New summer music mix for my Muxtape: http://littletinyfish.muxtape.com
If you haven't seen my blog post about the bike trip to Madison, you can see that at my site: http://littletinyfish.com
As always, new entertainment on Thought Bubbles: http://littletinyfish.tumblr.com

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Last weekend my parents came up to visit for more than just an afternoon. This was probably the first time in...ever?...that they've stayed two nights. It's also probably the first time that they didn't rent a hotel, and stayed on our couch bed. They're getting more adventurous. We went to the Zoo, too.

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On Sunday I ditched them for an excellent Bomb the Music Industry! performance at Mad Planet , the first time I've been to in at least 8 months (when was the last time The Scarring Party played?) and the first show I've had to pay for in maybe six?

It was well worth it. I picked up their vinyl for my favorite record, Goodbye Cool World. It was the first vinyl I legitimately purchased. Now I just need a record player.

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I'm checking out a new apartment this Friday, and I'm pretty sure I've found a roommate that I'm pretty sure I can tolerate. His name is Jordan and I'm sure most of you don't know him. The apartment is in Shorewood, a place I don't relish adventuring into, but I said the same thing about The East Side and Riverwest and I liked them both well enough. I probably won't be able to move for another few weeks, which will be the hardest trial yet.

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Tonight I'm going with Neil to the Bike Co-Op to get him outfitted with a proper street bike, instead of that old WWII era kids bike. Then it's off to work on a freelance project.

For those of you who are curious about the bike trip Tracy and I took to Madison, check out this blog entry:
Easy Rider: Cycling from Milwaukee to Madison.

Another interesting note: I've accepted a freelance job to do an illustration of thirteen little Chinese girls who were adopted a few years ago. Every year they get together for a reunion, and I was commissioned to do a print. This will probably be one of my most challenging illustrations to date, so I'm really excited to see what I can do with it.

Tracy and I are planning a bike trip to Madison this weekend. If the weather holds up, it should be a beautiful trip. We've sorta mapped out a semi-straight path there, so here's to hoping we don't make a wrong turn. With all the back roads, though, I'm sure it's bound to happen.

In preparation I tuned up my bike Thursday night while watching The Office. I finally replaced the original tires from when the bike was new, so long ago, with Kevlar tires. Kevlar is the shit they put in bullet-proof vests.

Unfortunately the tires are so large that I had to ditch my fenders. But since I have a sturdy, all-weather bike with perfectly working fenders, it should be okay. I also washed all the salt and rust away, centered my brakes and got them to stop squealing. Assuming I did everything correctly, this is probably the best shape that bike has been in in a while.

Wednesday I went on a walk with Frutiger and she was off-leash most of the time. We started out walking down by the river to Kern Park. Then we walked Dousman Ave. all the way back home. It was mostly successful, but also a little stressful. She gets easily distracted by that wandering nose of hers, and if I don't snap her out of it soon enough, she goes deaf to anything I say or do.

At the current moment I'm incredibly sore from lifting with Neil. I just want to lie down and not move for the rest of the night.

I saw DeVotchKa last night with two of my favorite people, facehead2k and Tracy. Apart from the scantily clad acrobatics, which were a bit much, the show was fantastic. It's so nice to watch musicians do what they do best and, as far as I could tell, fairly flawlessly. It was funny to see the progression through the night, starting out with Cederwell who were not good, Basia Bulat, who were talented, but not terribly special, and then ending with DeVotchKa. I also got to talk to my contact at Pabst/Riverside/Turner, Cecelia, who is always a sweetheart.

Lately my days have been full from beginning to nearly the end, and sometimes it's hard to properly time everything. I have to work 8 hours, and between biking about an hour a day, walking Frutiger for an hour, lifting weights for an hour, and making food for an hour, and then possibly doing freelance work, it's hard to find time for much else. By the time I'm done with all of that I just want to relax. I'm conflicted as to whether this is a good or bad thing.

I scored 25/80 on the empathy quotient. Autistic people usually score around 20 (my brother's score, ha!). I don't put a lot of stock in many online quizzes, but this one seem legit.

