That Special, Lapidary Todayness

bisontickles.com

2009-12-17T00:44:00.001-05:00

It's been a while. Check out bisontickles.com at the beginning of 2010!

Best Video I've Seen in a While

2008-05-17T01:07:00.000-04:00

2008-05-08T21:46:00.003-04:00

Simmons

2008-05-08T20:24:00.003-04:00

Castle on the Hill

2008-05-05T01:45:00.002-04:00

St. Foodies

2008-05-05T01:44:00.002-04:00

Built to Spill @ McCarren Park Pool

2007-07-27T17:29:00.000-04:00

Behold: the Wangcaster. Even Jon Bon Jovi said, "that guitar has balls."

2007-06-28T07:07:00.001-04:00

The perfect guitar for those soloists who you hear and think, "damn, this a-hole is really wanking." The Yngve Malmstens and Joe Satrianis of the world should be required to play at least one free public concert per year with this thing.

read more | digg story

& Yet & Yet & Yet &Yet

2007-05-22T10:27:00.001-04:00

1. Dust on the lens.
2. You'll have to use the rope-ladder because we can't land here.
3. Hours before the fireworks.
4. Kites: no; Paper Airplanes: yes!

Do Cameras Ever Get Laser Surgery?

2007-05-17T11:36:00.000-04:00

With proof that artificial light does not bring us closer to day, the scavenger found a dry corner. His dry corner. His dry corner until he heard the chirping. I saw it all.

Shaid

2007-05-06T19:43:00.000-04:00

Black Ice

2007-04-22T19:40:00.000-04:00

My drink is not kool. Marketing. Slipping into something comfortable. When the sun beats down a beating. Meet me on the side of the road before I slide away.

RedLine

2007-04-22T00:51:00.000-04:00

When you wake up at the other end and it's the other end again, were those really dreams or were they people trying to get you off? Or were they just getting off?

Circle

2007-04-19T00:07:00.000-04:00

2007-04-17T09:29:00.000-04:00

2007-04-10T22:40:00.000-04:00

Look Lock

2007-04-09T20:41:00.000-04:00

Potential

2007-04-08T20:53:00.000-04:00

from Drinking Beer with Paul Revere

2007-04-01T19:29:00.000-04:00

Not Wanting to Get There

2007-03-19T19:58:00.000-04:00

The Ground Gives More at Night with Snow

2007-03-19T18:55:00.000-04:00

And We're Finally Here

2007-03-07T18:52:00.000-05:00

and shit-yeah, it's cool.

Stop! Don't go to that overhyped space-station.

2007-03-05T20:47:00.000-05:00

Why are you going somewhere when you could stay here until the day is gone?

2007-03-05T18:45:00.000-05:00

How To Win Any Argument

2007-03-04T10:33:00.001-05:00

-Photo by Jed Learned

Follow these rules to win any argument. It might also help to be in the G Street Pub.

read more | digg story

What you should know about switching to Ubuntu from Windows

2007-03-03T22:27:00.001-05:00

I've just about made the complete switch to Ubuntu and I love it. I love the idea of supporting open source software and not giving money to Microsoft even more. But that's me. Is Ubuntu right for you?

This non-partisan write-up from ArsGeek might help you decide if you're on the fence.

read more | digg story

Services, Vices in JP

2007-03-03T21:57:00.000-05:00

How to Have a Lucid Dream

2007-03-01T21:06:00.001-05:00

I tried some of these methods a few months ago and didn't stick with it. Maybe I'll try again. Let me know if you can fly, shoot hoops with Bob Pollard or create a new universe in your dreams.

read more | digg story

Some Sweet Ubuntu Tips and Ideas

2007-02-28T21:16:00.001-05:00

I'd really like all of you to give Ubuntu a shot. Feel free to contact me and I'll help you along the way. With that said, here is a list of articles about Ubuntu from my favorite geeked out blog -- Lifehacker.

