Raggae blasts out of the RV at the top of the hill next to the trailhead in the sunbleached parking lot in the middle of the Indian Reservation. A handwritten sign says Cold Drinks and underneath "have an Irie Day". It turns out the Havasupai Indian tribe are Rastafarian. Look at some of the pictures and you can imagine why -

Angie and I have only a few hours here in Tacoma and tomorrow we head to Sitka... more later

Goin' Dark... Vacation 'til May Day

Loyal readers!

In my attempt to travel myself into the poor house, I'm going on another vacation. This time to the Grand Canyon. I really AM excited, but I'm a bit weary.

Since I stopped working last year, I've been all over Taiwan, NC, Georgia, Hilton Head, SC, Florida, Wisconsin, Costa Rica, and Cleveland and Tacoma and Seatle and Portland.

It's been a great run, but I'm out of money. This will be my last trip... I mean starting now, I'm not going to book anymore airline tickets. Of course, I'm still going to Sitka in May and a bike tour in Oregon in June - But after that, I'm going to get a JOB.

yep, I'm not sure just what yet. But I will work again.

Being Jobless has been an experience - this is certainly the longest I've been unemployed. But being a world traveler is a job, right? And I've helped people. And spent time with Family and friends. I like that part of it. It's the not showering and lounging around all day on the couch watching DVD's of arrested development that is killing me.

So, I'm hoping for a brief spell of work to make some cash and / or experience and then of to school. Could be an education Masters... Could be an MBA or something totally different.

My confidence shook a bit when I saw my bank account. But it's given me some motivation. So, keep me in your thoughts and I'll see you here again in a week or two.

Academic Studies Starbucks Cultural Impact - Yahoo! News

Academic Studies Starbucks Cultural Impact - Yahoo! News: "Simon, who teaches at Philadelphia's Temple University, thinks that by spending time at Starbucks — observing the teenage couples and solitary laptop-users, the hurried office workers and busy baristas — he can learn what it means to live and consume in the age of globalization."

What it means to live and consume in the age of globalization... I like that. live and consume ... in the age of globalization.

That's my age!

...

Happy Easter everybody!

search"sasha cohen" VideoSift

search"sasha cohen" VideoSift

Borat "Ali G" disgraces the national anthem in Savannah, Georgia. It's funny

My great aunt , Eloise

OKAY okay - one more story about death: The crux of my family, I've always said, is that two brothers married two sisters. Lenny and EvaMae and Raeford and Eloise. They celebrated their anniversary on the Fourth of July. Raeford and Eloise were favorites of mine and when the only thing you know about them is there names, you can understand why. They deserved those cool names because they were off the chart in cool. Raeford was gruff and hard and Eloise was smart, sassy and with the looks to back it up. They loved each other tremendously and raised 5 kids. After a fight with cancer, Raeford died first. Eloise lived on. She traveled to my graduation with my Grandmother, EvaMae. They were best friends. After years with Cancer, EvaMae died. Eloise lived by herself. And on the Fourth of July, her family gathered at a neighbors for the traditional party. She felt tired and wanted to rest. She would be along to join the party after awhile. She lay down on the couch and read a book. When her son came to bring her to the party, the book was peacefully resting on her chest and she was gone.

Perhaps she drifted off like our poet describes. I know she was a simple country lady. And I hope she wasn't afraid and felt the connection with her family and simply got up from the couch and joined them at the party.

I'll try to find a good picture of her and post it soon.

enough of the Death Stuff

... well just one more post. Tonight, while celebrating my return from Portland, I watched the PBS show "Nature". The subject was an African Fig tree. The female narrator's soothing voice explained the web of life surrounding this one tree on the bank of a crystal clear river. The point of the story was the relationship between the fig fruit and the lone pollenating fig wasp. But what surprized me was the life struggle and death of these creatures all in perfect harmony. Nothing is F$#K'ed here. Every lifecycle fit into a whole and served some sort of purpose. As if by pre-arranged contract, each species fulfills an obligation and contributes in some way.

Beautiful. It made me happy for the tree, and the bugs, and PBS.

pictures from Portland, soon.

Thanatopsis

Thanatopsis

Death - This poem was written by a 16 year old in the late 19th century. He seems to get it. "All that breathe share thy destiny." This was and is one of my favorite poems. I first read it in class and have always gone back to it.

My grandfather got word that he has a cancerous tumor and must have an operation to remove his kidney. It's a big deal, in my mind. He is 81 years old. And he has seen alot of death. His wife, brothers, friends have all joined the "innumerable caravan".

It's tough to speak to your grandparents about dying. But why in the world is it? Death is all around us. Yet it's a taboo. Maybe it's like sex - we don't talk about it to build up the mystery and heighten the thrill.