I had a really weird experience with an escaped dog on the way home from work. A large dog that appeared to be some kind of boxer/lab mix rapidly approached Frutiger and I. There was a woman walking behind it, so I figured it was hers. While the two dogs were introducing each other, I asked "Is it yours?" to which she replied, "No."

Confused, I grabbed the dog by it's tags and called the number, but nobody picked up. I called the Non-Emergency Police instead. The dog wandered all over the street and then behind an opened fence, from which it must have escaped...in between a church and a house. I moved a recycling can in front of it while on hold with the police when a rusty old car pulled up, and then backed into the driveway (which was now partially blocked by the can. In the car were three teens, three dogs, and an old woman in the passenger seat. That's when the police finally picked up. But since the owners were there, I thought I could just talk to them, so I hung up.

The old lady passenger's window was rolled down, so I said, "Excuse me, ma'am." She ignored me and talked in a panic with the driver, who tried to frustratingly calm her down. I tried to get their attention again, but they went on ignoring me. It felt like they had probably had some kind of dog related altercation before, and were trying to get me to leave (or at least that's what my mind made up).

The guy in the back seat got out and smiled at me and I explained to him that the large dog had gotten out, nothing had happened, and that I moved the can in front so it wouldn't get out again. In the meantime, they were letting the other three dogs out of the car. He smiled knowingly and weaseled his way through the blocked gate.

I just turned and left, confused and unsatisfied.

What the hell just happened!?

A few nights ago sleepless_one became unhappy with the set up of our living room and decided to re-arrange the furniture. One of the biggest changes was flip flopping our spotted chair with Frutiger's kennel.

Whenever I feed Frutiger she gets pretty excited and, when she can get by me, likes to run into her kennel to prepare for the oncoming bounty. After Ms. One had swapped the furniture it was feeding time. Frutiger escaped from behind me while I was carrying the food and ran ahead, looked back, hung a left-BAM! Right into the spotted chair. She looked dazzeled for a moment, figured out what was going on, and turned around to enter her kennel on the other side of the room.

It's been a few days and I just have to say, much to my pleasure, she's learning very slowly.

A few nights ago sleepless_one became unhappy with the set up of our living room and decided to re-arrange the furniture. One of the biggest changes was flip flopping our spotted chair with Frutiger's kennel.

Whenever I feed Frutiger she gets pretty excited and, when she can get by me, likes to run into her kennel to prepare for the oncoming bounty. After Ms. One had swapped the furniture it was feeding time. Frutiger escaped from behind me while I was carrying the food and ran ahead, looked back, hung a left-BAM! Right into the spotted chair. She looked dazzeled for a moment, figured out what was going on, and turned around to enter her kennel on the other side of the room.

It's been a few days and I just have to say, much to my pleasure, she's learning very slowly.

On a related note, do you like how I started the story with a dramatic ex-girlfriend line and quickly changed the subject to a pet story.

Suckers.

And on another related note, things are going well between Ms. One and I, which must mean drama is just around the corner...

Is this the downfall of LJ? I kinda hope not, because I've loved the service since I started blogging, but lately I feel little need to post. Has my life been reduced to such pattern that there is nothing interesting to talk about anymore?

Probably not, but my attention certainly has been divided elsewhere among the net. My Tumblr. My personal site. And this new mixtape service called Muxtape.

All three sites have been updated recently, so if you haven't been there lately, be sure to check 'em out.

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Oh, and yeah, sleepless_one and I are no longer dating, so after three years I have to once again wade through the deep sighs and eye rolling that comprises the ridiculousness of the dating world.

I'm also on the lookout for a new bed. There's nothing that makes you feel more pathetic than sleeping on a pullout in your own house.

Ms. One and I are still on amicable terms, though, and as far as it looks, things should stay that way.

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And speaking of reasons to party, I was thinking super-washing our house and having some kind of "Hooray-we-can-open-our-windows-again!" May Day party. I'll keep you updated.

My brother and friend came to visit this weekend, which lent itself to long, sleepless nights and much money spent. I think I have enough to cover it, but it's not like one of those things that you plan for. Maybe it should be, though I don't know what I would cut out of my budget to make it happen.

