'All you can eat' is a hobo's best friend.
I have absolutely no idea what to write about today. I could write about the Hippie commune I visited on Sunday, but I can't upload the pictures yet.
I could write about the Chinese lunch I had today, that made Jim and I(although much more so for Jim) feel pretty bad.
I could write about the bike ride I took to the store, how it was really hard going up 4.5 miles of incline on the way there, but coming back was pretty easy and fun.
I could write about the fact that I got scared of a moth for the first time in a while today, whilst we were in the car. There's a moth quite near me now. I hope he goes away soon.
But, I don't really feel like writing about any of that stuff.
My blue hair is gradually fading. I don't know if I'll let it fade away, dye it blue again, or dye it a different colour entirely. Any suggestions for colours would be greatly appreciated.
Oh. I should do laundry.
29 May, 2007 - 02:44Comments (View)
I got what the people want.
My post a while back on how to commit a murder and get away with it had a few people rattled. I was talking with Jim yesterday and I suggested taking it down, but he instead suggested that if people didn't like that post then they had no sense of humor.
Apparently a while back I told Jim that I wrote 'the truth' on my website(let's quickly bypass how arrogant calling what I write "the truth" is). I admitted that I try and stick to that, but there are some truths I would never talk about on here. I gave the example of my circumcision being a true event, but something I would never talk about.
Naturally, I then realised that it probably is worthy of a post at some point.
This brought up a few questions for me, mainly around what the hell I'm doing with this place. It started as a way for me to practice my coding skills, then as a way to keep a diary, and it's slowly turned into a way for me to entertain the various people in my life with my ramblings(at least, I hope it's entertaining).
The problem is that this place is so many things to so many people. Relatives use it to keep up with me, friends to see if I've written anything funny or if I'm up to anything exciting on my travels, strangers who stumble over here are most likely confused and bored by my intensely personal and dense(good dense, not bad) writing.
I think I really need to pick a direction and stick with it, or diversify - a site with short posts on what I'm up to, a site for longer, more entertaining posts, a site for my photos, a private site where I can really get back to the "diary" aspect - personal entries for my own sentimental value.
To be completely truthful - I think I'm gearing up to something big, really coming into my own and doing something useful in my life. I'm just unsure where this site is going to fit in amongst all that.
26 May, 2007 - 02:42Comments (View)
I never got no damn diploma.
Two days ago I had the great privilege of attending Jaco's graduation from 8th grade. Here in Santa Fe they have graduations for every grade, so I'm told, from Kindergarten to Senior Year of High School.
There were a couple of grades still to go when I arrived, and I was thus treated to a row of fifth graders all nervously saying "Thank you" into a mike, a sixth grader who had extremely unwarranted arrogance("I am humbled to be standing before you... I am the mouse that churned the cream into butter and escaped with his life!") and an entire grade of kids who sang and signed along to Lean on Me, which was pretty cool.
Jaco's speech was great - it was honest and funny rebellious at the same time. He's a cool dude.
I was reminded of The Incredibles, however. One of it's main themes is of mediocrity, and how it shouldn't be celebrated - this is explicity stated when Bob is told to attend his son(Dash)'s graduation from sixth grade. Bob remarks that a graduation for such a non-achievement seems pointless(paraphrase).
I must say, I agree. From what I'v seen of American High School graduations(and that is of course via TV and Film), they're a huge event, and truly representative of an enormous achievement - the survival of twelve years of enforced learning(ugh).
I can't help but think that to try and replicate that for each year of a student's life really does nothing but diffuse that sense of achievement, until that final graduation at the end of high school becomes just another one of many - boring, routine, staid.
Still, I had a good time at Jaco's graduation, and he clearly did too - which is what matters.
25 May, 2007 - 02:40Comments (View)
Jeers and Cheers for New Mexico.
Jeers - There are bugs everywhere. Ants, flies, beetles that could wrestle men.
Cheers - It's pretty consistently sunny, and what rain there is lasts only a few minutes a day.
Jeers - Everything is at least 5 miles away.
Cheers - This has motivated me to walk long distances, something I'm not used to.
Jeers - I have a wee bit of sunburn on my neck.
