I'm back in Logan and my daily grind. The trip back from Sheridan was fun since I had the airliner all to myself on the leg from Sheridan to Denver. The steward recognized me from my trip there and asked me if he had to demonstrate the safety features again. Pretty fun being the only one on a 30 passenger plane; I just sat in the middle of the back seat and enjoyed the luxury.
To follow up on my earlier observations about Wyoming, I am still as impressed with the people as I was on the first day I was there. Didn't encounter any rude person, no one asked me "Where are you from", I could walk into any establishment and felt treated as well as the locals. I've never experienced this before, except down in Mexico or a certain chain of Islands in the Pacific.
Tough going back to school on Monday. I just went through the motions has I have been doing all year long, but I did talk to my Principal about taking a year off. I plan to move to Wyoming and "LIVE IN A TRUCK CAMPER", which has been a dream of mine for many years now. I will have three monthly paychecks to live on ($10,000), so I won't have to hit the ground running. There are plenty of jobs in the hotel and education industry at the moment, so finding a job should be easy. I might start taking donations via Paypal (send money to my account at "albarnes707@yahoo.com" if you are so inclined. If this experiment should fail I plan to go back to my old job the fall of 2012, unless the Mayans are right about things. I also might teach in the orient should Wyoming become boring, but I doubt I'll get bored in the first year. I also want to spend the winter at 8000 ft in the Bighorn mountains on land accessible only by snowmobile or snowshoes. I am full of ideas, and I usually get around to fulfilling them. My number one goal is to get healthy, which is hard for me to do under a full-time stressful job. I want to live a much longer life than this current lifestyle will allow.
Bought one of those Chinese saxophones off EBAY and had it shipped to the Mountain view Motel where I spent last week. I have read good reviews about this horn and I must agree. Being a Tenor sax player I was warned about the difficulties in playing the Soprano sax (which is about the same size as a clarinet). I had little problem learning to play it and plan to play the Soprano many years into the future.
The case is 1/4 the size of my Tenor, and can play notes so high it can wake the dead with little problem. The Soprano is in the key of B flat just like the Tenor, so I can play the same music on both horns. I can also play trumpet music with it and hit the same high notes.
After being sick for the past month I finally acquiesced and went to see my doctor, turns out I have "walking pneumonia" which will soon be kicked after a 10 day regiment of horse pill sized antibiotics.
He also included a bottle of Codeine cough syrup, which is kicking my ass as I type. Never mix two beers with two teaspoons of this shit! My cough is gone, so no more codeine for me tonight.
I'm back in Logan and my daily grind. The trip back from Sheridan was fun since I had the airliner all to myself on the leg from Sheridan to Denver. The steward recognized me from my trip there and asked me if he had to demonstrate the safety features again. Pretty fun being the only one on a 30 passenger plane; I just sat in the middle of the back seat and enjoyed the luxury.
To follow up on my earlier observations about Wyoming, I am still as impressed with the people as I was on the first day I was there. Didn't encounter any rude person, no one asked me "Where are you from", I could walk into any establishment and felt treated as well as the locals. I've never experienced this before, except down in Mexico or a certain chain of Islands in the Pacific.
Tough going back to school on Monday. I just went through the motions has I have been doing all year long, but I did talk to my Principal about taking a year off. I plan to move to Wyoming and "LIVE IN A TRUCK CAMPER", which has been a dream of mine for many years now. I will have three monthly paychecks to live on ($10,000), so I won't have to hit the ground running. There are plenty of jobs in the hotel and education industry at the moment, so finding a job should be easy. I might start taking donations via Paypal (send money to my account at "albarnes707@yahoo.com" if you are so inclined. If this experiment should fail I plan to go back to my old job the fall of 2012, unless the Mayans are right about things. I also might teach in the orient should Wyoming become boring, but I doubt I'll get bored in the first year. I also want to spend the winter at 8000 ft in the Bighorn mountains on land accessible only by snowmobile or snowshoes. I am full of ideas, and I usually get around to fulfilling them. My number one goal is to get healthy, which is hard for me to do under a full-time stressful job. I want to live a much longer life than this current lifestyle will allow.
Bought one of those Chinese saxophones off EBAY and had it shipped to the Mountain view Motel where I spent last week. I have read good reviews about this horn and I must agree. Being a Tenor sax player I was warned about the difficulties in playing the Soprano sax (which is about the same size as a clarinet). I had little problem learning to play it and plan to play the Soprano many years into the future.
The case is 1/4 the size of my Tenor, and can play notes so high it can wake the dead with little problem. The Soprano is in the key of B flat just like the Tenor, so I can play the same music on both horns. I can also play trumpet music with it and hit the same high notes. (the Soprano is the little sax at the bottom of the photo) [photo by USD.edu]
After being sick for the past month I finally acquiesced and went to see my doctor, turns out I have "walking pneumonia" which will soon be kicked after a 10 day regiment of horse pill sized antibiotics.
He also included a bottle of Codeine cough syrup, which is kicking my ass as I type. Never mix two beers with two teaspoons of this shit! My cough is gone, so no more codeine for me tonight.
I simply love this windy state. The mountains, hills, plains, all conspire to amaze me everytime I come here. The best thing about Wyoming is the people who live here. They are pretty much straight forward and real. I'm sick of people with artificial veils, who have hidden agendas, who have no real idea who they really are... Most people I meet in Wyoming are the real deal. Ask them how their day is and the answer you get is sure to be honest. They seem to expect the same in strangers, and are very welcoming to the strangers who they percieve to be like themselves. "How are you doing?" I asked someone today... "Shitty day but things could be worse" she said.. We both had a good laugh about it and the day was brighter. The weather here seems to be windy and abyssmal for the most part, but with frequent hour-long breaks of windless sunshine., I just wear a windbreaker and lean forward as I walk. Haven't been knocked down yet in the three weeks I've spent here in the past year, but I'm sure it will happen. Currently I am visiting my friends "Melissa and Chuck", up in Buffalo, which is located in the North Eastern part of the state, close to the Dakotas and Montana. My son "Logan", moved here in early January, I plan to move here on June 1st. I learned alot from living in Utah, but I need some new stomping grounds. The Orient will be next! The west is still calling me and China will probably be where I spend the golden years.
