free Jonathan Byrd recording

He's a local singer-songwriter I really like. You can download a 5-song live recording for free on his site. It's good--I've been listening to it pretty regularly lately, partly from getting some of the songs stuck in my head.

site for the album is up

Two weeks after getting the CDs I finally did enough work on the site to put it up. The address is bither-terry.org/goingaway. I'll need to tinker with it some. I'm sure there are typos, so please let me know if you see any.

free Dead Moose

My dad sent this to me with the subject line "Only In Alaska." Perhaps this could happen in parts of Canada, I don't know. Anyhow, if you know me you know I can be a bit odd at times. I attribute it at least in part to growing up in a place that is, well, a bit odd... The latest exhibit is this post from the Anchorage Craig's List:

I have a dead moose free for the taking.

It died yesterday, apparently of natural causes. I called Fish & Game to come and get it. Apparently, moose are a natural resource and belong to everybody, until they die, then they belong to whoevers property they die on. So, according to Fish & Game, the moose now belongs to me. Sweet!!

So, if you want a free moose, please come and get it before the bears do.

You could use it for dog food, or stuff it and put it your front yard, bear bait, whatever. If you live in the lower 48, this might be your best opportunity to get a free Alaska moose. I dont really care, I just want it out of my yard.

Please reply via email, I dont need all the animal rights folks calling me, its dead, and according to Fish & Game, its got no more rights...

Writers on Writing

From Writing Quotes, Sayings about Writers, Quotations about Words. I'll add a few other favorites later.

"Writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself." ~Franz Kafka

ditching my own graduation

Sunday I officially earned my M.A. degree. Like most graduate students in my department I opted not to attend the graduation ceremony, as I'm not going anywhere and the thesis is just one of many things we have to check off along the way. I want to attend the hooding for my Ph.D., however. It's all about the funky hat and Carolina blue robe.

The Empire Strikes Barack

YouTube video with Obama as Luke, HRC as Vader and Bill Clinton as The Emperor. So good.

Only 1049 copies left!

My CD came today. I sold one to Amanda next door. Wow. So I have all these people I'm supposed to mail them to. The site for the album isn't up--I need to do some work on that. Since people are leaving town I'm thinking the actually release party will be in the fall, and I'll just pre-release it to people now. Or maybe I need to call it something else if the CD is already out. Anyhow, it looks really good and I'm very happy with it. I officially get my MA on Sunday (I won't be walking since I'm not actually going anywhere), so it has been a season of finally getting things done.

Billy Bragg = amazing

I've had his Reaching the Converted for years, as well as the Mermaid Avenue albums and some odds and ends, but I recently downloaded Must I Paint You A Picture: The Essential Billy Bragg (which cost me under $10.00 on emusic.com--omitting things I already had--instead of over $30 on iTunes...).

So I've had a few of his songs stuck in my head, one being New England. All the lyrics are amazing as is the earnest minimalist delivery with just moderately distorted electric guitar backing him up, but this verse has stuck with me the most:

I saw two shooting stars last night
I wished on them but they were only satellites
Is it wrong to wish on space hardware?
I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care

Album in hand May 6

Just got a call that the order is shipped and I should have 1050 copies delivered to me on May 6. I've always said Tuesdays are special. Need to see if I can squeeze in a release party before people leave for the summer or if I should wait until fall but sell them to friends before then... Probably better off doing the latter.