Dallas, TX (********)

Two friends coming to Dallas tonight. We are going to see the band Dr. Dog tonight and then it is bicycle riding for the next few days (weather permitting). I am not sure which event I have been preparing for more. One thing is for sure, my legs, voice, and body are going to be put to the test.

From New Mexico

Dallas, TX (*******)

Last night my current house parents and I went to the Pocket Sandwich Theater and it was grrreAt. The show was "Sherlock Holmes, a melodrama" with some pretty good actors, wonderful script, two sing-alongs, and the encouragement to throw popcorn on the stage. Cheap beers, pop corn, and pop corn.

From Settlement Dallas

Dallas showed me that there is, in fact, hidden and obscure art pocket sandwiches, and just in time too. I was starting to worry that the best art Dallas has to offer was a great mural of Jame Brown now circled by the deck of a ridiculous sports bar.

From Settlement Dallas

Dallas, TX (******)

The little things count, especially when you are very little yourself.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I did not do anything interesting today, but I did participate in activities that would interest you if you still read my blog after all of the previous garbage I have thrown up onto this white blankness in order to feel ultimately better about myself because I can make someone continue reading a very long sentence just to find out that at the end there is nothing but a tiny black dot.

"I battle to stay ahead of the tiger who is chasing me. I run faster and faster, because as I move forward I am also picking up and throwing small animals that lie in front of me. The animals fly backward over my head and land in the ever-growing tiger's mouth." - Grant Chanin

The day's hardest work was trying to save the Crane Flies from their long-legged doom stuck indoors. There is little food for them indoors, yet they like to venture in, rarely finding their way out without guidance. After work I met up with some buddies while they had a drink and I took some pictures.

From Settlement Dallas

Dallas, TX (*****)

Now that I have your attention, I would like to take this opportunity to update you and my future self of a few of my goals:

• Be nice to people
• Ride bicycle long ways
• Work toward sitting in "lotus position"
• Evict the Plantar Wart tenants in my foot apartment
• ....
• 
  

Ahhh. Feels good to say that out loud, even virtually.

More on bullet #4 - Dealing with Plantars Wart
I have had a sizable wart on the heel of my foot for years now, possibly 4 years. The wart did not bother me, but it came to a point where it was painful to walk with bare feet. I really like walking bare feet, but who am I to say these little creatures aren't allowed to live here. Plus, these little viruses have been belittled by friends, hated by girlfriend(s), and challenged by my immune system. Someone had to stand up for them! Anyways, it came to a time where they need to move beyond this life to the next, so I have been applying a generous coat of super glue to the area they occupy in order to suffocate them, as recommended by many aspiring web medicine gurus on various internet forums. The result?
Here is what is left today:

From Settlement Dallas

Mostly dead skin and callus, hopefully. It is possible they are still hiding in there, but this is a major improvement from the old days.

Here is what it used to look like:

OK sorry, I don't have an old picture. In all truth, it did look pretty close to The Penguin.

Dallas, TX (****)

Dallas, TX (***)

From Settlement Dallas

Dallas, TX (**)

Four days in Dallas now, but who is counting? No, I am not getting antsy in the least bit. My hosts have somehow discovered a method which allows me to find comfort in their home. How have all these people I have stayed with do it? As far as this place is concerned, maybe it is the record player, or the chalkboard painted doors, or maybe it is New-Mexico-looking rugs. Most likely it is just friends and beer and friends drinking beer that keeps me satisfied. Is it highly conceivable that one day I will snap and realize these things aren't important and that having a place of your very own IS indeed crucial to happiness? Perhaps, but at the moment I would have to strain with all of my tensible organs to imagine going back to that sort of living. Thank the good energy in the universe that I have these pals who put up with me, and all my material possessions, and my language.

The main activity here in Dallas is preparing for a big bicycle ride next weekend. We are riding in a 165 mile event for multiple sclerosis. The training so far has been so-so. My legs are still here, and my mind is becoming more and more ignorant to the fact that I am forcing my body to operate in ways it would not normally need to. One of the most fun activities for me is riding a bicycle with my buddies... into the sunset...

Besides bicycling I have been eating avocados and keeping my nose hairs at bay. It is back to the old college antics around here. The other night while I was showering Will came into the bathroom, turned off the lights, and dumped ice water on me from above. What he failed to consider is the fact that I hang around his house most of the day while he is at work, cooking up something colossal.

Here is a photo of my friend.

From Settlement Dallas

Dallas, TX (*)

Since being a vagabond of self indulgence, I feel I have done a decent job of seeing new challenges and then turning those challenges into something useful, like a good story or a shoe string. However, an idea came into my head that was very do-able, drank a majority of my thoughts and planning, only to give me my first real feeling of failure this year. I had my stuff packed up and I was to ride my bicycle from my parent's home in New Mexico to Lubbock Texas. All ready and rarin' to go, and then I chickened out. It was going to require that I ride a longer distance than I have ever ridden before and camp a night or two near the highway along my way through west Texas. Was it the weather, was it the wild? I don't know, but I bailed on the idea to drive my stinking car to Lubbock. But, life is good, life is peachy. It was refreshing to be with my parents for a week. They are starring characters in my dreams and it is always good to be around 'em.

