solve

just last week an artist named solve(brendan scanlon) in chicago was killed. i did not know him. but i see his stuff everywere. and just wanted to pay my respects, i thought this would be as good a place as any. the reaction on the internet and here in chi has been huge. 

its strange to be affected by the death of someone you've never even seen b4. and its not like i "knew him" through his art. i guess its just the fact that someone who would risk arrest, fines, even jail time, just to say......

should not be taken from this earth so inhumanly, or at all for that matter.

all i can hope for is that he is at peace. and that from all the sadness, anger, and pain of his passing, something positve and beautiful can be created.

a memorial....



sloves flicker

please check out his stuff and keep his friends and family in your thoughts.

remember:

dont take art of any kind for granted, even the art you pass by on a mailbox or bus stop. because its there for your quick little smile as you pass. and you may never actually notice it untill one day its gone.....and you realize you needed that little smile.

i cant wait

this might make me cry, as wierd as that sounds. its true.

and this will just be fun.

a friend and i made granola last night. we may start selling it. couse we rock.

-curry/lime granola w/ peanuts and pineapple

-spicy mexican granola w/pepitas and peaches

hot damn!!!!! 

on another note. i had a dream last night that i was trying to tell that knock knock joke about fruit. you know "orange you glad i didnt say banana?" but i couldent get the really lame punchline right. i woke up kinda mad about it.



the new sigur ros record is AMAZING. that is all.

either or.....

the painting of elliott smith my friend jackie just finshed for me. i cant wait to hang it.

we hosted some friends from just coffee last night at the shop. had a party so to speak. they had a farmer from nicaragua with them. the woman i talked about a while back whos a part of an all woman co-op. great stuff. it was wierd to serve her coffee that she has grown.

but i talked to a guy from guatamala/chicago who has made a documentary about a co-op in the mountains of guatamala called "voice of a mountain".
we are going to try and have a screening at the shop in the back yard sometime in july i think. i would urge all of you to come. it looks amazing.

so, as you have seen in my last post. this week has been stressful. today i got to work. my sandwich cooler is still broken. so im running a much smaller menu-that i like alot actualy.  and about an hour after getting to work our espresso machine breaks. so we could do regular coffee, and tea. not alot. our repair guy came out on his day off to fix it. hes amazing. 
but during the whole ordeal im talking to wookie about it, and the hanging light above us goes out. classic. all i could do was smile. and i thats just what i told wookie. "just smile man, what else are we gonna do?"
i have no idea what put me in such a good mood today. but i have some ideas.
-waching lindseys eloquent video post like 6 times yesterday, and sharing in her excitement.
-listening to freinds music for the last 48 hours.
-chillen with my boy rick.(ill post about this guy later-hes family around here)
-the rain and sigur ros-at the same time.

or maby its just what my dad always calls "positive reinforcement" 

its a day for that little black scrapbook. where refrigorators, coffee machines, lights, bones, spirits, all are broken. 
but here i am, dancing at my espresso machine. with lightning in my blood, and the future in my wounds....waiting



as rick just told me, "aint no use cryen over spilled milk, it COULD be whiskey."

and suddenly........

so, im working on a summer menu. now that im in charge of ALL the food stuff at the lounge, that includes all the pastry's. i love it. sometimes.

and i must say i was frustrated almost to the point of tears today. i had to sit on the back porch with my eyes closed listening to a friends music for about 20 min b4 i stopped breathing heavy. all i want to do is provide decent food, but cost is a big issue. i want to cut some sammies so i can buy better bread. but "they all sell to well to get rid of". so i stick with the crap bread we have. i understand money is an issue. and i have a solution, but im shot down right out of the gate. and i get into that, throw up my hands and say "ok, you do all this shit yourself!!!!" mood. but then i calm down, and realize, i'll win this battle. even if a little money comes out of my own pocket, it already dose-by the way. and to tell you the truth, im proud to do it.

when you work with a group of people who are all making daily sacrifices just to keep a business on its feet. and all the people act as if their sacrifices are the greatest. it often feels like nothing will get accomplished. but the fact that at any given time of day i can walk out to the floor and sit with a customer and chat because i know them. or the simple act of three diffrent regulars asking me if i was ok today. its not a sacrifice, its a blessing.

"and suddenly i wasn't tired, suddenly i wasn't poor, suddenly im not the victim anymore." 

 

why do i get this in the mail?

my address and everything. i think its funny.