tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92103058954878580832011-11-27T16:40:02.518-08:00one robot beenoreply@blogger.comBlogger411100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-2968678026777509492011-05-04T13:23:00.000-07:002011-05-04T20:17:45.496-07:00

In the early days I used my passport as a form of escape - losing yourself in a strange land can remove you from your daily reality in the same way as alcohol, video games, or fiction can. It's incredibly important to travel for the right reasons: exploration over avoidance, the journey over the destination, and most importantly realizing that the allure of the new and the unusual is not

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-44414381999747446092010-11-21T09:45:00.001-08:002010-11-26T03:56:34.584-08:00

The inter-city UK bus system is pretty radical here.  Going across the map is frequently £1.  Compare this to the local Birmingham bus which is £1.70 and you can’t even transfer!  I know, WTF?!ANYngland I arrived to a rainy Bristol on an early Friday afternoon.  The city made it dead-easy to find my hostel as it accompanied the same arrows as “museum”, “waterfront”, and “cathedral”.  Why this

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-41789334098454321962010-11-14T14:33:00.001-08:002010-11-15T06:01:05.605-08:00

I confess, I’ve skipped over writing about my disaster of a trip to Manchester.  I initially contacted the established CS member in the gloomy Manchester band t-shirt because hey, shared love of a gloomy Manchester band = yay common interests = BFFs!  I asked if he could put me up for two nights and would he possibly be interested in seeing Swans perform at the Academy since he liked wearing this

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-28334883549061634942010-10-28T14:25:00.000-07:002010-10-28T17:09:40.387-07:00

Words to come soon. Birmingham, continued: Red Sparowes Supersonic Festival: Gum Takes Tooth Fukpig Drumcorps Napalm Death Godflesh Melt Banana Nisennenmondai Chrome Hoof Swans

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-89858027958695302682010-10-10T08:00:00.001-07:002010-10-11T08:24:07.879-07:00

Getting kicked out of the Schengen Area meant I would be evicted quite widely.  My options were basically Morocco, Lichtenstein, or out of the region entirely (requiring quite a bit of money shuffling back and forth to the upcoming festivals in England).Mr. Hat is an old-school Brummie and in leaving Berlin I knew that I craved the social familiar rather than start all over again.  The perks of

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-58630846541819233012010-09-26T16:28:00.001-07:002010-09-30T04:22:28.501-07:00

I’ve done London a few times in the past and I admit I’ve never found my stride with this city.  I owed her another chance and thanks to our worldwide economic collapse I found a great deal on a sweet hotel.You may have surmised that I have not stayed in a “sweet” hotel in quite some time, mostly because people using “sweet” as adjectives are typically both utterly uneducated and financially

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-29075620944328315762010-09-22T14:25:00.001-07:002010-09-23T02:53:34.979-07:00

I had a beautiful afternoon at the corner of Revaler Strasse and Warschauer Strasse - dare I call this the most perfect people-watching spot on our planet.  What started out as a quick outing for a Chicken Döner mit scharf soße landed me at the corner of busy and vibrant on a sunny, clear day.  My cold Warsteiner in-hand slowly took the form of a second, and a third.  I just couldn’t leave the

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-57075842025437789822010-09-13T12:29:00.001-07:002010-09-13T12:34:39.933-07:00

I’ve been obsessed with things over the past month.  I keep thinking about that container full of my own things back in Seattle and wonder how far I could reduce it while not eliminating choice completely out of my day.  Could I one day carry everything I own?  Absurd.  Could it all fit in the back of a pickup truck?  This I might be able to do…Not having much with me has opened my eyes to need

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-932279320028707022010-09-11T08:12:00.001-07:002010-09-11T08:41:53.768-07:00

I do not in any way recommend attending a music festival the weekend after you attend a music festival.That being said HOLY MOSES ON A CHERRY PICKER THIS ONE IS AT A DEFUNCT AIRPORT !!!!  !!! Best bit of the venue is the attention to detail, such as the band lineup / times listed on the departure board.  I’m just sad the luggage conveyor system isn’t running.  I’ve always wanted to ride one from

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-21671368869677987362010-09-10T06:39:00.001-07:002010-09-12T03:31:46.154-07:00

Worn down from the never-ending sales pitch found onboard every budget Ryanair flight, I landed in the bustling Dublin airport a wee bit punchy.  There’s a flying phenomenon in Europe that I completely fail to comprehend: vacant exit rows.Americans fight over exit rows like they were first-come, first-class seats.  Tall men like myself regularly glare down any shorties that dare sit atop these

