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May 31, 2002
i was thinking today that
i was thinking today that maybe it's boring to read about me going to work everyday. tomorrow is 10th day working in a row, all day overtime. going to watch the game tonight, not soccer but the film by the director of seven and fight club, i've heard it's good. after this we go to look at that subaru, supposedly it only has body damage, as in you have to dukes of hazard it style in the driver side door, but the engine is supposedly fine. i have my doubts, but if we lowball them it could rule. sat in my tent last night trying to get to sleep, seem to have misplaced my longjohns so was a bit cold. did a lot of thinking, i kinda figured i'd save all the post university wondering what i'm gonna do with my life stuff till i was up here sitting in my tiny tent, which has come to pass. i was mopping the floors and realized that if i save up a ton of cash i'll really be able to travel in central and south america for a long time, that is if i still want to. it's weird, right before i came up here things were really fun in reno, and now i'm working every day, but i guess it's for a greater good, in warmer places. anyways, enough of that. hope you all are in better weather than i am.
Posted by bendan at 05:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 30, 2002
damn rain. might have found
damn rain. might have found a second job as a busboy at this super spendy restaurant, that would mean i have no days off but i'd be raking in tips, my idaho buddies mike and dave ate there last night and shelled out 40 bucks a piece for fancy fish, i had a beer and salad and got out for under 10 bucks, man i'm glad i'm a weirdo vegan cause there are no restaurants here that i could overspend at. not gonna get freddy's orange van, he likes it too much, we're looking into a 350 dollar subaru, the idaho boys both had the same model, an 83, so we might try and give them 200 cash and fix it up so we can drive to girdwood and anchorage and maybe denali. there's all this stuff in the news right now about pulling climbers off denali, pretty crazy stuff. makes me wonder if i'll still go.
a list of songs i wish i could listen to right now:
elliot smith- baby britain
elliot smiith- further away
murder city devils- press gang
yo la tengo- anything off of "i can feel the hearts beating as one"
ok, keep writing me emails, i dig it.
Posted by bendan at 08:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 29, 2002
looks like i won't be
looks like i won't be able to do any video work after all, kind of a bummer. today was good anyways though, actually met a basque guy who's been here the last 4 summers, he's from good old san sebastian. he looked at me like i was crazy when i started saying my few basque phrases, it was funny. we're supposed to go mountain biking, i'm starting to think i should have brought my bike, it would have been impossible to hitchhike with is the only bad thing. the other good thing was that my buddy freddy might be leaving town to go to juneau or somewhere else, and he might give me his orange chevy van. that would mean that i could sleep in it instead of my tent, which is small and not all the way waterproof, and that we could drive into town on the really rainy days. this will also mean that i will make my parents prouder then words can describe by fulfilling a college ambition of living in a van by a river. actually it's the resurrection bay, but still...
y a los amigos hispanohablantes, que me escriban! no hay mucha gente con la que puedo practicar, y no quiero olvidar el espanol. andale!
Posted by bendan at 06:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 28, 2002
it's tuesday morning, going to
it's tuesday morning, going to work right after this. night before last night was rockin, good old freddy got paid and bought many pitchers, the very best thing was him dancing to the cover band at the bar, it's impossible to describe his dance moves but i assure you they were remarkable. yesterday slept in till 1 oclock on accident, luckily mike came and woke me up so i could go to work.
i was standing in the forest about 20 yards from my tent last night, looking at all the moss growing on the trees and at the clouds ringing the surrounding peaks, it felt so peaceful and calm. i sat around and read hell's angels by hunter s. thompson cause my copy of tropic of cancer got waterlogged, i'm starting to wish i'd bought a bigger tent. spoke with aaron, he's very excited to come up, i gave him the lowdown on how to get to the new seward highway from the airport in anchorage, so he won't have to spend an hour and a half riding busses around anchorage, which sprawls in a way that reminds me of vegas except there are tons of trees between the houses instead of strip malls and apartment complexes. my next day off is saturday, which means i'll have 12 days on in a row, not sure what i'm gonna do, this hippy baker named ben said he'd show me some places to go bouldering.
much thanks to steven for the vegan waffle recipes, i'm gonna start experimenting at baking since i am working in a bakery, and they put milk in everything. have fun you all. (i've got my "howdy" drawled to perfection. sweet)
Posted by bendan at 01:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 26, 2002
last night went to some
last night went to some bars, met an argentinian to practice my spanish on, that was fun, then freddi the 50 year old ex vietnam vet who lives in the orange van, mike and I went up to exit glacier. it has receeded a bit since i was there last, 3 years ago, it was about 1 am so you couldn't tell that it was totally blue, which is the coolest thing in the world. i saw the worst band ever again last night, saw them with chad 3 summers ago and couldn't believe my eyes, they were out in full force again last night, and the drum machine is still the best member of the band by far. they were rocking the pit, a bar who's name is the perfect description of it, so crappy you wouldn't believe it. it's outside of town so people end up there till 5 am, then they sleep in their cars or pitch tents in the parking lot. it makes me happy to get emails from you all, i feel a little isolated up here. anyways, everyone have a good holiday tomorrow, the damn comp lab is closed.
