tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-341189002012-01-23T12:27:34.270-08:00stories from my life on the moon.ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.comBlogger4731100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-80313890801196798512012-01-23T12:27:00.000-08:002012-01-23T12:27:34.278-08:00

The restaurant I work for is insanely busy and a sort of P.R. tour de force, which is exciting and exhausting. As a result I'm currently scrambling to fix a lot of "good problems to have," e.g. constantly running out of product, having enough business to necessitate a two hour wait even on weekdays, and of my personal favorite, labor shortage. I have been posting ads on Craigslist weekly for

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-71383999436328192852012-01-01T02:18:00.000-08:002012-01-01T02:18:32.697-08:00

So I've been in New York for a year now. It could easily be called the most successful year of my life. Things are looking amazing and I have enough momentum to continue doing great things this year. Thanks to everyone who gave support. Big things are happening and I'm very happy to see all my work coming to fruition.

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-23852128961848734022011-12-26T11:39:00.000-08:002011-12-26T11:39:11.719-08:00

Okay here are my favorite albums of 2011. The list is kind of short. There was a lot of consideration involved and sadly I had to cut the completely forgettable sophomore albums by Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver from the program because they were not good. A$AP Rocky, LiveLoveASAP The New York rap scene has certainly had it's share of incredible artists over the years but it's seemed stagnant

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-4071595268263600412011-12-15T05:39:00.000-08:002011-12-15T05:40:06.856-08:00

What the fuck happened? This was a landmark year for artists we have known and loved putting out absolute crap, and the music critics responding in a way that could be described as patronizing to the artists. I know you've all had a soft spot for Radiohead since you listened to Kid A in your college dorm but it's been a solid decade now since they put out a great album and maybe it's time we all

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-30964952351446500352011-12-13T00:11:00.000-08:002011-12-13T00:11:29.371-08:00

Okay, I just read Pitchfork's top 100 tracks of 2011, and. If you think that a track from Bon Iver's completely forgettable second album and an M83 song are the best things released this year, you may not find most of what I have to say agreeable. That said, here are some honorable mentions. James Blake, s/t This is a totally amazing debut and a fantastic album. The fact that it sounds good

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-39272446456442507312011-12-08T00:23:00.001-08:002011-12-08T09:25:06.010-08:00

Okay it's almost the end of 2011 and I am pumped to talk shit on some music and also maybe praise some music if I have time. I don't want to be premature about this since the best album of 2011 (or the one I want to shittalk the most) could still be released in these last weeks. But. I'll give you a little preview. I am pretty drunk right now and it's hard for me to remember much of anything

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-48407077035518789342011-12-01T10:42:00.001-08:002011-12-01T10:43:32.384-08:00

well it was bright, enough to wake me, enough of a reminder of. another autumn on the east coast, the waning days of odd amazing weather, in my memories it is always waking up. a hundred days of waking up and the sun is shining and the leaves are falling and the air is crisp just like everyone says it is. autumn. later on my memories are not so coherent, ups and downs, emotional crescendos. it is

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-36802085454569577232011-11-16T09:15:00.001-08:002011-11-16T10:17:49.333-08:00

Shit is bonkers. Running a kitchen is full of difficulties which are maybe not worth mentioning here, but the long and short is that the tedium of fixing scores of problems is stealing focus from the more fulfilling creative side. I just fired one of my cooks, which was necessary but has resulted in a seven day work week for me until I find a replacement. Anyone want a job? I'm can feel myself

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-35444424689882092812011-11-06T14:18:00.000-08:002011-11-06T14:19:58.602-08:00

Life is moving at an incredible pace right now. As of my last post I had been fired from my job and recently blown off by the girl I had briefly been dating, which stung my pride a little but was really too new to mourn in any serious way. That said, the impact was palpable in context and both events forced me to seriously consider the direction my life was going in. Being fired without notice

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-60027721799025398912011-10-16T12:16:00.000-07:002011-10-16T12:18:43.836-07:00

It's been quiet for a while. I've been considering unmaking this thing for a while and musing about that in print is a little too meta and turgid for my liking. So I've just pushed the whole thing to the side and let it go quietly. I got fired from my job. The firing was personally motivated by an owner who had no trouble letting me know that I'd done a great job and worked hard, he just didn't

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-52499607494252076752011-07-28T11:37:00.000-07:002011-07-28T11:38:19.735-07:00

Through the door, a wall of sunlight and lapping heavy airfelt in my mouth, a conduit begsfor traffic of words, smoke, food, kisses.A yawn. Over steps or pedals, touching shouldersand pulling hairA yawning want, distractingconversations with you, all conflict, allglimpses up and down your body not hidden butquickly deniedI want to argue with you all day inthe thick airwords and smoke and kisses.A

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-30969829780556225252011-07-26T09:15:00.000-07:002011-07-26T09:48:10.240-07:00

The wheels are turning really fast at work now, with tons of press and blog interest flowing in. The business of my brunch has doubled (and sometimes tripled) since I started, which has been a little bit overwhelming. I've been sleeping almost eight hours every night but still wake up tired and sore, trying to move quickly and not be overwhelmed. But it's good. I've gotten a lot of acclaim, which

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-69596527850588169022011-07-08T07:50:00.000-07:002011-07-08T08:27:12.602-07:00

