Parethetical Girls

Open the Window and Out Go Ideals.

This is a little late in coming, it seems. update, update. okay, here goes: the What-The-Heck? show went pretty well, methinks�much different climate, much different audience. the parenthetical girls collective version 2.0 spent a good deal of the weekend literally trampling miles through pitch black woods to secluded areas in the woods, only to awake covered in ants and a damning sun. outdoors is perhaps not something for which I am suited.

but anyway�sold a few records, broke a few hearts, and�all told�probably should have taped it down. my mother arrived late to the show, still somehow never experiencing any of our performances. Cranberry Lake, a red nose, and the incredible hospitality of the Department of Safety folks made for more of a vacation than a music festival.

as for my former money woes... well, that's all behind us. Seems I've been awarded with a healthy salary and the most adult job I've had since that whole webcam scheme. which means�knowing myself�that (((GRRRLS))) is probably going to be squandered into "backburner"-dom. I'll try to avoid that. so far my job has mostly consisted of swimming in the Willamette river, and watching people perform tests of endurance on hot tin roofs. or something.

Sam and I are about to go to the East Coast. If'n you hadn't heard, the Dead Science tour has be officially cancelled, so we've a little more time to prepare. We are in dire need of an auto with a little bit of space (station wagon-y) and air conditioning. We are willing to offer my car as a replacement (which has neither of these things), and perhaps some money for "wear and tear." Check the Performance page for infos, and the Pictures for our Parenthetical Girls 3.0 promotional photo. there are new songs in the works.

I move out of the cupcake at the end of the month into a sizable closet. this relieves me greatly. it is literally 100 degrees today. I want to be in a band called "Swastika Girls" again. I can't control my thoughts anymore.

send love.

Yours indefinitely,

Zac Pennington
Parenthetical (Swastika) Girls

Reel and Rock.

Money is, invariably, pretty tight at present. As some of you know, I have been working off and on as a frozen novelty salesman over the last few months�a job that, though full of indefinable pleasures, has very little to offer in terms of monitory compensation. I'm not totally sure what kept me from this realization at the very onset of this journey, but the math is simply not with me. here's a simple breakdown:

the business is commission based. in order for me to break even with concern to gas costs and "rental fee," (what I like to call "paying for the pleasure") I have to sell roughly $50 worth of my available merchandise. at another $50�$100 dollars total, I have made about fifteen dollars for myself. So far my highest take was just short of $300, leaving me with a comfortable $75, with me making somewhere around $11 an hour. That's only happened once. more often than not, I am netting around $160, which leaves me somewhere less than $5 an hour. and we're talking about a pretty hostile environment: the gas fumes alone give me headaches every shift I work.

After a break-down stole about two hours of my time and left me stranded in the middle of nowhere this past week, I decided to cut my losses and just bail on the whole situation. then complications arose. you see, because the company was unable to come repair the vehicle, i abandoned it in the semi-posh Irvington neighborhood of Portland, and told them that they could come pick it up on their own time. leaving the cart there overnight, someone broke into the vehicle and stole all of the remaining ice cream (which was, of course, the vast majority of what I had with me on that day, considering that the bulk of my time was spent trying to get the boat repair, not actually selling anything).

Now, this puts me in something of a position, considering I had planned to quit the very day that this occurred. A little suspicious, me thinks. my "boss" also made so vain attempt to hold me responsible for the theft, suggesting that the situation was "no different" than if I spent twenty minutes in a grocery store and the car was broken into. My response was plain and respectful: I see a vast difference between these two scenarios, sir. It was your cart which broke down, it was your employee that refused to come get it, and it was you who said I was free to go. I view these situations as very disparate. The issue remains to be resolved.

Oh, right: Parenthetical Girls. Rachael Jensen and I are working at making this Heck Fest thing go over as smoothly as humanly possible, as Rebecca vacations in Toledo. Things are going pretty well. Everyone is gone in my city right now. I got drunk on the Fourth of July and listened to Galaxie 500. Warm intentions to my Room mate who is currently (boo-hoo) stranded in London. I know, right?

Tour is shaping up�please take a moment to peruse the performances page if you will, as i am still feeling nervous about a few gaps. Help me out, y'all. Make sure you check out the Dead Science's "Gay Romeo Is Bleeding" tour dates in case by some stretch of the imagination, they actually make it to your town.

Thanks to Curt Merrill for his help with Movable Type�something that will invariably make this website experience all the more comfortable for all of us... and look! Comments!

