I will be backpacking through Mexico, Guatemala, and a bit in Honduras January 6 – February 17 2010. Here is the link to my blog for this time:
2
Oct 09
DTW
You know you are a traveler when you refer to cities by their airport codes.
DTW, GUA, ORD, TYO, LGA…
26
Sep 09
Blinking Yellow
One my favorite moments is when I am stopped at a red light and instead of turning green it starts blinking yellow. I enjoy being there at that exact moment when the traffic lights change from their typical yellow-red-green cycle to blinking yellow on my end and blinking red on the other. I am not quite sure why this makes me smile but it does…
8
Sep 09
an item that best describes me
i have to do an intro speech tomorrow & bring in an item that ‘best describes me’ lol
hmm
well
only you know what best describes you, heh
haha i know dude. i might just have to bring in a picture of me & some friends orsomething
cuz i was thinking about it..and i like, dont rly have any hobbies
other than dancing at gay clubs and watching football lol
bring in a pair of underwear
and say it best describes you
because who you are changes as often as you change your underwear
so there cant be one thing that best describes you
because you are constantly changing
you are your goddamn panties!
hahaha
i wouldnt know what pair to bring in
you are thinking too far, haha
well
haha
if i brought something tooo sexy, everyone would be like “oh shes a skank”
but i suppose
yea
but if it was too plain theyd be “oh man shes boring”
hahah
i think something fun would be best
polka dots
colors
haha yeah that would be a good choice
because being happy is more important that being skanky
haha
and lots of colors and fun mean happy
truth.
28
Aug 09
The Lesson of the Moth
The Lesson of the Moth
by Don Marquis
i was talking to a moth
the other evening
he was trying to break into
an electric light bulb
and fry himself on the wires
why do you fellows
pull this stunt i asked him
because it is the conventional
thing for moths or why
if that had been an uncovered
candle instead of an electric
light bulb you would
now be a small unsightly cinder
have you no sense
plenty of it he answered
but at times we get tired
of using it
we get bored with the routine
and crave beauty
and excitement
fire is beautiful
and we know that if we get
too close it will kill us
but what does that matter
it is better to be happy
for a moment
and be burned up with beauty
than to live a long time
and be bored all the while
so we wad all our life up
into one little roll
and then we shoot the roll
that is what life is for
it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then cease to
exist than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty
our attitude toward life
is come easy go easy
we are like human beings
used to be before they became
too civilized to enjoy themselves
and before i could argue him
out of his philosophy
he went and immolated himself
on a patent cigar lighter
i do not agree with him
myself i would rather have
half the happiness and twice
the longevity
but at the same time i wish
there was something i wanted
as badly as he wanted to fry himself
archy
24
Aug 09
Wisdom
An old man told me yesterday, “I am not proud of what I can do, I am just grateful.” He kept chattering about how if we don’t try anything we will never know what we are capable of. To not be afraid to fail. He makes portraits of people out of clay. He does it for fun and doesn’t sell them, though apparently he could for a pretty penny. He said old Italian men are the easiest to sculpt because they have long chiseled faces. Young people like myself are difficult, our cheeks and faces are very full. You touch and push the clay once and that fullness is gone.
