Where, oh where?

So I am very seriously considering moving to California -- San Mateo to be exact (just south of San Francisco). Jersey just isn't cutting it. Think, I could have the ocean to the west and mountains to the east -- Lake Tahoe and Yosemite are only something like 4 hours away. Napa Valley is right up the road, and beautiful beaches are to the south. There are probably many more people my age and with my interests than lovely little Princeton. And while it might not be the South, Californians have a reputation for being a little more relaxed than Northeasterners. I dunno, it's a long ways away, but it sounds pretty sweet. What to do?

I went to a Dave Matthews concert last Friday -- it was good times, although the beer closing down at 8:30 was sub-optimal. Next concert I need to go with some crazy types, so I can dance around and just make a complete fool of myself. The set-list was pretty sweet, including several new songs, my most favorite probably being "Break Free". A friend hooked me up with a great site where people post shows they have recorded, so I have already gotten my hands on a fairly good recording of the concert. A taste of the "Break Free" lyrics:

I drink your poison if you fill the cup
You make me crazy baby, don’t let up
And if I’m fallin’ I don’t want to stop
I give up everything to have your love
I drink your poison if you fill the cup
I drink your tears but don’t you
cry cry, cry cry

Awesome song - hopefully it will be on his next album (supposedly due out in 2007).

Orange and red

If you ever make a map for cyclists, don't choose orange as the color for very bad roads to cycle on and red as the color for really good roads. Why? Because they look the exact frickin same!! My ride today will either be on very good roads or I am going to end up in a ditch, run off the road by a Jersey driver (always a danger, of course), or desperately trying to find a way off of a major highway.

Showering at the farm

My shower has the odd habit of tormenting me every time I decide to adjust the temperature. You see, when I try to make it hotter, the shower first gets colder for a few seconds before getting hotter, and when I try to make it colder, it decides to get hotter before cooling down. I admit I don't understand the minutae of how showers work, but I would assume adjusting the knob for hotter water would simply open wider the valve attached to the hot water pipes. Where is this cold water coming from? I've become convinced that my shower is really just plain lazy -- it doesn't like having to adjust the temperature. It relents after 15 seconds, but first splashes me with some water of an even more uncomfortable temperature. It's like a child, who, when told to be quiet, shouts "FINE!" and is then silent. What a spoiled brat my shower is.

One of those moments

You know those moments when you read something, and you marvel at how the author has put into words what you have always thought, or at least felt? It's such a satisfying feeling. "That's it", you think, "he has somehow made it concrete, something that can actually be written down." I had one of those moments yesterday while reading this little book about cycling called Need for the Bike given to me by a good friend. It goes:

"Contrary to what happens when I'm in a car and the landscape allows itself to be seen and not 'be,' on a bike I'm sitting in it.

With the bike there's an animal relation with the world: the mountains you see are there to be scaled, the valleys are for cruising down into, shadows are for hiding in and stretching out. To be in the landscape, in its heat, its rain, its wind, is to see it with different eyes; it's to impregnate oneself with it in an instinctive and profound way. The mountain rising before me isn't a mountain, it's a first grade to climb, a test, a doubt, sometimes anxiety. At the summit, it's a conquest, lightness. I've taken it and it's in me."

Today while cycling along some peaceful country roads under a blue sky, I remembered this and it hit me all over again. I was "sitting in it".

The ride after the storm

Had a terrific ride today. I was moving pretty quick, and the ride was fairly eventful. I saw a chain gang type thing (a sheriff with a bunch of big guys in orange jump suits with those trash picker-upper type devices). I'm sure they were amused to see the skinny kid in tights wiz by. I rode around a traffic circle, which was pretty fun -- felt very European. It made me start thinking about cycling through the European countryside, maybe near the Rhein, through vineyards with castles overlooking from their hilltops. It would be simply incredible.

On the drive home tonight, I saw a fox. Don't see them very often -- very shy animals -- so it was neat to catch a glimpse of one, if only for a moment.

I have discovered that one trait ubiqitously sought after by all women: confidence.

Turtles and a smile

On my way to work, I drive along a creek, and at this one bend I can see a log in the creek directly in front of me. All week I have seen at least 1 turtle on this log. Today there were at least 3, one bigger one with two smaller ones behind it. I don't even really like turtles in particular all that much, but this made me happy. These little turtles, chilling on this log, made me smile each morning during my commute. I guess I just love nature and love the simple things in life.

Yesterday, I was running up the final hill before I reach the gym when I saw this blinking light in front of me, which I soon realized was attached to a bicyle. And then I realized I was gaining on the bicycle. By the time I crested the hill, I had actually passed the bicycle. Granted I sped up a little when I realized I was narrowing the gap, but still, I was pretty stoked I caught a bike running (not that this says much for the person motoring said bike).

Then tonight something uber cool happened, which I had really hoped would happen for some time. As I ran around this field back behind the gym to finish my run, I noticed a plane was coming overhead. I quickly ran out into the field and watched this little prop fly right over my head and skim the apartments before disappearing behind them and landing on the runway on the other side of the road. It was so cool to watch it fly over my head, probably just a hundred feet or so up. It wasn't nearly as loud as a I thought it would be, and you could really see the plane pitching around as the wind blew it and the pilot made last minute adjustments. I'd love to just sit on my back in a field and watch planes land - just like in the movies. This little private airport isn't too ideal for that sort of thing because of the limited traffic, but tonight was pretty sweet.

