This is just a heads-up, so you, dear reader, can claim to know the man who started it all. Wait, let me back up. So, the other night, Joan (pronounced zhoe-ON), the Catalan guy from Barcelona who lives next door, and I were sitting around drinking in our kitchen, for lack of anything better to do. Well, we got to the bottom of a bottle of vodka, ( Read more... )

The Europeans tend to be a lot more avant garde than us Americans in a lot of ways. Their taste in music and art makes most of us look like cavemen. So too with fashion; I routinely see men my father's age wearing pants that I wouldn't even consider wearing unless I were already, or were planning ( Read more... )

Last night, I spent far too much money to get in to the Duc des Lombards Jazz Club. At least, that's what I thought when I handed the girl at the door a 20 euro note and got back a 1 euro coin. The Emiko Minakushi Trio had just begun their first set; I sat down at the last seat at the bar, and awkwardly negotiated a beer from the kindly woman ( Read more... )

So as I sat, digging some jazz at the open air cafe under a footbridge over the Seine, writing the preceding bit about how there's not really this hatred of Americans here, a dark skinned fellow approached and began speaking to me in French (I've an amazing ability to blend in. It's a double edged sword.). I explained that I don't speak much French ( Read more... )

Why isn't New York this fucking beautiful? Why aren't there footbridges with accordion playing buskers on top, open air jazz cafe's below? Is it the industrial revolution? Maybe it is, and I just haven't found where? No, everything here is beautiful. And it doesn't reek as much of money. Both Paris and New York see a huge amount of tourist trade, ( Read more... )

Lights pulsate and throb below me, concrete and steel arteries pumping the lifeblood of a city toward its plaque-crusted heart. This city, Washington DC, is where I change planes for Norfolk, Virginia, at which point I go by car for a couple hours to the beach. All that in reverse again on the return. And I'll be gone almost exactly 72 hours. It ( Read more... )

Seriously, what the hell? I used to like the way livejournal stayed the fuck out of my shit. If I wanted some obtrusive bar at the top of the page, I'd have gone to blogspot. I realize that I tend to disappear for long periods of time, but how long has this been going on? Will it go away if I get a paid account? I mean, I wouldn't do that, even if ( Read more... )

Best thing ever? or BEST. THING. EVER.?

[This is gonna piss people off ( Read more... )

What are the boundaries of the self? That is, when I talk about 'me', 'myself', or 'I', what do I really mean? Where is the boundary between the Cartesian inner and outer? The body seems the obvious place to make the distinction, but that still presents problems ( Read more... )