i don’t want to be one of those people who makes a tragedy all about themself, but i am having a hard time watching all the awful footage of the devestation left behind by hurricane katrina. seeing the video of everything going on reminds me of the experience of living through flood in richmond last year – exactly one year ago today. i know katrina is so much more in scope and magnitude than gaston was, that 7 people who died in richmond is only a small percentage compared to the eventual numbers of fatalities in louisiana, mississippi, and alabama, but some of the scenes on tv make me turn away, too close and too familiar to what i remember from last august 30.

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I’m a very good “catching up” friend. I’d say the good majority of my friendships involve hanging out, then a long absence, and then another period of hanging out to catch up. It works very well for me, and I believe this works well for my friends too. I don’t need constant attention, and neither do they.

I have the same relationship with this website. Anyways.

A month ago today was my final day at my old company. I started my new job about two weeks ago, and so far it’s great. In fact, I received my first paycheck today. So far, I’ve helped draft and correct quite a few policies and procedures for the future bank. Christina thinks this is very cool. “You’re, like, writing policies that many many people will have to follow for years to come!” Indeed I am.

My birthday was a couple weeks ago. I had a pretty good party for it, with a fair number of people eating sushi and playing poker. Ryan came down from up north, and he and I got really drunk the night before, so it was an all around great weekend.

Two weeks before that I went to Seattle to visit my sister and her two new sons. My nephews are ridiculously cute. I think this is my favorite picture of them so far:

Joey is on the left sticking his tongue out and Josh is on the right with his crossed eyes looking perplexed. I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that many years from now I’ll look at this picture and it will encapsulate their personalities. Or maybe not. My god are they cute.

Did anyone watch the series finale of Six Feet Under? Holy shit was that great. I’m going to miss that show.

And lastly, I think my iPod has officially replaced my car radio. I’ve been listening to podcasts for about the last seven months on and off, but now I’m officially hooked. You see, back around sophomore and junior year of college, I used to love watching TechTV in the mid-afternoon after classes but before the proper going-out time. I especially liked a show called “The Screen Savers.” But TechTV was bought by Comcast and they merged the network with their crappy videogame network G4 and they pretty much cancelled all of the shows I loved, including TSS. Anyways, most of the guys that were on those shows are now podcasting three or four shows a week, and I listen to them instead of crappy corporate rock, even crappier hip-hop/rap, or even worse, Tom Leykis. With that, I recommend This Week in Tech and Diggnation as my favorites. Until I feel like catching up again, enjoy.

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is feeming a word? as in, ‘i’m really feeming for a cigarette.’ or ‘i’m really feeming for some ice cream.”
as in craving?

btw tripp, what is a platimun record?

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yesterday tripp gotta see me hyper. there are certain songs that take so much discipline to not dance to that if i’m only going to humiliate myself in front of people who i don’t mind being humiliated in front of, then i go ahead and dance. like a maniac. so much fun.

i’m not dancing now. i’m home in portland. either from the flight or the change in weather (it rained here today for the first time in a while to welcome me!) my ankles are killing me.

there was a thunderstorm this afternoon. i was so pleased. then, this evening after dinner with grammy and the parents, there was one of the best rainbows i can remember seeing. the sky where i was was very open and so i could see a huge arc of the rainbow and the colors were so vivid…

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Well Tripp finally released “no hay vendo” to my great shame. I have to say that seeing my recorded image is probably one of the most uncomfortable things in the world.
I know I should be writing more but I feel like I have very little to say lately. Work has been sparse and most f my projects have left me feeling rather unsatisfied in way that I can’t really put my finger on. I just feel like things should be more. Luckily I pass of disappointment as mellow the majority of the time which works out pretty nicely. I am taking my girlfriend home to meet my family this weekend. It’s about the second or third time I have introduced a significant other to my family. I wonder if I should feel nervous about their approval, but I can’t will myself to care all that much about it. This is hopefully some strain of confidence I am unfamiliar with. Haven’t seen much of anyone. Most of my free time being late at night or early in the morning, and I spend most of it with my girlfriend. I need to find a routine for work and leisure tat functions better than this, or perhaps a hobby. RnR

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carter’s post about the south and whatnot made me wanna post. southern culture and southern-ness have been an on-and-off topic for me since moving up to new york, and it’s sometimes interesting, sometimes obnoxious to discussit with people up here.

my time in morocco gave me amongst other things a great perspective on my own country. i now love the states way more than i could have before that time. similarly, eight months now living and working in the north has made me love the south more than i could have before that time.

one of the more annoying things about being up here is how people associate ignorance with the south. sure bush is ignorant, but texas is a breed of its own in the first place, but more importantly, ignorance is everywhere. in a general human sense, no matter where you go if there are people there will be good and bad, nice and naughty, interesting and boring, et cetera ad nauseum. that northerners associate ignorance with something other than their own only adds more of said issue to their own mentality when speaking upon the south. a coworker mentioned a short thing mtv did a year or few back on the jersey shore, and man did they show some colorful people on that one. and needless to say i run into lots of ignorant people all the time up here, in respect to all types of things. some are open to new things, others aren’t.

insofar as there are good things and bad things everywhere, i love my southern culture. i look forward to returning to it eventually. new york is a place i want to be for many reasons in my life right now, but i’m a southerner in new york.

finally, the issue where people think the south is all country people. derrr, ignorant once again. my southerness is rooted in cities, both smaller and biggerer. richmond,va beach,augusta,atlanta. there’s all kinds of southerners. just like there’s all kinds of everyone else. i love how david cross illuminates the issue – i forget how he phrases it exactly, but the country-ass voice is the same everywhere in the states. the ‘ignorant southerner’ as northerners like to imagine is in fact the stereotype of meathead countryfolk from all over the country.

as my grandpa used to say, remember who you are and what you represent.

peace

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when you have listened to a radio program for over 15 years, you feel like you know the people who do it. i’ve listened to don and mike since 6th grade. i was devestated to hear this news.

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