Posted by bendan at 04:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 25, 2002
some characters i've met: freddi-formerly
some characters i've met:
freddi-formerly the guy i called leroy, last night freddi went out with dave, mike and i (dave and mike are the idaho boys) to a few bars. we found him sleeping in his rusting out orange van near where we camp, and i knocked on the window. right now he's "on the hustle" looking for jobs, cause the garage he's helping to build will be finished on monday. last night at dj's saloon he totally rocked out to the local band that was covering all kinds of stuff, a few women came up and hit on him but he was too busy checking out the band.
bob-bob works at the other location of the bakery, the sandwich stand inside of the sea life center. i've spoken with him only briefly, but dave, who works with him all day, nearly made me choke on my chili when he called him "big gay preacher bob." bob was in the military for 12 years, then decided to become a school teacher and a priest. dave says that many customers compliment him on his directing of the school play from last year, "anne." one customer came up and said they were reminded of him cause they say on jeopardy the question "who was anne's dog?" and big gay preacher bob lit up and spoke with glee, " it was pandy!" (or whatever the name was i forget)
luvonda-the other dishwasher, she's from baltimore. her husband works at the cannery, and she washes dishes in the morning. or rather, she spends some time washing dishes, and the rest of the time eating sandwiches, drinking juice and smoking cigarettes behind the bakery. she said that last winter was "some bulshit, snow up to heah and shit." she acts like she's doing me a favor by leaving me only a few sinks full of dishes to do when she scoots out 10 minutes early every day.
andy (andres)-the cook from mexico. when he showed up yesterday the manager took me over and had me speak spanish to him, as if they didn't believe that i spoke it. we immediately got into a conversation in which he asked me what drugs i like to do. I told him none, and he said that he can't get any perriko up here. perriko is the spanish worf for parrot, but it also means cocaine. he's moving his wife up in a few weeks and wants to share an apartment, but i'm doing ok camping.
at the bar last night met these people who are working on documentaries at the sea life center, gonna try and hook up with them on tuesday after the holiday, one of the said they were even looking to hire someone. that would be the best thing ever, better then washing dishes and working with champions all summer. anyways, i'll try not to get my hopes up too high, and you all cross your fingers for me.
Posted by bendan at 11:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 24, 2002
really cold last night, went
really cold last night, went to sleep wearing long johns and gloves and my knit cap, slept pretty well though. went to work at 630, when i got there they had 4 people already working at the counter where i was supposed to train. i told the owner, ed, that i was gonna get out of there till 1 oclock, either this business makes so much money that they don't worry about having 2 or 3 unnecessary people on the clock at any given time or else they're gonna figure it out real soon. i went and applied at a few places, should know by next week. it's sunny and nice today, i road a bike around the harbor a bit, so amazing up here when it isn't raining. there's a mexican guy who works in the bakery so i even have someone to speak spanish with. things are pretty good.
Posted by bendan at 01:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 23, 2002
work was long today, tomorrow
work was long today, tomorrow i get to help move equipment to the 2nd location, inside of the sea life center, hopefully i'll be able to start working there, however the owner, ed, asked how i liked dishing today in an ominous tone. cross your collective fingers for me. the sun came out around 3 and i walked outside and all the mountains have snow still and are steep as hell and across resurrection bay the view is really good, ships coming in and out full of fish or tourists. it was nice to read some emails for home, the public library has free access so if i stay here i'll be able to computer geek out even though i'm living in a tent in the woods. an extremely small tent as well, this morning i was sitting in said tent and a bird tried to fly in, i told it a stern no and it zipped away. can't wait to see bears again. the hummus where i work is from a powder but they add tons of veggies and garlic so it's still pretty good. ok now we're off to go build a firepit and put a tarp high over it so we can hang out when it's raining and enjoy the good life. i've had weezer stuck in my head since yesterday, when dave one of the idaho boys told me he had a girlfriend in japan. hehe.
oh yeah drew sent me this, he titled it get your war on, which was pretty funny. i'm gonna get my climb on pretty soon, i saw people bouldering along the new seward highway when i was hitching down, can't wait to get on some rock. hope the dishing doesn't ruin my hands.
