Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Summertime

Today I am tired in that happy sort of way. In the way that lets you know you're moving forward, that you're living your life.

On Saturday night we went to the Union for some 80's dancing. It started off strong - Laura was in town for the weekend, and Luke was spinning. Sitting at the bar, waiting for the dining room to clear out, Luke, Ayla and I chatted and had a drink. Then we helped him carry in records from his car, which made us feel important. When the music started, an old dude asked me to dance, and in the midst of me turning him down, his bottom teeth nearly fell out of his mouth. Yep, they just popped up. So yeah, I mean OLD. And a little creepy, too. Once the dancing started, we were unstoppable. It was hard to even go outside for a break, because the next song would come on and it would just be so good! The AC was broken, so just when you thought you were going to have a heart attack, and had to go outside for some air, you would realize that it was still 80 degrees and 100% humidity out there, and you were shit out of luck. But being hot and sweaty has it's charms. One, it's kind of a badge of honor- a little 'look how hard I've been dancing and how much fun I'm having' kind of thing. And two, it's the perfect prelude to 2 AM skinny dipping.

The river was cold, but in a good way. It was foggy and dark and we were in a perfect little swimming hole just floating in the dark water. After a while when the chill got to us, we sat on the edge of the water and ate sun chips. Laura, always a plethora of knowledge, told us about how "no seeums" have little scissor like mouths that scissor into your skin to draw blood, which is why they hurt so much. Damn those things! Kim asked "if you could be any animal, what would you be". Max -platypus, Me- Otter, Laura - coyote or wolf, Steven - "I'd beat up a cow". Somehow this response didn't seem strange coming from Steven, so we all just laughed and kept talking, until a moment later when he blurted out "I'd kill a giraffe, I'd break it's neck". That's when we realized that he thought Kim had said "if you could beat any animal, what would you beat". Ha Ha.

Monday was so scorching hot that JD and I moved around the house in slow motion trying to conserve energy. Thumbles laid stretched out on the floor, hating life. We watched movies when it felt too hot to read, and went back to reading when the couch started melting onto us. Eventually, when the temp. in our bedroom read 88 degrees, we got the hell out of there and just went into town.

We got to Misery early and one by one more people showed up. Eventually it was a pretty big crowd. It was so muggy out that it smelled like the ocean. Jesse gave us crazy deals on our drinks, and most everyone got more than a little tipsy. Kim and I discovered that it can be really fun to slap each other in the face - kind of exhilarating.




Okay, so the photos look WAY more violent than it was...We love each other, really!

I'm hoping to go to the fairgrounds tonight for another round of photos... ghost cowboys and underground tunnels. Awesome.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

A few little bits

Tonight I will dance. Just thinking about it makes me happy. Even if the music isn't that great (which I'm sure it will be, Luke). Even if there aren't very many people. Regardless of how little or how much I've had to drink. I will dance.

These last few weeks have been a strange combination of busy and slow for me. On the one hand I had the time to obsessively watch the first season of Joan of Arcadia (who knew this show was so good - really, I thought it sounded pretty terrible, but I actually kind of loved it). Plus read two books (You shall know our velocity by Dave Eggars and Mr.Vertigo by Paul Auster) Yet, I also printed some work for a restaurant who I did photos for, shot some new photos of the Fairgrounds, had drinks with friends, was miserable at Miserable Monday and spent a day editing JD's new acting reel.

Lately, I've been listening to NPR and realizing that I am just letting it wash over me - totally incapable of absorbing it all. When I actually stop for a minute and listen, I am just so horrified by everything. I can't give it my full attention, or it's just overwhelming. Yet, I feel responsible to listen, so I leave it on.

I'm working on a photography project of the Great Barrington Fairgrounds that I'm really excited about. I put one of the new images up on dusklight if you want a little taste. Next up - Ghost cowboys. Yea, you heard me.

Also in the works... a collaboration with the great Max of the North Country. Photos and words inspired by little american lives. And by little, I mean miniature.