Ah, a full week of decompression. Lounging around the house in the early morning, cup of coffee in hand, catching up on pile of reading, hanging out with the new dog (an 8-month old Cocker Spaniel puppy).

But then New Year's Eve rolls around and I've got to venture out of the house for provisions (soap, coffee, a present for a visiting cousin) and stuff. Off to the town I go.

First: to a bank. I make a quick mental note to find a credit union in this area because, holy jeebers batman, $1.75 is waaaay too much to pay for my own money! Next stop, the bookstore. With a little help I find a copy of Natalie Goldberg's The Great Failure : A Bartender, A Monk, and My Unlikely Path to Truth. My cousin really enjoyed the copy of Long Quiet Highway that we gave him so I figured he deserved the followup volume. Now, it's off to the health food store for some rockin' french roast and a few bars of soap. Jasmine, verbina and ginseng found their way into my bag. Did you know that they still make pine tar soap? Yow, that stuff is way stinky.

Mission accomplished. Now, what with that huge infusion of Christmas music/movies (I managed to watch The Christmas Story ("You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!") twice during the marathon) I was in definite need of an aural palette cleanser. I actually picked up this Kayo Dot cd several weeks ago, but it had made its way into my player only once. Well, this was the perfect selection. Monstrous, dissonant guitar chording. Bits of free-ish jazz. They seem to be on the same wavelength as Godspeed You Black Emperor. All I know is that it was a blast driving through the countryside along with this joyous noise symphony.

Oh yea: Happy New Year Everybody.

(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)