Next, a rainy, short three days in Lubbock to see my old roomie best pal Danny and his gal, my therapist, Daisy ~@~ . We drank muchos cervezas, ate muchos Mexican food, and pretty mucho figured out that the answer to any problem is "Whatever makes your friends laugh." Also, I went to my old college stomping grounds and visited two professors. One had a little time available, and I was able to tell him all of my crazy tales of confident irresponsibility. He gave me some great advice and talked the truth to me enough that I now consider him more of a friend than old boss/professor. We even went out for Chinese buffet that night.

Another handful of days in Lubbock would have been really nice, but the wind blew me down the road to Graham Texas, where my friends Winston and Caitlin are spending day and night developing a utopia of farming, beer brewing, and all-around merriment. It was Winston's birthday so Caitlin made, I kid you not friends, the best birthday dish spread I can remember. Bratwurst, schnitzel, a 30 chocolate crepe layer cake with hazelnut creme, salmon brie appetizers, and a 30 pound apple strudel that looked a lot like a monster from the movie "Tremors" and tasted delicious. When I first got to Graham, I found their address, arrived unannounced, and don't remember anything else other than eating, drinking, and laughing.

From Graham TX

My good ol' buddy friends Will and Amanda were also there for the birthday extravaganza, and on Sunday I followed them back to their home in Dallas, where I am now, drinking a glass of warm soy milk and typing furiously on their living room couch. From the looks of things, I am going to be here a while, so plenty more about the Dallas scene to come.

An Ode

Too many memories to really attempt a real memorial. Hell, it is a blog post, and to hope to truly commemorate the biological lives of those you have shared many stories with is foolish hope indeed.

Pets are a strange thing to say the least. There really is no better creature to harbor the uncontrollable emotional output of the human mind without hearing their opinions or unnecessary feedback, and they do it with the grace that only a small mind and big stomach can give. I don't want to get too personal here, but I needed to make something of the something that is in my thought cloud.

Mojo, the fattest and happiest Beagle I've known, I will do my best to remember to bring you a slice of turkey when I meet you to do the zombie dance one day.

New Mex

For the last few days I have called home the town, house, and people responsible for the earliest years of my being. The experience here is a challenging one, a ferocious challenge, the likes of which I have yet to meet since uprooting a few months ago. Many of you may blow scoffs at the tiny challenges the jobless wanderer must face. I will meet your scoffs halfway and add a down-turned look of bashful agreement. The wonderful friends in my recent past, who have hosted me with all of their grace and charisma, do not come close to the masterful artistry that is my parents' ability to have me here. And therein lies the challenge.

My folks and I set off for Las Cruces, NM to visit my youngest sister. She is at New Mexico State University, studying the biology of humans in order to help fix broken biologys one day. Driving through New Mexico for any extended amount of time does not allow me the chance to miss inspiring visuals. You don't miss 'em because there is not much out here. Perhaps this is indeed one of the splendors. "The beauty of what is not", if you will. I suppose I might ruin all of this by singing her praises so high. My eyes are filled with the green hills and peaceful ranches of the majestic Hondo Valley. Consider the ponder-some pink cactus plants in front of the black rock, jutting from the faded plain. Visions of climbing these rocks to smoke peyote with native men in order to find your spirit animal. I will try to upload pictures later, hopefully I am with my spirit animal.

Chain rust

Look. I can't lie to you for a few reasons. Reason number 1 is that I strive follow a thought movement of radical honesty. I use the word radical here without exaggeration. I forget what reason 2 is now.

The gap in my blog posting was for purely selfish reasons. I wanted more mystery back in my life. Also, I wanted to save my thoughts and see if they developed into a forest rather than a flower. What I underestimated was the magnitude of will power and responsibility required to tend a forest. I am not so strong.

Back in the Lone Star state for a time. I started to think of this as the end of my journeys now that I am back in a personal comfort zone. Well friends, if that is what ends a journey than I imagine journeys are constantly living and dieing just like our cells, just like our moments, just like us. So here it is, I explode to this somewhat faceless public with philosophical garbage that is obviously backed up from my lack of explosion.

Story time - In Tallahassee Florida, I found myself in the greatest state of freedom ever to be had, and that is walking around. I walked to a new used bookstore to look for travel books. It was a giant warehouse with shelves slapped around space. The owner later admitted to me that he and his buddies would drink bourbon all afternoon and would build shelves through the night. I wanted to tell him I already knew this, but I prophesied offense. A young kid was also there talking with the owner and he asked to play my guitar. He played a few licks that showed me he was not messing around and that he knew his way around the thing. He then went on to tell us that he had just been to rehab for marijuana, but he is off to finish high school now. No comment. Next, I was off to meet my good ol' buddy friend Kirk at a coffee shop, but not before peeing in an alleyway. Walking up Monroe Street revealed guitars in a pawn shop window. Inside the pawn shop revealed very concealable hand guns in the glass case window. Two young gentlemen were contemplating the purchase of said hand guns. Talking amongst each other using common phrases such as "For real" and "For sure" and "Hellz ya". Perhaps they are going to practice their marksmanship at a shooting range. I hope for the best, and I fear for the worst. I'd rather not hope or fear, so walk on, walk on to meet your friend.

Crowley, LA

Here I come Austin!!