quick mention of a few things...      8.20
but first, these photos:
   
alrighty then, now a mention of recent visit to The Original Unofficial Steve Earle Site where we noticed Mr. E be on Air America very soon, one of his guests will be highly esteemed indy-film maker John Sayles, who, by the way, we also saw interviewed recently on NOW w/Bill Moyers (also from the NOW site, some related material on J.S.'s Sunshine State here & on his soon to be released Silver City here). Damn, katz und kitteez, sorry to keep bitchin' about this dial up connect but it makes this entire posting process such a drag so yourstruly gonna cut and scoot but want to pass alone una otra cosa. Happy to run across this film last night, currently in rotation on cable at Starz, part of some series they calling the "A" List, wonderful little oddball film based on stories by Larry Brown, ought to be available on home vid so go out & find yourself a copy of Big Bad Love, maybe cook up some popcorn, settle in with your favorite cool beverage and head on off to the deep south for awhile...

it has been rainy here in the desert...       8.17
lately, the last few days have been largely cloudy, occasionally heavily overcast, not the extravaganza of heat and sunshine one is usually accustomed to, and it is (to this wayward primate, at least...) a marvelous thing to hear that rumble of thunder in the distance, the clattering of the raindrops beginning to fall, that scent of wet earth that fills the air. Occasionally a deluge, as on Friday night, and out driving with our MonkeeMomz early on Saturday, visiting wee farmer's market on the west side of town, the evidence of the torrential showers was everywhere, streets and intersections clogged with sand and gravel that has washed down from the mountains, entire parking lots in low lying areas filled with mud and great huge puddles, more like small lakes, throughout the area. Ourowndarnself enjoyed a really lovely evening out last week as well, again our Momz alongside, brother Daniel & partner Janet making up our foursome, visiting small restaurant in Sunland Park, N.M., adjacent to Mt. Christo Rey, place called Ardovino's. Enjoying a fine dinner al fresco, fine little quartet of local musicians providing jazz accompaniment as we leisurely enjoyed a few cocktails before and after our dinner, the evening on the brick patio under the stars punctuated every now and again with the passage of several freight and one passenger train winding its way along the base of Cristo Rey, the toot of the horn in the night air fitting in perfectly with the guitar & saxophone, that whistle of a passing train always striking a somewhat mournful note.
some of you more aware of our plans and intentions than others, but a little backround info here in case you might be interested. Some $$ invested in the monkeemobile before setting out on our journey, any number of miscellaneous mechanical things were seen to along with the purchase of new tires and battery, those two items taken care of with another business concern, not our usual mechanic. While taking care of that errand it was brought to our attention that a test of the electrical system had the alternator providing a "bad waveform" and replacement suggested. As we'd just had a number of mechanical items looked into & taken care of (that radiator business we mentioned last month for instance...) we thought to stop by our "trusted" mechanic's place of business and bring up the subject, their response being almost entirely dismissive, their opinion being that S***'s can sell tires and D**-H***s just fine, but they'd be suspect of anything they were trying to offer. Okay, we thought to ourself, we've not been led astray by these folks before. It was likely the beneficence of the goddess that saw us through our journey thru the California Southland, the desert of Arizona & New Mexico and to our temporary anchorage here in EPT without trial or tribulation to speak of, but on Monday a week ago, on the road with the widow Pivarnick, lo and behold the conspicuousness of the alternator warning light could not be ignored, but we tried, it eventually failed on the freeway providing a few hairy moments of excitement in extricating ourself from traffic heading east on I-10 seeking our way off at the nearest exit, our electrically fuel injected monkeemobile unable to accelerate. Whew! New alternator and a couple hundred bucks later (oh, oncet upon a time we'd have taken on the task of replacement ourowndamnedself, but these days...) all mo' better, but some careful inspection of trusted bluesubaru the other day turned up a tear on right side inner CV boot (don't know what that is Binky? well, just neveryoumind...) so we paying another visit to Manny the Mechanic, trusted family mechanic of many years (oh, so many stories, so little time...) to have the pair of 'em replaced, having had the outer boots replaced whilst still on the left coast. s'always sometink, no?
dial-up is a bitch, ain't it, and yourstruly so accustomed to having had fat pipe available to hisowndarnself for so long, now creeping along at WAY subzuperzonic speeds, oh it is ugly, folks, currently downloading drivers for camera so we might provide some images to go alongside with the verbiage, and man oh man, it be painful, datz fo' sure...     SO, in the meantime, we suggest you might stop and visit esteemed Gordon Coale, lots and lots of marvelous linky goodness there, and worth waiting for, you know, in terms of this subzuperzonic kind of situation we be in currently. While you're there, maybe drop him an appreciative note and wish him a Happy Anniversary, and tell him a dumbmonkey sent you...

n a m a s t e . . .       8.12.04
oh where, oh where has that d'monkey gone...
well, wherever he was, he is now safely in the desert southwest, finally hitting the road nearly a week ago, meandering thru the southland of the left coast, passing into the desert, stopping now and again to refresh himself, stretch his legs a bit, breathe in the air of another locale. Nothing momentous or memorable in the way of adventures yet, simply shedding some old habits, accustoming oneself to a simpler sort of life, opening that same self to the possibilities available to him now depending on just how willing and adventurous he chooses to be.
Who knows what form this journal may take along the way, how often you might expect an update, some sharing of experiences, some tales from the road. Ourowndamnedself intends to share some of what happens along the way, but in our attempt to keep things simple and not emcumber ourself with gear, we'll likely rely on the kindness of friends, the availability of an internet connection in a public library somewhere, who knows, maybe pass along a postcard to some associate/co-conspirator who will do us the kindness of effecting an update.
As we've been able to catch up with some of our correspondence, please know that some of you whom yourstruly owes a note to ought to be seeing one before too much longer, in closing & for now, we want to point towards the direction of an effort of onetime comrade of ours on the killing floor at fishwrap classifieds (oh, the fond memories we have of our brief tenure there...), the master of all things skirbollish has decided to dip his furry toes into the vast ocean of weblogdom, his effort: the skirblog. oh lee, what hast thou wrought?