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| June 11, 2008 |
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Winding down: last visit to the gym this morning (so tired of
that place, and its irritating, all-too-familiar regulars, but
so close, convenient distance and very pleasant walking there);
last cooking in the apartment, and the last load of
laundry; tonight, my last night, the last bath! Yesterday, my
last haul taken to the recycling center, the 16th filling-up of
the Tercel with trashbags full of crushed plastic containers.
My year-long gathering campaign netted a little over $750, but
now I'm retiring from all that... and tomorrow I go.
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| June 9, 2008 |
Argh -- my comfortable life is about to be completely, irrevocably
disrupted! As I dismantle Rash HQ, the exercise is a kind of inverted
Material
World. Instead of taking everything out and arranging
it in the front yard, I'm then putting everything in. It's
a huge puzzle, stowing it all efficiently. And when complete,
this Thursday, I'll be homeless -- instead of returning to my dim,
wonderful loft-bed, home these past four years, almost every
afternoon or evening for the next two months! will
involve the search and negotiation for the night's room. However,
I know one gets used to the routine of a different bed every night.
- Concerning the hangover: from
A
Few Too Many by Joan Acocella, in the New
Yorker.
Prehistorians have speculated that alcohol intoxication
may have been one of the baffling phenomena, like storms,
dreams, and death, that propelled early societies toward
organized religion.
- David Sedaris was on today's
"Fresh Air". You won't read this part at that link, but
if you can get the audio to work you'll hear him at one point say
I first went to Japan just to cross it off my countries list.
I didn't know anything about the food... I didn't know
anything. I thought it was going to be all fans and kimonos,
but it wasn't, not at all. It turned out to be this
most ... incredible ... place.
He went there to quit smoking (I believe trying
to break a habit by moving somewhere new's called "doing a
geographical" -- and it seldom works. You can't get away from
yourself). However, I'm glad David managed to quit. Hmm, it's
June, let's see... the 26th will be my twenty-year anniversary!
I should take a big long trip, to celebrate.
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| June 4, 2008 (link corrected) |
Just one week to go, now transfering everything into
the storage unit, a potential catastrophe. As I survey
that closet I can't help wondering, what if everything
doesn't fit? Some overflow can go into the car, of
course -- it'll be living in a little-used driveway
in San Jose for the duration, and the futon already
has dibs on the back seat.
Other bloggers are doing this, so why not me?
Seven Things I've Learned Recently:
- "Kirkwood" is Costco's house brand name. (Incredulous? Well,
I've only been inside a Costco once or twice in my whole life.)
- The Japanese use kudzu roots as an arrowroot substitute. The
Southern scourge of kudzu hasn't reached California, but I've
observed its relentless march in North Carolina. Interesting how
it has a use (although the only recipe I know which requires
arrowroot starch is one for peach pie). Also, the Japanese
call gensing 'Korean Carrot'.
- Many cultures celebrate March 8th as
Woman's
Day.
- The Castaways' singer doing
Liar,
Liar wasn't a woman.
- The travel advisory doctor said we're eight times more likely
to be involved in a traffic accident in the developing world.
YouTube reality check, city view from an upper window:
India
Driving.
- The copying company was founded in 1970 by Paul Orfalea,
but in February 2004 it was bought by Federal Express,
and now the latter part of the FedExKinko's name is being
dropped from their stores' signs; they're becoming "FedEx
Office". Farewell, Kinko's!
- The British left India in 1947 but the Portuguese got there
first, and didn't leave their colony of Goa until 1961! (That
party spot is not on my itinerary, too far south; and I first
heard of it in the context of trance music...so many gaps in
my knowledge of history.)
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| June 3, 2008 |
- I'm a little late with this one, you may have already heard, but
a Tokyo customs official
planted
cannabis in a passenger's bag in order to demonstrate their dogs' keen
abilities. However, the airport canines are in disgrace, and several ounces
of the deadly contraband were not recovered. Also in the news, elsewhere in Japan,
the
feline stationmaster of Kinokawa, a very small town. Reminds me of the
company mascot when I worked at corporate HQ, an old tomcat who'd hang around
the entrance. His friends even got security to issue Officer Katz a badge,
but he wasn't universally loved, and was discovered dead one morning -- poisoned,
it was said, although I don't believe there was actually an autopsy.
- Steve Sillet's
photos
from up in the redwood canopy -- illustrations from Richard
Preston's fascinating The Wild Trees which I'm reading, and
thoroughly enjoying.
- Every cyclist-pilot's dream:
jet-powered
bicycles.
|
| May 26, 2008 |
- Been reading about the
Super
Chief and what a fine train it was; and just
discovered the General Motors
Train
of Tomorrow -- every car with an Astra-Dome.
- NPR
reported
on the Urban Verbs, including news of a reunion
concert Saturday night. Their guitar player, now
the public radio music librarian? Remarkable. Back
in the day I saw this band at least three times,
and still have their records.