Cheers - The rest of me is getting a slight tan, which I hope to build upon.
Jeers - I miss the people back in Angleterre.
Cheers - I've found a group of people that I like to spend time with here, too, and they make me feel very at home.
25 May, 2007 - 02:40Comments (View)
Reason to love iPods #447
When you're cycling home in a town with no street lights at 11pm, you can use your iPod to illuminate street signs and avoid coyotes, making you slightly less scared shitless that you're 'gonna die out here and never be found'
23 May, 2007 - 02:39Comments (View)
Hail to the bus driver!
Yesterday was my last in Durango, and at five in the evening I once more hopped onto a Greyhound to commence the eight hour journey back to Santa Fe.
I like trains. In England, no bastard ever uses trains except commuters early in the morning, so throughout the day you usually guarantee yourself a nice wide empty area to sit in and make your own.
Sometimes when you get on a bus, you have to sit next an overweight, mentally retarded teenager who at points in the trip insists on leaning on you so that it(yeah - it was hard to tell the gender) can mumble to it's family members.
Trains, at least in the UK, are fairly consistent. There's the occasional delay, but most of the time I can count on the 1032 being there to take me to Poole for comics day.
Buses, by and large, are always late. Sometimes you'll be sat in a waiting room for two hours or so, wondering if it's ever going to come. Sometimes, you'll be outside in the cold(because the waiting rooms shut fairly early) hoping you don't die of frostbite before the bus arrives.
Trains, are run by a strange, invisible driver who is only ever heard on loudspeaker, and who takes on a strange Wizard of Oz-type quality. You never see the man behind the curtain.
Bus drivers are batshit mental - like the one I had yesterday who, halfway through the trip, stopped the bus and said we weren't moving again until whoever was whistling owned up to the whistling. We sat there for 15 minutes whilst he paced up and down outside, with other passengers ferrying messages back and forth, like we were in a fight with the kids on the other side of the playground.
Take the second driver I had yesterday, who seemed to think that(despite it being one in the morning) we all wanted to hear every thought going through his mind via intercom, ranging from "Uh-oh, it's the heat - is anyone holding?" to his reaction of "Yee-hah!" when someone on the bus sneezed.
There's not many things I miss about the UK, but I do miss the trains. By God, I miss the trains.
22 May, 2007 - 02:38Comments (View)
Mmmmm...
Since I've been here in Durango, I've had at least one Subway sandwich each day. Usually my routine is to get up at six, browse the net and wait for Saved By The Bell to finish, watch Dawson's Creek, take a shower, and head out for a delicious footlong turkey on white bread.
Yesterday, however, was the 'Taste of Durango' day. This event featured almost every restaurant, café and eaterie in Durango setting up stalls with free samples of their cuisine. It was a day-long event with a rich variety of food, from Japanese to Italian to Himalayan.
Naturally, I got up at six, browsed the net, waited for Saved by the Bell to finish, watched Dawson's Creek, had a shower, and then went into town to enjoy a delicious footlong turkey on white.
Some may think that I wasted an opportunity, that I should've gone round the various stalls filling up on freebies, and diversifying my taste buds. To be honest, that's not really what I'm about.
I'm crazy when it comes to food. Last year, I survived for weeks on a diet of cherry coke and maltesers. In my younger days, I maintained a strict diet of Weetabix. I once cried because I had to eat a cold sausage for a play - and that was only five years ago.
The food I put in my mouth has to conform to very strict rules that my insane brain comes up with. I'm uncomfortable eating at someone else's house(because what if I don't like the food? What then?! Huh?!) I don't like to eat food I haven't seen prepared(which is why I like both Pizza Express and Subway - you can see the 'chefs' at work). Heck, I won't even try new foods without vigorous peer pressure. That's just how I roll.
I don't see it as a bad thing. I mean, the insane maltesers diet was a very bad thing(just ask my brittle bones), but aside from that I don't mind my eating habits being so limiting. Other people like to experiment and eat a wide variety of meals, and that's great for them, but I'm happy just going with what I know I like.
When it gets right down to it - I don't enjoy eating. I really only get round to it when I'm really starving, and I don't eat much even when I do deign to put something in my mouth. I think it's inefficient, like sleep, and it's one of my life goals to come up with the fastest, most painless way for me to refuel and then get on with my day.
