Oh, by the way....
I now live in Seattle. Like, all the way. My apartment is well and thoroughly nested, I start schooly things tomorrow, and I have some friends. But I get ahead of myself; I shall summarize the events since last briefly, and expound upon some of the more notable notes when I am not paying by the minute to use an internet cafe computer (my laptop has a case of notfuckingworkingitis.)
My going away party was good. It was different than I imagined, which was a good reminder of the fact that making plans is the best way to be surprised. I gave Tiko her pudding wrestling, unexpectedly saw some dear ones from Back in The Day, and got to say my goodbye speech. The next day I did my best to spoil Tiko for her XXX birthday. Apologies to those who tried to hang out with me that day; I had reserved that day for months.
The next morning I promptly hopped into my pre-loaded Ryder truck, picked up my dad, and the two of us set out on a four-day roadtrip to Seatown. I learned that Nebraska is even more boring than Kansas, my dad is really chill and nice to hang out with for long periods in succession, Wyoming is beautiful in a sparse way, and Ryder trucks are pretty nice to ride in.
I arrived in Seattle Saturday afternoon and unloaded the truck. I slept in my new apartment for the first time, woke up, and drove to Reno. I woke up in Reno at a casino (thank you a thousand time for everything James, Josh, and Mari) and drove to Burningman.
I experienced every emotion I am capable of experiencing with great intensity in the desert. I learned a few extremely important lessons, was reminded of many more, had fun, tested almost every limit I have (mostly endurance-related), made new friends, grew closer to old friends, and came away more man and more child than before. I may expound upon this further at a later date.
I left and spent two more nights in Reno. I attended a hip hop pool party at a swanky casino with Bassnectar and Glitch Mob, indulged to excess, paid the price for it, and pondered many things on the 12 hour ride back home, the last 12 hours of my 48 hour no-sleep-partyathon.
I made it home alive, crashed, awoke, and began unpacking. My apartment is FUCKING SUPER TOTALLY. For cereal, guys, come crash at my too large for one person in the middle of all the cool stuff downtown apartment. I had already made friends with Gwen and Tom (ex-Austin 2nd degree friends, thank you a thousand times, Denshi) when I had visited prior, and they introduced me to Rachel and Chris (similarly ex-Austin). I hung out with them a few times, and now they are my friends. My name here is 'Indigo'. If you here about someone named Indigo, andit sounds like me, it probably is. It is comforting to hear them talk about people that I know in Austin, and to compare things here to Austin. It makes this place feel more connected to home. The are totally awesome in many ways and have shown me great kindness; for this I am thankful. They led me on a bike ride to a park in Seattle. It was on the beach, the grass was super soft, there were no bugs, it was 70degF and not a cloud in the sky, and the sun set over the mountaintops on the other side of the water while DJ's spun downtempo in the park. Beautiful.
I am making this place home. I live in the middle of Capitol Hill, which is like a cross between South Austin, 6th St., and the campus area, except without the students or school-related things. I ride my bike EVERYWHERE, because it's actually possible to do that here without fearing death by car everywhere you go. I am 5 blocks from the Wheatsvillesque food coop, four blocks from the coolest electronic music venue I'm aware of, one block from what many have told me is the "best coffee shop in Seattle," and next to a large, beautiful park. It looks like this:
http://zorba.members.winisp.net/images/calanderson.JPG
I came back from burningman fairly reset, and I had nothing 'normal' here to readjust to coming home. I have been establishing new patterns, new behaviors, and thinking alot; incorporating things learned inthe last few weeks into my life aat an unprecedented rate. Here are some of the main things. They may not apply to everyone.
1. Spend more time with your mouth shut and your mind open. I realized that I have reached the point where I know just enough to know that I dont really know much about anything at all. I wish to learn.
2. Give thanks for everything you are given. I remember now to give thanks for the person who spent the extra money to buy nice chairs for this internet cafe. Seriously, everything. When possible, TELL the person(s) about your gratefulness OUT LOUD. Tell the peole who are important to you that they are important, and why. Tell them often. DO NOT ASSUME WHAT OTHERS DO AND DO NOT KNOW ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE THINKING/FEELING. Tell them, even if they don't ask.
3. You will ALWAYS be missing something awesome, at every moment of every day, until you die. Relax. Just enjoy what you have, and go after what you want to, doing what you can with what you have. Example: You will have more fun if you sleep as much as you need (whatever that is), even if you miss lots of fun things becasue you are sleeping.
