Saturday, May 26, 2007

Connections maybe not so tenuous after all

I wrote this little ditty a long time ago now, but, well, I still feel the same way. And it seems appropriate to post as I'm off on another journey:

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So I just recently saw Lost In Translation, and yes, I can identify with the characters, their life and times in a foreign place.. one which only underscored how tenuous many of their (your) relationships - even those that they (you) thought *should* and *needed* to be strongest - were. In fact, I can relate on very superficial levels, as I've been to Tokyo, traveled extensively through the US and Europe, many times alone - for work or otherwise. But beyond that, I've felt their disillusionment with my social support system: our husbands, wives, family, friends.

Sometimes it's not so hard to be alone on a perfectly nice day in San Francisco.

That said, I've also experienced the pleasure of unexpectedly connecting with a stranger - sometimes for only five minutes as they get you on the proper bus in Stockholm or Kyoto, or for whole days, nights, passing time in a dimly lit bar in Austin or Berlin - even if the spoken language between us isn't totally in sync. "Please", "thank you", and a sense of humor get you farther than you might think.

Closer to home, it's a revelation to wake up and know friends, family, matter; you have made connections maybe not so tenuous after all. Yes, sometimes the sun shines so hard (I love it), and I can hear the birds singing.. I hope not just to me. So listen hard and smile..

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It's always a pleasure, and I hope to cross paths again with you soon..

Indulge in Parker House hedonism

Parker House rolls are the real deal (another foray into the world of personal fermentation)! At the least, they look so cute, all snuggled tightly, golden brown and sheening in the baking dish, the baking dish becoming serving dish; and yet they pull apart so buttery delicious - so delicious, in fact, you do not care you are tearing brother from brother..

Friday, May 25, 2007

What to do if not pack light?

One bag is off adventuring before me, spending the long weekend en-route to Brooklyn, where I'm sure, upon its arrival, it will have a fabulous 2.5 weeks of hipster summer during my time in Utah and then at my folks' in Alabama. We'll rejoin soon enough on the 13th - so lucky a date - and the gear-and-clothes-collected - I'll have my own sack of goodies - will play a massive and fabrical game of music chairs with me as puppet-master; I'm the only one who can hear the music. After all, and again, one bag will stay on in Brooklyn while I go on to explore the former Soviet Union with the second. We'll leapfrog back to San Francisco in a similar fashion; the bags will stay the same, but their insides will constantly change so-adaptable. I like this arrangement: no stranger as arranger; my own two hands are skilled..

I can do nothing if not pack light when required.

Living machines and food for thought

Thank you for the tip, Ms. Portman, but it was bread, not The Shins, that changed my life. Or, more specifically, it was the discovery and appreciation of (not to mention personal indulgence in) how to make bread that deepened my relationship to the food that I eat in general. And something like that can change your life; food is a necessity in every delectable sense of the word.

The basics of assembling, cooking or baking raw and disparate ingredients into a final and (hopefully) edible device is pretty straightforward; we learn these things in our youth, even if we do not participate in explicit "cooking lessons". Food is all around us in one form or another; most get to eat it every day. And from this large and sustained (and sustaining) sample set, we gain at least a superficial understanding of various preparation methods. That is, we see - if only a stylized version in our mind's eye - the chopping, the boiling, the frying or the baking, and we taste the final product. For most, just the consumption is enough to satiate both their body and mind (to what degree is arguable and depends on many factors); there is no curiosity about how this food came to be - in front of you, me, or the other.

Folks that actually do the cooking themselves are part of a smaller group, and those that cook well are smaller in number still. But I think the most exclusive club is made up of those that truly understand, or at least have a gut feel for, the intrinsic characteristics of each culinary constituent, and further, for the subtleties of how each will combine and, potentially, transform into something new and whole and delicious. I mean, you don't have to know details down to a molecular level to be an decent cook (like a certain Mr. Brown), but it seems like there is a positive relationship between the degree of sophistication and appreciation of the essence of a victual element and being able to produce uncommonly good meals.

Certainly a few rules of thumb can get you by very well in most conditions, but as your connoisseurship and appetite for experimentation increases, you'll either have to be lucky or good to continue to please and excite the palate beyond a stable of standards. Alternatively, you'll have be able to follow recipes very well - which is sometimes harder than you think, given that many implicitly-include assumptions about your kitchen environment and/or your experience level. That is, a recipe may not adequately describe the procedure exact enough to replicate the intended - and finest! - of results. Consequently, if you do not have the experience (or, again, the luck) to fill in the gaps, the end-product may end up a bit underwhelming.

Which brings me back to bread. Yikes! Through happenstance, I came across the following article on making bread in the NY Times Food section back in November 2006; it sparked my curiosity, promising a "novel" and "easy" technique:

The Secret of Great Bread: Let Time Do the Work
By Mark Bittman (aka The Minimalist)
Published: November 8, 2006

So I resolved to go home and try it out (I was at the airport at the time), regardless of never having made any sort of bread before (save for pancakes). Somehow its creation in my own kitchen now seemed possible, and, further, it seemed alchemical and exciting. However, my first couple of attempts were downright dismal, later attributed to, among another things, not understanding the nature of yeast and what their role was in the process. I did not treat them well; they treated me to a wheat-based brick; I could hear them laughing from beyond (the oven), from their dark single-celled netherworld.

Later experiments proved more fruitful, so to speak; I needed to read a bit more about the bread making processes in general, how all those simple ingredients interacted in such specific ways to produce something so-much-better than themselves. What synergy (given the right conditions)! It's like advanced management theory come to life, but better - because you can eat the team when the project is done.

