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[jer]

oh hello there

[rory]

Turns out I was further along in buying a house than I thought, and this wonderful monstrosity is mine.

[ramblinrabble]

Woah, that house is gorgeous, Rory.  When did everyone grow up?

[Joe]

I'm in a couple new music project that are about to record that I am very excited about. It feels good to be getting back into the swing of things, even though I'm 29 and sometimes feel silly for being a musician. I play guitar now and I'm extremely reluctant to call myself a guitar player, but I'm eventually going to have to get over it.

Congrats on the house, Rory!

I spent a lot of years feeling shame for loving music, but thankfully I am now aware that I'm a lifer.  Playing music, specifically drums, informs me so much of myself and the world around me.  I am happy to give myself over to it.

[rory]

I'm in a couple new music project that are about to record that I am very excited about. It feels good to be getting back into the swing of things, even though I'm 29 and sometimes feel silly for being a musician. I play guitar now and I'm extremely reluctant to call myself a guitar player, but I'm eventually going to have to get over it.

Congrats on the house, Rory!

I spent a lot of years feeling shame for loving music, but thankfully I am now aware that I'm a lifer.  Playing music, specifically drums, informs me so much of myself and the world around me.  I am happy to give myself over to it.

Which is a great attitude, and often I feel this way! I get glimpses of feeling like maybe I should be doing something else, but it's certainly not the main thought.

Having this big old house is breathing some life in to me, giving me a bit of non-music related momentum. Though it's going to be a lot of work, and I will assuredly be exhausted, I think it's also going to make me more excited to have music as an outlet.

[thetrashisright]

What a beautiful house. UGH. I was looking at a couple smaller houses with long lots that would definitely need to be fixed up, but that I really wanted to make into a social space (it was already a split-residency). But even in a (relatively) affordable far end of Brooklyn (not the 'cool'/gentrified part of Brooklyn) that means they were about 1.2 million a piece even with the shitty ass falling apart house. My partner and I are seriously considering moving to her hometown, a growing but kinda meh place in MD north of DC because we just can't afford anything here and it's at least kinda cute? I really don't like the idea of owning property or being in this very divided, individual 'my house' situation but I also think we're at a dark place in society. My neighbors don't talk to me even when I try to talk to them (except a couple super old school elderly Brooklynites) and it's very mixed race and not gentrified so it's not even like I'm perceived as an 'outsider'. So kinda like, fuck it? I'll go somewhere else then, get my house, make it open to all the weird trans and gay kids getting kicked out of their parents house, let them play shows, grow food for a mutual aid organization... I guess maybe it's just opening a new door to a different kind of life project.

[momitsnowme]

Congratulations Rory!

[hatmoose]

do you guys wanna try making like a discord server or something? i don't want to cannibalize whatever posts people would be making here but it might lower the barrier to entry for people interacting with each other; if you're not familiar with it, it's kind of like an IRC server type thing but much more usable. there's a mobile app, a website version, or a program that you can download. let me know what you think!

unrelatedly: i just got my prescription for estrogen HRT this morning, like 50 minutes ago. I have to go back a bunch of times over the next few weeks and do more blood testing and shit later, which is standard but pesky, but I get my first E injection directly into my ass on tuesday. I haven't really told anyone besides my partner. I'm pretty excited! It's been something i've been thinking about for a long time, i never thought i'd be able to do it. i don't have too much else going on right now, i'm going through a big hong kong acton movie phase right now and it's really fun. i freaking love anthony wong, yo. hit me up for digital files / recommendations lol. i'm pretty much just waiting for the spring / summer, i want to go back to the drive-in that i volunteer at sometimes and hang out with my buds out there. feel free to hit me up if you're anywhere remotely near PA, it's a fun weekend pretty much guaranteed. i hope you're all doing well

[thetrashisright]

Congrats! I'm... Six? years in. It sucks but in a good way whatever thats meant to mean. If you wanna/need to chat dm me? I know the internet and shit makes that offer seem irrelevant but just throwing it out there

[deianaracrush]

hey! I used to post here under a different name, I moved to California years ago, transitioned, came out, stopped talking to my family, started having good friends and relationships, etc etc. It can be rough but my life is a lot better now. I'm glad you're doing it.

I have a lot of nostalgia for this board despite feeling pretty down on punk in general. Thanks for putting up with my weird teenage bullshit ya'll.

[Joe]

Closed on a house about two weeks ago.  It's literally 100 years old, and a bit of a fixer upper, but it is in a great location for walking and biking to everything.  I hope to fix it up and host some shows there in the future... we'll see. I know a house isn't for everyone, but I feel like I've been running to keep up with life, and this feels like I can dig in and not wonder where I'm going to live every year, if that makes sense.

[jer]

congrats!

