Elastic Ask

I'm sitting in Karen Jones's house in Santa Ynez, north of Santa Barbara in California, resisting the temptation to rummage through a stack of interesting looking papers in front of her computer screen. I have this sensation often, I think I just have this insatiable curiosity with STUFF. It stems from my childhood when some stuff was forbidden or secret. As a kid, for months I collected a good amount of stuff (mail) in our kiddie desk drawers, until my mother discovered the secret stash. It turns out some of that stuff was kind of important, like the mortgage and bills, and to this day I am the only reason I'm aware of that my parents' credit rating wouldn't be top notch.

Karen Jones has been serving us omelets with asparagus, hospitality, and non stop entertainment. It's a little like listening to an above average radio show with a pretty funny political commentator, except that it's right in front of you, unedited, which makes it a really amazing show with a hilarious commentator.

Last night we played a charity show organized by Karen for a young LDS woman fighting cancer. Three bands played, and in between each act was an auction for the privilege of cutting some Jones family member's long hair. The climax of the evening was when 32 years of Karen's post-menopausal, opinionated, good-natured hair fell to the ground. Here's a picture of the couple last night's charity was held for. Not to get all somber, but they were only married for four months when Nikki Nash was diagnosed. It's good to be a part of something positive in the face of everything that sucks in life.

I'm too lazy to write a good transition: think of something else for a second before moving on.

Oh - here's a good one - excerpt from our omelet breakfast this morning: "Damn, I want a Pop Tart!" - Karen

Now imagine a mardi gras scene with crazed teenagers falling over each other as the sun sets on a California college town. Tonight, Elizabethan Report is supposed to play in the middle of that. Hopefully there will be a super positive atmosphere with lots of good will. Actually, apathy's pretty hot right now, right? Maybe I don't care at all how it feels there. I'm just a big brick, nothing will affect me.

We're maybe a month away from a new music video, and a little more away from a new album. So I don't want to hear any excuses from any of you about being sad this month. Nasty breakup? Hard to decide what you want to do in life? You have no reason to dismay if you've been reading this blog. None of your failures and heartaches will put a dent in the positive energy we've all got together.