i like turtles

the OG...

interview with Bill O'Reilly...

play him off keyboard cat version...

and if you don't know about play him off keyboard cat...then you have been mostly under a rock...play him off keyboard cat

help polyvinyl and help yourself to some of their music...

donate using kickstarter and get wonderful kick backs, such as copious amounts of cds...


or help polyvinyl release one of their classic albums that was never pressed to vinyl:


fun and creative ways to use the internet, WOOOO?

buki new videos

buki talking about how awesome she is...

clearly she thinks very highly of herself...

and buki having an "emo" day...

in case you didn't know, "emo" is the fourth most dangerous word parents need to be concerned about.

buki is a very complicated feline.

happy inauguration eve!

i'm old enough to know that no presidency in the last 20+ years has brought about this amount of excitement and joy. i am awkwardly more hopeful and happy about this than i care to admit, knowing that politics are never a clean business, and there seems to be corruption everywhere. i am generally a skeptic, but tomorrow seems like an opportunity for so much. as i write all this, i am trying to temper all of my hopes and ideals, with a "let's see what happens" attitude, instead of speculating. needless to say i will be glued to the television tomorrow.

2009 the re-cap

So much has happened these last few weeks, we thought it appropriate to begin the year with a re-cap of all things panda-y and holiday-ish. First off jess and I both got new tattoos at our favorite tattoo shop. Jess went to our place to get a tattoo with her father. Jess got a piece of cherry pie(her father’s favorite) with a dad banner. And jess’ dad got a touch up on an old rose tattoo he had, with jess’ name above it. And a week later I got an amazing panda tattoo, below are pics of jess’ and I’s tats:






We were very fortunate to have great holidays this year. We had a good time with jess’ folks while they visited over thanksgiving. And we had a great time running around on xmas day seeing everyone(even if i did have to work part of that day). we had a great new years eve eating thai food with sean and irene. Jess’ and I present exchange couldn’t have been better, with both of us getting fun and surprising presents that we both adored, below is a composite:

ryno got:
dinosaur jr : whatever's cool with me 7"
modest mouse : good news for people who like..
mountain goats : sweden
nirvana : in utero(clear yellow)
sea and cake : oui
smashing pumpkins : machina | the machines of god
sonic youth : goo lp(first pressing)
pedro the lion : whole ep 10"
sonic youth stocking cap!!!!

gesso got:
himalayan sea salt
saves the day - through being cool
braid - rainsnowmatch 7" original pressing
kung-fu panda dvd
beetlejuice dvd
and lots of cute oven mitts... and a cupcake apron!!!!
money with which she bought an ipod touch which she is adoring so much right now

here's some pictures of us crazy cats:


not to mention dad/bonnie/santa got us tons of fun things from ten thousand villages, and other thoughtful fun things. And jess’ parents got us pjs. And of course our families/santa gave us money for records and or culinary fun things.

Another amazing recent development that I mentioned in my last blog, was that we got our new coffee table. I urge anyone to take the time when they visit us to check out this lovely piece of artisanal carpentry mastery. Here are some pictures, but no justice will be served unless you see this in person:





yesterday we went to Chicago. We met up with ben and his lady friend jenny and had a wonderful time. we met up with them at the chicago diner, and enjoyed brunch. we then went to reckless records (of course), rag stock, urban outfitters, and a few other stores. we finished the night at mac's, where all four of us enjoyed their fish and chips. and we all loved it! next time though, we are going to smoke daddy! we had a great time with ben and jenny, it was a shame the night ended so soon, but we look forward to seeing them this summer, and whenever they visit these parts!

so after all of that bloggery, we are so thankful we have each other and family and friends to share our lives with. we are so thankful and happy that 2009 is starting off so well. this year for us, will bring tight budgets, a fun summer train ride to california, a possible 2010 wedding date, and our kitties will be turning two!

happy 2009!

well jess and i are relaxing after a simple yet fun new years eve. we went out to eat with irene and sean at one of our favorite thai restaurants last night, which was a blast. and we rang in the new year with records and kitties and champagne corks flying.

sean presented us with a new coffee table that he made us. we commissioned sean to make this table quite a while ago, but now that we have it, it was well worth the wait. it is perfectly designed to sit two lap tops side by side. and it has a drawer that can house both of our lap tops. needless to say we couldn't be happier. the cats have also been enjoying a new piece of furniture to crawl all over.

jess and i had a great christmas. we drove all over the place delivering home made cookies to family members which was fun. jess and i exchanged presents, and we both are happier than panda bears stranded on a bamboo island. jess got me countless records that i wanted and i got her numerous things she desired.

