February 2008 Archives
Ribeye
By on February 22, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (7)
This is Ribeye. He is an excellent cow. While his pen mates are skittish and disinterested, Ribeye is gentle and eager for attention. He’s kind of a flirt, really. I’ve noticed that Ribeye is particularly fond of being scratched behind the ears and on the underside of his cheeks. Occaisionally I let his rough tongue lick my hand. Until recently, I had no concept of the emotional intelligence of a cow. When he attempted to chew through a water hose, I reprimanded Ribeye like a dog. Surprisingly, he backed away, cocked his head to the side a bit and turned his ears backwards. He was visibly shaken by my loud voice. Seeing the emotion in this cow makes for unstable ground. In April, my roommate (who owns and cares for the cows) will take Ribeye to the slaughter house. She’ll sell some of the meat, but most will come back to our house, along with his hide.
I am a vegetarian, but a loose one. I would say that I am an occasional cheater, but I made the rules so I don’t think that applies. My long-standing logic that I would only eat an animal raised in my back yard is about to be challenged and I am a bit nervous.
Also though…baby:
In praise of polaroids
By on February 14, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1)
I am always disappointed when technologies become obsolete. I am generally annoyed at the fact that I can only listen to tapes through a walkman (which I recently bought from Riteaid— the last and dusty walkman on the shelf). Currently, my disappointment lies in the end of the polaroid. The end of technologies in some ways makes me think about waste and factories and sterile environments like clean rooms. I am slow to praise new technologies and feel relatively dumb about them. But then, I mourn the end of objects because I never had them. Like I missed out on essential moments in technology that from here on out will only become more of the same. Suddenly, my urge to buy a polaroid camera and become a future hunter of obsolete film is through the roof. But alas, it’s not going to happen. I do, however, have a few polaroids that I am rather fond of. May as well digitize them, huh?
Borrowed polaroid camera in Tokyo.
From my Grandmother’s collection. November 17, 1979. 
The port from Katie.
strange thing out here…
By on February 5, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Several months ago I came across an overturned BMW. Reluctantly, I pulled over to scope it out, thinking that I was about to discover a bloody mess. These roads are traveled, but not extensively. I imagined a man trapped inside, waiting to be discovered by a passerby.
Fortunately, and strangely, there was no one inside. I was a bit confused. The car was upside down and the doors were impossible to open, but it remained relatively unscathed. The windshield was broken, but still in place, and the rest of the windows were intact and rolled up. The trunk was locked. I circled the car and wondered how the hell this guy got out. Where did he go?
I believe he may have surfaced last night. At 11:00 at night while on my bike ride home Nick and I were asked for directions from a man standing in the middle of the road (without a car) several miles from town, and about 1/4 mile from where the BMW flipped in December.
“Excuse me, do you know how to get to Kidwell Street from here?”
We hesitated, almost unsure if we were in fact being asked for directions out here. Nick got off his bike and I circled slowly in the middle of the road.
We argued briefly as to which streets dead-ended where and whether to turn right or left, but managed to give him decent directions.
He seemed a little dizzied by the situation (me biking in circles may have aided in that) and as we were leaving I asked, “you gonna make it out of here ok?”
“I should be fine,” he said, “My grandma’s coming to pick me up.”
If he had been naked it would have been weirder. But alas, he was fully clothed.