Until then, though, I'll be down at the Subway, sticking to the routine.
21 May, 2007 - 02:38Comments (View)
I got bored again.
I'm slightly regretting this now - the big problem with dying hair a vibrant, dark colour is that when roots grow in ya hafta either dye it again, or bleach the hell out of your head.
Still, I like the colour and walking around town dressed all in linen with bright blue hair certainly got some looks.
I mean, not nice looks, or looks from ladies or anything, but looks is looks, right?
19 May, 2007 - 02:37Comments (View)
I don't want kids.
I mean, I don't think I do. It doesn't make logical sense to me to have one when the world is so crowded as it is. I also worry that they'd just grow up into an arsehole, or like sports or something.
Sometimes, though, I like to think about having a child and then performing weird experiments on him/her. Nothing crazy or anything- just something like never informing them about Santa or the Tooth Fairy, and waiting all that time for them to come home from school one day, freaked out that other people believe that kind of stuff.
If I manage to trick someone into marrying me, and she really wanted kids, then I'd happily adopt. But I don't think you're allowed to play mind-games like that with adopted kids, so my fun would be ruined.
19 May, 2007 - 02:36Comments (View)
Five ‘quirky’ things I’ve seen other people do and wish I did.
Carry around a tiny cup and drink from nothing else.
Answer the telephone with “Hello, telephone”. Constantly.
Live with a stuffed animal(one that used to be alive, not a toy).
B.A.S.E jumping.
Run a marathon.
Okay, that last one isn’t really ‘quirky’, but not many people do it, so I think it counts.
18 May, 2007 - 02:35Comments (View)
A question.
Walking back from Durango Joe's(a pretty cool coffee shop that I spent some 5 hours at today) I saw this:
Who the hell was walking along the sidewalk and decided "To hell with jeans!" ? Who would divest themselves of trousers in the middle of the street?
We are clearly dealing with some kind of madman.
In other news, I have a new pair of jeans!
16 May, 2007 - 02:34Comments (View)
I want to invent a cockail called "the Irony".
Just so that people could ask me how it tastes.
"Delicious, my chums."
The "my chums" isn't really necessary, but I think it would make me sound classy.
15 May, 2007 - 02:32Comments (View)
Screw the sub-site.
It takes me ages to get around to doing something I consider good enough to show other people, and then I keep it secret for half a week because I want to make a bloody sub-site for it?
That's f*cked up.
Last Friday I was wandering down Main Street in Durango when I saw a bunch of teenagers protesting, holding signs and blowing horns in support of George Bush and America in general. I ran home, grabbed my camera, and took some shots.
You can see them at http://www.DoesAmericaLove.Us .
I hope that in the coming days, there are more and more things I can post to here or to My Flickr Account without worrying about gilding the goddamn lily.
15 May, 2007 - 02:23Comments (View)
It's a good day to drink it straight from the bottle.
Maple Syrup, that is. Not alcohol.
On friday I was meant to start work on a small sub-site, spurred by events that had taken place in the afternoon. It required a little coding, some data-entry, nothing big really.
I kept putting it off, though, and now it˙s two days later and still nothing is done. This scares me, because I really like making websites - and if my procrastination habit is so bad that I˙m convincing myself not to do something I love, then things are really pretty bad.
My sleep pattern has also been completely thrown off again and I˙m back on an English schedule(as I type this it˙s half past midnight where I am, but early morning in Britannia). The irony, of course, is that in the UK I usually sleep through the day and work through the night so if I were back home, I˙d be asleep now.
Jim recently said that he distrusts people who are ˙their best˙ at night. He thinks that people who don˙t sleep normally don˙t want to confront their subconscious. Eh, it˙s probably likely as far as my crazy brain is concerned.
Man, I really wish my posts here were more coherent. I˙d take a writing class, but, y˙know... organised education and all that.
I hope the sub-site is done by the next time I post, because I really want you guys to see on the screen what I can see in my head.
13 May, 2007 - 02:22Comments (View)
One should not drink maple syrup straight from the bottle.
No matter how delicious it tastes or how much you want it.