- Listen to a lot of public radio, in fact, and
the weekend is prime time. A highlight since living
in LA's been Harry Shearer's
Le
Show. Before it on Sundays,
what's become my current favorite:
Philosophy
Talk, ironic because of its hosts' names,
Ken and John. The last couple years I lived in
LA, on my way home I'd listen to a very different
program, John
and Ken on an AM talk radio station, KFI.
- Congratulations to everybody on the international
Phoenix
team in Arizona and at JPL for their successful polar
landing on the red planet.
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| May 23, 2008 |
- Men -- are you masterbating correctly? Do you know how
your technique might be injurious? Check with
HealthyStrokes.com
to be sure.
- Telectroscope
Hardly anyone knows that a secret tunnel runs deep beneath
the Atlantic Ocean. In May 2008, more than a century after it
was begun, the tunnel will finally be completed. Immediately
afterwards, an extraordinary optical device called a Telectroscope
will be installed at both ends which will miraculously allow
people to see right through the Earth from London to NY
and vice versa.
More intriguing, were such a tube to exist, would be to slide
a small wheeled capsule down the incline. If the tunnel was
straight enough, and smooth, the capsule would slip back and
forth, a Telectric pendulum.
- YouTomb -- a
store of report on withdrawn YouTube videos.
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| May 22, 2008 |
|
My turn, finally, for the computer catastrophe, but relatively
painless as its demise has been expected for a while now. Used
essentially for email, and there's the big trouble -- I've
suddenly lost the last few years' messages, and of course
all y'alls addresses. My laptop now shoulders all
computer duties, and the Monorail 7245 (with disc removed)
goes to an eFriendly transfer station nearby. Bought this odd
machine for $1000 from CompUSA a week after moving to
Silicon Valley in 1997, in order to do the Internet at home,
and was actually planning to jettison the unit just before
Departure (now three weeks away -- yikes!) so it died right
on time, just a little ahead of schedule.
The cause? CMOS battery: insufficient voltage; vital settings
lost, won't boot off 'cause can't find the hard disk.
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| May 20, 2008 |
|
The local Trader Joes is to be commended for its great
Muzak, upbeat oldies. I was in there and down the
aisle noticed a kid bopping to the Beatles' exhuberant
"Tell Me Why" which I know as a running song, and that
tune was followed by the Gentrys perennial "Keep On
Dancing" from 1965. With a smile, I realized it was
the exact same tempo, so would work as well, and now
it's on my seventh running tape, played in my Walkman
during treadmill time. The usually reliable library
failed me as a source to copy, however, so instead I
turned to the Internets and found quite a nice
video
on YouTube, from Shindig. Reading the comments we
learn the lead singer became known as
the
Mouth of the South and after the one-hit-wonder
thing petered out, he became a wrestler. As for the
running music, I've been cataloging it onto a
new page in the
Miscellaneous
section -- never has there been such a diverse
playlist.
|
| May 19, 2008 |
|
So, moving yet again, the boxes are out and
it's a frenzy of packing, purging and cleaning. Always
like how the exercise forces evaluation and ordering of
everything I own, but it gets wearying. Tony said
"Last big trip, eh?" and after a moment's thought
I responded, "Well, certainly the biggest
trip" but I couldn't rule out any future journeys
to far-away places. And where am I moving to? As
yet, unknown - will be in a motel at least for my
first few nights upon return, but for now everything
but the car is going into a five by ten by ten foot
storage unit.
|
| May 14, 2008 |
|
Less than a month till departure -- so busy, no time
for updates here. I will be exiting the apartment, however; and
(unrelated) my new, post-COBRA insurance starts tomorrow.
|
| May 12, 2008 |
- Jay McInerney from a year ago,
reviewing
two new books about Sushi. The only of his books
I've read is Ransom, and although my raw fish
consumption is way down (due to the expense, and guilt
about over-fishing of the oceans) the subject still
fascinates.
- Regarding another author, Tony Horowitz, I've read
two: Baghdad Without a Map and Confederates
in the Attic, both recommended. A review of his latest,
A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World --
Is
everything we know about American history wrong?
- One more video:
the
Freeway Ride - on Bicycles -- pedaling through
slow-and-go LA traffic during rush hour (mostly on
the 405, I believe).
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| May 9, 2008 |
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Say, what's going on here? The ALL VIDEO
post I put up a few days ago disappeared -- somehow, a
file overwrite wiped out an update. Herewith, a reconstruction.
|
| May 7, 2008 |
My afternoon group, taken a few days ago, unfortunately when
several of the other women were out. To my right is Ayako, and
this was her last day -- she's back in Japan now, and
with luck we'll be meeting up in Yokohama this August.
