disgust and gratitude
(Outside the store at Black Shed, a place in the middle of nowhere, NJ. For SF readers, imagine Flora Grubb, but 20 times bigger and more interesting. Thanks KD for telling me about it.)
Yesterday afternoon I met a tennis friend to hit some balls in the 90-degree heat because I am a masochist. I find myself in this little corner of DC once every few weeks while running errands. As I'm driving home, I know that if I turn right from this intersection, or left from this other intersection, I will be one block away from the house I grew up in. And every time, I decide not to turn, because what good would seeing that house do me? The memories would be too tinged with regret.
But yesterday, after tennis, I decided to turn. Left from Fessenden, then right onto Garrison. I slowed down as I approached the house. Luckily my windows were all the way up, so the current owner, who was outside with his garden hose, didn't hear me shout "OH MY GOD."
There's a meme I love but can't find, using Betsy DeVos' house. Here is her house:
In the meme, the text over the image goes something like: "Architect: OK, what style were you looking for?" "DeVos: Just fuck my shit up."
The current owners of my childhood home apparently gave the same instructions to their landscapers. The low-key, chest-high fence that used to go around the side and back is now a flashy, curving, unnaturally-colored middle finger to the rest of the block. The modest assortment of plants my father carefully planted every spring has been replaced by multiple 500-pound urns that are almost as tall as my 8-year-old niece, spewing all kinds of random organic material. There is a red brick RETAINING WALL that is only a few inches high running the length of what little lawn is left, on the side that doesn't have any incline. The whole thing looks expensive, tacky, and embarrassingly suburban.
I drove away before Dude With The Hose could see me staring. And realized, a couple blocks later, that thanks to his bad taste, I never even noticed the actual house. I'm almost grateful to him for that.
Links
This documentary about DC's Barry Farm, and displacement in general. (Vimeo)
I never paid much attention to Jeff Rosenstock, but still loved this documentary, Never Get Tired: The Bomb the Music Industry! Story. I guess it came out a long time ago, because Mike Park doesn't have grey hair in it. If you're into punk/ska, this is absolutely worth watching. (YouTube)
A couple weeks old: Ryan Broderick's takedown of Threads. The third paragraph is harsh. We need some kind of Webby awards for tech writers trashing tech products because I cannot get enough of it. (Garbage Day)
According to this post, Maryland's water sucks but Virginia's is pretty good. I woulda thought we all got our water from the same place. (Lifehacker)
RIP Anchor Brewing. Which I thought had sold to a big conglomerate years ago. Glad I did the tour of that awesome building in SF, and I hope they don't tear it down. (Boing Boing)
Not a sneakerhead, but I love these corduroy Nikes. (Hypebae)
You can take a quiz to determine your clutter personality type. I want to see a quiz for the opposite, the purger personality type. I imagine the most extreme version would include a photo of my mother. With a flame thrower. And goggles. (Apartment Therapy)
I went to my first Erykah Badu show recently and OMFG it was incredible and I would happily be her merch girl. Junkyard opened for them, and at the end of her set she brought them back out for a reprise of "Sardines." (Instagram)
News outlets as glass jars rolling down stairs. Look at NPR go! (Twitter)
Ice Cream Road Trip is my new band name. (Visit Reykjavik)
Angelo Moore being interviewed by a muppet is really cute. (Instagram)
Funny vet clinic signs. (Sad and Useless)
Supreme Court puts Venmo QR code on bench to streamline bribery process. (Hard Times)