The real kicker was that this was my first foray into the world of fermentation, although I didn't know it when I started. True bread making (i.e. not the "quick bread" type, which relies on the chemical reactions of baking soda or baking powder) depends on live organisms to break down complex organic molecules into tastier and more nutritious ones for our consumption. In fact, some of the most delicious things out there - bread, cheese, cured meats, yoghurt, chocolate, beer, wine and vinegar - are all products of fermentation. "Underground foodie hero", Sandor Katz, has written much about whys and the hows, as well as the history of, our symbiotic relationship - one just beginning to come back into modern focus - with the beneficial microflora in our environment. Really cool stuff! And you know if it's about beer, I'm all over it..

All this said, I'm not saying that *I* can cook well or *I* know about all the details of creating wonderful food, but I *am* starting to recognize the various phenomena of interaction between me and my elements of substance. So that is the part that is new (or at least refined), and it's made me feel even more connected to the world - most literally - as part of the constant ebb and flow of molecules and materials from one form, one concentration, or one location to another. In fact, the action of the yeast reminds me so much of the novel (and labor intensive) grass farming techniques I read about in Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma", albeit at a microscopic level. However ultimately complicated, the basic actions involved in fermentation or grass farming, I can get my head around. And the ideas contained therein are very pleasing; read up!

But beyond food - however entrancing - isn't it exciting to think about those ideas that really gave you a kick in the pants (or the head?), helping to spawn a positive modification - and evolution! - in your worldview? Some of the other heavyweight readings that really turned on some light bulbs for me are:

1. "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond
2. "The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature" by Matt Ridley

I am sure to discuss the above topics - sex and economics - at a future date, if only in passing, because those sorts of things color my every thought on levels sub-conscious. Yes, so they will be discussed again and again, even if you or I don't know we're talking about it; those things are hypnotic and applicable-always, eminently worthy of thoughtful conversation or drunken musings.

In the meantime, let me say that Ms. Portman does a hell of an interview, and for that, I will thank her again (but really mean it this time). And let me also say that *we* are all living machines, garbage in, garbage out, so let's get to that good eating (and drinking) - indulge in the microflora!

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Premature ejacu-Maison

Well, this is old news if you follow those crazy discodancey blogs, but Kitsune is coming out with their 4th compilation CD, Kitsune Maison 4 - a June 11th release. I won't be in town at the time, or else I'd delay this blog posting until that mo'-nice Monday; I have the discipline to appreciate a bit of delayed gratification (literary reference: "Do you remember your first time?" coming out on a full moon - via email, anyway; that little ditty was posted here one day later). Ok - no one noticed.

Yeah, I'm just saying that, for now, download the Kitsune Maison 4 sampler mix at Big Stereo or Disco Belle; the links are conveniently embedded not-so-subtly in this posting for you Where's-Waldo-types. And then look forward to the full-on fun of this tracklist; I'd like to dance with you:

Thieves Like Us - Drugs In My Body
Dragonette - I Get Around (Midnight Juggernauts remix)
Phones - Worryin’
Crystal Castles – Knights (Demo Version)
The Whip - Divebomb (short edit)
Riot In Belgium - La Musique (Adam Sky mix)
Hadouken ! - Tuning In (H! re- rub)
Feist - My Moon My Man (Boys Noize Classic mix)
Guns N’ Bombs - Crossover Appeal (radio edit)
Passions - Emergency (radio edit)
Numéro# - Hit Pop
Foals - Hummer
Punks Jump Up - Dance To Our Disco
Darkel - Be My Friend

For sure, I don't know half (ok: three-quarters) of these rockers (beyond scanning the aforementioned blogs-in-the-know), but that just goes to show my faith in the European music scene right now.. Digitalism, anyone? Say welcome to your new friends on the dancefloor; and don't say I didn't warn you..

Sunday is for breaking personal taboos

Wow. I had no idea what I was in for. Bay to Breakers is the real deal - an all-day, or at least all-morning/all-afternoon - block party of epic proportions, as if your block is 7-something miles long, with views of both the East Bay and the Pacific Ocean, and your neighbors, numbering sixty thousand, have descended from all corners of the Earth, as if all your neighbors are ripe for silliness and dressed to impress. Or not dressed at all..

Yes, so it was my first time - even just seeing the event. Really! And I've lived in San Francisco for five years now. I fully admit, I had been irrationally intimidated by Bay to Breakers from the first time I had been invited to go (I imagine it would have been Shotwell roommates in 2003). But I've had different reasons over the years to always take a pass..

At first, I didn't want to do it because it was a "race", and I still had issues getting near a "race" when I wasn't actually "racing".. like it was a tease or something that I wasn't running and competing anymore. Running was a lifestyle for me back then, and, as such, it defined a HUGE part of my life (more accurately, when I first moved to SF I was still defining a post-running worldview - an Achilles injury the year before put me out of commission - and had many mental holdovers I hadn't resolved yet); I could be militant in my approach to certain things.. haha. My next round of excuses revolved around me being a stick in the mud over drinking in general (more holdovers), so drinking in the day - and on a Sunday, no less - didn't really grab me as a fun and glorious time. Both those ideas could spawn conversations on the couch (or cafe or pub) in and of themselves, so suffice to say that a brother - this brother! - has moved on, has opened his mind, and, well, is ready to rock! Well, I did have one last excuse that has now evaporated: I let myself be a victim of inertia.. as in, well, I hadn't done it any years prior (which was a little embarrassing), so I could just put my head in the sand about it. There is probably a more complex analysis here, but, again (and thankfully), it's all moot.

