i wish god were alive to see this

Goodbye To All That.

So long 2006. I feel like I hardly knew ye. Like all geeks, I spend some time at the end of the year mentally compiling a 'best of' list. Now, with 2007 only a few hours away, there is nothing left but to post it.

I loved-
No Age.
Soiled Mattress and The Springs.
The Sads.
Bone Awl.
Wooden Shjips.
Pissed Jeans.

My mind got blown by the Youth Attack label. Everything Mark puts out is presented in increasingly lovely packaging, and the music is bleak and miserable.

The Barr 7" on PPM.

The double, 72 minute opus 'Hidden World' by Toronto's Fucked Up. Same goes for thier singles, cassettes, and various ephemera.

Ghostface 'Fishscale'.
Black Lips 'Let It Bloom'.
The non fiction of Joan Didion.
ANP Quarterly for massive quarterly inspiration.
The rough cut I saw of the Beautiful Losers documentary for the same.
'Unknown Passage', the Dead Moon story.
The NYC Natural History Museum.
'It's All Good', the new photography book by Boogie.
My new black globe.
Filson shirts.

I'm sure there is more. Mostly though, really really, the number one spot goes to Betsy Adams, my girlfriend, for being an inspiration ever day.

Happy New Year.

Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy.

The next time you find yourself on Bainbridge Island, it would be very foolish not to visit the Bloedel Reserve.

Anton and Apple showed up the night before. They are honeymooning at my parents house. Seriously.

Bloedel was once a private residence. It is now a members only park/reserve, but for only 40 bucks a year you and your friends can go there anytime.

Reflect much?

I think that if I smoked weed I would just while away my days at this place.

Too bad I hate smoking weed.

The honeymooner.

We went back to pick up Anton's sleeping wife and took her to Poulsbo to visit with the master bakers at Sluys' Bakery.

The Thrill Of Victory, And The Agony Of Defeat.

The Dewitt Family cooking contest ran for five nights straight. Here is the run down.

Night one. My night. I made ricotta ravioli in an arrabiatta sauce, grilled spicy pork sausage in garlic, and pesto garlic bread.

Night two. Leslie. Chinese spare ribs, fried rice, Chinese broccoli. Les also stepped up the competition with a wild presentation that included her serving the food in the traditional dress of the Orient. The gloves were coming off!

Night three. Mom. Indian food with all particulars. Lamb kebabs. Curry, naan, and more. She pulled out all the stops. Highly delicious.

Night four. Pat. A garlic roast, twice baked potatos, salad. To eat this meal on the fourth day of a contest that involved eating felt a little gluttonous. I should mention that when not on Xmas vacation I do not eat meat.

And finally, night five. Dad's night. Dad took us home with a seafood stew that included halibut, scallops, shrimp, and clams.

The results-

5th place- My Italian Suprise.
4th place-Dad's seafood whimsy.
3rd place- Pat's meaty gut bomb.
2nd place-Leslie's Chinese fantasy.
1st place- Mom's Bombay getaway.

I already have next years meal planned, and I will be taking top honors.

An eating break would have been nice, but the very next night we had Xmas dinner..

Some Dreamers Of The Golden Dream.

Gus riding Rody on Xmas morning.

Leslie got some Keeps.

Santa came for everybody.

We did not get a white Christmas.

I spent the next three days in a pie coma, underneath a pile of flannels and axes.

Don We Now Our Gay Apparel.

Nick and I went to Olympia.

Years ago, like 1993, a bunch of us went down to the park in Oly to see Heroin and Some Velvet Sidewalk play. I bought the then brand new Cupid Car Club 7".

Nick and I decided that he should open the first virtual sex club on the Island. It will be called 'Nick's Mindgasm'.

" Nick's Mindgasm! Where all you dreams come true..In you dreams!"

You can have virtual sex with strangers, eat virtual biscuits and gravy, smoke virtual cigars and chomp on virtual oxycontins. It's the wave of the future. We are going to make a mint!

My War.

This is my 300th entry. I used to have trouble doing things more than once, now I do them over and over.

The dangerous mallards of Battle Axe Park.

Attack formation.

Consider the ducks.

Two things coming up. Year end top 10ish, email me your votes, and full coverage of the 6 day Dewitt Family cook off, which we are already half way through!

Tender Buttons.

Consider The Minority Opinion.

The winter wood pile.

My Dad got a new dirt making machine in his workshop.

We took the ferry into town.

I stood underneath this Westin for nearly two hours.

Because my Dad locked his keys in the truck, while it was still running. It was about 39 degrees.

Back at home the Family passed around the new Xmas Chainsaw.

What a saw!

At two years old, Gus is already floored by the natural beauty of power tools.

The Many Moods Of Baby Gus.

Lost In The Jungle.

Thanks to a 6:15am pick up from Mr. Punctuality, David Scheid, we were at the Burbank Airport by 6:50.

I was leaving to Bainbridge Island, Washington, Betsy to Mauldin, South Carolina. Our flights were leaving from gates right next to each other, which was a bonus. I wish our holidays weren't going to be in different time zones.

And then it was goodbye Burbank. I flew into Seattle, took a cab downtown to the ferry terminal, took a ferry to the island and look who came to pick me up..

BABY GUS.

The Asskicker Strikes Hard And Fast!

Betsy finished the semester yesterday and though she is playing modest I happen to know for a fact that she kicked the shit out of her finals.

Hope Springs Eternal

Fold Your Hands Child.

David's birthday at the Silent Movie Theatre.

Aska had a bunch of new Bebel stories. She got a Janet Reno wig and wants to start wearing it all the time. She stole money from Aska's purse to "buy some Chinese food". She has been telling people the "someday she will be an independent woman".

It was great to get out with Betsy for awhile, She has been studying non-stop, physics, physics, physucks.

She got a 99.5% on her final last night BTW. What a brainiac!

I've wanted to go to the Silent Movie Theatre for years. It didn't dissapoint! Total time capsule. Immaculate.

There's that dirty little Jackie Coogan.

Oh hi Tony. Listen to the Smiths much?

It was funny to be in the Silent Movie Theater listening to Ghostface at top volume. It was finally time to find some seats and sit down for the birthday movie which was..

Coffey! Pam Griers masterwork! Betsy had never seen a movie like this. I had to explain that , yes, the acting is bad and the story far fetched. It's supposed to be that way. 20 minutes later she leans over and says "Hey! This movie is just an excuse to look at boobs and violence!"

Nothing and nobody is cuter than my girlfriend.

Post Teen Fury.

Arty Nelson.

Fall coffee jammer over at Aaron's.

We totally destroyed a plate of fig newtons.

It's life in your thirties.

The box of Krink kept us busy until dusk.

Getting older rules.

Dead Plane.

David and I went to New Image for an opening. No Age were playing.

We were an hour early, which was fine since we both realized that neither one of us stands for tardiness of any kind. Yes, late people, we are judging you.

One half of Day 19.

Speaking of Day 19, Jeremy and Claire brought me their new zine which is ruling and was very nice of them.

Spunt.

Whoa. Meeting of the minds. When I see Little Nate and David meet for the first time I feel like the world may just spin off it's axis.

Speaking of the end of the World, I looked around the room at some point and realized I was surrounded by bloggers. There were no less than seven blogs that I link to within spitting distance. This thrilled me in the geekiest way.

Daniel from Family was thrilled as well, he's just playing it cool.

And when you're lucky enough to bump into James Joliff you know that the night is perfect and you end it on that high note and go home right away and you're in bed at 10:30. Again. Amazing.