jaimes

Do you remember the days when you had nothing better to do than sit around with your best friends and goof off? Back when you’d ride your bike or drive your crappy car that was always overheating over to your best friend’s house? Maybe scrape together enough change to get some Taco Bell, then get delirious off of too much Mountain Dew combined with major boredom.

That was about the time that my friends and I would start making up songs, plays, or weird-ass art. I’m not kidding. As teenagers, my cousin Ryan and I wrote a song called Deadalina Hung Herself based on Richard Hung Himself by D.I. and inspired by an old baby doll head we destroyed with all kinds of household items. Sure we were kind of violent but always with a sense of humor. That humor was largely missed by our parents, though, who pretty much thought we were nuts.

But, what better way to deal with the troubles of youth than with punk rock art?

I remember those days well, but I don’t miss them. I don’t miss the good ol’ days because I’m still living them. Not the exact same circumstances, and not the same angry youth mentality but definitely the same people and definitely the same spirit. I’m still very close to my childhood friends and because of this, we continue to bring out the silly, uninhibited side of each other. The side that most people squelch as soon as they get married and hit the suburbs.

But not us. Oh no.

We don’t live in the same cities anymore, but we make a regular effort to get together either in my town, their towns, or our hometown. And when we do get together a handful of times a year, magic happens.

What started as a joke, a whim, a slightly inebriated idea to make a video of us recreating the rap from Teen Witch has evolved into KATATAK.

So, what the hell is KATATAK?

We’re not sure yet. But we can’t seem to stop writing songs, and making videos, and we definitely can’t stop buying cat-themed clothing. So, we’re going to continue, at least until we run out of wardrobe changes.

Here’s the latest KATATAK creation, Scratch U.

Is it just me, or are the 90s making a comeback? Everywhere I turn, bands from the 90s are doing reunion tours. (In the case of The Pixies, reunion tours of reunion tours.) There’s a new book out by Sara Marcus called Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution. And there’s even an entire television series dedicated to the 90s art and music scene, which is still alive and well in at least one American city. Hello, Portland.

Is this a sign that we’re discontent with the present time? Is the first decade (plus change) of the new millennium just not cuttin’ it? (more…)

Donna Reed, January 27, 1921 – January 14, 1986

I had a dream the other night that I was in an old movie along with my best friends. We were stranded in a glamorous 1940s hotel where a murder mystery was being solved. But my friends and I didn’t care about the mystery; we were too excited about the ballroom. Leave it to us to ignore the troubles of the world and go dancing.

I’m a big fan of movies and television from the 40s and 50s. When I was growing up, I loved watching Lucille Ball and Donna Reed rule the roost in her own way. The Donna Reed Show was in syndication on Nick at Nite, and I watched it religiously along with I love Lucy, Bewitched, and Gidget. Of course there are plenty of criticisms you can throw at these shows for simplifying and idealising the American home life into caricatures of gender roles, family values, and stereotypes. But behind the scenes, these women were definitely ruling the roost. (more…)

Notice anything different? The blog is a year old now, so I wanted to give it a makeover. This is the third redesign, so that should tell you something about my personality (disorder). But, I’m very happy with this design, so it’s gonna stick around for a while.

My hope is that the redesign helps with the overall purpose of the site, which started as a way to inspire mamas to take their creative projects off the backburner (myself included), but has now expanded to include resources, interviews, and stories to help us really make it happen. I should say this goes for you daddys and grownups without kids, too. As Violet Clark said in my 9q interview,

“less talk, more rock.” (more…)

There are times when my google reader feeds me nothing but information overload, making me want to run far, far away from all things electronic. But this morning, I had a very good internet day. The kind that leads you to something poignant and powerful, even spiritual.

I stumbled upon this Words video through poppytalk, which led me to the production company called Everynone. I love this website. It’s a video blog of what are essentially mini-documentaries. Not too crazy artsy and not too commercially sappy.

This first video is called Words. It’s a little bit like one of those commericals that makes you cry until you realize it’s for an insurance company, except this one doesn’t end with a company logo. It’s good. Trust me.

WORDS from Everynone on Vimeo.

This one called Parabolas is about the laws of nature. A really beautiful example of how when you open your eyes to something, you start to see it everywhere.

Parabolas (etc.) from Everynone on Vimeo.

And finally, my favorite Everynone production so far, Stoop Sitting. One of the best things about Atlanta is hanging out on your porch and talking to your neighbors. This video reminds me of that.

Everyone Forever Now – “Stoop Sitting” from Everynone on Vimeo.

Star Wars was on TV last night, so we watched a bit with the kids. Here’s the conversation that happened when the kids see Darth Vader enter the scene. (more…)