Singing aloud

Wow, it's kinda embarrassing when you think no one is home, so you sing and play guitar really loud, only to discover that the housemate you haven't met is wandering around outside your door. Oops, I hope I didn't wake him up, and I hope my singing wasn't too horribly out of tune.

I've also started signing along to my iPod when I go running. So here I am, running down the sidewalk in close to pitch dark, singing half out of breath Aqualung's Brighter Than Sunshine. One of these days I am going to scare the crap out of someone, or just really embarrass myself. It's not like it's good singing either, as I'm sucking wind while trying to belt out these high notes, and I can't even really hear myself since earphones are in both my ears. This is either how you train yourself to be a really good singer or how you ruin any sense of music you used to have.

Speaking of getting the crap scared out of you while running at night, last night I was running this little circle I do at the end of some of my runs in this big field. It's really nice, because it's dark but safe (no cars, no sudden drops in the sidewalk, no roots, etc). Often you can see the stars quite clearly out there (although I wouldn't suggest running for more than a few seconds while looking straight up), and I'm hoping one of these days a plane will skim just over my head and land on the local runway just a quarter mile away. Anyways, last night I am running along this path, when all of a sudden some deer bolt right in front of me. Even with their white tails sky high, I could barely see them (and I didn't hear them with the iPod going). It was pretty frickin' startling, and I've heard some crazy stories about deer encountering people -- you just never know what wild animals will do. One day they are going to find my body in this field with hoof prints all over me.

"...where I'll follow, you'll go..."

Sheep

Sunday I went on a pretty good ride north of Princeton, into what are called the Sourlands. I love getting away on the bike, especially after a crazy weekend like this one. You can just escape everything and enjoy the scenery or battle up hills, where the only thoughts on your mind are: "where the ^$&^% is the top" and "just keep spinning the legs one peddle stroke at a time". I thought it might rain on me, which was ok (not that the thin tires on road bikes provide much traction), accept for I had brought along my iPod, but luckily I was spared from any serious inclement weather. Along the way I saw a bunch of different animals, including a herd of deer (yeah, herd), several squirrels, which decided to dart out of the woods right in front of my bike (with noone or thing within sight other than me), and some sheep. The sheep were really cool, especially cause there were several baby sheep, lambs I guess we call them, following around what were presumably their moms. For some reason the lambs made me really happy. I don't know if it was because they were just sort of cute, or if it seemed to indicate the inevitable arrival of Spring, or if it was some deep yearning for pastoral simplicity buried deep in my soul. Maybe it was just pretty, I dunno, and then this morning, I saw a couple turtles chilling on a log in this creek I pass on the way to work. They were just sitting there (I guess turtles don't do much else -- even if they were moving, you would have to watch them for a while to notice) in the morning sun, the water around them kind of glistening. This was pretty cool too, accept for the fact that it was Monday and I was driving to work, where I would be trapped inside all day on this sunny day, not to mention that I worked all weekend. Oh well, make the best of it, I suppose.

Tomorrow my new running shoes should arrive. I'm very excited, as I am convinced my current pair has lost a considerable amount of cushioning. I have the image of running on clouds tomorrow (in the pitch black, likely, but hopefully not in the rainy pitch black).

Listening to: Grace is Gone by David J. Matthews

V

I saw V for Vendetta tonight. It was much better than I had expected. I thought it actually had some interesting things to say about freedom, government, etc. Granted, some of it was kinda cliche ("the people should not fear the government, the government should fear the people"), but still, it wasn't "pro-terrorism" or "anti-christian" or any of that. In fact, I liked the theme that violence is not only sometimes acceptable, but sometimes essential.

Listening to these days: Howie Day, Stop All the World Now.
Trying to learn to play and sing "Collide", and digging "Perfect Time of Day."

Running in the dark

So I have started running some nights after work, usually in the dark. It's really not that bad (you just have to be careful and watch out for sudden drops or rises in the sidewalk). Running outside is much more enjoyable than running on a treadmill, although it is more difficult to keep a steady pace, especially when you can't see where you are going. It's a great escape, well, just going to the gym is to an extent, but running outside, in the quiet, away from everything is great. One of the main reasons I love cycling, actually. Wouldn't mind running with someone at night, either, but there aren't a lot of people into running after dark. At least I have my IPod to keep me company.

The first bit of babylon

"We have superstitions because we are smart enough to realize we can't understand it all."
~paraphrase of "moral" at the end of Grey's Anatomy 03.20.06

"...the doubt that fills my mind..."
~Howie Day, Collide

So I had this brilliant idea to start a blog. Well, I've been considering if for some time, so why not start it well after I should be in bed after a great but exhausting weekend. Ok, it's neither brilliant nor original, but hey, why not?

_____________________

Today I was reminded of a comment in Pride & Prejudice when someone remarks that Elizabeth could never realize how plain her good friend (I forget her name) truly is. Elizabeth can't really be objective, is unable to see her friend as her friend knows herself to truly be -- in other words, her friend has a better, more accurate perception of herself than Elizabeth. I know this is not often the case, or at least not often recognized as the case, but there is something to be said for recognizing your own faults (and gifts), especially if you can peer through all the confusion and gain a more accurate image of reality and your place in it than those around you.

"And look at the stars
Don't it remind you just how feeble we are?"
~John Mayer, New Deep