inspired by glenn and his constant quiz-taking, i found one that looked pertinent today:
Your EQ score is 27.
0-32
You have a lower than average ability for understanding how people feel and responding appropriately. Most people with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism score about 20. On average, most women score about 47 and most men about 42.
great news! i'm not autistic!
Posted by ash at 11:04 AM
"These could be the new gangsta rap coloring book."
24 stickers, each with a quote off Dr Dre's The Chronic and with pics of the relevant mug who said it or it was said about. These were made in celebration of Life Sucks Die's first annual Dre Day party (Feb 18th, Andre Young's birthday).
order from turntable lab
i have just arrived home from oklahoma, this might have been the first time i was ever sad to leave there. my nephew took his first long car trip this morning (in the back seat of a ford truck) when my brother and his wife drove me to the airport. he slept all the way. he wears blue mittens so his nails won't scratch his face.
when i first held my nephew i kept hearing that stp "song for sleeping" in my head - finally i've met you! - but it was quickly replaced by a new song... blue fish, with scales that shine. if i pet you, will you be mine? it will be a while before jaeger really appreciates the toys i bought him, but my brother and i are already driving his mother crazy with them.
Posted by ash at 12:24 AMmy brother was born on september 10, and so for most of my life that has been a special date. two years ago, when an act of terrorism happened on the day after that, i worried that his birthday would always be overshadowed. this year, my brother was expecting his first child during the week of his birthday. i made my plans to travel down to oklahoma, and because of the way my work was scheduled, the most convenient day for me to fly was september 11. it didn't worry me, but in the airport i could hear televised memorial services taking place at the wtc site as i waited for my flight. while i was between flights in chicago, my phone rang. my mother was on the phone, telling me that my sister-in-law was in labor. the baby was coming, even as i traveled to meet him.
when i arrived in oklahoma, she was almost ready to leave for the hospital. my brother was nervous. i spent the night in a chair in the hospital. at 7:15 the next morning my nephew was born. his name is jaeger rand frazier. when he was born he cried for 10 minutes and hardly stopped to breathe. his hands and feet were so purple. he is perfect.
i won't ever forget what happened on september 11 in 2001. but the most important thing about each 9-11 from now on will be that it is the day between the birthdays of the two boys i love most.
my fabulous friend ann accompanied me to john freyer's SOUVENIRS show last night. it was quite an adventure getting there, as we were intending to meet her daughter at lincoln center on our way there and then her daughter cancelled about halfway in. we 
aren't that good at making shifts on the fly in the middle of manhattan. ann won't like me saying that, as she is quite the city driver. in any case, as we pulled into our usual illegal parking spot (our running wager: "towed or ticketed?" i am the cautious one, usually go for towed. we have never been towed. ann is always the wiser of the two of us.) we could see a crowd spilling out of the gallery. there was a throbbing techno beat. and everyone was wearing tight shirts. not a natural fiber to be seen. "are you sure this is it?" i said. while it was certainly an opening, and we were on the right block, i couldn't believe this was john freyer's crowd. i couldn't see the sign at the door through the thick sea of bodies, though. finally i found a business card. "this is number one hundred something. we need 93." thank F. this crowd was far too cool for me. half a block further down we found the fishy goodness we were looking for, and the warehousy space i had been expecting. everything looked great, except the drummer had food poisoning. but the moving pictures were cool and the soundtrack that went along with them was sounding quite groovy although i was glad i didn't have to listen to it for the full three hours. it was exciting to see that john freyer had real honest-to-freedom art for sale that wasn't up on ebay. that made me happy. because really, selling your photographs is much nicer than selling your toothbrush.
and finally...my nephew will be born any second now! yeah, i know, this is a picture of me with another baby. my practice nephew. he came to play with me last week. i have gotten to try out all the good toys on him in the past year so i will know what works on my nephew. so far, it seems like everything, unless his mom is lying just to make me feel better. i thought i hated babies, but the one i know is awesome, and i am very excited about demento. that's 2 for 2. i think i will stop while i am in the pink.
this isn't really new, but i was thinking of it yesterday because "sixteen candles" was on vh1 movies that rock. if molly ringwald had dropped that sex quiz on the floor in 2003 it might have ended up in found magazine. from bizzarre shopping lists to poignant dear john letters, the find of the week feature offers a fascinating window into a moment of some stranger's life. mispeled words, teenybopper bubble letters, hand-drawn graphics, psycho ALL CAPS and underlining, it's all there.
and while i'm talking about found stuff, who loves it more than my favorite thrifter john freyer? john has an exhibition of some of his work opening this week at the fishtank gallery in brooklyn. it is called SOUVENIRS and features, in part, photographs of objects he found on his allmylifeforsale journey. john freyer has also been on the road recently with chris wilcha, who made the awesome film the target shoots first (which i had to buy because he never sent me a copy like he said he would), creating a pilot for pbs called "secondhand stories." it's supposed to premier on october 14, but don't worry, i will remind you again.
Posted by ash at 07:01 AMtoday, in what must be one of the greatest paradoxical statements on the calendar, we all take a day off in honor of the working man. that, as well as the roots of the holiday, have always left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. the DOL web site tries to dress it up with a nice idea - that the holiday began to celebrate those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold." i'm all for honoring producers, but the origins of labor day are a bit mysterious. the one thing that everyone tends to agree on is that the founders of the original observances were labor unions, and that the day was conceived as a way to recognize the contributions of organized labor.
what has organized labor done for you lately? in the union city of philadelphia, it regularly delays projects, halts construction, and raises the cost of everything by refusing to compete. nathaniel branden has this to say about the unions:
Today, the labor market is no longer free. Unions enjoy a unique, near-monopolistic power over many aspects of the economy. This has been achieved through legislation, which has forced men to join unions, whether they wished to or not, and forced employers to deal with these unions, whether they wished to or not. As a consequence, wage rates in many industries are no longer determined by a free market; unions have been able to force wages substantially above their normal market level. These are the "social gains" for which unions are usually given credit. In fact, however, the result of their policy has been (a) a curtailment of production, (b) widespread unemployment, and (c) the penalizing of workers in other industries, as well as the rest of the population.
this essay was written in 1963. a smaller percentage of the workforce is organized today than was thirty years ago. unions tend to be stronger in more traditional areas and occupations. but with so many americans feeling frightened by the state of the world and the economy, labor unions are once again organizing aggressively.
our favorite candidate for president, howard dean, says that he wants to take america back from the special interests. today on his web site there is a picture of him talking to some labor union members. his site says that he had a 100% pro-labor voting record as a state legislator. and that in 2002 he was awarded the first Paul Wellstone Award by the AFL-CIO. let's play the highlights game: what's wrong with this picture?
so, how will you celebrate labor day?
Posted by ash at 09:58 AM