Yesterday, Chuck took me on a tour deep into the lovely "Bighorn" mountains, which are a bit taller than the "Wasatch" range that I am used to. We stopped at the pass at 9600 feet for a photo shoot, but the winds and clouds prevented much success in that arena. I was also dressed in shorts and a bowling shirt, which made the restroom break a study in fortitude as the below zero chill factor worked it's way deeply into all parts of my exterior being! This last photo was taken as we approached the Big Horn range, but the huge peaks were obscured by the clouds. Tomorrow we are going out again and taking the snow mobile, and we plan to take Logan with us as a token snow boarder!
I checked my blog views today. We are now averaging 16 views per day! A massive hit compared to a year ago and only my mother looking at it. I feel I owe my small audience more blogs and better quality in each blog. I am now taking all pictures myself, unless it calls for something I can't do. I will also add more recipes since I am a brilliant cook and only show you kind folks a tenth of what I really cook. I will also force myself to write much more: You readers patronage, should spur me on much further than I've been able to spur myself. And lastly: I will try to whine less. Sure I have disgust for my boring and meaningless existence, but I will try to keep the depressing parts out, so you can enjoy your lifeless re-runs you call lives, without me making it more sad and lacking.
So on a scale of one to ten this week started out as a zero. Three of my students turned on me the past Friday. A coworker is on a war campaign against me. My girlfriend (I never liked), tried to up the relationship and failed miserably, so now I have no one to hang out with. My 3 month sinus impaction doesn't allow much sleep (feels like a train is wrecked in there). And I spent another shitty weekend feeling sorry for myself.
Monday sucked as usual, but the students were non-verbally apologetic. Tuesday was ok cept I drank four gallons of coffee due to the lack of Monday nights' sleep. I had to take a hot shower and drink a bucket of Chamomile tea in order to relax enough to crash at midnight. Wednesday was better, and I had my classes doing "fun for them" easy work such as collages and wire wrapping jewelry, plan to keep up the non-instruction until Spring Break is over and gone. I also slow cooked a lovely two pound round roast on the stove, while I went out to play trivia at the local pub. Nice to get out for once in the past two weeks. I didn't have carrots, and my potatoes were old, so I put three onions in the pot, after browning the beef, added some celery, wine, and a beef bouillon cube, and made a heavenly creation. The best part about the roast is that I left the house and ate at the pub therefore; I had to refrigerate the roast for a night and let it sit in the soupy, onion, wine mixture for a day before re-heating it all. I did toss in a bit of salt and pepper, Worcester, and more black pepper. The result was pure ambrosia of the beef gods. Since the ample liquid made a perfect au jus sauce, all that was required was the addition of a secret ingredient in order to pull things together. CATSUP! Only a couple tablespoons were required, but this au jus made the beef (which I broke up and sliced, then returned to the pot for 30 minutes), the best beef sandwich I can remember. Since all I had were toasted small hamburger buns, I only had three of them. I will dream of this for years to come. Remember: Screw the potatoes, put in one pound of onions to two pounds of beef. I did throw in a stick off celery and was happy I did. Needs no other veggies than these.
Tomorrow is Friday and the train-wreck in my nose has finally broken, due to snorting a mixture of sesame seed and Melalueca oil (the latter is a strong natural antibiotic), and has shifted down to my throat and lungs but appear to be on the way out. Thanks to my friend "Maurice" an old Mormon artist, for recommending it to me. Friday smells like a great day, and I will try to write more.
Very busy week, went on a field trip on Tuesday to Springville, Utah; to view the Utah State High School Art show, afterwards we got some lunch and went up to Ogden, for the Weber State High School Art show. I had students in both of these exhibitions. The three hundred mile round trip was long but fun, dropped early that night only to wake at 6:00 A.M to do it again.
Today, I managed to get on the bicycle and sprint into town, to check my mail and pick up some provisions. Had an excellent Japanese lunch at "Happy Sushi", I had the "Lunch Box", which consisted of grilled Salmon, tempura fried vegetables, 4 cali rolls, salad, and miso-soup. A three course meal for less than 10 bucks. I love this little place and the owners; the decor makes you feel like you're in another country, which is where I long to be.
Drove another 3 miles to Walgreens, and headed back home. Unfortunately I didn't wear enough layers, and the cold wet incoming storm caused me to stop at the transit center, and take the bus the last 3 miles to my place. Hell, 6 miles is a pretty good ride if your pushing it hard enough and hitting hills. I found that if I don't work out at least three times a week my circulation and mood suffers. I'm a fitness addict for the rest of my life; although I should work out more.
Its nice that Logan City has a nice transit system, I do think they should charge a dollar per ride or something, but the convenience of hopping on a bus instead of driving is always a nice option. The bike carriers on the front of the bus are nice as well.
Came back to my place to write, compute, and practice the Saxophone (See the blog last fall, bragging about my "1938 King Zephyr" Sax). I asked my neighbor to pound on the ceiling if I get too loud, she says she enjoys hearing me practice, but I have no idea why? Let's just say I have much practice to do before performing publicly LOL!
Feb 5th, 2011: Hanging out in Saint Francis by the bay for the first time. This is one of the three nicest cities in the U.S. if not the best of them. Boston, New York, and Chicago come to mind, but there is a freedom of the city by the bay that speaks out most forcefully. Sure they pay to live here and deeply they will pay to do it. And the cars, bicycles, skateboards, walkers, and cable cars continue to bring people here and there, "hither and thither", while planes cover the sky and the sailboats and ferry's criss-cross the bay with a certain urgency. People are moving around in San Francisco. They don't sit still because they need to be movin' in order to pay their ridiculous rents. When you spend more than half your income on rent, then you generally have to keep moving around, generating that next months rent. Again and again.
