What I did this winter

Spring's here, so let's look back. Mostly everything I did this winter in about five minutes:


Winter 2008/09 from Casey Parks on Vimeo.

Teensy in the news

My little brother, Dustin, was featured in a front-page story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram today. It's a story about his being an Iraq veteran against the war. Read it!

Keys Open Doors

When I walked in Mississippi, I jangled with the metal of a dozen keys, the clanging ring of unlockers knocking against my hip. People always knew I was coming.

I had keys to offices, to rooms and bathrooms. I had keys to apartments and houses. I had gold keys and silver, keys with decorative caps from a museum. I knew how to swing the circle around exactly right to pull out my work key.

When I left, I gave the keys back gradually. My final keys -- to a car I was leaving there and to the house I had lived in for eight months -- barely made any sound at all.

The day I flew away, I sat in a booth in the city's only Vietnamese restaurant. Across from me, Ellen and Denise -- my housemates -- held their breath as I took their key off my ring. They were about to be parents. I was about to be an "adult" (though one with surprisingly less responsibility).

I held the key across the table. Only one final key swung around the loop.

For the next year, I didn't make any sound when I walked.

What do you want to be?

I recorded this last night. I forgot to put my mic on, so it sounds awful, but it was fun to learn. I want to do more of these, though more succinctly and better-sounding:


What do you want to be? from Casey Parks on Vimeo.

Spent

My $80/week goal did not go as well this week. I spent $107! Even using my $20 saved from last week, I'm still over. Here's the run-down:

$1 - coffee
$2.50 - beer
$2 - tea
$20.50 - groceries
$6 - burrito
$1 - coke
$1 - coffee
$25 - stuff to make Pimm's Cups for a dinner party (Pimm's, ginger ale, mint, cucumber, lime)
$11 - a little more than a pound of coffee beans
$30 - haircut
$7 - groceries


Next week, I better shape up!

By the tracks

Ryan and I took Holga pictures. I haven't seen them developed yet, but here's Ryan getting ready to take one:

I want to buy a new car (by the way, anyone have any tips on that?) so I'm trying to spend less money. That said, I'm limiting myself to $80 a week, minus gas and bills. That probably seems like a lot still, but I was buying so much clothing and video equipment!

Last week's tally:

- $4, Helvetica letter stickers
- $10, groceries [milk, bread, fruit, vegetables, canned tomatoes]
- $3, PBR + tip at the E Room
- $3.50, two coffees to drink while Anna and I wait for two tow trucks
- $3, mango smoothie
- $5.50, stuff to make smoothies from Trader Joe's
- $3, two coffees for breakfast for me and Ev
- $13, sushi
- $15, Indian food

Grand total: $60

That leaves $20 to put toward a new pair of shoes (or, ahem, the car)