I've already thanked people privately, but I wanted to thank everyone again for their generosity in making the van break-in incident on Christmas less of a desperate "fuck, what am I going to do now, how unlucky can a person get?" sort of situation. I was able to get the most important things replaced, thankfully.
Which is good, because otherwise, honestly I'd feel a little like the world was conspiring against me a bit right now. Everything bad that happens in my life always seems to come all at once. Which is (I guess?) better than having the same amount of shit spread out and prolonged over the whole year, but damn if it isn't frustrating. On that note, I have an appointment for a biopsy in 2 days, so wish me luck & a cervical cancer free existence.
Which is good, because otherwise, honestly I'd feel a little like the world was conspiring against me a bit right now. Everything bad that happens in my life always seems to come all at once. Which is (I guess?) better than having the same amount of shit spread out and prolonged over the whole year, but damn if it isn't frustrating. On that note, I have an appointment for a biopsy in 2 days, so wish me luck & a cervical cancer free existence.
So... Either Christmas eve or Christmas morning, my van (which as most of you know is also my home) was broken into. I don't keep anything terribly valuable in there unattended, but lots of miscellaneous shit was stolen that all adds up quickly when it comes to replacing it. At least they didn't smash the window (they disassembled the little triangle of window/vent thing on the drivers side and reached in to unlock it), because that would have been $175 or so just to replace. But yeah. Not something you want to deal with on Christmas. They stole my stereo, a bunch of camping gear (hiking backpack, my camp stove, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, headlamp, tent, tarps, axe, etc), some tools, and other shit that is really only valuable to me (my piano tuning tools? wtf are you going to do with that? motherfuckers.)... Also generally made a gigantic mess of everything, and scattered things they didn't want outside in the rain (my clothes, atlases, books).
Y'all know I don't normally do this type of thing, but i've given to people who've put out something similar in the past when they've run on hard times and it seems like it could mitigate the horribleness of this situation somewhat... if you feel like sending a few spare bucks my way, it would be greatly, greatly appreciated. just click here . seriously, anything helps.
Y'all know I don't normally do this type of thing, but i've given to people who've put out something similar in the past when they've run on hard times and it seems like it could mitigate the horribleness of this situation somewhat... if you feel like sending a few spare bucks my way, it would be greatly, greatly appreciated. just click here . seriously, anything helps.
merry christmas! 
I'm house/cat sitting for a friend for a few weeks. OMG it's nice to have a kitchen and refrigerator and an oven and outlets and fast wifi and running water and couches and bookshelves and kitties running around and a shower and a toilet and a thermostat and a patio and space and access to a laundry room. To all of you reading this that have a house or apartment or at least a room in a bigger house to call your own even temporarily (presumably all of you): take a moment to realize how fucking awesome it is and how lucky you are. That is all.
To be clear, I undertook this lifestyle (living-on-5ish-dollars-a-day) voluntarily, but I sure as fuck am going to enjoy these comforts while they last. They aren't costing me a dime AND I'm doing a favor for a friend.
Part of the reason I undertook this "project" was to learn on a more visceral level to appreciate what I have, even when it's very little. So far, it's working. My childhood was less than idyllic, but at least I was never houseless, even if sometimes running away might have been a better option than staying. Anyways that's not the point. Just be fucking thankful. Luxuriate in it. Make some tater-tots or bake a cake, just because you can. Take an unnecessarily long bath. Watch some dumb British tv show that you downloaded on your computer. High five someone, preferably someone living under the same roof, if you can.
To be clear, I undertook this lifestyle (living-on-5ish-dollars-a-day) voluntarily, but I sure as fuck am going to enjoy these comforts while they last. They aren't costing me a dime AND I'm doing a favor for a friend.
Part of the reason I undertook this "project" was to learn on a more visceral level to appreciate what I have, even when it's very little. So far, it's working. My childhood was less than idyllic, but at least I was never houseless, even if sometimes running away might have been a better option than staying. Anyways that's not the point. Just be fucking thankful. Luxuriate in it. Make some tater-tots or bake a cake, just because you can. Take an unnecessarily long bath. Watch some dumb British tv show that you downloaded on your computer. High five someone, preferably someone living under the same roof, if you can.
today i wove a 40 oz. beer koozie out of dogwood branches.
here's a picture of me mid-process.
you just have to be careful not to poke your eye out when drinking from the bottle when you're still working on it.
here's a picture of me mid-process.
you just have to be careful not to poke your eye out when drinking from the bottle when you're still working on it.
my first time riding freight was documented!
slept here.
now i'm back in town, learning oldskool super mario brothers songs on my melodica so i can go busking outside of ground kontrol.
slept here.
now i'm back in town, learning oldskool super mario brothers songs on my melodica so i can go busking outside of ground kontrol.
last night i slept in an abandoned shack next to an abandoned mine, next to this:
today i've spent the past 4+ hours or so skinning, de-intestine-izing, chopping, and cooking two roadkill raccoons. raccoon noodle soup!
today i've spent the past 4+ hours or so skinning, de-intestine-izing, chopping, and cooking two roadkill raccoons. raccoon noodle soup!
