Month: January 2002

January 5, 2002

barnes et nobles suxxorz

Barnes et Nobles is one of the greatest inventions of the twentieth century. A large book repository with green carpet and dark wooden shelves, it’s the only ‘big box’ company I know that doesn’t have that sterile big box feel… and the only one with a noble product line which suggests that human passions extend beyond expensive crap, loudness, idiocy and ostenacity.

Imagine my joy, then, when I heard that the Duluth Barnes and Noble was moving to a much larger, ornate space over at Miller Hill Mall (perhaps the only mall named after a sleazy American brewing company). Oh, it was nice before… plenty of books, cozy low ceilings, coffee bar… but how could that compete with a towering, outdoor Castle de Barnes facade, menacing high ceilings, an overpriced but well-stocked cd area, shelving in the computer reference section that rises to an unreachable 20 feet, a BIGGER coffee bar with tea and maybe sandwiches and midget slaves scrubbing the floors, and a stage with happy colors and smiling trees, perfect for reading to children and putting on juxtaposed artistic performances with lots of screaming and nudity.

Nevertheless, I have vowed to boycott Barnes and Noble until they move back into their old space. The store used to be by ShopKo, and since no one shops at ShopKo there was always plenty of parking. Parking at Miller Hill is atrocious, and now with the bookstore it is damned impossible to stick my car anywhere. I circled the lot like a dizzy shark for five minutes and didn’t find a single empty space. It’s not that I couldn’t find a space close to the mall, as I’m always willing to park half a mile away just to avoid the crazy sphere of parking lot lawlessness that occurs near any store or mall. Nay, at Miller Hill there was literally nowhere to park. Not even at a great distance away. This pissed me off to no end, so I just left, which in itself was a complicated navigational endeavor.

So, I stand by my belief that Duluth absolutely rocks, so long as you do not ever need to buy anything. It’s the ultimate town to practice simple living because you honestly won’t want to go through the headaches of shopping.

The groove is now online. Welcome back.

the problem with dating

The problem with dating my Blither entries is the crazy times they get written. They are usually written so near midnight that either date straddled could be attached to the entry and be accurate… but sometimes they are written later, or earlier. Today’s (actually yesterday’s, as it’s currently 1:30 in the morning) was an anomaly, written at about 10:00 in the morning. Today II (actually today, the entry being written right now) is arguably a continuation to the Jan. 4th entry. Nevertheless, in a strive for accuracy I labeled it Jan 5th, which will be utterly baffling as I try to write tomorrow’s entry today.

Nate Bahls had a great idea. Between each day there should be a few hours of ‘no-day’. It isn’t today, it isn’t tomorrow, it isn’t an intermediate, it is just… the mystery hours. Maybe I’ll abandon dates altogether. Maybe you should too. Calendar burning starts tomorrow (today?)in front of my apartment.

In case you can’t tell, I haven’t gotten the writing groove back, yet. However, I’ve been listening to KUMD’s Finding the Groove jam band show since driving home from Ryan’s place around midnight, and it may eventually loosen up my mental constipation. They’ve been playing some great stuff: Phish, Bob Marley, Crosby Stills & Nash, a long set of Umphrey’s McGee, Medeski Martin & Wood, Widespread Panic, and a load of excellent artists I’ve never heard before. I grow weary of my personal cd collection, and it’s great to hear some good new stuff for a change. God bless tax dollars and donations for dragging the limp body of mediocre radio out of its wreckage and breathing fresh life into it. Radio is ever so bland these days.

January 4, 2002

zeroed for future retooling

2002 is off to a wonderful start. I wrote a splendid entry the other day on my return to Duluth, a chilling dip in the Lake, rationalities behind all passions… why, I even lapsed into a Latin palindrome, the juices were running so strong!

Of course I deleted the entry by accident, which completely drained all my motivation to start writing up again. Later this week I’ll probably get back in the groove, but right now my interest has been zeroed.

But welcome back. I hope you all are having a wonderful break, and for those of you who work, are enjoying the uninterrupted monotony of that life. Despite my prophecies of ill, I’ll probably do some retooling of Cromlech over the next couple days. A few new sections need to be added (Outside, Quotes) and old ones need to be updated (Archived Blithers, Slapdash Jest, Gnostics). It won’t be too exciting, but it’ll be something. Just something.