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-25423301411396154142010-08-24T07:21:00.001-07:002010-08-24T13:20:22.534-07:00

I’ve been nudged about the lack of updates here, and rightfully so – this was to be an account of personal insight + adventure and I’m throwing up month-old food pictures I didn't even take from a country I’m not even in.Truth be told I’ve been chipping away at a monster while making myself home here in Berlin.  I'm still trying to find that balance between spending too much time with this laptop

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-54178357680454785862010-08-19T05:42:00.001-07:002010-08-20T05:29:11.026-07:00

Mr. T and I put Sora Margherita off until late in the week, as research led us to rumors of fresh handmade gnocchi each and every Thursday.  Sora Margherita, like Trattoria der Pallaro, can be found smack dab in the center of the Jewish Ghetto.In both instances I found it incredibly hard to imagine the cyclical persecution of its people amidst Rome’s high style, beautiful stonework, and dense

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-12023262976489348052010-08-04T19:40:00.000-07:002010-08-04T19:54:34.275-07:00

What stands clearest in my mind from my visit to Italy were three distinct meals.  These meals had nothing in common, except that I had little or no choice in any of them.The most satisfying of the lot had to have been in Rome at Trattoria der Pallaro.  There is no menu here, you sit and are served a carafe of the house wine and whatever Mama Paola is cooking up.  Everything we ate from the 10 [!

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-36140384877651180972010-08-01T10:25:00.001-07:002010-08-01T10:30:30.519-07:00

Rome Pacentro

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-34662761107175829002010-07-19T13:24:00.001-07:002010-07-20T03:46:58.277-07:00

There are a growing number of documentaries showing just how much of the American water supply is being privatized and bottled, moved just out of our reach behind storefront displays.  Water.  The stuff we’re made of.  It’s sickening to imagine that day where the poor can’t afford this most basic requirement.These films have been eye-opening and saddening, but being in Italy brings my anger to a

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-76403782269013189752010-07-18T10:06:00.001-07:002010-07-18T13:46:05.987-07:00

Greece and Italy both share what I consider a big problem – an incredibly strong aspiration towards a very specific type of physical beauty. While this impossible standard surely moves billions in beauty products and drives fashion forward, it comes with a downright intolerance to those without a sense of style or symmetry for a face.  It’s one giant sexual lottery, and the feeling like your

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-53575564870050239362010-07-14T03:09:00.001-07:002010-07-14T14:33:02.031-07:00

I was born into a world where family was a bit of a front – hugs were still exchanged, dinners were prepared and shared, but everyone tended to drift off back into themselves once the table was cleared and dishes washed.  I blame equal parts dysfunction to the arms-length nature of my Germanic background for this, and while I've always appreciated the lack of interference from my family into my

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-24629873257276908122010-06-30T10:53:00.001-07:002010-07-01T13:19:23.231-07:00

Since returning from Barcelona I’ve been playing guide to a growing family of old friends.  While the work progress will get annihilated for most of June and July, it’s certainly nice to be able to play tourist in my own city for a bit.This past week has involved a good bit of blindness – both observing it in other people and having it fall across my own eyes.1: logical blindnessMy new favorite

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-88262906364381316362010-06-19T09:43:00.001-07:002010-06-19T09:59:29.766-07:00

I followed the map straight to the water, oddly enough the bit of Barcelona I hadn’t even seen yet.  The bus pulled up and an odd mix of people climbed aboard, all of us excited to see the lineup of the evening. We rode down the coast a bit, through a series of shipyards on the left, cliffs to the right.  A tiered graveyard cut out of the rock was what stuck with me - having a grave with a view

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-53617449681077913352010-06-17T15:36:00.001-07:002010-06-17T15:40:20.095-07:00

Those were the first words out of Trish Keenan’s mouth, well, right after “fuck off then, go home”.  I kind of have to agree with her, I’m not feeling this festival - oversold and built to milk money as efficiently as possible.  I completely missed Caribou due to the venue being crammed full of people.  Crammed as in I couldn’t get close enough to even see the band, and I’m well over six feet

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-63877693647327468442010-06-17T07:40:00.001-07:002010-06-17T08:09:12.491-07:00

Today’s Menu del Dia was found in the once-seedy El Raval district.  I gauged the quality of the food inside by the lack of tourists and the sheer size of the owner.  Big men know how to eat!I opted for the Uruguay combo – a meat-and-onion empanada, a plate of flesh (split and grilled chorizo, some tough mysterious cross-section of animal, and blood sausage), potato salad, bread, a huge dulce de

