Tom Kim

One of the things I love about Moistworks are how its mp3 posts are framed within little stories or vignettes. The recent one on a camping journey is a good example.

12:30 – Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby

3:00 – Philadelphia Blogger Meetup

7:00 – ???

My heart lay bleeding on the table, and I was pissed. The crimson syrup pooled right out to the edge, spilled over in fingerling rivulets, and made startling little splashes on the white tile below. I skimmed it with the tip of my finger for a taste. Oh it was magnificent — smooth and not cloyingly sweet, a hint of the tang of the blood oranges.

I tugged at the knife and was surprised to feel it tugging back. The knife actually bit into the wood of the tabletop — it must have literally been thrown with some force. Thrown precisely, too. It was a clean slice into the gelatin, and most of the blood seemed to seep out from the bottom. The knife jutted out from the heart violently, obscenely, at a rakish angle.

I gripped it from below the handle and jerked it out. I couldn’t help admiring how perfectly viscous the blood was. Drawing the knife to my temple like Norman Bates, I bellowed, almost screeched, “I want to know which of you fuckers leaked my fucking cake!”

I swear I heard stifled guffaws from some of the cubicles.

“It was for my Acme Halloween presentation, you assholes!”

Another Liberty Scribblers Slam tomorrow at the Standard Tap (901 N 2nd St). Contestant sign-up begins at 7 pm with a $5 entry fee. Sit in on the readings for free at 7:30 pm. Cash prizes for the winners.

The theme: Mothers.

Unfortunately, I may not be there tomorrow, or I’ll be there very late. I’ve got a school meeting and function tomorrow. I wonder when I’ll be able to vote.

Today is my birthday. I’m going to be a father at the end of November. I’m really tired right now. Yay!

My birthday is coming up, and I’ve asked Dana if I can buy myself a camera. Mine doesn’t have image stabilization and heaven knows I need it. But, now, after looking at my options, I think I need some advice.

I’m looking into digital SLR cameras. A few of my friends have them, and I’m impressed at the image quality. I like how there’s no wait for the camera to fire up and be ready to take a shot. Image stabilization, of course. I like the speed of the shots.

Here’s the thing, though: I’m an awful photographer. I really have a terrible eye. My wife always raises an eyebrow at my compositions. My hands, as I’ve already alluded to twice before, are unsteady, to say the least. Perhaps the reason I love photography is because I do not take for granted the talent and work that goes into taking beautiful shots.

Is an expensive SLR camera going to be wasted on me? We’re talking about the difference of shelling out $700 vs $300 for a camera. Is this foolish extravagance to want the better gear?

There’s going to be some big changes in my life, and I want to be able to keep a lot more visual memories for posterity. I feel I don’t pick up and use the camera I have now because it’s so frustrating for me never to get the kind of images that really capture my experience. I’m always too late, or the picture’s always blurred, or yadda yadda yadda.

So what do you think? Should I bite the bullet and buy an SLR, or just settle for an upgrade of what I already have?

Apparently Churchill was a staunch advocate of a prolonged nap between lunch and dinner. He even goes so far as to say that he couldn’t have gone through World War II without it.

Thank you very very much, Winston.

Hailing from D.C., I’m a fan of go-go and a huge fan of go-go parties. Man, that’s what Northern Liberties needs, a funky go-go party at the community center (NOT at North Bowl, thank you). Moistworks has my third favorite Charlie Brown in the world for you to bob your head to.

Another Metafilter thread collecting freely available vids, this time on classic funk — my personal favorite genre.

WHYY is hosting a Democratic candidate forum and town hall meeting tonight (Sunday) at 8 pm. See my man Nutter throw down against the rest of these fools.