on indefinite hiatus.

september 26

one thing about suburban connecticut is that i don't have many interesting stories to tell you. but, i did find out that i can look at the statistics of my blog. apparently i get around 30 views a day, which is more than i expected. someone also found this page by searching for "pedro at wavves show" which makes me think some poor sole was looking for a write-up of that strange night and happened upon my ramblings. maybe it was even pedro himself. hi pedro.


i also think, if another option doesn't present itself, i'm going to try to teach english abroad. hopefully i could get to eastern europe that way, or maybe south america. of course, the whole reason this is appealing is because i could get paid to be somewhere else, but it appears to require certification which costs money i don't have. but i'mma try to work something out.


until i have more exciting things to report, cheers.

september 25

i guess it's a successful sign, on a journey of self-discovery, that i feel like i've learned a lot after a month and some change. one of those things i've learned is that geography has a much stronger effect on me than i've ever noticed before. one of the reasons i love brooklyn is because it instills certains habits in me that i had to work towards in other places i've lived. i very rarely chose to stay in while i was there and watch tv or just relax--i was always trying to find something new or put myself in different situations. in the past, it was too easy for me to be a bum. being in a place that almost forces me to break that habit makes things that much easier.


so, being in connecticut right now is a little strange. on the one hand, i really do need some time to relax and not be running around all day every day. it's also fantastic to be around my aunt and uncle and have some sort of stability. it's quite comforting and very reinvigorating. however, it also stresses the realization that i don't want to stay in a place like this for very long. in other words, i don't think i would survive it if i had to live in irmo for a couple months. that means i either need to find a sustainable way to live somewhere else, or i need to find a way to keep traveling.

september 24

i’ve always known i’m an awkward person, but i’ve never felt it quite like i did while i was lugging all of my things to connecticut. i had the bookbag and duffel bag i brought with me, both bursting at the seems they were so full, as well as one of those canvas grocery bags for books, my bike lock, and other miscellaneous things i picked up while i was here. i also had my bike. now, imagine me--clumsy, gangly me--trying to carry/wheel all of this ten blocks to the subway, then onto three different subways, and then onto the train to my aunt and uncle’s house. are you imagining me falling over myself and hitting random people with my bags as i turned and wheeling my bike over people’s feet? because you should be. and just to make it easier, i never knew which side of the train the doors would open on for me to get off, so i usually ended either trying to turn my bike around without starting a brawl in the subway by hitting some strong island dude in the face with the tire, or trying to back my way out onto the platform. i am the epitome of smooth, truly.

since i knew this journey would be so arduous, i left waaaay before i needed to, just to give myself ample time. as a result, i spent a few hours sitting in the main terminal at grand central waiting for the train (you see, new york being desperate to make money on every little thing they can, you have to buy a permit to take a bike on the metro north railroad, and you have to wait until the off-peak hours, which start at 8, so i couldn’t take an earlier train). it’s weird to think of how many thousands of people i watched walk past me today as i sat there. i feel like i should have had some grand realization about humanity while i was watching everyone, but there was really just so much commotion it was hard to think of anything at all. in retrospect, (grand realization, ho!) i think the shear mass of people makes it impossible to really pay attention to individuals, which makes me a little more forgiving to new yorkers for being such cold bastards.

also, a full update on my travel plans--i'm in connecticut for about a week and a half. my mom is coming up her to see her dad, so i'm going to wait to see her. i'm also planning on visiting my old friend jeff who lives in stamford. then, i'm going to take my mom's rental car and drive to dc to visit my sister and some friends. i'm hoping to stay there for a week or so before i head to chapel hill until my cousin's wedding in charleston. so, if any of you want to visit dc while i'm there and drive me back to chapel hill, and/or drive me to charleston--well that'd be pretty swell. and after the wedding, i have no idea what i'll be doing. at all.

september 23

some things are defined by their absence--the lack shows you everything you need to know. i spent a lot of time thinking about that after i went to the world trade center. the last time i was there was my freshman year and there were crowds everywhere gathering to look at the site. now, few people even slowed down. it seemed like that was planned though--the fences surrounding the construction site all had banners up to obscure the view, and the pedestrian walkways which would have given passerby a good look had their windows covered. it took a lot of work to find any view of the construction, and none of them, at least that i found, were all that good.


the result was that the site of a national tragedy was entirely unremarkable and lacked all emotion. it was a strange manifestation of the role 9/11 has begun to play in our national politics--the actual event has been lost amidst the commotion. it's interesting that the plan is to build a huge memorial and museum, but we make it hard to look at the site of this memorial. it seems as though, at this point, we are only willing to admit the hurt of 9/11 after we've rebuilt and have another grand building in its place. it mimics the way 9/11 has be turned into a tool for posturing and maneuvering. it was rather sad how lacking the site is.


the other absence i found today was a bit more surprising. i went in search of the new mosque being built next to the world trade center, hoping to gawk at the protesters and maybe talk to a few of them. but, much to my chagrin, there were no protesters. i had thought that there'd at least be a few crazy people out there with signs, yelling at pedestrians--but alas.


the few successes i had today were all culinary. i went to the brooklyn ice cream factory, ate an ungodly amount of frozen grapes, and had myself a polish dinner to celebrate my last night in brooklyn (in case you lost track and/or i never told you, my sublease ends saturday and i'm leaving tomorrow to spend some time in connecticut). i had some ricotta cheese and spinach pierogi at a place called christina's. pierogi are generally served boiled or friend and with sour cream and i think the basic variety are cheese and potato, which i feel like i should have gotten for a more authentic experience, but what i had was good nonetheless. i recommend them.


also, as a side note, there are a lot of people in new york who work out in jeans and khakis.

