YES. yes. YES YES YES.

His new game...

The cat I live with is an asshole.

I say "the cat I live with" as opposed to "my pet cat" because he doesn't seem to think he is a pet, and referring to him as a "pet" would lead you, dear reader, to believe that the cat knows his place in this household. "Pet" indicates that I have jurisdiction over him in some way. I don't. He does whatever he damn well pleases and gets away with it because he is adorable. The bastard.

Annnnnywaaaay....

For the past week, every time I walk into the bathroom, he jumps roughly 4 feet into the air and attaches himself to the bathroom doorframe. He hangs there like a monkey halfway up a tree. While he hangs there, on the doorframe, he gives me the "What is your problem?' face, EVERY SINGLE TIME.

The door frame is clawed to hell now. Wonderful.

So, I decide I'm going to photograph this recent act of cat defiance, but have been unsuccessful thus far. It seems that he is on to me, and won't repeat his jerk carnival for the camera. If I am able to get a photo of it, I'll post it... but don't hold yer breath.

He's the Michigan J. Frog of cats.

Sales Gal

...at The South End Open Market, pretending I'm a "people person."

Side Door

This past weekend, while I was selling Bag Lunch balms at the South End Open Market, my father came down for the weekend and started prepping the side of my house for the new door that he's going to install.

He's going to order the door for me sometime this week and come down to Suburbia and install it. The odd thing is that I don't get to pick it out, He said that he knows what sort of door I want and that he'll just order it.

When I asked him about it, he just said "What? You're just going to paint the damn thing pink anyway right?"

Oh, he knows me too well.

Busy Bee.

Since I'm so busy getting bag lunch ready for this year's Open Market season, I've had nothing to write about on this blog. I've been pouring and labeling lip balm every day for the past 2-3 weeks and nothing amusing or amazing happens when I'm doing that... so no blog posts.

Opening weekend is this weekend, so after that, I can return to my regular life and you know... actually do something outside of my house.

In the meantime, check out one of my favorite blogs...
www.retrorenovation.com

Spring has sprung

The tulips in my front gardens have bloomed.

This is sheer luck for them though, as I have no green thumb and don't actually do any gardening whatsoever. My mother drives to my house every few weeks in the spring and summer months and tends to my gardens because she enjoys that sort of thing.

I agreed to let her do this under the stipulation that she can not get angry at me when these plants die under my watch. Because they will. I am horrible.

Here we go...

With the warmer weather approaching, I have a long list of house projects i want to get through this summer:

1. Install backyard access door.
Currently, the only way to get to my backyard is out through the front door and then walking the entire length of my house via my driveway. It's really a hassle if you're sitting on my deck and need to run into the house for something... you'll need to walk down my driveway and squeeze by my car to get to the front door. How irritating.

2. Stain deck.
The deck wood has "settled" and now can be stained. I want to get this done before it gets really hot out.

3. Continue with the diner construction in the basement.
Currently, the walls have been painted and that's about it. I've told myself that the backyard access door is more important and that I'm not going to work on the diner at all until that door is in. There is a LOT to do for this, and once the door is in, I'll dive into this.

4. Paint the exterior trim under all the windows.
I will probably not actually do this. I want to, but it seems like it's going to be a giant pain.

Back to the Eastern Seaboard

I'm back from Vegas. Here are a few photos...

Bright Light City

Tomorrow morning, I'm going on vacation with my friends Myk and Allison. I'm going to the annual Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender. Four days of music, car shows, burlesque, and vintage clothing vendors.

I'm even closing Bag Lunch while I'm away. In the 5 years I've owned Bag Lunch, I've never closed shop for any amount of time. It's odd. I won't be checking Bag Lunch emails or processing orders or anything. Whenever I go away for the weekend or anything like that, I generally still run Bag Lunch from wherever I am. But not this time...I'm going to be 100% on vacation.

Also, although "Swingers" is one of my favorite movies, I'm going to refrain from quoting any part of that movie while I'm there. I'm no hack.

Needle in the groove

The record player I ordered a few days ago arrived today. It's very exciting because i haven't been able to listen to any of my records for roughly two years.

You see... two years ago i was living with a fellow with a record player, so i never replaced the one I broke in college... then WE broke up and obviously he took his player with him. For some reason I was ok with being record player-less for the entire time I've lived in my house. Gah!

Well no more! I'll be spending the evening catching up with all my old vinyl friends.

The future is NOW.

Everything about this is awesome....


Sadly, this is not yet available in Massachusetts.

The elusive picnic basket

I would like a picnic basket just like this:


You would think it would be easy to find a simple picnic basket. It's not. It's in fact, very difficult.

A lot of picnic baskets that I've seen look like tiny wicker suitcases. I don't want to walk around looking like I'm in some sort of prairie mob, about to close a deal.

Also, a lot of picnic baskets come with a bunch of forks and plates and other tools for eating. Don't need these. Every time I've ever been on a picnic, I've simply removed my sandwich from it's plastic baggie and eaten it. I'm classy like that. If you need to lug a bunch of plates and forks and glasses out for your picnic, why don't you just save yourself the trouble and stay in your kitchen.

All I want is a picnic basket with no bells or whistles, that doesn't come with a bunch of useless crap, and opens from the top in two pieces like the picture above..

