we can rest our bones side by side

Austin is on tour again. Missing him is hard, trying to stay close to someone far away is the hardest. I'm glad the band is touring, so it's bitter sweet. We have just always been so inseparable... sigh. In the past I have made mix cd's for us to listen to "together". Setting a time for both of us to pop it in so we can kind of experience the same thing at the same time while he is on the road. Sounds cheesy, but it's fun. So cheese it is. I started to make a mix for this tour, but I only got 12 songs in... I didn't have time to finish it.
So, for this tour our "together" project is writing a daily haiku based on the same topic. We are not sharing what we write until he gets home. I picked the topic today "Bargain Bin" & tomorrow's topic is all his. I'll post the finish product in a few weeks when he returns. As for the mix cd - this is where I left it:

Going Out West - Tom Waits
Sick of Goodbyes - Sparklehorse
Heartache - Violent Femmes
Hate It Here - Wilco
Boring Together - Paleo
Cry to Me - Solomon Burke
Ruler of My Heart - Irma Thomas
When U Love Somebody - Fruit Bats
I'm So Tired - Say Hi To Your Mom
I Love How You Love Me - Neutral Milk Hotel
For The Damaged - Blonde Redhead
Do You Wanna Be Buried With My People - Scout Niblett

Art Fix

Last night my neighbor left her demon cat out. He is aggressive and picks fights with any other living creature it comes across. No joke.
So, he cornered another cat right outside my bedroom window (thank you very much). The sound of an actual cat fight, makes my skin crawl! AND when my skin is crawling I find it impossible to sleep. So, I lay in bed, hoping my neighbor was loosing sleep too but when I got bored with that I thought about art. Art I want to make, art I've seen, art I want to see... I thought I would share some of this art with you lovely people.
I visited Seattle last summer and my pal Russ took me to the SAM, which was amazing. I enjoyed every moment, but they were showing Nick Cave's (no not the musician) Sound Suits. Have you seen these?! They are incredible! Here, I will show them to you now, but click on the link and watch the video to see them in motion:

As you can see they are made of many many different things. Iron on's, bottle caps, wires, hair, sequins, twigs, scrap metal... It's all quilted / sculpted together. I have no clue how many he made, but each one looks like it took an eternity to put together. Apparently they are called sound suits because of the sound each one makes when it is worn. Yes, they can be worn and eventually were made with the intention of being performed in! Cave says that these suits reflect his experience of being an African-American man and his experience as a human being. I would love to meet this man!
This is a nice thing to think about when you can't sleep, it's not far off from dreaming itself.
As for Art you can see here in Austin, TX - Justin Goldwater opening his one man show "Stupid Answers to Snappy Questions" @ Domy Books on August 2nd.
Be There or Be Square.