Ubuntu/Linux Roundup - Lifehacker

There is no such thing as a bad day

2007-02-27T19:50:00.000-05:00

The Really Big Guide To Secret Menu Items

2007-02-26T15:55:00.001-05:00

Not content ordering from the menu? Need to have that extra little bit of class that comes from "knowing the chef"?

This crunk guide from the Consumerist will show you the "animal styles" from a bunch of restaurants.

Read More

Bush Administration Moves to Sell National Forest Land

2007-02-25T19:25:00.001-05:00

The Bush administration will unveil a proposal Friday to sell up to 200,000 acres of national forest land in "isolated parcels" ranging from a quarter of an acre to 200 acres, much of it in California.

read more | digg story

Get Free Ubuntu CDs

2007-02-25T09:56:00.001-05:00

If you want to try out Linux, this is the best way. I've been using Ubuntu for about a year now and I love it.

read more | digg story

Whole Foods Tomato Inspector

2007-02-24T07:31:00.000-05:00

Giuliani To Run For President Of 9/11

2007-02-24T06:48:00.000-05:00

NEW YORK—At a well-attended rally in front of his new Ground Zero headquarters Monday, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani officially announced his plan to run for president of 9/11.

Read More

from The Onion

Easily the best iTunes plugin ever

2007-02-23T20:11:00.001-05:00

iConcertCal is a personalized concert calendar that tells you when the artists in your iTunes library are coming to town. I've been using this for about a month now and have found out about a lot of cool shows.

read more | digg story

Sommerville, Not Bad

2006-12-04T21:33:00.000-05:00

I was lost in Sommerville the other night. Walking around in circles. When I asked a couple on a porch for directions, they invited me to join them for beer and mashed potatoes from their spud bar. I shared my whiskey with them and they called me a poet.

Here are some pictures I took with my phone when I was lost:

2006-12-02T10:35:00.001-05:00

Dear Dr. Dearborn-

Duty means you lose latitude like I learn skywatching. What we weave leaves wonder even. Ever vent over violence? Video-bingo? Bring it. Ring it in writing. Tighten the tongue, the younger wonder. Do worry, darling. Harm hath the hot harbor. Boring beings score scabies, scamming babies. Fables fall following fall for all calling allowances concerning waining cable pay-per-view programs. Granted-- progress greased gross products, but grievances butter ballots almost like almonds demand maintenance. Perchance people change angles gleefully. Glances fully glare loose stares. Starving hearts are helping singers bring sous-chefs Cheetos, Fritos, Doritos, Tostinos, Tecate, television and table-placings piercing Totinos Party Pizza. Hearty sleazes have heaved heavily. Help!

Whole Heartedly,

Hannah

Sept 8th List

2006-09-08T23:34:00.000-04:00

I picked a bad time and I can't help.

I don't live walking over the bridge anymore now.

Now that life is completely digital the sky is really fucking clear but when it's blue it too blue. Most of the time shit is just overexposed and white.

We live in a place where our neighbors aren't our neighbors.

I'm not crazy for believing in earthquakes.

How long does it take a man to realize that he is his best beast.

Sometimes I joke about having a magic carpet, but i really do wish I had one.

Too many people say “good shit.” Good shit does not exist unless it comes out of my ass.

I live pacing one way over the same foot.

Labor Dub

2006-09-04T09:06:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow this chair is filled. I'll savour this final day of Unemployment Summer.

Kitty Car Alarm

2006-08-26T06:48:00.000-04:00

Her ceaseless meowing keeps me up throughout the night. Who is in charge? Maybe I should thank her: now I will remember dreams of daydrinking with new friends in my childhood room.

Fountains and Squares

2006-08-24T14:15:00.000-04:00

How many would meet you by the fountain in the square if it was actually there. There are so many of these and never enough. An after hours beer outside of your apartment when the dogs and their owners are sleeping. A cigarette after you quit smoking. And of course, your feet with the pennies on a hot day.

