pancake landscape: part 1 in a multiple update kind of day

Finished morning proofing at work, grocery shopping, bridge crossing and all roads lead to PANCAKE MAKING while the coffee's brewing. I sat down with Mozart and the Musketeers and tried to make breakfast as pretentious as possible, with lots of butter and maple syrup too.

Another night assignment means another afternoon off. So I'm going to clean the studio, do some drawing and some writing and probably go to Ross to buy household items like...cups. I have a house guest coming tomorrow and I don't expect her to abide by my primitive standards of life quality.

For your amusement:

1. My newest favorite place on the internet: UNHAPPY HIPSTERS. How could this not make me smile? Especially to have one reason to be glad I don't live in Portland. So far, it's the only reason. Not that I'm homesick. I'm not. I'm very happy where I am, especially since I can wear reasonable, non-North Face, seasonable clothing and not feel like I'm being judged. I was so close to getting a sparrow tattoo you have no idea. It was the peer pressure. Now all I need to make me happy is a baseball cap and some better hiking boots. Mine squeak and I'm ashamed of them.

2. ARMS DEALERS! holy Gregorian chant, Batman! This story is crazy. Obviously my understanding of the modern world is lacking since this whole scenario of arms dealers and assassins blows my mind. Also interesting: as powerful as these men are, they have a hard time actually killing people. The movies make it look so easy: You have ultimate power, you pick up a phone and say in stony tones, "Deal with it" and some masked underling mutters, "It is already done" and BLAMMO, no more Swiss mercenary turn-coat even though he was protected by the entire neutral Swiss army and was being kept in a secret location in a country that doesn't exist.

Not how it goes out there in the real wilderness. Should I find this comforting? Or is it still scary that so much effort is being put into attempted murder? I don't know.

And, what makes these people so appealing? These ruthless men of money and blood? Is it like how we're afraid of God, the infinity overwhelms us? Both benevolent and brutal? Something that guides our small and big concerns through economics, geography, history, society, ethnicity, sexuality, what atrocities we practice on our verbs, what glorious heights we raise our infirmities toward. These puppeteers fascinate us and are the reason we write so many books.

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Things to look forward to:

1. SARA JOHNSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (if all goes according to plan)

2. Fisher Poets Gathering, aka my weekend assignment. I'm going to pretend that I'm on assignment from a famous magazine. Like that kid from "Almost Famous". I thought the movie was dumb, but I loved that kid.

3. Album review. Hopefully it will be up tomorrow. Yes, I'm reviewing an album. Should be fun.