I just got back from riding my bike up over the Highway 33 to Bakersfield for an evening of music and fun. This was my first long trip with the bike, and it performed better than I expected. Though not a fast bike, it held an easy 70mph for most of the ride with out problems. I way over-estimated the gas mileage though---it gets almost exactly 40 miles to the gallon. On the way down from Pine mountain it ran out! Luckily some very nice folks in a '72 Chevy truck tossed it in the back for me and hauled me and Yamaha down to Ojai (they were headed that way already). It also really doesn't like 87 octane gas when it's really hot out (like 115 in Maricopa). Good times.

Realization: I am very bad at doing anything I want to do, because I can't seem to remember that I actually want to do it.

Resolution: Finacial trouble is not a sufficient reason for not travelling.

Determination: Embrace solitude (Letters to a Young Poet) and always, always play music.

Recent Occurance: Helping to tear down and dismantle forever some of my favorite spots on Campus.

Dream Last Night: I met a cool girl at a swimming pool only to see her shortly thereafter killed in a tidal wave.

Tonight: Work on friends' cars till all hours and die in my bed.

Random face I drew a while back...not supposed to be anyone in particular.

Well, what do you know...

In a Past Life...

You Were: An Arrogant Poet. Where You Lived: Siberia. How You Died: Decapitation.

Who Were You In a Past Life?

I see the morning light
I see the morning light
Well it's not because
I'm an early riser
I didn't go to sleep last night

Walkin' Down the Line -Bob Dylan

I have been asked about school many times. 'Why did you quit?' 'Are you thinking for going back?' 'You didn't stay very long...'
Well, in the L.A. Times this morning an article was pointed out to me (paraphrase):

Photography school in Ventura County Scheduled to be Shut Down for Lying to Students.

Wow. Apparently, an organization for Consumer Protection made a detailed investigation, including undercover infiltration, and Brooks Institute is now scheduled for closure if they don't make many, many changes according to very strict rules---including making restitution to mislead graduates!
I guess God was looking out for me! I escaped just in time.

Just watched two very moving films...Hero and Pi. Though totally different, they were both very good and oddly disturbing. I feel dizzy.

Last night Justin and I planned to watch a movie and have a couple drinks. It was going to be quiet evening, relaxed and moderate with an early bedtime. All was going according to plan when along came our new upstairs neighbors. From the outset I could see there was no escape.
"Come, come!" They stammered in very broken English. "Korean Barbecue!"
We soon found ourselves running to the store to get beer and charcoal, at this point still clinging to the rapidly fading original plan. The beer was going to be for us and for the movie after we ate (we would share of course) and the charcoal because they seemed confused and we felt sorry for them.
Upon returning, the little middle-aged Korean couple had laid Korean newspapers all over the table and chairs, and were calling out plaintively for, "Porks!" Soon they unveiled a huge salad, hot Gimchi, and heaping plates of BBQ-ed ribs. The food was awesome. We began stuffing. The Korean man, 'Dee' ran up to his room and brought out some very expensive rice wine, which he insisted on giving to us as a gift. (We later learned that he had given us over $400 worth of fine wine). It was called Baik-Se-Do (I don't think I spelled that right) and the name means that if you drink it you will live to be 100.
Soon after this, the other not-so-nice neighbors showed up and began to help themselves. Not long after that another neighbor came by, the one who is never home. Everyone has been saying that he was in Singapore writing a novel, and when he heard this he laughed. He is actually an Englishman living near San Diego who keeps this apartment on the side, and he is not a writer at all---he is working on a project to push Stem-Cell research glaringly into the public eye. He is also an Evolutionist at some University.
Around this time 'Dee' declared the he is "Always happy---Always!" His wife laughed and smiled and continually asked whether we like the food. We had been assuring her the whole time that we loved it, but it wasn't until Dee saw that the Gimchi plate was almost empty that it sunk in. He grabbed his head in his hands: "OOOOOOHHH! You like Gimchi! My wife---she---crazy with happy you like her food!"
Things went on like this for while, the 12-pack of St. Pauli's Girl was gone and we had all had a lot of wine as well, when Dee suddenly shouted, "Korean style! Korean style! Wine shot!" This began a series of toasts to 'cheers' (put in by the Englishman) followed by shot after shot of the fancy rice wine.
It wasn't too much later that I ended up snoozing away happily on the couch while outside everyone continued to drunkenly attempt to communicate to the sound of the nightly sprinklers going off under the buckets we had plopped over them. I heard later that the husband of less desirable neighbors went home and beat his wife until she called for help and everyone was in a ruckus. I guess I was pretty much out cause I didn't hear a thing. All in all, quite a night.