Peter Pan Bonanza

2006-08-22T21:05:00.000-04:00

Sometimes going far can get you
it did last week lost inside each
other wrote ourselves outta there
how can a bus full of gaming trivia
and dunkin’ mcdonalds go away
from anything when it’s there again
when every newspaper reads
multinational bloods and crips with
red, white and blue as something separate
we drink and write not about it while
always writing about it
hit me in the head with a pun or
a beer bottle or anything but me or them
it’s five o’clock somewhere bulldozers
mass burial party lots of skin
we sleep it off for a new headache
and stay right
where we are because there are
always girls and music

Back to Boston

2006-08-21T21:07:00.000-04:00

I've returned from a city where I couldn't understand the language to a city where I can't understand the people.

Montreal 3

2006-08-20T20:05:00.000-04:00

Montreal 2

2006-08-20T20:00:00.000-04:00

Montreal

2006-08-20T10:48:00.000-04:00

2006-08-15T22:43:00.000-04:00

When you open up so much that it's not real any more, it's time to run out of whiskey and go home.

The New Year

2006-08-12T15:56:00.000-04:00

My ears are still ringing. Ringing so good. See these guys if you get a chance. Well worth it.

2006-08-11T10:42:00.000-04:00

An early start is rarely
never again will aging
act as attention pay losing
science youth save time
waste paper fool foil

HOMEWOOD SUITES

2006-08-09T09:50:00.000-04:00

You only really wake up
in hotels
when you sleep in them
they're not free.
You know all the channels
on the cable television by heart.
Sometimes you need ice so
you can fill the sink with beer
and where you think you are when you wake up
is a hotel
you woke up in once
or twice
you went to sleep
a few minutes before the end of Knight Rider
and all of a sudden you're here.

-Dan Wooldridge
from Unemployment Sunday

UNEMPLOYMENT SUNDAY now available

2006-08-07T10:37:00.000-04:00

a chapbook by Tyson Nichols and Dan Wooldridge

for a free copy send your address to tenichols(at)gmail(dot)com

Dirkon Pinhole Camera

2006-05-01T20:36:00.000-04:00

My paper pinhole camera. It was fun to make and take pictures with, but none of them came out -- they were all grossly overexposed.

I followed the directions from the plans, which also give a brief history of the camera's eastern block origins. My modifications came in the form of the green electrical tape (for durability and to keep out light), the Crown Royal bag lining instead of black velvet -- from a "haberdasher" -- as suggested in the instructions (I've always preferred Crown Royal to Black Velevet), a piece from a beercan to make the pinhole (instead of paper), and the film-cap base which I screwed a mini-tripod into. Also, I didn't attach the fake buttons or some of the other showy parts because I didn't want them to interfere with my tape job.

Here is where I think I went wrong:
1. I probably should have pasted black construction paper to the cardstock before I cut out the camera to prevent unwanted light from entering the camera.
2. I think my pinhole could have been smaller. Next time I probably won't stick the sewing needle all the way through the beer can, I will just use the tip.
3. On my first roll (of two), something was sketchy with the advancer. You really need to make sure you feel a snug tension while the film slides out of the full roll into the empty roll.

I'll probably make another, but I might be over it. There is a cigar box on my shelf that looks like a prime candidate for medium format film...

CRESTING CRUST

2006-03-26T21:49:00.000-05:00

sometimes always attracted to the park
shady afternoons, nightly nights
more and more mornings end up in here

from late lollygagging to work walks and
sleeping pass out pad bjs stop for this
now it's

sod sofa or choose the bench or
sink feet sink graveyard 1 grave
11,000 in 1 city block sing
about gallows and these trees

we just drink Powers and pricy
micro brews no libations anymore all
they were was poor or whores or homeless

but we have digital devices make us
look like ghosts new images
for myspace profiles

Silver Jews in Cambridge

2006-03-20T14:58:00.000-05:00

Part of "How to Rent a Room." Sorry about the filming and the quality. I cared more about enjoying it while it was happening than I cared about documenting it.

