so, for a long time, i've flirted with the idea of getting a tattoo. i'm certainly not a flaming-eagle-clutching-a-bleeding-heart-all-over-my-back-kind-of-tattoo girl, but i'm not opposed to the idea of something small and tasteful. i'm not sure where i'd want it, though it'd have to be somewhere that spends most of its time covered up by office appropriate clothing, even in the summer. but not the small of my back, or the back of my neck, or my butt, or my shoulder. i dunno where, really, then, except like, the sole of my foot. but i'm sure i could decide on a location.

the main problem is, of course, choosing exactly what i want to get. i used to think i wanted a chinese character tattoo, except those started getting all lame and overused and every fucking body had a chinese character meaning peace or wisdom or monkey or whatever. i have a legitimate character i could use - i'm part chinese, and i wanted to put the symbol that's used for the family name of hoy - but since no one really understands chinese characters, i would just look like every other poseur out there. not that i'm not a poseur in general, i just didn't want to be one with a chinese character tattoo.

in high school, i used to think that i would get a radiohead tattoo, either of the meeting people is easy logo, or just the r in a circle, and later on, i considered the bear. obviously, radiohead has many a symbol that might be a nifty tattoo when you are 20 years of age or under, but i'm glad i didn't take that particular plunge.

lately, i've decided i might want to get a tattoo related to italy in some way, because i am obviously still sadly obsessed with the country and language and culture. but deciding what italian-ish tattoo, exactly, is not as easy as i'd thought. tommy suggested getting a favorite italian word marked on my body, but i don't have a particular one (except gelato, or pizza, and those are hardly fantastic tattoo material). i could get the italian flag or something, but, eh. the iconic symbols one thinks of when they think of italy - david, or the colosseum, or the leaning tower of pisa, or, um, a bottle of wine - well, they're impersonal, and plus, i think a tattoo of david would look pretty lame and scary. unless i got him on my forearm and i could make him wiggle. ideally, i'd like something that is somewhat recognizable as italian yet still personal to my experience there.

so does anybody have a viable idea? tommy and i were talking about this recently, and he suggested getting a small, stylized image of the milan duomo, which is an idea i like. it's personal to where i was in italy, and it's an insanely beautiful building. i wouldn't have the actual facade recreated in a tattoo, of course, but something like the representation of the duomo in the corner of this logo is along the lines of what i was thinking. you can be brutally honest, if you think that is the stupidest idea ever. but you better give me some other suggestions then!

Being faced with perfectly sincere, wholly naive belief is frequently an uncomfortable situation. The natural reaction is to raise your psychic defenses, engaging your sense of personal superiority via sarcasm, detachment, irritation or smug patronization. Once in a great, great while -- for many people, this never happens -- you might decide to join in the abandon; hopefully, only after a dispassionate consideration of the believers' movement. It may sound over the top, but this is the situation facing the audience at a Polyphonic Spree show.

There are a lot of irritatingly clever reviews, at least one of which I've written, that compare the band to a cult. These usually come off as cheap shots prompted by the band's size and Jesus-Christ-Superstar-yardsale wardrobe. Having seen them perform last night, I'll be taking those charges more seriously from now on. There was hugging, and ecstatic Christ poses, and a big banner with "HOPE" written on it, and audience members trying to lay hands on their charismatic leader. I came away with the distinct impression that the story of the Polyphonic Spree could end very, very badly.

Fortunately, the band doesn't ask you to renounce your family or marry a randomly selected audience member. All they're asking at the moment is that you believe that life is great, that there's no reason to be unhappy, and probably that the universe is made out of crystallized rainbows. Something like that -- I'd have to consult the liner notes.

With all that in mind, it was an amazing show. Tim DeLaughter has built a pop orchestra and taught himself to use it well. I won't pretend that 24 members can really be justified sonically -- some lines inevitably blur together. There's also a noticeable mic hum during quiet sections from all those inputs, and I suspect that the percussionist and at least one of the three keyboard players could be dropped without a perceptible difference in the sound. However, having a chorus, harpist, violinist, brass section and what may be the world's only virtuoso theremin player at the ready really does let the band do things that would normally be impossible. The arrangements stray from the album enough to be interesting without being alienating, the pieces flow into each other nicely, and the light show is simple but well-conceived. The uniqueness of the spectacle is enough to justify the ticket price; add in a show as well-executed as this one was and I'd say you should definitely be keeping an eye on their tour dates.

If, that is, you can handle a band employing vocal fills that go "Love, Love, Love". I understand if you can't; I'm not entirely sure that I can, either. I won't lie to you: if you go to a PS show, you will hear an awful lot about how great the sun is, how love is good, and vice versa. There's also a bit about trees (they're in favor of them).

I left the show without the blinding hatred of my fellow man that almost always accompanies watching a rock show in a crowded club; this is a significant achievement for any band. On the other hand, I didn't leave with the wide eyes, bursting heart and manic smile that I got from the PS's psychedelic brothers in arms, The Flaming Lips. I think the Polyphonic Spree are certainly worth your concert dollar; they're probably not worth your belief.

ohmigod this is the cutest thing ever, and includes many of my former ASM students. the little monkey boy, second from left in the first row? that's lorenzo (monkeyface) loverboy, who was five years old when i taught him and had three girls fighting over him. the little korean girl in the same row, fifth from left, se-jin, was one of his multitudes of girlfriends. ack! fourth row down, 5th from left, that's one of my favorite students EVER, sofia (who is trilingual). here's another picture of her during halloween last year (with florencia, who is like five-lingual). and i *think* the little girl in the bottom righthand corner is camilla, one of natania's nursery students, who had a penchant for drinking out of the toilet. what a cute little ad thing, or whatever it is, because i guess you wouldn't have a commercial ad for a school. i'm pretty sure there's some sort of illegal copyright infringement on united colors of benetton, but who cares.

in other good a.m. news, krispy kreme, as some sort of promotional event (they're opening a store in dupont soon), just dropped off 5 dozen free donuts. hurrah! i've eaten six already. check out the mad fanfare they're planning for the opening. i would normally say that a ribbon cutting ceremony for a donut store is a bit over the top, but hey, this IS krispy kreme.