Matthew Gallaway

The Rain Diaries: Wooden Staircases of Many Colors

Right now it's raining as hard as I can ever remember it raining: no, that's a lie, it was actually raining just as hard on Thursday, but that seems like a long time ago now. I would have forgotten that there was anything else but rain and clouds except that I downloaded some shots I took this morning, when it was actually quite sunny and warm.

I know that marigolds are not exactly unique, but I tend to enjoy them anyway, particularly those varieties with a looser petal.

We've never had much success with roses in the Wahi garden, so it was nice to see them thriving here.

As with many things in the Pines, it's probably safe 2 assume that the choice 2 paint this staircase such a bright orange was made by a non-heterosexual male (via stereotyping?). Similarly, I have spent many many minutes trying to decide if I <3 or h8 this color (at least in this context). Unfortunately, the risers are a bit narrow (if I'm getting the terminology correct), so it feels more like a ladder than a staircase. Not that I'm complaining!

This house has endless decks and stairways. Eventually I hope to document them all, because otherwise I probably wouldn't ever believe I stayed here. This one is very 'rustic,' and features a patina of moss/lichen/algea that serves 2 remind us that the ocean will one day destroy us all.

We went for a walk this morning during the ten seconds the sun was out.

We admired a wall of thin bluestone, which was the only remnant left on this lot, aka a 'teardown' where a new house will maybe be constructed. It's hard to walk around here and not wish u had a 'couple mil' 2 blow on a 'kickass reno.'

This afternoon it started to rain again, although at first it was just a light drizzle. We walked down Fire Island Boulevard amid the throngs camping it up on their way to 'Low Tea.' None of them seemed to be carrying an umbrella, which probably explains the occasional shrieks and cackles in the night we are hearing now.

On this day, the sky was mostly pensive, inviting us 2 contemplate the lush, green canopy over which we are poised 2 fly.

The George Washington Beach Project: Fire Island/The Pines

I'm not going to spend too much time talking about the rain yesterday -- the first day of our vacation on Fire Island -- other than to say that it was constant, much the way it's been during most of the  month in New York City. Whatever! We made it to our rental house, dropped off our luggage, went shopping (did I mention that it was pouring throughout this process?), and were finally back at our house, which was very charming (even in the rain!), with a beautiful courtyard garden not completely unlike that which we had left behind in Washington Heights. We felt very much at home! But just when we were finally 'chilling hard' (via beer and Wifi), we were interrupted by the arrival of some1 else and his six closest friends, who were under the distinct impression that they had rented the same charming cottage for the same week that we had. Needless to say, we all felt as if we were in a movie. But after a series of phone-calls and negotiations between the owners and the realtors, we agreed to be 'relocated' to a different house.

This was not such an imposition! So yeah, it was a 'lil porn-settish' (via the 'conversation pit'), but -- besides having ridiculous amounts of square footage -- it offered several distinct advantages over our first house: 

A pewl!

Ocean views!

Bay views!

This morning we went for a walk and admired the Scottish brooms, which -- oddly enough, since this passed about a month ago in our garden -- were in heavy bloom. I regretted that our variety does not have this brilliant orange tone, but a more bland mix of yellow and burgundy.

This was my first time to The Pines, and 2 say there's something 'magical' about it probably does and doesn't quite do it justice. There are obv no cars, a demonstrated comfort with bamboo (and alpines of every variety) and virtually no str8 ppl (except for maybe the construction workers?). I understood what Stephen meant when he made the analogy between going 2 Israel for the first time as a Jew and coming to the Pines for the first time as a geigh. Even tho it's a 'ghetto,' it's a huge relief not 2 feel like ur 'dealing with a bunch of macho assholes' like we usually do 24/7 in Washington Heights (via 'Caribbean culture'). There are no children/lifeguards/surf-fishers or n e thing else u typically associate with str8 beaches everywhere else. It's a place where u can genuinely feel sorry 4 str8 ppl, because it feels s000 far beyond n e thing they would be capable of conceiving.

The landscaping reflects a very refined aesthetic.

As does the garbage.

As does the beach graffiti. ('<3 u, Schopenhauer')

The weather finally cleared this afternoon and we walked on the beach. I remembered being a child, when I used 2 pretend to be 'an elf' whenever I walked on the sand, leaving no footprints. This reflected an unconscious desire -- at least at the time -- 2 escape what I already knew was my fate, i.e., '2 not follow in the footsteps of my parents.'

As Walter Benjamin (pictured above) said: "We Have To Wake Up from the Existence of Our Parents—In This Awakening, We Have To Give an Account of the Nearness of That Existence."

We could be 'happy here' 4 a while.

