Ear worms

Things that get stuck in my head (like, seriously, all the time (without prompting))

The ghosts of t-shirts past

I have a hard time giving things away. By things, I mostly mean clothes. I have dozens of shirts that I've had since high school (and a few that I've had since junior high). My apartment is overrun with boxes (this, after I've already filled four closets) with clothes that I've always been sure I might wear again some day.

But nature has dealt me a curveball I wasn't expecting. On the cusp of 27, my metabolism has, finally, slowed down. I eat the same as I used to. I even exercise now (something I never did in my teens or early 20s). But my hips continue to grow, despite all my efforts to stop it (thanks, mom! I got your genes). That said, all my favored ironic t-shirts from college hug too closely now. Even knowing this, I've kept them around for an extra few months, as mementos of sorts. Of course I'll want to show someone this Friendster t-shirt again, I thought.

Today, though, I finally handed a few of them over. But because I remain a nostalgia pack rat, I couldn't give them away without documenting them somehow. Thus, I give you the departed, hips cropped out on purpose:

Frozen and baked

I've wanted an ice cream maker since the first time I tasted my grandma's homemade peach ice cream in Georgia. That was two decades ago, back in the time of rock salt and strenuous stirring. The contraptions they have these days come with fancy bowls with fancy liquid layers and mechanical arms that do the freezing for you. They're also not terribly expensive.

So the other day I was watching Top Chef, and one of the contestants made sweet potato ice cream. I LOVE sweet potato ice cream. I have since I tasted it at the sweet potato expo in Louisiana as a pre-teen. So, when the contestant made his version, I immediately logged online and bought my own ice cream maker

This week, with Ev's help, I made sweet potato ice cream. And it is delicious. I have even eaten it for breakfast twice.



The recipe requires mashed sweet potato (I added a tiny yam for coloring) -- but it only requires a cup. After making the ice cream, I still had tons of sweet potato(/yam) left.

Well, Randi took it and made bread with it. She wrote about the whole process on her blog

The next morning, I found this little baby on my door step:





That little robot is Randi's symbol that she puts on everything




Tada! More ways to delicious!

'Dancin' evolved'

Aaron and I shot this video about a month ago at a skate park in Portland. It's a group of 15- and 16-year-olds who jerk dance. They were great sports, even though it was cold and rainy and the skateboarders weren't exactly thrilled at our presence. Aaron and I have been sending it back and forth, editing, and he finished up the final touches today! He did most of the editing. We split shooting duties. I wrote the titles! Oh, and I conducted/edited the interview.


Check it out!

The Amazin Jerks from Casey Parks on Vimeo.

Cutting out hearts

Randi and I hosted our Fourth Annual El Capitan (that's the name of our apartment building) Valentine-making party on Monday night. Here's documentation of some of the fun:



I also made a soundtrack for the night, which you can mostly download here! Some of the songs are missing because I bought them from iTunes back in the days of m4p.

Here's a playlist, though, so you know what you're missing:



Finally, the real gem of the night came when Simone found this card amid a big plastic bag of cards I found for free in our lobby recently. Randi and I are thinking about starting a blog of weird stuff we find for free in our lobby.

"The cuckoo yodel is something that is unique to me"

I recorded this for a larger project I'm working on:

Becky Sowders Palm yodels from Casey Parks on Vimeo.

I live here (!)

Took a late afternoon bike ride down by the river