P+T+A+Trish in Santa Fe (Day 2)

Yesterday morning, Bandelier.



Thinking about the crowds and the potential for hot, sunny weather, we headed out early. Managed to stop by the Smith's to pick up lunch and breakfast, and make it out onto the Frijoles Canyon trail by 9:30 or so. P+T+A had spent a little time there on their visit last year, and wanted to show it to Trish and maybe make it further along.



Last year, Audrey loved climbing up the ladders to the cave cliff dwellings, and this year was no different.



We made it to the end of the trail, to the big climb up to the kiva. Thunderstorm was rolling in (and our rain gear was all safely back at the cars); and it was decided that, no matter how good Audrey had been at climbing so far, seven ladders and 140 feet was probably a bit much. Hurried back to the visitors center and had some lunch, watching the bit of the rain that did come through. And judging from the line of cars to get into the parking lot, we were wise have arrived early.

Several squirrel spottings on the trail. Regular gray ones, menacing a sleeping hiker; and an Abert's that rushed us.



Spent the afternoon with a few errands, then had the group over for a cookout. A little cloudy, but still comfortable. And, with the brats, delicious. A little stroll through the neighborhoods after.

They were planning on hitting the road early today, so we said our goodbyes last night.

P+T+A+Trish In Santa Fe (Day 1)

So, then, P+T+A+Trish arrived into town last night. They've been on a week-long tour of the Rocky Mountain states (and are now better traveled in the Land of Enchantment than we are), and made it safely into town through the rain and hail. That meant a cool and cloudy evening, though, and not so good for grillin' the care package from Usinger's that they sent along. So off to Blue Corn instead, and then a little hanging out and catching up.

We got together this morning and walked to the temporary location of the Farmers Market at DeVargas Mall, a stroll that takes us through the neighborhoods. Some breakfast burritos and wandering around, checking out the scene. Then walked back by the little park that runs along Alameda, and across the river.



Yes, there is a river in Santa Fe.



Admittedly, that photo is framed and cropped to make it look strong and lush. Most people would call it a creek. Even in the rare instances it's running. And it's the most endangered river in the country.



Hung out at home, got our energy back. Audrey and I played out the yard for a bit, then we hopped into the car and went downtown. Wandered around the Plaza, where Audrey got a balloon flower.



Then off to Museum Hill to round out the afternoon. We chose the Museum of International Folk Art because there's a variety of cool stuff for adults and kids to see, but also a children's play space. And Needles and Pins, an exhibit Monica did the graphics for. There's a hands-on area, and Audrey really got into working on the loom.




Went to our respective homes, rested up. Dinner at Whole Hog (I think I successfully planted the idea in Paul's head). Caught up with Trish, who'd spent the day around town (and up on Museum Hill, it turns out) with a friend. Audrey met some kids there, and soon had them playing her game.



Planning on Bandelier tomorrow.

The Bad Local Radio News Gets Worse

Apparently the proposed sale of Indie 101.5 will also encompass Blu 102.9 and KBAC — in one fell swoop, eliminating most of what I brag about in Santa Fe's radio scene.

A Web site has launched to try and keep these stations local, and they're providing a PDF with a form letter and contacts on the second page.

Mowing and More from the Weekend

After hearing me talk about how our yard is getting out of control, what with the actual rain we've been getting here, M+D gave us a push mower. Arrived this week, and Saturday morning, Monica put it together.



The yard before:





Monica dives in:



Total time spent mowing tough to gauge. It wasn't continuous, there was a break for breakfast, and some touch-ups later. But figure 30 minutes, tops. Another 25 or so with the "side yard," less space but more overgrown and with less room to maneuver.

The day after, and after some clipping around the edges with the shears:





Sunday also brought the painting of our house number on the curb.



At one point, I headed outside while Monica was doing some weeding. One of the neighbor kids had set up a table and chair at the end of her driveway and looked, I thought, kind of like a little anchorperson. I asked Monica what was going on. "Art sale."

When the chores were done, we headed over and negotiated a drawing in exchange for some irises from our front yard.



Not a lemonade stand, but an art sale. Very Santa Fe.

Met another one of our neighbors; retired, and a native New Mexican. Described living here as "offering many of the benefits of living in the United States."

Scenes from Bike to Work Day

Friday was Bike to Work Day (a part of Bike to Work Week, which is a part of Bike to Work Month). Santa Fe celebrated the Week; I managed to bike in on Monday — and Friday, which was the official celebration at one of the parks downtown. There were free breakfast burritos











The piñata was a goathead, the bane of all sorts of fall outdoor activities.

happy birthday, Grandpa Lewie!

16 May

Bad News for Local Radio

Just read this over at the Indie 101.5 site (update: New Mexican article here):

Wow.

We just learned of the announcement that our frequency (101.5 FM) will be sold to a radio conglomerate who intends on piping in a generic, “High Altitude Rock” format.

We have been taken completely by surprise, as most of you probably have been. What we do know, is Indie, the music we play, our Staff, and the great connection we’ve built with Santa Fe is here now.

We’re examining our options, so stay tuned for more as the situation develops! As always, thanks for listening, and thanks for supporting Locally Owned Radio!

They'd really hit their stride these past few months with some new regular shows and a great playlist. This comes on the heels of KBAC narrowly surviving in its current form. Blu has also quietly done away with a couple of its DJs and, every time it doesn't come on when my alarm goes off, I'm worried it's the end. Santa Fe has a pretty great radio scene, much more interesting than most major cities, and I hope the stations can remain solvent.

There's still time to weigh in and save internet radio and help small stations keep streaming.

some pix of the new place for Mother's Day

Lots of people (including our mothers) have requested photos of how the house is coming along. So, I thought I'd be all cute + try to match the same views as the pix from the MLS listing I posted before.