so it's been a crazy week and a half. i've been working tons, and am looking forward to having the next few days off. tomorrow we are going to chicago to meet up with ben and his g/f. much fun will be had.

baby it's cold outside...

why bother with a blanket of a sweater, when you can use the snuggie? i guess i need to add one more thing to my christmas list.

buy here! act now and get a second one for free(+7.95 per snuggie) plus you get a free book light. whoa!

today...

today i dropped off jess at school for her last finals of the semester and went to my brother and sister in-laws to do some intense cleaning(for a small nominal fee, if interested please contact, hehe...). i cleaned for 6 and a half hours. goodness it was exhausting. but my brother and sister in-law's anniversary is today, so it was worth it.

in two days it will be jess' birthday. she is very excited about her school being over, i think the prospect of presents may have evaded her since she is so relieved right now. but we are excited to have a long weekend together and not have much of any responsibility. we will be going to swordfish for her birthday dinner. we are more than excited about this.

soon it will be a new year filled with things not known. i cannot wait. i also cannot believe how fast this year has went. the first year of jess and i living together. it's been wonderful. more to come.

puzzles and patches

back from our vacation, i felt it necessary to tell why we love gelena, il so much. from what i can tell, most people consider gelena a place for yuppies and middle age folks, and people with families that just need to get away. well i am here to tell you why we like it, and what makes it so special.

two years ago jess and i were looking for a place to get away to. we were not looking for a location, we were looking for a structure, a place, a thing that could house us for a couple days and we could be ourselves. all we wanted was a room with a jacuzzi tub, and a reasonable price. we searched online for hours and we either found extremely over priced hotel suites, or we found super sleazy places. but eventually we found hawk valley retreat.

you may follow the link to find the specifics of what makes it amazing, and i will tell you what makes it amazing for jess and i.

this was our third stay. so if you go some where three times, there must be something that draws you. for jess and i the first thing that drew us there was that hawk valley offers four cottages. each equipped with a kitchenette, a king size bed, heated floors and a jacuzzi. each cottage is set apart from the other and is nestled on a hill in the valley of galena(actually about 10 minutes from the town). aside from the accommodations of the cottage, we have found the personality of hawk valley is what makes it remarkable. the owners, jane and fritz, make this place a home away from home. each morning when you make your way to the main house for breakfast, you are greeted by jane and patches(her 15 year old fluffy female cat), as she takes your coat, you encounter the wondrous smells of a delicious homemade breakfast. during our stay we had german apple pancakes, baked pancakes with fresh strawberries, fresh made pecan sticky buns and many other treats. as we chatted with other guests, we took in the warmth of hawk valley. as you enjoy the meal each nicety and decoration that adorns the main house warms you, jane's ever attentiveness as she refills your beverages without a word, or patches bathing in the morning sun. each morning starts this way when you stay at hawk valley.

we make a habit of going to the local antique shops in wisconsin, iowa and illinios. jess found many pyrex finds, and i was able to get to a record shop in dubuque, iowa. what has always helped us so much is jane's knowledge of the local cities and surrounding area. not to mention the local restaurants in gelena. two(111 main and perry street brasserie)of which made our stay extra amazing.

when we say we are going to gelena, perhaps we should say we are going to hawk valley. because that's where we are going. because if hawk valley was in deluth, minnesota i would be going to deluth, not galena. and if hawk valley was in ottumwa, iowa, we would be going to ottumwa not galena. and what makes any place stand out, is it's warmth and personality. the second time we stayed in hawk valley we noticed a for sale sign out front. we were worried. we were panicked. so as soon as we got a chance, we warned jane, that she cannot sell, because where would we go? she said, someone would buy with the plans of keeping the retreat open. but it would not be the same. i told her this. i remind her of this. in fact when we i talked to her this week i said i was sorry that they were not able to sell, but i was very thankful. and she joked, that it was my fault. but i told her that she and her husband are what makes hawk valley so amazing. she laughed it off, not in contempt, but with humility. and to simply state why hawk valley is so great, let me end with this:

every morning after we had breakfast, jess would join patches on the chair and enjoy the moring sun and i would work on a puzzle. after the third morning, jess remarked to me, "when do you take the time to work on puzzles of sit still for that long?" and she noted how she never takes the time to relax and sit with our own cats for so long. jess and i need a place to give ourselves permission to do nothing, we need to get away from whatever stress and busyness is going on. it helps us so. we need it. so to me, puzzles and patches, however simple they may be, epitomize a perfect vacation.