This year a friend (bigups Moira!) got me off my butt, and got me out and about, if only with a plan to watch; we met at Fell and Divis, and well, the hubbub and general good spirits drew us in and, ignoring our lack of costumes, we decided to walk a little walk, westward into the Park. Little did I know that many (most?) folks don't actually have costumes (and this put me at ease, actually, because I wouldn't want to be all up in the business sans-costume if everyone else was rocking one). However, most folks *were* drunk, and as implied before, that's an idea I can get behind - for a good cause like this (Sunday *ahem* be damned) - so we made a brief stop at my place for a 12 pack of that most hipster of value brews: Pabst Blue Ribbon. Wait, is PBR still hipster anymore? Nevermind; I imagine it is 2nd or 3rd generation hipster now, but, still, I'll pick up a 12 pack every once in a while just to have in the fridge; that shizz is cheap, and, admittedly an awesome bang for the buck.

So, we walked and we drank (while walking); we met up with a friend or two along the way; we basically took in the party scene. It wasn't anything mindblowing; that is, we weren't voyeurs on the sidelines, but we weren't in full-blown partymode either. Still, it was solid and it was good; and it was sunny (and I've got a little sunburn on my face to prove it). We napped in Alamo Square afterwards (well, at least I passed out for a little bit)..

And it got me excited for next year! I mean, who knows exactly where I'll be - mentally or physically - but still let me list these goofball ideas (at the least these may be fodder for "what were you thinking" jokes):

1. Put a real toilet on some sort of platform, its bowl filled with alcohol (TBD - maybe a party ball keg?); recreating a whole movable bathroom scene would be awesome, but would take some real carpentry work (worth it? - probably not). Oh, and everyone in the crew is dressed up as dogs so they can, uhh, drink from the toilet. Get it?

2. I always love the costumes that are of two things, but there is only one person. For example, a costume of a guy riding an ostrich or something (the picture is from the Greener Living blog); where your legs are the ostrich legs and your upper body is the rider's body. Do you know what I mean? Ok, you do, and you think those things are stupid? I can see that, but it's just one of those crazy personal proclivities.. like they remind of something from my youth, like they are so Muppetty or something. In any case, we could get a whole pack of folks dressed in these things, have saddlebags for beer or whatever..

3. That's it. Really, I'm not going to think too hard about this now. I'll just say that if I get all wishy-washy about Bay to Breakers 2008, you give me some shizz, ok?

Monday, May 21, 2007

A universal color scheme in Kyrgyzstan

Before I forget, let me post a slight update to the Russia + Kyrgyzstan trip I mentioned before - a direct result of the inverse relationship between days-to-trip and airline ticket prices. In short, we decided a last minute booking wasn't going to work in our favor, so we went and did something like this:

Leave Moscow July 4th, arrive in Bishkek July 4th
Dep: SVO 7/4 10:05am, Aeroflot #181
Arr: FRU 7/4 4:15pm

So that gives us a few more days in Russia, a few less in Kyrgyzstan:

Tue, 19/06/07 - Arrive Tallinn, Estonia
Thu, 21/06/07 - Bus/train from Tallinn to St. Petersburg
Tue, 27/06/07 - Bus/train from St. Petersburg to Moscow
Wed, 04/07/07 - Fly from Moscow to Bishkek (flight info above)
Fri, 06/07/07 - Bus/taxi from Bishkek to Kara-Too for Felt Festival on Sat
Sun, 08/07/07 - Bus/taxi from Kara-Too (or nearby Kochkor) to Osh
Tue, 10/07/07 - Start a couple day "trek" out of Arslanbob or Kyzyl Unkur
Sat, 14/07/07 - Bus/taxi back to Bishkek (from wherever "trek" ends)
Mon, 16/07/07 - Fly back to NYC from Bishkek

That's all. In any case, I'm looking forward to my red, white and blue peanuts on the flight to Kyrgyzstan - a universal color scheme for the 4th (right?), so patriotic and delicious..

Jeans, make thyself a quilt

Not quite a quilt, but my jeans sure do need a patching. Too many times a phone or flask found tucked into the once-tight and faded-blue fabric has worn the stitching beyond softly and into the realm of shredded non-existence. The wind, or another so bold, could reach through, so wily, to my defenseless front right pocket and further to my front right thigh. The tempting opportunity is seemingly presented forevermore - blue jeans don't heal themselves, as entropy is the way of the world - until, that is, my jeans make like a quilt, transformed on their own, or, more likely, with help; they sure do need a patching.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So if you come across any cool fabric patches, let me know. I got the thread and a bit of the know-how, but will always submit to good advice..

Friday, May 18, 2007

Lyrics lost, and nostalgia discovered

Song lyrics are 95% lost on me.

That's not to say I'm illiterate or a beat junkie; that's not to say I don't care or don't appreciate powerful words crafted and applied to a framework of beautiful music (or visa versa). It really just comes down to the fact that I have problems with lexical disambiguation. Who knew? That is, I *hear* the lyrics and I, I *hear* the way they are sung, in terms of tone and melody and overall character, but I really only end up with "the feeling" of how they play with the rest of the musical mix; I could never repeat for you a line-intelligible from any given song. And it's always been this way.

What this means is that I listen to so much music and I know so little lyrics. So, for example, when I sing in the shower - it's been known to happen - I basically have a catalog of 3.5 proto-songs, made up of pieces of maybe 11 real songs. Who cares? A common affliction, yes - I know.. and there are worse ones out there, I, umm, hear, but I did get thinking about all this Wednesday night as I experienced the exception that proves the rule..

