Got one in before August

It's not that there hasn't been a lot going on. It's just that there hasn't been a whole lot new going on. Everything is just progressing at a normal rate. And, I wasn't doing any work on the computer for several weeks there, so I got out of the habit of writing. Part of my process is all the other stuff I do daily on the computer; if I work on the computer, the rest just falls in line behind. But I don't think this break has been a bad thing; less time in front of the screen is generally positive, I think.

So what is going on... still working in Berkeley as an in-house assistant. Aurora and I get along very well. We entertain each other, which is always a big plus. And I'm really just cooking and cleaning, and then any other little projects that need to be done when I'm there. Thursday night I hung some new bead curtains, for example.

That's another development; I'm cooking all the time now. Both Aspen and I really dig cooking, and all three of us enjoy eating what is cooked, so it's just the perfect situation to practice and learn and develop my chops. It's so much easier to experiment and try new stuff when you're cooking for multiple people; the food is gone quicker so you can try something different, and with somebody else also cooking all the time it's easy to find inspiration and also not feel pressured. Aspen and I have gotten better at complementing each other's dishes, for example, both in the same meal and over the course of days.

But, as I was saying, the job and my own home-cooking really work well together. I also get inspired by what Aurora has me cook for her, and bring home little techniques that I develop when I'm at work. And, as I practice at home, cooking at work gets even easier.

I'm using a cookbook my mom got for both me and my brother several years ago, called "How to Cook Everything." That title is not an overstatement, nor is it conceited; it really is a cookbook that outlines every basic aspect of cooking. The author, Mark Bittman, is an amazing cook and a great writer (he's the NY Times food guy; not the restaurant critic, but the "how to" guy). His philosophy is easy to describe: start with the best ingredients, don't do much to them, and you'll be fine. The idea that you really can make delicious food at home more quickly, easily, and cheaply than any processed, canned, or frozen dish you could find in the store. The more I use his cookbook, the easier everything becomes. It's not even just that I'm getting better at it; it's that every recipe is quick and easy and delicious. I keep expecting to find one of those complicated, do-four-things-at-once recipes, but they're just not there. Truly a marvelous book.

Speaking of books; I read the new Harry Potter over the course of 24 hours last weekend. It broke down as about 8 hours of sleep; 10 hours Deathly Hallows; and 6 hours for everything else (eating and bathroom breaks is really about it). I think it's the best one of the seven, myself. I won't give away anything just in case, but I was also pleased that several of my predictions were correct.

And, yesterday, I saw the Simpsons movie. Some will wonder how I was able to wait two days... it's good, obviously not as good as the best of the shows, but still a solid 80 minutes of entertainment. I'd say 3-4 really deep gut laughs, and another 8-10 solid chuckles. What was weird was the near total absence of secondary characters; there were the five Simpsons, and the villain... besides those six, really only Flanders and a pig got much face time at all beyond what amounted to cameos. Still, it delivered what was expected and, in the end, it was The Simpsons, after all.

So, besides consuming children's media, what else have I been up to ... planning for my trip home, getting really excited about it. I always try to keep myself from overly focusing on trips until about a week before I'm leaving... and then I start to geek out. So that's right now. Here's my itinerary:

Leave Friday, arrive at Grant's Pass, OR to visit my friends Duward and Julie.

Saturday, go on a low-key river rafting trip with Duward and a bunch of developmentally disabled people and their supervisors. Duward is a social worker and he used to work with DD folks, so he volunteers on this trip every year. It happens to coincide with my visit this year, so I get to tag along too.

Sunday, drive the rest of the way to Seattle (actually Bellevue) and stay at my buddy Joe's.

Monday, we go to Westport to take surfing classes and drink beer. In that order for Joe; in the opposite order for me.

Tuesday we get back to the Seattle area, and I'm going to go out for dinner/drinks somewhere in the city. I'm pretty sure it's either going to be the Elysian on Cap Hill or the People's Pub in Ballard. Anyone who wants to come out should get at me on Tuesday and find out where we're gonna be.

Wednesday, over to the peninsula to my folks' new house. Last time I was there they had just moved in, so I'm excited to see what's happened. And, Glenn and Noreen are coming in that evening, too. Dad's been gathering lots of wild Puget Sound seafood for the occasion, and mom still has dozens of bottles of good wine to consume... I predict a blowout of epic proportions. And by blowout, I'm referring to the waistband of our pants, of course.

Saturday I'm going back over the water for a wedding, and then I'm staying in the city pretty much until I leave the following Sunday. No specific plans mapped out yet; lots of peops to see, of course, and at least a full day on Whidbey to see my uncle, aunt, and cousins, and to devour Penn Cove Mussels. Otherwise, just want to chill with the old-school for awhile, hit some of my favorite Seattle joints and get my vacation on. Again, get at me if you want to participate.

Housekeeping

It has been called to my attention that I mistakenly attributed "Octopus's Garden" to Paul. I totally know that Ringo was the mastermind behind that one. I have changed it for posterity to what I really meant: "Yellow Submarine."

