antler international

way to bee

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 13:14:00 -0800

As you can see above, the bees are thriving. We’ve already had to add a 2nd story (Big Star) to the indie rock hotel to accomodate them. We were worried for a while that they were only making honey and not new bees, but today’s exploration proved otherwise. Can you find the larvae in the photo?

Bees are fun! I never thought I would feel this kind of affection for a bunch of bugs. Still no stings (knock on desk).

looking good

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:30:43 -0800

Perfect image from Patrick Moberg. You should check out his work.

proud of us

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:24:00 -0800

I am so excited for this man be our president.

Thanks to Callie Shell for the beautiful photo. Tons more candids from the campaign are on her site.

there will be brood

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 18:42:00 -0700

As you can see, street level of the Indie Rock Hilton is now occupied. We had a very exciting and well-attended bee meeting today. The group (dubbed the Backwards Beekeepers) included 9 budding bee enthusiasts, our bee mentor Kirk, 2 journalism students (in our faces the whole time) and a curious friend.

Only one person got stung, and he apparently kind of enjoys it.

Thanks to the handsome one for the photos. I forgot to charge my battery.

vacancy

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 14:02:00 -0700

We’ve been working like crazy to get the hotel ready. We’ve cleared brush, assembled boxes and painted them with our best 5th-grade skills.

The bees are coming tomorrow!

We are having a meeting of the Urban Beekeepers group at the house tomorrow. We will finish getting the frames ready for honeycomb and dump some bees rescued from the neighborhood into the Indie Rock Hilton (above).

Our bee suits have not yet arrived. There may well be pain.

More tomorrow.

nicely done...let's do some more

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:52:00 -0700

Well all right! The Misanthropes for Obama have reached our goal of $1000 raised for the campaign. I am impressed with you people and incredibly thankful. I know many of you had already given to the campaign and it means a lot that you found a little more.

Big thanks to all of you who gave. You did the right thing. You give me faith in humans and inspire me.

BUT (yes, this is a big but) If you failed to get off your ass and give, it is not too late! I have a feeling that we set the bar too low and that we can get to $1500 or even $2000 if we continue to push. Some of the donations that came in the last few days were the results of bribes, barters and threats. If there is anything I can do to get you to give to the campaign, let me know. I’m willing to whore myself out to some extent to keep this ball rolling. I’ll bake for you. I’ll make you a nice music mix. I’ll do a quick SEO evaluation of your website. I’ll give you my top secret pork loin recipe. I’ll edit your resume. Tell me what you want people!

GO HERE TO GIVE GIVE GIVE - WE HAVE 2 1/2 WEEKS TO SEAL THIS DEAL

Thanks for playing our game. You are (mostly) good people.

misanthropes for obama

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:22:57 -0700

Hey People.

My friend Kerri set up a little donation group for Obama and has had great results. We’ve created a new one called “Misanthropes for Obama” which can probably apply to most of you.

Please take a minute and a few bucks and donate whatever you can afford to the campaign.

I know you all are sick of hearing about the election, but this is really important. It will mean a lot to me and ultimately to this country.

DO IT NOW.

please

LA rules (part two) - the hollywood farmer's market

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:35:00 -0700

You should know right now that my crush on Los Angeles is as ardent as it ever has been:

The Dodgers are on fire.
The weather is fantastic.
I am working for/in two of this city’s treasures and getting to know downtown.
My first classical concert at Disney Hall was great and included indoor fireworks.
The Beck show at the Hollywood Bowl was an idyllic LA experience. Great friends, terrific performances, a yummy picnic (how cool is it that you can bring wine in?) and a perfect night weather-wise.

