession of Souls along the grand roads of the universe.

Of the progress of the souls of men and women along the grand roads of the universe, all other progress is the needed emblem and sustenance.

Forever alive, forever forward, 190
Stately, solemn, sad, withdrawn, baffled, mad, turbulent, feeble, dissatisfied,
Desperate, proud, fond, sick, accepted by men, rejected by men,
They go! they go! I know that they go, but I know not where they go;
But I know that they go toward the best—toward something great.

15

Allons! whoever you are! come forth! 195
You must not stay sleeping and dallying there in the house, though you built it, or though it has been built for you.

Allons! out of the dark confinement!
It is useless to protest—I know all, and expose it.

Behold, through you as bad as the rest,
Through the laughter, dancing, dining, supping, of people, 200
Inside of dresses and ornaments, inside of those wash’d and trimm’d faces,
Behold a secret silent loathing and despair.

No husband, no wife, no friend, trusted to hear the confession;
Another self, a duplicate of every one, skulking and hiding it goes,
Formless and wordless through the streets of the cities, polite and bland in the parlors, 205
In the cars of rail-roads, in steamboats, in the public assembly,
Home to the houses of men and women, at the table, in the bed-room, everywhere,
Smartly attired, countenance smiling, form upright, death under the breast-bones, hell under the skull-bones,
Under the broadcloth and gloves, under the ribbons and artificial flowers,
Keeping fair with the customs, speaking not a syllable of itself, 210
Speaking of anything else, but never of itself.

16

Allons! through struggles and wars!
The goal that was named cannot be countermanded.

Have the past struggles succeeded?
What has succeeded? yourself? your nation? nature? 215
Now understand me well—It is provided in the essence of things, that from any fruition of success, no matter what, shall come forth something to make a greater struggle necessary.

My call is the call of battle—I nourish active rebellion;
He going with me must go well arm’d;
He going with me goes often with spare diet, poverty, angry enemies, desertions.

17

Allons! the road is before us! 220
It is safe—I have tried it—my own feet have tried it well.

Allons! be not detain’d!
Let the paper remain on the desk unwritten, and the book on the shelf unopen’d!
Let the tools remain in the workshop! let the money remain unearn’d!
Let the school stand! mind not the cry of the teacher! 225
Let the preacher preach in his pulpit! let the lawyer plead in the court, and the judge expound the law.

Mon enfant! I give you my hand!
I give you my love, more precious than money,
I give you myself, before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself? will you come travel with me? 230
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?

Read Megan's Blog - she has great things to say about the Jenna 6 and Vitter. Stop being stupid Louisiana, or I will come down there and make you stop.

Run Away! Run Away!

I am full of vitriol and anger lately. To get rid of said aggression I usually just go out and beat up a hobo. Or I find a person smaller than me – so basically children – to smack around.

No, that would be crazy. And illegal.

I have been running!

And I will be running in Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Race. You can DONATE HERE.

This is why.

Twinventures

Twinventures, originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

Need to start doing this again.

Soon?

Work Flowers

Picture 114, originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

They feel like brains.

A me flower - I bloom pictures.

Me!, originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

Sooo, I take a lot of pictures. And then I fell onto my camera while hiking with Megan, Erin, and Robin in Turkey Run, Indiana. Rather than going out and buying a whole new point and shoot, I got my PowerShot SD550 fixed. Rest assured, however, I will be buying a brand new camera in the not to distant future.

More specifically a Digital SLR Nikon D80. Droooooooooooooool.

You will now be able to see my mercilessly documented life in high def. Hopefully.

More news coming...

People try to put us d-down (talkin bout my generation)

I was introduced to this gem thanks to my lovely co-worker. My mom watched it and later asked, "So, do you drink a lot of PBR?"

Priceless.

And thanks again Wikipedia:

"Etymologically, the words "hep" and “hip” derived from the African Wolof tribe’s word “hipi” meaning; “to see”.[1] The word was used in many African communities of the Diaspora since their time of transplantation from their original locale."

So, really I just see.

In other news I got an early Birthday card entitled, "A message from Sheikh Osama Bin Laden to the American people."

"You permitted Bush to complete his first term, and stranger still, chose him for a second term, which gave him a clear mandate from you... to continue to murder our people in Iraq and Afghanistan".

It is hard to not agree with that point. And I understand the purpose of the tape is really just to show he is still alive.

But, its like putting Jeffrey Dahmer in a Milk add. I mean yeah Milk IS good for your bones and everything, but now I can't stop thinking of Dahmer eating fat ladies with a milk mustache when I want Milk.

24 More Years!

Apocolypse, originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

From Me: (all e-mailed to friends)

Hello Folks,

I have aged. Or will officially age on the 11th. Never forget.
This is my first birthday without my twin tower. Come help me celebrate my 24th year of life and my first year of solitude - the only way I know how to celebrate = with pizza, beer, and ping pong.

Happy Village
1059 N. Wolcott Ave.
773-486-1512
8:00 pm
Tuesday - September 11,2007 (a school night!)

Grab your pizza of choice before you get there. I am getting mine from Pizza Metro. (This is because it is delicious.)
There is also a Tamale man that stops by the bar. So, there are options. I am looking out for you here.

It is supposed to be in the 60's that night, so come enjoy the last bit of patio season with your friend and mine - me.
If all goes according to plan I should be drunk by 8:15.

Call if you have questions. And bring friends. So I feel popular.

From Megan:

It's time to choose sides, people. You know that scenic Ann Arbor with its Huron River, one hipster bar and your more favorite twin is the better option. Forget this hobag.