My plan to visit Fort Lewis College is, sadly, not going to go through. Turns out that graduation was a couple of weeks ago. Even if classes were still going on, the website boasts about how most classes have less than 20 students, and that the Jackasses Who Stand At The Front Of The Room know each student intimately.
No, not like that. This isn't Notes on a Scandal, people.
I also keep sleeping through most of the day, which kinda puts a crimp on things.
Something really great happened today. In fact, it was so cool I'm actually making an entirely new(ish) site for it.
Keep 'em peeled, should be done soon, hopefully.
12 May, 2007 - 02:22Comments (View)
Durango, CO.
After an 8 hour bus trip that I endured sat next to a sweaty Texan with a penchant for siptting tobacco into a jar he kept with him(yes, that actually happens) I'm very happy to be in the little town of Durango.
After being stuck in the desert, reliant on lifts from acquaintances to get me into Santa Fe town, it's refreshing to be able to walk three blocks and hit main street. Another block and there's a Subway - this place might just be perfect.
I haven't seen fields of grass or tall trees in a while, either, so it seems much more like home than New Mexico obviously.
I'm reminded that it isn't home, of course, every time I meet a pretty girl and she smiles when she hears my accent. Tomorrow I'll be visiting the college campus, and testing the limits of my Received Pronunciation.
10 May, 2007 - 02:21Comments (View)
Ugh.
Despite the aforementioned homesickness, I had managed to get through the past three weeks in this strange land without the slightest smidgen of depression or bad thoughts. That is until a couple of minutes ago. Thinking about where I’m going to live and how on Earth I’m going to make a decent wage once I get home turned out to be some pretty heavy stuff, and in the absence of any kind of real answer to the problem, the idea of ending my life popped up it’s ugly head again.
For a second the crazy part of my brain even tried to justify it with all manner of stupid reasons. Note that I 'the crazy part of my brain'. That means that I know that suicide is a stupid thing to do, and(as I’ve also said before) I could never do that to the people who know me.
Still, it’s sobering to realise that even though I’m using this trip to close the (mostly unhappy) previous chapter of my life, my brain chemistry insists on trying to get me to stick with the victim-patterns of old.
Now I'm going to go to sleep and wake up smiling. I've decided.
08 May, 2007 - 02:21Comments (View)
Vroom, Vroom
I’ve maintained a strong anti-car stance ever since I was old enough to drive. I tell people(despite my gauging global warming as vastly exaggerated) that I’m concerned about my ‘carbon footprint’ and whether the ice caps will still be there in 30 years.
That is partly true, I guess. I would rather not contribute to global pollution, even if it doesn’t really affect the planet as far as I’m concerned. Besides, I’m of the opinion lately that the automotive industry and culture is another tool of oppression used to keep us numb and placid(if you think that’s crazy, ask yourself “why are we still using internal combustion engines?”)
Ever since Jim suggested I drive his car twelve when we were in a fix, however, I’ve become more and more intoxicated with the idea of being able to drive. In the past week my dreams have been filled with detailed studies of where my feet should be in relation to the pedals(this research has concluded that my feet should be on them, apparently). I keep paying more attention to how people are driving, the techniques they use, how careful they are. I really want to be able to drive.
Once I’m back from Colorado I might ask Jim for a few lessons. If I do better than last time I drove(clutch smoke and a near crash) I might take some real lessons and try to get a license, especially since it’s a doddle getting one over here(not entirely sure a foreigner can get one, actually, but I'll be able to get some cheap lessons at least).
Oh, and nearly every car over here is automatic, so no clutch smoke worries.
07 May, 2007 - 02:20Comments (View)
Where have I been?
Seeing the Spiders-Man 3.
This post and the comments under it contain what my be considered light SPOILERS. If you do not want Spider-man 3 SPOILED for you in any way, I'd advise you to skip this post. Thanks.
Yeah, it’s amazing. No, I don’t think that Sandman should logically be able to cry. Yeah, Gwen Stacy is hot as. No, Peter Parker does not suit ‘emo’. Yeah, Kirsten Dunst needs to eat and stop looking like a vampire half the time.
Oh, and James Franco is the sh*t.