What do these poorer people do when they get old and can no longer hustle to make ends meet?
Hanging out in the bar next to my hotel was like a step back in time. Jack London and Mark Twain fully described this place, and the place's intensity remains as it was 100 or more years ago. People here live for this day. They all seem to be content to be here and making it happen with little thought for the distant future. Perhaps, they will all make it big before they get caught in the government home trap, or in other traps that are far worse. This is truly a city of opportunity. I don't think anyone can really starve here. It's like a dream world that never gets cold, never goes hungry, never will die, and never needs to sleep.
Had a great (near perfect) day. Woke at 7:30 and went to breakfast at Angies with my old pal Larry, where we discussed beautiful waitresses and fixing bikes and stuff. Went home and slept off the pancakes, eggs, and the rest.
Noon, I re-awoke. Made some tea, lounged about, did computer upgrade work, took a well-needed shower, then off to the grocery store, which I haven't seen for at least two months. I have been avoiding buying groceries, while eating up much of my old dry beans, potatoes, stored meat, and whatever. Now my cupboards, needed some shopping. I only spent $85 bucks, but I am stocked for another month at least. Amazing how cheap one can eat if one cooks for himself. I only cook for Artistic (and lousy local restaurants), reasons, but it is quite economical, if one avoids expensive stuff that is usually bad for you.
Drove the scooter around the "Island", the part of Logan City that I live in. (Used to be a real Island between rivers many years ago). Has some of the coolest places in town to live, but since it's at the bottom off a wet canyon, it gets damned cold. My little 50cc "Derbi" scooter, scooted my big ass around just fine, and passed 40 MPH at one stretch. This bike was modified, and crazy fast for a 50 cc, and sounds like an angry mosquito. It was about 45 degrees out and refreshingly chilly.
Came home, made a pot roast, which is still simmering in the pot as I write 4 hours later. One should never hurry while cooking! Play some music, have some wine, let the food do it's thing, just keep the heat low and check on things from time to time, tasting each checkup.
After much talking with many loved ones, via phone or facebook, while drinking a bit of wine and surfing old websites, I started getting a bit nostalgic about a few old poems I wrote, now deeply buried on Myspace, which I plan to rescue, re-write and send over here for safe keeping.'
Here's one that I rewrite every couple years:
Ok, that's one. And it was first written in 1995, I did a few more changes here in 2008, and most recently today in 2011.
Here's another written back in Spring 2008...
May 2008:
Observations of the Night:
Copyright A.Barnes 2008
THE NIGHT!.
I love the night,
I love it's quiet, rich, subtle, clarity.
I feel it's deep, all-knowing, beauty, and light.
so still, so perfect...
The depths of peace can only be fathomed at this time.
Late at night, is a journey through ideas and mist,
when every smell and sound has it's own meaning.
The night is a perfect time to wander and think.
The quiet is formless, home of the organic things.
The idea of death, and it's awful glow, often stab the air,
with sirens of panic and angst. Burning and fighting can always be heard...
along the flashing streets midst nights of neon and wire.
This is the pain of ignorance.
This the pain of the daily riot.
But this gorgeous fair night quickly returns to peace...
Night-time, is a lovely black angel, full of good-will, and power.
Her benevolence and humor are known to all who will listen.
Her happiness and joy are felt by those who come clear.
Her sweetness is almost beyond our perception.
Her movement is silence, impossible to hear.
Night! You gorgeous black beauty...Please stop by and speak to me.
Night! You bringer of wonderful dreams...Speak to me!
Night, O' Harbinger of the chance cards of the future...
You cast out the wild dust;
which emanates from the chaos of the day....
All I ask, is that you continue to "speak to me" and never leave,
and I will always hold you dearly!
Lovely night angel, deliver us from this terrible world of daylight,
bring us all hope from this sun's oppressive destruction.
Lead us to all the dark secrets that you possess:
Then wake us up gently,
in the morning's silent creeping waves of light.
And I will miss you deeply when you're gone.
I will dream of your prowess, while crawling through the fiery day.
As I struggle for thirsty existence, I will remember your peaceful beauty,
When my work is done and all this shit is over,
I shall return to you with perfect faith,
and admire your timeless grace.
Took the winners of the annual Utah Statewide Art Show to the Capital, to be honored by the Legislature, Senate, and Governor. Had to meet each entity at different times, so it took most of the day to attend the meetings. The State Capitol building in Salt Lake City is one of the finest, most ornate Capitols, in the country in my opinion. This is mostly a photo blog, since little else was interesting particularly. I would like to mention that only about one out of seven entrants get their artwork exhibited in the show. Only three of my students were allowed to enter their pieces, ALL THREE WERE CHOSEN TO EXHIBIT IN THE STATE SHOW. ONE WON AN AWARD OF MERIT!!! NO OTHER JEWELRY PROGRAM IN THE STATE HAD THREE STUDENTS IN THIS SHOW! Our school had more artworks actually make the show than just about all the other schools in the state. Our school kicks ass in the Art Department. Does any other public school in the nation have 3 full time visual Arts teachers? We're talking Painting, Sculpture, Drawing, Photo, Ceramics, and Jewelry. Band and Choir are not visual arts.
I am proud to work with such excellence, sorry that it will soon come to an end. But it is time to go elsewhere, stagnation and boredom are setting in. I am no longer mentally stimulated by this place, I have few friends, no family, the winter lasts 7 months, and the air pollution is the 7th worst in the country. Time to move on..