Performing some of the few songs - in the world! - that I know the lyrics to, Dinosaur Jr drew forth from me a sing-along (or at least muddle-along) during their show at Slims in San Francisco; I could half-articulate about a quarter of their set, spread out throughout the night. Again, who knew, and who cares? But thank god no one can actually hear me mangling each song - each to a different degree, of course, but each mangled nonetheless; the speakers are large, turned up loud, and sonicly all-encompassing.

Yes, I did say Dinosaur Jr; and, yes, I mean *that* Dinosaur Jr, underground indie-rock icons of the 80's and therefore ripe for being-Dinosaur jokes in the 00's, another band arguably back together to make a buck off nostalgia-fueled ticket sales. But I have seen them on both their contemporary tours (2005 and 2007) and while I know it is in a different way than they would have rocked in, say, 1989, they still rock. The music is spot on (if not a little too-polished and controlled sometimes) and, most notably for me, my main man J Mascis still conjures up these phenomenally epic and melodically noisy guitar solos I can't get enough of. When I'm really in the mood - as I was at the show - I could have kept my eyes closed and let the notes, sometimes fighting their way through feedback, go on forever. And so it goes..

Part of the appeal is that their music does somehow evoke a feeling of "nostalgia" in me; Dinosaur Jr songs always do, but seeing them live pumps up that feeling much more; it's quicker to come on and boldly-vibrating in its intensity. And I remember - via beer-dipped brain - that I recognized these feelings coming on during the show and this got me wondering further if I knew what the idea of "nostalgia" really meant! I mean, I ask because I think I get wistful way too often. haha.

It's not a bad thing, per se, and maybe not such an odd thing, I know, but I attribute it to the fact that I've had a series of such different lives - or at least approaches to life - since, say, high school, and, while they are continuous in time, they are carved into definite periods, accessible neatly, in general, for internal recall (but only occasionally for discussion). And since some of these packaged scenescapes would actually overlap on a real timeline, it's probably more appropriate to call them quanta - quanta of nostalgia? - insofar that each is a collection of times and places and people and feelings (real or not) associated with some state of being from my past. There is a definite trend for collusion with and adherence to the lock-step flow of time, for sure, but that is not always the case as, with reflection, certain threads of mindset could have their origin, or at least a later-assigned origin, with times farther removed from the locus of real activity; the same reasoning also applies to threads reaching somewhere into the future (ex. where the locus is the origin and provides the spiritual underpinnings for something later on).

The current definition on Wiktionary for nostalgia is:

"A bittersweet yearning for the things of the past."

And so with this definition and the contemplation above in mind, I can ask myself again if I know what nostalgia means. And I would say "yes".. although I would admit I might be applying it a bit too liberally. That is, I do understand that the term, in general parlance, is applied to looking back towards the past as if it was better than what you have now. But that's not exactly how I feel when I'm applying it to myself..

The quanta that I mentioned are all constituent parts my psyche; they are stepping stones - upwards, I think - in the path of my personal growth and development; they could even be construed as a series of adolescences or subtle psychological evolutions. And I look back fondly..

But I know, I know for sure - FOR SURE! - I'll be adding these years now to the nostalgia reel soon enough (i.e. as in, the last 1 or 2, because I've already added everything up until then). Oh man, but haha!, and oh-man-oh-man-oh-man (in a good way). These are the times of our lives and it's nice to be able to recognize that now; it helps me to breathe in the sunshine of San Francisco and beyond; and I'm always looking to breathe better in general.

In short, the good times haven't stopped yet; I'm excited for the present and know there are many opportunities for me and mine in the future. And how can't I be preemptively nostalgic for that? haha. That said, I can be temperamental, privately at least, so know there will be ups and downs in my outlook on life; I say this if only to let you know my exuberance isn't irrational and without bound - but, still, I'll leave that discussion for another time. For now, let me say that there were and are and will be some very good people in my life, past and present and future, respectively, as well as combinatorially. And even though I know it doesn't always come through in real time, I do appreciate how everything has come together; you, collectively, have made me a better person. haha. And so, it seems, regardless of my steely exterior, I can lay on the cheese with the best of them..

In any case - and back to the glorious present - the only thing I would have asked of Dinosaur Jr to do differently on Wednesday night would be to have played their "Just Like Heaven" cover from The Cure. If you haven't heard me sing in the shower, it is, basically, my number one ditty (always battling with R Kelly and David Bowie); it's a cover of a cover of a cover; read into that what you will. ;)

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Help to find subletter, then August 1st lease?!

This is a public service announcement.. as in, I need the services of you, the public..

I would like to have someone sublet my room (of a 2BR) for June and/or July (or any parts thereof, prorated of course) while I'm off adventuring. But I'm not putting something on craigslist, because I'm really only open to an arrangement with friends or friends-of-friends. While I have heard murmurings of interest, nothing is definite, so let me know if you've got anything in mind. The timing is flexible as is the furnished/unfurnished status of the room; I'm a pretty negotiable guy..

On a related note, I'll be looking for a new apartment FOR MYSELF starting August 1st when my current roommate moves to NYC for grad school (congrats Jason!). He's the main tenant (with me as a subleasee); I could renegotiate a new lease, I'm sure, but figure after a year here, let me try someplace new. So, if you know of anyone looking for a roommate in the city around that time, or are interested in finding someplace fresh with me, let me know..

I do have a couple of preferences for an apartment in terms of location and features, but none are set in stone, per se; it's really the total vibe of the place - including roommates - that will make something work for me or not (not to mention the need to go with whatever is available at the time). That said, I've got a pretty standard list: hardwood floors, open layouts, lots of natural light, a bit of storage for bikes, and some degree of outdoor space would be nice; I'd like to find this apartment pretty much anywhere in the path of The Wiggle and neighboring environs, from the Panhandle down to the Mission and then southward to Bernal Hill (including NOPA, Western Addition, Alamo Square, Hayes Valley, Lower Haight, Castro, Mission, SOMA, etc.).

