Lame April Hiatus

It’s no secret that I’m a “semi-regular” blogger, but I’ve been slowing down to an embarassing rate recently. I’m really pushing my drawing this month (for reasons I’ll explain later), and because I’ll probably have to start going crazy with work for the end of my last semester of college, so I’m gonna opt out of blogging for at least April. That’s not to say that I won’t blog, but this gives me an excuse to not. Keep an eye on my flickr if you are interested in new drawings or photos.

Postcard #1: Marvin Gaye

One of the authors of a blog I read regularly recently mentioned that he keeps up a postcard regimine. Coincidentally, a friend of mine frequently sends my house postcards/messages/collages.  I really like the idea of sending people random postcards, and I think I’ll start doing it weekly. The first one is above. Not only is it a brief and welcome distraction from routine, my family has inherited a (miniscule) wealth of old stamps that have no real value but are still really cool.

I mean, that’s pretty great design. Check out some others. So if you recieve a postcard from me, feel free to respond! I want to correspond with pretty much everyone. Leave addresses in comments if you want, or email me your address.

Rad Libs are ________ (Adverb) Fun

So, this weekend, it was rainy, and I pulled out the “Son of Mad Libs” book I had brought from home on a whim. We played a couple of them and in a way rediscovered the format. I really enjoyed it, and recognized the same kind of feelings I get when playing a game like Scatagories or Apples to Apples. And while Mad Libs is kind of fun in the way that old lame things are fun, we thought it might also be fun to try and update it.

So now some friends and I have embarked on a new project, and we’re calling it Rad Libs. Every week day we’ll have a new one up. Our goal is for each to be funny, relevant, and doable. We want you to be able to print it out and enjoy it by yourself or with others, or to just read it and smirk. And isn’t that the point of internet humor? We think we’re on to something here, and I hope you’ll agree. I might be blogging a little bit less while we get this going, but I imagine I’ll soon incorporate it into my routine like I have with this here blog.

Gorgonzola, Pears, and a Brief Spring Moment

First thing’s first: last night David and I made a fantastic meal we are both quite proud of. It was fresh orecchiette pasta in a gorgonzola cheese sauce with sautéed pears and a little arugula (rucola here and rocket in England) on the side. It was really great. It’s not really a spring dish, but it was really delicious.

So, it’s been a few days and I thought I’d leave a kind of a general post before David and I leave for spring break in Prague and Berlin tomorrow. This trip is looking like it’s going to be really fantastic, and I’m hoping to post, at least briefly, from our friend Charlotte’s place.

It’s been raining a lot this weekend, but it’s been starting to get become really nice out in general. Last night I went to a club called Le Maison. Admittedly, I haven’t done much clubbing here, but this place was pretty much everything I could want or expect from a European club. There was at least an hour featuring only my favorite 90s alt-rock hits. I didn’t get Euro-trashed, but we did stay until it closed. Walking back to trastevere, the streets were empty, the air was crisp but not chilly, and the sky was out of rain as if recharging for dawn.

Here’s a poem for you; “The Last Word of a Blue Bird” by Robert Frost. Read it out loud, and remember that trough is supposed to rhyme with cough.

As I went out a Crow
In a low voice said, “Oh,
I was looking for you.
How do you do?
I just came to tell you
To tell Lesley (will you?)
That her little Bluebird
Wanted me to bring word
That the north wind last night
That made the stars bright
And made ice on the trough
Almost made him cough
His tail feathers off.
He just had to fly!
But he sent her Good-by,
And said to be good,
And wear her red hood,
And look for the skunk tracks
In the snow with an ax-
And do everything!
And perhaps in the spring
He would come back and sing.

Shout Outs

So, this is a bit unusual for me, but I figured it was worth doing. You see, since I started this blog last August, a lot of my friends have started blogs, and the inevitable happened — the blogs are good! Blogs have been around for over a decade, but now that they aren’t just gloried livejournals and xangas, everyone wants in. Paragraphs upon paragraphs of links after the jump.

Blogging Kenyan Violence

Since Kenya has become/continued to be violent throughout January, I thought I’d briefly write about an excellent website/blog I was turned onto recently. If you’re like me, you like to consider yourself a somewhat well informed American. That means being able to describe what’s going in the primaries but not what’s going on in the country of Africa. But unfortunately, even many Kenyans are in the dark, as television and radio access has been spotty/unreliable. However, some very intelligent Kenyan bloggers have allied and created Ushahidi. The site impressively utilizes tech like google maps in order to keep an up-to-date map of all violent events. And if you still don’t know what I’m talking about, they have what looks like a pretty good chronology of recent events. Still afraid of googlezon? Here’s web 2.0 at its best people.

photo from flickr user ActionPixs (Maruko)