I spent nearly a week in San Francisco, from the 5th through the 11th of this month; while attending the International School Services conference at the Hyatt (Embarcadero Center). Stayed in an excellent old hotel on Sutter & Larken known as "The Carlton", which I learned about from the "Trip Advisor" website. This old hotel was built a hundred years ago, yet has been modernized just enough to enjoy it. Every night they had free wine tasting with a jazz playing keyboardist (who also doubles as the concierge), and the hotel guests would actually get to know each other. I love this concept, I was able to meet strangers from all over the world for an hour, while drinking a couple glasses of free California wine! For a lone traveler like myself, getting to meet other guests is half the fun of being at the location. The rooms were small, with thin walls, but for only $70 per night? In San Francisco! After wine tasting, I'd go the the "Fly Bar" next door and have dinner. The "Fly", is located a few blocks from the worst ghetto in town (Tenderloin), and a few blocks from the top of "Nob Hill" (where one can rent a crappy studio apt. for $2500 or more), so the crowd is as diverse as it gets--great place for people watching. The excellent, healthy food, and the low prices, tend to attract all kinds of people. Unlike the wine tasting, I didn't socialize much at the Fly; I would mainly go there and eat, then go back to my room and be dead to the world by 9PM. The conference wore me out.
The first day I arrived it was 5 PM, and I mainly stayed in my room doing research about the area and making plans for Sunday, which was my only day to play tourist. I did manage to walk a few blocks (straight up a steep fecking hill) do buy a few groceries. This old downtown grocery store, located at the ground floor of an ancient skyscraper, looked like something out of Seinfeld, yet they had everything one could possibly need. The kind store owner (who looked identical to Saddam Hussein), was very happy that I bought "babaganoush" (eggplant/hummus dip), he told me how to make it at home, and why it is so healthy etc, etc.. Most middle easterners seem to be like this store owner. Went back to my room, feasted on "Babagonoush", drank some strong California wine with a lizard on the label, made my tourist plans, and hit the sack. 5 years ago, I would have partied to at least midnight, but that was then: now I'm old.
Sunday 2/6 6:AM: Called the tour company for a 1/2 day trip to see the "Muir Woods", and have lunch in Salsalito. We also stopped near the base of Golden Gate bridge for some photo opportunities. It was nice to see and smell the ocean again! Muir Woods, is one of the last remaining Coastal Redwood forests in the San Francisco area, and it seemed more interesting to me than the usual touristy sights. We got to spend an hour walking through the forests of huge trees, ferns, etc... very magical indeed. Afterwords, we went to the Artist, boating community of Sausalito, where I spent an hour watching the sailboats do their maneuvers, while dreaming of my own past sailboats and experiences. I would love to live in the bay area someday, but probably not in this life time. After all: The Bay Area ain't Texas is it?
Monday 2/7: Got to the Hyatt at the Embarcadero center at 8:00 AM, after a screaming cab ride through the city. Once I arrived things got faster, I got my I.D. tag, schedule of events, international school directory, and other stuff. Sat down and circled each scheduled school presentation that I wanted to see. Senegal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, were at the top of my list. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, were at the bottom. Lot to consider when looking at international schools. Some like "The American International School in Shanghai", pay very high salaries, excellent benefits, insurance, and more; with students from many different countries: others are not so great. For example: One of the schools in Bahrain, where they payed little, offered mediocre benefits, were owned by Bahraini nationals, who were known to treat their staff like cattle; all students were spoiled kids from the host country and could do whatever they want. If the teacher doesn't like it, out goes the teacher. There are many bad international schools like this. In order to choose the best schools for teachers I subscribed to a site called "International School Review", or I.S.R., to get the low down on these places from the reviews of past teachers and staff. Hours of research were involved, but I can discuss the conditions for teachers in at least 50 schools from all over the world. Really made my scheduling easier, but did cause me to cross many of the schools in attendance, off the list completely. Gratefully so!
Tuesday was the big day. From 8 AM till 10 AM all the schools had interview sign-up tables in a large hall, and over 1000 teacher candidates were unleashed upon the scores of tables where the recruiters sat, each teacher trying to score as many interviews as possible. They would only give you a real interview if you met all their criteria, so they asked a few preliminary questions. I went from school to school, often waiting in lines, only to hear, "Do you have any International Baccalaureate, experience"? My reply of "I would be happy to take the three day course this summer", didn't impress many, so most of the History job opportunities, blew by me like yesterdays blizzard. After two hours, I did manage to schedule 4 interviews. I was a little bummed about it, until I talked to a few other teachers who only landed one or two. Turns out that 4 interviews was pretty good, but not great. The rest of the day, I interviewed with 4 different schools, 2 in Shanghai, 1 in Kuwait, and 1 in Senegal. I didn't like the Kuwait idea at first, but I did want the interview experience, and I did like the director of the school. I got home way after wine tasting time, so I had a beer at "The Fly", ate a bowl full of greens and hit the bed by 8 PM. In S.F. many restaurants serve "greens" instead of french fries. I loved it!
Wednesday was easy but important, because we were all hoping to hear good news from our interviews. Much of the morning was sitting around the lobby, talking to other teachers, and hearing the cheers of the ones who were offered jobs. Seems that about half the candidates did get hired. One older guy said that he had been to three other job fairs before he got his new job, and he had international experience. I was assured by the Superintendent of the best school in Shanghai, that I was the man for his Art position during the interview, but if one of his recruiters found a math teacher with an Art teacher spouse, I would be squeezed out. This is exactly what happened. I didn't want the Kuwait job, I turned down an interview with an Egyptian school. So I resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't have a high pressure job at an international school this year (of course, all the schools have access to my resume and transcripts, so I could hear back from places, as other teachers leave the schools). I really want a lower stress job like University teaching in China, where you only have 14 class hours a week, but still get free housing and a small paycheck. To get those jobs you have to be in China to apply, I plan to leave in early June. Many people without teaching certification and Masters degrees teach in Chinese Universities, the jobs are plentiful and few qualified teachers want to work for low pay. I just want 3 or 4 day weekends so I can write, travel, and do research of whatever interests me at the time... History probably.
Since I had no call backs or interviews, I didn't go to the Hyatt on Thursday morning, just had a nice breakfast at the Carlton Hotel, walked to the Arab store to buy some tobacco. Took out the big camera and did a bit of street photography, then went back to my hotel and waited for the shuttle to whisk me off to the airport and back to the land of ice and snow. It was one hell of a nice trip and I plan to hit SF again someday, when I have a bit more time to see things. I did enjoy the heck out of criss-crossing the city each day, running to appointments; while meeting other teachers who work in fascinating places, meeting International school directors, hotel personnel, cabbies, street-bums, shop keepers, tourists and locals.