Yeah, any leads for a summer subletter or (more importantly) for an August 1st apartment are totally appreciated. We could even work out a finder's fee; no cash, but it could be paid in alcohol, teas, dinner, music, or other tasty treats..

I will not break you all covered up in wool

This past week I've had to buy a few pieces of gear for my upcoming BOSS Field course - specifically, a wool blanket and a fleece jacket, as well as a few items on order: a hardcore poncho and a sheath knife - and I've been joking with folks about how the need to buy anything at all had been totally unexpected. I mean, I've done some backpacking in my day and consequently have amassed a little stash of the gear deemed reasonable - from a modern perspective - for most any multi-day outing in all but the harshest of conditions (ex. winter storms, technical approaches/climbing, etc.). Yes, so regardless of the fact I pack light - go FAST! - in general, I still have things like a small tent, a sleeping bag.. and a backpack to carry it all. But yet, it was not enough..

Or, I should really say that the modern gear list does not jive with the one proposed by BOSS (and required) for their Field course, which is most notable for what it does NOT have on it. A tent, a sleeping bag, a backpack? The wilds of deserts or mountains be damned, this gear is no-can-do during my time in Utah. And I will surely miss thee..

But I think I will miss the food and water during the "Impact" phase (i.e. the first three or four days) the most. haha. What thoughts go through one's head under such adverse and, thankfully, foreign conditions? I can take a guess, of course, and perhaps my guess is more educated than that of most people.. I have certainly been massively dehydrated before, have literally fallen over from leg cramps during a few lengthy running and biking outings, have gone on overnight hikes with no food.. but the temporal scope for the BOSS course is much longer than I've endured before, and I'm not sure what to expect for the pace of activity and how that will affect my overall state. That is, I've only really hit upon these bodily limits after high intensity, relatively short term (i.e. 3-6 hour) outings, but I think here the hiking will be medium-to-slow-ish and so my body should have time to adapt to the limited, or *ahem* non-existent, food supply.

Further, I'm expecting, if this is true, to slip into a mindset, or, maybe more accurately, into a mode of existence that is simpler and more primitive than my normal, daily life dictated by a "Western" society (we know that this term hinges on historical legacy, given surging economies all over the world - but I digress).

But what exactly does that mean: Man of heightened senses or walking zombie? Or.. something else? I think I might take the easy way out right now and go with the last one - the something else - if only because I know the situation will demand that I tap, subconsciously anyway, into a mix of primal elements, both of a physical and spiritual nature. Wow.. more vagueries. But what can you do; what can you expect? These things, these feelings, are ancient and global and start to get at the heart of what it means to be alive and sentient and free, but, still, they are new to me.. haha.

Ah, but to get back to the discussion on gear, all is not lost! We will learn how to use our wool blanket as both backpack and bedding, our poncho as groundcover and/or roof, as required.. skills I certainly have not had the *need* for up until now, but who knows what applications one will find in the future, in the outdoors or otherwise. At the least, it could make for an interesting picnic, or, if I'm more bold, cocktail party. Wine glasses, I will not break you all snuggled up in wool..

Monday, May 14, 2007

Garbanzos are superior, but black are nice for a change

Man-oh-man, it heartens me to no end to find another! neighborhood shop with a great beer selection, presented to you, the shopper, as 6 packs of lovely local brews and oh-so-nice bombers. I mean, this place - Divisadero Health Haven - doesn't have anything totally out there or a huge selection, per se, but I think my perspective (and threshold for being impressed) is totally-skewed in San Francisco. And, again, this is a good thing! So much good beer in this city, and so accessible..

Yeah, I rarely pop into this place because it's fairly expensive - think about it: a "corner market" that's geared towards organic and "health" food - but did so this afternoon to pick up some pita; I was making some black bean hummus and needed a suitable and flavorful delivery mechanism. Wait! A quick glance around the refrigerator seemed to indicate some pretty good prices for the beer (ex. $8 or $9 for Chimay Red). So yeah, I'll be back (if only for the beer)..

In the meantime, check my favorite all-purpose beer sites; learn all 'bout it:

Beer Advocate (http://beeradvocate.com/)
Real Beer (http://www.realbeer.com/)

And maybe a few SF-specific ones:

Toronado (http://www.toronado.com/)
SF Brewers Guild (http://www.sfbrewersguild.org/)
Hedonist Beer Jive (http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/)

Whew! This is getting me thirsty.. but I'll abstain (I think?!). I have been rocking so much good beer with so many good peeps the past couple of weeks (as part of my enjoy-SF-to-the-fullest campaign before my sabbatical - as if I need an excuse - ha!); my liver needs ONE night off. That said, ask me to join you for a tipple whenever the mood strikes; how can I say no?

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Who am I to regulate a dancefloor?

Whoa! Just got turned on to the Disco Belle blog; thanks Kyla!

http://www.discobelle.net/

Click over there (well, maybe new-tab it), clear some dancing space, turn them computer speakers on - start at a medium amplitude, then double and triple as necessary - then press that big ol' PLAY button on the Digitalism Pogo video posted May 12th, 2007 (i.e. today). Stand and dance; stand and deliver..

Yes, I'm counting on you to enjoy yourself..

Beyond this first taste you'll find more disco-tinged and fabulously-dancey music than you can shake your stick at, dancefloor loads of "sceney" news, as well as links to download the singles and massive party mixes that drive all this modern devotion. And if you do get yourself all worked up, musically or otherwise, I will, in general, tell you to point your stick away from me. Still, I can appreciate the phenomenon. Who am I to regulate a dancefloor? haha.