Turns out I won't be teaching my usual afternoon
session at Cupertino HS next Fall, as that school's
taking back some of the classrooms they've been loaning
to my organization. Instead, I'll be at nearby Lynbrook
(which they say has better facilties). My time at
'Tino's been enjoyable, but I won't mind moving on.
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| May 4, 2008 |
|
Major decision looming, difficult -- should I
stow my gear during, and move out; or deadhead the
vacant apartment for over seven weeks!? Since a
long-overdue rent increase was just announced
(15% - ouch!) been leaning towards the former, even
though it'd mean being essentially homeless for
awhile. I was contemplating this same thing during
my previous jaunt overseas, in 2005, and was then
glad I hadn't after returning with my leg in a cast.
A week before I must decide... and also where to park,
during -- there's another vexing issue.
|
| April 26, 2008 |
- Yes, you know of Robert Smithson's
Spiral
Jetty in the Great Salt Lake, but
what about Michael Heizer's monumental
City,
still under construction at a classified Nevada
location?
- The April 10th issue of The Economist
featured a multi-part report on
the
new Nomadism enabled by wireless tech, and how it's
changing society. Connected presence, mediated vs.
co-present interactions, tele-nesting and 'linguistic
whateverism' are samples of the jargon contained within.
- Prices
at the Gas Pump around the world.
|
| April 23, 2008 |
- Inspecting my pocket change at the end of the day, I found
only two quarters, both Rhode Islands. Checking them on a whim, I
discovered they were a complete set -- one, the usual West-coast
D, the other, a P, from the East. Am I a lucky guy, or what?
- The upcoming trip's long duration is forcing me to upgrade,
automating various routine banking tasks, which will save me
time, postage, and the occasional late fee; but it's a little
unsettling to this late adapter.
- Interesting CONUS map distortion showing
Where
News Breaks.
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| April 17, 2008 |
|
Another trip up to the City yesterday, to the Powell-Market
tourist nexus via BART in order to retrieve my passport, with
its new Indian visa. I've only had transit visas previously
(most memorably, through Yugoslavia in '77). India's requirements
are kind of complicated, kinda convenient how San Francisco's one
of the few places in the US where they have a consulate or Embassy.
But now, they've outsourced the procedure, so it's a little more
costly, but less hassle -- at least for me, who allowed plenty of
time. Many travelers don't, of course, and they can get quite
irate when things go off the rails at the last minute -- see
my
Indian visa outsourcing nightmare, worthwhile for the
comments, which have no sympathy for the haplass American's
struggles, like nothing compared to what those coming
to the USA endure. Since reading another travel
nightmare/story somewhere about how instead of a visa in the
passport, just the receipt for the visa had been
installed, I'm wondering -- what's this visa thing look like,
anyway? Well, it takes up a whole passport page, but unlike
the example shown in
how to read a
Indian Visa, the fields are filled in.
|
| April 15, 2008 |
- It's
Not You, It's Your Books, by Rachel Donadio -- dealbreakers
on or missing from his or her bookshelf -- or even, is there a
bookshelf at all?
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| April 4, 2008 |
- An
appreciation of a 70s book called Nomadic
Furniture which suggested assembling a whole bunch
of styrofoam cups by attaching their edges together to
form a sphere, and then maybe placing an electric lamp
inside. The text says the result's so common in college
dorms it's become a virtual cliché. We read about
this when I was in college, when the book was
new, and decided to build one, naturally referring to
the project as the Virtual Cliché. Took us many
days, working in the living room of a group house just
off-campus; but after completion, nobody wanted it.
This
guy does similar work with paper dixie cups which results
in smaller, more manageable creations; but we used the
standard-sized cups, so ours was huge. Later,
the Cliché was discovered languishing in a basement,
and it's a shame we've no photo of a formally-attired
friend wearing it on his head out in the backyard, en
route to a wedding reception. I was reminded of the
Cliché by this
hula-hoop
sphere in the news, shown in that enclosed Galleria
in Milan. Is anything calculated, or do the connected
hoops just assume that dome-like form during
construction?
-
About mis-pronouncing words intentionally --
saying
it wrong on purpose. I'm guilty of this, as
well; it was an adolescent affectation.
- Change
We Can Believe In -- the new British
coins vs. the new $5 bill.
More
at the Royal Mint about their updated
metal currency.
|
| March 29, 2008 |
|
They're thumbnail links, three Photos from Current Events.
Above, the Northern lights -- from space! Lower left, about
origami re-entry designs; and the lower right, an art
installation in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Also in the news,
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| March 23, 2008 |
Above, my morning class, just ended, a great group. That old Korean
guy is a retired preacher. The final session during the traditional
pot-luck he was prepared to lead us in "God Bless America" but I nixed
that. Below, my afternoon class,
kinda low-res 'cause it's a scan of a glossy but it's okay, we'll see
a better photo of these people later, we'll be together until the end
of May.
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