Jaime at the Beach House

tCL: Imagespiration 5-31-10

Friday we went out for drinks with a bunch of friends on Capitol Hill and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. Saturday, chasing the only sunny weather in the state, we went to Crescent Bar. On a holiday weekend the island is like a penal colony for criminals of taste. Out on a walk, being passed by a four-seater golf cart with neon-green decals playing bad music at top volume, it is hard to reserve any good will for humanity. Last night we had a nice dinner with Jess and Dawn at Black Bottle, then retired to Trio to relax over wine, et al.

Due to a variety of circumstances, I haven't been taking a lot of photographs lately, so I'll continue to regale you with found images:

tCL: Imagespiration 5-29-10

McCleary a/k/a Twin Peaks

Did a site visit for a case out in McCleary this morning. Very Lynchian out there, with logging trucks blowing by out on the two lane highway and strangers behind car windows waving as they pass in the light rain.

...and, what the hell:

New Soles

If you aren't into sartorial matters, cobblery, etc., please quickly skip over this post. However, I know at least a few of my occasional readers will find this of interest.

tCL officially endorses Broadway Shoe Repair - I just got my first resole of some Brunos this weekend and used these guys for the first time.

To compare, I typically take my shoes to Nordstrom, just for the convenience factor and trusting their judgment to choose a good cobbler. They do a fine job, but it takes about a week or two and the soles that come back on them are unidentified.

After reading some good reviews, I tried Broadway Shoe Repair, in the Broadway Market. There was one old crusty dude working when I arrived. He took my shoes, my first name, and said "ok, do you want them today?"

Shocked, I said "uh, is that possible?"

He said, "yeah, between 4:30 and 5." It was 1:00.

Right on. I picked them up on time, the job was well done and they had replaced the soles with precisely the brand of soles that came on the shoes originally. $55 plus tax (basically, same price as Nordstrom).

Bravo, BSR.

Green Chair Orange Bowl

Flux Capacitor

Microamperes and Big Ben

I stopped by Pacific Galleries today to browse around. There are little aesthetic surprises around every corner.

tCL: Imagespiration 5-22-10

Stuck in Seattle

Your hero is, quite unfortunately, stuck in Seattle this weekend. Why stuck, you ask? Well, because I had a valid airline ticket and good plans to be in LA through Monday (i.e., a day of vacation). Instead, and not by way of reasonable substitution, I am sitting at home, recovering from an illness. I will assure you it is temporary and not dangerous; otherwise, I'll spare gory details.

I am alone, but this is for good reason. I insisted Jaime go without me, despite her protests. She'll be staying with our friend Sarah - I know she'll have fun. I'll miss seeing both of them this weekend.

So, I'm at home alone and unable to do anything. Accordingly, if anyone happens to be perusing their Google Reader or otherwise checking their blogs this morning and wants to suggest a blog topic, feel free. This is your chance, in case there is some obscure subject with regard to which you've always wondered "what would a bored Ryan think about this?"

Examples might include:

"I wonder what an ill and somewhat cranky Ryan might think about the Space Shuttle Program?"

or

"I wonder what a malnourished and bored Ryan would thing about these pictures of my Nova Scotia Duck-Tolling Retriever?"


Well, if you have ever wondered such things, now is your chance to resolve the matter.

Otherwise, I'll just be here living the life of a really sick guy, which (have I mentioned?) is kind of like being a cross between a rockstar and an astronaut.

Nietzsche Trivia

I asked him what animal Nietzsche was with when he died. He said, 'If you're talking about the horse, that's not when he died, that's when he went insane. He lived 11 years longer and didn't speak for 4 of them. He finally spoke when his friend asked...', originally uploaded by wellohorld.

Jess found this for me - he's the sometimes assistant guest editor of tCL. Here is the caption that went with it:

"I asked him what animal Nietzsche was with when he died. He said, 'If you're talking about the horse, that's not when he died, that's when he went insane. He lived 11 years longer and didn't speak for 4 of them. He finally spoke when his friend asked if he wanted a chocolate donut and he said no he wanted to play the piano and he did.' Something new every day!"

Bret Easton Ellis

So, I tried to post this before, but then I posted the wrong interview and deleted it and didn't put the right one up, which may caused those of you who regularly check this thing to be left wondering "what happened?" What's that? No one cared? Oh, I see.

Here it is, Bret Easton Ellis' interview in Vice Magazine. BEE has a new book coming out next month, Imperial Bedrooms, for which I am already experiencing restless anticipation. I especially enjoyed the Lynchian-fear motif that keeps popping up throughout the interview. Also enjoyed his comments w/r/t Salinger and Twitter and the movie Precious.


WARNING: When the word "spoiler" pops up toward the end, they really mean it - they are going to spoil some major plot points. But that's fine with me - literature shouldn't be about Shyamalanian (is that a thing?) thrills and chills - this isn't the f-ing Da Vinci Code.

Talk to Me, II.

In case you missed it, I asked my readers a question, last week. Please don't forget to weigh in.

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We had a great time at the Rickses' wedding last night. Jaime actually ended up changing right before we left, so this is what she almost wore.

Talk to Me, O Readers!

I realize I've only got about 10 regular readers, so my expectations are low, but I'd like to have my first talk-back sort of thing go on here. I've been thinking: what is the one book I would not just recommend that someone read, but that I would actually force someone to read, if I had that power. The distinction is, a recommendation might be something you expect the person to like (hopefully so), whereas force suggests that, regardless of what the other person might think of it, we believe it is something of which they simply must be aware. If they enjoy it; well, that would be a pleasant bonus.

Mine would be:

Fiction:

The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway

Nonfiction:

The User Illusion, Tor Norretranders

So, what are yours? Please tell us (viz. the literate masses): what would you have us read?

Wittgenstein's Cow

For some reason, the following quote from Ludwig Wittgenstein kept popping into my head today, at odd times (in my head it was paraphrased - my memory isn't quite this good):

“A new born child has no teeth.”—“A goose has no teeth.”—“A rose has no teeth.”—This last at any rate—one would like to say—is obviously true! It is even surer than that a goose has none.—And yet it is none so clear. For where should a rose’s teeth have been? The goose has none in its jaw. And neither, of course, has it any in its wings; but no one means that when he says it has no teeth.—Why, suppose one were to say: the cow chews its food and then dungs the rose with it, so the rose has teeth in the mouth of a beast. This would not be absurd, because one has no notion in advance where to look for teeth in a rose. ((connexion with ‘pain in someone else’s body’.))

I find this sort of paradigm-shifting thought utterly refreshing. Thank you, unknown brain processes, for bringing this to my attention today.

Books and Beverages

Books and Beverages, originally uploaded by .

Unknown House

Unknown House, originally uploaded by .

Jaime's New Glasses

IMG_2360, originally uploaded by .

Sunset

Sunset, originally uploaded by .

Golfing

Bob in Cart

Bob in Cart, originally uploaded by .

Golfing

Golfing, originally uploaded by .

Jaime on the Fairway

Jaime on the Fairway, originally uploaded by .

With Mom

IMG_2346, originally uploaded by .

Palm Springs

Ryan and Jaime Palm Springs, originally uploaded by .

Edris House

Edris House, originally uploaded by .

Kaufman House

Went on a tour of some mid-century homes in Palm Springs. The Kaufman House remains my favorite.