waltzing matilda

Well folks...I made it. It seems like I've been talking about this forever, and I'm finally here. More on "here" in a bit.

For now, let's have an update. So far this vacation I've been to North Carolina (Durham), New Jersey (Princeton), Massachusetts (South), and every state in between there and Texas. I then flew to Phoenix, where my dad picked me up and we drove to the Grand Canyon, then Los Angeles. The Grand Canyon is big...really big...you can't possibly imagine how BIG it really is. L.A. doubly so, only in a very different way.
Spent a few days in L.A. before flying up to Oakland. It was enough time for me to realize why it is that some people move there and never look back. There is a movement under the whole city -- one can tell that everyone there knows exactly what they want and what their doing, where they're going and where they want to be. Whether this is just a cleverly crafted illusion or the actual truth, it still scared the shit out of me. I (currently) prefer an environment where people wander about aimlessly, as it's always comforting to feel that everyone else is just as lost as you are.

Time for the now.

I've been sick since monday with a cough and a cold. It completely threw off the plans I had for getting off to a good (productive) start here. I have therefore spent the first few days of my new life on my dad's couch eating cough drops like candy and watching reruns of "Mythbusters". Oh well. The weather here just got cold. It's the kind of cold that makes your ears ache, too. SO I can't exactly go gallavanting about lest it aggravate my condition. A few more days of this won't be that horrid, but if I'm still sick after the weekend I'm going on strike. (?). I have, however, been writing and reading as I planned (though not in the volume I would have liked). Here is something I wrote this morning at the coffee shop.

I sat next to an attractive, trendy girl in a black hoodie. Everyone here wears black hoodies. I opened up the Murakami book I had been trying to wade through, but upon doing so I realized that my nose was running horrendously. I had to put the book up so I could concentrate on sniffling as discreetly as possible. Instead, I took out my notebook and began writing brilliant introspective prose. Tis allowed me to concentrate more on myself, thereby opening new realms of sniffle control. I thought about my plans for the day -- ocean beach was always a fun expedition, but it was cold (yes...the kind of cold that makes your ears hurt), and I didn't feel like freezing in a giant field of blowing sand. Then again maybe I did. A walk, either way, was in order.
Despite my self-proclaimed knowledge of all things bay-area, I knew my way to precious few spots by way of public transportation. Busses scared the bejeezus out of me. Having to stick your dollar in quickly while a line of people wait impatiently behind you. Not only are they in a hurry, but so is the driver (to a frightening degree). If, as in my case, you hadn't a fuck-all clue how much fare was, or indeed any knowledge of how the bus system worked at all, you were screwed.
I decided to walk somewhere. Home sounded cozy.



More later.