holaolah

Common Phrase

"What a mess" is a phrase we use a lot around these parts. It's not just used to describe actual physical messes but also situations, relationships, commitments, schemes, wars and other various and assorted conflicts that have somehow become messy.

Yesterday's News

I tried to post this YouTube video yesterday but something was wacky. I now re-present it to you for your viewing pleasure. Please note that this is not a video of today's rain. It is, in all actuality, a video of yesterday's rain. Enjoy it before the sky clears and the mud turns back into dust.

Late In the Evening... and all the music's seeping through

It's 12:52 AM and the band next store is just getting started. They tuned up by jamming on Sabbath's "War Pigs." It's loud. I really don't know what the hell is going on. I wonder if their phone is busted and this is the only way they know to summon the cops. Odd. I'm not calling them but I am sure someone will. Meanwhile, Mrs. O sleeps like a baby in the next room.

In other news, we're beginning our Philly house hunt in earnest tomorrow morning! Wish us luck, and if you know of any sweet deals please drop us a line.

Update # 1: about a half hour later and they're still playing. "Seven Nation Army" may sound simple when you hear it on the radio but it's not. I wonder if Jack & Meg went through what these guys are experiencing in order to get all of the changes and parts right.

Update # 2: Johnny Law finally showed up around 1:37 AM and ended the session.

Sophia Muralized In Newark?

This evening, in an effort to beat the rain on our way home from Iron Hill, we decided to take a shortcut through the alley next to the restaurant.

While on this off-the-beaten-path trek, we passed by a store called Village Imports. The facade of their building is decorated with a mural that can only be described as a weird invasion of our privacy.

I snapped this pic of what appears to be Sophia about to swat an unsuspecting butterfly out of the sky and consume it whole and then hours later cough it back out into the world and repeat the process.  A scene I've witnessed 100+ times within the confines of my living space but never documented on the side of a shop specializing in hippie skirts, beads and bongos.

If I was not of sound mind, I might think that their mural artist has immortalized my beloved pussycat in an effort to send the hola family a special certificate of recognition for our time served in Newark and subliminally communicate that despite our frustrations with the place, we'll someday achieve favorite son/daughter and oversized feline status.

I'll appreciate that gesture when that day comes. In the meantime, I really wanna know who's been peeping in my windows and studying my animal.

Almost there

We're almost through the valley. Soon we'll be coming out of the wilderness with new stories to tell.

Confession Time ... w/a moral at the end

I think I have a problem. Tonight, on my way home from work, I stopped at my local newsstand to see if they had any sudoku puzzle books. That's it. That's my dirty secret.

The only book there was $15 and that's too steep for an entry level habit. We need affordably priced highs. In the meantime, we'll keep printing them out from this site.

Nellie recently became obsessed with the puzzles. I gave her one that appeared in a clipper type magazine that came to the apartment (the same one that yielded this scientologically and snake-oily contraption of chiropracticality) last week. Last night we decided to do a few lines together and we couldn't get enough. We could hardly sleep. Considering that the local vices of choice here in Newark are meth, Oxycontin, and Milwaukee's Best, I think our indulgences tend to pale in comparison to those of our fellow townsfolk. And that's really what America is all about: comparing yourself to your neighbors and taking pride in that fact that you're sooo much better than them.

Thank you sodoku!

Look!

  Look! 
  Originally uploaded by holaolah.

This is my most viewed flickr photo. Why can't it be interesting?

North American Gia Pet

  North American Gia Pet 
  Originally uploaded by holaolah.

You probably didn't know about the existence of Gia. Rarely seen in our domestic wilderness, she's a rare bird; not that photogenic and rather needy. We love her the way that one loves sloths and other pathetic creatures.

Guess Who Came To Visit

  Guess Who Came To Visit 
  Originally uploaded by holaolah.

David George made a surprise visit this evening. As you can see, good times were had by all! He's working in Newcastle, DE, these days and he's making use of the fold-out couch. I hope he likes sleeping with cats.

Look!

  Look! 
  Originally uploaded by holaolah.

In case you didn't notice, there's a Poodle and a Husky dukin' it out in the sculpture yard.
This is an old photo, but I thought I'd share it with ya'll.