the song remains the same

driving over to amy's parents house this afternoon, we flicked through the fm channels on the radio to come full stop at a clearly defined note tearing from the guitar of jimmy page. the song was in its last two frames, then to a dj interlude "we are in the middle of a led zeppelin marathon weekend," he announced with great fervor (as one would expect from a dj at a radio station that would play led zeppelin, and a led zeppelin marathon at that.

zeppelin reminds me of the 15-yr old boy who still occupies a part of my brain. that part of me screamed out on this beautiful 67degree and sunny sunday in baltimore. i hit the robert plant falsetto and surprised more than just amy by recalling the lyrics word for word, jammed on the air guitar to the utmost of my out-of-practice ability, and flashed devil horns, yes devil horns at others on the roadway, all as i danced in the passenger seat crooning with the warmth of a rock-n-roll-a-bye that i had not intently listened to in years.

the zep fever i felt today, reminded me of a period of time before i could drive a car; before i had hairy underarms; before i had bills to pay, before i had a girlfriend, let alone a fiancee; before i had known much of anything in this world, i knew these songs.

the ocean was timed nearly perfect with our time to destination, as it petered out moments before amy extinguished the engine, and the subaru purr stopped. my smile lingers on, as does the modestly wholesome spirit of that 15-yr old boy firing through the synaptic network.

ghana fishing

amy got word yesterday that she has been selected to host an AFS program group to ghana the entire month of july! africa has always been near the top of amy's list of places to visit. she applied to be a host of the program and was selected, much to her delight.

i'm quite happy for her, despite:

1) being gone for 1 month's time

2) having to miss the bohnsack's wedding

3) not being able to see africa with her

alas, she'll have stories to tell for years to come, and i eagerly await hearing them.

the future of newsprint?

the new york times ran an interesting article yesterday about electronic newspaper units that are being tested and marketed. the concept is a logical one, and it appeases the logical and environmental side of my being, a newspaper that is broadcast on a thin handheld device that is impregnated with memory and serves the same purpose as a print newspaper without all the pulp.

the device downloads the latest news via wifi and can serve as a notepad using touchscreen technology. obviously there is a lot of r&d left for this unit to become mainstream, but the possibilities of such a lightweight and practical device are extraordinary.

eerily amusing

outstanding documentary

in case you haven't seen it, murderball is an amazing film. it is a documentary about the quadriplegic sport of wheelchair rugby. it is brutal, it is real, it is powerful.

the film takes an indepth look at the circumstances behind a handful of players' lives; the accidents or diseases that took their mobility away from them, the emotions of dealing with such an impairment, and a look at how people can heal from such an event.

its a film that doesn't beg at your heartstrings as much as it makes you look at life, and especially how we react (or choose to react) to tragic happenings that interrupt our regular course of events. if you are looking for a film to captivate you from start to finish, look no further. my stumbling prose cannot begin to illuminate the brilliance that this cinematographic gem gives.

many thanks to sean for bringing it over.

sunday plans

just moments ago, i may have commit myself to one of the hippest things i have ever done in life. i purchased two tickets for this sunday's opening bout for the local charm city roller girls roller derby event. this is almost as hip as eating vegan cheesecake and sipping green tea at moby's cafe in manhattan.

i owe said hipness gesture to the fact that two great friends and sunday brunch buddies, dirty trixie and hellvira as they are known in their skate world, are founding members of the roller derby squad here in baltimore.

i remember watching the sport when i was quite young. at that time it was choreographed much like pro wrestling was/is. this neo-era is back to a serious bout, winner take all. broken bones, cuts, deep bruises... it is gonna be a darn good time!

polytix

what is he up to now?

watchful homage

the only wrist watch that i own is a timex digital with the "indiglo" feature. i distinctly remember the day that i purchased this watch, in the summer after my high school graduation. i really thought that the newfound technology "indiglo" was a seriously dope invention. so i scavenged the $35 bucks and headed off to the dayton-hudson giant, target.