Another reason Ringo's the best: "Act Naturally." (And yes I know that Buck Owen wrote and recorded the song originally. Save it.)

Another reason Paul's a jerk: "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," specifically that he wouldn't let George have a third song on Abbey Road (which would have been "All Things Must Pass") and insisted that little nothing song be included instead. Diggedy ding dong DICK.

One more thing about the crap-fest that is "Closer," that I wanted to mention but then forgot: this is the movie that originally had a full-frontal Natalie Portman scene. Mike Nichols, the director (a grand old—emphasis on OLD—man of American stage and cinema... this guy directed "The Graduate," for Christ's sake), is a father figure to Miss Portman, so she agreed to film the scene in question. Then he decided not to use it... which would be a worthy sentiment, if I didn't believe in my heart that he kept a copy for himself for, shall we say, less than noble purposes. But you have to admire his style, I guess; make a film about terrible people being terrible, using and abusing each other in matters of sex and love... and then mirror those people in real life. Bravo, Mike! Method directing at its best!

Pope-culture reviews

I've been listening to the Beatles again lately, for the first time in awhile; the other day I busted out Sergeant Pepper's, and today I listened to most of Help! in my truck. I was reminded of how Help! really exemplifies more than any other album just how big of bastards John and Paul really were. John's signature track is "You're Gonna Lose that Girl," summed up by the line "I'll make a point of taking her away from you." Not because he loves her, or cares really... but just to prove a point. This is the big disconnect with John; the same guy who wrote "Imagine" also wrote this song? The guy who penned "Dear Prudence" and "Julia" also wrote "Run for Your Life"???

I think this is what makes John such a fascinating character... well, this and his amazing super-genius, of course. But the "total self-doubt combined with arrogance combined with deep, deep love for humanity and peace" thing is pretty compelling.

And then there's Paul. "Another Girl" seems to be a perfect little microcosm of this guy's frat-boy assholery. Which seems to be a pretty fair representation of the guy, at least during the Beatles years. For me, the defining anecdote of Paul's offhand, screw-off genius is "Come and Get It." They needed a hit from another band on the Apple label, so Paul whips this song off in an afternoon, plays all the instruments recording a demo for it so Badfinger can just copy it... and it goes to the top of the charts.

This is the same guy who wouldn't let Ringo play drums on "Back in the USSR" because he couldn't get it right (according to Paul). But damn, again; superduper-genius.

But anyways. "Another Girl." Really encompasses that whole aspect of his character. Completely, utterly confident that he's the best-looking, most talented guy in the room. And, even worse, being absolutely correct in that assessment, and not afraid to take advantage of it to screw other people over. What a dick.

I've gone through every Beatle over the years as my favorite. When I was really young, like until I was 10 maybe, I was a Paul guy. I'm not proud of it. But he was left-handed like me, and wrote songs like "When I'm 64" and "Yellow Submarine." Soon I switched to John, stuck with him into my 20s... went through the spiritual George phase for the latter half of the 20s... and for the past several years I've become more and more firmly a Ringo guy. Not only is he the most underrated concussionist of all time (as any drummer will tell you), he was also the glue that held the band together. And he was by all accounts the biggest stoner in a band full of stoners. Even more than Paul, who was once busted in an airport with like multiple kilos of weed.

Do I have anything more to report at the moment? Watched the movie "Closer" last night. Part of my "watch everything Clive Owen's ever done" project. (If you haven't watched "Children of Men" yet, do yourself a favor and rent it, like, right now. Go ahead, I'll wait.) But "Closer" ate a bowl of dicks. On one level I think the Jude Law character hit a bit too close to home for my comfort... but then, I totally identified with Miles from "Sideways" and still love the movie, love Miles, etc. I figured it out; in my opinion, "Sideways" is about the moment in a person's life when he figures something really profound out, starts believing in himself, decides to embrace life a little more, etc. My brother and I will debate this until we die, but I think we're both right. Miles hits rock bottom, as my brother states; there is no direction but up from that moment, as I state.

I could go on about it, but I won't. The pertinent point is that I totally identify with Miles, all his messed-up neuroses and everything else, but I really believe he grows and changes during the course of the movie. And that's what is interesting to me in a movie. But there is no growth or change in "Closer." Everyone is fucked up and depressed and terrible to each other at the beginning; everyone is fucked up and depressed and terrible at the end. It's just a snapshot of how fucked up and depressed and terrible we all are. Great. I mean... even if it's true, even it's an accurate representation of how some people treat each other... why should I care, or want to watch it for two hours? I wish I had more hands, so I could give this movie four thumbs down. The milk's gone bad!

So nothing of a personal nature to report at this time I guess. Just commentary on some of the popular culture I've been consuming lately. Oh yeah, on that front, one more desuggestion: "John from Cincinnati" really, really blows. I read a great review of it, though; basically said that, when someone is actually a genuine artist, they're going to fail sometimes, and fail spectacularly some of those times, just because they're trying new stuff and pushing their own artistic boundaries and whatnot. So in a perverse way "John from Sucksinnati" is actually a validation of David Milch the artist. So I guess that's cool. Still not worth my 45 minutes a week. Or a steaming pile, for that matter.