Hot girls, you are doing a great job right now. Your clothes are pretty weird but not at all unpleasant to look at. Sometimes the weirdness provides (in my mind) an opportunity to justify long stares or at least the framework to quickly forgive myself for them.Hot girls, I don't know what draws you to Brooklyn but it's a continual pleasure to share your company throughout the summer. Sometimes

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-75385468015705289342011-06-30T12:27:00.001-07:002011-06-30T13:20:24.973-07:00

Well my sourdough starter is dead. A little over a month ago it turned three years old and in that time traveled back and forth across the country with me a number of times, but during this move I was unable to bring it with me and left it in the care of some friends. They took care of it for longer than anyone could really be expected to but in the end neglected to feed it and the rest is

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-8544262099807908542011-05-30T09:52:00.000-07:002011-05-30T10:32:17.702-07:00

Okay it's summer now. Everything is wonderful! Except of course that I'm still getting roped into working much more than I would like.The good news is that I've been offered the chance to take over the brunch program where I work. I don't know yet to what extent I'll be running things, but after eating at several of the city's notable spots I have a pretty good idea of the direction I want to go

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-69723477510437723102011-05-12T09:33:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:41:52.382-07:00

I've signed a lease on a new apartment and move in less than a week. There's plenty of sunlight in the apartment, which was actually my highest priority in this move. I'm excited to get a lot of plants and have a nice quiet place to live. There is space on the roof for a small garden as well, but the only access is a narrow ladder so my capabilities will be somewhat limited.It has been sunny and

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-6117906734005242342011-05-03T23:15:00.000-07:002011-05-03T23:36:11.960-07:00

So I've been developing my idea of how to make this the best summer of my life and have created a few basic guidelines. 1. Avoid excess. This means drugs, alcohol, sex, and anything else that could be indulged to the point of negative consequences. That doesn't mean I won't drink, it just means having the foresight to avoid spending the summer entrenched in bad decisions that lead to hangovers

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-39027526792210650012011-04-25T23:04:00.000-07:002011-04-25T23:38:08.631-07:00

Yes, I am taking this very seriously.I have been working my ass off lately in preparation for a summer of minimal responsibility and plenty of self-indulgent behavior. Last year around September or October I realized I had spent the entirety of summer working my ass off in a basement and getting yelled at by my girlfriend and I don't intend to let anything like that happen this time around. So I

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-19930865184708705242011-04-15T22:36:00.001-07:002011-04-15T23:01:11.030-07:00

Well I've been spending my blogging time reading the posthumous David Foster Wallace novel. So far I like it a lot but it hasn't really coalesced into a very cohesive narrative yet and I'm beginning to wonder if that will happen. Anyway I like it a lot but since almost no one cares about post-modern literature I'll spare you a lengthy description.That said, I do wish I could find someone to

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-24480469521152497472011-03-31T09:30:00.000-07:002011-03-31T09:54:22.278-07:00

It's been a hectic week between the viewing of retail spaces for my friend's potential restaurant, writing a skeleton of a business plan for the business itself, and my normal full-time job. On top of that my dad has been having health problems which have finally escalated to a trip to the hospital. He's fine now, but his declining health has been undeniable for some time and being confronted

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-55349195146377065332011-03-22T09:32:00.000-07:002011-03-22T09:52:23.744-07:00

My time has been overwhelmed with schmoozing lately, although most of it involves people I've worked with/for in the past, so at least it's fun in a way. Still, every 'business meeting' in Brooklyn involves a deluge of beer and whiskey and my liver is hurting after all this commerce and brainstorming. Last night I took a break and locked myself in for some much needed foreign cinema and Indian

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-66388382465268190122011-03-20T15:58:00.000-07:002011-03-20T16:19:29.518-07:00

there are ghosts here, strugglingto be noticedthey hauntloading docks, concrete abutments, abandoned factories, subwaytunnels where theirsounds are overwhelmed byscreeching trains, computerizedvoices, hurriedfootsteps.they reconnoiterthe unused spaces, formcomities, explore the deep extinctnetworks and catacombs restlesslyaiming at anew directionlooking for clues as towho they are haunting andto

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-2359704331209594752011-03-17T10:09:00.001-07:002011-03-17T10:31:37.780-07:00

It's not really my first day, but it is the first day of my regular schedule. I ran into my boss on the way to the cafe, who seems to be nursing a serious hangover and assured me that tonight would be interesting. Evidently it is St. Patrick's Day, which serves mostly as an easy way to identify expatriate Midwesterners and college sluts because they are the only ones wearing green or drinking

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-61293429751601870902011-03-16T10:39:00.001-07:002011-03-16T10:39:49.156-07:00

bananas! french press, sandalswhite curtains, loftwindows, new clothes, sunrise.a stack ofsnobby magazines, two hours spent"waking up"fog, brisk air,chocolate.brightly colored fruit,a kiss, messyhair, walls painted orange,champagne, laughtera conversation that takes place in the morning before i open my eyes.senda short description of yourself anda brief explanation ofwork, desire, relaxation

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-10755729004314983422011-03-15T11:32:00.000-07:002011-03-15T12:33:30.007-07:00

I don't know why, but I've always loved and celebrated the Ides of March. Everyone loves a good historic political assassination, and my particular fascination with the life of Julius Caesar has been a longstanding one. I typically celebrate by drawing a comic about the life of Julius Caesar and today I bought some art supplies and a small sketchbook just for that purpose. I settled into a nice

