Giving Thanks

On a rare occasion, I had a few days off and was close enough to my parents to go home for Thanksgiving.  It was great to finish the first leg of our tour in time to meet up with both my immidiate and extended family.  We decided to hand out stationary so everyone could jot down the things they were most thankful for this year.  Having temporarily lost my voice the first night back, I had enough quiet time to compose my thanks in verse complete with a rhyming quatrain prologue.  I hope you had a brilliantly grateful and serene holiday.

Had I my vocal faculty
I’d say this with verbosity
But from my sore necessity
I’ll state it with simplicity:
I’m thankful for my fam’ly, ev’ryone,
And for th’ amazing things that you have done;
Through times of war your fight has won me peace;
By working sleepless nights you bought me dreams;
You raised me right and true through all your pain,
With late-night talks of God that weren’t in vain;
Of course I can’t forget to mention sis,
Your very presence here’s enough to give us bliss;
Without you I couldn’t be called a man
For you ar’the giants’ shoulders’ on which I stand.

Bicycle Acquisition

I have now officially entered the ranks of the authentic Austininte; I have a bicycle. It has been a long and largely languid road trip for my sturdy Schwinn. I purchased it in Tennessee, destined only to have a flirt with self locomotion before the chills of the north necessitated my dependency on fossil fuels.  After my brief sojourn in the shadow of Nashville, we parted ways; as I hitched a ride north to my Ohio origins, ol’ Red was strapped to the back of a hatchback little VW Beetle, blending in all the way to Dallas. About the time I hopped a flight to Sacramento, he hopped into a Ford bound for Austin. Once I caught up with him here in central Texas it was only a matter of time until the weather, the wheels, and we were all back in sync.  Welcome home Red.                                                        

Atonement

Ok, ok, ok.  So I’ve been lax in my blogging.  Alright, totally delinquent is a little closer … or is it?  It is true that I have not been posting over the last two weeks, but I have been cataloging my experiences, day by day via pen and paper in order to submit them en mass here.  Why you may ask?  I wish there was a higher artistic principal at work here but alas there is not, I was lazy, in the midst of travel woes, getting wireless internet set up, then overwhelmed with the amount of blogs I had to enter, … you know the plight of the procrastinater.  But now I am back on-line and if you simply scroll you will witness the fruits of my lazy labors.  I hope you enjoy perusing my profundities.  Heh heh, yeah right; or at least enjoy a few cheap laughs at my expense.

Death By Distraction

Work, moving, busted internet, laundry, and the occasionally necessary five chord progression, has made it difficult to blog on-line, so I’ve composed these last few entries in the old-school fashion of bringing pen to paper. Looking ahead at the next few days, I’m resigning to the notion that I will not yet commit these mental yarns to cyber-memory for a few days days to come.  Although the mere formation of this entry creates in me an interestingly intense ‘tenseual’ trepidation: should it be in the past, present, or future tense at the time of entry to the blog page?  An interesting conundrum.  At the time I physically write this I am speaking about the past condition of my distracted nature, my present state of lethargy, and my hectic future which will cause a lag time between the creation of these thoughts and the communication of them to anyone, including my future self.  If this entry is placed in the present tense, then at the time of posting to the site, which is currently the future, it will be to me, in that moment, the past, and yet I will need to type these words as though they are the present, knowing full well that when you read them you will note that it is posted under a previous date and categorize them as being in from past!  So what does this all boil down to?I’m lying to you.

Austin Countdown

I’ve been in Austin now for four days, working for three, back in an apartment meant for two, and in one more day the Buckeyes will play … pretty good start I’d say!

