And... Go.

This past Monday was the final day of the coffeeshop . Before catching my bus down to Charlottesville, I dropped by, did shots with my bosses and coworker , chatted with my best buddy Angus (who's thwee and a hawf), made fun of the guy who was asleep against the memorial wall, and spent a few last minutes goofing around at Alt. In a few weeks we'll rise again, like a phoenix from the ash and rubble. Renovated, clean, more family-friendly, with expanded menu and a new name and logo... But this was a last huzzah for the old-guard East Village hang-out that we knew as Alt.Coffee. Nice way to go out. -PAR

Then, one day, it's seventy degrees outside and margaritas start seeming like the best idea in the world. Time to start seeking out rooftops and patios. I'm catching a bus down to Charlottesville on Monday. Spending the better part of the week there, with few places to be or events to attend. An actual real-live vacation. Yeah. Spring is thus far a totally disjointed series of phrases and images that I'm not even trying to form into a cohesive whole. It's just stuff happening and things flashing by and falling-over tired and laughing a lot. The music needs to be louder. Sure, I'd love another drink. You're doing what? I'd love to, but I'll forget, could you remind me later? We need more of that. Open the windows. Yes, move to New York. Check THAT out. Yeah, I should probably get more sleep. High-five! Yes, please. I'll get to that one in a second. You like-a that one so much, we playa it for you again now. Easy, buddy. Faster. ...

It won't stop raining in NYC. And it's not quite warm enough to be enjoyable. It's just a cold and wet and dreary. Rain not even coming down, but streaming horizontally so umbrellas don't make much difference. Iced coffee is all that's coming between me and falling over, giving in to the 80-odd hour work week I'm winding up. Well, iced coffee and Mike Doughty's redition of "Looks" coming over the stereo. Perfect rainy day tunage. This upcoming week: the last few days of working at the coffeeshop before we close for renovation/transformation. Seeing a rock show with a cute girl. General exhaustion, margaritas with friends, dealing with taxes, buying tix for my trip to Ch'ville at the end of the month. Transmission continuing soon. -PAR

...And the next thing you know, it's full-on springtime. Daylight savings shakes everything up, time starts accelerating, kick the windows open to get some fresh air and turn up the stereo. My life suddenly kicks back into high gear between theater gig, planning next visit back to Ch'ville, being smitten with girl and pop music, other as-yet-nameless project taking too much of my time, coffeeshop what I work at closing to renovate, planning next stage of DJ career, and all the usual idiot revelry that comes with the being young and foolish. -PAR

Yeah, so I've been quiet for a while... Busy with all manner of stuff. Friends visiting, applying for some theatre design work, spending the usual amount of time at my places of employment, listening to amazing pop music, going to incredible concerts, reveling in the craziness as winter shifts gears and begins tempting us with notions of springtime. I offer this by way of explaining what I've been doing instead of writing here. Ramblings, pictures, and other nonsense will now resume transmitting on a more regular basis. I hope. -PAR

There's a bunch of new pics up on Mallfellows , taken over recent visits back to Charlottesville. (Two galleries by me, one by The Artist Formerly Known As benjones .) Working on lining up a few more dance-party-DJ-things, both here and down in Chville. More info soon, with luck. And let's not forget, it's almost January 31st ! And you know what that means? So stock up on bananas, pull your ape suit out of the closet, and enjoy this most festive of days. But beware of the odd abominable snowman wandering around amongst the apes... They can turn vicious. (All the latest and most up-to-date gorilla suiting info can be found over at Mark Evanier's "News From Me" , of course.) -PAR

Back in the big city. Back for a week now, and just beginning to get back in the groove of everyday life. Time in Charlottesville was fantastic. Saw nearly everyone I needed to see, played a couple great parties, designed a show that was everything I hoped, had plenty of time to just goof around and start feeling at home again. Long days, longer nights-into-mornings, walking and hitching rides and working hard and exploring the city I used to know backwards. Getting home as the sun's rising. Sleeping in far later than I should. Seeing the family, having a much-delayed holiday, eating, conversing, making merry. Afternoons reading and drinking coffee, or on top of a ladder moving lights about to create a space that I envisioned. Evenings in rehearsals or playing records, then to the teahouse for beverages and plotting the next stage of mischief. Impromptu after-hours rock shows. The C&O with bundles of friends, creating ruckus, conversing, catching up, cutting up, disr...