The Minnesota trip was a whirlwind of driving (1538 miles total!), family time and very little sleep, except for the day I got to nap twice at my aunt's house near Bemidji. I very nearly accomplished everything I had hoped to, so it was a good trip. It was nice to get back and see people I just saw last July, and didn't think I would see again so soon. It would have been nice to spend a little longer, but circumstances made that difficult.
So now I'm back in Gainesville, fully ready to chill with my aunt and nanny my cousins. Wish me luck with the humidity and the, you know, children...
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Taciturn Update of Nothingness
Unexpected family business has brought me back to Minnesota for a week, then I'm headed back to Gainesville, FL, because one week wasn't enough.
Tucson was Tucson. It's still not my favorite city, but I like it more than I did before. I wish I had gotten more of a chance to check out the city and scene, but maybe next time. I spent the majority of my time split between hanging out in the retirement park with my grandparents, and relaxing at my cousin's house out in the desert outside the city. The stars were out in full force there.
It was around 100F every day, so outdoor time was limited to early morning walks and pool time. Toward the end, my aunt and uncle came down from their place in Bullhead City. The plan was to return to their place with them, but the aforementioned family business threw a monkeywrench in that plan. It's okay, I'm going to try to get back there in the winter when it's cooler, since it's in the Mojave desert and all...
Tucson was Tucson. It's still not my favorite city, but I like it more than I did before. I wish I had gotten more of a chance to check out the city and scene, but maybe next time. I spent the majority of my time split between hanging out in the retirement park with my grandparents, and relaxing at my cousin's house out in the desert outside the city. The stars were out in full force there.
It was around 100F every day, so outdoor time was limited to early morning walks and pool time. Toward the end, my aunt and uncle came down from their place in Bullhead City. The plan was to return to their place with them, but the aforementioned family business threw a monkeywrench in that plan. It's okay, I'm going to try to get back there in the winter when it's cooler, since it's in the Mojave desert and all...
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
I went out!
To celebrate my road-iversary, I went downtown to the Solar Culture Gallery, to check out the Joe Lally (who is a tiny little man!) show. I took the bus (sadly, Tucson is no Austin), so I got there a bit early, but it was okay, because the venue is also an art gallery. I spent a bunch of time checking out the paintings and listening to the trains go by the back door while I waited and waited for other people to trickle in. Not only was it Cinco de Mayo, but it was apparently also finals week, and they were competing with another show.
The audience ended up being me and a dozen or so other music dorks. The opening guy had to cancel, so Joe and crew played two sets, which was fine by me. Their style was... I dunno... I suck at describing music... Jazz, punk and blues influenced mellowish trippy hard rock? In the same basic vein as Fugazi, but differently interesting. If anyone knows some kind of music geek terminology to describe this, please share, because I always just want to sum up this type of music as "adult punk." It has the same sensibility as punk, but with a greater range of style and talent. Joe Lally was solid on bass, and although I don't feel he's the strongest vocalist, I was digging the lyrics. The drummer, Ricardo Lagomasino, was heavily jazz influenced, and proved that it's not the size of the kit, but how you use it. He had his eyes closed for most of the time, and when they were open he was kinda staring blankly into space. I wondered where he went, but it must have been somewhere good. The guitarist, Elisa Abela, was tight, ranging from bluesy to controlled noise with plenty of stops in between. The crowd was subdued and respectful. I wished, and thought others were with me on this, that we could have been more people for them. We stood up close and clapped a lot, but it still felt kinda sad. Maybe it was just my mood and extreme lack of energy, due to me being on the retiree schedule, and the show starting after my bedtime. Also, this is an art gallery, not a bar. A beer or two might have upped my energy levels a tidge.
Between sets I chatted with Elisa about tattoos and travel, and she told me about some women she had met on the Isle of Lesbos. She also said it didn't bother them that it was such a small crowd, that they just loved to play. It showed.
Sorry about the super detailed show review. After five or six days as a retiree, all of the stimulation kinda got to me...
