Let the Games Begin

So, it's been a little while since I made a post. I was quite disappointed to have missed the anti-war demonstrations in DC this past weekend. I heard the numbers topped 100,000, according to the Washington Post, which in all likelihood, (mis)underestimated the total. At any rate, a formidable showing from people all over the country, who are just now starting to wake up a little bit. I just read as well that Cindy Sheehan had been arrested. I'm lagging back here on the west coast, so I'm sure everyone reading this is like, "Yeah, old news Aaron. Anything important that happens in this country, already happened before you woke up this morning. Oh, you're like, SO DC!

I've finally started classes, although I've been working as a graduate research assistant for over a week already. Today, I had statistics lab. We were learning to use a program called SAS for statistical analyses. I've never used it before in my life as was the case for all but one of my classmates. I don't know if it was because of the teaching style of the TA, or if my brain has experienced irreparable atrophy over the past 4 years, but I had no idea what was going on. He (the TA) was just reading some unintelligible script off the screen and verbally explaining what each term meant. Well, I guess I wasn't the only one having a hard time, because when we were asked to run something ourselves, this poor girl in front of me totally FREAKED out and had some sort of nervous break-down, tears and all. I thought to myself, "oh my, that's interesting." Meanwhile, there were some people around me typing away, and I looked back at my blank computer screen and pondered the inhumanity of it all.

I promptly opened internet explorer to check my email.

(Perhaps you'll see me back in DC in a matter of months)

Ozzie and I have been scoring big off of craigslist.com. So far, we've furnished our living room with two leather sofas (free!) and a beautiful, though "rustic," wooden table (also free) which Ozzie found on the side of the road. As vegetarians, I think it would be morally reprehensible to have purchased said leather sofas, but since we didn't pay, we'll consider them "freegan."

In other news, Judy Miller has testified before the grand jury and is now a free woman--if you read today's washingtonpost article, there is still so much stuff that doesn't add up in this case. But finally, this story is back in the news after a brief hiatus, a result of Hurricane Kat, and general lassitude from the media. Oh yeah, and there's Tommy Delay's indictment and a spattering of other quasi political disasters. Oh Bushie. Who's next?

May I just say how happy I was to see so many comments posted on the last entry I made? I hope that everyone will use this as a forum to update the network of friends on your goings-on. I doubt my pointless drivel will ever become a hotspot for widespread usage anyway, so might as well keep it in the friend-network.

One last comment about the bikes in Davis. It's really unbelievable. I was riding to school today, and there was literally a line of bike traffic stopped at a red light. It's nearly impossible to cross any of the streets on campus without waiting potentially minutes before there an opening (if on foot). Very reminiscent of Amsterdam, except most of the bikes are new and mountainy. Not nearly the same level of charm. It's still America, after all...wouldn't want to infuse too much culture into things, lest we forget where we are.

That's it! I hope to be better about keeping this updated in the future. It's been a busy time.

Farmers Market and Fresh Oranges from the Tree

So, I felt like Eve today, picking succulent fruit from the orange tree in the backyard. I expected them to be dried out, or somehow not authentic (you know those California oranges), but they were quite juicy. I promptly offerred one to Ozzie and though skeptical at first, he took the bait. Mysteriously, I felt a bit dirty afterwards. Something just feels off kilter.

Yay oranges in the back yard! The first person who visits me out here has dibs on the juiciest ones!

Every Wednesday and Saturday, there's a farmer's market about two blocks from my house. If anyone wants to know who's driving up the population, look no farther than Davis, CA. There must have been 200 children under the age of 5 running about. They were playing in fountains and having a grand time. I'm always amazed at the resilience of little kids. Several of the 200 fell flat on their faces and after about 45 seconds of hard, sustained crying, they were running around as if nothing at all had occurred. It was a bit like watching the Indy 500. Anyway, Ozzie and I both have a surreal feeling about living in Davis. It's very Stepford Wives. Everything is clean and perfect. It's seems a bit too...everything. I guess I'm just used to the constant threat of being stabbed and the sport of making it home without getting a rock thrown at my head. There was this little band with three or four people singing classic rock, but like harmonized and stuff. This, unfortunately, added to the surrealism. Davis is beautiful and friendly, however, so don't get me wrong. It's just strange to be in such a different place.