We r 2 birdz, flying away from 'the city.'

The George Washington Bloom Project: On Fire

Today I was listening to On Fire--the second Galaxie 500 LP -- for perhaps the 1,000,000,000th (one billionth) time, and as I took in the opening chords -- slow and chiming, very melodic and warm, but slightly distorted or perhaps overdriven in the manner of a Gibson 'Les Paul' guitar played through a Fender amplifier -- I tried to remember the first time I had ever heard this record. Oddly, I can remember being a senior in college and looking at the orange-tinted cover in my friend Brian's room, but I can only remember being somewhat confused as to why anyone would want to listen to this syrupy crap when you could continuously rock out to Dinosaur, Jr/Mudhoney/The Stooges/The Meat Puppets/Husker Du/Public Enemy (via white guilt) and the Minutemen.

I don't think I heard On Fire again until after college, when I was living in Brooklyn and one of my roommates -- also named Brian, but not the same one -- had a girlfriend whose last name was "Shakespeare" and she somewhat miraculously -- because it was out of print -- owned a CD of the record, so I made a cassette. Or no, actually the first Brian (who also lived in this apartment) made me the cassette, because I can remember at the end of it he put some zany 'bachelor pad' songs from the early sixties; that used to be something that I guess was sort of fun whenever you made a tape for someone, i.e., not a mix-tape (which, let's face it, was a lot of work), but to surprise them with something at the end. There was something very satisfying about picking a song that ended exactly at the same time as the tape, but it was by no means a requirement; it was understood that 'bonus material' might end at any second.

I digress! When I heard those opening chords today, I had the sense that they somehow defined me, and that I will never escape them for as long as I live, so that even if I'm 115 years old and in a nursing home, I would be comforted to hear them, almost as if I had written them myself. I was reminded of certain Simon & Garfunkel songs that you always hear in the subway (via the Peruvian flutes), so that it becomes almost inconceivable that some kid from Queens wrote them and that they didn't originate in the Andes. On the whole, though, I'm relieved that "Blue Thunder" -- the first song on On Fire -- has not been claimed by another culture in this manner, because I think (despite everything I just said), it would ruin it for me (via overexposure).

The stalks of the campanula have been extremely vigorous this year, but I can't seem to cut them back, because the purple blooms that are attached are too beautiful to inhibit or contain.

They are on fire.

Are there songs you've listened to so many times that you almost can't believe you didn't write them yourself?

This is a post about memory/aging/nostalgia/deconstruction/capitalism/alienation.

This is a post about longing to be somewhere/anywhere else when you're slogging away on the rowing machine/treadmill/elliptical on ur lunch hour at the gym.

This is a post about 'going on vacation.'

I'll drive so far away
I"ll drive so far away
I'll drive so far away
I'll drive so far away

The George Washington Beer Project

Recently I've been thinking a lot about product placement and subliminal advertising
Kinda made the world a more interesting/artistic place
Feel nostalgic 4 the early 70s, when I used 2 chill out with my Sports Illy and look 4 'massive cocks' in the ice cubes of alky ads
Pretty sure 'all that shit was outlawed' tho (via the Moral Majority)
Sometimes wonder if maybe our society in 2k9 is 2 constrained (via heteronormative institutions such as marriage and capitalism)
Worried about where we're headed in 2k9.5, every1
Do u think the economy is getting better, or is it still 'in the shitter'?
Sometimes think I'm getting more and more selfish (via social darwinism)
Feel like I'd do 'pretty much n e thing' 4 more blog hit$
But feel sad whenever I see a tiny lil blog with 'google advertising'
Makes me wonder if the blogger has any 'integrity' or 'intelligence'
N e way, thought I'd 'reach out' to some MNCs (multi-national corps) 4 some $

If u look carefully at this photograph and compare it 2 the first 1, u may/may not see a 'product'
Let me know what u think it might be
And what kind of 'associations' it raises 4 u
E.g., do u want 2 'chill' with a brewski?
Or maybe get 'fucking blitzed'
Just remember every1: 'know when 2 say when'
Or if u look at the picture upside-down does it make u want to ____?
Did u know that that 'pink triangle' is the oldest trademark in the world, dating back to the ancient Greeks?
Do u ever go to 'focus groups'
Not sure if they even exist in 2k9
That's how I used 2 'make my living'
Never told s000 many lies in my life
Miss u, 1998
b4 I went mnstrm
See u in my dreams

The George Washington Bridge Project

Monday night
Feel sad and lonely
Stressed out
Not that in2 Weeds n e more
Miss u, LC
Sometimes wonder where u r
And if ur happy
Hope ur 'sun never sets'
<3 u 4ever

The George Washington Bloom Project: Ladybugs!