So, okay, I'll play along. I won't try to bust the taboo. But I won't be ruled by it either. A little mystery is good - too much is a dysfunction.

I'm going to die. The fear is that I will die doing something stupid and that I'll cower and creep toward it like a quarry-slave at night.

My grave is waiting, but my obituary is not written. I plan to walk toward my death day with unfaltering trust. So can you.

"The oxen are slow, but the earth is patient."

01:02:03 04/05/06

For another example of why Annie is supercool. She told me she wants to finalize her marriage (long story) today. Wednesday, April 5, 2006 - 04/05/06. Pretty cool, huh? My friend Nat in Portland just sent me this: This afternoon it will be 01:02:03 pm 04/05/06.

Can I just say that my friends freakin' rule!

Near death experience brings people together

I've truly been on a wild ride and I want to share more about it. I'm not the best writer even at my best. Regardless of that fact, every once in a while, I get over myself enough to type a blog post. This one is about death and life.

When the plane I was on caught fire (US Airways Flight 59 from Charlotte to Seatac), I had a bit of an "Come to Jesus Party". It wasn't frantic. I didn't panic - No one did. My reaction was not passionate. I felt alittle sick to my stomach, as I thought "Today is the day I die." I can't say I wasn't scared - I was. But, erierly I was pretty calm as I sort of observed the situation. The flashes of light and the plane sliding around fighting the turbulence on one engine was "off putting".

After we landed and the tension dropped. (The pilot said "I think everything is under control") We laughed and the people in the cabin talked with one another. I wonder what they thought. We had been in a tense situation and we felt a bond stronger than the normal barrier against speaking to a stranger.

I don't know if it's Star Trek's Klingon or Japanese Shinto ninja comic book philosophy, but somewhere way back when I watched Star Trek with my Dad or chucked "throwing stars" at the back of my friend's skateboard halfpipe, I accepted that I was going to die. I really couldn't choose when, but I could choose how. I want to die doing something great.

And in the last couple of months - Since I moved to Tacoma to be with my Girlfriend or Since I quit my job in Taiwan and moved back to be near Family - I feel like I'm doing something great. Like I'm living by the right values or guidebook.

"I'm still alive / do I deserve to be? / And if so, who answers?" That's a Pearl Jam lyric that has been floating around my head lately (before the flaming engine).

I an hour before I got on the plane to leave Wilmington, I met with a friend, Annie. I've known her for less than a year and we have a fantastic relationship. It's intellectual,as well as intimate and physical - She is my massage therapist. After the massage yesterday and while we were saying goodbye, she said something that I truly needed to hear. She said that she was happy to know me, that I was special to her. She said that I was like a wonderful cameo in the movie of her life. It made me feel so good. I felt like busting at the seams. When someone who you think is great, thinks you are great - well, that's just great. (!)

She also said I deserved to be happy and have a great life. That word deserved struck me and I remembered the Pearl Jam song.

So maybe it's our friends who answer the question, "Do I deserve to be alive?" Of course, I've been told by my parents and family and friends that I am special to them, but they are sort of obligated to make comments like that. Coming from a new friend and unsolicited - It's Special. And she is special. And I wish for her the same thing.

komo news | US Airways Plane Lands Safely After Bird Strike

komo news | US Airways Plane Lands Safely After Bird Strike

This was me.

Coming into Sea-Tac, the engine starts to make a funny noise. I didn't think too much about it because planes make funny noises ... sometimes. But when a guy on the other side of the plane starts saying "Hey, the engine is on fire." and there are flashes of light inside the cabin - my "HOly CRAP" meter was pegged.

The pilot had to fight turbulence and with one engine it was pretty frightening. Imagine the engine is on fire and the plane is weaving around. Sucked!

I thought, "Well, I could die in this plane. Today."

hmmm

"I'd rather be lucky than good"

well, the excitment continues....

If you go down to Hammond...

Travel is something for the strong. My brother and I just got off the road from our Southern swing. 1 week and 2 thousand miles later we can sit back and relax for a few hours here at home before we head off again - this time in seperate directions. He is going to Hawaii and I am back to Tacoma.

Florida is a travel paradise. Fecund describes it well. It's dripping with wildlife. And not only in Downtown Orlando. Which is best seen from the back of a speeding pedicab.

Well, my mind is fried. People visited: Mark, Catherine, Paddy, Lilly, The Nestor clan, the lean Mel and Eddie, Charles. Everyone is fine. I'm fine and ready to get back "home".

I hope to write about some trip highlights - like the natural springs, the kayak trip with my brother and sister in Tarpon bay, and the easy life at the Casa del Nestor on Sanibel.

as always, more later,