Rock Candy Mountain Sinferno

I’ve had a good couple of weekends, and this impending one seems to have that recipe as well. I have to be at work soon, so this is going to be brief, but then, I’ve always been a fan of brevity.
Two weekends ago basically started on Saturday morning. I worked the night before and just watched a movie or something when I got home. Or maybe it was Wonderfalls, my latest Netflix DVD addiction. It was a show that they made almost a season’s worth of episodes, then aired only two before it got cancelled. Stupid Fox. It is a well-written show and odd. Inanimate objects speak to the lead character, telling her to do things. But enough about that. Its good.

Saturday morning. I woke up and went into Seattle with my mother. It was the weekend before Valentine’s Day, which made some of the shopping that we did even more unbearable than normal. We went to a place called Bellevue first, which is what Scottsdale would be like if we’d had Microsoft and Boeing money. Some of the oldest thirteen-year-old girls I’ve ever seen. And the Botox count made double digits. Then we went to Pikes Place Market on a quest for fine honey, too crowded to browse like I would have liked, found the honey and headed for home.
Saturday evening. I drove down to Olympia to visit a friend of my sister’s, B. Evergreen, the university she attends, was doing a production of the Vagina Monologues and I was encouraged to go. My sis had been in one up at her school, plus it seems that every girl I’ve ever met has seen it, so I gathered my $6 worth of feminine hygiene products for the entrance fee (to be donated to a woman’s shelter, I believe) and went on in. It was quite good. Funnier than I’d expected, with moments of jarring reality of the atrocities that some woman in less fortunate parts of the world still endure. I’ll spare you the details as some of the visuals still make me shudder. After that, I went to a college party, got drunk and passed out.

Sunday morning. Woke up and went to breakfast at “The Place”, not to be confused with the one in Flagstaff. Different owners, same place. It was a lovely day so we, B and I, went for a drive to the top of a mountain where here friend Forrest once took her for a view of Washington’s Capital. The mountain’s name was Rock Candy. Love it. So we drove around this mountain on dirt and gravelly, logger roads in search of a view. It reminded me of driving around Prescott to “The Spot” and Emerald City. We found views (though not of the city), and big, powerful trucks, men with large guns, and a series of dead ends. The men were guns were gruff at first, but opened up with a little Jackrabbit charm. I think everybody wants to be friendly if given the proper opportunity. We left the mountain, got some coffee, watched a movie and I went home refreshed.

Last weekend.
I worked until 9pm on Friday then drove back to Olympia to crash for the night before the further trek to Portland. B wanted to hitch a ride to visit XO and I went to see Mr. Chair. We awoke early, ate some breakfast and went on our way. Details upon arrival are slightly hazy so I’ll hit the finer points. We drank good beer at wonderful Portland bars. They are all wonderful from what I can tell, tastefully dark ambience with amenable service. We had plans of hopping bars all night, but when Chair got a call about a BBQ with some friends, how could we pass it up? It was great. Good people (no coincidence they were largely Arizonans), good food and ahhh, the laughs. I met Shankara Chase (a TS Lounge regular) and then we went to a bar. I think. Hazy.
Sunday morning. Woke up, slightly hung over. Went to eat breakfast in Hawthorne at a lovely little place called Jam. They make the stuff there, you say. And its good. Bloody Marys came next at the bar that adjoined this beautiful little, old-time movie theater (the name escapes me and there’s no time for research) and then we went back to Chairs to try to catch the UA B-Ball game. We missed it and watched Robot Jox instead. Ha! All the BBQers came over shortly after that, more beer was shared, more food, laughs, Robot Jox again, The Amazing Mysterious Actor Show, and an incredible view from Chair’s building’s roof. The whole city. Beautiful. Makes you want to meditate.

The evening. We went to Dante’s for Sinferno. Words cannot express its glory. Burlesque, Cabaret Show with an incredibly likable host. Fire Spinners. Acrobatic strippers. Suicide girls. London. It was all mesmerizing and the drinks kept coming which only helped. I talked our little group into sitting on the floor, directly in front of and slightly below the stage. There was apprehension at first. Dirty bar floor? Classiness? I don’t know, but there were no complaints after the first act. Best seats in the house. Hello London. Hello London. Oh there you are London. Sleep came easy that night.

*sidebar* I forgot to mention the glory that is Powell’s Bookstore that we visited on Saturday. One city block, something like 4 stories. It puts NYC’s The Strand to shame. I could spend a whole day there and not feel satisfied. I felt that way at the Louvre.*

I had called in sick to work so that I could stay until Monday (I love Presidents too) and there was some drama due to that because of poor communication skills on my part but everything worked out lovely. They even gave me extra hours to make up for lost ones.
Monday morning was spent lazily with B and XO. Nice breakfast, stroll around Hawthorne, ice cream then home. Wonderful, wonderful.