Ohai, lil ladybug
Feel s0000  glad that ur 'chilling' in the Wahi garden
And 'munching' on aphids
Ur a 'beneficial insect'
And always 'welcome' 2 chill here whenever u want

Srsly. B4 we would 'buy u' and set u free (via Sting)
But u would always be like: 'we r s000 getting the fuck out of here' (via shitty nabes)
But this yr u seem 2 b as happy as 'pigs in shit'//u r 'gentrifying' the garden

<3 u, lil ladybug
Sometimes feel like b/c ur such a 'timeless meme' ur life is not always e-z
Like u have 2 b 'on' 24/7
And b 'extra-cute' 4 ur many fans
And negotiate 'product placements' for ur many 'celebrity endorsements'
Feel like ur brand might have been a lil 'overexposed' in 2k3-2k4
Hope u don't have a 'nervous breakdown' and head in2 'rehab'
Am trying not 2 put 'expectations' on our relationship

Ladybug, ladybug
Fly away home
Ur condo is 'on fire'
And ur children r 'totes freaked'

--Tom Waits/Rain Dogs

The Rain Garden Project: Dwarf Hinoki Cypress

Sorry, every1
Took this shot almost in the dark and in the rain (via el nino)
So it's a lil fuzzy
But wanted 2 post it n e way
To give u a 'lil taste' of the 'woodlands/alpine garden' in Wahi

<3 u, Chamaecyparis obtusa (Nana Aurea Dwarf Hinoki Cypress)
'Adopted u' more than five years ago
And u only grow a few cms/year
You're s000 tiny
But perfect 4 the alpine garden

Did u know that plants come in 'all differnt shapes and sizes'?
Some plants are 'invasive'
But most just want 2 chill and 'look great' and 'be part of the local ecosystem'
Feel like ppl could learn 'a lot' from plants
Sad that ppl can't 'accept themselves' for being ______
Not sure if ppl are going 2 survive much longer (via nuclear weapons and bad teevee programs)
Kinda think the world was kewler 100 million years ago
Sad that a meteor 'put the smack-down' on the dinosaur age
Miss u, TRex (via 'Bang a Gong')
Srsly, every1. Do u have a favorite 'dwarf coni'?
Was 'alpine gardening' an important 'ish' 4 u in the 2k8 election?
And do u feel like Prez Obama has 'made a dif'?

Bonus meme: can u find the 'irish moss' in these shots? Here's a klue: it's green and mossy but looks a lil like 'grass.'

Guest Blogging by the Editorial Assistants: Go Pens!

<3 u, Pens
Feel sad u didn't win it in the 'Burgh' (via WDVE)
Miss u, Pittsburgh/City of Champions
Can't believe I ever 'left u behind'
Hope ur going 2 chill hard with the 'Stanley Cup'
Already worried about 2k10
Hope u can repeat
And then 'threepeat' in 2k11
See u soon I hope
'We R The Champions' (via Queen)

The City Pattern Project: Jack Frost!

<3 u, Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost'!
Feel like in 2k9 u 'really came in2 ur own'

<3 how ur leaves constantly change color (via genetic engineering)
And how ur not afraid 2 'show off ur feminine' side

Sometimes wish that ppl weren't so obsessed with 'the color of their skin'
And would stop thinking abt the world in terms of black/white/red/yellow/brown
Trying 2 b more optimistic/idealistic in 2k9.5!

Feel like 2k10 is going 2 be a gr8 year (via economic recovery and end of homophobia/racism/sexism)
Do u have any 'dreams deferred' in 2k9?
Do u think 2k10 is going 2 b ur year?
Do u have any Jack Frost in ur garden?
What 'color' is it?

Find the Frank Lloyd Wright Statue

Sometimes wish I could start a blggble meme + go viral
And then get a 'production deal' 2 make an iPhone appy
Just want 2 retire 'as soon as po$$ible' and move 2 _____

N e way, here's my meme (via Where's Waldo): Can u find the Frank Lloyd Wright statue in this picture?

If you think u can see it, let me know in the comments, and I'll tell u if ur right or wrong.

Wish I lived in a Frank Lloyd Wright house
Want 2 feel contemporary and rlvnt
And chill wth lots of 'mid-century' modern (via Paul McCobb)
Miss u, FLW
U were one of the great 'starchitects' of all-time
If u hadn't lived
I wldnt own a 'reproduction' of ur 'lil statue'
And all the trees would be sad
And their leaves would seem a lil less green/vibrant
Against the gray, cinderblock wall
<3 u, lil statue
Sometimes wish u wld raise ur eyes
And tell me the future