[rory]

Super cool Joe! I also bought a 100 year old house in a great location to work on. It's been wonderful, though can also feel terrifying. I hope it is working out well for you, that is extremely exciting.

[jer]

i finished my first term of grad school and am doing well.

it's 10 years later than your normal school kid but it's been nice.

[Joe]

Thanks Jer, and Rory. (and congrats on the first term of grad school, Jer!)

Yep, Rory, you nailed it.  Both wonderful and scary to have an 100 year old fixer upper.  It's been a rental for decades. In fact, I was renting a room, and the landlord approached me one day and made me the offer... even the price.  All I did was say yes, and then get to work on getting the bank to approve a mortgage.  Everything was included, appliances, random junk, the landlords books, tools, etc... as well as all the problems, lol. 

I inherited a broken lawnmower, and put about $15 into it to get it starting up on the first try. It feels good.  Put another $15 into repairing two leaking faucets.  I'm saving up to do some old attic knob-and-tube electrical, so I can then insulate it in hopes of making it warmer for cheaper.

Also, the house had been on fire at some point in it's past.  The wood they used to repair it looked as old as the original wood it was built with, but the old, charred wood is still there, they just ran other planks along side the charred ones.  I'll have to take a photo.  It's really weird to sign on to being responsible for something that is older than me, and will likely out live me.

[rory]

I attempted to have a similar arrangement with the landlord at the house I was at for 7+ years. Ultimately she thought it was worth more than it was, and certainly more than a bank would approve me for. Ended up with a house that could very easily be a lucrative rental, but it's basically half a mile out of the neighborhood considered the student rental area, so the marketing for it was not geared towards investment properties - which really worked out for me. This house sat empty ofr 10 years, with the owner working on his cars in the (heated/drywalled) garage for that duration. A lot of the plumbing was/is happy having sat for that long, but I've worked to learn a decent amount about it. I'm saving up to re-route the water lines in the basement with PEX, because it's honestly only a matter of time before one bursts and ruins the gear of 6 different musicians.

Re-doing the knob-and-tube is a great idea and a hell of a hassle! We are doing some serious attic overhaul as well, and used the opportunity for just that same thing. I have not had all the knob-and-tube switched out in the basement, 2nd floor, and attic. I really lucked out by having a friend who is an electrician who is doing the work at a discounted rate, and working around our strange hectic house, while also giving us some lessons and pointers. I'm honestly pretty afraid of electricity, but my partner is enjoying learning about it.

That fire stuff sounds wild! My house has obvious former water damage, it looks like there was a major roof leak in a section, to the point that they tossed a lot of the floor boards in the attic in that spot. The mold in the rooms below was still find-able when we took the wallpaper down, and those rooms are also carpeted, which I imagine is a coverup. There's a brand new roof, though, and so far not a single leak. I feel like you and I are going to both find strange happenstances we can trace in the walls for years to come.

[dakotafloyd]

I dunno how I went down the internet rabbit hole to find this ol' place again, but hi!  Hope everyone has been well over the past few years. :)

[Joe]

Hi Dakota!  Whatchoo been up to?

(one time i was sending some pix orders from cairo, and i saw your name on a package and i wrote "www.internet.com" on it because i recognized your name from the board.  maybe i already told you about that? anyway, hi. and thanks for the updates about Let's Pretend, and Lifer.)

[momitsnowme]

Hey Dakota!

[cat_mom_2004]

Hi everyone

Hi

Just posting,  as instructed

Hope you're all doing good

I found myself watching Defiance, Ohio vids on youtube and thought man, I wonder if anyone or everyone is still around

[jer]

Hi buddy.

No one is around :(

[kw]

glad everyone is seemingly doing well! good luck came up on the spotify shuffle in my shop so it got me thinking and i meandered back this way.

i live in hamilton, ontario, canada and own a couple vegan bakeries & a food truck with my partner. still playing music, just of a very different genre! i have a dog and six cats and life is in a rad place. it feels privileged and rad to be able to say i have no complaints!

keep well y'all!

[thetrashisright]

i've been loosely planning a trip out to black goat sanctuary so i will probably go to your spots!

[Joe]

There are still some cool shows happening with some of the same musicians that ran in the PIX scene.  Like Do Ya Hear We festival in Chattanooga, and folks that used to make up Puppy Vs. Dyslexia played Bloomington last week, Crab Jackson played as Spasm Lake, and Jeremy Kennedy did a spoken word/performance art thing. 

[peeknuckle]

randomly thought about the board today, just popping in to say hi. i used to post fairly regularly from like 06-09. own a house with my husband in corvallis (between portland and eugene), slinging wood-fired pizzas on a rad vegetable farm, life is generally good! still being silly and drinking cheap beer (although a lot less these days, lol) and going to shows when i can, i'm very grateful for the DIY community in this sleepy college town. glad to see everyone is doin' well!

xo