I made my way home from Northridge today with my newest friend. It was a beautiful hot summer SoCal day, and I cut across the mountains on back roads to aviod the freeways and traffic. My new friend and I were both very happy. What a wonderful and welcome friend she is! Her name is Yamaha...

Perhaps I feel something like this right now.

Well now there then.

So here it is, another Monday. Sun is bright, day is hot, and work is surprisingly plesant. I know my stay here won't be all that long, but it sure is a nice place to work. (If you can ignore the practical incompetence!)

Pen-and-ink

Don'tcha just wish sometimes that you were one ada beautiful people?

(/)

This will blow your mind and break your heart. Read it.

Alright, guys, I know this is disgusting, but it's f---ing hilarious!

The Poopie List

Ghost Poopie: The kind where you feel the poopie come out but there is no poopie in the toilet.

Clean Poopie: The kind where you poopie, see it in the toilet, but there is nothing on the toilet paper.

Wet Poopie: The kind where you wipe your butt 50 times and it still feels unwiped, so you have to put some toilet paper between your butt and your underwear so you won't ruin them.

Second Wave Poopie: This happens when you're done poopie-ing and you've pulled your pants up to your knees and you realize that you have to poopie some more.

Pop-A-Vein-In-Your-Forehead Poopie: The kind where you strain so hard to get it out you practically have a stroke.

Lincoln-Log Poopie: The kind of poopie that is so huge you're afraid to flush without first breaking it into smaller pieces with the toilet brush.

Gassy Poopie: It's so noisy everyone within earshot is giggling.

All Nighter Poopie: The kind of poopie you have in the morning after a long night of drinking. It's most noticeable trait is the skid marks in the bottom of the toilet.

Corn Poopie: Self-explanatory.

Gee-I-Wish-I-Could-Poopie Poopie: The kind where you want to poopie but all you do is sit on the toilet and fart a few times.

Spinal Tap Poopie: That's where it hurts so badly coming out that you'd swear it was leaving you sideways.

Wet Cheeks Poopie: (The Power Dump) The kind that comes out so fast and hard your butt-cheeks get splashed with water.

Boomerang Poopie: The kind that you flush down the toilet but then one or two poopies come back.

Soupie Poopie: The kind where yellowish-brown liquid shoots out and splashes all over the toilet bowl.

Hydrochloric Poopie: It smells so bad it burns your nose hairs.

Upper Class Poopie: The kind of poopie that doesn't smell.

The Surprise Poopie: You aren't even at the toilet because you're sure you're about to fart, but Surprise -- a poopie!

The Dangling Poopie: The poopie that refuses to drop into the toilet even though you're done poopie-ing it. You just pray that a small shake or bounce will cut it loose.

Sometimes it just feels like this

I read a children's book today that I have wanted to read since I was a child. It was a simple, well-written story that was both gentle and perceptive. The question that has struck me so often is raised in my mind once again: what does it mean to be grown up? How are we so different from the ten-year-old ruling his magic kingdom? There seems to be a wisdom in youth that becomes more and more difficult to hold on to as we get older...a peace with life and a willingness to be content and find joy in such simple things. Read it someday. It's called The Bridge to Terabithia

Don't look at me my Pale Lady
Don't gaze at me that way
A cool radiant nighttime stare
Betrays what you might say
Often a cloud invades your face
Raggedly hiding your light
Sadly waning away to naught
You abandon me and night
Yet in the time it takes to fear
That you have gone for good
My searching eyes and soul behold
The drawing back your hood
Again that stare upon me
Harsh but never cold
Sliding through every blackened bough
I wince at each new scold
If only hiding truly worked
If only I did not miss Thee
Wishing not to know I've shirked
Hurried footsteps cannot free
A nameless doubt
An anger stout
The restlessness of
Me

He who would be a great writer must be a great reader