I wasn’t fully truthful about my time in Salt Lake City. I was miserable most of the time. So I thought that I should go back and hit some of the points that I left out. I’m not going to retell the whole stay, but I do want to give some background on it and disclose some of the highlights. Fun.
This is long. Very long.
Well folks, I made it home.
The flight was without event, which is how flights should be. As soon as I touched down in Baltimore, I was depressed. And it’s not really gone away. I do not want to be here.
I’m not going to throw myself off any cliffs, of course. But I do have a plan.
The store is for sale, as you know. But now there’s a definite cap on it. Firstly, I am lowering the price. And if it doesn’t still doesn’t sell, I’ll drop the price again. And then, in January, when I get back from Seattle (more on that in a sec), I’ll start the liquidation. I will be out of the book business by March 30.
That is my plan.
Oh, and then, after that, I’m not sure. Definitely moving to Seattle. That’s for sure. But not sure exactly when. Two options, really. The first is to travel by scooter. You know, the Sprung from Cages Tour idea. Right now, it doesn’t sound to palatable to me. But that’s now. It might change by April. I have a feeling it will. The other option is just move without traveling. I’m not sure which to do.
I have decided another thing. Well, I’m selling all of my scooters. All of them. White, the AllState and the Bajaj are all going. Bye, guys! And I was planning on buying a Vespa LX and a Bajaj Chetak at the same time (roughly). But I’ve decided that I’m only going to buy one while I’m here. I’ll pick up the other one on the west coast, if at all.
But which one? I don’t know, really. I’m excited about both. This will take some figuring out. Right now, I’m leaning towards the LX. That’s the yellow one:
I really like it. But it’s an automatic. Am I a snob that this? The Bajaj is not a pretty, but I like it. I should hold a poll. Hmmmm…..
Oh, and the Seattle in January thing. I’m going in January. I found tickets for $230ish. That’s not bad. But I don’t know exactly when Jason and Margaret’s wedding is. Yes, they’re getting married. But I’m not sure when. Fun. So once I figure that out, I’ll book the flight.
And that’s the plan as it stands now. Fun? We’ll see.
Not a lot to say. A few pics which I’ll post tomorrow.
But I do NOT want to go “home.”
This sucks.
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While Day Sixteen wasn’t much to write about, Day Seventeen was rad! Yay Day Seventeen! Woo!
I started the day by heading up to the roof of The Apex to see what I could see.
As you can see, if you look below, I took a mess of pictures! A mess! Look! It’s a gray day in Seattle! Imagine that!
Early Saturday morning is peaceful and lovely.
Then I decide, since I’m the first up, to take some pictures of the 3rd floor of The Apex Co-Op, where I’m staying.
Here is the lounge:
And here is the hallway…
And look! Here’s Jeff reading some geeky sci-fi book!
Hi Jeff!
The kitchen area has some great tile work in the breakfast nook:
And here’s Jaime getting ready for work…
Before Jeff had to go into work, he and I walked down to the Market…
Where we purchased two Cinnamon Buns. One for me, one for Ryan.
Mmmmmm… Veganny gooooooooooodness!
Well, by this time, everyone was up. We ate our cinnamon buns and then Jeff went to work, so Ryan, Taviri and I mounted up and rode off to see the sights of Seattle.
We stopped at Whole Foods where Taviri had a banana.
And went to a punk record store where I picked up the new Go! 7″. I’m impressed as hell that Go! has a new 7″. I was stoked.
This is Go!, one of my favorite bands ever. I have all of their 7″s. Just need the demo. Woo!
So I was totally stoked because I didn’t even know that they got back together. Yay! This really made my day.
Walking from the record store, we pause for a moment by the Labor Temple so Taviri could finish the final issue of Heart Attack ‘Zine.
Ryan, Tavirir and I walk down to the sculpture garden by the Sound, but my camera died, so there’s no real proof that we did such things. However, since walking down to the sculpture garden really isn’t something I would lie about, I figure you’ll believe me without documentation.
We didn’t really look much at the sculptures. But we did talk about Star Wars. To be our friend, you have to like Star Wars. But that’s ok because Star Wars is the best thing ever. Everyone has seen it. More people have seen Star Wars than have heard of Jesus Christ. Trust me. And I’m taking into account all of Church history. Star Wars, man. Star Wars.