birthday re-cap...

yesterday my birthday happened(as jess' picture post below eludes to), and it was wonderful.

allow me to break-down the day:

6am: got dressed in my birthday dino-bear-suit(DUH!). wake up jess to open up my birthday presents. my birthday presents had accumulated over the last couple weeks and been placed under our stand up lamp. it had been referred to over the last week as the birthdaylamp. here is what i opened:

tristeza : dream signals in full circles
sunny day real estate : pink lp
early day miners - Deep Harbors one-sided 12"
early day miners - Jefferson at Rest LP
joan of arc/bundini brown split LP
onelinedrawing - The Volunteers LP
bright eyes vinyl box set
nick drake box set w/ skin too few documentry
the album leaf - In an Off White Room 10"
elliott smith : pretty ugly before 7"
cool beans zine #4 w/ 7"(mountain goats, three day stubble and biscuit)
hayden : in field & town
rachel's : music for egon schiele
and
david bazan : alone at the microphone dvd
(very very very happy with my presents!)

7:30am: jess and i walk to our favorite diner. got a delicious breakfast, and received a bowl of birthday-fruit for my day from our favorite waitress.

9am: walked jess to work. came home and cataloged my birthday presents. cleaned the apartment. listened to records, watched david bazan dvd.

3pm: pick up jess from school. we go get our eyebrows threaded. then we go to baker square to get my free piece of pie(if you were unaware, baker square gives you a free piece of pie on yr birthday!)

7pm: we meet ryan 2 and his wife abby, and irene at walter payton's roundhouse for a birthday meal. good meal, great company.

i also got numerous phone calls and emails from family and friends which was very nice(especially the one from brayden!). thanks so much to everyone.

Campaign/Barack Obama Art

one clear community that flourished throughout these campaign months is the art world. it has been so fun to see the works of designers and artists making creative and crafty things in the name of politicking, strong beliefs and sarcasm. as jess posted recently, 30 reasons posted a different piece of art that was designed by someone that wanted to convey the message of why someone ought to vote. here are a couple of my favorites from 30 reasons:


and here are a couple more than i found that i enjoy:


(the donuts and bacon is from here, and the OMG is from here.)

there are far more out there, probably far better ones, but those are the ones that have caught me eye.

and here are some flags i painted a year or so ago:

happy halloween from electric dream machine!

Day Man!

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

simply the best show...

i believe i would dress up like charlie or dennis if i had the proper materials.

so great.

happy halloween eve!

so tomorrow will be halloween. a day that means very little to me now that i am older. it has been since my freshmen year of college since i went trick or treating(13 years ago, wow). last year i dressed up as jack white of the white stripes. i believe it was a decent costume, but then again i don't think any one that i ran into that day know who i was(which is a factor when you choose your costume, to make sure that the people you will be in the company of know what you are dressing up as). tomorrow i will dress up like a mechanic and jess will dress up like a '50s pin-up gal. she will look smashing and i will look dirty. as usual.

everything is going swimmingly with my new job. i think i am getting the hang of everything, getting to know new clients and new co-workers, learning new processes. i feel like i have so much to learn still, and find myself feeling anxiety occasionally, but by and large i am a lot more comfortable that i was when i began. the commute of two miles is wonderful, especially when i work the 12pm to 10pm shifts. knowing that i am a five minute drive away from parking the car and crawling under the covers with my pandagirl and kitties. my schedule is a lot different, which by and large is great also. working ten hour days isn't too bad, especially when the trade off is 4 day weekends every other week.

tonight i am listening to stars of the lid. their sounds would best be described as ambient and minimalist, and slightly discordant. their music, is sweeping, and epic. it washes over you, and cleans and irks you. it makes you think of the times where you could only here your own internal dialogue and perhaps the sound of distant winds or water pouring so fast from a faucet that it makes a whining noise. it paints a soundscape with a haunting pull, not quite as dark as godspeed you black emperor, but perhaps with a bit more elusiveness and mystery. tonight i am listening to their 2001 release 'the tired sounds of..." and it seems perfect for this night, and the deluge of change and newness that it is appropriate.

goodnight.

long overdue ramblings...

so i finally got my lap-top back last week, and i have been gleefully updating and frustrating over my computer. i basically had to start from nothing. but was fortunate enough to have nearly everything backed up. and when i say everything, i mean tons of music(70+ gigs worth) all my pics and scans[except my most recent ones, so i need to re-scan some polaroids:(], all my word docs and even microsoft word. i also had to download my driver for my printer, and update all this junk. basically my computer is now fully functional and works better than it ever has.

