Monday, February 25, 2008

Pueblo Neo-Fascist Architecture

Pasta with "meat" balls, salad with yummy berries, cookies, water at Marsha's

(Wrote humorous post about Pueblo Neo-Fascist architecture on Duke City Fix, with a link to the Domeneci Fed Courthouse last night.)

Down by the Federal Courthouse. We're playing a boardgame, sort of a Monopoly/Trivial Pursuit/Cosmic Encounter sort of thing. I draw a card which has instructions on it. People won't pay attention, won't be quiet. I'm trying to figure out the instructions on the card, something about taking off my pants? Do A, then B, then C, then D. It's very complicated and I can't figure it out. A woman (Marsha?) is trying to read through it with me, but it's simply too complicated.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

tornado cars

Grilled veggie sandwich & sweet potato fries at the Blackbird, some beers. (From Sat night, between the 2 days working at the home & lifestyle nightmare.)

I'm out on the west side, but it's different. Near the escarpment, and somehow I'm flying, in some sort of small craft. From a certain angle, I can see ruins tucked into rifts in the cliff face. (cf my downtown dream. what's up with the ruins hiding under my city?]

Transfer uptown to the bank building at San Mateo & Central. I'm there with Mary Sundstrom & maybe someone else. We're up on a pretty high floor. It's an observation level, completely open across the entire floor, with tables and booths set up and people can sit and have some coffee & a snack and see the city.

I'm telling Mary about the winds there at that building, about the wind tunnel of the canyon, the cables out from the building into the parking lot. She's expressing her appreciation for me taking her there, how nice it is to learn about this fascinating history. Then something out the window catches my eye. "What the FUCK?" It's a blue sedan, and old 80's kinda junker car. The winds have whipped into a cyclone around the building, and the car has been picked up and is gliding slowly towards us. As it approaches, it veers to one side as it enters the cone of the cyclone. I can see a guy in the drivers' seat. He is sitting very quietly, his head down. He knows he is going to die & there's nothing that can be done about it. I'm panic stricken, but I know that I'm powerless to help. And here comes another. A brown Honda is heading up from the ground, it has 2 people in it, they seem more panicked. And another. God, this is horrible. I can't tear my eyes away from it. We are going to watch these people die, and we can't do anything.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Don't get a root canal

Mac & Cheese, Broccoli, biscuits, beer.

I'm with two people, maybe Jacqui & some guy, we're all really punk rock. We're hanging out on and by a fence, sort of our side gate and sort of the white block wall from mom & dad's back yard. They're asking about my mom, about root canals. I tell them that my mom used to be the coldest, meanest dentist in town & you didn't want to get a root canal from her, lemmie tell ya. I make the international sign of getting fisted to punctuate my statement.

Before I know it, the guy I'm hanging out with has drilled open a molar in my mouth & is giving me a root canal, right there on top of the fence. He's really got some leverage into my mouth with this pik, and before I know it, I've fallen clean off the wall. They have to help me back up.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Past & Future Downtown

Boca with swiss & Mushrooms, fries, water at Mannie's

I end up downtown with Andy & Coach Etheridge. I think we have have flown there somehow, vague memory of feeling really uncertain & unsafe, descending from the east along Central Ave, near the Sunshine Building.

But we're downtown. It's a ghost town, completely deserted and weeds are grown up through cracks. Snow on the ground. Coach Etheridge and I are explaining to Andy about why he doesn't recognize it. This is the OLD downtown, from before he moved here. All of these skyscrapers were torn down, we explain. See here, this is where the Cafe (I think maybe New York Pizza Department) will be. We gesture to an absolutely huge black glass building, which must be 50 stories tall. They tore that down, too, we tell him, pointing to the equally huge building just next to the black one (this one white and stripey like the bank building at Central & San Mateo). We make gestures with out fists like we are swinging hammers, to indicate the past/coming destruction. (The buildings and sky have a very downtown Vancouver feel to them.)

And then down HERE, we continue... The street falls away and there is a long, wide, deep gouge back into the earth, into solid rock, like a massive rock overhang at Mesa Verde. It reaches under where the two skyscrapers stand. We scuttle down the slippery snow covered incline until we can see up under, and there are indeed cliff dwelling ruins up under there. I tell Andy that this is the Mission, point out where a mission church (California style, like off a salsa bottle) is grafted into the native architecture. I tell him how I would go down there and look around, but it's just too dangerous. Brave but smart, that's how I present myself. There are bright strands of plastic in neon colors stretched here and there, indicating the danger and instability.

We enjoy the view for a while, and then it's time to work back up the incline to the surface. It's a bit slippery, and coach Etheridge is wearing dress shoes. Andy and I try to give him a supportive shove up the path. It takes a couple of tries but he figures out a way to get traction.

Monday, February 04, 2008

Cloverfield Empire Spaceballs Video Game

Belgian waffles with berries & bananas, some sweets later on.

I'm with little Claire from the restaurant and maybe Josh, too. Maybe my mom? We're out at the east end of town, and the creature from Cloverfield is in the move out there. We keep running, through hills and through groups of little old adobe houses. There's a culture of these reptilian beings in a depression out there, and I try to lead the creature there. The creatures are shaped like the insects that hide as rose thorns, but with muscular, humanoid limbs, and they walk upright. The Empire (a la Star Wars) is there, and we have to stay away from the stormtroopers, too. And Vader is there, but in his Spaceballs-sized helmet. And he floats like Vader in Battlefront. There are several small craft around, and I try to fly in some, which affords me a reticle view like Battlefront. At a certain point, Claire is leaning up against one of the houses, she's exhausted, and near tears, but still wants to go on.

(A giant mish-mash of a dream.)

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Iva has a skunk

Opening night for Coach Tristani's show, came home and Josh had made Chickn Parm sammies & chips, had a couple beers.

I have to go over to Iva Morris' house to feed her pets while she's away. It's not in the country, but kind of out in an area with some woods nearby. (Actually looks a lot like my memories of Seminole, or...?) A very little brick house up on a foundation that's painted sort of teal, and trim to match. I'm there with maybe Josh and maybe someone else. I'm not really certain what her pets are, or what I'm to do for them, but I'm certain I'll figure it out. We go in, and the house seems to be one small room, crammed with homey antiques. On a low table in front of a window across the room, a large skunk is relieving itself into a small litter pan. Bloop bloop bloop. I freeze, really uncertain of what to do. A skunk has gotten in the house? Or...is this like that PBS commercial-- is the skunk a pet? How am I to know? Panic or offer it a cookie? Fuck, Iva. What the hell? The skunk makes a run towards me, but really just towards the open door. Do I stop it? Try to keep it in. I panic and try to pin it with my boot. Somehow I miss and Ixopo is caught underfoot instead. She lets out a little kitty squawk, I have her just under the ribs, on her back. Yikes! Sorry! Hey, she's okay. But the skunk got past me.