i remember pacing around the display cases ogling several models, and then deciding on this particular one. if memory serves me correctly, this was in the ironman triathalon line of watches. not sure why, save for the stopwatch feature. what really sold me was the way that the face of the watch was cockeyed. wash away all those strained neck muscles from deciphering the time of day, this wrist watch had the solution

shortly after purchase, i went to a sporting goods store to get "the band" brand watchstrap. basically two large pieces of velcro that when looping around your wrist, the corresponding velcro adheres and holds the watch in place. it had a southwestern-theme to its ribbon print. this petrochemical gem held together, with a little repair here and there, until late last fall. i was pleased with its tour of duty, so i went to REI and purchased another "the band" strap. as you can see its design is a series of color fractals. doesn't really go with the color, nor match with any ensemble i ever wear, but i have never been commended for my great sense of style.

oh, this timex has timed numerous runs around the neighborhoods from iowa to japan and now, baltimore. the *beep* noise for alarms and such ceased to operate about 4 years ago, not sure why. unless using it for an alarm the *beep* was quite senseless though. i prefer the mute version. i hardly ever use the indiglo feature. sometimes in really bad movies at the theatre to see how much longer we have to endure. i've replaced the battery twice to my recollection. all-in-all it was a fine investment i made that day many moons ago at the great tar-zjay.

petrol prices

$3/gallon a certainty once again.

crunchy vs. mushy

breakfast cereal has been an infrequent staple in my eating habits. childhood found me choosing whichever cereal had "the best" gimmick inside of the box. i still cringe at the thought of the way captain crunch scars the roof of your mouth with its jagged exoskeleton. lucky charms, sans the "marshmallow" shapes, tasted like recycled cardboard sprinkled with sugar. were these trinkets worth this pain? i honestly cannot recall one good find that came cello-wrapped from within one of these boxes.

once i got to college and really started paying for my own food, i quickly realized that cereal was damn expensive! 3 bucks for a box that each bowl would only satisfy your hunger for about 45 minutes. hell no!

there was one relapse in about 1998-99 when i really got into organics and started eating nature's path cereal crafted by our neighbors to the north. that was amidst my recycling business, and i would eat it first thing in the a.m. for some energy that would wane by the time i got back from my first round of pickups.

i have employed cereal for a similar means off and on for the past year or so. before my morning run or bike, i gobble down a bowl of cereal for a kick of energy. the debate of crunchy vs. soggy/mushy occurred to me this a.m. as i opened a box of what proves to be the world's most mushy cereal when saturated with soymilk, wheatabix (interestingly enough, also imported from canada). wheatabix comes in two sleeves of biscuit wafers within the box, hence some assembly required. you modestly crush up the biscuits in your bowl and add the liquid. upon contact, a wheaty sweety mortar forms. it sticks to your insides for roughly an hour and a half or so. at which time, i have just arrived to work, and i put together a bowl of hot cereal for consumption.

for the opposite end of the mushy spectrum, i opt for some bulk bin granola from the natural foods store. this gives me the crunch i seek, yet leaves the roof of my mouth uncaptaincrunchified.

east meets west

 

i call it "kung fu cowboy."

 

out of touch

sometimes i feel like i am out of touch with "the news."

"...did you hear about the_________?"

"uh, no, i didn't."

amy says i should spend time reading the newspaper instead of writing this blog. she may have a point.

it is difficult to acquire news gathering into my routine of awake, run, shower, work, school, dinner, sleep, repeat. all day long at work, i sit an arms length from hardcopies of the new york times and the baltimore sun. i have gone through periods of dedicating 10 minutes per work day to take a break and read the paper. it didn't last long until that fell apart. then i tried to read the ny times online. that was short-lived as well.

at previous places of employment i was able to listen to NPR all day long and that kept me in the know. my current position doesn't allow me the luxury of such audio learning. and don't even get me started on the violent nausea that overcomes my being as i watch our local tv news (we don't have cable), journalism? hardly.

what it comes down to is i need to make a pact with myself to take the time to stay informed. it needs to become an important part of my routine. fortunately, i have a partner who agrees, and we are going to make a concerted effort to make our way back into being in touch with the events.

sunday blues

there was a cloud fogging my mood for much of today. i felt irritable in general, a bit moody if you will. sad. the latter part of last week was rough, i was fighting sleep at 7pm in financial analysis class on friday night. i suppose that i fight it every week, though.just feeling poopy today, not quite my cheery self. wait, am i cheery usually? dunno. anyway, things changed this evening when we went to the hospital to see amy's grandfather. the fog cleared.

poppa has been in for the past 3 weeks and we've been to see him a handful of times. each time he has seemed a little bit better than the last we saw him. today was no exception.

