Cadillac Ranch is cooler than I thought it would be, but I did unfortunately have to spray paint over a swastika :( Cross country driving is long, but at least I'm rocking the car and not the truck hauling a car
Man what do I start with. Girl or climbing. Girl? Girl! Last Tuesday a friend of mine had a little party/social by renting out part of one of the local breweries to celebrate her finishing her residency. She's now on a road trip for a wedding, climbing trip (she's so excited to be able to climb regularly again) and other stuff with her boyfriend. So happy for her! She invited a handful of people, maybe 10, from one of the running groups out here, which is the group I met her in! I spent some amount of time hanging out with a few friends and drinking free beer, and shuffling around talking to some of the people from the running club who I didn't know very well. One girl was there who I ended up really, really hitting it off with. We ended up spending probably half the night together getting to know each other and I got her phone number. We went out on a first date Thursday night, that went great, and a mini-date Sunday night after I got back from a long run and she got back from Mount Hood. Stayed the night at my place both times, and Sunday night she even brought her dog over. Very smart, she's getting her phd, we're the same age, she's big into running, not at all into climbing, has a very similar taste in music, and i've felt so, so conversationally and intellectually stimulated and engaged around her and talking with her. she's also very attractive...she has said she doesn't want to rush into anything, and neither do i! yet here we are, texting each other daily, and her sending me a photo of her new tattoo while she's back home on the east coast...she also gave me (to borrow), unsolicited, her copy of ocean vuongs latest book of poetry. The catches are: she had been in an on again-off again relationship for 3 years with the person who started the prior mentioned run club...and i have no idea what she's looking for and don't really want to have that conversation anytime soon. either way, i'm happy, and she invited me to her birthday run weekend that's in two weekends! CLIMBING: another friend of mine had to get helicoptered off a mountain because of a bad fall he took, probably a 50ft fall. fractured his facial bones, and a bunch of other stuff. is in a neck brace, and has some other moderate injuries. no surgeries needed it sounds like. but we're up to 2 friends who have had to be rescued and walked out on their own, and 2 friends who have been helicoptered off of a mountain, and it's only late June. Really has me wondering how much alpine climbing i want to be doing this year, it's got me a bit spooked...
Smoke here is pretty bad, coming down from Canada. I want their indie bands and poutine sent here and not their smoke.
Broken Social Scene are finishing up their You Forget It In People tour so I guess you get both??
I've seen them in Toronto a few times and woken up the next morning to my face sore from smiling so much. All time top concert memory is seeing Kevin Drew and Feist sing Almost Crimes in 2010. I was right in front and was totally unprepared for Kevin Drew and Feist using the same mic for her parts. Song starts with Justin Peroff's drums and Andrew Whiteman's guitar parts, Kevin sings his first couple lines, steps aside, Feist steps forward and melts my face off. Emily Haines even sang Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl that night but Almost Crimes is etched into my brain forever. Probably the band I've seen third most often after Tegan and Sara and Metric.
Except Metric's show (opening for Noel Gallagher and Garbage) was cancelled tonight because of the smoke!
Another news article that had me lol today:
God that's fucking dystopian. I know both of those neighborhoods. I lived near one and biked through the other every day. The opportunity for thoroughly draconian enforcement against "vanlords" is right there for anyone who wanted to be the "law and order" candidate.