This is why I don't start conversations.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of frustrated and hungry Americans filter through a single CostCo store on any given Sunday. This past Sunday, I joined the flock (Josh's mom bought us some groceries! I'll do anything for free food). Surprisingly, I didn't get mad at the crowds or the scholarly college students stocking up on party cups for their first weekend of beer pong. No, I got mad at a guy who wanted to talk music.

We finished shopping, so I stood in line at the "Cafe" for a 59-cent soda. Earlier that day I made the mistake of wearing a Lou Reed shirt I screened last summer:


I like Lou Reed's music so much I made a shirt. Not that you can tell here, but I screened it slightly off-center. Oops. Back to Costco: the conversation below is not verbatim, but an approximation:

"What's your favorite Velvet album?"
"I don't really have one. I prefer Lou Reed solo."
"I gotta go with Velvet Underground & Nico. But that's BS, I'm a Lou Reed fan too."
"They are very different."
"Lou Reed is the Velvet Underground. Well, Nico's great too, but she's a whole different woman."
"There are other people in the band."

Ok, condescending music nerd, I am checked out of this conversation. It could have been a fruitful conversation. Heck, we could have been best friends!

But me stating I don't really have a favorite VU album is BS? Personally, I think it makes more sense to admit that than to pose and pretend I have a favorite when I don't. I can look at the tracklistings to & Nico and White Light/White Heat and recognize the songs and perhaps sing along, but is that enough of a basis to proclaim what my favorite album is?

Besides, I was wearing a Lou Reed shirt. Why didn't he ask what my favorite Reed album is?

Oh, and saying Lou Reed is the Velvet Underground (except maybe Nico?). Give me a break. Does this guy really think Velvet fans are the only people who have ever heard of John Cale?

And Nico? Andy Warhol put her in the band and she sang on a few tracks.

Bah! He probably thought I was a dumb girl because I stopped talking to him. There are things I wold rather do on a Sunday than debate how my opinion is OK and not BS.

Like, I'd rather bitterly blog about it two days later.

Bicycle update (Girl, you need Pussy Control!)

It's funny to think, it was just a little over two years ago that I got back onto a bicycle (I hadn't been on one since the beginning of high school). I was in my first semester of grad school, and liked the idea of biking to the UO. Well, I really liked the idea of starting a bicycle gang.

One time Prince wrote this little ditty "Pussy Control":

Our story begins in a schoolyard
A little girl skipping rope with her friends
A tisket, a tasket, no lunch in her basket
Just school books 4 the fight she would be in
One day over this hoodie
She got beat 4 some clothes and a rep
With her chin up, she scolded "All y'all's molded
When I'm rich, on your neck I will step"
And step she did 2 the straight A's
Then college, a master degree
She hired the heifers that jumped her
And made everyone of them work 4 free?
No! Why?
So what if my sisters are triflin'?
They just don't know
She said "Mama didn't tell'em what she told me
'Girl, U need Pussy Control'" (Are U ready?)

Suffice it to say, I love "Pussy Control." So much so, that I named my crap-Royce Union bike after it.

Well, that bike came and went. For a little over a year I've been rocking a Raleigh Passage 3.0, which I purchased mostly because it was a beautiful shade of purple. I am not going to lie.

Now, a natural move would have been to stick with the Prince song bike names and call her "Purple Rain." But that is just so... obvious. And besides, the Biker Ghouls were trading up bikes left and right... and giving our new bikes sequel names.

So, Pussy Control became Pussy Control II: The Secret of the Ooze (thanks, Ninja Turtles!). Parenthetically speaking, her name is Prairie Rose, after the Roxy Music song (her technical color is like Dusty Rose or something acrylic-painty like that).

Pussy Control wore a cheap Dymo label announcing her name to the world. Up until last week. While doing a St. Vincent De Paul trip I stumbled upon some really cheap, really ancient, decorative letters—the kind you get wet and stick somewhere. They happened to be gold, which is one of my favorite colors. So...



What do you think of her now? I suppose I need to find a spot to add the necessary II: The Secret of the Ooze.

KK

Costume party run-off

There wasn't too much enthusiasm for the last October Costume Party poll. So, we are having a demented run-off. I am putting up the most two most popular ideas from the last poll, as well as some suggestions that I received.

3 parties=vote 3 times!

We are having 3 October costume parties. Vote for your 3 fave themes!
	Tabloid party (dress like paparazzi, or a celebrity, or something from Weekly World News, etc.)
	YouTube phenomenon (dress as something from a YouTube video, or a YouTube user)
	Comic book character (obviously, dress as a comic book character)
	Y2K party (Dress as if Y2K brought on Doomsday: post-apocalyptic, like Mad Max)
	These all suck, give me more options.
pollcode.com free polls

October Costume Parties

So, we generally have a bunch of costume parties in October. This year is no exception.

We plan on having three parties. Which parties are you most likely to attend?

What is your favorite idea for a costume party for Halloween? Feel free to vote three times, as we plan on having 3 costume parties in October!
	Tabloid party (dress like paparazzi, or a celebrity, or something from Weekly World News, etc.)
	YouTube phenomenon (dress as something from a YouTube video, or a YouTube user)
	Safari party (like you are on safari, duh)
	Rocky Horror (like a character or inspired by)
	Politics party (dress like a politician or a hot issue, such as tax cuts)
	TGIF (dress as your fave TGIF TV show character)
pollcode.com free polls

KK