The Grass Knows, The Hills Know

Had an amazing weekend. Friends from Texas came to visit. Friends from Seattle came to visit. Had some great food. Had some great adventures.Nearly drove off a snowy mountain.


But it appears Spring is here! As great as this weekend was and as much as I miss my friends in the South, I couldn't be more excited about being right where I am and alive at this very moment at the turn of the seasons.

The world seemed to change overnight. Portland went from cold and gray to sunny, warm, and everything in sight budding into new life.

So my attention has quickly turned away from woodworking, reading, and cooking indoors to gardening, biking, and JUST GETTING THE FUCK OUTSIDE.

With the help of my new friend which I purchased for $30 at a pawn shop (see above, Darcy helped too), I was able to throw together these two garden beds in no time at all.

I got the wood from the lumber yard down the street. The beds are each made out of one 8' long 2x4 and three 8' long 2x6 boards which I got out of the "economy pile" for around three dollars a piece. They did have some beautiful 2x12 cedar boards in stock, however I'm not building these to last a lifetime so these fir boards will do just fine for a few years. Using the cheap stuff, I was able to build two 16" deep 5'x3' raised beds for less than $30. This stuff is easy. I made no plan, made no measurements, didn't drill a single pilot hole or make a single cut (well that's not exactly true.) I got the boards cut to length for free at the lumber yard and screwed them to the 2x4 uprights. Easy. I plan on building some more beds and other structures as soon as the lumber yard adds to their pile of "scrap wood."

Now I just need to get some dirt to fill my beds because my seedlings are getting BIG.


I'm growing my seedlings in a generic finely-sifted seed starter soil mix. The seedling trays I am currently using are actually some "trash" that I brought home from work; they are the styrofoam containers in which we receive shipments of fresh salmon packed in ice. They make perfect seedling trays! They are much deeper than commercial seed trays, so they can hold more soil. Also, the styrofoam helps to retain the heat which seeds such as tomatoes and peppers need to sprout. I do keep a small $13 Wal-Mart radiant heater underneath the seed flats which I turn on at night for extra warmth. The lights I am using are generic 4' fluorescents with basic daylight T8 bulbs that I got at Home Depot. T5 fixtures would be better but these seem to get the job done and at about half the price. I spent a total of $24 dollars on the light fixtures and bulbs. The lights are on a $7 dollar timer which turns on 16 hours and off for 8 hours.

The only bad thing about the great weather we've been having is that now I'm getting out of the house more. (Wait, what?) Getting out of the house more means I'm spending money. In fact I'm bleeding money lately. On top of my new (used) drill, wood for garden beds, soil, lights, seeds, eating out with friends, gasoline for road trips, etc. I have splurged on a few other items, including:

$29.95 - Sepp Holzer's Permaculture Book which was recently released in English by Chelsea Green Publishing

And most exciting is my new bike. It's a Cannondale T600 (who cares!) that I got used for $300. Is that a good deal? I think so. I rode it to work yesterday (a TOTALLY beautiful day!) and took the Springwood Corridor Trail along Johnson Creek. It was so fantastic.

But at least some things in life are still free...

I found this reel mower on the side of the road on my way to work! Totally free! Now I can mow our backyard, clean up all the dog poop, and maybe start building a chicken coop...we'll see! I have had this Murray McMurray rare breed poultry catalog that I've been looking at ever since November...

Three Artifacts, Part. 3: The Album

The last item I received in the mail was less utilitarian and more of a memento; a time capsule (more like a gravestone; memento mori.)





Teenage Cool Kids as a band may be all but dead. The members have all gone on to bigger better different things. However, with the final release of this album comes hope that they will return for good; for a tour; for even one show. One can hope...

I was there on the very first tour. Across the western United States, traveling in a rented van with seven other "dudes", we all became more aware of the world around us. I had never ventured further west than White Sands, New Mexico until our Ford Econoline took us North from Santa Fe and turned left towards Salt Lake City. I think it's only appropriate that the furthest I had ever been from home was one of the more eye opening moments I can recall of my early twenties.

The anarchist co-op house in SLC where we spent the night was like any other stop on the tour; By that I mean it was a dirty, old house littered with bicycle parts, zines, and too many young people to hygienically inhabit one space. We were more than grateful to be offered a few couches and a spot of floor to lay down for the night.