Anyway, we went out to eat a lot, hung out in coffee shops, watched the dogs wrestle, and the cats hide. Oni has become extremely anti-social, and we're not sure why. She mostly confined herself to the kitchen and bedroom, so much so that we had to move a litter box into the kitchen temporarily. She even started growling and hissing at Neko. Once everybody left, though, she went back to being the creepy cat that she's known for.

Speaking of which, it seems as though we can avoid taking her to the vet. Her scratching habit seems to have subsided, though we're going to keep a close eye on it. I think she and Neko got a little too rough and tumble and ended up getting a scab that she was trying to scratch off. We'll see if that theory holds water.

My tax return stuff is coming around. Due to freelancing, I owe a significant amount of money to the government, but if this $600 Bushy bonus goes through I should come out slightly on top. Unfortunately, that won't hit until May.

It's a sad day when you have to cash in your change jar in order to pay for bills. The end of March is gonna be themed "How much can I do with as little money as possible." So if you go out and do something cheap or free, definitely clue me in on it.

On another note, Neil and Justin convinced Brian and I to start working out, so I bought an adjustable dumb bell set. I look forward to running around with my shirt off this summer.

My cat, Oni, keeps licking and scratching herself. She's scratched off some fur by her ear, but she mostly scratches her neck for extended periods of time, licks her legs, and bites at the base of her tail.

I've heard it could be food allergies, litter allergies, mites (though doubtful, since our other animals don't have them). I suppose I'll have to take her to the vet, but to those of you who already had these problems, how much money am I going to be spending in order to give her the proper tests?

My show on Dr. Sushi's Free Jazz BBQ on WMSE was a success. I even had people calling me at work to find out what I had played. It sounds like most people were the most impressed by Efterklang (probably because it had the most structure).

Last night sleepless_one and I hung out with some genuine French folks. We discussed how Americans drove big trucks and French people were snobs. All of them were fun and the whole night was entertaining.

In an attempt to better consolidate my "brand image" I'm in the process of ditching my deadringtaltos AIM and switched it to liltinyfish. Unfortunately littletinyfish was already taken, but my problem solving skills brought me to a name that is close enough to my liking.

And, while I'm thinking about it, I just signed up for a little tiny fish hotmail account as well, so I can begin switching over my MSN Messenger services as well.

I also have a new e-mail address, that should be difficult to screw up. Use whichever one you think is easiest to remember (they all go to the same place):
littletinyfish .at. littletinyfish !dot! com
jasonmcdowell [at] littletinyfish *dot* com
jason (at) littletinyfish -dot- com

I promise I plan on sticking around at littletinyfish.com for a long period of time, so you won't have to memorize a new address for a long, LONG time.

I'll be a guest today on Dr. Sushi's Free Jazz BBQ from 10-Noon. Tune in to listen to music that ranges from fun to unlistenable. Also, I'm debuting never-before-heard tracks from The Scarring Party.

I attempted to fix my bike tire tube with a patch kit, but ran into a few problems. First of all, I found several shards of glass that were causing the problem, each piece of varying color, which means I must have ridden over a drunken brawl. The next problem is that I'm unsure of when I'm supposed to add the patch to the tube. When it's fully deflated? Partially inflated?

As a result, all of my hard work paid off with another flat. I think I'm going to just replace the tube and hope that I've managed to remove the rest of the problematic glass.

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I watched Taxi Driver which I would like to watch again, because I think I missed half of the subtlety of it. DeNiro was pretty sweet before he went all Meet the Parents on us.

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When I attempt to explain the mini-blogging tool called Twitter, most people can't wrap their mind around the idea of text-message-sized blogs, and the easiest way of relating it to somebody is by explaining it's entertainment value...mostly inane announcements that culminate into a larger picture. I've managed to create quite a list of contacts through strategic following. I feel like I suddenly have access to dozens more actively creative individuals, which makes me step up my need to continue learning and practicing my craft. It's about time inspiration finally struck me again.