his eyes were wide open and he was responsive and able to pick up his drink and guzzle it down himself. he didn't seem to be in as much pain as he had been in. when asked how he was he said "ok." he was tired, though, so we only stayed for a short while and then made our way home.

once amy and i got back, we threw on our jackets and stocking hats and took a walk around our neighborhood. we peeked into storefronts whose windows were dark and pointed things out to each other. amy remarked on how darlene's unisex barbershop looked as if it was a timecapsule untouched since 1960. how right she was. it reminded me of a barbershop in ames, ia that i used to walk by at night when i lived downtown, always the magazines in perfect order, a plaque on the wooden paneling wall with the proprietor's name (something peterson).

oh, by the way, darlene has a help wanted sign up for any cosmetologists out there.

spring cleansing time is here!

i have a modest addiction to supplementation. part fascination, part necessity. being vegan, one needs to be mindful of getting one's b-vitamins, especially b-12 which can be difficult to get in enough quantity from veg alone. said vegan usually supplements with a plant-derived b-12 a time or two a week. this said vegan supplements with the following cavalcade:

and usually every spring, i prepare a renewal period of cleansing supplementation. amping up on the psyllium and filtered water intake. sometimes drinking liters of cranberry juice from concentrate, no lame-ass high fructose corn syrup ocean spray 10% juice, just concentrate and h2o. also, usually in the mix, i beef up on milk thistle for the ol' liver, and another herbal blend formulated for cleansing the system.

this year, i purchased a tonifying liver and kidney cleanser, and i was quite alarmed when i was reading the propaganda within the box that clued me in on the fact that i have apparently not been drinking enough water...

starts to make me wonder whether i have been suckered into a snake oil scheme, or the herbalists were so busy creating such a fine elixir that their proofreading skills were hampered. i have always considered supplementation much like an insurance policy anyway, you're peeing most of your money away.

outstanding

we wuz had!

yesterday, we had plans to meet sean, anne p., and andy out for a birthday brunch for april-fool b-day girl, amy. the venue was not yet set, so we had anticipated a call in the morning before the clock struck ten. sean, anne, and andy had all been out at the lithuanian hall monthly dance the night before, as amy and i had turned in early after having a nice dinner and viewing a rather odd play at the everyman theatre.

the phone rang at about 10:03am and amy picked up the receiver to find anne on the other end. there was lots of gasping and "what?!?" coming from this end of the phone, followed with a "what happened?" and then an "are you sure?!?"

it seems that after a night of drinking at the lithuaninan hall, hard-core pacifist andy had consumed a few too many beers and when on the way out to the parking lot got in a bit of a scuffle with a sporty guy in a bmw that mocked andy's work-in-progress late-60s mustang. andy threw the first punch, and the scuffle landed him a night in jail. anne wouldn't be able to bail him out until 3pm, and she didn't want the event to shadow amy's birthday brunch, so we'd go and have coffee and discuss the event further.

damn! i've never known anyone to spend a night in the clink, the slammer, the big house! and in baltimore noless! what a story that he could tell about his night on a hard steel bench trying to fend of some guy wanting to use him as his "bitch," and clanging a metal cup on the cell bars singing lowly songs of sorrow!

sean showed up, and anne was to be here in 20 minutes. we grilled sean for details of the event, great concern mixed with great curiosity. sean told us that the cops circled the dance hall like vultures, as it was a known hot-spot for trouble in a shady area of town. he also remarked that andy held his own with his long reach on a stubby-statured opponent. andy was inevitably thrown in jail for his initiating the first punch. wow, i suppose that andy certainly did spend a lot of time working on restoring his car, and he may have had some whiskey or other surly-inducing intoxicant that in an inebriated state he could have been seen like clubber lane in rocky II, late in the 10th round--sloppy punches, but intended punches.

sean, amy, and i left a note on the door for anne to meet us at the cafe around the corner. 5 minutes later anne came around the corner, and a few strides behind was andy. "the convict is out!" i announced to sean, who, in retrospect, didn't act as surprised as i was at seeing andy before the 3pm bail time. "April Fools!" anne exclaimed intertwined with hearty laughter. indeed, we had been had. and it was good.

incidentally, andy's feelings were a bit hurt that we were going to go out for breakfast while he was in jail. we couldn't do anything for him until 3pm anyway...(maybe we are bastards)