The audience ended up being me and a dozen or so other music dorks. The opening guy had to cancel, so Joe and crew played two sets, which was fine by me. Their style was... I dunno... I suck at describing music... Jazz, punk and blues influenced mellowish trippy hard rock? In the same basic vein as Fugazi, but differently interesting. If anyone knows some kind of music geek terminology to describe this, please share, because I always just want to sum up this type of music as "adult punk." It has the same sensibility as punk, but with a greater range of style and talent. Joe Lally was solid on bass, and although I don't feel he's the strongest vocalist, I was digging the lyrics. The drummer, Ricardo Lagomasino, was heavily jazz influenced, and proved that it's not the size of the kit, but how you use it. He had his eyes closed for most of the time, and when they were open he was kinda staring blankly into space. I wondered where he went, but it must have been somewhere good. The guitarist, Elisa Abela, was tight, ranging from bluesy to controlled noise with plenty of stops in between. The crowd was subdued and respectful. I wished, and thought others were with me on this, that we could have been more people for them. We stood up close and clapped a lot, but it still felt kinda sad. Maybe it was just my mood and extreme lack of energy, due to me being on the retiree schedule, and the show starting after my bedtime. Also, this is an art gallery, not a bar. A beer or two might have upped my energy levels a tidge.
Between sets I chatted with Elisa about tattoos and travel, and she told me about some women she had met on the Isle of Lesbos. She also said it didn't bother them that it was such a small crowd, that they just loved to play. It showed.
Sorry about the super detailed show review. After five or six days as a retiree, all of the stimulation kinda got to me...
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
365 days of loafing like a bum
Yup. Today is my one year road-iversary.
I wanted to write something all contemplative and meaningful to mark the occasion, but I got nothing. I've just been chillin' here in Tucson with my grandparents, enjoying two more members of my family with whom I have not spent enough time. It's interesting how this trip started out with a desire to travel and see the parts of the country that I had never seen, and talk to people from all over, but every time I stopped at a relative's house, it became more about that. When people ask me what the best thing has been about this trip, sometimes I say something about having time alone to think and discovering my mental and physical limits, but I always end up talking about how great it has been to have extended one on one time with family members. In families as scattered as both sides of mine are, it can be difficult enough just to get at least half of us together for a family reunion, and when that happens, most of the focus is on large group activities, so there's not a lot of time to have real conversations with people. I don't know how everyone else feels, but I feel like I grew up so far away from my family, and then spent so much time depressed and lazy, not even trying to form relationships with them, that in a group setting I feel like a bit of an outsider. This year has been good for my soul in that it has brought me a lot closer to people I probably should never have felt so far from. It is only natural that even though I am burnt out on the other aspects of travel, I still have a list of people I want to spend time with. And cook for.
I'm excited about the coming months.
I wanted to write something all contemplative and meaningful to mark the occasion, but I got nothing. I've just been chillin' here in Tucson with my grandparents, enjoying two more members of my family with whom I have not spent enough time. It's interesting how this trip started out with a desire to travel and see the parts of the country that I had never seen, and talk to people from all over, but every time I stopped at a relative's house, it became more about that. When people ask me what the best thing has been about this trip, sometimes I say something about having time alone to think and discovering my mental and physical limits, but I always end up talking about how great it has been to have extended one on one time with family members. In families as scattered as both sides of mine are, it can be difficult enough just to get at least half of us together for a family reunion, and when that happens, most of the focus is on large group activities, so there's not a lot of time to have real conversations with people. I don't know how everyone else feels, but I feel like I grew up so far away from my family, and then spent so much time depressed and lazy, not even trying to form relationships with them, that in a group setting I feel like a bit of an outsider. This year has been good for my soul in that it has brought me a lot closer to people I probably should never have felt so far from. It is only natural that even though I am burnt out on the other aspects of travel, I still have a list of people I want to spend time with. And cook for.
I'm excited about the coming months.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Oh, Biden!
What will he say next?