Even so, it begs the question: what the heck is HBO thinking??? I mean, we're never really gonna know what happened with the forth season of Deadwood. But you've gotta imagine that HBO had something to do with getting it axed. But they obviously also give Milch carte-blanche to create any piece of crap that comes out of him... hence letting him make "John from Sucks-my-brown-eye-nati" (nice) and then debuting it after the final episode of one of the most influential, popular series in television history. So why couldn't they just give Milch what he wanted for the last season of Deadwood?

So in summary--John and Paul: unmitigated genius-bastards (gene-tards). "Sideways": a positive affirmation of self-growth and fuzzy bunnies (and anyone--cough, Glenn, cough--who wants to say otherwise should just get his own god-damn blog). "Closer" and "John from Sucks-my-Cinncinnati-bowtie": gaaaaaaaaawd-awful. Pope out!

SFSA*

*That stands for "Seriously Freaky Shit Alert." Don't say I didn't warn ya.

Well, so much for that goal. So now I have to say, "hopefully the last two gaps between blog entries prove to be the exception rather than the rule." In fairness to myself, it's been a hectic couple of weeks. Not only trying to incorporate two new jobs into my schedule, and still make time for all my other projects and goals... but I've been super busy on other fronts since the last time I added an entry here.

First of all, I had my very first visitors from up north! Completely unexpectedly, my uncle Rob and cousin Sophia rolled through town the Friday before last. They were on their way to a really cool, week-long summer camp at Stanford that Sophia attended. Rob drove her down, and then he was going to spend the week camping in Yosemite. So I got to spend most of Friday, all day Saturday, and then Sunday morning with them. Then on Wednesday, I drove into Yosemite and met Rob, and we hung out and hiked around until Friday afternoon. It's beautiful down there; I'm already planning my next trip. I have from Thursday afternoon until Tuesday morning free and clear every week, so my plan is to roll out one Thursday afternoon, camp out for the night, get up early and get a backwoods pass, and then hike the 35 or so miles of the John Muir trail from Friday-Sunday. Head back out early Sunday evening or Monday morning. Anyone who has the time and inclination sometime this summer to take a 4-5 day trip into Yosemite let me know.

In addition to these fun activities, last Sunday I went to the Pride Festival in SF. Jesus God. I missed the parade, but did get talked into attended a BDSM demonstration. They'd cordoned off a city street for about half a block and had a variety of shows going on.

WARNING: WHAT FOLLOWS IS OF AN EXTREMELY ADULT NATURE AND SHOULD NOT BE READ BY ANYONE OF A SENSITIVE DISPOSITION. OR MY MOM.

I'm reminded of the scene in The Usual Suspects (can you believe that movie is 12 years old?!!), when all the guys are in the holding cell together for the first time, when McManus and Fenster first float the idea of doing a job together. The line I have in mind is when Fenster says, "I had a man's finger up my asshole tonight." Of course, Hockney's reply, "is it Friday already?" is a classic comeback. But the reason I'm reminded of that scene is specifically because of Fenster's line. Only in this case, it would be, "I had a man's arm up to his elbow up my asshole tonight."

No really.

Chalk that one up to "something I never imagined I'd see in person." My new friend that I made that day, Jose (who came over with the one friend I made in Davis, Maggie) hypothesized that the fister had lost his keys somewhere in the intestinal tract of the fistee. I thought that he'd either lost, or found, a watch.

Here's the thing; that was arguably not even the most shocking interaction on display in this particular arena. Though it was probably the most jaw-dropping spectacle, I personally was more shocked by the (ahem) "consciously-induced-and-accepted penis and testicle trauma" going on about 10 feet away from my seat. Those in the scene call it something else, of course (it rhymes with "talk and fall borture"). But, in a decided example of "throwing a damp sponge on a wild-fire," I've decided to clean it up a bit.

In addition to those two demonstrations, we got a blindfolded guy with his arms tied above his head getting whipped bloody; some very large lesbians punching each other in the chest as hard as possible; caning; and something going on in one corner that I couldn't quite figure out before we left the scene.

So there you go. My new city.

The funny thing is, seeing all that happening in the middle of the street (as I said, they'd enclosed it with fences and tarps, but still, it was the middle of the freakin street) made me feel oddly safe. I think it's the sense that everyone can feel free to be anything they could possibly want to be, and not have to worry about getting hassled for it. I can't imagine being compelled to do anything nearly as crazy as trussing myself up in a sling and letting another man root around in my lower digestive tract like he was a gardener and I was his prize-winning vegetable patch... so how could I possibly worry about expressing myself honestly and openly? I actually read a great quote from Steve Earle about this very thing the other day; he was born and raised in TX, and now lives in Greenwich Village. I don't remember the exact line, but it was something like, "I want to be able to walk out my front door and see an interracial, same-sex couple walking down the street holding hands. It makes me feel safe."

And finally: I've figured out when I'm going to be coming home; 10 days-2 weeks something during the first 2-3 weeks of August. Right around the corner. Plan accordingly.