WEEK IN REVIEW III

This past week started with the realization that my husband’s band had completely forgotten to order prints of their new full-length (which has been recorded for over a year). Not that this was unusual - especially due to the fact there was no funds to order them – but it was posted all over the venue and the Internet that Saturday was their record release. And (not so unusually) so, we rushed and managed to print off some fairly good-looking CDs. And it was awesome. It was like it used to be, when we would drink beers, listen to loud punk rock, and rush to put together any merch we can. We’ve burned screen-printed shirts with the heat gun and managed to sell them, and I’ve put out issues of the ‘zine full of pages of Sharpee drawings that I did in the car on the way to printing. But we sweat shop through the week, and it’s amazing. WaRshington by The Savage Henrys is done and out into the world at last. I miss being frantically busy with something I love. I am going to start working on independent publishing again. I can’t wait for sleepless nights and unrealistic deadlines.

And the show was reminiscent of what I was sober enough to remember from the old days. My favorite band to see live, Hillstomp, were the headliners. They used to play here often, and when they were paired up with The ‘Henrys it meant an over-capacity romping good time. The crowd becomes an unstoppable force of twisting and jumping, and I don’t think there was a moment when there wasn’t someone crowd-surfing along the top of the wave; strangers grabbing their calf or shoulder to support their weight and keep them afloat. In-between bands the venue emptied of its 300-sum persons to fill the sidewalk with noise. And the dingy, stickered vans outside spewed empty beer cans and pipe smoke as we all piled into them for cheap drinks and shelter from the high bar prices. After the show we somehow made it back to The Castle to drink moonshine and stay up until 10:00 A.M.

It was a beautiful and inspiring week.

 

1.  Joe's new Doc's with Bouncing Soles.
2.  Hunter S. Thompson and those wolf eyes of his.
3.  Listening to Bouncing Souls while slaving over button presses and cheap, crappy jewel cases.
4.  The finished CDs looking more professional than expected.
5.  CD inserts and buttons.
6.  One of the few pictures I got of the party.

WEEKS IN REVIEW...

...since we last had internet.  We had a few days of snow and frost, and fun, blurry nights in the warm orange light of our dining room.

1.  Hunter plugs his snout in his butt to re-boot for the day.
2.  Bashfully wiping off the kisses I just gave him.
3.  Hunter's second Winter.  He's about four times the size he was last winter.
4.  Ol' Dr. Livingston, our cookie-jar-turned-ash-tray, snubbing out a cig in the frost.
5.  It's a stocking feet game!
6.  A priceless relic found in the depths of a SandCastle junk drawer.
7.  My husbands broken fingers from me slipping during a twisting session one late drunken night.
8&9.  Our 60-yr aged bottle of Jim Beam we were given for Christmas.  It was sweet and tasty with a slight army-surplus after taste.
9.  Button making with the old button press.
10.  A messy table, one of my favorite things to photograph... They always say so much about what's gone on and the fun that's been had.

Well now that we are with internet I will be posting more often, if anyone happens to be reading this.  If not, I am enjoying posting my photos none-the-less!

IN A HOUSE FLOODED WITH NATURAL LIGHT...

We're not technically on our lease right now at our new home, so whenever the landlord comes over we have to run away and hide.  Reminiscent of a slumlord, she comes once a month, with a lot of questions and concerns, to gather rent and walk through the house telling us what to change and fix.  And while she's here, my husband, Hunter and I run off to my in-laws to hide and wait for the "it's all clear" call. 

So today was rent day and we hid as usual.  My in-laws house is beautiful and full of wonderful things gathered from a number of countries, as well as items passed down through their families.  It's always full of natural light and I constantly have to hold myself back from creepily photographing every item in their house.

1.  A tasty ham n' cheese I made to go with my desperately-needed coffee.
2.  My husband and his coffee.
3.  That hound is so fucking handsome!

WEEK IN REVIEW...



 

    1&2.  Toothless Grin bluegrass at the open mic.

    3.  Breakfast out with Joe at the best restaurant in town, Magills.  It's local and amazing and they

         just opened one in The Uptown in Richland.  They sell homemade dog treats, too!

    4.  New book from my favorite used bookstore, Adventures Underground.  Next time I'll take a

         picture of their live-in dog, a Scottish Wolfhound I believe.