Sorry to mention it, but there's a conspicuous lack of gayness here. And unfortunately for Ozzie and I, the first gay person outside of my mentor and another grad student we met happened to be a complete wacko. We were strolling through the farmer's market when a guy with a bright lime green shirt walked up to Ozzie and asked him is his belt was the same color as his shirt. Okay, no biggy. But then he proceded to ramble on for 10 minutes about himself and how he was just elected to some art council in Sacramento. I'm sorry, do I look like I care? I thought I'd been projected back to DC's little who's who scene. His mannerisms were conspicuously Stewart Smally (played by Al Franken on SNL: "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and doggonnitt, people like me"). Ozzie thought he had been drinking, but I'm pretty sure he was just crazy. I can't quite capture what it was about him, but trust me, it was destabilizing, to say the least.

Oh crap! I forgot to mention that Ozzie and I both won money at blackjack in Nevada on our way here! Ozzie started with $18 and left with $34, and I started with $0 and left with $30! Some excited woman gave me three chips worth three dollars and somehow, by the grace of goddess, and perhaps with ozzie's help, I turned that into 30. Needless to say, I left before my luck turned (or the casino decided it was time for me to loose).

Wildlife Update: Apparently, there are both barn owls and grey horned owls living in the trees near my house. Occasionnally, a grey horned owl shocks the Davis community by tearing apart a barn owl in mid flight.

California!

Hi all.

This will be short. I just wanted to let those of you checking in that Ozzie and I have arrived safely in Davis. We spent today unpacking and getting settled. The weather is beautiful and Davis is cute as a Georgia peach.

Wildlife Update: Ozzie and I saw the following animals along the way: cows, sheep, cats, dogs, 1 porcupine (crossing the road in CO), several prairie dogs sipping water from rumble strips along the highway, and to our much amazement, a wolf carrying some sort of prey in its mouth as it darted right in front of our truck on a highway (I-80) in the Sierra Nevadas--the mountain range between NV and CA. Ozzie and I were shocked. Fortunately, we didn't knock the prey out of its mouth with the front of the truck...that would have been unfortunate, and, dare I say, ironic? Maybe like rain on your wedding day, but hopefully not.

Anyhoobs, I promise to write more about my trip soon!

Truck surfing and breaking wind

Ozzie and I drove across Iowa and Nebraska in two days—about 19 hours of driving over the weekend. And in Nebraska, we learned a new skill, which we have named truck surfing. The highways there are almost completely flat, so we were expecting to get really great gas mileage what with gas prices, but what they don’t tell you about is the wind. The speed limit was 75, which despite the trailer, we have no trouble reaching, but with the strong wind, we were unable to get above 55 with the gas pedal to the floor!!! So, we discovered a little trick. Every time a semi (sema!) would come along, we would downshift into fourth gear, turn off the air conditioning and press the pedal to the floor to gain speed. Then we would swing in behind the tractor trailer, into its wake, and ride like the wind, using about half the gas. Every once in a while, the truck would be going too fast and we would get pushed out of the wake and we’d have to wait for the next truck, which was frustrating, but inevitably, another one would come along and we’d scream “hee-haw!” and ride that train…and ride it. So, all in all, Nebraska was pretty boring, if that’s all I have to report, but one doesn’t understand the exhilaration of truck surfing until it has been experienced. A person just can’t understand. Adding to the rush is the constant possibility of impending death if the truck driver decides to slam on the brakes.