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-36994440958251042002010-06-16T09:33:00.001-07:002010-06-16T13:41:59.307-07:00

Note: my camera is starting to go insane. Barcelona is everything I thought it would be: beautiful, refined, intelligent, impatient, and passionate.  Since landing here I’ve realized just how much Spanish I’ve had stored away in my brainstem, thanks to one swoony high school Spanish teacher we all crushed hard on. Even after all of my time in Germany (4-5 separate trips now) there’s a vast

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-91988277913343027422010-06-08T04:18:00.001-07:002010-06-08T13:39:02.723-07:00

It had been a few weeks since I sent the nicely-translated email off to the appropriate government agency.  I took the absolute silence as slow bureaucracy – an inbox stuffed with the pleas of a thousand people in my predicament.  Let us ALL stay just a little bit longer…An elderly Chinese roommate helped me follow-up on this – it turns out a total of 0 of her friends had gotten a response from

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-40107891222900298962010-06-02T04:33:00.001-07:002010-06-02T07:46:18.880-07:00

I’ve been asleep since that night.  The warm welcoming summer has turned cold grey march-for-may.  Working + Fall From Heaven 2 + bedtime movie treat are the foundation of my new daily routine.  It feels a bit like sleeping.  Productive slumber which is fantastic but a bit dull all the same.But get this, I’m asleep on a MERRY-GO-ROUND.  If my blue ostrich catches up to the green goat Residency

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-19755378580412646952010-05-14T09:53:00.000-07:002010-05-14T18:10:12.999-07:00

"I don't want to go home, how about one beer?" was what she said - an elderly Chinese roommate just off of her DJ gig, spinning to people far too hip and far too young to appreciate 60s soul music. I staggered a little bit, already full of a wide variety of booze, steadied only by my Döner with the spicy sauce in hand. It was 1am and my only response could have been "sure". We headed to

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-88556584863192183872010-05-08T10:43:00.001-07:002010-05-08T16:09:25.137-07:00

The last night of the festival was the big one – Glenn Branca’s latest ensemble and Atari Teenage Riot formed the two reasons I was excited.  I ran across my two young Austrian chums as we were separately in search of a common love: the Döner Kebab. Americans are quite used to the Greek-influenced gyro and the shavings of meat from the giant rotating spit.  The Turkish gift to Berlin was the

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-67758138374614299492010-05-04T16:56:00.001-07:002010-05-05T05:48:48.119-07:00

OH MY GOD YOU CAN NOW GET PEET’S COFFEE DELIVERED REASONABLY TO GERMANY!!!! !!!! !!!   !!!!  Decent bags of coffee here are rather expensive, and I kind of feel bad for Germany but Peet’s and Vivace kick all of ‘em to the curb.  If I can find a Rogue or Deschutes importer I swear to god I’ll do a dance.  I’m so weary of pilsner that it’s gotten to the point I might soon switch to wine-primary (!!

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-61432760130783718512010-05-01T09:25:00.001-07:002010-05-01T17:53:35.665-07:00

As the train pulled into Vienna on Wednesday‘s early morning I realized just how little sleep I had gotten on the overnight trip.  Whacked-out on deprivation and caffeine I threw my bag in a storage locker and fell out of the station in search of breakfast proper.  The lack of time in Vienna made my goals quite simple: a fantastic Melange and a fantastic Schnitzel.The first sight I came across

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-64574594278517019132010-04-26T03:31:00.001-07:002010-04-26T03:46:52.326-07:00

This is where I work... It took nearly a month but I’m off of the sofa and I have a space of my own.  With the door closed and the speakers on I’m right back to all of my old habits.  It’s quite amazing how just 60 Euros at Ikea can turn a bare space into something vaguely resembling you.  This ficus might just be my most favorite of possessions. The clear view of the bus stop across the street

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-53512218239498899522010-04-25T15:07:00.001-07:002010-04-25T15:17:39.482-07:00

your honor i have xibits xibit 1: The water in Europe is so FRICK--G hot that today I took a bath and made a delicious pasta dinner AT THE SAME TIME. xibit 2: IT IS NOT JUST WATER I had some rocking sweet potato + coconut milk soup from a restaurant and it took TWO DAYS to feel the roof of my mouth again.  Sure the klein bowl was only 2,50 Euros but think of the poor old people xibit 3: Okay

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-14170971770316641042010-04-23T08:35:00.000-07:002010-04-23T17:01:17.293-07:00

