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Nick

Shoot…

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Who knew that dancing could actually be fun? Not I.

Last night was MEN with Hey Willpower at the Black Cat in DC and it was essentially a total dance party of the highest magnitude. MEN, for those that may not know, is 2/3 of Le Tigre and it’s basically JD and Jo playing whatever they want from their computers and dancing about in cape-lets. Backing up a bit, though…

We got to DC around 9:00 and Shannon led Kate and I to “Jumbo Slice,” a by the slice pizza place that does not falsely advertise (and get right to the point with naming.) We then rolled over to the venue, figuring we’d be late since doors opened at 9:00. However, we got upstairs to find we were the only people there save for a few merch sellers, the bartender and the coat check dude. “Well, they must be starting soon…” thought we as we swilled vodka tonics and Jack and Cokes.

Hey Willpower took the stage at 11:00.

Oddly, though, with some prompting from Kate and a quick lesson I was dancing sober. And by the time MEN took the stage, I was dancing sober up front. Though Kate had more fun by far. Her worried look of “oh, shit…how am I going to pull this event off” disappeared and was replaced by a giant smile. She even took the stage with Shannon to dance with JD and Jo themselves.

It was pretty much awesome. Kind of like hanging out with the band and 100 of their close friends. JD’s girlfriend, the wonderful Sia (who was playing DC last night, too), came with drinks and Hey Willpower was just sorta playing around in the control booth and talking to random people throughout the night. Kate even got to talk to JD as she bought one of their shirts – “MEN ARE DJS,” written in tiny women’s symbols.

So yeah. Fun times…totally would do again. And definitely getting behind the idea of DJ shows after being indoctrinated with Jus†ice at the Trocadero. (Thanks, Dusty!)

All moved in…

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Through a Herculean effort on my own part last night, I was able to finish up getting the last of my belongings (including Clyde) inside safe and sound. Talk about EXHAUSTING. Kate helped me with the dresser, which would not be in here otherwise, and provided a delicious excursion to Sushi Yama in Middletown as a break. But, otherwise, it was all work and no fun for me.

But oh so worth it. After the jump, behold my new place (some photos you’ve seen, but I am putting this all in one set.) Click through to Flickr for commentary.

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Just because I have a soft spot for pugs

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Actually, no I don’t. But that was the subject line of a comment waiting in moderation when I logged in to write a post and I was quite smitten with the statement.

Readers: moving sucks. It has been killing every single evening and weekend moment for the last two weeks and I’m entirely over it. Luckily, if I can find some helping hands to get my dresser up to the second floor tonight, I should be done by 9:00 pm. I think. If I don’t electrocute myself while getting my dining room light fixture out of the ceiling. Or fall down the stairs carrying a box of dinnerware.

So many opportunities for death, dismemberment and maiming. Ah, moving…

Actually, though, for my twisted back and bruised groin, I have a pretty kickin’ apartment to show. I’ll post photos soon, don’t you worry, but I can say that I’m totally chuffed with how it’s shaped up over the last few days. 🙂

The car search has begun (or: the car search continues unabated)

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Readers, you know me and cars. You know I am nearly always in search of my next one. Save for the first month or so that my current car is in my possession, I am on a never ending quest to get more airbags, more speakers, and more air conditioned storage compartments (fun fact: the Jetta has two!)

Well, since March marks the 1 year to go mark with my current lease, we are hitting a fever pitch! I’ve been steadily reviewing the offerings of both Japan and Germany, trying my damnedest to narrow down the options. So far, I’ve been doing a very good job, but for some reason, I seem to have hit a wall.

Therefore, my loyal friends, I turn to you for your thoughts and opinions. I will present you with the options and you can comment. It’s a very easy game, you see. Perhaps I’ll make this a monthly thing (as you see, dear readers, the automakers are even more dedicated to confusing me as I am to unraveling their product lines and are always expanding.)

To make it easier, I am breaking down by country of (supposed) origin:

  • Japan
  • Germany

You see my predicament. So many sexy choices but only one can come home to live with me. 🙁

New Apartment

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As many of you may already know, I’ve been undertaking a relentless search for new lodging over the last few weeks. I think, though, I’ve finally arrived at an ideal location. Right next door to my current building, oddly enough. The following is a pictographic tour of really grainy iPhone photos. Click through to Flickr for descriptive captions:

Of particular note and not captioned/capture in photos is the fact that a) I was there on this past Saturday to clean. Unlike this current apartment, initial cleaning took only two hours, not fourteen. b) The floors do not splinter off into tiny pieces when you mop/look at them. c) There is what appears to be CENTRAL AIR. This is an amazing godsend in Chestertown. d) There’s an icemaker in my refrigerator!

Dusty already knows this, but…

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I totally saw a Smart ForTwo driving the streets of Chestertown this week! It was the most adorable little thing I’ve seen in recent memory. Not the gorgeous citron color that I fell in love with during European excursions, but still a pleasantly sunny yellow/black combination. It really, really looked SMALL in comparison to the other cars on the road, but only in length. The height of the car was comparable to a Beetle and it didn’t really seem that tiny in our oversized American lanes. Granted, there was no Ford Expenditure bearing down on it at the time, but I thought it looked pretty at home.

Jalopnik shared this fun piece today: Smart Presents Art Project, American Apparel-esque Marketing Strategy. An art project to launch a human-scale car from the other side of the Atlantic? *swoon*

New Painting…Not Sold On This One

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I just completed a painting I’ve been working on for the last two weeks. And when I say working on, I mean I started it two weeks ago, got fed up with it and let it sit idly in my office for the last few days while I tried to figure out what to do with it.

See the lime looking thing in the corner? I had a dream about that several months ago (a time with no water colors.) I wrote down a description of it and thought “well, now I’m set to paint.” However, I did not realize that I had nothing to go off of other than that small description so filling the rest of the paper was a bit of a challenge.

I eventually decided that I’d put some words on the rest of the space and settled on a quote from Matisse about color. The text reads: “Seek the strongest color effect possible…the content is of no importance.” I’d say this pretty well sums up my life as a designer.

I dunno, though. What do you think?