Holland

Definitely an interesting place. If you spend most of your time away from the Red Light district and actually try to hang out with the Dutch, you'll find that a) They are happy to get you where your going but b) Don't wish to converse with you if you're not Dutch and c) the food sucks. Aside from that, the place is a liberal wet dream - bicycles have the same rights as cars, there is free repair everywhere, social programs abound, everyone seems pretty happy and well adjusted and people don't sweat details too much. They're pretty chilled out folks in general and seem to worry about the important things.

Although sometimes I wonder if they're not so "left they become right", as in the limited number of ATM's in town, which I suspect is designed to curb spending. Anyhow, there is good ethnic food and it was great to see my friends who have been living there for over a year now.

Something no one ever seems to mention is that the city itself is very beautiful, especially the canals and also especially at night. Well worth a visit.

(Image is from an Absinthe bar. The flames are burning sugar cubes. No you do not see green fairies, that's only if its made wrong. You feel tipsy and slightly alert - same effect as Irish Coffee.)

Lundon

I've arrived here in London at my relatives house, my first visit since 2000, for which I blame graduate school. They're still great and hilarious and I'm glad to have them in my family. Tomorrow is the only real city day I get this week, as I'm leaving for Holland on Thursday to visit with friends from graduate school. I'm going to hit up some museums, which thanks to socialism are all free, and wander around some in the foul weather they have a patent on here.

In case you can't see a timestamp, it's the middle of the night and I'm jetlagged. In an effort to stay awake after arriving in the mid-morning, I had my cousin drag me to town to run errands, one of which was a stop at the Argos store. By way of explanation, Argos is a retailer more famous for their catalog than anything else, and as a result their storefront is a lobby with lots of these catalogs bolted to the walls, some cashiers and a pickup window. That's it. They cut out all the displays entirely. So you pick out what you like, pay for it, then wait in this area (comprised of a bunch of chairs in the middle of the store) where you watch a rectangle with your order number on a TV navigate the cryptic queue algorithm to figure out when your space heater will be ready. If this isn't a dystopian future already, I'm not sure what is. Again, that much better when you can barely keep your head upright.

Ideally, something more interesting to see tomorrow. I'm going to go back to bed and stare at the ceiling for another four hours.

Addendum

There is also a huge group of black people going to Tel-Aviv in front of me. Yahweh saw fit to cancel half of their reservations without notice.

My flight is delayed and I'm drinking with old british ladies at the bar. There is also a guy with a handlebar mustache, a woman shitfaced on white wine with her kids, and some Nordic junkies. The world is a strange place.

O'Hare notes

I am about to leave for Europe. In line with me at the checkin desk is a large group of loud eurotrash Italians. Two of them look like Yanni. Also there is a group going to Jamaica and they all have smiles on their faces.

The Air-India desk is staffed with white people. Everyone in line has about 5 times their own weight in luggage. Why can my people not pack? Also, traditional Indian clothes are not designed for Chicago winters.

I hope there is a bar in the gate area.

The great wheel

In Detroit, I met some old friends who recently had twins. Seeing old friends is something I never tire of, and I got to spend dinner with them and their parents whom I've known now for over 15 years as well as (literally) bounce their babies on my knee. After this I went to visit our close family friends who experienced a death in the family a few days ago of my Lila Ba (grandmother) to whom I'm not related but has been like family to me for over 20 years. She was suffering greatly in her final days from lung problems, so her passing was somewhat of a relief. She also was very particular and had made all arrangments for her services as well as her belongings well before her passing. She is survived by a husband of 55 years who doesn't really know what to do with himself, but is surrounded by family and very strong as well as maintaining some small amount of humor amidst the sadness. I'm glad she went peacefully and was emotionally prepared. We should all be so lucky. So in one evening there is birth and death and the wheel turns.

Hmm.

I met my friend Nels today for a few drinks and he suggested we get haircuts together. Not sure why, but I trust the process. We got clipped at a punkrock hair place and I have to say it went okay. I was a little concerned but some sort of minty spray put my scalp at ease. Now that I think about it, drinking and haircuts are not the best combination.

In other news, I've seen every museum in the city (except the Museum of Flight) and as a result have spent my time recently playing cards. In the last 36 hours, I've taken $500 out of one card room. There's a good story about how I almost won $7000 on a bad beat jackpot but it involves hand gestures. Also, I didn't win it.

I'm not sure why I'm leaving. Tomorrow, back to The Chi and real life. In a week after that, off to Europe. How I get to do this, I have no idea.

The Great Northern

 

This is the Snoqualmie Falls, also known as the backdrop for the opening scene of "Twin Peaks". It's beautiful and made me weirded out that BOB might be around the corner, so I quickly took pictures and left. I spent the rest of the day indoors as it was raining cats and dogs. Nothing exciting, really, just some cards and reading.

I'm running out of stuff to do that's indoors and kind of feeling homesick. I'm leaving early on Saturday and tomorrow night is going to be the big "Last night in town" fest which will involve much barhopping. Stay tuned.