This is the Elephant Car Wash.
This is the only car wash in the Western Hemisphere where real live elephants wash your car. First, one sprays it down with water to get it wet and then another one will spray it down with an organic and nontoxic soap. The first elephant then resprays your car, washing off the soapiness. The elephants have been trained to then grab lint-free towels in their proboscides and wipe down your car. Of course, they don’t have the manual dexterity to fully pull it off. Mostly, it’s just for show.
You pay and then are allowed to give the elephants a treat. Mostly, they enjoy bits of shrubbery and bark from sycamore trees. The elephants are well cared for and are individually named. The elephants who washed Ryan’s Scion (which is just fun to say, isn’t it?) were named “Bubby” and “Miss Noodle.” They were sweet.
The Elephant Car Wash also serves as an elephant sanctuary and all proceeds go to the rescue of abused elephants, specifically from Ringling Brothers Barnum and Baily Circus. It’s a good cause.
That’s the Elephant Car Wash. Neat!
After we got back from such fun, it was time for more fun in the shape of Joel and Cathy’s wedding. Joel and Cathy live at the Co-Op and are super wonderful people. So they naturally had a super wonderful wedding down by the docks at the Wooden Boat Club area thing.
For us, it was mainly chasing Mr. Taviri around, making sure he didn’t fall into the water.
Sometimes Taviri would demonstrate civil disobedience…
Ohh but then the wedding. We all walked out to the end of the dock and waited for Cathy.
But she came out and they did the wedding thing…
Yay!!
Tom, the fellow officiating the ceremony was ordained specifically for this wedding, but personally, I think he should do more. He was really good at it.
The reception was grand! This was the wedding cake!
Vegan donuts from Mighty O’s!
Woo! Earlier, Jaime, Valarie and I went to get them. Seven dozen vegan donuts! My god.
After the wedding, Ryan, Jeff and I dropped Taviri and Jaime off at the house and went to find the devotee-run cafe called My Sweet Lord Cafe. We found it, but they cut back their hours and were closed.
So instead, we went to a Tea Room and I got a Samosa. See?
We finished the night with a really super freaky picture of the three of us. Actually, Jeff and Ryan look fine. I look INSANE.
So there you go! That was my day. Pretty fun. I really dig Seattle.
Today was Do-Nothing-Day.
I basically did nothing, but really needed that.
Since it was technically yesterday, I don’t really remember what sort of nothing that I did. But I did it. Boy did I do it.
Yay!
Tomorrow morning, I’ll tell you all about what I did today, Day Seventeen. There are pictures and fun! Yay!
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If anyone tells you how great the Seattle area bus system is, remind them that there are three different companies who supply public transportation – all with different names for the stops.
I took a bus from Lacey to Seattle. I took the 603 with a transfer to the 594. Everyone agreed with that. There is a website where you can plug in your travel into and it will tell you when/where to change.
Beware of such things. This website is helpful, but not accurate. It told me to get off at the 19th and Pacific stop in Tacoma. But there is no 19th and Pacific stop on this line. There is, however, a 19th and Pacific stop on other lines. The 603 makes a stop at “Museum,” But you have to just *know* that “Museum” is across the street from the 19th and Pacific stop.
To make matters more interesting, 19th and Pacific, as well as Museum, are not listed (at least not by those names) on the bus schedules. There are two different books, both with varying degrees of accuracy, and time tables at the bus stops. I’ve yet to find which is most accurate, but all seem to disagree with each other.
What they need to do first is settle upon official names that transcend bus companies. They all need to sit down and say, “ok, this stop called 19th and Pacific… let’s all call it that.”
Then there are little things like not listing all of the stops. That’s horribly silly. Please cease this. I was to get off the bus at Olive and 6th. But Olive and 6th isn’t listed in the book. I had no idea where it was in relation to anything else. Upon asking the driver, he tells me that he doesn’t stop there. He stops at Olive and 5th.
Why? WHY?!
It’s a good system. I can’t complain, really. Once you get to know it, it’s fine. And the drivers are super nice and helpful. Unlike Philly. Or New York. On the west coast the bus drivers aren’t dicks. Take that!