I woke up this morning and checked the headlines on MSN before packing up and heading to the airport for my trip to Tucson. The first headline I saw was about Joe Biden saying he recommends avoiding all crowded places like planes and buses. Sadly, avoiding crowded areas won't help him, since he is already infected with a terminal case of foot-in-mouth disease. Within an hour or two, his office was already backpedaling, trying to soften his words and placate the already flagging travel industry.
That guy. I'm going to risk it and fly anyway.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
People aren't kidding about Austin
This town is great! It has moved up to the top of my list of places I would live if Seattle was no longer an option. The public transit is pretty comprehensive, and bus passes are only $18 a month!
After a few mellow days hanging with my friend's mom in San Marcos, during which time we ate, drank, chatted, drove over to Devil's Backbone, saw glassblowers make a lampshade, and I got my hair cut and colored, I headed in to Austin to meet my friend.
We kicked off a really great trip by going to see The Kills. The show was fantastic, and I don't think it was just the secondhand smoke talking. The crowd had incredible energy, even showing much love to the opening band, The Magic Wands, which was a couple originally from Nashville whose smooth sexy style made some of the songs seem a bit like foreplay. I doubt anyone in the audience had heard of them, but they were totally into the show. My friend happened to know them (small world!), so we got in for free, but the show was good enough that it would have been worth the money to pay for it. We weren't so into the second band, The Horrors, which was some tragic 80s sounding stuff, but they were good at what they did. It seemed like all of the bands were really feeding into the crowd's energy and responding in kind.
The next night we did a bit of random barhopping, to take in the Saturday night in downtown Austin scene. There was a ridiculous amount of blatant public drunkenness, as well as a huge police presence, but the police were just standing around watching out for violence and leaving the drunks alone, so that was cool. Most of the music venues here have outdoor stages, since the weather is generally so nice, although the actual stage and at least a small area in front of it is always covered, which came in handy during the frequent storms and showers that were happening for most of the week.
Sunday night we saw a local band from San Marcos, Zlam Dunk, six college boys with a ton of energy, decent talent, some creative songwriting, and just the right amount of cowbell. Afterwards we hung out with some friends of friends who worked at the club, which was pretty chill, since most of the bar patrons left after the music ended.
Monday was stormy and we were partied out, so we stayed in and discovered the best public access show ever, Cookin' Good, starring the Cola sisters, Arcie and Shasta. This show should be on real TV, and these girls should get big money for their awesomeness. Seriously. We were just channel surfing, and paused a bit on this show that looked like a white trash cooking show, wondering what it was. When we heard the stuff coming out of their mouths, our jaws dropped, and we were sold. If you like the TV I like (and you know who you are!), check it out.
Tuesday I dropped off my bike and gear at a bike shop to be shipped home, and that night we checked out more local music at a different venue, but none of it was really worth writing home about. It was fun, though, and the last band, Snatch Racket, was loud, fast, and funny, which always makes for a decent show.
There is a really yummy Ethiopian restaurant (Aster's) right next to the hotel, and they have a lunch buffet. We got addicted and ended up eating there three times, so if you're ever in Austin, that is the place I can recommend the most. We enjoyed the street vendors downtown, too, and I heartily recommend "The Cuban" with slaw, from Beelzebun's. But only if you are a really really bad vegetarian, like me...
Tomorrow I'm headed for Tucson, to visit my Grandparents and some cousins for an undefined length of time, before I move on to an unspecified location.
After a few mellow days hanging with my friend's mom in San Marcos, during which time we ate, drank, chatted, drove over to Devil's Backbone, saw glassblowers make a lampshade, and I got my hair cut and colored, I headed in to Austin to meet my friend.
We kicked off a really great trip by going to see The Kills. The show was fantastic, and I don't think it was just the secondhand smoke talking. The crowd had incredible energy, even showing much love to the opening band, The Magic Wands, which was a couple originally from Nashville whose smooth sexy style made some of the songs seem a bit like foreplay. I doubt anyone in the audience had heard of them, but they were totally into the show. My friend happened to know them (small world!), so we got in for free, but the show was good enough that it would have been worth the money to pay for it. We weren't so into the second band, The Horrors, which was some tragic 80s sounding stuff, but they were good at what they did. It seemed like all of the bands were really feeding into the crowd's energy and responding in kind.