In the morning the snow was beautiful outside but I spent most of breakfast editing video to upload to the internet. This was part of an (frantic) attempt to keep up with the goal I set for myself which was to upload a daily tour montage so that our friends back in Texas and fans of the band could keep up with our travels.



When I went downstairs that morning, I saw a group of old women rooting through a pile of scavenged fruit, vegetables, and bread that the residents had placed on their porch for that purpose. It never brought a bad taste to my mouth. It immediately seemed correct and inherently good that food which would otherwise be wasted could be given to those in need (or just wanting) by means of a group share system. This was my first real-world interaction with DIY, Food Not Bombs, anarchism, or co-ops. This was the moment that I decided to become vegetarian, to be more efficient, and to be more loving of all creatures. It sounds corny but it's true.

The previous days had been mostly bizarre and included: kids on drugs (Amarillo), human snowblowers (Amarillo), girls jumping through urine-filled dixie cup pyramids (Amarillo). [Thanks, Jordan]. Not that there weren't some strange moments in the coming days, but overall the rest of the two week tour was total PMA and nothing short of life-changing.

Beyond the time I have spent with the band and without neglecting my impartial viewpoint, Teenage Cool Kids are one of my, if not my single most, favorite bands. I listen to all of their albums pretty regularly except for the cassette which I listened to recently; i made it through side A and could not bring myself to flip the tape, I was in such an emotional state.



HOWEVER, this album is very different from previous TCK records.

Instead of being recorded here:

(Daniel's bedroom. Photo by Bradley Kerl)

Denton After Sunset was recorded here:

(Sad faces at Nubby's funeral pyre. The band's garage studio is in the background. Photo by Bradley Kerl)

Whereas the self-titled cassette, "Queer Salutations" and "Foreign Lands" were recorded in Daniel's enormous bedroom-turned-recording-studio/warcraft dungeon, "Denton After Sunset" was recorded in a dilapidated, old garage. 715 Panhandle was a large, two-story house that became one of the best music venues Denton, TX had to offer. It was home to party after show after touring bands and even a two-year run of a music fest called PHAT CAMP masterminded by Andrew Savage (I think. I actually missed the first year of PHAT Camp because I was on a road trip with Darcy) and things rarely seemed to calm down.



However, the Westway house where DAS was recorded was far removed from the sense of community that permeated the cinder block walls of 715. Westway was more like an old wooden ship traversing new and increasingly frightening waters. The philosophies of the residents seemed to have changed and without Bradley and Daniel living in the same house as Andrew, the tone became more serious. Whether it was an outbreak of scabies, accusations of backstabbing, or the death of a beloved stray cat, the house seemed to embark upon tragedy where before stood one of the strongest, most loving groups of friends I have ever known.


(Nubby's death. Watercolor painting by Andrew Savage)

There was also the problem with a neighbor who kept making noise complaints during the entire writing/recording process; they eventually (somewhat) sound-proofed the shed with a few bats of fiberglass insulation. It was setbacks like these, the fact that Bradley had moved to Austin with Whitney, and Andrew's divided attention to his new project Fergus and Geronimo that put a great strain on the boys. Shortly after the album was finished, Andrew Savage would move to New York City with friend and F&G bandmate Jason Kelly to focus on their music. I love both bands. In fact, I love every band and every project that my friends involve themselves in, they are some of the most creative people I have encountered. You would like them.

The album was recorded and mixed by my oldest friend and TCK guitarist Daniel Zeigler, and mastered by Josh Bonati of Bonati Mastering NYC. Bonati also worked on Fergus & Geronimo's "Unlearn" as well as, Meneguar's "The In Hour", Blues Control's "Local Flavor", Woods "Songs of Shame", etc. The lyrics, songwriting, instrumentation, recording, mastering, and artwork are all fantastic, and ingrained with deeper meaning. This album should be a part of every twenty-something's rotation until that title is no longer applicable - and beyond.

You can listen to the whole album here. If you're interested in purchasing the album, it is available from Andrew and Chris at their new label, Dull Tools.



As you have probably guessed by now, this is not an album review. I could not possibly separate myself from my personal involvement in the goings-on during the recording of this album and I am obviously not capable of impartial opinion related to this band. This is simply an exercise to document the importance of an artifact that is of great significance to my life story.