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{06:13pm :: 20 May 2009}
{mood :: thirsty}
{music :: Beck - Think I'm In Love}

Since returning from Europe, I have done and said things quite out of character.
This entry shall be no exception.

Around 2:00am Tuesday morning, on a sleep deprived whim, I decided to take a mini-vacation to southern New Mexico this weekend. I will be leaving one desert to "vacation" in another, during the onset of summer. This is not my brightest plan to date.

As if that wasn't surprising enough, I actually find myself wanting a motorcycle. Not just any motorcycle, but a design and type of bike that I have never liked. I've toyed with the idea of getting a bike in the past, and have always assumed if I ever bought one it would be one of the fast, modern, flashy, and incredibly Japanese sports bikes. However, the bike I find myself drooling over tonight is less powerful, older, and much more subdued. Here are a few pictures:









I keep telling myself that this feeling is a phase, that I love my car, and that I probably wouldn't fit on the damned thing anyhow... but I still want it. Oh well, Tucson is a terrible city for bikes anyhow. Hopefully I will have forgotten all about this odd urge after I return from New Mexico (which in itself is an odd urge). See you next week.

Oh, and if you hear anything in the news containing the keywords "missile testing facility" and "crazy man", please don't worry. That is probably just me.

4 stayed :: Make trouble.

{09:06pm :: 19 May 2009}
{mood :: shocked}
{music :: Tori Amos - Give}

There is a place where the inhabitants spend their entires lives floating. Many of them are born there, live there, and die there without ever stepping foot on actual land. According to Wikipedia (link) there are four fishing villages in the bay, each consisting of floating houses (and other floating structures). These people survive on fish, marine plant life, and literally whatever they can catch from the sea. Jutting out of the waters around the villages are almost 2000 limestone cliffs, which form a labyrinth of narrow channels.



I can't help but think how difficult it would be to sell most of my possessions and go live in one of those village for five or so years. Scratch that thought, actually I believe that is where I want to live when I retire.

Make trouble.

{10:59pm :: 11 May 2009}
{mood :: amused}
{music :: Shiny Toy Guns - Le Disko}

I checked the mail after getting home from my walk tonight. There was a postcard from the Marines saying I could get a plastic Marines logo digital watch just for joining. Do you think they understand I'm twenty five and not five? (Now a plastic dinosaur watch, with some sort of flipping cover mechanism might have sold me.) I laughed upon realizing they paid some marketing expert to come up with the idea.
Then I saw a thick envelope with the words "Internal Revenue Service" in the upper left corner. I swallowed hard, and took the envelope into the house. I have been awaiting their reply to my answer since I took off for Europe in March. I ripped open the envelope to see three packets and a self addressed envelope inside. I took out one packet, and started flipping through the pages. This packet described where to send my payments, and what kind of payment options I had available to me. My heart sank, and I found the packet describing what I owed. This packet was basically an eight page math problem. Add a little here and subtract a little there. At they end, they decided I owed them negative one dollar.
I laughed again.
Mail makes me happy.

Make trouble.

{07:00am :: 27 Apr 2009}
{mood :: amused}
{music :: The Do - On My Shoulders}

I was attempting something in the realm of flirting, when I accidentally created the best movie idea ever.
This is one of those movies in which the plot is written after the title... because the title is the only part that matters. Are you ready for this?!

"Zombie Outbreak on Dinosaur Island."

The line for zombie auditions forms at the left... dinosaurs at the right.

1 stayed :: Make trouble.

{10:24pm :: 20 Apr 2009}
{mood :: amused}
{music :: Bat for Lashes - Siren Song}

Katherine forwarded me a message from her aunt, who had the following to say in regards to pictures she had recently seen of me:

"those photos, they were fantastic... your friend wasn't a bad look either."

Sadly, this only serves to reinforce my belief that it is mainly women older than me who find me attractive.
I seem to have problems with my own generation. LOL. I'm just whining. Actually, it was a pretty good day. I received lots of little compliments like that... most of which kept me fairly amused.

I went to work today. After having had the past 6 weeks off from work, I was less than eager to be back in a regular job. I suppose it is a necessary evil for the time being (especially if I'm going to San Francisco in June and Toronto in September). On a related topic, any of my incredibly brave friends want to explain how a Cancer goes about throwing down the shackles of domesticity to chase dreams, magic and other greatness? Also feel free to add to any other suggestions you may have for overall improvement... don't worry about offending me. I'm open to criticism, and know I need to learn some hard lessons... bashing allowed even.