The Lebowski House

 As I was serving away today in the wonderful little cafe where I call work, I was given a wonderful little peek at the scope of influence one of my favorite films has had.  I was in a rather hipster sort of mood when I left our apartment and the weather was permitting, so I threw on a graphic T of the Dude and Walter and rolled.  As I was waiting on a table of sunny side uppers one said to me as I sat down his plate, “Well, the dude abides, man.”  Pleasantly plucked from my manic serving mentality and finding myself in the midst of an honest to God human interaction I stopped and replied, “Far out, man.”  My newfound friend and I began discussing how well made and easily accessible the film is.  He then proceeded to tell me that he had actually stumbled across a Lebowski shrine, of sorts, in Dresden, Germany of all places!  He said that as he was walking down the street they passed a little hole in the wall that was called, “Lebowski House.”  He made note of it and continued to his destination hoping to have a spare moment in the future to return and at least get a photo opp for his own sake.  As fate would have it he did have time to revisit it and what he found inside was an homage to the movie itself. Movie posters lining the old world wooden walls, music from the soundtrack rumbling away in the background, and of course there was an ample supply of white russians to be consumed. How incredible.  Unable to find the pub’s website, I’ve found something that might be just as fun to peruse.

Feliz Ano Nuevo

Ok, so posting everyday for a year will have to start today instead of my birthday (boo, travel-mania). But I have so many wonderful things to start off my new blog year! I had a wonderful New Year’s Eve here in northern California, with a cultural conglomeration that kept my head spinning all night long. I had dinner last night with my girlfriend and her family. Sounds simple enough, right? Tu no comprendes. This family dinner consisted of her half-sister and boyfriend from Australia and a different half-sister’s half-sister and her husband who are from Mexico and speak a very limited amount of English. Even if the Spanish lesson wasn’t enough confusion to freeze me in my tracks, fleshing out a mental family tree certainly occupied all of my mental faculties for a few minutes. After that we took turns playing guitar and then lit firecrackers until the neighbor’s bush caught on fire. Once the New Year had arrived we all took a drink of champagne and then my dear one and I said goodnight to 2007.
In the morning we had chilie quiles with freshly made salsa and guacamole; this is also known as “the best meal to start the year with that is known to humankind,” in case you were unaware. Once we made our way down to San Fransisco the cultural extravaganza continued with a Norwegian grocer who informed us that a princess from his country actually lives in the bay area, and ended up having dinner here at the apartment of a friend of a friend who is an architect living with a Philippino med student who’s dating an elementary school teacher. In the midst of these young future working class individuals … I’m bumming a place to sleep on the floor but hopefully we’ll be able to go home tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned to see where I end up!

Kitchopolis, USA

Well I’ve begun my journey and tonight I’ve found a bedding place in the city of Cincinnati, OH. My friend’s grandmother’s old house is a treasure trove of Americana memorabilia; I wish I could box up the whole kit and caboodle (pretty sure there’s at least one of each here) and use it to furnish our new apartment, but alas I must respect the family tree … but if there’s anything he doesn’t want, you better believe it’s making the trip to Texas! (click each pic to enlarge)
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And I’m Out!

Today was whirlwind packing/cleaning/organizing/scheduling day, as I begin the journey through Tennohfornias. Tonight is the last show and the last night in Tennessee. Tomorrow I hit the road for Ohio where I’ll see family from many far flung locals; act a fool with my niece and nephew; feel financially inadequate around my family, whose occupations include: 3 teachers, 4 engineers, a doctor, and a lawyer; and find a modicum of retribution in closing on the sale of my house the last day of my stay. After closing, I’ll drive to Columbus to catch a flight to “the land of fruits and nuts,” as my grandfather has so eloquently dubbed California, to see my dear one, her dear family, and dear friends. As the new year begins, I will be in California (a state I’ve always wanted to visit, but previously hadn’t), spending New Year’s Day in a major city (San Francisco), and then traveling home with my girlfriend to our new apartment. I can’t think of a better way to kick off 2008.

Things I’ve Learned in Clarksville, TN

Hand soap is a privilege, not a right;
I’ll enjoy many Christmas days if I accept Jesus Christ as my lord and savior … no really, the car salesman on TV told me so himself;
Wireless internet is a fad;
Italian food = Papa Johns Pizza, Shopping = Wal-Mart, and Fun = … ;
Peace and quiet is unnecessary;
Children’s Theatre is really hit-or-miss when performed for adults;
The Parthenon is in Nashville, TN; and
Clashing plaid with crimped hair is the new black.