Dear Diary, Earlier this week I saw some tasty bait in wait and I clicked as hard as I could, only to feel my fragile enamel strike smooth steel as the yank of realization pierced straight through my cheek. I can't exactly blame the fisherman for wanting something known, but what remains plain is that no one ever wants to dangle from the end of a line. I'm relieved there is a vast sea booming

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-30430073171978035702010-04-19T11:06:00.001-07:002010-04-19T12:35:53.071-07:00

↓ ↓ ↓

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-70380519898961302512010-04-18T01:45:00.001-07:002010-04-19T02:24:57.789-07:00

Once upon a time I had an apartment on Leipziger Straße for a summer, so many years ago.  It was a wonderfully tough time in Berlin for me – living + being left alone made the experience utterly mine, but it took quite a bit of work to have any sense of social life.  I would buy a round of beer for a table of Germans, I would leap into conversation with overheard English, I would basically put

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-68255871985575489192010-04-15T05:47:00.001-07:002010-04-15T07:57:25.967-07:00

The last five years of my life have been one endless loop of working for others and saving, working for myself and bleeding, working for others and saving, on and on and on.  When you get out of habit of spending what you earn, the budget you set for yourself can easily constrict your ability to experience life.  That $4 daily coffee is suddenly 1/6th of a live show, 1/15th of weekly groceries,

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-57351825743827361732010-04-09T08:27:00.001-07:002010-04-09T08:43:56.591-07:00

When I was a child I played football (you people in ‘merica need to get with my hip new EU lingo, I’m talking soccer!).  I was downright terrible at football.  The ball?  Boy I could kick it.  I could kick it so far out of bounds it would take a good 5 minutes to go find it.  My hands?  My hands were so powerful that they would swat away anything that came close to my precious face.  Funny enough

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-58238900729016213212010-04-02T01:16:00.001-07:002010-04-02T01:22:10.658-07:00

It’s taken a few days of [documen/re-visi]tation to realize what a vast purgatory I’ve built for myself.  Projects that are close to your heart are often the worst business moves imaginable.  For whatever reason I’ve had the requirement of building my own ethos and ideology into everything I’ve embarked upon.  I don’t want to write stories, I want to turn my own fiction into reality.  Computer

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-22813272340990227232010-03-28T14:58:00.001-07:002010-03-29T14:32:57.996-07:00

I’ve used the word “homeless” quite a bit these past few months, in reference to my absence of a conceptual home.  The sublet I stayed in was someone else’s home.  Staying on a friend’s floor, while full of my once furniture, was still not my home.  Especially now in my new Berlin digs, sharing close quarters with four elderly Chinese men * - this is where I sleep, but this is not (yet) my home!

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-46915154865702587842010-03-25T04:39:00.001-07:002010-03-29T14:48:12.342-07:00

12.4 pounds of miscellany packed every square inch of the large flat-rate box.  I smiled at the postal employee as he grunted under the one-handed weight, satisfied in the decisions mailed back.  There is that wonderful moment in suiting up a well-designed backpack - after toggles and buckles are adjusted the weight becomes almost an extension of yourself.  My daily laptop/messenger bag goes on

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-65976118477336652052010-03-19T10:26:00.001-07:002010-03-19T10:26:35.716-07:00

Let’s make something clear: I am a computer professional, complete with the ailments and weaknesses of my kin.  I am in no way a personal packhorse of the Sherpa people nor have I ever gone to a gym that is xtreme in nature. When I threw that Tom Bihn brick into the trunk it never even registered how terrible it would be to get the Entire Weight of Mankind (roughly 5-10 lbs) from the overhead

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-56649278268919683712010-03-15T11:54:00.001-07:002010-03-15T12:25:23.809-07:00

Reducing the size of the things in your life takes work.  Deciding how to pare down your chattels into 5’ x 8’ of space is just plain difficult.  It would make sense that filling a backpack from the remainder would be trivial, unfortunately the “stuff” you need to live on upon your return generally isn’t at all good for travel. When I was first planning this trip my mind somehow equated “plan

one robot beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210305895487858083.post-37364364256512609872010-03-14T20:07:00.000-07:002010-03-29T07:33:43.937-07:00

Hi. I strongly believe the centralization of our personal lives online is a dangerous thing.  This blog an experiment in figuring out how to share an experience without feeding it all to Facebook.  Either you know me or you don't - while my goal is writing to the former, I need to take the personally identifiable me out of the picture entirely. Rules for myself: 1. No real names. 2. Careful

one robot beenoreply@blogger.com