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-89077307205349334022011-03-14T09:59:00.000-07:002011-03-14T10:29:47.130-07:00

In an outrageously vindictive move, the chef of the restaurant I was quitting fired me yesterday with one week of work left. The whole thing was very hush-hush, although rumors of it got to me several days ago. Watching it play out was kind of hilarious, the sous chefs acting very sheepishly and pretending everything was normal, the schedule for the next week not posted in order to conceal the

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-8340786965184680272011-03-09T10:36:00.000-08:002011-03-09T11:02:44.427-08:00

I've been hired for a new job. The money is better, it's bikeable from my apartment and I really love the food. I put my notice in at the current job about a week ago and I'm going through the motions of finishing up my time there, which is always a weird thing to do. I've been very surprised at the reaction from my co-workers, who have grown close to me in a way that was completely unexpected,

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-56687896010690470942011-03-01T09:18:00.000-08:002011-03-01T09:45:40.707-08:00

This was one of the best Februaries in recent memory, maybe ever, but I'm still glad it's over. It's sunny and nice outside and while it's not exactly springtime yet I think it's on everyone's mind. With that said, I've been having a lot of weird dreams lately, many involving women. The most memorable of the group took place on a darkened beach, but a decidedly un-Caribbean one with coarse sand

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-76849519872145525992011-02-24T08:28:00.000-08:002011-02-24T08:56:06.494-08:00

I've started to develop sort of an adversarial relationship with my boss, which is generally something I try to avoid. He's not around much- I see him maybe twice a week, but in the times when I do he's always interrogating me about something. He seems like one of the most unhappy people I've ever worked for, but I think that may be reflective of his frustrations with the restaurant I work in.So

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-65377444896829004542011-02-19T20:39:00.000-08:002011-02-19T20:42:10.558-08:00

mostly i remember the places where we have touched, thereis an overlap where i lose sight of myselfwhere we overlap i lose sight of small things, memories and possessionsstrewn about carelessly? orplaced about our bodies in some intentional time and place.how can i say? i've lied several times about love, i'velied most often to myself. i've tied it up in red dresses, the hot weather

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-18929418266013545412011-02-17T10:16:00.000-08:002011-02-17T10:56:29.816-08:00

It's sixty degrees and sunny outside and I'm getting ready to spend my day off working for free in another restaurant. I love it though. Adding to my good mood today was the realization that I no longer have to pay for bagels at my favorite neighborhood cafe. The subway station was filled with beautiful women, watching the crowd lazily and shifting their knee-high stockinged legs like a herd of

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-47353503914038529322011-02-15T09:39:00.000-08:002011-02-15T11:59:00.427-08:00

I am hilariously broke right now, after nearly two weeks of eating fabulous meals, drinking wine and generally participating in fun expensive behavior. I have eaten at (and will continue to eat at) some of the most acclaimed restaurants in the world, as well as several which would never even be considered for review by the same publishing bodies acclaiming the former group. And my conclusion is

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-19536884987480925542011-02-10T08:26:00.000-08:002011-02-10T09:42:30.231-08:00

I've been a bit busy lately. I had a nasty case of the flu last week and was bedridden for several days, which pretty much ate up all of my spare time. Since then my friend Katherine (the same Katherine I backpacked in Nicaragua with just over a year ago) has been staying with me, which has been a blast but is also eating up my money and trimming and hour or two of sleep out of my schedule every

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-29572512433500999352011-01-25T12:55:00.000-08:002011-01-25T13:40:24.378-08:00

The coffee shops here play a bizarre blend of music. But the surprising thing isn't the content, it's the volume. Listening to music that is both weird and audible is fantastic, especially when the local coffee house has a nicer system than some of the high end restaurants I've worked for. Everyone in Brooklyn seems to be in a band or live with someone who is, so local music is definitely

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-31228380711050021712011-01-19T11:15:00.000-08:002011-01-19T12:25:40.741-08:00

Well I'm all moved in to my new apartment. I got some proper bedding and have some of the other basic and vital supplies shipping to me soon, so I guess my position here is pretty stable. I've been listening to a ton of music and playing a lot of guitar, trying to get working on some new songs and wishing I had the equipment at my disposal to do some sequencing.The job is so comparatively spare

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-53678492579369525852011-01-15T15:45:00.000-08:002011-01-15T16:57:38.157-08:00

My job currently requires me to work from 8am until about 5 or 6pm which is weird for a number of reasons. The one I noticed first was that for maybe the first time in my life I was commuting at the same time as everyone else. Getting on the train at 7:30am with all the business people and then seeing them again at 5:30 when I go back to Brooklyn is really bizarre to me. But it took me a little

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-29299717176332062282011-01-14T18:37:00.001-08:002011-01-14T19:17:26.841-08:00

Apparently there were some amazingly good albums that I didn't even hear in 2010, in spite of the fact that I listened to tons and tons of music. Some of the albums I've really been into lately are R. Kelly's Love Letter, James Blackshaw's All is Falling and Ne-Yo's Libra Scale. Shout outs to Swan's My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope to the Sky and of course that Robyn album which I didn't love in

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-4472076794717393182011-01-12T09:01:00.000-08:002011-01-12T09:46:00.761-08:00