I find myself leaning less on drawing and illustration, though, and more on organization and design. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Mostly I feel good; design has always been more practical than illustration. But I also look back on my rather expensive schooling and wonder if it got me to where I am, in part or in whole, or if it was mostly an inconsequential way of spending a few years.

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On top of the network that's being forged, I'm also meeting with people who share actually share my interests, something I have lately had only the rare pleasure of experiencing. New friends? It's about fuckin' time!

Less than a month ago I designed my new website, littletinyfish.com and then a couple weeks ago I tore the whole thing down and re-built it into a better form. I'm happy with where it's heading, though I believe it has a few more weeks of tweaks before I get it to where I really want it.

My hope is that it'll be more active than deadringerart.com. DRA was my attempt at being as professional as possible about everything. My hope for LTF is that it'll be something much more relaxed and, therefore, make me want to update more. Plus I don't have to share it with my stinky brother.

You should also check out my brother's site, RevoltPuppy.com

Things have been crazy around here, while my life has hit a standstill. We've experienced record highs (64) to infuriating lows (-35 windchill). Last night I food poisoned myself, which ruined a perfectly good night of...well, not much of anything. But it would have been nice to go outside the house. Cabin fever has certainly sunk in.

A distinct lack of money doesn't help, either. The holidays, the trip to Austin, and sleepless_one's birthday have squeezed my account for all it's worth. Today, I get paid, but the money is basically already spent.

The new Alterra on Humbolt has already started throttling it's Wi-Fi service, regardless of how busy it is, which gives me more of a reason to make the extra hike to Fuel Cafe.

We finished up the first season of Deadwood, which was quite excellent. The development of the characters was a little slow at first, and it took a bit of time to get used to the amount (or style?) of swearing, but once that set in, I was on board. It's amazing how they get you to empathize with such villainy. I'm really excited to start onto Season 2, but Ms. One wants me to rent a few movies first.

We've also started attacking Season 3 of Arrested Development. I can't figure out why it wasn't successful when it a)Was hilarious and b)Had the attention span HALF that of a normal sitcom. If Fox could have found a time slot and stuck with it, they would have had a ringer.

I haven't updated in a while, so I thought I'd let you all know about my exciting life.

---Site Design---
Upon further review of my website, I think I might overhaul it again. There's too much going on with it; I want it to be simpler and smoother with fewer borders. The good part about it is I have most of the complex scripting taken care of, so the aesthetic part should be the easiest.

---Austin, TX---
sleepless_one and I traveled to Austin, Texas for a couple of days of warmer weather and got home just in time for 10 inches of snow. While we were there we stayed with a Bike Pirate named Courtney, who kindly offered two strangers her couch and brief use of her car. It was as punk rock as one would expect. I also got to catch up with makemoretrouble, whom I used to go to school and briefly volunteer with. It looks like she's doing quite well, and she was very hospitable when it came to showing us around the town. She created a giant list of excellent hot spots for our first couple of days and then took us around town for the last. Austin was beautiful.

---Airports---
If you have to fly, I recommend Midwest Airlines, especially leaving from Milwaukee. Amazing coach seats. Unfortunately the airline itself is small and will probably involve a layover in Kansas City, the worst Airport I've encountered of late. And just to reassure you about the airport Code Orange lock-down, Ms. One able to successfully smuggle in a corkscrew and tear gas (a bottle of military grade pepper spray) as well as containers of liquid larger than four ounces...at least until we hit KC.

---Juno---
While in Austin we watched a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse, where they serve food during the show. We watched Juno, which I thought was on the same level of Little Miss Sunshine (judge that as you will). Personally, I wasn't terribly impressed. And I didn't realize Ellen Page was the same irritating girl from Hard Candy the first movie I ever walked out on, primarily due to her.

---La Vie En Rose---
When we returned I picked up my now fat dog from my bosses house and we went home to eat Pizza Shuttle and watch La Vie En Rose which I wasn't a fan of. I did enjoy the music, though, so I'll have to look into that.

I just found this GPS related site, cleverly called GPSies: Tracks for Vagabonds, where people can enter in their favorite trails for biking, motorbiking, hiking, swimming, etc.

