This story on photo captions run by two different news wires is interesting. I just can’t even being to fathom what the people of New Orleans are going through.

Sean and I had an amazing anniversary. We both went with the “cotton anniversary” theme, as we’ve been married for two years yesterday. He got us tickets to see M.I.A in September, and these (cotton) Simple sneakers I’d been wanting. So observent and thoughtful.

We had an awesome dinner at Zon’s, and entrusted Dwight to wander the house freely while we were gone. When we returned he hadn’t done anything too bad, but he did chew on a yarn bob and baby bootie I’d knit. Oh well. It wasn’t anything special.

Posted by Tina as Uncategorized at 12:30 PM PDT

Two years ago today Señor McCarthy and I tied the knot at the Crosby Mansion in Brewster. Sean and his friends used to skate in the pool there when they were kids, as it had gone downhill and had been abandoned by the Crosbys… But during the 90s a group of Brewster residents began restoring the place, and we were lucky enough to come across it. We had an awesome bonfire on the beach afterward… it was the best day of my life.

Right after the ceremony in the garden we walked out to the lawn. When I looked down at my bouquet (please pardon the watermarked photo), there was a ladybug with two dots on its wings. It flew from my flowers to Sean’s shoulder, and then it flew away.

Posted by Tina as Uncategorized at 12:21 AM PDT

We have a new man in our lives. Dwight is the new addition to the family! He’s a 3-year old retired greyhound, straight outta Tucson. I think he’s in for a big shocker come winter… but I predict many long nights knitting dog sweaters for the handsome man.

His racing records can be found online by tracing his tattoo numbers — he ran sixty-one races and had 4 wins. Go Dwight! That’s a lot of running!

When we brought him home, Peanut walked straight up to him, took a sniff, and then stood off to the side and checked him out. Kiya, on the other hand, has been living in the closet. This will change with time, I’m sure.

We’re enjoying long walks in the park, spoiling him with treats, and watching him sleep (16 hours/day!).

Posted by Tina as Pets at 2:12 PM PDT

Posted by Tina as Pets at 11:18 PM PDT

Stuff on My Cat is magnificent

Posted by Tina as Funny little things at 12:04 AM PDT

The Village Voice listing of our show at Lit Lounge on the 29th was as follows:

“…Helms, probably the best known of the bunch, balance heavy guitar work and soft-loud dynamics—think Slint, Shellac—with a magnetic female singer (who goes by the name of “Tina Helms.”)

The funny thing is I never sing (except on the new, unreleased album) and my last name’s different these days!

But hey… thank you anyway.

I got a really cool package in the mail on Saturday from my amazing pal. I was so utterly impressed that I sent her a long, gushing e-mail. I think I may have been over-emotional from my 11 hour Ikea adventure. Sean and I left at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday… arrived at 5 and didn’t get home until 1 a.m. I didn’t think we were going to fit it all in the car. This house will rock in about a week, when all the Ikea boxes go away.

I haven’t slept very well the last two nights. At around 4 a.m. I’ve woken up both nights to mosquito bites. I then irrationally decided, both nights, to turn on the light and hunt. But by 5 a.m. I usually give up. This morning I felt a mix of guilt and justice when I caught one of ‘em — the guilt wore away immediately. Now I just feel itchy again.

Posted by Tina as Funny little things at 11:42 PM PDT

This item for sale on Craigslist is awesome.

Posted by Tina as Funny little things at 3:30 PM PDT

My friend Jenny sent me this link a couple of weeks ago, and I just got to looking at it a little closer tonight. It’s Nikki and the Dogs, and she’s a friend of ours who lives out in L.A. She was often around when I was working in the darkroom at Emerson College, and she’s lived with Jenny and been a close friend to her for a long time. Besides being an amazing photographer, and somehow managing to capture the very essence of the animals in her images, Nikki does all she can to save dogs from being euthanized. You can just see for yourself with her before and after shots. These animals would have a much different, much more difficult life, if Nikki didn’t do what she does. And I think that’s really awesome of her.

Posted by Tina as Pets at 12:46 AM PDT