Now. I’m going to get a haircut, then to work. I work from 6am to 10am in the morning (make-up hours) then its off to Seattle to try to get into the UA/UW basketball game, back to Olympia after that for an evening of drunken relived college days then back to Seattle on Sunday evening to see a show that a guy I work with is in. I can’t remember the name of his band.

So much for brevity. I love you all. I’m late.

Bad News Bob Dylan

I will not be attending any of your shows in March. You have gracially decided to play three in three days, but alas, I didn't pounce on the proverbial ball soon enough and they all sold out. I should have done the pre sale through you web site. I messed up. I was on Ticketmaster at 10am today, and my mom even offered to take me to the show as a V-day present, but as fast as I was, I wasn't fast enough. It's your loss really. I'm a wonderful concert attendee as you probably know from the five previous shows of yours that I have attended. Such is life. Though if you do happen to read this and want to send some passes my way... I will not turn them down. Maybe I'll go see the Modest Mouse instead. And I will definitely not miss Okkervil River and The Decemberists later in March. I missed the River in Chicago and have cursed myself ever since. River of Golden Dreams, I will float thee soon.
I went to Bellevue today, Washington's answer to Scottsdale with possibly more money thanks to MS and Boeing, to visit the Apple Store. Ha! Take that Bill Gates. And then I went to Pike Street Market. A lovely place that I hope to return to on a non-weekend and away from all trite gift-buying holidays.
I am currently at Evergreen State College in Olympia. They don't have grades. Hippie College? Yes. I'm going to see some monologues that have something to do with female anatomy with a friend of my sisters. I really have no idea what to expect.
This campus is frickin frackin bea-u-tiful though. I drove in to a pleasant sunset, not too bright I was blinded, just bright enough to show of the ever green. It smells good here and everyone smiles.
I might be a feminist by tomorrow so I'm going to thrust some masculinity now. Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in less than a month and I just got a new Cubs hat in the mail. I haven't shaved in a week. And I mean my face. I crave steak and Willie Nelson songs.
Sorry again Bobby. Let me know about those tickets.

Luna, Perseus, and Satisfaction

I just saw the band Luna on their farewell tour thanks to the advice of dear Mr. Catfish Vegas. It was a wonderful show. Delightful really. I went alone – because I don’t really know anyone around here and I’m secure with that kind of thing – Seattle, to a place called Neumo’s. It is a relatively small venue, but it was big enough. An intimate band in an intimate setting. At one point it felt like the audience and the band were having a conversation with one another. We thanked them for playing an earlier set and they thanked us for coming so early. You see, the original set started at 10:30 but it sold out so quickly, they decided to play a 7 o’clock show as well. I think the early show sold out too.
They also told us that they had a rough day, abandoning their transportation on the side of the road and relying on the opening act, Midnight Movie, to bring a lot of their gear. We told them we were sorry to hear it.
MM put on a great show as well. The guys on guitars and keys were kind of bland, but the female lead singer/drummer was hot stuff. She was clearly the band. I can’t imagine it’s easy to sing and wail on drums at the same time. She must have incredible breath control or something. Yoga? Meditation? Practice?
And Catfish was right about the bass player from Luna being so “absolutely gorgeous.” What he neglected to mention is that she is also in her early forties – which makes her just a little bit hotter – and that she was in the classic girl-rock film Satisfaction alongside Justine Bateman and Julia Roberts, and that she was a voice on Jem and the Holograms in the 80’s. Some guy threw her pink flowers during the show. She accepted them gracefully.
It was an interesting show for me because I didn’t know their music at all. I felt like I did, but I’m pretty certain that I’ve never heard them before.
Their was a kind of odd air about the show too, which I can only attribute to the fact that they know they don’t have too many more left, plus they were beat from a day on the road and they still had another show to do. But still, it must be strange to do something, commit to something, for over ten years and then decide to end it. I guess they consistently fill 200-300 room capacities, but they never really took off. It’s kind of a shame because they really were quite good, but I wonder if it would have felt as good in a much larger space. Probably not.
Thanks again CV.
Oh, and I went to a brew-pub right before the show called Elysian. I had the Perseus Porter and it was Medusa slayingly delicious. I’ll be going there again the next time I’m in the city.

Eyeballs Tire First

Dispatch from a hungry hippo:
“There is no point! Ha! An endless quest for validation and it always ends the same. Is your quest in your work? Your stability? Your loves? Conquests? “Wisdom?” It always ends the same. Justify your existence? Ha! Good luck buddy. Seriously. I wish you well. Where’s the mud?”
The hyena:
“There may be a pattern though. Pattern with no point? Math as religion. Math to disprove religion. 1.61803398874989…”
Hippo:
“I love you hyena. I really fucking love you.”

I was in a pet store the other day and something – dog is my best guess – left the most repugnant deposit by the exotic goldfish. There were pages over the intercom for clean-up on aisle such-and-such. No one rushed. Children were fascinated. Mothers disgusted. Some hardly seemed to notice.