It's a little light on participation at the moment, but if more than a few people give a little input this could be a second tier to finding directions on Google. Instead of finding the fastest way of getting somewhere, it helps you find the most satisfying.

When I bookmark my most common sites in my Toolbar folder I like to have that 16x16 visual cue called a "favicon" (short for Favorite Icon), not just the text links. Actually lately I've been removing the text links altogether, choosing to use ONLY the favions as my visual cue. For some reason, though, the Mac version of Mozilla Firefox automatically disables favicons and merely uses text links (in an attempt to look more like Safari?) with no built options to return them.

I lived with this set up for a little while, but finally, out of visual frustration I set out to correct the problem. It turns out I wasn't the only one. The add-ons on Mozilla.org provide a "Mac Favicon Theme" which re-enables them. Even further, there is another add-on (which works for both PC and Mac) called the "Favicon Picker," which lets you add or replace any favicon you'd like. This is helpful for adding an extra distinction to Blogger or LiveJournal blogs (who all use the same favicon). It can also be used to add visual cues to bookmarklets, like Tumblr, BoxedUp, or del.icio.us.

For your convenience:
Mac Favicon
Favicon Picker - Both Mac and PC

---Websites---
I've been fine tuning my new website lately, but haven't been able to install TextPattern because, once again, I don't have access to .htaccess. I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to get access to said file, but my "guy" hasn't gotten back to me. I was hoping to set up the bones of the site during this break, but obviously that won't happen.

I've also been finalizing the new Annie Aube website, which has mostly been a major headache (there's news, eh?). If I want to change one element, I have to change it 40 times for each page. Blah. To make matters worse, it appears she's debuted her own new website, so now I'm worrying all of this is going to be for nothing. And it's not like I can re-use the bones, and it's not like I "learned" anything from this, except that Yahoo! SiteBuilder sucks.

---Holiday---
I've been trying to fight off hibernation lately, but with mixed results. When I'm doing something I wish I was sleeping. When I'm doing nothing, I wish I were doing something.

New Years Eve was pretty fun. sleepless_one and I had dinner at Trocadero and then spent the rest of the night at Cafe Hollander, having fun and conversation with her friends and co-workers. A couple of other friends ended up showing up later in the night as well. We were both wondering how the night was going to end up, but it was probably the best NYE in recent memory.

Before the celebration, we ran around the Southridge Mall, making returns and spending gift cards. I got a new pair of striped pants, Scott Pilgrim Vol. 2, a couple of checkered neckerchiefs, and a frappaccino. For X-ies I got a griddle, Ratatouille, Return of the King, Sealab Vol. 3, Ceasar's Way, Best Buy Gift Certificates, a hooded thermal, and a bunch of luggage. So far the Best Buy gift certificates have yielded the new Efterklang and Animal Collective.

Most importantly was the time spent with family and friends, which, this year, seems to have rung more truly than in years past.

Now I feel like going into monetary hiding for the next three weeks. Then it's off to Austin.

I am back from Iowa with holiday goodies in hand. I got a bunch of stuff I wanted and very little I did not. Much of the stuff that I didn't want ended up just barely missing the mark. I felt bad because I sorta feel like I'm letting strict, incomprehensible standards get in the way of the heart of things, but at the same time, I don't want a bunch of unwanted stuff laying around.

Right now I feel tired and over indulged, and feel like I should spend the next couple of weeks doing little to nothing in order to make up for it.

The good part about this year was it was spread across four days instead of all crammed into one big day. This gave me a chance to actually enjoy what was going on, rather than run around to three different Christmases.

I also journeyed out to Lincoln, Nebraska for a few days to check out my brother's place. All his friends were out doing holiday things, so I missed out on seeing quite a few people, but I still had a good time.

Lots of puppy play, too. Frutiger got to spend several days with Exabulir and Yuragi, which was alternately cute and stressful. I'm entirely surprised that puppies can play for 12 hours a day, with 10 minute naps in between. Even so, I'm glad I don't have a baby. Those things scream at just the right pitch to rattle your eardrums. I would definitely like to wait a few more years before one of those guys rolls around.