CHAPTER TWO - The Hollywood Farmer’s Market

The Hollywood Farmer’s Market should not be mistaken for the Fairfax Farmer’s Market. Hollywood happens only on Sundays. They block off Ivar Street between Sunset and Hollywood Boulvards and Selma Ave between Vine and Cahuenga. Farmers from southern and central California sell a stunning variety of produce as well as seafood, bison meat, eggs and prepared foods. There are also entertainers - intentional and otherwise:

I think my favorite Far Mar person is balloon guy (pictured above). While this kind of person might normally creep you out, balloon guy has some kind of crazy stunted personality where he can talk “kid” with kids. Children stand around him mesmerized while he creates intricate balloon animals for them. His banter is not contrived or condescending. Today he was talking about how much he hates getting a haircut when one kid was talking about his. Balloon guy has found his calling and he is a treasure.

We also have the dude who everyone refers to as “The Japanese Bob Dylan.” I just did a little research and learned his name is Hisao Shinagawa. Hisao is always at the market singing passionate protest songs that are really hard to understand. He had me hooked several years ago with a song that had the chorus “Busharu must go.” You should check out his songs and videos on his MySpace Page. I especially like that all of his My Space friends are versions of himself.

Nathan sells the best stone fruit in the summer and tangerines in the winter. He’s also got a show on one of the food networks and is certainly our most famous vendor. We’ve been buying from him for many years. About a month ago, we ended up on a flight to the bay area with him on a Sunday. He insisted on giving us a perfect nectarine for our flight since we were missing the market that day.

We’ve got the Rastafarian who hosts a mobbed children’s drum circle for hours on end. He plays two songs as far as we can tell: “No more monkeys jumping on the bed” and one that involves “Shaking to the left and shaking to the right” (also shaking to the east or west at times). Those are the only two songs he needs and the (bongo) beat is identical for them. The guy cleans up in tips from parents who use him as a sort of “child whisperer” when the offspring burns out on shopping for beets.

There’s also:

The blind Italian opera singer
The 14 year-old kid playing guitar and singing Neil Young songs who can’t sing to save his life, but has the guts to get up there and do it anyway
The girl who shops/walks with a beanie baby balanced on her head.
The 6’3” heavily made-up, fishnet and high-heeled “lady” who asks for “a donation to the transgender community”
A ton of Scientologists passing through like specters on the way to some important meeting.
The 400 pound (seriously) lavendar salesman who asks “Who needs lavendar? Talk to me…work with me”.
The man who gives out samples of his apricots while saying “disgusting fruit here” and says “sorry about the horrible fruit” when you accept it.
The clown I try not to look at.
The homeless people gorging themselves on fruit samples.
A couple of weeks ago, I saw a woman wearing this excellent t-shirt and stopped her to ask where she got it. Turns out she made it and sent me to her website. Got one for the husband!

Plus you go home with a ton of vegetables.

himself

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 23:07:00 -0700

As you’ve probably heard, it sounds like writer David Foster Wallace hung himself on Friday night. His wife found him.

Wallace wrote some of my favorite books. He was an incredible show-off who often seemed determined to frustrate readers rather than entertain them. Those who hung in there with him were rewarded with hilarious, insightful and touching prose. You couldn’t help share his joy for language and wordplay. He had few peers and was quite possibly the literary voice of my generation.

What is it that makes geniuses so unbearably unhappy? Did the man peak too early? Was he too sensitive and overcome with the sadness that the rest of us ignore in order to get through any given day? Did he feel like he was too defined by his accomplishments and was no longer able to be a normal person? All I know is that it is a fucking waste of a great mind.

Below is a quote about from Infinite Jest. Hal, the speaker, is a high-school tennis champion who is doing some soul-searching:

Winning two and three upset matches, feeling suddenly so loved,so many talking to you as if there is love. But always the same, then. For then you awaken to the fact that you are loved for winning only. The two and three wins created you, for people. It is not that the wins made them recognize something that existed unrecognized before these upset wins. The from-noplace winning created you. You must keep winning to keep the existence of love and endorsements and the shiny magazines wanting your profile.

Maybe David Foster Wallace felt like that. Someone who could intuit that kind of sadness and angst probably experienced it as well.