San Francisco is one of the most interesting places I've ever had the chance to visit. SEE MY NEW POST WRITTEN MARCH 13TH FOR MORE ABOUT THE SF. TRIP.
Sorry folks its been awhile. I just noticed that seven people a day are checking out my site. Makes me want to get off my bum and write some more. Feel that I owe it to the people somehow, plus I do love to write. Just been working like a slave and not much else.
I decided to look for an international school teaching job (you know the ones that give you free housing, don't tax you, but still pay the same or more than I make now)..... I'm flying to California to attend a big 5 day job fair and hopefully will land one of these positions. I love Utah and all, but I'm not from here and there are so many places I got to see (Free Bird lyrics?).... I really want to work somewhere in the orient but I applied for jobs in Europe, Africa, and South America as well. Mexico would be ideal, with its proximity to Texas, but even some of my Mexican friends fear going down there and getting kidnapped by the drug cartels. I will teach in Columbia but not Mexico this year.
I hope to save enough money to buy a few acres of land for a home base before I finally retire to RV living,
as much as I like my tiny truck camper, I don't consider it a permanent home. A larger camper could be a permahome for some, but at 6' 3" and 300 pounds I would like a little more space. Maybe a 22 ft travel trailer for living and the camper for camping.
September 24th, 2010: Time to write! I finally figured out how to fix my font sizes on the Apple. I really believe that the microsoft system is much more user friendly. But I plan to stick with the Apple--for only one reason--I don't have to play doctor 24/7 and try to diagnose and treat all the viral issues that Microsoft has. No more "Blue Screen o' Death", No more losing all pics and docs! No more F'ing bullcrap idiot lieing messages that tell you what to do. SCREW MICROSOFT AND THE THIEF THAT STARTED IT ALL!!! Consider the founder of Apple (Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniac): These two were buddies with Bill Gates back in the 70's, a time when all the Northeast coast computer nerds were freely sharing information. Bill didn't partake in sharing, as a matter of fact, he stole quite a few programs including windows. Gates pissed so many programmers off that many took to writing viruses. Avoiding all that drama, I will continue using Apple computers.
Today I had parent conferences in the morning and met a number of good parents. Most were here for their students who had 99 percent averages, parents of the kids that work hard and do all their assignments. The lazy parents (like myself), were too lazy to show, and many of their children are too lazy to do their classwork. The apple doesnt fall far from the tree. I do find the LDS parents to be very supportive and considerate for the most part.
Got off at noon and found a nice three bedroom duplex for rent, my son is tired of spending 1/2 his income for an apartment, and his best friend can't afford to rent a place at all. So I'm renting this new place and we should all save a pile of money.
Went on my first flyfishing trip in 30 years, even then I didn't know what I was doing. My ex-rockstar friend "Ricky", took me on an unwanted 1/2 mile hike to a good fishing spot on the Logan River. "You want me to wade in that?", I asked as Ricky put on his waders and jumped waist deep in the flowing mountain stream. Having no waders, I grudgingly stepped into some of the coldest water I've ever experienced. Once the water was up to my ass I was in total pain, but proceeded to fish while keeping the bitching down to a minumum. Ricky was an excellent coach and within 5 minutes the water exploded around my fly, and I fought my first cutthroat trout while Ricky shouted advise (some good, some not needed). Ricky seemed more excited about me catching the fish than I did. I carried the fish up the river bank, knocked it on the head to prevent further suffering, then changed into some dry clothes, allowing Ricky a chance to catch himself a fish. The Cutthroat trout is a most beautiful fish, with a splash of intense crimson across the neck area, they are the native species here and are finally making a healthy comeback after the introduced brown and rainbow trout were introduced. I hated killing this one, but I wanted something to eat that night, and maybe fresh trout was better than the store bought crap I've previously cooked. To me trout always tasted like mud.
Ricky was still amazed at my "beginners luck", but I being a long time fisherman, told him that "luck" had little to do with the fact that I aimed the fly under an overhanging branch, where I knew there was liable to be a fish, hiding in the shade during the hot afternoon. Ricky continued to fish for another 20 minutes, while I dryed out and watched his fly fishing technique. He finally caught a small brown trout, and we headed back on the rocky trail, and finally made it to the car. Had I known we were going to be hiking a mile I would have brought water and a decent pair of hiking shoes. Instead I'm feeling every sharp pebble under the soles of my moccasin-like topsiders, which are shoes designed for climbing on sailboats. The shoes did come in handy when ascending a steepish narrow trail, and gripped far better than my hiking boots could. Once back in Logan, I cleaned the fish, made some rice, and baked the fish after an application of butter, dill, lemon ect.... After the fish was baking, I pulled off a chunck, choked it down, and the familier taste of mud permeated my senses. Next time I plan to fry the damn thing and cover it which every spice in my cabinet in order to give it some kind of flavor. Trout really are not good eating fish when compared to salmon, crappie, perch, and nearly every fish I could name. Yet trout look so beautiful and colorful, makes one hungry just to look at them. I plan to look at most of my future trout before letting them go. I'm sure the fish will like that much better than the alternative.
While enjoying my trout dinner (the rice was great), I listened to my high school students beat the tar out of a rival team. I knew and have taught jewelry to, most of the varsity football team, many have been my best artists. I guess the tough disipline involved in playing football is why the players can excel in the tedious refining processes which making jewelry also requires. Jewelry and Football? Who would have imagined...
Saturday morning I went to Angies (where the locals eat) for breakfast. The local waitresses, crowded around me asking questions about my unique way of eating pancakes, where I carve a caldera in the center and pour the syrup into it, then slowly eat away at the edges until the hole is nearly as wide as the pancake. Usually I leave the last 1/4 inch of pancake so it looks like a bicycle wheel, which I do more from being full, than to leave a signature. I bet the dishwashers wonder about the phenomenon of my pancake remains.