Finally, one of the steps I'm taking to change the road I'm on, is to keep in better touch with friends and family. In that spirit, I had sent my father postcards from some of the cities I visited in the past few weeks asking him to get in touch with me. I was a little disappointed when other people starting emailing me saying they had received postcards; however, he emailed me today. (He and I are very much alike in that regard.) I'm not going to reply tonight, but he and several other people will be getting emails tomorrow.

It was a pretty good day.

3 stayed :: Make trouble.

{09:06pm :: 18 Apr 2009}
{mood :: cold}
{music :: Bat for Lashes - I'm on Fire}

6 stayed :: Make trouble.

{03:49pm :: 17 Apr 2009}
{mood :: accomplished}
{music :: Razorlight - Wire To Wire}

I cleaned house today.
I got rid of a lot of bad memories: boxing them away, giving them away, throwing them away.
I also gave back my the cat, Shilo Angel.

That may have been the reason I sounded upset on the phone today.

I feel better now... somehow lighter.

4 stayed :: Make trouble.

{06:46pm :: 15 Apr 2009}
{mood :: confused}
{music :: Munchausen By Proxy (f/ Zooey Deschanel & Von Iva) - Uh-Huh}

Well, I'm back in Tucson. I have mixed feelings on this topic, but I can deal with it.
On a related note, a neighbor alerted me to a flyer posted in our complex today. (We are unable to find a second flyer anywhere... doesn't mean there isn't one, but still.) Pictured on the flyer is a cat named "Angel", who has "2 cuts in right ear" and looks exactly like my cat Shilo.


(I blurred out the phone number.)

As some of you know, I had taken in a stray cat back in January. At that time she was very skinny, and a little skittish of people. After a few days she became extremely friendly with me, and would even wait at my back door every day until I got home from work. She has slept in my bed almost every night since then, and I would let her out most mornings when I awoke. I used to make jokes about her having a "day family", but eventually she stopped wanting to go outside. Before I left for Europe she had stopped going to the back door completely, and I was contemplating purchasing her a litter box. Before I left I had to decided to leave her indoors, and she hasn't gone outside the entire time I was in Europe.

Now I'm torn. I am definitely going to call these people, but I have no idea what to say. If I give her back, they will most likely make her an outdoor cat again. I don't like that idea, but the flyer says she is eight years old. To me this implies that they have had her for eight years, and I wouldn't want to steal someone's pet. Anyone have any suggestions?

(And I do find it hilarious that she was named Angel.)

3 stayed :: Make trouble.

{02:37am :: 04 Apr 2009}
{mood :: ecstatic}
{music :: Metric - Sick Muse}

I'm staying with this couple in Paris. The place is very small for three people and a dog (this place would be small for one person), but I prefer it to my hotel and didn't want to turn down the generous offer to stay there. My one complaint is the heating system in the house. It is the time of year in which the nights may require heat, but the days definitely do not; however, the heating system is on a motion sensor and built into the wall (which means the device cannot be unplugged). This unfortunately means anytime someone needs something from the kitchen/bathroom, that the heater is activated. The couple who lives here, knows how to avoid activating the sensor, but I constantly forget. The sound of that heating system starting up is now one of my most loathed sounds... right after alarm clock and creepy children laughter.

On a side note, I love Lebanese food. This is sad, because the really good Lebanese restaurant in Tucson closed a few years ago. But yesterday, I believe I was introduced to the the best Lebanese restaurant in the world. Maybe such is not the case, but it is the best I've ever had... and I was told it would be before going. The name of the restaurant is "Noura", and it is located at 27 Avenue Marceau, Paris 16. If ever in the area and you want to check it out, be careful. There are three Lebanese restaurants named Noura, on the same side of the street, within two blocks of each other. It was a little weird, but I was told the middle one was the best of the three, and I truly believe it was.

1 stayed :: Make trouble.

{04:32am :: 31 Mar 2009}
{mood :: chipper}
{music :: Silbermond - Nicht mein Problem}

The first time I've been able to see the sky during this trip, was on the night train from Berlin to Paris. Every other time of day had been either too overcast or drowned out by bright city lights. Traveling across the German country side at night afforded me some of the most amazing views I've ever seen.

In the evening, the train crossed a wind farm outside Berlin. The giant silhouettes of modern windmills twirled before the most amazing reds and purples of the setting sun.
Sometime after that, the complete absence of city lights allowed for stunning views of the stars. Orion looks so much closer from this latitude.
Finally, sun rise over this little farming town in France. It was a scene from one of those cheesy puzzles you would find at the pharmacy gift aisle or dollar store. Snow on the mountain tops set behind ancient little churches, each of which is nestled snuggly between aging houses with smoking chimneys.

Part of me wants to go back just to see it all again, and part of me wants to go back because I don't speak a word of French. Anyone want to come translate for me??!

3 stayed :: Make trouble.