Posted by bendan at 08:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
well, hello to everyone from
well, hello to everyone from seward, alaska. my flight was ok, i slept a lot and looked out the window at the mountains, much of this trip has been a flashback to the last time i was here. got into anchorage ok, ended up taking a few busses before i got down south of town near the old seward highway. stuck out my thumb and less then 2 minutes later this snowboard bro in a truck picked me up. he drove me to girdwood, where i applied for a job but then got right back out to the highway and got another ride. this time it was from a guy named dave, the other dishwasher at the restaurant i worked at in denali 3 summers ago when i was here last. he owns a cabin in hope, a town of 150 people, most of them miners, which is funny cause dave is a hippy who makes tye-dye tshirts out of the back of a schoolbus. anyways, he dropped me off outside of hope and i sat there a while till this lady kathy picked me up, she had ozzy blaring and was just starting on a 40 ounce, she wasn't drunk though. her boyfriend had just kicked her out and she was driving down to the city of kenai to get some pot and go fishing. she was fun to talk to, she as into car racing and fishing and motorcycles, she had a hells angels tattoo on her ass that she couldn't show me cause she was driving, which was fine by me. her facial features reminded me of my first girlfriend, it was weird. she drove me all the way to seward, and during the course of the drive she asked me at least 3 times if i had any pot. i got into kenai and walked across town, looking at the bakery by the harbor and the yukon bar, but i was too tired from all the travelling to drink and walked out towards this glacial runoff that has a cool grassy spot next to it. right as i was about to start climbing up the hill to the grassy spot to pitch my tent and cook some food, this 50 year old black guy named leroy pulled up in a beat up orange van. he's up here looking for work in a cannery or something, and suggested we go get a beer. i jumped in and we went and bought a beer and some whiskey, then drove back and climbed up to my campspot. i stayed away from the whiskey but he got pretty drunk, telling me stories of his time in the navy and all his travels. i made us some food and then he climbed down to sleep in his van and i crawled into my tent and fell fast asleep, even though it's pretty light out even at 11 pm. i woke up, this is yesterday mind you, and started walking into town. i stopped at the bakery by the harbor, because i remembered getting good hummus bagels there when chad and i drove down last time. they were playing the weakerthans on the stereo, and everyone working seemed happy, so i asked if they had any work. 15 minutes later i was in the back, washing dishes. they started me at 8.50 i think but i'll get raises and all the food i can eat. the owners are pretty old and quite laid back, and there are 2 guys from idaho, named dave and mike, who are super cool. i'm camping on private property with them out about 1.5 miles from town, and i have the use of a bike for the summer. the owner, ed, might even let us use one of his vehicles for the summer, which would rule. dishwashing is crappy, but i'll probably get to move up and work at the counter. we get our water out of this glacial runoff stream and it's so cold and clean, it's a really nice setup. today i'm going in in 45 minutes, i'm gonna catch a shower and a shave after work, i'll have to pay 2 bucks till i meet someone who'll let me use their shower, which shouldn't be so hard. i'm hoping aaron can get a job at the same place when he gets down, all the employees are cool. the owner let us borrow his van last night after he bought us 2 round of these huge beers at the breeze bar, we went back to camp and sat in the trailer that mike lives in, listening to music and drinking a little more and i cooked up some couscous and veggies from the restaurant.
the 4th 5th and 6th of june i think is the girdwood forest fair, a bluegrass festival that i hear is really fun. hopefully they give me work off, but i don't think i'll work past july 15th anyways, i wanna get up to denali and also do a sea kayak tour out of either here or kenai, go check out some glaciers and fjords.
ok that's all for now, i do miss you all, but i'm having tons of fun and luck so far. off to wash some dishes.
Posted by bendan at 01:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 19, 2002
yesterday was graduation, it felt
yesterday was graduation, it felt muted for me, i have a few ideas why. prolly part of it was that i was quite tired because of a rock out evening the night before, but also cause the graduating students were busy talking on cellfones and doing the wave instead of listening to the in truth boring speakers. my party was fun, tons of food and beers and friends dropped by, i was quick to get some beers down and listen to everyone talk and make fun of me, not really, but mom busted out with some childhood stories of stuff i'd done. then i went and saw some bands, missed most of james's band, then the next two bands were weak, but fall silent redeemed the show, even if they didn't play looking in. i wanted to start a band right there called fall semester, it would be grindcore lyrics and wanky generic emo music. no dice, no one would play instruments for me to scream to.
today did some sleeping in, then moved some stuff to mom dad's storage shed, then watched spy games, which was pretty fun. just got done sucking at pool, hung out with maty and jen and shannon, we had some laughs. tomorrow, tons of shit to do, hope i get most of it done. can't wait to get out.
this page rules, it shows tons of amazing translations from other languages to english.
