WISH LIST:

uh oh... the pumpkin is attracting attention...

Today I was surprised to receive the following email from a complete stranger...
I guess he is pretty serious about his pumpkins:

--- "Lee" wrote:

> Rusty: A neighbor and I were concerned last night
> when we walked past your plot and saw your very
> obvious, gorgeous, huge pumpkin. This is the season
> of theft and pumpkins are favorite targets. I used
> your plot sign and some squash leaves I found in
> your path to try to cover the pumpkin. It needs to
> be hidden very well and my job may not have been
> good enough. I used to cover mine with loose dry
> grass. It also needs to be harvested as soon as it
> is ready. Anyway, it was still there this morning.
> Lee , Plot #415

So, hovering on the line of sarcasm and sincerity, i sent him this reply:

Lee,

Thank you for the kind note. This probably all goes
back to my birth in Circleville, OH - home of the
world's largest pumpkin festival. I'm sure God has
known about this particular pumpkin for a long time.

You're right... The pumpkin needs to be harvested as
soon as it is ready. But if I'm going to grow
Colorado's biggest pumpkin of 2006, then I guess it
won't be harvested for at least another month (maybe
two?!). I'll devise a system to cover it up, thanks
for the warning. I would hate to see it get stolen, so
I'll figure something out... maybe a booby trap?
haha...

But seriously, thanks for the suggestions on how to
cover it up. Loose dry grass sounds like a pretty good
idea. I appreciate your concern and for taking the
time to contact me.

Take care,
-rusty


it's crazy out there in the garden plot. people don't play around when they're talking about their organic veggies...
later.

ps: the pic is of the circleville pumpkin festival

WE ANSWER TO A HIGHER AUTHORITY

Woke up today and decided to organize one of many areas of my life that need organization. hmm, room, kitchen, etc... but this morning i decided to spend some time at the garden. i drive over alone in my 97 toyota camry. it's not the old green one, but rather the silverish one that took me to california for the first time, along highway 1 on the coast, to san francisco, humboldt county, and through the rocky mountains to telluride and everywhere in between. anyway, it's a great car. but i digress.

the garden is beautiful and makes me relax and think about life. i have a pumpkin that is the size of a basketball. if the zucchini got any bigger, i could probably break your kneecaps in a single swing. the sunflowers are more than 10 feet tall, and i am not shitting you. so, this morning i spent 2 hours picking weeds, thinking about my life in boulder, thinking about my career, and thinking about what the future may hold. but i also thought about picking each weed, because they are so numerous that i could easily get overwhelmed and call it a day (which i did after 2 hours).

i'm listening to ray lamontagne right now. daniel (maniel dankovitch) calls it a masterpiece. "You Can Bring Me Flowers", on the new album, is my favorite track.

Also, above is the great zandokahn grilling some hebrew nationals. now, i am really not a fan of hot dogs. but hebrew nationals are certified kosher (phew, everything is ok... now i'm eating "kosher" beef and pork parts... awesome). anyway, try them for yourself. they're fantastic if you make them chicago-style. also been called "shit dog" style by nate and steven. anyway, just trust the Hebrew National slogan... "we answer to a higher authority". Buy some Heebs.

peace

keane is better than coldplay

feist, donovan frankenreiter, and keane on the same bill...

this just might be the show of the year.

so, just when i was getting sick of the whole brit-rock thing... sick of all the coldplay soundalikes and how boring coldplay has become and how meaningless and sterile all the lyrics are... and how emotional but devoid of technical talent they can seem...

well, along comes keane.

mind you, keane isn't anything now. i had their 4 song EP when I lived in Nashvegas 2 or 3 years ago. but tonight, i saw keane perform at the fox theater here in boulder. and man can tom chaplin sing and perform. he makes chris martin's jumpy dancing thing look like childs play. he's a showman! it's not that keane is just better, but tom chaplin can sing like no other. in the hundreds of show's i've seen, i have never seen someone sing with such range and such power and yet sing absolutely pitch perfect on every song. his voice just blew away chris martin and jon foreman and pretty much every rock band i've ever seen. he sang hard, long, and spot-on.

not only that, but the trio lineup was sick (triple sic)... a drummer and two people on keys. not one stringed instrument the entire show. it was incredible. keane puts on an amazing show. brit-rock has been redeemed. i guess now it's time to wait for the new travis album in the fall.

also, donovan frankenreiter put on the grooviest show of the year... jess, jenna, daniel and i were getting down. and feist was superb... who knew she was such a confident guitar player? mushaboom mushaboom...

time to go to bed!