Now that I have the apartment and job all locked down and the money set up to pay rent I've been enjoying a little downtime before starting full time work tomorrow. I do still have a working interview today, but it's only 4 or 5 hours long so I still have plenty of time to sit around and eat bagels.The interview is at yet another farm-to-table style restaurant, but this one boasts the rare claim

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-23352397161368749842011-01-11T11:34:00.000-08:002011-01-11T11:53:49.450-08:00

I've looked at a lot of apartments in the past few days but I think I've finally settled on one after a lot of weird drama. It's on the eastern side of Bushwick, not far from the border into Ridgewood, Queens. It's a bit remote compared to most of the places I've looked at, but it makes up for it by being huge, comfortable and (most importantly) by having a huge backyard with a garden in it. Oh,

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-24328363911769233022011-01-10T10:25:00.000-08:002011-01-10T11:16:50.505-08:00

So I got a job. It's a contemporary Thai restaurant run by a famous chef and it's small and cool and a friend of mine works there. The pay is insultingly bad, but I'll learn a good amount about Southeast Asian food, which will pretty much solidify my Asian cooking vocabulary after stints in Chinese and Japanese/Korean restaurants. I'll be working a ton which is fine because it's winter and I need

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-47146336993664627822011-01-07T11:34:00.000-08:002011-01-07T11:46:20.257-08:00

It's the useless part of the week for job hunting so I've pretty much packed it in until Monday. In the meantime I have a pretty solid itinerary of apartment viewings and job interviews, so I feel pretty good about my progress during my first week in Brooklyn.I've been doing all my hunting and emailing from cafes with wifi. Unfortunately, my hosts have been having problems with the cable wiring

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-51403252348239924372011-01-06T17:20:00.000-08:002011-01-06T18:04:22.098-08:00

Okay I swear I'll finish the stupid and now erroneously-named end of year lists but right now I'm sitting at a cafe and don't have time to spew my unsolicited opinions. I'm in Brooklyn and it's lovely and inspiring. I've been spending my mornings sending out resumes and contacting people about rentals, and the evenings cooking and writing. I've had some money troubles involving checks not

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-46383039782178578182010-12-28T13:06:00.000-08:002010-12-28T13:41:39.304-08:00

Okay more music lists don't I have anything better to do?Part 3 - EPs.Balam Acab - See Birds.I don't know anything about this person or band but there are plenty of weird and eerie ambient noises paired with big dubstep beats and slow melodic changes. It fits nicely with several similar releases this year by Mount Kimbie, Grimes and others taking the horribly-named Chillwave trend and spinning a

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-74994032755817085572010-12-24T14:39:00.000-08:002010-12-27T11:58:50.161-08:00

I'm back in Ohio, abstaining from both family and drinking which means I either need to take another nap or continue my annual media hatefest. In compiling the list of albums I want to talk about I've realized that it is several times longer than usual, which either means that I'm slipping in my hatefulness, I've listened to a lot more music than usual this year, or there's just a ton of great

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-83758407820968533302010-12-17T18:31:00.000-08:002010-12-17T19:06:31.600-08:00

Yes it is the end of the year or thereabouts, and of course that means it's time once again to arbitrarily catalog, promote and generally re-evaluate the media that came out in the past twelve months in order to fuel a series of vitriolic and drunken arguments about the subjective quality therein. I'm not going to do a "top 10" or 20 or 50 or whatever this year, just a list of albums that I think

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-9546231187757233142010-12-15T09:41:00.000-08:002010-12-15T09:58:42.986-08:00

In five or six days I'll be leaving Chicago and heading east, first into Ohio for ten days or so and then on to New York. A few minor catastrophes have inhibited my progress in finding housing in New York (first the abrupt departure from my apartment, then a stomach virus that left me lying in bed and vomiting for two days) but I'm ready to get back to work and put things in order for the

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-86492552585748395602010-12-04T09:53:00.001-08:002010-12-04T09:56:19.412-08:00

I'm moving out of my apartment tomorrow. I'll still be floating around Chicago for the next two weeks but it's time for me to get my things and go. The future is confusing and full of all sorts of questions but here we go. With a resurrected car and a couple of boxes I will sling myself across the freeway on the change in my pockets and do this thing again that has made me so exhausted.Apologies

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-70513085873320929022010-11-29T09:24:00.000-08:002010-11-29T09:48:44.803-08:00

I'm waiting to hear back from my potential roommate about a sublease in Williamsburg. The room is very small, but I own virtually nothing and what little I do have may not even make the trip with me, so the size seems unimportant. I've allowed myself to get a little excited about the prospect but for now home life is still a little strange and distracting.I helped move the new roommate (my

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-18402365590770646592010-11-16T13:01:00.000-08:002010-11-16T13:36:41.340-08:00

So Rose has asked me to leave. It's a weird and bittersweet thing and there has been some drama but that's not what I want to talk about.The restaurant I spent the majority of my time in Chicago working for received a Michelin star today, which is basically the highest and most credible honor in the industry. Do I think it was well deserved? Not really, but I was glad to be a part of the team

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-41943754706414713712010-11-08T18:17:00.000-08:002010-11-08T18:39:10.917-08:00

It seems like the powers that be are sending me a pretty concise message: get the fuck out of Chicago.My job is quickly turning into a disaster. The chef and owner have a growing animosity for one another which is driving away everyone who works for them. On the nights when we get out early enough that the neighborhood bars are still open my co-workers talk over beers about the various jobs

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-74805248470900781622010-10-26T13:56:00.000-07:002010-10-26T14:51:36.346-07:00

The weather has been really perfect lately. Midwesterners talk about weather more than any other group of people I've spent time around, but I suppose it's probably because the weather is so unbearably shitty when it gets bad that it's worth celebrating the good months. The October full moon has come and gone and with it the last really warm and beautiful days of early autumn.I'm ready to hunker

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-60139248914345329762010-10-11T14:06:00.000-07:002010-10-11T14:38:51.315-07:00

Tomorrow I'm going in to talk to one of the chefs I staged with about a job. I intend to offer him four days a week, which I'm sure he'll be less than enthusiastic about, but he made it sound like I had the job if I wanted it, so I'm hoping it gives me a bit of leverage.I've taken a lot of scrutiny from both peers in the industry and friends outside of it for walking out of my job, but I'm (

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-29184258554226099832010-10-06T15:15:00.001-07:002010-10-06T15:50:46.827-07:00

I've spent so much time in the past few days drifting between restaurants and cafes it feels like I'm on the move again. Rose is en route to Jersey for a few days and I'm setting up yet another round of one day restaurant stages. But I'm not really thinking about restaurants right now.During my weeks of non-stop work I imagined a time when I wouldn't be working quite so much and did myself the

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-81981098933466479612010-10-04T09:39:00.000-07:002010-10-04T09:55:25.201-07:00

And I am not answering.The stages continue, kitchen after kitchen filled with demoralized cooks who seem to hate each other and their jobs. There is a sense of dread and vindictiveness reminiscent of a Wells Tower story in many of them. It forces difficult questions, asking whether this is really what I want to do? for maybe the first time ever. I feel frustrated, misdirected, not really sure

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-56200911351765869712010-10-01T11:58:00.000-07:002010-10-01T12:10:16.095-07:00

I've been cooking a lot lately. In addition to improving my sourdough technique, I've been teaching myself how to make ramen noodles from scratch and am planning on teaching myself several other pasta techniques which don't require a machine. In particular I've been interested in mastering la mian, a traditional hand-drawn noodle from Lanzhou. I've stocked my fridge with broths, sauces, bones and

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-82344597215714543212010-09-29T19:44:00.000-07:002010-09-29T20:10:10.534-07:00

It's hard for me to understand the scope of my own decisions at this point. I spent the day relaxing and thinking about what to do next, and it felt amazing. I cooked a lot, watched movies and read a wonderful John Updike novel. It was like being in college again, poverty and all. I miss all of it, even the idea of not having any money being perfectly acceptable. But I need to make some serious

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-81441135463436923682010-09-28T10:02:00.000-07:002010-09-28T10:22:16.580-07:00

I've been doing working interviews at a bunch of places in the past few days. Everyone has offered me a job but I'm not very enthusiastic about any of them. A few years ago I would have been happy to take any job that was offered to me, especially when they meant opportunities to learn about new kinds of food, but in Chicago it's very different. Taking a "desirable" job means working 12-14 hours

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-79924816345370392332010-09-23T12:19:00.000-07:002010-09-23T12:27:57.249-07:00

I walked out of my job today. I was talking to the sous-chef about managing the staff better in order to make the restaurant organized and keep things from falling through the cracks, and he suggested that I work harder to do these things myself and called me lazy. Which of course is ridiculous. Everyone in that restaurant puts in long hours and works their ass off to make it work, and lazy is

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-62816740001066911002010-09-22T18:08:00.000-07:002010-09-22T18:19:28.311-07:00

There are car and train places that I think can be accessed no other way, their memories carefully stowed away beneath roadside cairns or commemorated in other ritualistic ways I don't fully understand. This return to the Midwest has awakened the weirdness of that in me again and I find myself retracing my footsteps- not literally but in abstract ways- following the strange trails that memory

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-64608438581172112892010-09-14T10:10:00.002-07:002010-09-14T10:28:45.054-07:00

About two weeks ago autumn came whirling in out of nowhere. The sky changed one day and that was it. We've all started eating beets and turnips and wearing our hoodies and enjoying French pressed coffee at the table at 7am, cooling our heads in the still-dark commutes somehow emerging from the subway tunnels in full daylight. A year ago, several hundred miles from here was one of the happiest

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-25911957216819373252010-08-01T16:15:00.000-07:002010-08-01T16:52:08.613-07:00

I'm trying to clear my head after one of the hardest weeks of my life, but still feeling a bit jittery and disoriented. My muscles are sore and my bones feel brittle. I've been eating constantly and reading today in order to get my strength back, and it's fantastically satisfying. The most enticing ideas in my life are centered around comfortable furniture and leisure time, which makes me very

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-64854317366748819942010-07-23T20:01:00.000-07:002010-07-23T20:15:46.964-07:00

It's been over a month since I updated here, mostly because I've been having a lot of trouble saying positive things and I don't want this blog to be a drag. But with any luck I've saved enough up to make it worthwhile.Last weekend I took a trip to Ohio to attend the wedding of a friend I've known since high school, and it was a pretty uplifting trip. The ceremony itself was really nice, and it's

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-47655926246261676642010-06-15T09:47:00.000-07:002010-06-15T14:45:33.517-07:00

After burning through yet another 80 hour week I'm feeling a bit wrecked. I spent almost the entire day yesterday sleeping and reading, though I did manage to get out of the house for a few hours to eat some Bahn Mi at a little shop in Albany Park and some pupusas at a Central American restaurant just a few blocks away. I went with a co-worker and the two of us have been brainstorming on the

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-77616111020986532692010-06-09T09:20:00.000-07:002010-06-09T09:39:45.123-07:00

I've been in Chicago for over three months now and it actually feels like someplace I live, in spite of the fact that I've scarcely stopped moving long enough to get my bearings. I cram in relaxation wherever I can- a few pages of a book on the train, a momentary stop in a cafe before work or a much needed extra ten minutes of sleep wherever I can fit them in. The truth is that I'm working my ass

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-81075142635086717332010-05-25T19:41:00.000-07:002010-05-25T20:44:43.374-07:00

Today Rose, Ella and I went to one of the 30 or so public beaches in Chicago and had a fantastic day. The weather was perfect and the crowds were surprisingly small, so we walked up and down the shore and along the docks at the same beach I visited a year ago just before visiting the West coast and moving to Philadelphia.Covering the same ground a second time always dredges up strange memories

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-71678128353265735472010-05-08T20:33:00.001-07:002010-05-08T20:54:19.068-07:00

Today was my last day at the first Chicago job. They have lost four or five cooks in the past month and only three of the line cooks who were there when I started remain. I feel kind of bad for them and did what I could to work a lot before my two weeks ended in order to make it easier, but. They pay poverty-level wages and offer little incentive to work for them. It doesn't help that the chef is

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-23251935403499950292010-05-04T07:45:00.000-07:002010-05-04T21:36:38.427-07:00

My apartment is now infested with bed bugs. For a few years now I've considered this an inevitability with my penchant for travel, frequent hotel stays and big moves. I have no idea where they came from, but the piles of discarded mattresses and couches in the alley indicate that there might be a bit of an epidemic happening.The girls are pretty freaked out about the whole thing, while I just

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-53523625173348350372010-05-02T09:28:00.000-07:002010-05-02T09:56:25.661-07:00

There are plenty of things that I had forgotten about the Midwest during my long travels around the coasts, but it only took a week or so before I remembered them so clearly. Here are just a few.Girls dress like whores. Let me make this clear: there is such a thing as slutty hot, and there is such a thing as trashy hot, but many of the women here are trashy sluts. If you're wearing only tights

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-33817059968299828502010-04-29T13:22:00.000-07:002010-04-29T13:52:22.164-07:00

The weather has been marvelous. People have bickered about it too, of course. But it's been a long time since I felt like I experienced spring, whether it was because of the mildness of the Pacific Northwest winters or the sudden heat of early summers in the past few years. This time I've had time to walk around in the still-chilly weather and watch the trees grow and the flowers bloom one at a

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-23183442112369843772010-04-25T08:49:00.000-07:002010-04-25T09:39:17.584-07:00

I've been hired for a new job in a much busier and more ambitious restaurant. The hours will be brutal (13-16 hour days) but it pays twice as much as my current job and I'll have opportunities to work with much more diverse seasonal foods.It's recently become more and more obvious to me that most people don't pay any attention to food and restaurant trends. It often causes confusion when I

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-38026153514521868692010-04-20T08:09:00.000-07:002010-04-20T08:21:18.476-07:00

Of all the new things in my life the stress is the most like everything proceeding it. There is an overblown and unreasonable amount of expectation at work, especially considering the poverty-level wages I'm paid, and it's followed by more unnecessary nagging and prodding from my girlfriend when I get home. I get it that she's stressed and just needs to work on redirecting that someplace else,

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-82527577518159661452010-04-11T07:15:00.001-07:002010-04-11T07:37:45.419-07:00

Earlier this week I drove to Ohio intending to stay for only a few hours, but car trouble and my father's health problems kept me in town for an extra day. Several of my friends were also visiting from out of town, some who I haven't seen in years, and we had an awesome time. Being back in Ohio is always a weird reminder of how I kind of have my shit together now, because I've moved around so

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-2036324023263349792010-03-29T20:57:00.000-07:002010-03-29T21:22:52.621-07:00

I've been spending a lot of quality time with my sourdough starter lately, which has paid off wonderfully. If you've never attempted to maintain or bake with a starter you should know that it's definitely a matter of discipline, just like exercising or any other tedious but fulfilling activity. I've gotten myself into the habit of baking bread nearly every time I have a day off which had added a

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-80487945966237736652010-03-28T07:48:00.000-07:002010-03-28T11:17:09.150-07:00

The Grill was one of the first restaurants I ever worked in, and today is its last day in operation for the indefinite future. I remember going in when I was still too little to see over the counter, and as I got older it was the coolest place to hang out. My friends congregated there every day after school to sip coffee and smoke cigarettes. And of course its place as a cornerstone in community

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-72803525351349725642010-03-22T20:42:00.001-07:002010-03-22T21:05:50.546-07:00

Everyone in the house has a job now, but Rose still hasn't found anyone reliable enough to take care of Ella while we're at work. Until we find someone capable of doing it without charging so much money that it costs more than we make in a day of work we're just trading off Ella responsibilities. Today was my first full day solo with her.There were definitely a few disasters. When I woke her up

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-36666336032893462492010-03-20T08:25:00.000-07:002010-03-20T09:29:20.542-07:00

The job is going well. The food is good, if a trifle unambitious. The chef tells me he plans to try to get more people with experience like mine into the kitchen in order to add a bit of finesse and subtlety to their preparations but I have my doubts, since the pay is so lousy. In the meantime I'm broke as hell and any money is good.It's snowing pretty hard right now. It was in the upper 60s and

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-12990730133119754372010-03-15T16:10:00.000-07:002010-03-15T16:31:58.765-07:00

It's not really a surprise, but still cause for some celebration. I landed the job at the charcuterie bar and I start later this week. I'll probably be working around 40 hours, which is practically a vacation compared to my most recent string of jobs. Still, I haven't worked at all in about 3 months and I'm sure it'll be exhausting at first.The bad news is that the money is pretty lousy, but it's

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-55158473708991429652010-03-14T09:09:00.000-07:002010-03-14T10:03:59.560-07:00

I've been having a lovely time hanging around the house, cooking lots of food, and organizing the odds and ends from our move that haven't really found a home yet. We'll all be going back to work soon so it's nice to have a bit of downtime before things get hectic again. In particular it's reassuring to me that my relationship can function so well when we're together constantly for days at a

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-82490212005410675702010-03-13T06:36:00.000-08:002010-03-13T08:34:19.836-08:00

I went in for my working audition yesterday and I think it went very well. I expect to hear back from them on Monday about a job, but in the meantime I'll probably do some more cursory searching.In the meantime it's nice to be lazy with the knowledge that I'll be making money again soon. I've been making bread and cooking at home, kicking around fun ideas for imaginary restaurants I would open in

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-50325884609322350992010-03-11T08:05:00.000-08:002010-03-11T09:22:25.968-08:00

The restaurant I came to Chicago to work in has pushed back its opening date yet again. I'm not particularly surprised and have already taken a few steps to find temporary work until it gets off the ground. I have a working interview at a pub in Old Town which specializes in charcuterie tomorrow and I feel pretty good about it.For those of you unfamiliar with charcuterie, it's the practice of

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-71772637527886857522010-03-09T08:30:00.000-08:002010-03-09T09:00:58.644-08:00

Sorry about that.The past two weeks have been pretty crazy. Between flying back to Philadelphia, my girlfriend's family being (understandably) upset that we were moving away with their granddaughter in tow, a blizzard in Philadelphia on the day we left, and various move-in related complications things have been a bit stressful.I'm happy to say that right now I'm sitting at our new and totally

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-7696212692675985622010-02-19T10:01:00.000-08:002010-02-19T10:40:42.818-08:00

I missed the United States. The fact that I've had 5 cheeseburgers and Cokes in as many days should be a fine testament to that. Cafes with free Wi-Fi, electrical outlets inlaid in the floor's tilework for easy access from any of the nearby couches, bookstores with stacks of 'used' (maybe 100 pages of actual reading was done, here) copies of Moby Dick, Infinite Jest, V., et al are nice things. At

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-32460713555436463972010-02-17T09:52:00.000-08:002010-02-17T10:36:31.219-08:00

From the moment I arrive in San Jose I knew this week was going to be stressful, but goddamn. I have been so exhausted. Between scouring the apartment ads, running all over Chicago meeting leasing agents and trying to calm my stressed out girlfriend about the move I am unbelievably fatigued. I suppose this is probably a good re-introduction to society for someone who hasn't worked a day since

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-65018899509707881612010-02-16T12:07:00.000-08:002010-02-16T12:19:00.647-08:00

I'm in Chicago. There has been some catching up with friends and apartment hunting. To be honest, I haven't really talked to anyone I don't know from some other city since I've been here. It should feel weird but it doesn't.The apartments are huge and fabulously cheap. The idea of renting a three bedroom in a nice neighborhood for $1000 a month would be amazing to me before I was even told about

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-38329219795581421202010-02-13T03:37:00.000-08:002010-02-13T03:56:22.928-08:00

It's a no man's land. Gradually putting the words together, when words still mix easily with other things- odd bits of sunlight, the humming of fans, running water, the sleep taste in my mouth. In the mornings before it gets hot there is a clarity. As in: just for a moment, when the sky is still purple, the dew is still perceptible, the edges of things coalesce for a second and they become only

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-75740225194362730012010-02-12T13:56:00.000-08:002010-02-12T14:33:44.508-08:00

Last night was my last night with my two longest-running travel companions. I spent most of my trip with Katherine, who pretty much planned the thing, and I spent the last two weeks or so traveling with Tomi, my Israeli friend.It was a strange night. We got on a chicken bus on Isla de Ometepe at 8am, and rode a series of buses and boats crossing into Costa Rica until 10pm. It was an exhausting

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-6471008809844431582010-02-12T04:17:00.000-08:002010-02-12T04:43:05.563-08:00

The return to San Jose has been a strange one. We're staying at the same hostel we came to when I originally flew into Costa Rica, which puts a lot of my traveling into context. I suppose I didn't realize how differently I'm thinking about things until treading over the same ground a second time. Now I realize this trip has actually changed me quite a bit.San Jose, on the other hand is still the

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-39404294604695963622010-02-10T06:41:00.000-08:002010-02-10T07:04:40.517-08:00

Today is my last non-travel day before I begin the trek back to San Jose and my flight back to the states. We're planning to kayak around the island and up a river in the isthmus between the two volcanoes. Katherine is also demanding that we go to a small island called Monkey Island. There are signs up around the hostel specifically warning of the many dangers of Monkey Island and there is even

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-73540510941891641392010-02-07T12:56:00.000-08:002010-02-07T13:15:30.712-08:00

It's another lovely 95 degree day in Granada. News from across the states of low temperatures and multiple feet of snow have only made me savor it more. Other tourists complain of the heat, but at this point I have such a deep tan and am so well acclimated to the weather that it feels normal. I'm sure my arrival at the Detroit Metro Airport next week will be a jarring one.Yesterday we took a

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-56410829550762476382010-02-06T05:48:00.000-08:002010-02-06T06:17:55.296-08:00

Granada is lovely but strange. While it's certainly cleaner and better kept than Leon, the colonial architecture is very similar. The presence of expats, on the other hand, is more than a little bit jarring. Just walking down the street and seeing into a block apartment with some dreadlocked white kids sitting on a couch under a mural taken straight from the cover of Hard Day's Night is pretty

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-53954326342411057282010-02-05T06:32:00.000-08:002010-02-05T06:55:39.498-08:00

Oh hey.So I'm finally leaving Leon this morning. It's definitely been the best part of my trip between the great food, nearby volcano hikes and multitude of friends I've made in the city.There is a small hike-for-charity organization called Quetzal Trekkers which is based in Antigua, Guatemala and Leon, and I went on two seperate excursions with them during my time in and around Leon. The first

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-46648231554992902682010-02-04T17:08:00.000-08:002010-02-04T17:17:13.664-08:00

I just returned from a three day canyon hike near the border of Honduras. I'll fill you in on the details soon, but for now here is a link to some pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027340&id=1495052968&l=044e0b84f0I would use html like a normal person but apparently this Nicaraguan computer is forbidding that sort of thing.Hopefully I'll have time for some words tomorrow.

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-56343170032171049822010-01-30T17:36:00.000-08:002010-01-30T17:59:46.607-08:00

Spending time in transit has had an enormous effect on me lately. In the past I've commuted to work one way or another, whether on my bicycle or on trolleys or buses, but the drawn out bus rides in Nicaragua have a different quality to them. It's by no means comfortable to sit on a retrofitted schoolbus designed for children, especially with my tall frame and for six hours at a time, but it

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-22104141278947742312010-01-29T13:40:00.000-08:002010-01-29T13:54:14.966-08:00

I just returned from a volcano hike. It was pretty exhausting and lots of fun. Also: the proceeds go to help 'street kids,' which I assume are similar to those 'Ghetto Children' Stevie Wonder was always talking about.I got to climb up onto the lip of the crater and look over at the lava, which was pretty exciting and strange. You can only stay on the edge for so long before breathing in the

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-70402890419114609862010-01-27T10:10:00.000-08:002010-01-27T10:34:15.715-08:00

Okay, I´m feeling a lot better now.Leon is absolutely fabulous. While Katherine has been off volcano boarding (don´t ask me to explain this- just google it) I´ve befriended a lone Israeli (I thought they only traveled in groups) and we have had a succession of amazing street food adventures.The food here is so much better than anything I had in eastern Nicaragua it´s unbelievable. Sure, the

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-13082629349355631342010-01-26T06:57:00.000-08:002010-01-26T07:10:27.192-08:00

Oh backpackers.The is a persistant elitism here, constantly preaching about the Cultural Impact of the West on the Third World, telling me how bad my government is, how important Sustainable Tourism is. I asked at one point if anyone else thought it was ironic that we were discussing these things on a tropical beach with daquiris and margaritas in hand, and the answer is: only I find this

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-30694510297370797472010-01-23T11:53:00.000-08:002010-01-23T12:18:29.472-08:00

...in the Tropical Places of the third world there is a decay in the air- some strange Force that sends civilization packing, corrodes the moving parts of machinery with its salt-water air, the inevitable omnipresence of sand pumicing away and engulfing evidence of Progress, the humidity permeating every surface and structure with a slow, now barely noticeable rot, the strange dampness

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-77099318804761506622010-01-21T10:56:00.000-08:002010-01-21T11:17:54.748-08:00

Constant power outages and intestinal problems have kept me away from the internet for some time. Both were anticipated long before my arrival in Nicaragua, and the result has been a forced slowdown of my activities. While I certainly can complain about the diarrhea, the subsequent days of lying on the beach with literature and fruit juice at either side have been not entirely unpleasant.The

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-28814251181033981902010-01-15T09:38:00.000-08:002010-01-15T09:54:21.606-08:00

I've finally arrived in the Corn Islands, which is to be my first real stop amidst all this traveling, or at least the first intentional one. The skies are clear, I have a bit of a sunburn, the ocean is a kind of deep blue I have never seen anywhere. There are offers from all directions of scuba diving, hikes, old abandoned towers to climb which offer a view of the entire island. But my

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34118900.post-23156019681565860282010-01-12T15:11:00.000-08:002010-01-12T15:26:27.934-08:00

It´s hard to write about this without bragging, but I´ve really been doing my best.Nicaragua is awesome. It´s about 1/5 of the price of Costa Rica and quite a bit more raw. I´ve been more or less constantly traveling, which has made things more expensive than they need to be, but at the same time I´ve had opportunities to see all sorts of amazing things. I´ve been pretty faithfully keeping a

ninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00925726721073490164noreply@blogger.com2