It's so dumb..!

It's so dumb that because of the way my innards are set up, they might randomly seize up every 28 days or so, and cause what are innocently referred to as "cramps". owowow. Thankfully, the chemical compound called "ibuprofen" comes in tasty little pill form. Nom nom nom... (owwwww)

At Java Jacks, which is on Washington Ave N. I am sitting at a bar. They are playing White Stripes. There are outlets everywhere and free wifi. I am hyper-pleased.

Visited the Minneapolis Public School Warehouse sale! Good gracious! I guess they have one every few months or so.

Location:
THERE IS ONLY ONE ROAD TO THE MPLS PUBLIC SCHOOL WAREHOUSE. 1550 Jackson St NE door N should have multiple points of entry, but alas, it does not! You must turn west onto 13th off of Central Ave, and then desperately search for signs. I took me 15 minutes of circling to figure this out. Surprisingly, this didn't bug me as much as I thought it would. I tried to remind myself to be pissy, but couldn't work up the momentum. I love the old warehouses around 13th & Quincy Ave in Nordeast. It's where I used to practice with a band (underneath a mattress warehouse) back when I was cool. And it's so cool to see artists find these warehouses and fill them full of goodness. Neat.

Stuff:
Oh my god! A warehouse, all brick and old, filled with old public school stuff. Pianos (with the letters of the notes written on the keys!) for $5. An old scoreboard. Tables and wash stations and strange cabinets and old shop signs and ahhhh.. awesome. Followed the signs back to the musical instruments.

More Stuff:
It turns out that Minneapolis is closing down it's Musical Repair Department. This is a pity, according to a retired orchestra teacher, and I agree. Who knew that Minneapolis Public Schools had its own inhouse musical instrument repair shop - - isn't that cool. Now, as the teacher told me, it's being outsourced. What does an inhouse musical repair shop have? Beautiful amazing used and new old musical instrument bits (plus full ancient saxophones, dozens of clarinets, darkened flutes, drum heads, brass sousaphone bells.. beautiful!). I hung over the stringed instrument bits (public school orchestra, 8 years...).. Wood! and String! and more wood... aghhhhh!!!!

If anyone's played in band/orchestra, and played off of public school instruments - - there's an underdoggeness to it. Each instrument was precious (even if in horrible shape), and was to be protected and practiced on - - here was your key to this activity you liked to do, and you just had to pay a rental fee for something that might potentially cost $1,000s of dollars. And here were the memories and beloved beaten up instruments from over 50 years of Mpls Public School music programs. Bittersweet and practical all at the same time...

I asked the ladies working the til what might happen to the rest of the stuff if it doesn't get sold, and they said (sadly) that they didn't know. So much wonderful potential (violin bridges, bow hair, piano wire, brass valves, more more more), possibly to go to waste. Argh!

I put down a bid on a cello body (adding to the mystique of the Public School sale.. not only was it impossible to get to.. you didn't know if you could purchase something you wanted or not. Tricky..)

HEY!!! You know what's tonight? CREATURE FEATURE!!! 8 p.m. at the Brave New Workshop. Hells to the yeah, my friends. Please come watch! Possibly scary, should be funny...

Onward.