I haven’t felt this much loss for someone I didn’t know since Kurt Cobain died. I wish Wallace knew how much happiness and awe he inspired in his readers. I know several people who consider finishing Infinite Jest as as one of their biggest accomplishments.

I may have to read it again now.

RIP DFW.

i want you to want bee

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:23:29 -0700

I have my first beekeeping class on Saturday! The dude above is my teacher, Kirk. I just know that the bees and I will understand eachother. It’s never too early to start coming with names for the honey company, so bring ‘em on.

Seattle was a blast, but I can’t keep up with those party people. I will be feeling residual pain for a couple of weeks.

First day of school for me is Monday and I am trying to be as lazy as possible this week. I sure hope the kids don’t make fun of my Grape Ape lunchbox.

berry nice

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:53:00 -0700

I accepted the new job and start on the 15th. It seemed only right that I cram as much summer as I possibly can into the next couple of weeks. I’m now on Vashon Island (just off Seattle) hanging with my bestest friend Kerri and having a lovely time.

We went on a berry-picking quest today, which was dubbed “Bramble On.” This was soon validated by the local classic rock station declaring the new month as “Zepptember.” After much searching, we happened upon a car/truck/boat graveyard that happened to be overrun by a ton of ripe berries. Fecundity and decay in one place…yay!

We have wine and pork loin and berry crisp. Marcus and Nikole are headed out on the ferry and we have a fire going. All is well.

road rules

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:41:41 -0700

Do not leave your ipod on shuffle when listening to audiobooks. This is very confusing.
Attempt to get truckers to honk at every opportunity.
You can never have too many napkins.
Pee at every rest stop - even if you don’t think you have to go.
Do not take the car keys into the bathroom with you.
Play video poker whenever available.
Maintain equal quantities of salty and sweet snacks in the car.
Say “hey” every time you see a bale of hay.

Made it to Boulder, and have seen 33 different states’ license plates…including Alaska, Hawaii and Maine!

the force

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:44:00 -0700

You know that feeling when you are traveling and you feel like nobody who knows you/cares about you has any idea about where you are at that moment? Like you could vanish and they would have a really hard time knowing where to look?

Winnemucca, Nevada felt like that last night. It is weirder than a lot of foreign countries I’ve been to. It was in the 90’s and really windy at 8:00 at night and we were walking the dogs around a desolate neighborhood full of empty casinos and trailer homes. We didn’t see anyone on our stroll until we ran into two obviously drunk guys walking around and drinking. One of them was probably in his late 40’s, with a Tom Selleck mustache and a beer belly. The other one was wearing a full-on, white, Star Wars Storm Trooper helmet, but otherwise seemed skinnier and younger. I’m not sure how he was drinking beer with the helmet on, but he seemed really proud of himself. The guys walked across the street diagonally and behind us, and I couldn’t help waving at this goofball in his get-up.

About 30 seconds later we heard “Hey, hey, hey!,” and the Storm Trooper came sprinting over with his hand in his back pocket, like he was trying to pull something out. We stopped and he stood in front of us - still trying (awkwardly) to pull this thing out of his pants. We didn’t know whether to run or scream or just stand there and wait.

Dude finally extricated a Coors Light tall boy from his pocket and gave it to Russell and walked away, without saying another word.

We drained that thing. How could we not?

road tripping

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:09:00 -0700

Heading out Sunday to drive the in-laws’ car and dogs from Sonoma to Boulder. This will take three days and take us through Nevada, Utah and Wyoming…not exactly the most exciting or scenic drive. Our first stop is Winnemucca, NV where they apparently have a sizeable Basque population. Sadly, we will be missing their annual mule races and the 44 hour softball tournament. We will, however be staying at the Scott Shady Court Motel, which boasts La-Z-Boys in every room.

Need suggestions for road games. We will see how many different states’ license plates we can see. My bet is 32/50…you? Also considering counting Obama vs. McCain bumper stickers. Ideas are greatly appreciated.