18
Aug 09
Turnpike
Driving west in Ohio down 80/90, Rachel and I decided to stop at a rest stop for a bathroom break. It was beautiful and sunny outside and we were just heading home from five nights of camping. We pulled off the turnpike and into the rest stop, parking near a large pickup truck with just a few vacant spaces between us. There was a Mexican man with a stereotypical mustache in the driver’s seat. Rachel and I got out of the car and passed by four rough looking Mexicans who were returning to the truck. We acknowledged one another with eye contact and a slight smile but exchanged no words. We used the bathroom and headed back to the car. The five men were now in the truck. One waved at Rachel before rolling his window up while the truck pulled out of the parking space. Oddly enough we had been listening to a recent mix of Latino music I had made during our drive. We followed the truck towards the turnpike entrance, turned up the music, and hoped they would hear, and perhaps approve of our music selection. No such luck… but as we followed them I noticed the license plate was from Florida. I began to wonder how long they may have been on the road. A long time… and who knows how much longer, I had no idea where they were headed. My car and their truck remained in close proximity for a while and I thought, hey, maybe these guys would appreciate some new music. I shared the thought with Rachel who agreed but seemed a little nervous. She could only imagine what the rest of that thought was. We already had the windows down… I told her I would drive up next to the truck, we would get the guys’ attention and we could pass them the CD we were listening to. I didn’t give her much time to think about it. I drove up, hit the eject button on the CD player, handed Rachel the CD, and began to drive as close to the truck as I could whilst going 80MPH. I had never tried to drive close to another car before, it was quite interesting! I got right up next to the truck but then unintentionally slowed down while trying to get closer. I sped up, got my car right up next tho the truck, and Rachel reached out the window and successfully passed the CD to the guy in the back seat who was hanging out the window. She said she had to grip the CD pretty hard for it to not fly out of her hand. You know how hard the wind resistance is when you just stick your hand or arm out the window while on the turnpike or express way. Rachel was shaking a little after the task was completed and I was laughing uncontrollably at the fact that we were able to do it. We looked over and the guys were trying to read the label on the CD. We motioned for them to put it in and listen. They did and we gave them a questioning thumbs up as a way of asking if they enjoyed it. We got a thumbs up back and lots of smiles. Maybe forty minutes later as we were about to exit the turnpike the guys caught up next to us with the one in the passenger’s seat mouthing “thank you” as we headed down the exit ramp and they continued west… to where ever they were headed…
10
Aug 09
Kerouac
But then they danced down he streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I’ve been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!”
On The Road
page 9
Jack Kerouac
11
Jul 09
Drunken Foreign Languages
People will always say things like, “My Spanish is better when I’m drunk,” or, “My Chinese is better when I’m drunk.” And how? I thought it was a load of bullshit. But then I thought more. I believe it now. When a person is drunk they gain that drunken confidence. You can see it in bars – drunk people in general lose inhibitions and become more likely to take risks – to make an ass of themselves. And why not with foreign language as well? Doesn’t the idea that we may look like an idiot trying to speak a language that is not our mother tongue hold us back from even trying sometimes? Isn’t it easier to default to English if possible – or to avoid using the foreign language all together? But when we are drunk we gain that (ridiculous!) confidence that typically backfires on us. We end up with a twisted ankle or shot down by some hot girl or guy. But when it comes to language… what’s the worst that can happen? Okay, maybe we proposition someone with an offer we didn’t intend. Oh well. My point is – I believe it now. When drunk, my Spanish just may be better. I’m less likely to care if I look like an ass – and more likely to try.
8
Jul 09
Rubiks
Haik and I were on the subway in Tokyo yesterday heading from our couchsurfers apartment into Shibuya. We had only three stops left to go until we reached ours. We were standing, holding on the the hanging handles when Haik says, “What the hell…” I asked him what and he told me this kid on the train just solved the Rubiks Cube. He motioned in the kids direction and by the time I glanced over the cube was such a jumble of colors I hardly believed Haik and thought maybe the kid had just gotten one side all one color. We had just stopped once and had two more to go. I kept watching the kid and in a few minutes the puzzle was solved again, incredibly impressive but I had a feeling maybe he didnt mix it up too much from the last time (when Haik had seen it) since it was so quickly after. I actually laughed out loud. This kid was about eleven I would guess. Well, while stopped the second time the kid mixed up the cube quite a bit and I kept my eye on him. The train started moving. This would be impossible for myself or anyone I know (sorry to anyone I know!). The kid starts turning and twisting, sometimes I swear he was not even looking at the Cube at all. At times he would stop and appeared to be thinking and calculating in his head and then he would make some quick turns and twists with the cube again. He got one side solid but the rest were still a jumble of colors. I knew we had to be getting close to our stop and I even said to Haik, “We cant get off, I have to see this kid solve it…” The kid kept contemplating and moving his hands quickly about the Cube, hardly watching what he was doing. The train started to slow and the kids hands moved faster at the same time. It was as if he had been teasing us and had us doubting he would be able to solve the whole thing between two stops. The train stopped at our stop and what would you guess, the Cube was completed and solved. I laughed out loud again. I looked at the kid and he looked at me and I just gave him a nod and he smiled and nodded back. When we shuffled out of the train and passed the kid sitting near the doors I just smiled at him again and gave him a slight look of disbelief that he probably knows too well if he solves the Rubiks Cube on the subway trains on a regular basis! I couldnt stop cracking up walking out of the subway station…