Apparently, I've asked for too much.

status: busy

I haven't updated this blog in quite a while. Sooo, here's what I've been up to:

got Ink pushed into my skin • stung IN THE NECK by a hornet • organized every closet in my house • got even more ink pushed into my skin • drove to Northampton for lunch with a friend • went to a diner with my Father • drove around the back roads of Amherst • poured some lip balm • settled my open market schedule for the summer • went to a party where seven dogs were in attendance • painted the basement • started packing for vegas • watched the most fucked movie I've ever seen • new Auto Club album • ice cream with Myk • ate a hamburger within a grilled cheese sandwich • taxes are done • more lunches with other friends • new sneakers • live music

Avalanche!

I have a closet in my kitchen that has become a Fibber McGee and Molly situation. Over the past year I have simply just packed that closet with random junk. It's bad. Opening the door reveals a solid wall of STUFF.

But... Yesterday I cleaned it out! I found all sorts of things that I had been looking for... a fiber optic christmas tree, some painting that I'm going to re-purpose for the diner I'm building, and all sorts of plastic crap bought at flea markets among other things.

I organized the entire closet with new shelving and everything has it's own nook. It's now an obsessive compulsive's dream closet.

What an exciting life I lead. sigh.

Yes, it is true.

This comic came from nataliedee.com.

Down for the count.

On Saturday, 2 friends and I went to visit Paul, so he could push some ink into our skin.

Curly decides he wants to go second. So Jay goes first and gets a tattoo on the back of his neck. Quick and painless, like an old ink veteran.

Next, Paul draws up the stencil for our first-timer, slaps it on his arm and then Curly plunks down in the chair, ready for his first tattoo ever.

Paul gets two lines done and notices Curly starting to fidget and get clammy.

Paul asks how he's doing, and Curly says " I think I'm gonna..." and before he can finish his sentence it's LIGHTS OUT!

Curly passed out cold.

He's only out for maybe a minute. All of a sudden, Curly's eyes shoot open, he forgets where he is and what's going on, and starts flailing his arms around, mumbling "I gotta get out of here! I gotta get out of here," while trying to jump out of the chair. He's flailing his arms around so wildly that Paul thinks he's going to punch him. Paul is blocking his head so Curly doesn't deck him, Jay is laughing and I'm running around looking for orange juice. (Orange juice is really good to drink during tattoo sessions as it's high sugar content is great for replenishing energy that you use up when your body fights the tattoo pain. Also, it's delicious.)

Paul keeps saying, "Curly. Curly. Don't try to get up, you'll just fall over. Curly. Curly." Finally, Paul just grabs him by the shoulders and pushes him into the seat so he doesn't start running around and injure himself.

Curly then realizes where he is, settles down, and apologizes. Paul assures him that it happens sometimes, and not to worry. Paul gets him some cool towels for his neck and face, and some orange juice to drink.

Half an hour later, Paul starts again on Curly's arm and it was no problem. He's already talking about getting another one. hehehe

I call this...."Blurry cat in sweater"

This photograph of Dolemite in his party sweater isn't blurry because he couldn't sit still. It's blurry because I was laughing too hard and thus couldn't hold the camera steady.

He's actually really good at posing in his sweater. This is due largely to the fact that when he's wearing it, he thinks his legs don't work. As soon as that sweater is on him, he just stands there, motionless, or flops onto his back. It's weird.

High School Hellcats

"Cry Baby" is one of my favorite movies. I've heard rumors of this musical for years and now it's finally happening. It's on Broadway starting March 15th. I'm so excited.

Timber!

Since about January first, I have been meaning to take down my Christmas tree. And This weekend, I actually did.

In my defense, my Christmas tree is not actually very Christmas-themed. It's pink and decorated with candy, so having it up that long isn't really that bad... it's not really very "Holiday-ish.". It's not green with Santa heads and reindeer or anything... because, you know, THAT would be tacky.

So now it's sitting in a box on my porch. I haven't taken it down to the basement yet because I don't want to rush it. Baby steps, man, baby steps.

Rather disappointing news...

Reposted from the interwebs...

"After much thought and consideration, The Road Agents have decided to end the annual Hot Rod Rumble on a permanent basis. We know this news will be a disappointment to many. We will miss it just as much as you, however as some of you may or may not know, many of us in the club have other projects and/or businesses that are taking priority. The show was a huge responsibility and a lot of hard work to put on every year, but as much as we enjoyed doing it, our personal lives were suffering. This combined with the fact that the Elks Lodge has gone bankrupt and we will no longer be able to use the grounds for the show, has brought us to the decision to call it quits. (Finding a new location is not the big issue here.) I am sure you will all understand.

We would like to whole-heartedly thank everyone who has supported us for the past nine years (8 shows) and made the show not only memorable, but also made the rest of the country stand up and take a second look at the East Coast and the cool rods and customs we drive. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Lastly, I would like to emphasize that the end of the Rumble does not mean the end of the Road Agents Car Club! We look forward to finally getting out there and hitting up and supporting other shows this summer. We also have a few things up our sleeves for the future that we will post on our web site, so keep an eye out for them!

Again, a HUGE Thanks to everyone who has supported the show, especially those who have been with us since day one! It’s been a blast!

Luke Karosi"