From Me:

Yeah and when you choose that side remember what side you are choosing - one full of non-shaven legs, the stink of patchouli oil, and massive amounts of String Cheese Incident. At least all of us city dwelling, bike riding, PBR drinking hipsters are saving the world fashionably. While wearing deodorant. My twin is a dumb dyke! Happy Birthday Megan!!!

From Mike: (He wishes he was our twin. Then maybe our parents would love him more.)
Fuck that noise. Come to New Orleans and get the best of both worlds.
Don't believe that there are only two options available to you.
There is a third (and fourth and fifth and so on)! And even though I
don't know twice as many as half of you in this reply, you can bring
me presents for my upcoming birthday. Boycott the twins!

This is perfect!

And just in time for Critical Mass tomorrow. Almost Happy Friday!

Ehhnnnn

It blooms awesome. Seeing it on the big screen, just has a different effect.

The Dark Knight, originally uploaded by eddie..

"Some men aren't looking for anything logical. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."

Ha ha ha!

We were babies!

Shanina!

shannonjanaina, originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

A little history lesson. Janina V. and I first met when we were fifteen years old. We were on a Study Abroad program in Australia. I was placed in Melbourne and she in Adelaide. On an official USAC safarri we traveled by bus and tent through the great continent of Australia with other kids in the program who were stationed in Tasmania as well. (That would be my twin's group including the great Robin and Jake-a-rooni.) Janina and I bonded over Tim-Tams and cried in the outback about the pains of adolescence as Dreamtime settled all around us. She and I only knew each other for two and a half weeks.

We kept in touch through the years via e-mail, letters and phone calls. She knew my deep dark secrets and I knew hers. We were a distant, objective ear.

Fast forward to 2004 and I am on another Study Abroad program in the Czech Republic. I took a side trip to Rotterdam, Holland to see Janaina. We had not seen each other since Australia. Much to our delight we got along better than well. We bonded over the pains of post-adolescence and Dutch cookies as our Mushroom induced dreaming settled all around us.

Janina is in America. So far we have seen Jeff Wall prints, had romantic strolls through the park, ridden our bikes drunkenly through the city, seen a petting zoo of rats with Robin at Happy Village, set up a video rental for both of us, fought trolls with umbrellas, disgusted and surprised each other with how sick we both are, ran through the rain and subsequently danced in our underwear to Kate Bush (ok it was just me - I like what God gave me- sue me), and we have eatten a lot of cupcakes.

And we are also heart-breakingly photogenic.

Yay for seeing the world!

Inspiration

Like a breath of fresh air.

Dear Life,

Thanks for being insane.

Love,
Shannon

Megan Flower

B (log) Vitamins

I apologize for my lack of Blogging lately. A lot has been going on. I just moved to a new hood and I am having Rogers Park withdrawals. Just joking. It takes me 15 minutes to get to work by bike now and I pass what I (my nose) think is a Bread Factory and a pool (my eyes).


Suffice to say - lots of changes are happening and are about to happen. Thank God for all of my awesome friends and brother who have been helping my sister and I move /cope with shiznit.


Also, you should check out Megan's Blog to get some perspective: Red Beans and Lice. Watch Kota howl and hear from Megan's mouth how awesome I am. And my mom. Sandra Rae is awesome. Just think about THAT.

Mom and Meg at American Can Company, originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

And it wouldn't be a Shannon Post without an entertainment recommendation:




I saw Sunshine with Mike, Funzi and Megan this weekend. It was (Mike you will like this) AMAZING.

A Long Blog for a Long Day

Westernmost Puerto Rican flag on Division St (May 2003)., originally uploaded by YoChicago1.

This week has been super busy. I meant to write a really detailed account of my magical weekend from last week, but had to make a quick trip to New Orleans for family matters.

I will give a few suggestions for those who live in Chicago. Firstly, go to Public Pools and parks. The Chicago Park District is a thing of beauty. You will be greeted by tons of little kids who want to swim with you and comment on your boy choices. LaToya thinks Megan's dude is "ugly". And the water is ice, ice cold.

Second suggestion - Go to the Puerto Rican festival in Humboldt Park. It is way tastier than St. Patrick's Day. Get the stick full of meat and a Pina Colada in a Pineapple.

And third, next time Dax Riggs comes to town - go. You know that really tense video of David Bowie and Mick Jagger dancing and singing with each other? Well, when they were done shooting they went down to the swamps of Louisiana and made love. They had a baby and his name is Dax Riggs.



The show reminded me that sometimes the best part of meeting people are the cds and books they leave behind on your nightstand.

Happy Birthday Red Beans and Lice!

Here's a close up of the beautiful "Ice sculpture birthday cake", originally uploaded by kjdrill.

Megan's Blog is a year old today. To celebrate we are going to put our pictures in the LOL Cat generator and go see Knocked Up and photog it all. Generation Y is better than your generation.

PS - This man wants to start his own blog - because he has "things to say".

Interwub - be ready.

The Moviegoer

Sandra Rae, mi madre, has been recommending a lot of movies recently. And Virgin, Megastore is closing. So, this got me thinking about movies I would like to buy. A lot of them are from last year. Good show, movie world. Good show.

Thinking about this made me want to list my Top Ten movies from last year. You should watch them.

The Fountain



The Science of Sleep



The Departed



Down in the Valley




The Prestige




Pan's Labyrinth




Children of Men



Brick





Half Nelson





Little Miss Sunshine





Honorable Mention - The Descent







PS - I like posting pictures on my blog.