I’m trying to track down a friend I worked with in South Africa.  (I just realized, he’s the one pictured in the boat on my background) He’s about 30, and I remember he’d lived a fairly nomadic lifestyle.  Haven’t spoken to him in a year, but I was able to get the phone number of where he was staying, which turns out to be a hostel near LA.  I spoke to the chick on the phone, and she had this very fun vibe about her.  Told me how she was out there looking for work and a place to live, so I ask her what she’s doing.  “I don’t even know you, and besides, I’m superstitious about things like that.  If I tell you, it might not come true.”  She called me a stalker for the way I was trying to track down my friend.  I really think there’s a whole other world out there from this east coast life of mine.

I napped from 7-9 pm.  When I awoke, my room was dark, except for a bit from the street lamps.  For I moment I thought I was camping, because it’s rare to ever be awake and not be consumed by some form of light all the time.  That’s one of the nice things about camping, you awake to the sun, and sleep when the sun goes down. 

Have you ever had a sleepover, and the second you turn the light off, it’s goodnight.  There’s something to be said about letting your eyes adjust to the dark.

That made me think about this age old question, would you rather be blind or deaf.  I have an interview (yes…pretty much my first interview ever for a job), working for a program for the blind.  Now, normally I’d think it’d be better to be deaf, because you can still communicate, and some technology now exists to help you hear somewhat.  Plus…you can be more self-reliant than a blind person can. 

I started asking myself, what’s more important, sight or sound.  What’s more important when it comes to memories?  Most of my memories are visual, both in my mind and photographs.  If I had the opportunity to see someone I’ve probably long forgotten about, I’d probably rather hear their voice, or a recorded conversation, than see pictures.  So…I guess in some way hearing is more important.  Plus…it allows you to enjoy music and have phone conversations.

I also like the ability to enhance other senses, like Ray Charles had for sound.  Have you ever tried eating with your eyes closed.  It’ll be weird at first, even if you’re alone you may feel strangely self-conscoius.  (I’m typing w/ my eyes closed now…and it’s actually less strain on my eyes fom the light I realize).  Anywyas…i notice that eating w/ your eyes closed really enhances the taste experience.

Hey…did anyone see that South Park where the hippies take-over the town and throw a crazy music festival, and only Cartman is capable of leading the fight against the band of “know-it-all college hippies.”  What a brilliant episode.  The students roll up w/ their U of Colorado at Boulder bumper sticker, and start going off about corporations this and corporations that.  And after 9 days of peace and music, Kyle or Stan, one of the two, gets on stage and says, “So…what the fuck are we actually doing to stop those corporations?”  and everyone gets quiet, and then they just start jamming louder and smoking more pot.  and this one stoner goes,

“We really need to build a community w/out corporations, we could have one guy bake things, and have another person to look after everyone else’s safety,” 

“You mean like a baker and a cop?”

“No man…that’s too corporate.  We need a place where everyone lives together.”

“You mean like a town?”

It’s been a few months since I uttered things like libertarians and lefties, and leave it to South Park to make the point that it doesn’t matter what you believe, they’re still gonna make fun of you.

I also caught this show, the 700 club or something, it’s a Christian channel, this guy was going on about his Christian videogame coalition and listing all the sin in today’s games.  Apparently, you can buy an add-on for the Sims where they get naked, and in another game, your character gets stronger by using crack-cocaine!  I was actually itching to get into video games again.

And yesturday I watched Super Size me, and it actually made me want to eat McDonald’s, which I haven’t eaten in ages.  OK…there were scenes where the main guy did everything possible to turn you off to Mickey D’s, like showing a hair in his yogurt (which he probably set-up), making himself puke (which he probably induced), and showing some nasty stomach surgery that some guy had, but, the overall impact left me w/ a craving for a kosher Big Mac w/out cheese and some supersize fries.  And, why the fuck did they go so much into this guy’s personal life, like I want to hear his vegan lady saying how she has to be on top because his nearly limp-dick boyfriend has no stamina anymore…talk about unnecessary shock value.  But…it was amusing to here the two of them argue over the issue of eating meat:

“Eating meat is wrong,”

“Yeah…well it tastes good”

“Yeah…well so does heronine.”

Fucking brilliant.  Not only did this movie make me want to eat meat, it made me thirsty for heroine too.

I also watched a marathon of this show Dr. 90210, about a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon.  He improved a porn stars tits, removed 2 extra boobs from a poor hispanic woman, fixed up the chest of a man who was born in a woman’s body (they actually covered up his nipples, which was strange, because it was a guy w/ man boobs but female genitalia, I wonder who makes that judgement call), he gave a girl a J-Lo booty, closed the hyman of a Muslim woman who was to be subjected to a gynecologist of her fiances choosing to make sure she passed as a virgin (she apparently had been raped), a chick whose labia was too big, a mother and daughter who got boob jobs together, how cute…it was quite an afternoon of tv.  And the moral…America has some pretty talented plastic surgeons!!!  Seriously…I was blown away by the medical technology.

Also found myself watching channels 21 and 13 recently, the two public broadcasting networks here.  Caught Alan Alda, the MASH guy, doing a special on various genetic health defects, including Williams disorder, autism, deafness, and others. (follow the link for full text from the show). Again, the technology used to help these people blew me away.  Cochlear implants have the ability to allow the deaf to virtually hear and speak.  Another technology allows people with cerebral paulsy, those bound to wheelchairs and unable to speak or control their movements, to use their eyes to communicate by looking at a special-made computer screen.

Watched this movie No Man’s Land, about the Serbia-Bosnian conflict, kind of a comedy about war…could’ve been any two ethnic groups.  Just another conflict I know nothing about, but took away a message that I can probably apply universally to most wars, “war is bullshit.”  There’s a scene where a Serb and Bos are arguing over which side started the war.  Neither can agree, but, ultimately, the guy holding the gun is able to persuade the other that their side was to blame.  I guess that’s how it’s done.

Also…caught a NYT article about that website post secret I wonder if I were to make one what it’d read. 

Well…I have one job lead, that’s one, meaning there’s one job I’m hoping to first get an interview for.  I have all of a week to decide if I’m going to work at my camp this summer, or continue to google for jobs.  Actually…I have 2 job leads, my roommate in St.Louis manages a Starbucks   The funny thing is, is it would be cool to work at Starbucks if I was living is some remote and possibly exotic place, but I’ve got too much of an ego right now to take a service job w/ no reason why, such as, “just doing this to save up for X.”  I’m not really looking to save, i’m looking to spend, and to do that, I need to possess a job title worthy of at least 30 g’s.

it’s late, i’m out.