so what has been going on you ask? mostly i have been adjusting to a new job. which means a new schedule. which means new people. which means a hell of a lot. as far as work goes, it is a matter of feeling comfortable, getting your own pace, and learning new processes. those are the typical stresses i have been going through. so although annoying and a bit stressful, also normal. my bike ride has obviously been shorter, which means my commute overall is great. i feel as if i work as much at my last job(time wise) becuz i spend far less time en route(even though my new daily shifts are 10 hrs not 8hrs), so in the end i spend about the same amount of time at work than my last job, just one less day. all in all i would say i have traded up, especially when you consider how much gas i am saving.

jess has been doing superb on watch watchers, and i am so proud of her. she really helps me, because i am doubly conscious of what i am putting in my body and doing with my body. so i have been working on being more consistent with running, even more now that i don't get tons of biking in. and as soon as my work routine sets in(i have trainings off and on throughout the month), i think it will be easier for me to take care of me.

as jess mentioned below, i was able to stop at reckless records a few days ago. it was nice, to shop and buy some records that i have been looking forward to. i won't list them all, because i would get carpel tunnel, but here are some stand outs.

deerhoof : offend maggie[oh my goodness! beautiful pop, great drumming, pretty silly vocals] this is my introduction to this band, and they have been around for years, so i have been sleeping on this one, and need to play catch up, BIG TIME] highly-bear-recommended!

jandek : ready for the house[beautiful folk, dark haunting vocals, sparse arrangements, jandek has released over 50 albums in his 30 year recording career. this is a repressing of his first album. so great. not many of his albums available on vinyl, but this is wonderful. this is great for anyone that enjoys nick drake, jurado, and anyone who appreciate rock/folk music history. and most of all anyone who enjoys timeless music/art. not to mention jandek himself, is a bit of an enigma, being mostly a recluse and not touring much in his prolific 30 year career, and self releasing all his albums. an amazing artist] bear-recommended!

son, ambulance : euphmystic[son, ambulance released this album in 2001, at the height of saddle creek's success and when every teenager wanted to boo hoo to bright eyes. this album may be one of saddle creek's most overlooked albums, if not bands. the mainstay of son, ambulance is joe knapp, who has played drums for bright eyes, and is a brilliant pianist/song writer. each song has pop and rock sensibilities in the likeness of the beach boys, but with a wispy darkness. every song feels familiar, even if it is your first time hearing it. the stories he sings, and the diverse vocal harmonies are pretty and intriguing. just plain beautiful. and for those who are interested, connor oberst has a nice vocal cameo in the last track of the album, which is done very well. so to those who like great piano-layered-folk/pop-rock, check this out.] highly-bear-recommended!

this weekend i have off from work, so that will be lovely. jess and i will probably do lots of bike/running, and relax. we need it, and we freakin' deserve it!

oh, one more bit of great news. amie(my sister-in-law) is going to be having another boy(a brother for brayden), so we are very happy for her. and look forward to being wonderful uncle-rynos and aunt-gessos to him!

polaroid saturday

i am still without my computer, which means i am yet again posting a polaroid from my polaroid blog. i hope that next week i will be getting my computer back, and to step it up.

also, goodness i think i would have rather watched ufc than those GD debates.

i wish i could put mccain in a rear naked choke right now.

the last week...

this is my last week of work at my current job. next week i will be starting a new one, that involves a better fit in that it requires a degree, it has a better schedule(10 hour work days, so every other weekend will be a four day weekend), pays a bit more and is much closer(my 32 mile bike ride will soon be 4 miles).

it has been bitter sweet for me, especially as i think about what today may bring. today i will be letting the clients i work with know that this is my last week. as i think about how i am going to say everything, and maybe specifically to a few folks, i get a bit overwhelmed. in the end i know that these clients i have worked with have seen people come and go, and i am certain that they will persevere(what kind of ego would i have to think my leaving would be any worse or different), and i believe the feelings will be a bit mutual. i will miss seeing these clients make progress and learn. i will miss teaching the classes i have taught for over a year now. and i am sure i will be missed.

so what do i do with all this? i am unsure at this point. to be here, in the now, inspires me to just take what comes my way. to know that i can do my best this week to remind each individual of their worth and remind them of the tools they have to continue their recovery. to remind them that they have inspired me. and perhaps to tell them that it wasn't so long ago that i was where they were.

in spite of all this, i know this is the right move for me. i know that this is what needs to happen. i am aware of how important it is to close this chapter in my life and begin something different. and that has made all of this a bit easier. but today and the rest of this week will not be easy.

