hey little bird, fly away home

[x] brand new porch @ house

First floor apartment at my house is getting ready to be rented! The porch is just about done and will be finished this week. I just measured out and will be installing a brand new parquet floor in the bedroom so I am very excited about getting this rented in the next few weeks. More details at the 51 Elm St Page

i've really dropped off the face of the earth lately, so i thought i would jot down a little note about what has been occupying me.

work, obviously, has taken a big center stage. with some important solar incentives looking like they would be disappearing, people are nervous about getting their projects done so they can capitalize on that. that has been putting a lot of pressure on us.

also? i need to ask for the raise.

a retaining wall and my two-storey enclosed porch are in the process of being rebuilt. the wall is done and the porch has been demolished and is partially rebuilt. these two projects have been the collective albatross around my neck since i bought the house.

in the meantime, i am also working on restoring the floor in the 1st floor bedroom. the carpet came up and the linoleum is coming up now. when the carpet came up you could see areas of the floor that marked out the footprint of rooms as they used to be laid out in the house. old houses are cool.

problem tenant moved out of her own will, hallelujah, but i still want to get paid, so off to small claims court i will have to go next now that i have my court order in hand.

i'm off to Youth Dance Weekend

well.

a rare night in the house alone.

what the heck should i do first???

wanted: male, non-creepy, won't follow me home or stalk me as a non-romantic dance partner for social dancing. please be a reasonably athletic and experienced dancer with grace and good rhythm. please possess a good sense of humor and overall disposition and be well groomed with a stable life to return back to when the dance is done.

sometimes i just want to do something really fun and irresponsible just to remind myself that there' more to life than this.

so far, a year of great moments and crushing disappointments. like a manic depression, the highs have been higher and the lows have been lower.

dude, my job has been stressing me out, but i realize WHY.

It's stressing me out because I love in it, believe in it, and really care about doing it really well. Every day it is difficult because I am striving to learn and do better and make my engineering layouts more crisp, clean, and well conceived. Every day I am working hard to bring a little more solar power in to this world and that is an awesome and beautiful thing that I should rejoice in.

hm. having withdrawl. feeling wistful.

despite showing up thursday late morning to closed roads and not actually being able to set up the solar rig we had worked so hard on planning and implementing until Friday when we could get out vehicle up to camp.... well, FRFF 08 was quite special. being my third year now, i am starting to have history with people who are veterans of the event. it's a great festival family, much like my burner family in wmass but without flamethrowers and a lot of the more radical self-expression that comes along with burningman events.

last year frff was all about dance for me, which admittedly led to a whole subset of problems that i won't go in to now. this year i danced, but i spent time hanging with various shantytowners at home or around site and deepening some friendships and making some new ones. i also spent quite a bit of time singing, which is somewhat unusual for me. i have always been a bit shy about singing. i find it a very vulnerable activity, maybe mostly because i have such a hard time doing sing-alongs to songs i have even heard a million times. i just have such a block to remembering the words. multipart harmonies be damned; i got you pegged. but words? can't internalize them. i'd love to figure out why that is the case.

i also realized just chillin around this weekend that i need to spend a little bit less time fretting over work and work-related stuff and allow myself time to to live my life and enjoy the beautiful days that i have in this world. like hangin with good people, traveling, actually doing projects around the house with natertots.

looks like i have a lot of things to get in to focus.

SolarWrights Inc. Western Mass Regional Office seeks a qualified person who is enthusiastic about renewable energy and the environment to assist in keeping the business office operating smoothly. Job duties will include data entry, general administrative duties, answering phone inquiries, and other project related tasks as required.

( read on below )

i've been ignoring my lj a lot and a lot of other online communities for a few months now. i've moved in to a design engineering position and it has demanded a lot from me. After being so intensely involved with my computer all day, I just want to do something else when I get home- anything. Thankfully, we just started getting the garden in with a little help of a few bags of quality compost and a borrowed tiller. We've planted salad greens, peppers, swiss chard, beets, callaloo, and plan to do tomatoes and possible something else.

Life can be demanding at times. I need to spend a little more time reflecting.

for me, it's been a lot of work... i've moved into a new position with the company and i am now primarily designing systems, taking incoming inquiries, staffing our events/trade shows, and doing marketing type stuff for the company. kinda cool how things are evolving. our new office manager is very cool. unfortunately, the slip side of that coin is high stress and scaling too quickly, both which come at a price.

other than that, i am just trying to take things one day at a time, trying to remember to stop and enjoy the beauty whenever i can, and not get overwhelmed by seeing dreams play out in reality.

thanks to all who are part of this ride...

SCIENCE!!!

SolarWrights Inc. seeks a qualified person to help in all aspects of office management. Jobs duties will include maintaining office supplies, keeping office equipment in working order, general administrative duties, answering phone inquiries, and other project related tasks as assigned.

Applicant MUST be interested and passionate about renewable energy.

Applicant MUST be able to put up with me 5 days a week. :P

SolarWrights Inc. is a rapidly growing company with offices throughout the Northeast focused on sales and installation of residential and commercial solar and wind energy systems. SolarWrights offers competitive pay, benefits, 401k, vacation time, and excellent opportunities for growth.

To learn more about us, visit www.SolarWrights.com

If you've ever wondered what it takes to install a small wind turbine, this is a pretty quick and interesting look into the process on-site.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5501895324546653346

The Primate Fiasco will be armed with the usual Tuba, Banjo, Trumpet, Clarinet, and Drums. But this time, they'll also have "a little help from their friends". Singers and instrumentalists from around the valley will jump in as needed. Among them, Violinist, Eric Lee will perform on the song "within you without you" and pianist, Drake Descant will play accordion on "Mr Kite". Several vocalists will also join in as the night progresses.

This performance is no replica of the original. The audience will not hear anything resembling the Beatles. What they'll get is the classic album stripped down and dressed up in the styles that The Primate Fiasco finds fitting for each song individually. One might expect to hear reggae, funk, blues, and of course Traditional New Orleans Jazz.

The Primate Fiasco has always been on the task of deconstructing classics such as Pink Floyd's "The Wall" which was boiled down to a 15 minute medley in last summers Transperformance show at the Pines Theater.

The Primate Fiasco had their first show at the Iron Horse a year ago. It was also their first feature show here in the Northeast. In their first year of Northampton residency, they've sold out the Iron Horse twice, headlined at the Taste of Amherst, crashed festivals such as Green River and Falcon Ridge, appeared at The Calvin Theater, Pines Theater, Academy of Music, and even hosted their own Circus at Pearl St. But most people would recognize them as the folks throwing a sidewalk party on any random sunny day in Northampton.

While the Sgt Pepper project is not their largest show, it may be their most ambitious to date. And with a theme like this, it makes a great Valentine Day (or anti-valentines day) event.

Sgt Primate's Lonely Hearts Club Fiasco

The Primate Fiasco performs the entire album of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Saturday Feb 16 2008

Iron Horse Music Hall

doors open at 9pm
Show starts at 10pm

SGT PEPPER first, followed by a second set of The Primate Fiasco

Tickets available at:
Northampton Box Office
NBOtickets.com or from the band
$10 in advance or $13 at the door

http://www.primatefiasco.com/random/PEPPERPOSTER.html

i'm so tired.