The scientists say it'll all wash away

We went dancing last night. It was a great time. The floor was a little packed by the end of the night and one's feet will hurt from 3 hours of dancing without a break, but we had so much fun. A good thing to remind myself that it's good to get out of the house, now and then.

I'm sitting in the basement office now, enjoying the sonic experiments of Atlas Sound. It's good to feel different sensations, to leave the comfortable routines of every day. I feel like an explorer in my little basement room.

The smell of New Jersey

Listening to New Jersey bands as the bus transits New Jersey:

Bands/artists (and their most NJ-emblematic song)

-Saves the Day (Always Ten Feet Tall or Shoulder to the Wheel)
-Titus Andronicus (Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ or My Time Outside The Womb)
-Bruce Springsteen (Open All Night)

What is it with New Jersey and producing great music? These are three artists whose music I haven't gotten over. They all have reams of really good songs across multiple albums. New Jersey is an idea to me, raw and unfiltered, symbolizing everything good and bad about America. The music reflects that.

New Jersey in the morning like a lunar landscape

Live blog:

Sudden trip to NYC
Alex has business at the consulate
Solid bus with internet and power
New Jersey Turnpike
Rifling through iTunes favorite for Bruce Springsteen
1 Box of Whoppers already down
Radio relay towers won't you lead me to my baby
Raw Bruce of Nebraska days is wildly powerful
Sometimes you have to just drop everything and go to New York with a friend
Head full of patent law; excellent social science research papers downloaded from the web
Still very young

Capturing Moods

The joy of discovering an entire Rilo Kiley live album that I had never heard before. Includes the transcendent 'I Love LA' and a cover of 'Rock n' Roll Suicide. It did feel right. My attempt at capturing the feeling of having seen a band that broke up 5 years ago.

Impatience

One problem right now is me getting too excited about things that have a long time horizon. I keep checking my newly minted batch of sauerkraut, hoping to observe some change, some magically tangible fermentation. I keep checking my retirement account, hoping for some sign of new progress towards financially secure golden years. There's nothing to see, really, but I keep checking and checking. I just can't shake the feeling of excitement over these things! Imagine, there are unseen changes happening ever so gradually right now that will benefit me at some time in the distant future. The kraut will be finished, deliciously tangy and crunchy, and redolent of my own hand in the process. My retirement funds will grow, sheltered from taxes, buoyed by dividends, into a handsome nest-egg born of my own prudence. The checking will have had no effect on these simmering, fermenting, independently growing things. But check I must!

Grueling schedule

When focus is required, distractions must be eliminated. This is why the library awarded me 8-month renewal intervals. I keep books circulating, and when the chips are down, I focus.

All lined up

Family is the greatest blessing of all. We are able to be together, all together, several times a year. It feels so good to savor this time, to relax and recreate with my family. To forge stronger bonds that will last throughout the year. It feels good to be home. I feel surrounded by love, boundless love. Cats, food, games, good talks, walks, movies, cookies- these things I cherish and give thanks for.

Creation Myth

Flour + Water + Yeast comes alive.

I gave myself a minor coughing fit by putting cayenne pepper into boiling water and inhaling the vapors.


Wholesome things bring more joy than grocery store cellophane sweets.



We'll need onions, honey, tea, and applesauce.


Early Saturday morning is all potential and sometimes it gets realized.

Personal development

I like the sense that I'm going somewhere. What I see now is not everything that will ever be. I will grow and develop and improve. I will have a positive impact. I will read hundreds of books and cook fantastic meals. The best conversations I will have have probably not happened yet. These things make me happy. And what I have is already so good. If things can get better than this, I will really have it made. Things to be thankful for, before Thanksgiving.