[pardon the vague terms i have used, considering the nature of my job(mental health professional) i prefer to not go into as little detail as possible. for obvious reasons]

medium

i have an obvious fascination with my preferred audio medium. and a couple of months ago i was able to purchase a couple white whales:
[starflyer 59's s/t gold lp and mxpx's teenage politics lp.]
while the phrase "white whale" is used lightly(i mean it isn't as if i had to kill anything or track down these things with a harpoon), i have wanted these albums for quite a while, and was shocked when i was able to get them. great art, and a beautiful medium.

i also was able to complete my damien jurado vinyl collection:

damien jurado
[left to right/top to bottom]

lps:
waters ave s.
where shall you take me?
and now that i'm in your shadow
i break chairs
on my way to absence
four songs[one sided lp w/ b side etching]
the fabulous century

7's:
halo friendly
motorbike
trampoline
vary[clear blue]
big let down
devil in the woods #52 v/a hand #'d 652/666
damien jurado/dolorean split


next week 'caught in the trees' comes out...so i will need to get that, but for now it is complete.

and finally buki is using her scratching post:

blogging out from warrenville!

so this weekend jess and i house/dog sat. it was good, and really relaxing. we mostly laid around, grilled out tons, and watched tons of cable, and drank some too. but really that is all we could ask for. this was jess' first weekend since starting school, and i have been needing a break from work. ideally we prefer a quiet weekend, so when we can do so, we go for it. today may have been our only day of really running around(aside from friday, where we had to drop off jess' laptop at the apple store). today we went to breakfast at the warrenville pancake house, one of our fave diners. and then drove back home. after we settled and put all of our stuff back(one nice thing about house/dog sitting, is that we get our laundry done!), i rode my bike back to my mom's to finish watching the house/dog. since jess has school and work tomorrow, it would have been a very busy morning if i had to drive her back to aurora before i went to work(in wheaton). so this way, i can just ride my bike to work, and then ride it back home after work.

here's some random things...last week we sent out a package of vegan goodies to someone in france, well he already got them, and we are going to be getting some french vegan goodies soon! also, i got a new shirt and some new deadformat stickers last week: my sister in-law amie is getting her blog on nowadays and recently posted about brayden having a great time at a carnival! check it, he looks so adorable! also, you'll see i added kevin's blog to our list of friends, and he recently posted a good pic of his work(read: my new tattoos, DUH!) this weekend i was lucky enough to touch base with my buddy ben, which i play mean phone tag with. in fact, all my friends that live more than a stone throws away, know i am really bad about keeping in touch now that i have a really weak phone plan(300anytime mins, and only free weekends). so it was nice to hear from ben!

so tonight, jess and i will be reminiscing of the days when we were separated by hundreds of miles and only getting to see each other for days at a time, while we talk on the phone and watch intervention, thankful that we are merely a 40min bike ride apart. life is wonderful.

republican for thirty minutes

so today my mother gave jess and i two free tickets to go to a rib fest for local republicans. oh my goodness jess and i couldn't have been more out of place, but when you are on a tight budget and free food is your best friend, then look out red states here we come!

i had two and a half slabs of ribs and three huge cups of beer(budweiser, ewww...), and jess had a smattering of everything they had to offer. and the highlight of the day was when jim oberweis offered us some ice cream!!! i have mentioned oberweis in one of my early blogs, when he lost a recent election. anyway, free ice cream from the man himself.

ok...back to reality.

we love free food, we are the exact opposite of republicans, but this was such a fun time, to just eat our food, people watch, and be thankful we know better than to vote for mccain!

thanks mom!

bike-apaloza

last monday i finally got a new bike. my old bike was old and not well engineered for long travels. so we decided that it was high time that i got a new bike. although the picture does not do the bike justice. it's a specialized
globe sport. i have cut my biking travels by about 15mins, which is great(my trip is now about 1hr 5mins). i also got a helmet and some riding gloves. especially since my most recent blog about the lady that we witnessed get hit by a car, it made it pretty clear to me that i need to be safe when i am biking as far as i am.

last night we had a great night. we enjoyed our first night with cable tv. we felt remarkably normal and strange. although jess has been extremely annoyed at my following of the olympics and cubs, we have been enjoying our freedom of changing stations and not dvds. also buki has a problem worse than chicken, she is now a full-blown beer box-aholic

we also decided last week that we are going back to our favorite vacation spot. here is a polaroid from a past visit to hawk valley:


so psyched for november!!!!