I very quickly realized that: a) whoever took the listing pix had one king hell of a wide angle lens on their camera; b) to replicate those shots would require piecing together at least 2 views per room; and c) after piecing together 1 or 2 rooms, I got fed up with it. You don't really need to see rooms full of boxes, do you??

From the street

It's been a very wet spring, and things are really green. We haven't turned on the sprinklers at all.

Living / dining rooms:

That's (part of) one of the shelves Jim made us, over on the left. Bram at the table, making the grocery list.

Kitchen:

Now with our junk! No floor replacement yet.

Second bedroom / office:

The breaker box cover panel is off, so I can paint it. Then we're going to hang the big, framed "Silence" poster over it (the blue corners). Wait, why am I painting the breaker box cover?

Backyard:

Note the new Weber grill! Also, the knee-high, already-gone-to-seed dandelions... did I mention it's been rainy?

happy birthday, Mom!

7 May

Update from the New Place

We're in! It's been a busy, frantic couple update-free weeks, with a lot of stuff going on at work for both of us. So, a rundown, with the hope of photos to follow soon.

Saturday the 14th, J+J stopped by with the pickup truck to help us move a bunch of the larger things still left. Most of the boxes of books were already in the new place, and within about two hours, we moved two big truckloads (+ two little carloads) of various miscellany. To celebrate, and by way of thanks, we headed to the big annual crawfish fest at Second Street Brewery. Good crawfish, great fun, and after, we all had burgers. 'Cause crawfish are one of those "negative calorie" foods (like crabs) where you actually use more energy getting to the food than you get out of it. We spent the rest of the weekend working on the finishing touches. All the painting was done, but there were a few more things we wanted to do, doors to re-hang, etc., and we knew that was going to be pretty much it for work we could get done before the move.

The following Thursday, we were off on a plane to San Francisco to represent 7000 BC at the Alternative Press Expo (APE), a trip we had planned long before the house purchase. A mostly uneventful trip into the cold rain at SFO and then via BART to the home of a friend from college. We haven't seen him in probably 15 years, never met his wife or two kids, but they hosted us in the little cottage in the back of their house in the Mission district. Their house is pre-Earthquake, so they don't know how old it is — but the thing that just struck me the most was the soaring ceilings, contrasted with our little low house here; one of their front rooms is actually taller than it is wide.

The whole weekend was kind of a whirlwind. We headed downtown to the Fisherman's Wharf area with Charlie and the kids on Friday morning to pass some time at the Musee Mechanique. They then left us on our own to get some seafood and hop the cable car to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts at Yerba Buena Gardens to catch a Robert Crumb exhibit. We made it back to watch (and help, where allowed) Charlie finishing up some of his comics for the show. After dinner, went to the APE opening night party at Last Gasp, more to pick up our badges than anything else, though Charlie's good friends with the owner. It was held in their warehouse, so we met up with some of our fellow Santa Feans and just wandered the stacks, flipping through books.

Saturday, the real madness began. The show's venue is pretty huge, especially for a small press show. We scrambled in and had everything just about set up when the doors opened, eventually joined by six other group members who had made the trip. A sale of a new book just after the show started had us in a good mood, but, overall, we found the sales pretty disappointing over the course of the two days. Last year's attendance, according to the organizers, was 4800; there seemed to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 exhibitors at this show, so it's a big, overwhelming setup — you can head on over to Flickr and search for "Alternative Press Expo 2007" to get an idea (we're in there somewhere). We were positioned near the entrance, so got a lot of people just starting out. Even so, it seemed there wasn't a lot of buying going on.

We did make some contacts and meet some new folks; one of whom, Doc Pop, gave us a lift to the book release party for Truth Serum at 826 Valencia (the educational/pirate store division of McSweeney's). That was a blast; a funny, fun time with MCs running on a scavenger hunt, leading us in rousing cheers for the author, helping us overcome our greatest fears, presenting a skit or two. By the time it wrapped up, we were no longer inclined to head to the party at Isotope, so we'll have to wait for another day to see that.

We started Sunday at a local diner with the whole family, for an egregiously unhealthy and tasty breakfast that pretty much carried us through the day. The show was even slower Sunday and we ended the evening early, tired out. Monday, headed back to Santa Fe.

And I returned with a nasty cold that had me in bad shape Tuesday, out of work Wednesday, barely back at work on Thursday, and just today finally about recovered. We managed to uncrate and set up the china cabinet that had been delivered from Virginia, but my illness really kind of screwed up our last packing, so when the when the weekend rolled around, it was a big rush. We had movers in Saturday at 10 to take care of the furniture. It took the four of them a bit over an hour to pack the apartment out (up and down the 34 stairs), and about 25 minutes to load into the house. There was a lot more left than we originally thought, the kitchen mostly, but it kept me running back and forth for both days while Monica finished things up at the apartment. We put in a solid nine hours Saturday (and then spent the night in the house) and another eight on Sunday. But, at the end of it all, we're in.

We've been gradually unpacking and setting up; the extra space, though, means that there's less urgency to get to a lot of the stuff — we can just close the door and forget about it. But the kitchen and dining room are just about set (enough for day-to-day use), the clothes are out, the computer's set up. Yesterday, we got the shelving units that Jim made for the living room, getting them from his studio and set up (with his help). In the snow. And after the three or so hours of getting that done, deciding that the space they were designed for wasn't where we wanted them. Experimented some, and found even better locations that they fit just as well in, so the living room's taking shape.

Update: pix of the shelf delivery. Hover for captions, click for larger.
    

Today, we'll be restocking the kitchen and doing more unpacking, though there's plenty of other projects we're trying to work on. There wasn't a lot of time for photography recently, but we'll see about getting some pictures up soon.