Difficulties still abound on the discography page, and problem which awaits the return of webmistress Rebecca who is currently vacationing in, of all places, Toledo. All particularly relavent materials can be found at these links:

Here's To Forgetting MP3, from side O of the Album (((GRRRLS)))
C-86 Is Killing My Life MP3, from side X of the Album (((GRRRLS)))
Here's To Forgetting MP3, recorded live at Dunes with Y.A.C.H.T.

Thank you for your patronage.

zac pennington
parenthetical girls.

p.s. I almost forgot�Slender Means Society and States Rights Records are now officially selling the new Pregnancy EPs by The Blow and Thanksgiving. Check out States Rights' website for full details! Very excited!

Ha Ha Ha.

Four days of less-than-intensive sabbatical to Seattle city with Mister Sam Mickens has birthed a wealth new material for the east coast tour, of varying quality. Lots of Ragga Jamz. I wouldn't expect you to be comfortable with that notion.

A trip to Seattle is like a hotbed of insecurities, with social obligations weighing rather heavy. For all those who are remotely curious about what I've been doing with myself for the last 6 months, let me summarize: Getting Fat. Please do not ask me again. I will say that it was one of my most pleasant stretches of time I've spent in the Emerald City in recent memory, due in no small part to: Sam, Jamie, Scott, Jherek, Megan, Cori, Kitty, Devin, Janet, Melissa, James and Amanda, Chicken, Davey, Anna, Hannah, Kim, Marcy, and those girls from San Antonio.

The Seattle trip did bring up a number of internal struggles about the purpose of touring the East Coast, which until now just seemed like the right thing to do. To be blunt: I haven't written anything I'm happy with in several months now, and I just don't know why I'm playing shows at all. Though I remain excited and optimistic, it's becoming more and more apparent that the trip is nothing much more an excuse to visit the right coast, and perhaps get some of these effing LPs out of my office. emo.

The tentative tour dates will be up in the performances section in the next couple of days, so please stay tuned. Difficulties still abound on the discography page, and problem which awaits the return of webmistress Rebecca who is currently vacationing in, of all places, Toledo. All particularly relavent materials can be found at these links:

Here's To Forgetting MP3, from side O of the Album (((GRRRLS)))
C-86 Is Killing My Life MP3, from side X of the Album (((GRRRLS)))
Here's To Forgetting MP3, recorded live at Dunes with Y.A.C.H.T.

i like that, do it again,

Zac Pennington.

UPDATE: TOUR SECTION HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH EAST COAST TOUR INFORMATION--if you can help us out, please click the little envelope icon to your left--Thanks!

Additionally, the biography page has been updated. Oh, and I almost forgot: Parenthetical Girls are hastily featured in the latest issue of Fader magazine in a sprawling article about an incredibly small selection of Portland Music peers. Thumb through it at your local news stand today!

a beginning.

And so, here it begins. On the advice of countless computer savvy compatriots, Parenthetical Girls toe the water of “web presence” with this, the beginnings of Parenthetical Girls: The Website. Much thanks to the masterful Rebecca Carlisle-Healy for her vision, guidance, ill-temper, and hours of manual labor.

Like the hyper-stacked majority of the online music community, there's limited potential for actual content herein�a photo here, an mp3 there, a few dates, a flashy front page, and really very little more�but with any luck I'll stick to my intention of uncomfortably regular updates of content, both through this log, and with the various boxes that surround it. Come back, and maybe things will be different. Or maybe they will be the same. And then you will think, "Boy, these Parenthetical Girls sure are busy, what with no updates this week." And maybe you will write these sentiments to us. And maybe I will respond and say, "You have to be more patient. Please, more patient." And then, at work, you will bookmark my page and check it everyday when you are avoiding Quickbooks Pro 2001 or what ever it is you do all day, and get annoyed with my lack of consistent updates. And then you will grow tired of this website. And drag this bookmark into the trash. Who can know? Only God, that is who, and when I pray to him at night I am certainly not going to ask him about the future of my website, you know? I’m more concerned with this mole on my arm. That is what I will be asking him about. Not the website.

So ENJOY!

Kinks to work out and sections to flesh, to be sure, but please consider these humble beginnings a window into the future... of NOW!

Sincerely,

Zac Pennington
Parenthetical Girls

post script: it has come to my attention that Internet Explorer users (who uses IE anyway?) are having a few problems with the site, primarily with discography section. I'll try to get on that soon.