Reflective

by A.R. Ammons


I found a
weed
that had a

mirror in it
and that
mirror

looked in at
a mirror
in

me that
had a
weed in it

Clockwise Foundation

Last weekend I visited home: Wanda is doing very well. The Chemo--i.e. deliberate poisoning--has sapped her strength and stolen her hair, but apparently the human spirit is not made up of fast-dividing cells. The kittens are thriving. Titus is alternately lazy and frantic, while Penny prefers mostly the latter, although her favorite spot to slow down is mom's lap. Anne was home to let Dad get caught up on work and she of course fell in love with the kittens. I sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow (not the Judy Garland version) and Here Comes the Sun at my old friend Chris Briggs' classy wedding. I also dug through the old Hartley Memorabilia Box and did some archiving, as you can see on Flickr.

Last month I started documenting my dreams in the most effective way I could come up with, by immediately speaking into a tape recorder as soon as I emerge from REM-sleep. I may parlay these bizarre word jumbles into an album's worth of lyrics, or perhaps just post them here. Either way I'm looking forward to listening to the tapes sequentially.

Soon the War on Drugs will be heading overseas for some touring: the UK, Holland, Belguim, France and Lebanon (specifically, Beirut--not a joke). Obviously I'll take lots of pictures and probably have a story or two to share when we get back.

The Evening Redness in the West

"They were about in the morning before daybreak and they caught up and saddled their mounts as soon as it was light enough to see. The jagged mountains were pure blue in the dawn and everywhere birds twittered and the sun when it rose caught the moon in the west so that they lay opposed to each other across the earth, the sun whitehot and the moon a pale replica, as if they were the ends of a common bore beyond whose terminals burned worlds past all reckoning." -- C. McCarthy

Fauxtown; ELOverboard

BC and I sojourned to the north (upstate New York, specifically, near Saugerties/Woodstock) in search of sounds. We found some. We did the basic tracks for the forthcoming EP/Album at the Cobbs' analog studio of chill repute--think roomy drums and groovy piano/bass grooves--and then piled on vocals, guitars and humor at good buddy Zach's Sunnyview estate. Some vibe names: Faux-town, ELO-town, Get up and Go-town, etc. We rented gear (fancy stuff, including a Neumann U-87) and spent all day recording, and all night playing shuffle board and creating bon-fires. Zach and his lovely wife Brandi are the sweetest of hosts, and treated us to delicious meals and the best cookies I've ever had. We'll finish the EP (maybe it will spawn a full length? not sure..) here in Philly, Mike Kennedy is mixing.



In addition to our August Europe trip, the War on Drugs will be hitting Spain in late October as well. Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, muy bueno.

October 4th: LSATs. Preparation has begun. OK, not really, but I signed up for a prep-course, so now I'm committed. Calling all brain cells..

For those of you who don't know, my mom has breast cancer and is undergoing intensive chemo-therapy. She hasn't even showed a hint of negativity or self pity, if anything the struggle has seemed to galvanize her already sturdy spirit. That's why I'm an unabashed momma's boy--she's my hero.