meow

these things aren’t a drag
by juan ryan gallagher
 
these things are good: ice cream and cake, a ride on a harley, seeing monkeys in the trees, the rain on my tongue, and the sun shining on my face. these things are a drag: dust in my hair, holes in my shoes, no money in my pocket, and the sun shining on my face. - rocky dennis
 
the end of summer usually fucks me up a little. i start getting seasonal affective disorder (SADS) on labor day. i assume this probably happens to most other beach bums and adult children. i was in a mental hole on monday driving back from stowe in the rain. it took a few good hours of depression and self pity to recognize that i was being a bitch. the sky is not falling. i have it pretty good. there are still plenty of good times to be had in the not so distant future. fall is not so bad and summer will come back again. i told myself, if summer were year round, it wouldn’t be nearly as special. i also told myself to appreciate the things that bring me joy, especially the little ones. here’s a list of five of those things from the past few days. btw that rocky dennis quotation is my favorite poem of all time. 
 
taking care of business with charles grodin and james belushi. i used to like this movie a lot when i was eleven. part of me always wanted the beethoven and K9 franchises to merge (think jason/freddy or alien vs. predator) for an installment, just so we could get these two assclowns to reunite. i watched another cool movie yesterday called games with james caan and katherine ross. it’s very hitchcockian and suspenseful. it’s from the 60’s, and i usually don’t like flicks from that decade. they often seem dusty and too reserved for my liking.

dashiell hammet’s the thin man, even though i left the book out in the rain for a day and had to use a blow dryer to have the words be legible again. 
 

here’s a link to the two songs neutral milk hotel just officially released for the first time: http://bit.ly/re80qz. i’ve listened to the first one, oh sister, about fifty times in the past day. it’s definitely on par with the best of songs jeff mangum ever wrote. the only problem is that it’s quite reminiscent of two headed boy part one. i don’t really care. hot cut. i’ve never been a huge nirvana fan, but i remember thinking their song you know you’re right was pretty fantastical for a posthumous song. i was thinking today about how oh sister is probably as good, if not better, than that one. 
 

researching the lynx. i’m working on a children’s book about this vermont lynx who goes around doing unwarranted random acts of kindness in an attempt to find enlightenment. the lynx is a cool creature. there are two types found in vermont, the eastern bobcat and the canadian lynx. my original idea for the story was to have it be a retelling of the movie roadhouse, where this lynx has to go and tame these other badass lynx at one of their F shacks. you know what an F shack is, right?
 

orange italian ice made by marinos, i think there are these feminists that carve vaginas in them sometimes. i wouldn’t be that juvenile. wink. i promise this is not a desperate attempt to be off color.
 
what are some things that you’ve been enjoying?