Everybody Get Random

Hmmmmm...I'm not quite ready to continue with blogging about our trip to China from several months ago just yet, and to tell you the truth, I'm not even sure where we left off! So, maybe I'll get back on that tomorrow? Instead, here's ten random images culled from the Rancho Cocoa Flickr account:


(Missy shooting arrows at a backyard BBQ here in Athens)


(Housesitting for some friends...Missy taking advantage of their indoor hot tub)


(A spooky graveyard treat we made last Halloween)


(Calvin Johnson at the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, last Thanksgiving)


(Our friend Jay MC'ing as a circus ringleader at the 2005 Athens Popfest)


(Post-It note I put up in my cubicle at work, reminding co-workers how to properly check-out archival discs from my desk)


(Picking up the mail from our PO Box)


(Some local graffiti - a lot of people around town thought this was Missy's doing)


(Missy at the roller derby championship in Hollywood, California, waiting for a hi-five from a victorious roller gal)


(Booth marker at the I.C.E. Holiday sale, Winter 2007)

Weekend Wind-Down #14

This weekend has been all about getting chores done - chores that went neglected over the past couple of weeks. Today has been all about cleaning up, although, I did spend an inordinate amount of time practicing guitar...it seems like so long since I've practiced guitar since I've deferred to playing my trumpet and toy piano the past year or two. I've been "shaking off the cobwebs", so in a sense, I guess that's all about cleaning too.

Yesterday, we ran to KINKOS (a.k.a. FedEx/Kinkos, soon to be FEDEX OFFICE) so that Missy could run off some zines. She had a couple of orders for her haiku collection, "AHOY THERE!", but had nothing in stock. So, a dreaded trip to Kinkos was necessary. How do you make a mundane chore a little more exciting? Document it...

First, Missy selects some colored paper:



Then, she finds her "copy master":



She runs a test copy to make sure nothing gets cut off in the copying process:





Finally, Missy cuts up the pages and staples them together...



FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - excited about drawing some new characters
RAOUL - seeing Family Tree perform was pretty special

WORST MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - not knowing where everything was at (the non-local) Kroger yesterday
RAOUL - waiting to leave work on Friday was excruciating

WORD OR PHRASE OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - "shut up and let me cut your hair"
RAOUL - "it only jiggles when you spank it" (overheard in the hallway at work)

FAVORITE MEAL OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - the couscous I made yesterday night
RAOUL - Missy's couscous

WHAT'S YOUR IDEAL 4TH OF JULY HOLIDAY MEAL/FOOD?
MISSY - American flag cake - strawberries for red, blueberries for blue, and Coolwhip for the white
RAOUL - it would involve several scoops of different flavors of ice cream and sprinkles in a large bowl

WHAT'S YOUR WEEKLY RESOLUTION FOR THIS WEEK?
MISSY - ugh...finish cleaning up my stuff and get ready to sand and paint
RAOUL - keep up with the "exercising"

WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST "WASTE OF TIME" LAST WEEK?
MISSY - trying to log onto Etsy...it's not working!
RAOUL - anytime I was on the internet, instead of doing household chores

SOUNDTRACK FOR THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Belle & Sebastian, Au Revoir Simone, April March, Mirah
RAOUL - Sportsguitar, Beck, Wolfie, Family Tree, DJ Shadow, New Age Steppers, Teenbeat Records 20th Anniversary comp

Clog Blog

Raoul is in the other room practicing, but I thought I would make this the "Clog Blog" tonight. Here are my hand-painted Gretel's Clogs. I don't think they make them anymore, but if anyone knows please let me know. I love these shoes but for a long time I did not love them. I love to wear socks, but I am just now getting used to not wearing them and these shoes fit better without. I love the tiny little flowers and navy blue color with red trim!

This photo was taken at the "Spillage House" on Milledge Avenue when the French Toasts played there, so no, that is not our floor!

Operation Cutify

(it's not LEATHERFACE - it's just Missy and her trusty hand sander)

So, last weekend, OPERATION CUTIFY, a.k.a. OP CUTE, started in earnest. Despite already doing a million things at once, we decided that it was high time that we did some home improvement. Not that some things haven't been done...it's just that A LOT MORE could be done, in order to make our home even cuter and more deserving of a name like RANCHO COCOA. Last weekend, we began with pulling out nails, spackling holes, and sanding...our first order of business is to get rid of the ugly forest green trim around the dining area. Our hopes are for the walls to be painted a nice, pale minty green (not chartreuse!), and for the trim to match the cream colored trim in the master bath and in our pink mudroom:



a "before" picture of the green trim around the passway into our "Knotty Pine Woodland Room"...you can see our living room to the left; the hallway leads down to our craft/instrument room on the left, and the "Toot Suite" (my room) to the right. You pass a little closet and a bathroom on the right side of the hallway, on your way to the craft room and Toot Suite, and there's another closet at the very end of the hallway. Our "Supply Closet" is to the right of the hallway:







Another "before" shot...hopefully in a couple of months we'll be able to show you an "after" shot that we can be proud of:



Today, we went to LOWES to buy some plants for the front and back yards...Op Cute is a two-pronged, indoor/outdoor attack! We wheeled our new plant buddies around in the cart, stopped to get some more cream-colored paint mixed, and then chose a possible color for the living room - a very light taupe that matches a color on one of our throw pillows. Martha would be proud:













On the way home, we stopped at KROGER for some groceries...we spotted this birthday balloon that Missy designed. There were other balloons there that Missy designed (as well as other designs by our co-workers), but she's especially proud of these cupcakes she painted, as opposed to the more graphic and flat designs that she's used to pumping out:

Flicker Jamboree

(my FRENCH TOASTS set-up: toy piano, alligator xylophone, and shaky banana)

Hi Everbody!

Finally, here are some photos and video snippets from our show this past wednesday...all this stuff happened on June 25th, 2008 at the FLICKER THEATER & BAR...Missy and I performed as THE FRENCH TOASTS, a band from Long Beach, California called FAMILY TREE shared the stage with us, and lastly, GEMINI CRICKET helped round out the show.

Missy and I got to Flicker a bit after 8:30pm, after hauling our equipment a couple of blocks. Good thing we don't use amps! We set up our instruments on a couple of tables in the middle of the room, shunning the stage (we hardly ever perform on stages if we can help it):


(Missy's FRENCH TOASTS set-up: toy piano, kazoo, xylophone, happy apple, triangle, and alligator xylophone - we have two!)


(Missy talks to our friends, Shelly and Tina, under the watchful eye of R2-D2, who lurks in the corner and scans everybody's brain waves)



After we performed a brief but rousing set, our new favorite live band hit the stage full force with folky sing-alongs and pitch perfect harmonies...this is what you'd get if you K RECORDS and the movie "A MIGHTY WIND":





















Some of the SPILLAGE HOUSE tenants, dressed in splendid headgear, stopped by with a gift for Family Tree - a one-eyed alien/monster thing they made with cardboard and schoolhouse craft supplies:





We bought a cd off the band, and Missy bought a crocheted finger puppet bear. Not only are Family Tree an awesome live band, but they also have awesome merch! Missy hit up Flicker's FREE POPCORN machine between bands, and took pictures of newly-christened JOLLY OLLY BANJO BEAR frolicking in salty-buttery goodness:









Sara performed a little dance with Ian (FAIRMOUNT FAIR, FOLKLORE, NANA GRIZOL, etc.) while Blake ran to the restroom:





Jolly Olly Banjo Bear and his newfound friend (Ian couldn't resist the crochet bears either) on the attack...I don't know what happened next, because the flash on my camera depleted the last bit of energy left in the batteries...