Also looking for audiobook/comedy/make-the-drive go-faster suggestions. So far we have:

The Portable Atheist - Chrstopher Hitchens
Born Standing Up - Steve Martin
The Omnivore’s Dilemma - Michael Pollen
World War Z - Max Brooks
Snuff - Chuck Palanuik
Musicophilia - Oliver Sachs
A lesson on how to swear in Spanish
Comedians of Comedy ‘06

Help us. Click on comments below to do so.

LA rules (part one) - the hollywood ymca

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 14:53:00 -0700

LA gets a bad rap. It’s a huge place, and I can’t argue that there are a lot of deplorable humans here. But spend a day with me in my city and I challenge you to not love it.

This is the first installment of a series about great and unique LA things.

CHAPTER ONE - The Hollywood YMCA
This is the gym I go to several times a week. It is a really nice Y with two pools, child care and tons of classes. This particular Y gets loads of money from the likes of Tim Allen and George Lucas, in fact Tim Allen is said to have left his wife for his personal trainer at the Y. It isn’t the best thing to see Tim Allen in spandex shorts, but I can’t hate him too much since he had air conditioning installed in the stretch room.

My favorite thing about the Hollywood Y is that you have actors working out alongside homeless people. The Y welcomes anyone, even if they can’t pay the regular (low)monthly fee. The place is a total freak show.

Just this morning there was a nerdy-looking, skinny guy in glasses in the weight room. He was kind of talking to himself and seemed a bit confused about how to use the equipment. He kept posing strangely in the mirror in crouchy poses…and then he kissed his reflection on the lips. I shit you not.

There is also always a selection of older, middle-eastern men working out in street clothes. I’m talking slacks and business shoes.

The Y always has a fierce basketball game going on during the weekends. I watched this morning when one dude distracted the lady at the front desk while his buddy snuck a bunch of ball players in through the handicapped entrance.

There is this ancient (like at least 80-85) little mexican man working on the speed bad in the mornings. He is always wearing a super-thick sweatsuit and has a towel tucked in his collar. He is badass.

The old folks sing songs when they do their class in the pool.

The actor James Cromwell often comes to the spinning class I attend. We had a little turf war over one of the bikes for a while. We both started coming to the 6:45 am class earlier and earlier in order to reserve this particular bike. I was getting to the point where I was going to have to say something like “Get your ass off my bike Farmer Hogg” when he wisely chose to start using a different bike.

The guy who played (gay cop) Keith on Six Feet Under also came to spinning class for a while, but never at the same time as co-cast member Cromwell. For a while I thought that I was being stalked by actors from Six Feet Under and 24 (Cromwell was in both!) since I kept seeing the cast around town. Then I realized that those are the only TV shows we watched and therefore the only actors I would recognize.

I did my part to maintain the freak aspect of the Y today when I forgot my lock combination only after I had gotten out of the shower and my clothes were inside. I was the muttering naked person trying desperately to open the thing. I had to ask them to cut my lock off and them remembered the combo seconds before they were about to do so.

I went to the Farmer’s Market after the gym and immediately encountered a family of dwarves.

It’s a great day in LA.

You can check out the Hollywood Y here.

bee aggressive

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:43:13 -0700

I think it might be time to get a hive going over here.

…or I could get a job, I guess.

beach blog

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 05:53:00 -0700

Life at the beach, though lovely, is not nearly as event-filled or novel as at the creamery. Predictably, we’ve been swimming, walking on the beach, reading and cooking/eating food. Nonetheless, I now feel compelled to report the happenings, so here goes:

We are consuming vast amounts of wine, cheese, chocolate and cereal.
There are several turtle nests within 100 yards of the house. They are due to hatch on the next full moon (the 16th), but I am hoping that some kind of global warming mishap will make it happen sooner. Tonight would be ideal.
We are obsessed with this really horrible game called Catan. It is sort of a cross between Risk, Monopoly and Dungeons & Dragons. It is maddeningly slow and tedious and we can’t get enough. Do not get involved with this game.
The ocean temperature is fluctuating more than I thought possible from day to day. No waves to speak of though. No boogie boarding or surfing yet.
The world’s largest spider lives outside our bathroom window. Seriously. I am fascinated and terrified.
Reardon bought a giant plasma TV and it is set up in the living room. It is dominating all inside behavior and pissing me off. Beachtime is not about TV, dammit. We are all acting like the NPR-loving, Prius-driving, organic-eating people we are by gathering to watch John Stewart every night and/or morning. I can only imagine how much TV will take over now that the Olympics are starting.
Wakeboarding makes everything hurt the next day.
I am going to have to mail most of the books back home. Reading has not been a priority on this trip. I do recommend “The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”. I am now reading the new David Sedaris book and feel like he is phoning it in.

In other news, the new calf at the creamery is now named Addie - thanks to one of your suggestions on this here blog!

Heading home tomorrow and I’m ready. I can’t wait to return to El Senor Fluffkin.

New “Get Your War On” animated series - episode 1....

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:23:09 -0700

New “Get Your War On” animated series - episode 1. David Rees is my hero.

onto the next

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 12:28:00 -0700

What the hell was a lactose-intolerant and allergic to milk grown-up doing interning on a dairy farm anyway? That’s a good question.

My friend Andrea suggested that I intern on a dairy a few years back. That idea became the thing I fantasized about for the day when I had some time off work. The extreme change of scenery and the monk-like existence I imagined sounded like just the thing I needed to get out of my work funk. I was never really looking to become a cheesemaker, but was curious about the process and seeing how other people work and live. I’d been working in a superficial and non-creative office setting for a while and needed a reboot.

Now, I realize that doesn’t explain why I chose the dairy if I have a milk problem. The simple answer is it felt right. I’d had a little of their cheese and could tell that it was made with care and skill. Andrea said the ladies were great and I trust her judgement. It was a great call.

People often glibly say “life is short.” It really, truly is. I want to have as many disparate and challenging experiences as I can. You never know when you might become unable to do that thing you always wanted to do. I realize that this is all bordering on cliche, but it is a big motivating factor for me right now. I know that I will get a new job before too long and get sucked into that world. I am lucky enough to be able to take a little time off and to have a husband who supports my weirdness.

I’m packing up the cottage tonight and heading out to the beach tomorrow morning. It’s been a great time.

I’ve got two job interviews on the Monday after we get home…yikes.

then there were two

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:32:00 -0700

We had an unexpected surprise at the farm today. Allison (the farm lady, whose tattoo reads “Dairy Woman” above a cow portrait) was in the pasture and almost stumbled on a newborn calf. Allison (the cow) wasn’t due for another month but decided to have a cow last night anyway. Allison (the person) said Allison (the cow) was walking around with a placenta hanging off of her - oh, the realness!

By the way, Allison (Dairy Woman) had a similar exchange today about me when she thought someone was asking how Amy (the cow) was doing with lunch.

Azalea is totally old-school at 4 days old. She is real jealous of all of the attention the new girl is getting. We need another female “A” name for the baby. Some that are taken: Allison, Annie, Amy, Amazon, Alex…I can’t think of them all. Go ahead and send me any good suggestions you have and I will pass them on. They have already vetoed “Antler.”

That adventure is over. I have retired my hairnet and am back to my city ways, though I have been invited back next summer and I might take them up on it.

I made some pretty tasty Mexican lunch for everyone and it seemed to get enjoyed. Chicken enchiladas verdes, chipotle black beans, mexi-rice, guac and mango salsa. It was yum.

Speaking of yum, I have a ton of cheese for us to eat at the beach next week and I’m going to load up on some great produce at the farmer’s market tomorrow.

More musings about the experience in posts to come - time for BBQ!