a few nights ago i played cello for a dying dog. i was walking back to my van after busking, and this (drunk? slightly swaying) dude standing next to his car with all the doors open strikes up a conversation with me "is that a cello? ... oh, that's amazing ... sometimes i play my ukulele for Angel. Angel's my dog ... She's got cancer ... Hey, would you play for her?" etc. so, naturally, i unpack my shit and play a couple songs, why not. meanwhile he opens his cell phone and starts calling, apparently, everyone he knows, his mom, his girlfriend, his various friends, explaining ramblingly "there's this girl who's playing cello for Angel, check it out" and putting the receiver up to it.
today, i had the 3rd 20something homeless wanderer of this week telling me he loved me as he passed by.
i also had a guy tell me all about this big contract he's got on the horizon with home depot and how if it goes through he'll give me a $100 bill next time he sees me.
i also met a guy (also living in his vehicle) who's been all around photographing old growth forests for some conservation effort.
and i've been meeting up with another guy who's showing me the ropes with regards to train hopping. he's been doing it since he was 14 years old, he's written publications about it, he's been on every single section of track in the pacific northwest. and he helped me fix my radiator when it decided to die.
so. yup. that's what i've been up to-- among many other things. like playing jokes on my friends-- for instance, tucking in the raccoon hide that i tanned into his bed and leaving it for him to find. also planning on an extended camping trip, soon, with another friend who just moved up here earlier this week from reno. should be fun.
today, i had the 3rd 20something homeless wanderer of this week telling me he loved me as he passed by.
i also had a guy tell me all about this big contract he's got on the horizon with home depot and how if it goes through he'll give me a $100 bill next time he sees me.
i also met a guy (also living in his vehicle) who's been all around photographing old growth forests for some conservation effort.
and i've been meeting up with another guy who's showing me the ropes with regards to train hopping. he's been doing it since he was 14 years old, he's written publications about it, he's been on every single section of track in the pacific northwest. and he helped me fix my radiator when it decided to die.
so. yup. that's what i've been up to-- among many other things. like playing jokes on my friends-- for instance, tucking in the raccoon hide that i tanned into his bed and leaving it for him to find. also planning on an extended camping trip, soon, with another friend who just moved up here earlier this week from reno. should be fun.
so. well. let's see. my next couple months: 1) north dakota sugar beet harvest for a not-so-easy couple grand in a couple weeks span 2) north carolina with a anarchist dude from haiti that i met at rabbitstick (in Idaho) who's headed there.
maybe???
my life is wonderful and strange.
o yeah, rabbitstick, i suppose i should update about that. it's this primitive skills gathering in the boonies of idaho. i took workshops in: mycology, botany (with thomas elpel!), making fire with trash (beer cans, dead batteries, etc), roadkill processing, brain tanning, trapping and snaring, camouflage, stalking, dogbane cordage, making elderberry flutes, hobo stoves, knife self defense, several kinds of friction fire, bone fish hooks, flintknapping, weaving hawaiian fish traps, and also helped make a tulle surf board, amongst other things. i somehow managed to get pulled over twice, and the first time: one of the cops finding 2 (edible, non-hallucinogenic) puffball mushrooms in my birch bark basket in the seat next to me and him having to call in two of the local "drug experts" to try to identify them seemed to distract them from the fact that there were 6 people sitting in the back of my van, which has no back seats much less seat belts (and also an open container or two that might have been back there too-- not that i had been imbibing, but i'm pretty sure others had been)... Another time because we came upon a Fish and Game checkpoint, and they reported to the state police that we "acted suspiciously"... granted, we did have a roadkill badger (and a jackrabbit and a couple various deer parts, also) wrapped up in a rug in the back (and it's illegal to pick up roadkill), so we were maybe a little bit nervous. in the end, i managed to not get any tickets (entirely due to my irresistible charm).
there's many more stories from that trip, but that's all i have time for tonight...
maybe???
my life is wonderful and strange.
o yeah, rabbitstick, i suppose i should update about that. it's this primitive skills gathering in the boonies of idaho. i took workshops in: mycology, botany (with thomas elpel!), making fire with trash (beer cans, dead batteries, etc), roadkill processing, brain tanning, trapping and snaring, camouflage, stalking, dogbane cordage, making elderberry flutes, hobo stoves, knife self defense, several kinds of friction fire, bone fish hooks, flintknapping, weaving hawaiian fish traps, and also helped make a tulle surf board, amongst other things. i somehow managed to get pulled over twice, and the first time: one of the cops finding 2 (edible, non-hallucinogenic) puffball mushrooms in my birch bark basket in the seat next to me and him having to call in two of the local "drug experts" to try to identify them seemed to distract them from the fact that there were 6 people sitting in the back of my van, which has no back seats much less seat belts (and also an open container or two that might have been back there too-- not that i had been imbibing, but i'm pretty sure others had been)... Another time because we came upon a Fish and Game checkpoint, and they reported to the state police that we "acted suspiciously"... granted, we did have a roadkill badger (and a jackrabbit and a couple various deer parts, also) wrapped up in a rug in the back (and it's illegal to pick up roadkill), so we were maybe a little bit nervous. in the end, i managed to not get any tickets (entirely due to my irresistible charm).
there's many more stories from that trip, but that's all i have time for tonight...
It's so good to be in the NW again.
^this was in a place called battery russell, an old WWII bunker in Astoria, OR with amazing acoustics. my friends and i went and made noise/music in the dark (it was actually pitch black, but obviously with the flash...)
^this was in a place called battery russell, an old WWII bunker in Astoria, OR with amazing acoustics. my friends and i went and made noise/music in the dark (it was actually pitch black, but obviously with the flash...)