4. The people you love are always more important than that party/event.
There's more, but I have to go. Au revoir, hermanos y hermanas.
My going away party was good. It was different than I imagined, which was a good reminder of the fact that making plans is the best way to be surprised. I gave Tiko her pudding wrestling, unexpectedly saw some dear ones from Back in The Day, and got to say my goodbye speech. The next day I did my best to spoil Tiko for her XXX birthday. Apologies to those who tried to hang out with me that day; I had reserved that day for months.
The next morning I promptly hopped into my pre-loaded Ryder truck, picked up my dad, and the two of us set out on a four-day roadtrip to Seatown. I learned that Nebraska is even more boring than Kansas, my dad is really chill and nice to hang out with for long periods in succession, Wyoming is beautiful in a sparse way, and Ryder trucks are pretty nice to ride in.
I arrived in Seattle Saturday afternoon and unloaded the truck. I slept in my new apartment for the first time, woke up, and drove to Reno. I woke up in Reno at a casino (thank you a thousand time for everything James, Josh, and Mari) and drove to Burningman.
I experienced every emotion I am capable of experiencing with great intensity in the desert. I learned a few extremely important lessons, was reminded of many more, had fun, tested almost every limit I have (mostly endurance-related), made new friends, grew closer to old friends, and came away more man and more child than before. I may expound upon this further at a later date.
I left and spent two more nights in Reno. I attended a hip hop pool party at a swanky casino with Bassnectar and Glitch Mob, indulged to excess, paid the price for it, and pondered many things on the 12 hour ride back home, the last 12 hours of my 48 hour no-sleep-partyathon.
I made it home alive, crashed, awoke, and began unpacking. My apartment is FUCKING SUPER TOTALLY. For cereal, guys, come crash at my too large for one person in the middle of all the cool stuff downtown apartment. I had already made friends with Gwen and Tom (ex-Austin 2nd degree friends, thank you a thousand times, Denshi) when I had visited prior, and they introduced me to Rachel and Chris (similarly ex-Austin). I hung out with them a few times, and now they are my friends. My name here is 'Indigo'. If you here about someone named Indigo, andit sounds like me, it probably is. It is comforting to hear them talk about people that I know in Austin, and to compare things here to Austin. It makes this place feel more connected to home. The are totally awesome in many ways and have shown me great kindness; for this I am thankful. They led me on a bike ride to a park in Seattle. It was on the beach, the grass was super soft, there were no bugs, it was 70degF and not a cloud in the sky, and the sun set over the mountaintops on the other side of the water while DJ's spun downtempo in the park. Beautiful.
I am making this place home. I live in the middle of Capitol Hill, which is like a cross between South Austin, 6th St., and the campus area, except without the students or school-related things. I ride my bike EVERYWHERE, because it's actually possible to do that here without fearing death by car everywhere you go. I am 5 blocks from the Wheatsvillesque food coop, four blocks from the coolest electronic music venue I'm aware of, one block from what many have told me is the "best coffee shop in Seattle," and next to a large, beautiful park. It looks like this:
http://zorba.members.winisp.net/images/calanderson.JPG
I came back from burningman fairly reset, and I had nothing 'normal' here to readjust to coming home. I have been establishing new patterns, new behaviors, and thinking alot; incorporating things learned inthe last few weeks into my life aat an unprecedented rate. Here are some of the main things. They may not apply to everyone.
1. Spend more time with your mouth shut and your mind open. I realized that I have reached the point where I know just enough to know that I dont really know much about anything at all. I wish to learn.
2. Give thanks for everything you are given. I remember now to give thanks for the person who spent the extra money to buy nice chairs for this internet cafe. Seriously, everything. When possible, TELL the person(s) about your gratefulness OUT LOUD. Tell the peole who are important to you that they are important, and why. Tell them often. DO NOT ASSUME WHAT OTHERS DO AND DO NOT KNOW ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE THINKING/FEELING. Tell them, even if they don't ask.
3. You will ALWAYS be missing something awesome, at every moment of every day, until you die. Relax. Just enjoy what you have, and go after what you want to, doing what you can with what you have. Example: You will have more fun if you sleep as much as you need (whatever that is), even if you miss lots of fun things becasue you are sleeping.
4. The people you love are always more important than that party/event.
There's more, but I have to go. Au revoir, hermanos y hermanas.