British Seymour Power to Them

Parents have been in town since Tuesday-- Steve arrived Thursday night. It was a weird visit with the first and most part of my days spent at work or among friends and then the evenings with the folks. Now that they're leaving tomorrow morning, and I've already made my goodbyes, I feel a certain emptiness about it. I can't abide a visit where we have to schlep everywhere. I think our best time together as a family is simple quiet time in each other's presence. It's not the "doing things together" that makes it worth it, since the "doing" tends to dominate the "together". The best time for all of us this visit was this afternoon, when we finally all collapsed back at the folks' hotel room, watching TV and relaxing. Not schleping all around northern California looking for something to do together took the pressure off. After a half hour or so, we were all laughing together, Steve and I had a pillow and blanket fight, it was normal. The next time we get together, I think we have a better plan. We meet somewhere with sun, a beach, a bar and plenty of time. At any rate, I had to point out that this is probably the last time for a long time that we'll meet together in the SF area, considering that I'm leaving.

Since deciding to leave, my various plans have been coalescing and dissolving/mutating daily. CJ is competing in the DARPA challenge in the middle of October. You can bet that I'll take a break from Yosemite to go out there and root him on. Maybe I'll go from there for climbing elsewhere in the south. I wonder if Taquitz or Suicide rock are temperate in that season.

Other ideas have come along as well. If Lenny is up to it and available in the spring, perhaps I'll return to go do the Appalachian Trail with him. We've both always wanted to do it. I'm going to take my time on deciding that one, since finding myself socially in the world is one of my goals and spending 5 months alone on the trail in a limited circle won't exactly fit that idiom.

Watching the drummer at tonight's show helped to clarify another cool idea. I can spend a month in an affordable location, studying. Why not hole up and surf for a month every day, then move on and play the drums, learn languages, write poetry. I'm not expecting to forever drift the earth, but I'm itching for brain stimulation. I need a challenge- I suppose the first step is to sever my simple life with Cisco and a paycheck (and health insurance and free internet access...)

Speaking of which, I've been fantasizing about what computer to buy after I leave Cisco and have to turn in the ol' IBM T40. Until tonight, I had been thinking of a shiny new IBM R52-- until I had a better idea. Nothing. No PC. I can email, blog, and send pics from internet cafes-- or not, if there's nothing around. I've become so accustomed to having instant brain power and information at my fingertips, I think sometimes that I've become brain-dulled addicted to my PC. Why not challenge my brain to actually remember stuff for a change?

On the lighter side, Steve and I went down to the Independent tonight after dinner at Elbe and goodbyes to the folks. British Sea Power was on the menu and they didn't disappoint. Faster paced and harder edged than their album, the encore-less show was over in 1:30 minutes, but compact as it was, they band had it down. These guys know how to apply serious volume like a scalpel. They can be crazy loud for minutes on end but it never once dissolved into monotony flailthrash. We need to get these guys for 3 hours, under the stars somewhere, with lots of air around them for their guitars to fill.

The Independent is a great venue, large enough to pack a crowd but small enough to keep you close to the band throughout. I'm looking forward to returning on May 26th for Goldie Looking Chain (thanks to Karl for turning me on to that one).

So it's 2:27am now, the VodkaRedbulls have worn off but the ear ringing persists. Steve is passed out to Contact on the tele-- and I'm not writing in my blog.