Apparently, the best tulips in the world come from up around Mount Vernon in the state of Washington. They even ship the damn things to Holland. The Netherlands? Holland. I used to work with this guy named Tom who became condescending, borderline irate, if you confused the two. “Netherlands is the country! Holland is the region!” Dick hole.

This might all be a clever code. Might be nonsense. The Da Vinci Code is a badly written book.

O' Pioneers!

I currently reside in a place called Puyallup. On the surface it appears to be your typical suburb, a growth on the larger city of Tacoma, but the longer I’m here, the more I realize the surface is just that. It’s window dressing. I was fooled because it has all the same familiar store-fronts as any burb, but unlike them, this place is older. Puyallup was a pioneer town founded in 1877. It’s an American small town and this new face that it has is something I think is probably occurring in many small town across the country. The popularity and recognition of the corporate monsters have won the trust of the people. There are new housing communities sprouting up all over, in former cow pastures and cleared forests, but unlike so many burbs, the people who live here have so for generations, they
Maybe its odd that I’m so surprised by this. Maybe growing up in a suburb of Phoenix was a truly unique experience. It was and is very rare to find people there whose family tree goes back more than a generation there, maybe two. Modern day pioneer towns? I don’t know.
But I do know that a good majority of the people I’ve met here are from here and plan on keeping it that way. They’re happy where they are. Or is it content? I don’t understand that way of thinking. I always wanted to get out. Ever since I can remember. But then, I still do. I can’t think of any place I truly want to “settle”. Maybe its just easier and more logical to just settle for wherever you are. People used to move for food and shelter, but if you can find that wherever you go, how do you decide? I guess the next thing is family, but my family is all over. So do I live somewhere central, where I can get to all of them in the most equal amount of time, or just pick one and commit?
It is nice to be around family. I haven’t really been near any of them since I went to college and its nice to reacquaint myself with them. So far that has been the most rewarding part of my upheaval from Chicago. It was always a part of the plan in the back of my mind. It just turns out it was more important than I thought. They drive me crazy, but I see myself in them and that is kind of nice. I keep hoping that figuring out where I came from will help me figure out where I’m going.

Hey grouchy Pants

I’ve been re-reading On The Road – the first read happened sometime in high school – and I’m amazed by how much of it I forgot. It occurs to me that when I was reading books during that period of my life, I was reading them more to say I’d read them than to actually actively enjoy and appreciate what I was reading. I worked at a bookstore at the time and believe that it brought great works and great authors to my attention faster than to the average high schooler, which left me reeling and wanting to absorb all of them all at once. I’ve always been a reader, but I’ve also always been a product of the culture of immediacy. Blame it on TV or convenience stores and fast food or whatever you want, but I was not a patient reader. I liked to get’er done and I liked to get’er done quick. The years (experience, wisdom) and over-examination of novels in college has solved that little problem, but I find that it pops up in my writing, or more appropriately, my lack of writing.
Allow me to clarify. I write – daily in fact – my problem is that I can’t seem to finish anything. Rather, I finish things too quickly. And sometimes I’m just finished with something. I lose interest and it never ends at all. Or it finishes without being finished. Finish. Finnish. Finish. I’m working on it.
Advice? Sympathy? Magic beans?
Anyway… I’m enjoying the Kerouac, not so much as great literature as a thought catalyst and fun character analysis. Oh Dean… who are you? I think I’m going to re-read Catch-22 next. I think I read it in something like 7 hours to impress a girl. Ahh… if I only knew then what I know now.

I'm watching 24! Yay!

I realize it has been over a month since my last posting so I’ve decided not to wait for something dreadfully exciting to write about and instead just blah, blah, blog away. I’m still in Washington. That’s a place to start. It is kind of nice living among woods. I just recently realized that I’ve never had that opportunity before. I particularly appreciate it on slightly foggy nights while driving on winding hillside roads. And the air and water seems clearer and more refreshing. I don’t know if the forest has anything to do with that or not, just something I’ve noticed.
And speaking of water, there’s more of it here. The Puget Sound is everywhere, not to mention an abundance of lakes. I’m going to have to get on a boat one of these days.
I’ve started work at a bookstore. I won’t say which one, but my job entails the store’s inventory and various other tasks that appeal to the part of my brain that longs for order. A steady paycheck, free coffee and a substantial discount doesn’t hurt either. Plus we sell comics. Simple pleasures.
I’m finally starting to settle down a bit, which is good. It’s time I start getting back to work on the writing. I let it slip for a while when I first got here, what with the traveling around and all.
Also...
Today I heard people complaining about everyone complaining so much nowadays. Seriously. I’ve officially heard three people do it. Today. I wish I was making it up.
And
I hereby pledge to meaninglessly babble every night this week, right here, in this very blog. I’m thinking I’ll find some direction by Thursday at the very latest.