Journal: 3/9

2006-03-15T06:21:00.000-05:00

I type less letters in a moment every day.

That’s what you told me.

They all say their fingers are flaking off and I see a cloudless sky.

Will poems get shorter as commercial breaks get stronger?

Lucky for me, the new music I hear sounds really good right now.

It must be really good.

One of those weeks and jumped from Monday to Thursday.

I feel like I’m drinking.

Maybe it sounds so good because they both use too much reverb.

Sitting back instead of typing.

It’s only coffee—cheaper.

My window is almost made of bricks except for the sky.

And space.

This isn’t 20 lines.

SETTING SET ME UP

2006-03-09T07:25:00.000-05:00

Trashed again wooden deck leaves out
grainy and a pain paintball brains.
GET OUT

Excuse the sky and kiss me we need
March recess on & on & on & off.
GET OFF

We’re all fucking
up chuck all over please shut up
Jesus carved his name on my soul
forgot how to using sandpaper.
GET IT GONE

More blisters than footprints make
simple times complex makes forced regret
make up.
GET IN

Everyone quit drinking
thanks a lot, now the world’s flooded.
Everyone quit smoking
and the world’s a colder place
safe for after life, they say
GET ON

Please break please we hug it all out
yes, the pervie hug always
try living in a wall and see who
GET IT ON

Downtown was my revolutionary war nickname
we got faded holograms to prove it
for sake of many marbles let’s roll.
GET HERE

Why is the spam I get better than anything I write?

2006-03-05T18:23:00.000-05:00

speaking promised arms. motor friends added, reading supposed to young side drew carefully?
black you a studied sandwich principle?
least fly reading. why back window? music my social the how few.
music reading happened added is? back pretty my next speaking similar.
disappoint similar use principle. you night somewhere tying, light use benefit latter?

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2006-01-03T22:00:00.000-05:00

It's coming...

2006-01-03T14:50:00.000-05:00

The DPD pulls over Prezzo. He walks away, sober.

2006-01-03T14:47:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas from your crunks at the South Davis Motel 6.

2005-12-03T23:15:00.000-05:00

2005-12-03T23:06:00.000-05:00

2005-12-03T23:03:00.000-05:00

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2005-11-01T08:24:00.000-05:00

Roll the Dice

2005-10-26T09:37:00.000-04:00

Check out the new feature on the right.

2005-10-24T22:18:00.000-04:00

2005-10-23T22:01:00.000-04:00

2005-10-22T21:54:00.000-04:00

2005-10-22T21:50:00.000-04:00

My "I Remember" List

2005-10-20T23:25:00.000-04:00

1. I remember something about getting crunk. Or something.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

...

One Bazillion.

2005-10-20T00:01:00.000-04:00

NYC

2005-10-18T08:33:00.000-04:00

New York was an inexhaustible space, a labyrinth of endless steps, and no matter how far he walked, no matter how well he came to know its neighborhoods and streets, it always left him with the feeling of being lost. Lost not only in the city, but within himself as well. Each time he took a walk, he felt as though he were leaving himself behind, and by giving himself up to the movement of the streets, by reducing himself to a seeing eye, he was able to escape the obligation to think, and this more than anything else, brought him a measure of peace, a salutary emptiness within. The world was outside of him, around him, before him, and the speed with which it kept changing made it impossible for him to dwell on any one thing for very long. Motion was of the essence, the act of putting one foot in front of the other and allowing himself to follow the drift of his own body. By wandering aimlessly, all places became equal, and it no longer mattered where he was. On his best walks, he was able to feel that he was nowhere. And this, finally, was the nowhere he had built around himself, and he realized that he had no intention of ever leaving it again.

from Paul Auster's City of Glass

2005-10-16T22:51:00.000-04:00