september 22

i can now honestly say that i've biked across brooklyn from end to end. i woke up this morning, and while i was watching tv, i heard coney island mentioned, and i immediately decided to go. the ride down there took a couple hours--i live in the very northernmost neighborhood in brooklyn, and coney island is on the southern coast. i also got a little bit lost when i tried to take the scenic route through prospect park, but i made it eventually.


the amusement park had already closed for the fall, and with it around half of the stores and restaurants on the boardwalk. it all had a haunted, are you afraid of the dark? feel to it because of all the locked up, empty rides. although, even if everything were open, i think coney island would still have a weird vibe to it. it looked like the boardwalks i've been on before, most notably around myrtle beach, only, like most things in new york, way more intense. i passed one carnival game called shoot the freak that advertised real human target--though with paintball ammo (hopefully). this fine establishment was also next to a store with a sign that read "fun for the hole family." i couldn't figure out whether the two businesses were connected and this was a pun, or if they weren't aware of homonyms. it was all very carnivalesque, and it all had an undercurrent of a side show.


but the dirty, vaguely creepy air to the boardwalk gave everything a unique feel and made it the kind of place i think i'd make regular, though infrequent, trips to. i went to the original nathan's store and had some cheese fries and lemonade, and then took a walk down the beach to the water. on the way i noticed a man crouched down and talking, but i couldn't see anyone around him. then i noticed a straw sticking up from under the boardwalk--based on the sound of the voice echoing up through the wooden slats, i think the man sent his son down there. i couldn't figure out what the hell was going on, so i just left and walked further down the boardwalk to brighton beach, where i went to that crazy russian street fair a few weeks ago. i found the russian bakery i went to that day and bought another delicious cherry/cheese donut thing whose name i still can't found out, and a small slice of some cake thing that wasn't all that great.


i took that cake, as well as a couple sandwiches and a couple beers, and headed up to central park. pavement was playing one of their reunion shows with times new viking opening for them at a stage by the 69th st entrance to the park. unfortunately, i couldn't afford the fifty dollars tickets, so i took my little picnic and found a seat on a giant rock right outside the performance area with some other paupers/cheap bastards. apparently, judging by the number of people selling beer out of bookbags and the number of cops patrolling the area, it was a pretty common thing to do.


the show opened with some comedian who, based on the jokes, was a drag queen. she sucked. times new viking sounded great though, and i was happy enough to have made the journey just to hear them. pavement started great, but it started raining shortly after. pavement's always been one of those bands that i love, but i have to be in a certain mood to enjoy, and the rain wasn't helping me get into that mood, so i left before it got worse.


but it's cool, because now i'm just going to spend my time watching this video: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2010/sep/07/dirty-dancing-dancefloor


and maybe sometimes playing this song in the background: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUlVZKqs5oc

september 21

in my effort to experience all new york has to offer, i think i experienced some of england. i went to nevada smith's, a bar on 3rd ave, to watch the tottenham-arsenal game. it's actually not the home of the tottenham supporter's club, which i had originally planned to go to, but it is the home of the arsenal fanclub. which made the end of the game, when we gave up three goals in extra time to lose, even harder to take. but the place was a good old fashioned pub--they had blackout curtains on the windows to avoid glare, a bunch of beers on tap, and plenty of tvs. plus, when i asked to bartender for whatever he had that was the closest to three dollars (so i could meet the debit card minimum), he gave me half a newcastle. 


and then tonight i went to the wavves show. it was at the music hall of williamsburg--the same place i saw no age a few days ago. the venue is nice, but kind of strange for the acts they bring in. the stage area is somewhere between the size of local 506 and cat's cradle, but there's also an upstairs with a balcony overlooking the stage. and then there's a lounge downstairs, plus a bar on every floor. but, as you may expect, the staff isn't the friendliest. they also charge three dollars for a cup of coke. i had expected to pay a buck, and i had another ready to tip, when the guy told me the price. i didn't have any more cash and i was thirsty enough that i wanted the coke, so i gave the last dollar in quarters. apparently, they don't accept quarters. but, i already had the coke, so he didn't have much of an option this time.


the show itself was pretty good. the babies weren't mindblowing, but they put on a good show and i'll definitely be listening to more of them. i also think i may be reaching fanboy status towards cassie ramone, but whatever. there was also this girl who was doing the strangest dancing i've ever seen. no one else was more than bouncing and she was doing hippie twirls, go-go moves, possibly the robot, and i think i saw some river dancing (i'm not even kidding). the second band, christmas islands, were hilariously bad. a sample lyric: "dinosaurs, i can't believe you existed. i just wish we coexisted." they were scarily reminiscent of good charlotte and those kind of bands, minus the teen angst. i would have thought they were nathan williams's (wavves's front man's) little brothers if they didn't look forty--maybe they were his uncles or something. unsurprisingly, crazy-dancer-girl was a friend of theirs.


wavves was certainly interesting to watch. since i saw them the first time, they dropped zach hill, one of the best drummers i've ever seen, and picked up the drummer and bass player from jay reatard's band. those two dudes love to add into the stage banter, which started out hilarious, but grew tiring. nathan williams has become a much stronger frontman though, and had some hilarious conversations with the crowd. there was one guy who kept yelling and requesting songs, so williams asked him at one point "did someone teach you how to be loud and annoying at shows?" when he wouldn't shut up, williams asked his name, which was pedro, and introduced the last song by saying "we're wavves, this is out last song. fuck you pedro." also, at one point, security threw some people out for smoking inside. immediately after, the band took a joint from someone and smoked it onstage as the security guard stood and stared. overall though, the show seemed to drag on--maybe it was the fact that i haven't heard the new album, or maybe it was how long wavves took in between songs, but either way i left before the encore.


and now i'm trying desperately to not eat all of my roommate's frozen grapes. god, i love frozen grapes.