Had a fun afternoon driving around on my bike looking for another place, since the landlord that promised me a place yesterday reneged on the deal. I guess her husband (a Bishop), forbid her to rent it to us. Who knows? I found another place with cool 60's archetecture, right out of the Brady Bunch house, with a few Frank Lloyd Wright elements. This landlord is a sweet elderly lady who will probably become a good friend and neighbor. Having her next door should keep my room mates whipped into shape!
I will miss the washer/dryer and other appliances that the other house had, but this house has a cool factor, and that matters most to me.
At 9:00 PM I took a taxi to the Fraternal Order of Eagles lodge, to watch my friend Kelly's band play for their pirate party (yar!).the F.O.E. lodge was an anacronism, right from the drinking places from the 1950's. They even had a regulation horseshoe pit in the spacious back yard of the lodge. The crowd was about halfway between the Masons and the Hells Angels, all were drinking together in the cause of public good. The F.O.E. included several famous people including 7 presidents, many baseball players, boxers, governors, etc... Mothers Day was initiated by the Eagles as well. The drink prices are cheap, and there was a much higher quality of ladies, than the other three drinking spots in town. I get two more complimentary visits before I have to commit to joining. I might just join. The Eagles are a good group of folks, and they like to party!
I stayed till closeing, then hung out with the band and friends before coming home around 3 AM. I was still pretty sober, so I cooked up some Indonesian marinated quail and served it over rice. Unlike the previous nights trout, the quail was excellent. I then went to bed and awoke at 2 PM Sunday, feeling like a million dollars. Met which my new land lord, and hopefully I will sign the least and pay for my new place on Monday. She wants to met my son and his friend first. Hopefully we will get this place.
Sept 3rd and 4th: Friday was a half day, which was nice after a grueling third week of school. By the third week; I get the hang of the long hours and the early mornings, which made this week the best one so far. Most of my students know me and love me, and I feel the same. No major issues this year, looks to be smoother than last year due to my increased organization and stricter class expectations. Next semester I will be teaching two "Foundations of Art" classes as well as Jewelry one and two, and Sculpture One and two. It will be more hectic than this semester. Its all good in the job department.
I came home in the afternoon and caught up on some well needed sleep, then went to my classroom in the evening in order to practice the sax! Damn I am glad to have the opportunity to play the sax again. Later that night I hung out with my son and drank a bottle of "Mount Gay" rum together. Mount Gay is made in the Barbados Islands and is my favorite rum. They have been making it since 1703. Must have been nice when a happy word like "Gay" didn't have such other connotations. I resent the hijacking of happy words to describe, peoples personal sexual habits. But I do love "Mount Gay" Barbados rum. Its best with sprite and lemon juice in my opinion.
The morning was painful, since rum is not as clean as gin and has more impurities like acetone and the like. Or maybe mixing rum with the occasional glass of cheap paisono Grappa wine, messed things up.
I did get up at 8 and ride the bike around this morning, but I came back home and slept for a few more hours before leaving again at 6 PM. I went on another bike ride, and this time I felt alive again. Went home later to call some friends, and make some "Sag Aloo" or "Panak Aloo", which means Spinach and potatoes depending on which Indian dialect you are listening to. Same cooking procedure and spice combo as the previously describe "Bhindi Marsala". Be sure to boil the chopped potatoes first before adding them to the stew. Just make the Bhindi Marsala recipe again and use finely chopped spinach instead of okra, and potatoes rather than tomatoes. This dish is a bit more bitter but less acidic. I might try adding a small dose of sweetener next time.. I did put a table spoon of butter with the mixture, since "Ghee" adds more flavor than vegatable oil does. I stiill put in quite a bit of canola oil in this concoction.
Way better than the Bhindi in my book. I did make the changes I described earlier and they worked out well. I did hit it too hard with the cumin, but no big deal. This meal was nearly the same quality as the restaurant. Just a couple small changes and I will have this down. Might even start an Indian restaurant someday, in a place like Wyoming or Montana. Charge way less for the vegetarian versions and might even convince a few rednecks that not all meals require a pound of meat. I am down to a mere two or three ounces of meat per day, after having no meat at all. This is not planned, but is a natural result of eating too much indian fare. Meat should be a condiment and not a main course. Unless you happen to be a Tiger, Wolf, or Alligator. Humans, Chimps, and Pigs, are Omnivorous, not Carnivorous. We all share many other similarities as well!
Put my new 8 gallon (Bio-orb) fish tank together. right now its running fishless until tomorrow, when I plan to add a couple fish just to cycle the tank. New tanks need a month with just a few fish in order to grown the benificial bacteria which is known to breakdown the wastes and toxins, that reside in the fishes urine and feces. The benificial bacteria, will turn the shit into clean water. After a month enough of the good bacteria will be present in the under gravel filter, and I will be able to fully stock the globe with fish.
Looks like only about 10 small fish can live in a tank this size, but some of the choices are beautiful small fish, such as guppies, swordtails, platy's ect... I plan to keep mainly guppies, but will throw in a few inverts, such as crabs, mussels, shrimp, as well as anything else that is interesting. The big 8 gallon globe, alone is pretty to look at without fish. With the high tech halogen lighting, it makes my old hotel living room complete.
Woke up on Sunday at 7 AM in order to call Larry and see if he was up for breakfast. Larry said "sure, but lets make it at 9", which allowed me another 2 hours sleep. Larry and I like to sit at the diner bar, since he has a penchant as flirting with all the pretty waitresses. They all love Larry, maybe since he equally flirts with the not so pretty girls in the same manner. Had the double barrel and many cups of coffee.