Posted by bendan at 11:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 15, 2002
on the day i left
on the day i left to come back from spain, i walked out of the internet cafe where my friend juan worked for the last time, and as i walked out of the old part of town all of the people slowed down and everything went into slow motion. i stared at them going about their normal lives in this city i loved so much, and thought about how when i came back it would never be the same as it was during that year.
today in class during my last final, i half expected this to happen again. i examined the people on the other side of the room writing away at the essay questions, and i thought about all the millions of people who are studying and learning and the zillions more who will be, and how although i'll most likely come back to a school setting to learn again, that it will never be like it has been up until now. ever since i finished elementary school i always look at myself in the mirror on the morning of the last day of school for the year, i did it this morning for the last time. this all feels very good and very weird, as you can imagine.
Posted by bendan at 01:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 14, 2002
um, this doesn't refer to
um, this doesn't refer to me or my work habits at all. really.
Posted by bendan at 02:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 13, 2002
long good drinkin weekend. one
long good drinkin weekend. one final left, then i'm free free free. at work now, we're burning DVD's for the students. i gotta get around to doing that before i leave.
the film Y Tu Mama Tambien i enjoyed very much, it made me want to go to Mexico and also to make movies. or edit them anyways. ok now i'm gonna to a study group then go home and hang out with my sick brother who's prolly already got me sick, which is gonna be really lame if it kicks in right as i leave for alaska. cross your fingers for me.
Posted by bendan at 01:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 10, 2002
check out this guy. it's
check out this guy. it's all about how he crashed into the dock. what a champion.
Posted by bendan at 09:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 09, 2002
this is a long but
this is a long but pretty good article about how to avoid speeding tickets. it's on a site that isn't so PC or good to look at at work, so you know. 1 final down, 3 to go, and no more papers! now i'm off to some art show or something, hopefully there's free food and beer. not that i can drink so much tonight, tomorrow my first final is at the extremely stupid hour of 730 in the morn. i'll be one groggy mofo writing about socialist movements in peru, but who cares cause soon i'll be done.
Posted by bendan at 05:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 08, 2002
oh yeah, the weakerthans were
oh yeah, the weakerthans were so good live, it reaffirmed my faith in some things i'd been forgetting about. (wow that sounded like a line from some wanky ass online diary... oh wait, that's what this is) the promise ring, on the other hand, did a good job at getting their suck on, they played a bunch of crappy new songs, then a few old ones, then back to the new ones, and we got the hell out of there. i should have seen them 2 records ago. this next weekend and the imminent drink-a-thon that it will undoubtedly consist of looms before me like the tidal wave from "a perfect storm," it's a shame i have one last final next week, otherwise we could really go all out and wake up monday morning next to the train tracks wearing nothing but slippers and the cool homeless-style overcoats that i keep finding in the hall closet and no one knows who they belong to or where they came from.
Posted by bendan at 05:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
this one goes out to
this one goes out to maty, if we ever get my brother's band idea off the ground he'll have to stand on stage and do morrissey poses until i tackle his ass.
Posted by bendan at 01:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
hooray for ordering climbing equipment
hooray for ordering climbing equipment from europe. 5 days shipping, plus the shoes i got cost less then half what they are here, including shipping. can't beat that with a stick. it's dead day today at school, i'm in between study groups. was supposed to go climb outside with drew this morn, but neither of us had the drive, too much getting the drink on last night i suppose. yesterday was a bit weird, my last class ever, now all i have left is finals. it's funny that i say it was my last class ever, more then likely i'll be back in classes of some sort within 4 years. only one paper left to write, then studying and studying and more studying.
Posted by bendan at 12:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 06, 2002
the world's newest country. highly
the world's newest country.
highly excellent, hits all the bases.
wow. science is cool.
Posted by bendan at 02:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 03, 2002
say hello to the biggest
say hello to the biggest moron ever. who has that kind of time?
Posted by bendan at 01:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 02, 2002
total paperwriting burnout. 6 hours
total paperwriting burnout. 6 hours or less sleep each night for 4 nights in a row now. mullets are fashionable.
Posted by bendan at 09:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack