Muse IK

"The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding." - John Updike

A thought that’s been on my mind lately.

Well I’m up late, a-music-ing.

So far I’ve listened to and fell in love with a few:

Spoon – Gimme Fiction – I listened to what I found online and one day, I’ll buy from Amazon at the low low price of $8.99 via download.

Los Campesinos – I’m listening to their new album right now via their myspace page. I really like it. It has the fun, upbeat quality that I associate with bands like the Black Kids. Makes me want to get up and dance around like I’m in some 80’s movie with Andrew McCarthy.

Port O’Brien – This is another mental note to buy their album in the future. I’ll probably just add it to my ever growing Amazon wish list. I came across this band compliments of My Old Kentucky Blog, which I was reminded of tonight after chatting with Julia, who actually got to meet the man behind the Tuesday at noon Sirius magic. Even though he has a goatee and hails from Indiana, I am still wildly jealous. But the band itself is great. Again, an upbeat fun-loving troupe of players. Just listening to them makes me crave a live viewing.

Dark Meat – Another MOKB suggestion from SXSW. Although I enjoyed their music, it’s not something I’d buy to listen to all the time. Interesting jam out sections, but a little too rock heavy for my tastes.

Sam Cooke – I first heard The Animals cover “Bring It on Home to Me” and I fell in love with the song, but I listened to the Sam Cooke version tonight and I’m almost ashamed of how much I liked the cover. I even put it on my “I’m Leaving” Mix! Sam Cooke puts them to shame. His voice is so wonderful, so powerful.

It’s been a good night musically speaking. And again, thanks to Julia for inspiring this musically themed blog post.

I need a job

Here again in Seattle. My eff-ing back hasn’t been getting better, but it has provided an excellent excuse to be lazy. After four days of lying about and looking at stupid shit on the internet, I’m finally bored. So in a major move, I showered, dressed and had a glass of wine. Now I’m back on the couch, listening to Animal Collective and pondering human existence. Maybe I’ll take copious notes on my musings and declare myself a couch philosopher. My other big idea is dealing drugs. I’ve seen the movies. I can do that from the couch. I can even wear my yoga pants while dealing and it will give me a touch of class. Being this close to Canada has it merits.

Hmmm how can I surprise Mackenzie when she comes home? The sight of me in a dress might be enough, but I think I can pull off something bigger. Maybe a laser light show? I’ve never been to one, so I’m not sure what happens, but I think I can whip something up with a flashlight and some techno. There’s no way I can get my hands on a fog machine. I’ll just light three or four incense sticks. At least it will smell better than a fog machine. I don’t really like techno or Pink Floyd, so I’ll hip up my show with the Animal Collective. They are very laser light show worthy. In fact, if I were to review their latest CD it might say something like “very laser light show worthy.” My talent is endless.

For My Beloved Grandmother

My grandmother requested that I write about more than Maximo, and as she’s 25% of my audience, I must obey her commands.

I’m bumming around Seattle these days. I got here last Wednesday and finally got to shave my legs. That was a big moment on my trip. I can’t quite figure out why, but something about Oregon caused me to stop shaving my legs. But I knew Mackenzie would kick me out on my ass if I tried to pull that shit round here, so back to shaving!

In other news, I pulled my back out a bit on Friday. That put a damper on the weekend, but it did provide and excuse to drink all weekend. It wasn’t too bad, not spasming or anything, but it hurt and I didn’t want to it get worse, so we stayed in for much of the weekend. Mackie and I went shopping on Saturday and I got some cardigans because it’s cold and wet in Seattle. Go figure. I overheard a great bit of conversation while hanging around the store:

Woman 1: Wait, is he black or white?
Woman 2: No, he’s British.
Woman 1: Ok.

Because British is an acceptable answer to that question.

That night we stayed in again and watched Flight of the Concords, Dirty Dancing and St. Elmo’s Fire. Which started me on a bit of an Andrew McCarthy kick. I’ve renamed the cat Blane in anticipation of the day I watch Pretty in Pink. I think I might cut my hair short and sew two dresses together for the occasion. I watched Mannequin and some crappy movie about him inheriting a church in England tonight. He pulled off a terrible southern accent for that one and I’m still not sure if he was supposed to have some sort of mental handicap or if I’m just attributing some Forrest Gump characteristics because of the accent. And after watching these movies I will cry myself to sleep tonight wishing I had been born early enough to better experience his 80's glory.

This morning we went to brunch with Mackie’s work friends and their boyfriends/husbands. I was the seventh wheel, but it wasn’t bad because I got a mimosa.

I ordered some books today in a fit of weakness. Russell Brand’s new book looks amazing and who could pass up a title like “My Booky Wook?” I also read an excerpt and he tosses around some fairly big words, so my vocabulary also stands to benefit. The other book is a feminist revaluation of Gone with the Wind that thankfully someone else wrote, saving me the time and energy.

I’ve updated my resume and I’m going to start looking for work soon. I’m going to look in both Seattle and Portland. Because if I live in Oregon, I won’t have to shave my legs.

My Cat, Maximo

Well I’m here in Seattle and I need to get something off my chest. Maximo is the best cat ever and this entire post is going to be dedicated to him. Who cares if this is self-indulgent? It’s my damn blog and I will take the time to write about the best cat ever.

First of all, he is a handsome cat. He has a lovely, rich, shiny coat in a funny tuxedo pattern. He’s a big cat, but not fat or skinny. Just big ole handsome boy he is! Yes, I will occasionally slip into baby talk while discussing his merits.

As for attitude, his is perfect. Many have called him cranky and mean, but he’s not. You just have to approach him in the right way. This is to leave him alone until he randomly decides to show you some affection. Now, because he’s just so damn cute I have to rub his little head every five seconds and he’ll tolerate this. For a bit. But soon he’ll get cranky and take a swipe at me and I’ll leave him alone for about two hours. Then he comes crawling back and will sit next to me again. And I’ll rub his head.

He also lets me hold him. My favorite way is to hold him like a baby and rock him till he twists from my vice-like grip and hides under a bed or couch. He’s so patient; only attacking me when I really deserve it. He puts up with me smushing his head all the time and occasionally rubbing his belly.

And every night he sleeps at my feet and keeps them warm. I have to be careful not move my feet too much or he’ll start attacking them. Oh I love that little furball!
Don’t bother trying to argue that your cat is better. Because s/he isn’t. Maximo is the best cat ever!

Portland

To wrap up my Eugene experience, Eva, Cade and I headed out to the coast on Saturday. We started off on the Hobbit’s Trail to the ocean. The woods were lovely, dark and deep, to paraphrase Robert Frost. Everything under the tree canopy was bright green. I ended up taking 96 pictures. The trail took us right to the shore. We played with the dog on the beach for awhile and I found a dark sand dollar, a little beat up, but I kept it for a souvenir. We then took a really long hike to the light house. I’m not sure how long it was, but my God, my legs were aching. I made it back to the car without passing out and then went down to the Devil’s Churn. I got to go right up to the edge of the cliff and see the waves crashing up on it. The whole day was incredibly beautiful, but really really tiring.

The next day Eva woke me up to go to the train. There was a slight moment of daylight savings time induced panic, but luckily Eva’s phone alarm reset on its own. I took the train up to Portland and slept most of the time. Ali came to pick me up at the train station and gave me the mini-tour of the posh side of Portland.

To use my new found Portland lingo, we then went to the South East side. We hung out at her and Kurt’s place for awhile and some friends stopped by. The most memorable part of the afternoon was one of their male friends asking Ali to educate his girlfriend in “feminine pride”. It was incredibly awkward for everyone in the room, but made for many jokes later. We went out to a few bars later and I had a few too many beers, but that’s how you keep warm in Portland. We did get to play a game of pucks and talk about everyone from back home.

On Monday I went with Ali into downtown Portland. We took the bus in and the people behind us on the bus were having the most intense discussion I’ve heard outside of a Hallmark movie. From what I could gather, the young man had some sort of “problem” and the girl was tired, she just couldn’t take it anymore. She really wanted to break up with him, but she knew that she’d regret it for the rest of her life. He said that was a terrible thing to say and if she wanted to break-up then they should. She cried at some point and he, softly, told her not to do that. After a few moments of silence, she said “Thank you for throwing my scale out the window”, and he said “You know I don’t care about those things.” Then Ali and I got off the bus and immediately started their discussion and relationship.

After Ali went to school, I walked around for a bit then went to the movies, mostly to get out of the rain/snow. After the movie, I met up with my friend Morgan. We checked out his hood, and then went to visit his friends. We watched some TV on DVD and then he took me back to Ali’s, where I joined them in some TV on the internet watching. I wonder if the Age of the American Commercial is over as we know it. Everyone watches shows commercial free now. What will the advertisers do next?

And that brings me to today, after a slow morning, I went down to visit Ali’s work. She works for Free Geek, a non-profit organization that recycles computers. As Ali put it in the tour, Free Geek addresses two problems. The first is that people are throwing away their electronics which fill landfills and pollute water. The second is that computers are a necessity of our bright future and life without one today is incomplete and un-rewarding. So donors will drop off their old computers at Free Geek, where volunteers and staff will assess the state of the computer and its components and decide whether to rebuild and refurnish it, or break it down for parts. It’s quite an impressive operation and everyone I met was friendly and chill.

Now I’m back at Ali’s and I’m going to by my train ticket for tomorrow. I’m heading up to Seattle and the culmination of my trip.

Slow Times in Eugene

Been laying low in Eugene lately. Eva and Cade work in the morning, so I’ve been spending my time watching movies on the internet and attempting to plan my future.
Saturday, after I arrived, we went for a brief hike then out to dinner. Sunday morning we went to brunch and I had some really good French toast. Eva made dinner that night and she and I have been watching back episodes of The Office on Netflix.

On Monday night we went out to Trivia at the local bar. Although our team made a valiant effort, we lost. Last night we went to a dinner party with some of Cade’s grad school friends. Everyone out here is very chill. Although they all came off as incredibly intelligent, there was nothing pretentious about it. At least I didn’t think so. But that could be because they are surrounded by smart people and don’t have to deal with the stupids. The topic of socialism came up and I always find funny when a group of intellectuals discuss the plight of the working man.

One of my favorite parts of Oregon is the beer. There are so many microbreweries and imported ales. The selection is endless. It’s nice to sit and really enjoy a beer rather than chug one in an attempt to get drunk. I picked up a bottle from Trader Joe’s of Black Sheep Ale. It was “clean, crisp and bittersweet”, just as the label promised. I also had some Red Rose Amber Ale. I liked it as well, but it tasted like your average red beer.

The food out here was been great as well. Everyone buys local and organic and there are also plenty of vegetarians, so I’m at home.

So I should be getting big and fat sitting here eating, drinking beer and watching stuff on the internet, but I’m not. I’ve been going for a few walks and hikes. My first day, I got locked out after a trip to the coffee shop, so I walked around Amazon Park for about an hour till Eva got home. Then I went with her to walk Red, the dog, the other night. We went up to a trail in the woods and walked around till it got too dark.

We’re going to go to the coast for a hike on Saturday, so hopefully I’ll get some good pictures then. I’m really excited to see it. My dad told me to make sure I saw the Oregon coast while out here.

Up the Coast

I made it to Eugene in one piece. Oregon immediately felt more like home to me than any other place. Perhaps the trees, rain and dirty hippy folk helped. I left LA on the 27th. The rest of my time there was good. We went to a cool coffee shop and Nicole took me to the divest bar she knew, The Frolic Room. It didn’t smell like pee and the bathrooms weren’t covered in graffiti, but it was ok. The dim lighting helped the mood. We also did some tourist stuff like drive up Mulholland and look at the star prints in front of the theatre.

So the 26-hour train ride was interesting. The scenery was spectacular. It started off in a desert like area outside of LA. Then we moved onto the farms near Oxnard, all very flat and green, filled with migrant workers. As we made our way up the coast, we headed into rolling green hills. It almost looked like Ireland in spring. Bright bright green and dotted with cows. You seldom saw any people.

Inside the train was a different story. Thankfully it wasn’t packed and I got the seat next to me for the entire ride as well. The conductor in our section was a very no-nonsense woman, so much so that I named her the Seat Nazi. God forbid you were in the wrong seat. Her wrath was terrible and she wielded her power over us like a sword of flames. There was a little old woman in front of me; she’d clearly taken this ride many times as she came prepared with a pillow, blanket and provisions. For some reason, the Seat Nazi hated her. Perhaps she didn’t give the Seat Nazi the due respect upon entering her car. Across from the little old lady was Beard Guy. His beard was something to behold. It came down to the middle of his chest. Oddly enough, he was dressed like a frat boy; his hair was short and kept under a baseball cap. Initially, I thought he had crazy eyes and vowed to stay away, but he turned out to be quite nice and bonded with the woman next to him. Those two were with me on the train from LA to Eugene and although others came and went, not many were memorable.

By nightfall, we reached Northern California. I saw the outskirts of San Jose and Oakland, but in daylight, Santa Barbara looked the most appealing. I had dinner in the dining car and I learned not to make that mistake again. The food was terrible and not worth the price at all. Better to stick to the snack car. But I did get to watch the sunset from there.

That night I tried to figure out the best way to sleep in my seat. After observing my neighbors, I raised both leg rests to their maximum and curled up in the space with my head on the seat next to me. Not optimal, but it got the job done. I was just nodding off when the fun began. The conductor from the car in front of us, let’s call her Dumbass, escorted a man back to his seat. Which for some reason she thought was behind me. Dumbass ignored the tag above the seat declaring it empty and left him there. This man was clearly crazy and I could hear him behind me, talking to himself in the most colorful terms and playing with his plastic bag. From now on, he will be known as Crazy. With the story of the man stabbed on the bus in Canada running through my head, I knew there was no way I was going to fall asleep that close to crazy. Keeping my ears peeled for words like “Cut”, “Knife” or “Sam”, I tried to determine how I could survive a stabbing and if the Bearded Guy would be close enough to rescue me but I knew my salvation lay in the hands of the Seat Nazi. Sure enough she returned and flipped out that Crazy was in the wrong seat. I considered telling her that it was Dumbass’s fault, but I opted to play asleep as she led him into the other car and to his seat. After that I nodded off for a bit, but then I awoke suddenly. Someone was sitting behind me, muttering to himself and playing with a plastic bag. Great, this would go on all night. Then I heard Crazy say something like “Oh my God, what’s wrong with them? Are they OK?” and I realized he was referring to the slumbering passengers around him. He got up and went to the lady next to him, shaking her awake. He kept asking “Are you OK?” She was not pleased. Just then, the Seat Nazi returned and again, saved us from Crazy. This was getting ridiculous and I figured they would kick him off the train at the next stop. We picked up a few more passengers at that stop and the Seat Nazi assigned a man to the seat behind me. He looked like a pedophile and kept making weird grunting sounds, but it was much better than Crazy. I kept looking out the window, expecting to see the police leading Crazy away, but nothing happened. I nodded off again, only to be woken by Crazy, not happy that his seat was taken. But thankfully, he moved on to the next car. Shortly after, he was followed by three Amtrak employees in suits. They told us that he was being taken off the train. So I was able to sleep comfortably with the grunts of the pedophile-looking man behind me assuring me of my safety.

I woke at dawn the next day and got to watch the sunrise over the Northern California mountains. It was beautiful. Soon we crossed into Oregon and the weather began to change. Up in the mountains, it was snowing. The trip through the mountains right before Eugene was my favorite part. I wish my pictures had turned out better. The pines covered everything and there were piles and piles of snow everywhere. There was no way you’d get a car up there, so it was a truly unique view. After we came down I arrived in Eugene and Eva was waiting at the train station. I think the Seat Nazi took a shine to me as she helped me off the train and called me dear. But I also hope never to see her again.