12July2008
Posted by ATK under: Myself.
I camped. I crossed a five mile bridge. I saw a black bear. I made love. I ate Whitefish that slept in Whitefish Bay. I further developed relationships. I read a book. I touched a piece of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I ate fresh cherries. I drank wine. I watched baseball. I devised a new project. I wrote a postcard. I took a trolley. I visited The Christmas Story house. I used the bathroom in The Christmas Story house. I read the actual Purple Haze lyrics. I played catch with a young boy. I talked alien conspiracy with a conspiracy theorist. I viewed a waterfall stained by tannins. I conversed with the Miss Michigan Fourth Runner Up. I laughed. I missed. I dreamed.
I am back from my Michigan trip.
29June2008
Posted by ATK under: Myself.
I’m going to be traveling to Michigan and Ohio, Detroit and Cleveland specifically, next week for a bit of discovery and relaxation. I do not look forward to the hours of traveling and cheap roadside snacks and restroom visits, but these are the standard costs of going on vacation. I’ll be seeing some baseball games and doing some camping. I hope to also take in something of the Edmund Fitzgerald sort; I’ve been obsessed with that famous boat wreck since I caught a documentary on it while staying in a hotel in Quebec.
My most troubling issue with the vacation is what literature I should take. I had thought I would be taking The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, but then decided to take instead Among the Thugs by Bill Buford. Ultimately, I settled on three books varying in nature. My suitcase is packed (and yes, I am packed already) with Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, The Complete Sherlock Holmes: Volume 1, and The Book of Absinthe: A Cultural History by Phil Baker.
I don’t intend to read them all, in fact, I doubt I’ll even finish one, but there is something comforting having them in my possession.
I do hope to get in another posting or two before I leave. I will be back on the 13th.
26June2008
Posted by ATK under: Myself.
The Wilmington evenings have been brewing up some nostalgia for me. It is humid out just before dusk, but it isn’t an uncomfortable humidity. It is pleasant, made much more delicious by the sounds of the cicadas buzzing in the nearby trees. I call these evenings “Ozark Nights” because I remember as a youngster sitting out in my Grandmother’s backyard in Arkansas watching cows coming in from the fields on nights just like these. I no longer can have those type of nights at my Grandmother’s house because the poison of development and consumerism have eliminated those pastures and replaced it with something synthetic and empty.
But there are times, like the past few nights, that the past returns to me to remind me of who I am and where I came from.
24June2008
Posted by ATK under: Mywork.
I went into the Encore office today and nailed out the article on the band Nathan Oliver. At first I thought this assignment was going to be some boring acoustic pop band sort of garbage, but the interview changed my opinion.
Now the article is talking about giant panties, cracking skulls, Art Speigelman, and “hanging things.” This is the sort of things I find out about my subjects and the direction my articles go in. Music is music. Either people are going to go listen to them or they won’t, a written article can’t fully capture what a band is. But the stories surrounding that band…yes. That is interesting. That is good reading. What makes more interesting reading is the stuff that didn’t make the cut:
“What is more challenging: Playing the guitar or scraping plaque off teeth?
Nathan: Scraping off plaque is very easy. You could do it with your finger, or your stubby half-finger, after that boating accident.
Mark: I can’t do either. And dude, that’s not funny. My dad has half-fingers…
Nathan White is a UNC Dentistry student so that is why I asked about plaque. These guys were a hoot and their stuff is pretty good. What really attracted me to them was their CD artwork by Allison Gore.
Right now her site is being upgraded until July, but I do invite you to check it out and also some of her work here and here.
Article comes out around July 2nd. Enjoy.
24June2008
Posted by ATK under: Myrecipes.
1/2 Captain Morgan’s Private Stock Rum
1/2 Reed’s Extra Ginger Brew Jamaican Ginger Beer
3 Lime Slices
Mixing: Fill cup with ice and put in the rum and ginger beer. Squeeze two lime slices into the glass and then discard. Take third lime slice and run it on the rim of the glass and then drop it in.
Verdict: Very cool and refreshing. The Private Stock and Reed’s makes a nice balance; not too light, not too strong. It definitely covers some of the lime taste. However, there seems to be a sort of organic, veggie taste to it. Looking at it, it looks like the lime might not be ripe enough yet so that probably accounts for the taste.
Note to Self: Check over limes a little more.
24June2008
Posted by ATK under: Myself.
I hate first entries on blogs. How do you really break the ice on your life?
I’ll be fast and to the point. No ceremony.
This blog is named after the official drink of Bermuda, the Dark and Stormy. It is a drink that is cool, refreshing, and easy to prepare. Anyone can do it, even myself who is the worst bartender in the world. I have made it my quest to find the perfect Dark and Stormy: the drink and to get a focus on my life, for my life is also a bit dark and stormy, but refreshing as well.
I will share recipes and the places that I am able to purchase the drink and let you know my thoughts. But I will also let you know my thoughts, feelings, and ramblings on all other aspects of my life. I am a writer, filmmaker, artist, and a bohemian. I love and I hate. I border on the line of logic and absurdity. I am free.
You may not always understand what is posted to you, freedom is rarely truly understood. But from this blog, take what you will, learn what you will, and have no expectations or limitations.
These are my words, this is my life.