A pit stop at a Subway near Lincoln proved culturally interesting. Oz and I were the only ones in the place until this 19-year old boy came in. mouth overflowing with explatives. He seemed to know the girl behind the counter and proceeded to woo her with his endless babbling about his "f-ing cool car" (which turned out to be a four door Oldsmobile Alero, circa 1999—hot damn!). He professed that he was doing quite well at his job, “making $10/hour putting stickers on glass and attaching it to a piece of medal,” which was enough to pay for his insurance and his car, especially impressive “considering all of the modifications” which looked like perhaps a spoiler and a few window tintings. All and all, this kid could have been from my home town of Hagerstown. I’m certainly not railing on this guy and his job, but there was something funny about the way he figured his rantings to be irresistible to the Subway girl. He told intriguing stories about how he would skid his car into the high school parking lot and when confronted about it by an administrator, would aggressively rebut, “What the fuck are you going to do about it?!” Soooo dreamy. If only I were a few years younger. Even funnier was that during this time, Subway girl was handing him pieces of broken cookie out of a large plastic bread bag. It was too cute. She seemed to giggle at all the right moments too, providing exactly the reinforcement he needed. She said like four words before he made his grand exit and sped off in said Oldsmobile.

On a different note, I feel compelled to recognize what happened in New Orleans just as Ozzie and I were leaving DC. Is it just me or do the words and actions of Bushie Bush in the past week prove once and for all what a turd he is? I just read the following quote from him as he arrived in Alabama:

"The good news is -- and it's hard for some to see it now -- that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch. " (Laughter.)

You can read the entire speech at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050902-2.html

The article I read justly points out that Bush seems to pick an odd example of loss and devastation invoking the name of an extremely wealthy and powerful political leader, rather than the thousands of poor and relatively helpless. Poor Trent. In the end, though, I suppose none of this will matter to the President or other leaders in the government. It just seems strange to me. The US spends an incredible amount of money and energy battling the impending and constant threat of terrorism, when the chances of any of us dying by terrorist attack are extremely low, yet when a powerful category 5 (what was thought to be, at least) is barreling down on the coast, sure to cause massive casualties and destruction, virtually nothing is done. At least sure up the oil rigs, I mean come on, don't you people have a heart?

Nebraska!

Sunday night--late.

Ozzie and I just spent two days in Chicago with his friends Chris and Bryan. Twas a wonderful time and we even had time to take in a movie--The Constant Gardener. It was a bit slow, but still an excellent film.

Today, we drove across Illinois, all the way through Iowa and we are currently in a hotel in Lincoln, NE. There's not a whole lot to see between Chicago and here, at least not along I-80, so no crazy stories about gigantic marshmellows, or the world's largest buffalo teets.

Tomorrow, we will drive across the rest of Nebraska to Steamboat Springs, CO by way of Cheyenne, Wyoming. I'm a little worried about driving up the mountain with the Uhaul trailer, but Ozzie's truck has been a real trooper thus far, so hopefully no problems. I'll be sure to keep everyone posted.

Well, just a quick update. I'm getting sleepy, so it's off to bed.

first leg

Somethiiiiing....not sweet....not so much tastey, as tactiley.....but not really soft at all...kind of springy and lettery....just under my fingertips....

Blogspot!

Hi everyone!! This is so exciting! My first blog! Yaaaaay!! Thanks especially to Dan for setting this up. I will try to check in from time to time along the way from Washington DC to Davis, CA. I'm currently in Pittsburgh staying with Ozzie's best friend in the whole wide world--Sabin. I don't have a picture of him, but I'll post one very soon.

None of this has sunk in yet for me. It seems more like a vacation at this point, like I'll be seeing all of my friends in a couple of days. Hmmm...I don't even thing I want to go there right now. It's too much.

Tomorrow, we drive to Chicago where we'll spend two nights--Friday and Saturday. I might be able to post again then, hopefully with some exciting news...like we passed a huge SUV on fire by the side of the road or something. That'd be cool. BTW, the cheapest gas we could find today was $3.25 a gallon. Whew! I'm glad I'm not driving cross country or anything. Well shit.

See, I'm already boring myself. Well, that's it for the first post. I have to get to bed, so I can get up early tomorrow and head on my Mary way.

Love to all of you!!!!

aaron

Road Trip!

Aaron and Ozzie hit the road today for a two-week drive to CA! In the meantime, check out Aaron's new Flickr Photo Feed for party images. Yes, this will be the last time I post to his blog. Love you! -Dan