    5.  Outside Adventures...

    6&7.  Bluegrass and Whiskey

    8.  Delicious Pendleton and our US Military spoons, with the perfect straight handles for my hands

         to play percussion.

 

   This week was unusual for us, since we finally are back to having a little bit of spending money.

   We were able to go back to some things we love, such as going out to breakfast and buying new

   books and music equipment.  And we stuck with the joys we can have no matter what, like

   bluegrass and hanging out with old friends.

PHOTO FAVORITES: CREATURES...

Here are some of my favorite pictures I've taken of animals.  I think I'll do some strictly-photo posts, mainly my favorites of certain themes, and just recent pictures of small things that have happened or made me happy!  I just love pictures, and I hope whoever reads this does, too!

To start, this is Gertie the Birdie.  My hound found her in our yard one day and tried to play with her.  She wasn't having it, but she was very friendly, gorgeous and used to people.  After walking up and down the street, and convincing her elderly owner to answer her door to the 6'6" red-mohawked, tattooed man who was knocking, my husband returned her home.  As a reward we got two dozen fresh eggs, which I quickly turned into tarts, breakfasts and tapioca (recipes I'm sure I'll post eventually).

These are two heffers staring me down as we purchased their friend for a scene in the independent film, Summum Bonum.  We drank whiskey on the way up in a cramped truck, took backward directions from a farmer, and ended up at a shut-down weigh station outside of Ritzville, Washington.  We were then instructed to follow the man and his truck to his property to pick up the cow.  Our rickety borrowed trailer (a shitty one for aesthetic purposes, since the scene was of them stealing the cow, rather than purchasing), we showed up in the middle of no-where lit up with flood lights... turkeys gobbling in the background.  His dog whined the whole time, as if he knew we were taking the cow to slaughter, so as I shined a flashlight on the trailer I held the dog with my other hand and told him it was all ok.  Long story short(er):  our shitty trailer was too small, and after wrenching it off with a forklift, we were able to barrow the farmer's rig and finally arrive to scene at 2:00 AM with an angry cow pacing back and forth behind us.

And this, of course, is my hound, Hunter.  When he was young with over-sized paws and ears.  He looks sad, but he sure is a happy puppy!

*My photo explanations probably won't be as long in the future... a few of these pictures come with entire posts of their own, which I would have written if I had this blog at the time.



I am Laura.  I am married to a beautiful mountain of a man named Joe, and together raise our wolf hound, Hunter S. Thompson.  They are pieces of art, and I continue to be inspired by them to create more art.  We recently moved out of our first house and into a brutal metal house called The Sandcastle, until we find a new place of our own.

Our first home had been all it was supposed to be:  the first home for a married couple.  It wasn't meant to be a fancy apartment, or a room in a house full of roommates, but a cramped shack where the heat didn't work and we had to wash our underwear in the bathtub.  It was small and broken... and lovely.  simplicity became beautiful, and every minuscule object and every mess that was left was a miracle and a piece of art.  To take a moment to look around one's self and notice what surrounded you was overwhelming.  For how could one quickly draw and photograph the beauty of the mess left from living, before the house was full, loud, and changed again.

And now we are living in The Sandcastle.  Hunter can run freely through the big back yard and hide from the many parties, and we can save up for moving and getting everything back on track.  But every thing's still wonderful, and every small thing will continue to prove that we are all surrounded by beautiful things.

This is my hound, Hunter and my husband, Joe.  As far as Hunter goes, I take at least five photos of him a day, and frequently sketch him for as long as he'll sit still.  He's half wolf, half German Shepherd, and I wish I would have had a camera with me to take pictures of his parents when we picked him up.  He's smart and handsome, and is growing quite the big head after acting in his first movie (and it doesn't help that I am always telling him how handsome he is).  And as far as my husband goes, I always want to take pictures of him and draw him, but I hold back for his sake.

We go to a lot of shows and do alot of beautiful things, and I started this blog to document some of these ventures.  I take alot of pictures, and write about everything in my head while we're out, so at last, I've created an outlet for this.  I hope it's at least a little interesting to read, I know it will be enjoyable to write, so that's good enough for me.

I also may be posting about some things from the past (such as stories from our old house, Fort Ruckus) since I am just now starting this blog!  Also, because I loved our house dearly, as well as the beginning of our marriage.  Looking back, we've done a lot of great things thus far, and have met a lot of wonderful people, and it seems to be continuing on; we've been given even more fantastic opportunities and every day is better than the last.

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