Went to Walmart to buy three zebra danios (minnows from India), and a fiddler crab. These fish will cycle the tank and once the beneficial bacteria are established, I can add the guppies. On my way out of Wal-mart the bell goes off and I get some semi-retarded old lady asking for my reciept. I bluntly told her that I'm not a thief , she seemed amazed that I would be offended by being stopped at the door like a common criminal. I told her I lost the receipt but I would find it if she gave me 5 dollars for bothering and embarrassing me. She didn't know what to do so I took pity on her and pulled the reciept out of my pocket. She quickly let me leave. Funny, i could have actually had stolen merchandize in my pockets, but she was only required to check my bag and receipt. Walmart treats their customers almost as bad as their employees. I dislike the place, but they do have the lowest prices so I go there when I have no choice.
After adding my fish to the tank, I grabbed my computer and headed to the coffee shop for a few hours of uploading blogs, drinking fine coffee, and listening to some old hippy playing the Spanish guitar. This small town has far more local culture than the huge city where I come from. All within bicycle distance. I will leave here someday, out of boredom, but I doubt many towns are as nice as Logan, Utah.
Pretty tired today, but a stout cup of "Highland Grogg" coffee before leaving the house, brought me to life at 6 AM. I started waking earlier, so as not to be in such an insane rush in the mornings. It was a good day overall, but I was a bit cranky and my veteran students expressed their discontent.
The 1936 "King Zephyr" Tenor sax arrived today! It is an early model "Zephyr", which is basically a rebadged "King Voll True", which is a great jazz horn, but with serious high end intonation issues and a few hard to reach keys, However, The horn is absolutely beautiful! The Art Deco engravings surrounding the "KING ZEPHYR" logo is a site to behold. Most sax engraving is a bit flowery, but the early Zephyrs were pure, in your face, Art Deco. The Saxophone equivilent of the Chrysler building! I love the looks of these horns. I went to the local horn shoppe and bought a used mouthpiece, ligature, and reeds. The owner gave me the lig and mouthpiece for free, since I promised to bring the sax in for a tune-up. I also told him about my series 3 "Zephyr" alto, which needs a complete repad, and he will get that business as well.
I got home, looked and my tenor, which is as beautiful as a Mercedes S-500 and more beautiful than any women I know, and put her components together, being careful to get the reed good and wet before attempting to play. A few of the pads leak a bit, and some of the action is a bit slow, but once I started up and down two octaves of the "C Major" scale, I could tell I have a winner. The Zephyrs were the best sounding Jazz saxes that were ever made. They can scream loudly, then whisper softly to where they can barely be heard. This is the best sounding Tenor I have ever played. Couldn't make much noise in my apartment, so I headed to the school at 7 PM, in order to play in my classroom. Once there, I downloaded, some jazz warmup scales, and a Coletrane song "Giant Steps", which I plan to work on this weekend, up in the mountains where no one will laugh at me. I still play pretty good after 30 years out of high school, and my understanding of how to play is much more evolved than when I only played marching tunes. Despite the intonation issues, I bought a world class professional, beautiful jazz horn for only $500. A series 3 Zephyr tenor (1942) would be worth over 3 grand in the same condition. And the series one's (1936) models have much more interesting engraving in my opinion. Once tuned up, it will be worth well over $1200 but I will not sell her, unless I get good enough to require a more perfect sounding instrument. Even if that should happen, I will mount her on the wall for she is genuinely a fine example of American Art at its best.
I also downloaded Bachs' "Tocatta and Fugue", and Beethovens "Moonlight Sonata", for the organ. I know I can play the latter, but I will have fun attempting the former, which is 20 pages long. I will try to play the intro first, and if thats as far as I get, that will be fine with me. Just need some scary sounding Halloween organ music to impress my neighbors with. Under no circumstances will I attempt to impress anyone with my sax playing for at least 5 or 6 months!
Came back to the house around 8:30, drank my only beer of the day and watched the glorious sunset over the tall, steep, Wellsville range (the "Wellies" as Logan calls them), from the fire escape (AKA: My back yard). Afterwards, I returned to the apartmentand in order to study the Art of making "Bhindi Marsala", also known as Okra and Tomatoes Hindu style.
"Bhindi Masala for one"
1/2 lb chopped frozen okra
one small/medium tomato
four green onions or one small/medium round onion
a couple cloves of Garlic (I didn't do this but missed out)
1/8 cup olive oil or canola (if you use olive oil, be mindful of the low burning temps)
1/4 tsp or less of salt (sorry mom, this dish needs some)
2 tablespoons of hot curry powder
1 tablespoon of marsala powder
(some recipes add a tsp of baking soda to counter-act the acidity of the tomatoes, I wish I had done that too)
put oil in good heavy bottomed sauce pan.
Fry onions and garlic until translucent
Lower temp to medium
Add curry powder and other spices
stir till the gravy thicksns (two minutes at the most)
add okra, stir gently so as not to smash it and make it more slimy
once its bubble for a couple minutes, turn heat to low, and cover for 20 minutes, or until you think your okra is tender but not too squishy.
Serve with rice or naan bread. I somtimes substitute a tortilla but its not the same. Much cheaper though. I didn't make rice tonight, but used some frozen Naan that was kickin around the fridge. Rice would have been better, since this dish is quite acidic and pungeant!
Overall, it was pretty good for a first timer. Not as good as in the restaurant across the street, but close. Next time it shall be better with the inclusion of garlic and soda. I suggest you research different recipes, especially regarding the spice mix.
Next time I plan to make my own Marsala and Curry powders using my mortar and pestle. Packaged curry is just not the same.
Had another Swell day at school, happy with the present crop of kids I have. Maybe I'm just getting better at whipping them into shape, but this seems to be a good crew. Came home and dozed for about an hour then went for a drive on the Kawasaki 1000. Stopped in to see my Hindu friends at the only Indian ran conveinience store in town, and bought the ingredients for "Bhindi Marsala", which is okra and tomatoes, cooked with the usual Marsala group of spices. "Marsala", is pretty much a Northern Indian curry powder, that contains some weird shit like "powdered mango". I plan to cook all this on Thursday or Friday, depending on the mood. I also stopped by "Pets Mart", to get a new powerhead, so the right side of my classroom, marine aquarium would get some badly needed circulation. I only have one small fish and a handful of crabs and snails in a 55 gallon marine aquarium, so its time to get the bastard back in shape. Turns out that our local "Petsmart", is about to be renovated so they had high priced objects marked down to nearly 90 percent off for some things!
I have always wanted one of the new high tech smalled acryilic aquariums, and they had the 4 gallon "Biorbs" FIFTEEN DOLLARS, marked dowyn from 85 dollars. The tank is a beautiful globe, with built-in power filter, high tech ceramic bio-gravel, and a halogen light. One could make a small coral reef from these fine components. I bought one. An hour later, I cam back to buy another one for my son, but they were gone. So I bought a larger 8 gallon "BiOrb", which costs $140 dollars, and I paid $24 dollars for it! I plan to make it into a coral reef, which I have never attempted before. I have kept many saltwater ("fish only" tanks, but never a reef. Coral needs strict water quality, and even periods of sun light, to moon light. This tank has most of the stuff to achieve, building a small coral reef system. Of course with salt water, I can only keep one tiny fish in it, but the corals will be beautiful. I need a hobby, and this will be a cheap one. (sept 4th: Had a change of plans an d decided on a guppy tank. Way cheaper and I want to breed some beautiful guppies. I can also put some frogs, crabs, and snails in the tank. Plus, Guppies are quite cold hardy and salt loving. My crabs and guppies will enjoy the same environment. I'll be growing a few plants in there as well.. The reef tank will be a later project once I'm not so busy.
I do have another 55 gallon, bowfront salt water tank in my storage, but it was too big of a hassle to keep running, so I can now sell it to someone who wants it.
Went to dinner at "Le Nonne", considered to be the finest restaurant in town. I've never been, its way to pretentious for this old guy, but since the bass player of the jazz group is an aquaintance of mine (I gave his family my llama), and a fellow teacher, I decided to stop in. I told the snotty acting "greeter", that I was here to watch the band. She looks at me and told me that "You will have to buy dinner to watch the band" WTF? I was pissed. I didn't react well to being talked down to by some snotty college girl on her first job. I asked "Do I look like I'm too poor to buy dinner?" I was dressed well enough, wearing a silk jacket and everything, but since I came alone, and mentioned the "band", she in all her ancient wisdom decided me to be a pauper of sorts. I realize I over-reacted, but dumb people have to learn who their talking down to. Directed to the "table that most couples do not want", right in front, was actually the optimum table for me. Although my friend wasn't playing tonight, I got to chill to some classy, cool. The world class Italian meal, failed in comparison to cheaper Italian places, like "Napolies" in Allen, Texas, or even in my own kitchen. I think the chef there was mainly up on making Gnocci (Northern Italian Potato Dumplings) and (Fagioli....which is Bean soup), his "Penne Bolognese" was ok, but wasn't anything, me or my father couldn't have improved upon. The wine was 1/4th of a glass for the card board stuff (5.99 per), so after the two partial glasses of wine, and the pasta, I left. I did spend an hour listening to the incredible music of a female jazz keyboardist, and a drummer and bass player. My aquaintance wasn't there, but I enjoyed their music just the same. Their rendition of "The girl from Ipanema", was touching as were many other songs that I was fortunate enough to listen to. I would have stayed there for another hour but the pretentiousness of the restaurant, and the speed of which the waitress gave me the check, made me feel a bit unwelcome. I plan to go back next week and be cheap and only order appetizers, while ordering a cola, which will make a fine vehicle for a few shots of flask rum.
The waitress, who was warned about my surliness from the greeter, was quite professional, did her job well without snottieness, and won a 35% tip for her courtesy. I will be back,
hopefully I can talk Logan or Larry to join me.
Came home around 9:30 and studied more of the works of "Dashiel Hammet", writer of the "Maltese Falcon". Now I'm reading his first novel entitled "Red Harvest", which is a good read. I am totally in love with the slang of the 1920's, and find it quite interesting. Hammet, apparantly (correct me if I'm wrong), only wrote 5 little novels all between the years of 1929 and 1934. He was born in 94 and died in 1961. What makes writers how they are? Some like Louis Lamour or Stephen King seem to write all the time, while others, only write a few and only then for a little while. Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Steinbeck, didn't really write that much come to think of it by comparison. Hammets' life works only consist of some 700 pages total, by far, the least amount of total pages for the group. But DAMN, he was a good writer. Maybe the star that shines the brightest, burns out the fastest? Seems to be the case here...Too bad he couldn't have gotten away from the detective theme. His writing style was the best in his genre, if not all genre's. Hammett, didn't mess around with character discriptions, yet his characters where fully described in such a little space of text. He didn't waste words. His 120 page novels, had as much info or more as the Epic novelists. I also read all Grishams works, but Hammett could easily tell all those stores, using 120 pages as Grisham does in 700. Funny, it tends to take me about the same amount of time to read a short Hammett novel as it takes to read of of Grishams' 700 pagers. Nothing against Grisham, or the other novelists. Maybe in the days of the pen and ancient typewriters caused writers to economize or something. Steirnbecks novels were short as well for the most part. East of Eden is pretty long, but sucks compared to many of his shorter works. Works like "Tortilla Flat" and "Cannery Row" seem to radiate from Steinbecks heart, where "The Red Pony" and "East of Eden", seemed like Steinbeck was trying to be a popular writer when he wrote those. "The Grapes of Wrath" was more of a news report than a novel. But a damned good read nonetheless. All of the above are probably turning in their graves at having a very novice writer analyze their works. And to the souls of the previously discussed, I do humbly apologize for misinterpreting your writings, but all criticizm is opinion, and hopefully I presented them as a view from my perspective and not in the absolute. Did I just stay up reading and writing to 2 AM again? Work should be painful in the morning. Maybe this winter when its dark around 5 PM, I will be able adjust my schedule to get to sleep earlier. Nite all.
My main focus on this blog has changed from truck camping, to writing in general. Writing, photography, and cooking are my main forms of creative expression, and much of this blog is focused on that.
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