The 63 mile trek from Lacey/Olympia to Seattle cost me $3.50. Can I really bitch about that?
Anyway, I made it.
The rest of the day, not to belittle it, of course, was spent with Ryan and Taviri. We took Jaime to school and then waited for her by hitting the healthfood co-op and then the park and then the area behind her school. Waiting for Jaime, just like the old days. :)
It was pretty neat hanging out with a 1.5 year old. He’s a bit of fun. In all honesty, I’m not a little kid person. At this point in my life, I couldn’t even begin to think about raising a kid, so hat’s off to them! Big time. But he’s awesome. Really awesome.
Check out the pics. Normally – not a fan of “baby” pics, but these are .. um… different. Yes.
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It’s nice to be around old friends. Real friends. You know, the ones who can communicate with one another, be honest with one another and not talk so much shit behind each others backs. We’ve been friends, all of us, for at least 13 years. Most of us for longer. The bonds are still the same, stronger now, of course. And we’ve all grown, but we’ve grown together, we’ve made each other better people.
I can’t help but contrast this with the group of people I recently stayed with. Taken individually, all of them were nice people. Even the ones who alienated me. But together, in my opinion, it doesn’t work. They hold each other back, piss each other off and they all talk shit about each other behind their backs (thinly veiled as joking, of course). If they really wanted to better themselves, they’d simply stop talking to each other. Find new friends, actual friends and go about their lives looking back on this time fondly but with a huge caveat. I’ve honestly never seen so much dysfunction in a group of friends before.
I can’t get on my knees and thank god enough for my friends. I’ve been blessed. We all have. We are fucking awesome. What would we do without us?
It’s the home stretch now. Only a few more days to go. Today was a not do too much aside from hang out with Jason and Margaret type of day.
No pictures, nothing really exciting.
But a chance to reflect on the past two weeks.
It was two weeks ago that I stepped off the plane in Salt Lake City. Two weeks. It seems like years ago. Well, that’s cliche. It seems like longer than two weeks ago. But there I was, hopping off the plane into the arms of Mandy and Molly.
I was hopeful and excited. Sure, jet lagged as fuck and even more hungry than jet lagged. I must have given a horrible first impression because it really seemed to go down from there.
Folks, when someone you’ve never met steps off a plane after being tossed onto another flight, mysteriously flown to Dallas en route to SLC from Chicago and without a bite to eat all day comes to visit you, please allow some time before making that oh-so-important first impression.
I was a fright.
But that was two weeks ago. Since then, things went to hell in SLC and were built back up before I left it. Not totally. Hell, if I’m honest with myself, probably not much at all. It was probably the emotional equivalent of duct tape. I have a hard time telling these things.
And someday I will write about all of this, won’t I? Someday when it doesn’t feel like years ago. Someday when it feels like just yesterday.
Now, I would step on toes and fingers. Even my own. It’s so easy to take all of this personally. So easy to take it all to heart. And when I do that, it sticks. It’s hard to let it roll off your back and ignore.
I felt miserable in Salt Lake City. I felt miserable in Berkeley. I felt miserable on the train to Seattle. But once Ryan and Jeff pulled up, hopped out of the car and hugged me, I knew that I was home.
Home is a strange thing. Today, I called Jeff and left an answer on his voicemail. I told him that I was in Olympia for another day and would be home on Thursday. Home. I was in Seattle for hardly half a day, yet it was home.
Salt Lake City wasn’t home. Berkeley, at least in the current state of things, wasn’t home. But this city where Jeff and Ryan were, that was home. And it’s not because it’s Seattle.
This could be anywhere.
Personally, I’d like it to be in Berkeley. Or maybe Portland, heard that’s nice. Seattle is great too, but it’s rainy. Berkeley is ideal. Or maybe Santa Rosa. North Bay.
I want to be around Jeff and Ryan. They make me a better person. They make me a better devotee. I’d also like to be around devotees, of course. I want devotee friends. Real friends. I’m getting them, I know. More than I had a few years ago. But I want that bond.
In a few too short days, I return to Lewisburg. I don’t like it there. I have a handful of friends. Sarah and DJ and others. But damn. What the hell am I still doing in that town?
Spring.
