(no subject)
Wow. I don't really write in here, anymore. It seems like no one really *writes* anymore. I blame things like twitter and facebook status updates. They make it too easy to vent expressive pressure in small, insignificant puffs before it builds enough to motivate any actual effort.
So, what's new? Tessa has officially moved here. I'm spending most of my time looking for work (not having much luck. Now is a bad time to be an unemployed cop.) and going hiking. I'm really getting into the whole "outdoors" thing. Tessa and I each have assembled personal survival kits that we take with us whenever we head out into the woods. Ostensibly they're for the aftermath of some tragedy, like a major earthquake or a cougar attack or falling off a cliff and getting stranded, but secretly we're praying for a reason to live in the woods for a few days and be forced to survive. Each time we make it back to the car safely, I think we're both a little disappointed. I'm worried we're going to start "forgetting" vital equipment on future trips. Not that it would really matter. It's already happened a few times that we'll be out there, trekking along with our sticks and our packs and our layered clothes and sturdy boots and our map and compass and we'll meet a teenaged girl in short shorts and a tank top jogging the other direction. Or an old lady and her tiny dogs out for a stroll. Our conversation will drop off for a while in an awkward embarrassed silence, but eventually one of us will prop-up our sense of purpose by saying something like, "Boy, is she in for it! I don't think she'll last two days out here when the earthquake comes and the cougars get hungry." And anyway, we're only practicing, so it's okay. We're probably going to do a lot of camping once it warms up a little. It's totally sensible what we're doing. Shut up! Someday you're going to *need* to make fishing line out of plant fibers, and then who's going to look silly, eh?
While getting between The Killing Zone (thanks, SF Chronicle) of Oakland and the pastoral retreat of the East Bay Parks, one cannot help but notice all the extremely scenic overlooks. And once one has noticed said overlooks, and has gotten one's breath back, once quickly notices the litter. Apparently the occasional oakland resident has figured out that cops don't really hang out much on the sides of mountains, and they go up there now to drink and do drugs and have sex and they leave the refuse of all these activities strewn all over the ground, despite the nearby giant trash cans. I don't think they even do it by omission. I think they intentionally throw their crap around because it's cool to rebel. Against nature, i guess. I don't know. But in any event, we've taken to bringing a couple of trash bags with us whenever we go up there, and will often spend a couple of minutes picking up the worst of the trash at whatever turnout we happen to stop at.
What are the chances, do you think, of organizing a few people to go up there and really clean up a few of the overlooks on, say Grizzly Peak or Skyline? Maybe we could rig up some kind of portable catapult to load the trash into and then launch it back down onto East Oakland which is undoubtedly where it came from. I'm totally willing to destroy my own neighborhood to preserve the one nice thing we have in the east bay. After we're done, we can crack open a couple of cases of mexican beer and some pizza and toss the cans and boxes everywhere to celebrate our good deed. We can also roam around up there on a friday night and scare the piss out of the first little turds to drop their trash on our pretty dirt.
Even though I spend most of my time trying not to think about it, I know some of you go to Burning Man. My understanding is that you people know about these things you call "moop sticks", which are the reaching claw sticks that old people use to get things from high shelves. Where do you get those?
I don't know why i'm actually writing any of this here. I sort of doubt anyone will actually read it. I should probably save myself some time and effort and just go organize a facebook event. But really, what's time to me, these days?
So, what's new? Tessa has officially moved here. I'm spending most of my time looking for work (not having much luck. Now is a bad time to be an unemployed cop.) and going hiking. I'm really getting into the whole "outdoors" thing. Tessa and I each have assembled personal survival kits that we take with us whenever we head out into the woods. Ostensibly they're for the aftermath of some tragedy, like a major earthquake or a cougar attack or falling off a cliff and getting stranded, but secretly we're praying for a reason to live in the woods for a few days and be forced to survive. Each time we make it back to the car safely, I think we're both a little disappointed. I'm worried we're going to start "forgetting" vital equipment on future trips. Not that it would really matter. It's already happened a few times that we'll be out there, trekking along with our sticks and our packs and our layered clothes and sturdy boots and our map and compass and we'll meet a teenaged girl in short shorts and a tank top jogging the other direction. Or an old lady and her tiny dogs out for a stroll. Our conversation will drop off for a while in an awkward embarrassed silence, but eventually one of us will prop-up our sense of purpose by saying something like, "Boy, is she in for it! I don't think she'll last two days out here when the earthquake comes and the cougars get hungry." And anyway, we're only practicing, so it's okay. We're probably going to do a lot of camping once it warms up a little. It's totally sensible what we're doing. Shut up! Someday you're going to *need* to make fishing line out of plant fibers, and then who's going to look silly, eh?
While getting between The Killing Zone (thanks, SF Chronicle) of Oakland and the pastoral retreat of the East Bay Parks, one cannot help but notice all the extremely scenic overlooks. And once one has noticed said overlooks, and has gotten one's breath back, once quickly notices the litter. Apparently the occasional oakland resident has figured out that cops don't really hang out much on the sides of mountains, and they go up there now to drink and do drugs and have sex and they leave the refuse of all these activities strewn all over the ground, despite the nearby giant trash cans. I don't think they even do it by omission. I think they intentionally throw their crap around because it's cool to rebel. Against nature, i guess. I don't know. But in any event, we've taken to bringing a couple of trash bags with us whenever we go up there, and will often spend a couple of minutes picking up the worst of the trash at whatever turnout we happen to stop at.
What are the chances, do you think, of organizing a few people to go up there and really clean up a few of the overlooks on, say Grizzly Peak or Skyline? Maybe we could rig up some kind of portable catapult to load the trash into and then launch it back down onto East Oakland which is undoubtedly where it came from. I'm totally willing to destroy my own neighborhood to preserve the one nice thing we have in the east bay. After we're done, we can crack open a couple of cases of mexican beer and some pizza and toss the cans and boxes everywhere to celebrate our good deed. We can also roam around up there on a friday night and scare the piss out of the first little turds to drop their trash on our pretty dirt.
Even though I spend most of my time trying not to think about it, I know some of you go to Burning Man. My understanding is that you people know about these things you call "moop sticks", which are the reaching claw sticks that old people use to get things from high shelves. Where do you get those?
I don't know why i'm actually writing any of this here. I sort of doubt anyone will actually read it. I should probably save myself some time and effort and just go organize a facebook event. But really, what's time to me, these days?