High Fives All Around? Could be, if you ask..

The other night I went and updated the "High Fives All Around" bit of silliness (i.e. some random email story I wrote a few years ago) that you may or may not be familiar with to reflect, well, a different stage in my writing "career" - and this new version is sitting in the "Drafts" section of the blog right here. But shizz if I'll actually post it because I feel like it could be taken and be misconstrued by the powers-that-be as a sophomoric piece of adolescent pornography - which it is, at least on the surface - hahaha, but whooowee if it doesn't bring me back to 2001 or 2002 or whenever I first wrote it down. Such transitional times; it seems like a lifetime ago! And it was..

In any case, I may be bold one of these days and post it (as well as the original version for scholarly study), but, more likely, I'll end up going my tried-and-true (and more controlled) route of emailing it to the usual crew. In fact, I am truly tempted to click "Publish" now because the "High Fives" ditty has gotten the most effusive and positive reaction of any of my unsolicited email stories thus far.. probably because it's less pseudo-intellectual babble and more full-on goofy (albeit, sexual) fantasy. And you gotta like that - a distinct lack or pretense; for me, it's a zeitgeist that evokes simpler times; the symbols of sex and cartoon violence are an easy way to access that sort of thing.

Friends play the part of monkeys on (now: government-grade) PCP, and powerful and tuning-be-damned instruments never make it to chapter two.. actions all playing a supporting role to the main stage: oral satisfaction, an - ahem - hard act to follow at any age (yet always worth trying!).

The futon is dead! Long live the futon!

Friday, May 11, 2007

Impulsive, and tickets appear before me

So it's late, and, well, I can be impulsive when it's late. I've got an open Tecate to my left (shizz - and I'm RIGHT handed!), red-hued and hecho'd in mexico, telling me to "go for it!!". Goddman it.. when has Tecate NOT told me to "go for it!!" - it really doesn't care what decision needs to be made, it back you the fuck up.. which is why I can overlook how NOT good a beer it is. Yes, nights at Delirium don't lie.

In any case, I just bought 2 tickets to the Austin City Limits Music Festival - I online'd that shizz - for September 14th-16th. The lineup has shaped up nicely; at a cursory glance, I'm wanting to check out these bands for reals:

LCD Soundsystem
Ghostland Observatory
The White Stripes
Bloc Party
Devotchka
Joseph Arthur and the Lonely Austronauts
The National

Although as the time grows closer and my musical knowledge increases, I'll add a few more to this list (which will hopefully include The Ike Reilly Assassination - I don't know anything about them, but the name is awesome). However, it'll be my first year at ACL, so I don't exactly know how the scheduling goes (i.e. how many venues/stages go on at any one time). But I hope me *wanting* to see bands equals me *actually seeing* bands. At the least, I'm a fan of Austin for the few times I've been there, for work or otherwise - SXSW in 2003!

Check it: ACL Music Festival 2007

Yeah, so I got 2 tickets already; I'll need at least one foolsome to take a ticket off my hands (and be ready to rock out). But I think this is up for discussion later in the summer? In the meantime, I've got a few musical recommendations if you're interested (ex. Pop Levi!)..

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Two Handsome Libertarians, Nice to Meet You

So you know where to find me over the next couple of weeks:

May 26th: SF to Utah for BOSS course J-65
June 10th: Utah to Alabama to visit parents
June 13th: Alabama to NYC to "hang" and BBQ
June 18th: NYC to Estonia to start Soviet adventure
June 22nd: Estonia to Russia (St. Petersburg + Moscow)
July 1st: Russia to Kyrgyzstan (will fly, but no ticket yet)
July 16th: Kyrgyzstan to NYC (through Georgia - the country!)
July 20th: NYC to SF!! (and finish apt hunt for August 1st!!)

Quite a lot of travel, I know; carbon footprint be damned, I guess..

As for the Russia/Kyrgyzstan time, here is a finer-grained itinerary:

Tue, 19/06/07 - Arrive Tallinn, Estonia
Fri, 22/06/07 - Bus/train from Tallinn to St. Petersburg
Tue, 27/06/07 - Bus/train from St. Petersburg to Moscow
Sun, 01/07/07 - Fly from Moscow to Bishkek (Kyrgyz Republic)
Tue, 03/07/07 - Start a couple day "trek" around Lake Issyk-Kul via CBT
Fri, 06/07/07 - Bus/taxi from Bishkek (or whereever our "trek" is) to Kara-Too for Felt Festival on Sat (that's right: a felt FESTIVAL!)
Sun, 08/07/07 - Bus/taxi from Kara-Too (or nearby Kochkor) to Osh
Tue, 10/07/07 - Another "trek" out of nearby Arslanbob or Kyzyl Unkur
Sat, 14/07/07 - Bus/taxi back to Bishkek (or from wherever we are - near Arslanbob probably)
Mon, 16/07/07 - Fly back to NYC from Bishkek

Note that the dates above are definitely not set in stone, but we (ChrisL and I) will follow this itinerary as a rough guide. We did reserve a hostel in Tallinn and are planning to do so soon for St. Petersburg (due to the White Nights festivities), but most everything else will be decided on the ground, trading a bit of emotional security for freedom!

We do what we want - yo! - including crying when we're cold and alone in a Russian prison, or fresh from another mugging on the backstreets of Osh. haha. But, really, there will be some real opportunity for some beautiful (and beutifully-serendipitous) happenings and many, many opportunities to think on our feet and get shizz done extemporaneously (where shizz includes many things, including surveying the scene at a cafe bar while getting caffeinated and/or blitzed); we travel with massively good humors and fully-functional roll-with-the-punch-ness.

Sounds like you just met two handsome libertarians!

By the way, CBT = Community Based Tourism in Kyrgyzstan. Check their website (http://www.cbtkyrgyzstan.kg/) as well as this (non-related) travelogue of one Tim Barnes. He seems to have used CBT while cycling through Kyrgyzstan last year and has some great practical advice on the country; check it: Adventures in the back of beyond - Kyrgyzstan. Cool stuff!

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

The sand, a reminder.

It's nice to read something again and find it still full of meaning:

++ +++++

The sand, a reminder. I am a lovely,
Lovely sinner!

Sometimes. And yet nothing changes.

++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++

And it's even better when new layers of understanding have developed, either to replace or be overlayed onto your previous ones; you have more experience from which to draw and make connections from "real-life" to an artistic vague-ery. Or connections visa versa.

Monday, May 7, 2007

I need a prescription for sasss caplets

Somehow it seems like a sleepy day, the city turned into a sleepy place; I may take a nap, in fact. The sun can't hide from my eyes, nor its rays from my scantily-clad skin; cloud cover is non-existent. I AM NOT COMPLAINING; bring on any and all repercussions (global warming notwithstanding) from these delicate doses of summertime that I only know from far away places (New England, ya heard). In fact, I would say to you, SUN, do not break out that tiny, 2oz medicinal measuring cap maybe taped behind the moon for our next photon-filled appointment. Pour that ooey-goodness directly from that bright yellow and tastefully sun-spotted bottle and we'll both be happy. Yes, it's a 70-something degree day in San Francisco - in San Francisco! - and what have you done to me?

Or, it could just be the hummus talking: I just chowed down on half a loaf of fresh-from-the-oven whole-wheat bread (yes, my oven!), with homemade hummus (yes, my home!). The secret is out and the secret is delicious; reservations open at noon and I take them daily, although you might have to bring your own ingredients. What do I do for work exactly?

Regardless of the reason, I laid down on my right side not too long ago and curled convexly and ever-so-slightly, in a position very similar to one I make when I *actually* sleep, but my Protestant ethic prevented me from submitting to the allures of dreamland for now. I mean, I have real problems trying to sleep at any time before 10pm, except, of course, if I'm operating on borrowed time from the night before (usually a chemical fueled decision, alcohol or otherwise), or under true physical duress (5 hour bikeride anyone, or a dance-a-thon?).

And although I did get some good drinking in (Booneville Beerfest) and a bit of outdoor activity (Pomo Canyon) this past weekend, they weren't in the type or quantity for me to let myself go (to bed) right now. Don't ask me about the exact nature of this logic - I would need a whiteboard, several doses of sasss (did you hear: they put sasss in caplets now), and everyone's bullshit detectors off (and cell phones while we're at it). But I can't imagine this proposed class actually happening; I could think of better ways to spend that time, especially if I've got a pocket full of sasss.

Friday, May 4, 2007

A New Branch of Medicine Upon Us?

It seems a bit weird that an article entitled "The new science of resuscitation is changing the way doctors think about heart attacks—and death itself" isn't making headlines beyond the front page of my f'ing Hotmail account.

For example, this article contains some quotes like this:

"...according to Dr. Lance Becker, an authority on emergency medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. "After one hour (after someone had died)," he says, "we couldn't see evidence the cells had died. We thought we'd done something wrong." I n fact, cells cut off from their blood supply died only hours later. But if the cells are still alive, why can't doctors revive someone who has been dead for an hour? Because once the cells have been without oxygen for more than five minutes, they die when their oxygen supply is resumed."

Like whoa! The article goes on to talk about various techniques being researched to take advantage of this new information. These new techniques really seem to fly in the face of conventional, professionally accepted, and, in fact, proscribed! treatments for heart attacks and the like.. treatments that have like a 20% success rate at best (feel free to comment on the validity of that fact).

That said, I'm sure it will be awhile until anything comes out of this research based upon the "actual" cause of cell death (new theory, for now: oxygen REintroduction into the body), but man, it really gets the imagination going..

A whole new branch of medicine may be upon us - one dedicated to bringing people back from the "dead", or at least the notion of "dead" that we have right now. Now, that is some sci-fi shizz if I've ever heard it. So cool. And I hope to read more about this type of science (in the NYTimes or Science or *something* beyond msnbc!); if you come across anything along the same lines, let me know.

And if that's not enough to think about - that is, the biology/medical part of the equation - we haven't even gotten to the more metaphysical questions about what it *really* means to die. But I'll leave those musings for another day..

Death is inconceivable for the young in America.


Man Dies of Thirst During Survival Test

By ED WHITE, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Well, I'd like to say this article (from http://www.sfgate.com) is not intimidating me (on some level, anyway), given that this is the exact program I'm attending in 3 weeks. But it is (on some level, anyway). Then again, it's easy to separate "me" from "the other". And how can "me" die? I mean, I'm 28. So this story might as well be a work of fiction (on some level, anyway).

Sure, I'm expecting some discomfort; I'm expecting some pain - on all sorts of levels. In fact, I'm sure this two week Field course I've signed up for at Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS) will be the most mentally demanding thing I'll have done - ever.

SHIT, though, I wish I didn't know the guides carry "emergency water" - a tidbit gleaned from the article. It's either going to make me more bold (ex. oh, this course is *so safe* out here in the seemingly endless desert), or less bold (ex. pleading for that liquid like a baby when I don't *need* it). And, further, I wonder if this guy dying has affected the guides on any level. I mean, I know that every trip affects the guides/staff of BOSS insofar as they should learn something, able to apply even subconscious lessons to future courses, but having someone DIE under your tutelage is such a dramatic outcome, you would think it affects them to a different - a higher - degree. In short, I hope the course I'll be taking - the first Field course of 2007 (the story in the article is actually from an episode last year) - is the "standard" one they've been doing for ages. And the school hasn't overreacted, either to coddle folks this year.. or to go the opposite direction: to say, people signed them waivers so, hey, we're going to give it to them (just to prove the point that this stuff is "real")!

Yeah, so again, I still must admit the course is little more intimidating (again, on some level) after reading this article, if only because it reminds me that this "trip" (how innocuous a description!) is almost upon me, and, further, that this "trip" is something totally outside my experience. But that's why I'm doing it (or, at least, that's what I'm telling myself - ha!). There is the physical challenge, of course; there are the specific outdoor skills to learn, of course; but it is the prospect to live outside my comfort zone for a little bit, and hopefully develop my ability to deal with uncomfortable situations (of which there will be many during the two weeks, I'm sure) - that is the real draw for me.

One last source of doubt.. I haven't been running and biking the past couple of months because of my knee problems, and this adds to my worry from a physical perspective. I have such a positive history with those things; they make me feel strong - physically, of course, but also mentally. And when I feel "in shape" - a complicated, or at least nuanced idea - it's hard to intimidate me. At the least, their sporty replacements - swimming and climbing - are going well; in fact, my climbing has never been better. So, yeah, I know I'll be fine overall from a physical perspective, despite the minor doubts. I just need to keep reminding myself of that.

Again, it's "me" and I'm 28. Death is inconceivable for the young in America.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Do you remember your first time?

There is something in the air, momnocles and popsicles!
How appropriate?, I mean. It's a full moon and all..

Like the magic of stars giving birth (so cute!), the voodoo of Vic Chesnutt has somehow accelerated the gravity factors in my room to ten times the norm, or sometimes to twenty or more - variable on the chord in play and the amount of swoon in his voice at any given moment. The exact formula is complicated, with archaic and squiggly symbols portending a life without feathers-as-we-know-them, but, for now, creating an aggregate environs of squishy warmth and flowering nostalgia, worthy of the most gracious of grandmas and, by association, the most loving of how-are-ya's. Don't ask me where is which! Or do you dare as much?

Doing - and remembering - your first time: I'd like to ask you about it.

Yes I've got a hankering; my head - IS - SO - HEAvy. I find it resting in the soft nest of my sweatshirt-covered arms: on the desk, on the bed, so-low; sometimes I end up fainted, and flat-out on the floor. I could, or rather, I would, let my chest do the same, if I was a bit more ambitious. Or flexible, next to a good woman (it's worth it!); my hair gets so lopsided in this position. Do you care, ma soeur? Or, again, do you dare?

Do you remember the snowballs rapping at your window?

Later (or earlier?): Find yourself bare and bounding through warm and well-groomed fields of the softest of grasses (please! - otherwise, ouch!) with full-frontal and inspired flair.. and there we go (again) - imagining these pleasant pictographs could illustrate an interesting storybook for the masses; regardless, get on in this crackerjack bandwagon. And please allow me to extend my capricious felicitous-ness; the full moon makes me do craaazy things. But it IS your well-being I'm concerned with and about! That's right, I know my intentions are betrayed by my prepositional choices, so never mind the voices echoing blasphemous and cantankerous phrases; these words - again, forget any lack-of-gravity (which is impossible - it's 10 times the norm!) - these SPECIFIC words become maniac-ical weapons of the wannabe elite. It's a hard and biting life (to think about the other), but it's immediate, and it's right, and it's just.

And oh-so-doable - yes; it could be so very YEs! Well, at the least, it is just so.. very.. very.. something.

So where does that leave us? If you must, buy into the frisky business of all-natural trust and musk - both are RAINING DOWN from above - and soaking the sheer fabric of our dear and tightly-wound existence with a nomad's idea of tough love: it's all wet. What's my NAME? What's my NAME? What's my name?

Still, it's a fine mess to find this coincidence of intention - and LUST - rolling around my mind and - it's escaping! - towards yours through capillary action (and, of course, through electronic media transmission). But that's not so bad, is it? Although - yes, still further - I can imagine it IS frustrating to find yourself surrounded by the applied arrogance and flagrant fragrance of another planet: a foreign scent - YES! - but somehow it is appealing - IT IS APPEALING - and you can make a meal of it, despite it's (non-intentional) high-flalootin' and mouth-shootin'-off nature. In short, I'm not trying to sell you something. Maybe my linguistics are imperfectly applied, inciting blind riots of confusion and restoring the original gravity of my room, despite the intelligent pull of the full moon that should implicate otherwise. Could be. But, really, I'm jus' sayin' how-you-doin', be it in more words and bombastic proclamations than truly sufficient to please the wanton senses of the average human person.

But - HEY - heyheyhey: you're not average (yo).

In other words, the concern and redolence is real.. breathe it IN! Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; and breathe. Breathe; do it, ad infinitum. For reals. But don't just take my word for it; a million trillion wouldn't have it any other way.

So how was it? I'm still left wondering..

Long overdue, or another time-sucker?

I've thought about a blog on and off for a while, but never got around to doing it. What do I have to say? And will I feel "compelled" to update it more often than I'm really inspired to? I guess, respectively: something (maybe) and maybe (maybe).

Still, I'm here because now I say, "why not - no one is keeping score", and I can let this thing fade away into digital oblivion if the desire for this tiny public forum passes (but, really, how could that feeling pass)..

So without further ado, let me drop some - some say masturbatory - ramblings on this thing. Salud!