Setting the summer sun on fire (with molotov cocktails)

Jess on August 3, 2007

I can’t even begin to explain how happy I am to be behind the wheel of my own car again. It’s a 94 grand prix. Which means it’s not the cutest body style of a grand prix ever but it’s in great condition and I’m excited to take it lots of fun places. Place 1 being the salt mines with mr. roger losey-face. place two being carbondale a lot to see my boyfriend when he gets shipped back to illinois. place three being minneapolis where it looks like i’ll have to take a new direction to visit friends and see the school. and a whole lot of other places that i’ll think up later. like wisconsin. Anyway. It’s pretty badass. And according to all calculations, it gets pretty excellent gas mileage… so I’m excited about that as well. And it’s comfy. Soon, it will have my cd player in it… which of course I’m unbelievably happy about. Very good stuff!

I told Tyler I’d work in Lawrence tomorrow night instead of Topeka so I 1) get to work at a different store and 2) i get to leave for kansas city on sunday right away from lawrence, which means i get to see kyle a day earlier than I’m used to and I’m excited about that. I’m hoping to drag him out to superbad on sunday so i can nurture my silly crush on Michael Cera. I was very happy to learn today that Michael Cera is 19, though just barely. I’d been half expecting to learn the object of my unrealistic affections was only 17. Which would be devastating.

In celebration of having my new car, Roger and I went to the Kemper today. He rode shotty cos he actually fits in this car. I should’ve made him ride in the back so he’d realize just how much more space he now has… but I didn’t do that. Because I was being nice. My mistake. Anyway. The Kemper is my favorite art museum. Probably not ever. But close because it’s so small the exhibits are always changing and it holds my attention more than a permanent collection. Not that I don’t go to the Nelson like 50 times a year or anything… but I’m just saying. If I were Lady Kemper and my husband bought me the museum just to make me happy and give me something to do… I’d be happy. Today, the big exhibit was called Phantasmania. It featured pretty sweet art which was all a reflection of our existence and globalization and capitalization and other things. Like how you shouldn’t fish for sharks with your penis (I PROMISE YOU CAN SEE IT HAPPEN THERE IT IS WEIRD AND AMAZING). So these were some of my favorite artists.

Dan Attoe makes art like this:
Dan Attoe, Accretion #26
On the art, he has littler pictures which have words like some sort of word map. It’s awesome. An owl told us about how there was a fucking bubble in his fucking brain. I liked it a whole lot. And it was also interesting to hear this pair of older women say over and over again that it reminded them of a waterfall they saw in Colorado (we were looking at a different painting than the one i posted). It was pretty much awesome art. And I think he’s talented… and clever with his wording. It’s sort of bizarre. And we all know i’m into the bizarre.

Also featured is Angela Fraleigh. She makes really awesome huge art that’s these really sensuous paintings with large paint spills on them. And it makes it look dirtier and like there is an aching. She also names paintings like I title poetry… drawn-out and rambly with no capital letters… so i appreciated it.
Angela Fraleigh, that i may somehow take on the weight of your sadness
The above painting, “that i may somehow take on the weight of your sadness” was actually featured in the exhbit. it’s beautiful. and it’s really big in real life. i really liked this stuff a whole lot. but i love paint-spills, don’t i. and i like collage a lot. and this sort of draws on that. it certainly tells a story… but in a different way than most artists.

And THEN there was art by Jonathan Pylypchuk who does this awesome stuffed animal type creation which seems to me like something you’d see at the grassroots art center or somewhere. it’s awesome. and i wanna make things similar to it but of course i have no talent. here’s an example:
Jonathan Pylypchuk, I miss you, danger, and all its elements
They’re cute in their own way. At the museum, his piece is a whole village of people and animals that look a lot like this guy and they have these wooden shanties. it’s supposed to resemble a ghost town or a place after a natural disaster says the plaque next to it. So awesome.

I recommend you all go see it. If only cos it means going to the kemper.

That gritty feeling in yr throat

Jess on July 23, 2007

Kyle admitted to me today that he’s settling for me.  Because he desperately wants to marry Regina Spektor.  That it’s Regina Spektor and not JoJo that I’m overshadowed by is endearing to me.  So I’m letting it go.  Plus, I’m going through a Regina Spektor phase these days so it’s nice that he’s not against listening to her sing, even if he just wants her really badly. Ahh.  So that’s awesome.  I think my favorite songs are probably Better and Poor Little Rich Boy.  But it’s hard to say cos Fidelity is so damned catchy.  She puts me in the mood for CoCoRosie which I doubt Kyle is nearly as excited about as I am.  Hah.

Shaw and Kristin (who is now also a Shaw, how confusing) got married on Sunday.  It was a really nice ceremony and Kristin looked really beautiful.  Her dresses for the bridesmaids and the flowers were also really sweet.  Kyle’s tux fit much better than at Dudley’s wedding though a lot of that is by virtue of it fitting much worse when he went to pick it up on Friday so they had to alter it.  Oi.  He looked pretty hot in his tux though.  After the wedding was the reception which was a blast.  I got to see Luke, Phil, Rachel, Jeremy and Kelly again, plus Sean brought Megan and Banks’s Megan was there too.  I really like her a whole bunch and I hope the bar goes well for her on Wednesday!  Chad and Lilia were there too for a flash.  Just long enough to say hi to our table and then scamper off.  It was nice.  Open bars are all they’re cracked up to be… so add to the list of features i want at my wedding so it now includes: 1) sunflower bouqets; 2)  readings centered around spousal devotion and a homily on the importance of the union of marriage; 3) an open bar. Beautiful.

Work is going pretty well. I closed again last night which makes me really anxious. The drawer was short which didn’t help, but I think I counted everything correctly and didn’t really fuck up that badly so that’s good. I really wish I just didn’t close ever… but I doubt I’ll ever breach that subject with Tyler so who knows. Ugh.

I’m still studying for the GRE and still hoping I get a car soon.  Aggh… Too much is going on.

Improper dancing

Jess on July 9, 2007

I have a new life policy.  I spend an hour by the pool every day.  Three days in and my hair and skin are new summery-colors and I couldn’t be a happier little bear. Hooray!

My job is good.  It was slow last night… cos we had too many people.  But we were all training and stuff so hopefully later it won’t be that bad.  I’m excited about getting the hang of the system. It was more complicated that I expected and I’ve already forgotten to take a magnet out of the dvd security system.  Agggh. But whatever.  I like it.  I think things are going to be very good.

I’m a little less poor today. But only by about 20 dollars.  I’m lucky I invest in non-perishables instead of stocks and bonds.