Good Morning. Hello. How are you? #1460
Road trip to Boston, going to Man Ray, Elf divorce, clothes swaps, studio measuring, quality daughter time
Good morning, friends. Greetings from Somerville, MA, just blocks away from one our more recent Goon Nabbings under modern fascism. I am sitting in our front three-season room, which longtime readers will recall that last summer I remodeled. Haven’t gotten to spend much time in it since. It still needs a few tweaks, improvements (gotta strip and stain the window boxes, beautify the electricity situation) but all-in-all is a lovely room, and it is nice to sit in the window and watch the world go by. Even if it is dreary and rainy and cold here in Somerville. Emma is happy about that, though, and leaving our 70-degree Chapel Hill weather, because the pollen is out down there. Every year our trips are more and more influenced by pollen avoidance.
Drive up here was dandy, our best yet. Thirteen hours. That is a long time in a car, a long time in a car with a seven year-old. But Jane is a great traveling companion. Give her Bluey and Inside Out and she is good to go.
A semi-truck had a blow-out while I was passing it on the left and it was so loud and terrifying but the semi barely even wobbled. And then we had an incident with a very sudden end of our lane, due to poorly marked construction, that was a bit harrowing. Smidge of traffic on the GWB, that’s about it for complaining.
I did a half-assed electric truck count on the drive and the final tally was 4 Lightnings, 1 Cybertruck, 1 Silverado EV, zero Rivian R1Ts, which was very surprising. I did see four R1Ss, though. Those things becoming popular.
We also saw a black SUV with an illustration of an arab with an AK-47 on it. Not, like, redneck MAGA but… pro Arab with AK-47? Very weird. And a white Prius with pink flames on it that was pretty rad. Woman driving that looked like she was living her best life.
Oh and then we saw a Peter Ban bus filled with old ladies that all looked like my mom. They were at the Mass Pike rest stop eating McDonald’s. The bus said on the front: FRIENDSHIP TOURS. Like 50 golden girls having a gay old time, man I hope my elder years are so lucky.
After arriving in Somerville and saying hi to our neighbor/landlords/friends Sean and Jussi, Sean Jussi and I went to Man Ray. Man, I have said it before and I will say it again, that place is just amazing. We went for one of its (previously) lesser-popular nights, Automatique, but not anymore, that place was packed. It’s crazy to dance, in the year 2025, with a packed room (of kids! this is not an oldies refuge. I mean it is, but it is still majority kidsw) to, like, The Soup Dragons or The Stills or the Dandy Warhols. Just crazy. And I love the Cheers vibe. 50+ years old? Live in the rural south? No problem, here is a club where you can waltz in and run into people who you’ve known for decades, but also feel the pulsing vibe of kids getting down. Oh hey, Rick, welcome back, says the owner, I just emailed you when are we doing the next Real Wild Child. Love it. Community. Where else in America does any of this exist. Where else in America is there a Night Club that, forty-plus years after originally opening, is still vital and hopping, and more and more, a refuge for the oppressed in an oppressive world. Place needs fucking landmark status, I swear.
Man Ray also has on its stairs to Terri’s bar the same protective stair treads that I bought to protect the stairs leading to the attic of Chore House while I do my studio construction so, you know, I felt well-chuffed on my stair tread selection.
However turns out when you have more-or-less stopped drinking, having five-to-six drinks in a night is a terrible idea. I mean, it wasn’t a terrible idea that night, it was awesome. But it took me an entire day to recover. Man Ray in 2025 can make you feel younger but it does not, in fact, make you younger. Spent the day mostly moaning on the couch reading Tolkien and snuggling with my daughter which, you know, is a pretty awesome way to spend a weekend day. Man. My drive to work on the attic studio every weekend has made me forget the simple joy of whiling away a weekend afternoon reading a book.
Jane and I have hit the Ukrainian place twice, she got her Babka, she is very happy.
And actually, she is done making mommy a present and it is time to go to breakfast. Back in a jiffy.
Okay I am back but now I have, you know, my job.
Okay I am back now again.
Sunday there was a clothing swap for ladies upstairs at Sean and Jussi’s apt. OMG. So many ladies. Ladies everywhere. Ladies and chlothes. Ladies I hadn’t seen in years. It was overwhelming. But very nice to see so many old friends, briefly. Seeing friends: best part of coming to Boston. Love it. Friends. Just great.
Also I did some measurements in Sean’s studio yesterday. Sean has an attic recording studio, and has opinions about how high his knee walls are, and since I am building an attic studio, and currently possess the ability to choose my knee wall height, I took some measurements. Five and a half feet seems the sweet spot. Can fit a three-level synth rack up against the wall and still play the top synth. I also got to measure his attic bathroom, and figure out how high of a wall you need behind a toilet so that you can sit and stand and all that and not hit your head on the angled wall. Five feet. Brilliant. Bob’s your uncle.
And I did a lot of Tolkien reading and read about Elf divorce, some complicated shit when you’re immortal and if you do die, your spirit stays alive and will eventually get reincarnated. Can’t be an elf married to two people. Also elves do not commit adultury. And really just aren’t very horny at all, according to Tolkien so, you know, bad news for the cottage industry of elf erotica on Amazon. I also read that baby elves physically grow much more slowly than humans, but can talk and walk and dance and reason by age one, so we are confronted with the prospect of intelligent little elf babies running around, and I very much want to know when we will be seeing intelligent elf babies on Rings of Power.
Jane and I have done so much snuggling this weekend it was just great. Stop and smell the roses, maaaaan. You don’t need to lay down OSB in your attic every weekend. Enjoying my Jane time. Love it. And I love that she’s out of school so waking up at 8 and not waking me up and sleeping till 8 AM, getting nine hours of sleep is the greatest thing in the world, Elon Musk should try it. It is absolutely crazy how much less I mind my own job(s) when I get to sleep till 8AM. Why should they suffer because of Jane’s school. Unfair.
Got a moody and quiet playlist for you today. All new stuff. Except Ted Lucas, again. Into this Agnes Obel album. Oh the Lisa Gerrard isn’t new but she has a new(ish) compilation of her solo stuff and this track is on there. Didn’t love the new Panda Bear at first but it is growing on me.
Until tomorrow, fine friends.
—
Thanks for reading.
And hey! Maybe buy one of my books!
Good Morning, Hello, How Are You vol 1.