Movies: Superbad is good. Walk Hard is okay. The Ex is not good.

I ordered the new Animal Collective and Efterklang albums as well. They should have arrived today, but Best Buy is not as good as Amazon, so I'll probably see them on Monday.

My house is clean right now. I should attempt to get people over here before that changes.

This year I feel like I've made significant growth in my taste in music, but I still can't help but think my album buying skills have yet to catch up. I'm sure you'll recognize a few bands from the mixtape I had created earlier, but you'll also notice the majority of those songs appear nowhere on the albums in this list. I intend to rectify that (as I say every year) but it is my hope to reconcile the difference between what my brain appreciates and what my hands desire. Some people have written a footer for the year, claiming it to be a generally bad one for music. I have heard a few claim it to be good. I can't say I'm terribly excited about my list this year. While the top five came swiftly, the bottom few are a bit middling.

Anyway, the quality of this particular year shouldn't wholely matter, as my list isn't Top 10 Albums Released This Year. It's Top 10 Albums That Defined My Year, which means any album from any year has a chance to qualify, (though, honestly, it helps to have been purchased within the year of the last Top 10).

10) Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta
The album is about two tracks too long, and it's compositions get a little too heavy on the instrumentation (at times it feels inappropriately like a mini orchestra instead of an in-your-face punk band), but the band is certainly working hard to promote it's diversity, straying far from it's Eastern European roots and taking it's sound around the world. I just can't help but smile when I hear those fat Mariachi trumpets kick in. Their live showmanship can't be beat.

9) Holly Golightly & the Brokeoffs - You Can't Buy a Gun When You're Crying
Alternative, murky, southern country blues that hails from England. The Brokeoffs consist of Holly Golightly and her husband...so how she teams with herself I don't really understand. The album borders on inventive while sticking true to the authenticity of the genre, but sometimes I feel it never strays far enough.

8) Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
As always, a magnificent musician, though I have to admit this album doesn't exactly rise to my expectations brought on by any album previous. The last track gets a little too "Stevie Nicks," which ends up leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

7) Movers - A Collection fo Greasy Soul, Sleaze Funk, Psychedelic Cumbia, Fuzzy Jazz, and More...
It is what it claims to be. It's a bunch of rare cuts that dazzle the genres that define them, getting you out of your seat and dancing. Until you've heard some greasy jerk get all hot and bothered about eating chicken thighs, you just haven't heard funk. The album covers a lot of ground, but it works well together and, despite it's long track listing, never feels tired.

6) Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country
A throwback to the dreamy 70s folk-pop. The album feels like it was peeled from the dusty vinyl. A good summer album.

5) Asobi Seksu - Citrus
Loud, dense and feedback-fueled starry-eyed rock that makes me feel like I'm cruising downtown Tokyo. Yuki Chikudate's voice surfs over the walls of sound, sometimes nearly getting swallowed in the mess of it all, but always manages to come out on top and make it feel effortless.

4) Islaja - Ulual YYY
Hailing from Norway (or Finland, depending on who's talking), Islaja wails off-key and plucks out psychedelic, experimental soundscapes which border on pretentious at times, but the subtly diverse instrumentation overall creates a solid album that is all too short.

3) Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
Beirut's first album was defined by one man playing every instrument to create a full-bodied Eastern European orchestra which found itself lacking a guitar (not that it needed one). For his (their?) follow-up he nixed the work and added other musicians as well as that guitar to create a much more resolved sound. The album walks through courtyards in the spring and wades through funeral dirges.

2) The 1900s - Cold & Kind
Easily the catchiest, poppiest album this year. I've seen the album described as "undefinable" but it's pretty easy to pick up on those syrupy indie-rock vocals mixed with dancy disco rhythms ripped straight from that decade. It could sound almost vintage, a la Camera Obscura, but they, instead, opted for a more relevant sound, giving their talented musicianship a chance to shine.

1) The 1900s - Plume Delivery EP
Before the release of their full-length, I was properly teased by the band's nigh perfect (in both sound and runtime) EP. It's a little bit less crisp than their subsequent release, but it only adds to it's charm.