The next night we did a bit of random barhopping, to take in the Saturday night in downtown Austin scene. There was a ridiculous amount of blatant public drunkenness, as well as a huge police presence, but the police were just standing around watching out for violence and leaving the drunks alone, so that was cool. Most of the music venues here have outdoor stages, since the weather is generally so nice, although the actual stage and at least a small area in front of it is always covered, which came in handy during the frequent storms and showers that were happening for most of the week.
Sunday night we saw a local band from San Marcos, Zlam Dunk, six college boys with a ton of energy, decent talent, some creative songwriting, and just the right amount of cowbell. Afterwards we hung out with some friends of friends who worked at the club, which was pretty chill, since most of the bar patrons left after the music ended.
Monday was stormy and we were partied out, so we stayed in and discovered the best public access show ever, Cookin' Good, starring the Cola sisters, Arcie and Shasta. This show should be on real TV, and these girls should get big money for their awesomeness. Seriously. We were just channel surfing, and paused a bit on this show that looked like a white trash cooking show, wondering what it was. When we heard the stuff coming out of their mouths, our jaws dropped, and we were sold. If you like the TV I like (and you know who you are!), check it out.
Tuesday I dropped off my bike and gear at a bike shop to be shipped home, and that night we checked out more local music at a different venue, but none of it was really worth writing home about. It was fun, though, and the last band, Snatch Racket, was loud, fast, and funny, which always makes for a decent show.
There is a really yummy Ethiopian restaurant (Aster's) right next to the hotel, and they have a lunch buffet. We got addicted and ended up eating there three times, so if you're ever in Austin, that is the place I can recommend the most. We enjoyed the street vendors downtown, too, and I heartily recommend "The Cuban" with slaw, from Beelzebun's. But only if you are a really really bad vegetarian, like me...
Tomorrow I'm headed for Tucson, to visit my Grandparents and some cousins for an undefined length of time, before I move on to an unspecified location.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
It's the end of this trip as we know it
And I feel fine.
I was never really excited about returning to my bike, but I did it anyway, because I thought maybe once I was back on the road, I would dig it again, and I wanted to get into and out of Arizona before it got too hot. There was a brief period of excitement, but it didn't last long, and the dog bite killed any hope I had of regaining my love of biking. I became increasing paranoid and negative-- even getting out of Louisiana didn't help enough. The only thing that gave me any happiness was looking forward to meeting my friend in Austin, and that day just couldn't come fast enough. Over the last few days, I had reached the decision that I would probably ship my bike home from Austin, and if that proved to be too expensive, I would sell the blasted contraption. Yup, that's how much I hate my precious Surly LHT right now.
Today, after another hilly, windy ride, I reached a really nice clean trailer park in La Grange, TX. I set up my tent, had a lovely shower, then returned to my tent to fetch my laundry. The tent zipper exploded. I tried in vain to put it back together. I ended up taping the thing shut-- no easy task. There is a lot of tension in that system, and stuff doesn't stick to mosquito netting so well. I noticed that my friend's mom, who lives not too far away in San Marcos, had called, so I returned her call in a sorry state. We laughed that my equipment had failed right around the same time as my fortitude, and she offered to come pick me up in the next day or two. Sweet! I love moms...
So anywho, the biking portion of this trip is done, and the blogging will be fairly infrequent from now on, since I don't have much to say to the public when I'm just hanging with my family and friends. I won't subject you to any more Trivial Pursuit reports. My flickr will probably get more action than this blog. I'm still planning to travel for a few more months, but at this point am primarily interested in spending time with my peeps, not seeing the sites. If anyone would like to petition me to come to their town, or meet them somewhere random, have at it, I'm footloose and fancy free. Have credit card, will travel.
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