05 May, 2007 - 02:19Comments (View)
We'll be in the bathroom, putting on our face.
In fact, we could be putting on our face constantly from now on. If you look in the top-right corner of your browser window you’ll notice five coloured squares, each indicating a respective colour scheme. Click a square and the color will be applied to the site in seconds. Personally, I’m a fan of the blue.
I’ll be taking requests for new colours, although I think I’ve covered most of the bases. But if you want grey, and red, or orange or whatever, feel free to leave a comment asking for it.
Also feel free to leave comments proclaiming me a genius or, as always, offers of sexual favours.
03 May, 2007 - 02:19Comments (View)
A disaster.
Yesterday I actually awoke early for once, as Jim wanted me to start working on his website. After a long discussion about what it should be like, I started on it with Jaco watching.
Jaco is the son of Robin, Jim’s friend and colleague. When I first came over to the States, Jim kept talking about Jaco and how we’d get along and how Jaco could even come on the rest of my trip around the country with me. I met Jaco and found out that he is fourteen years old, but doesn’t seem like it at all(apart from occasional moments of understandable immaturity).
So I’m working on the website, and Jaco is absolutely bored. He has the day off of school and his Mom sent him over because she has two younger kids to take care of, so Jaco has to stay at the house. His options for what to do are 1)Watch Jim work, 2)Watch Kyle work, 3)Do some work of his own. Jaco decided on 4)While Kyle is out of the room, go to his iTunes and start playing some stand-up albums.
I wasn’t really averse to this, because I wasn’t getting any work done with Jaco looking over my shoulder and being bored out of his skull. We started talking about going to see a movie, and settled on Aqua Teen Hunger Force(although we really wanted to see Grind House, but Jaco’s Mom wouldn’t let him.)
Before the movie, Jaco had a Doctor’s appointment that I had to wait outside for, and then Brenda, one of his Mom’s friends, was to drive us to the cinema. She ran out of gas, her card wouldn’t work at the petrol station, her husband had to drive us there through traffic that was almost at a stand-still and in the end we turned up ten minutes late and at the wrong cinema for the movie.
Oops.
We wandered round the mall for a while, and I had three hot dogs and bought some stuff from the Hot Topic store(which is awesome) and decided to run across traffic and jump over walls to get to the real movie theater. Where ATHF still wasn’t playing.
We had to see something, or else it would be a wasted trip, so I chose In the Land of Women, the new Adam Brody film. Because it has Adam Brody in, okay? It was a great film, and Jaco and I both enjoyed it(and the cinema seats over here are amazing).
When it was over, though, the problems began. My cell phone battery was low, and our attempts to call someone to pick us up were proving futile . Neither Jim, nor Robin, nor Sofia or anyone Jaco thought to call was answering. Eventually we got Jim, who had just returned home after waiting around for us to call him on his cell. Y’know, the cellphone number I had asked for but Jaco had said he knew. When he didn’t.
While talking to Jim about where we were, my phone died. We had to hope that he would look up where the Regal Express cinema(on Cerillos Rd) was and come pick us up. We waited. For an hour.
We called Jim again, with the very last of my phone’s battery, and he hadn’t left because he didn’t know where we were and we’d hung up on him. It was now 11pm in downtown Santa Fe, which is not somewhere safe to be. Still, we needed to get to somewhere that Jim would know if we told him, so walked across a couple of main roads to get to an Albertsons supermarket. My phone was out of juice, so we had to use all my quarters, and even ask for some from strangers, to call Jim again.
He was angry, but he was coming to pick us up. We waited another half an hour, with it getting colder every passing minute(desert, people). Jaco was mad and blaming everything, and I was scared and trying to remain calm. Jim arrived, we were fine.
The car ride home was silent, aside from a heavy-handed and ill-thought-out attempt by Jaco to blame Jim’s cell phone for the communication issues. Truth be told - it was mostly my fault that things went wrong yesterday, because I should’ve remembered Jaco’s age and taken charge a little more, and been more responsible.
We just hashed everything out, and everyone’s happy and everything has been resolved. This, like most other things that have happened to me here, has been a learning experience, and it’s a good thing that it happened.
02 May, 2007 - 02:18Comments (View)