The More Things Change

Sometimes here at WIDWINW, we stop to appreciate serious things.

In this case, some words ring true across generations.

An excerpt from FDR's first inaugural speech:

The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.

Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live.

Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now.

Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources.

Hand in hand with this we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land. The task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities. It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms. It can be helped by insistence that the Federal, State, and local governments act forthwith on the demand that their cost be drastically reduced. It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, and unequal. It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities which have a definitely public character. There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act quickly.

--

Here, here.

To a Friend in Amsterdam...

... who hasn't had the best luck with summer weather the past couple of years,

please,

let us share a little bit with you:

It's not quite as nice as the real think, but we hope you enjoy.

Grabbing the Reins

4 days since my last post?

Unacceptable!

Haven't had a chance since Thursday, though.

The short of it is: back in San Francisco, and back on the computer.

Let the blogging resume.

The New Pets.com

Hey, want to get in on this latest rendition of a tech bubble?

Well, you're in luck!

Well, it seemed like a good idea when VCs were trampling each other to dump money into our coffers.

Presenting, Gigwalk, the latest innovation in tech companies that would inexorably confound your grandparents**.

Ever wanted to get paid for walking around? If that's the case, your ship has come in.

Better strike while the iron's hot, though, because you've only got a short time before Google scoops this outfit up and makes this post look even more moronic than it already is. Before you quit your job, put on that second set of socks, and move to one of the cities Gigwalk's interested in, though, riddle me this: who's got the better track record - Google, or WIDWINW?

Exactly.

Wait, you picked Google?

This post is over.

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**Decided to start at the second asterisk for this post, spice things up a bit. Hm? Oh, yes, the point of this footnote! Sorry about that - I know your time is valuable. Yes, I can hear it now: "who wants to pay me to walk in the who-now?". Feel free to disregard all of this if one of your grandparents is Steve Jobs.

Los Angeles River: Fragile Ecosystem At a Crossroads

So this morning* I went for a bit of a jog.

The goal was to ramble aimlessly around Chris and Rachael's place, check out some scenes, and make my way back in time for some blogging.

And then I came across the splendor of the Los Angeles River**, and I knew I had to draw attention to this special place.

Cats, or "Reminds me of the cover of this"

Los Angeles River, facing one way

Dip my toes where the river flows

Los Angeles River, facing the other way

A babblin' brook

Like so many of our natural resources, I fear the Los Angeles wetlands may vanish forever if something is not done to reverse the destructive trend that has probably been in place for decades or something.

Let's all do our part to make sure the wonderful smells of this unique place remain pungent for our children to savor in the future. We can each only do our part, so let's start by doing that a lot.

Thank you for your donation. Your Los Angeles Wetlands vinyl decal*** is in the mail.

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*Editor's note: I actually went for this jog last Friday. Linear time, y'all!
**Did you even know such a thing existed? The Los Angeles river? Sounds like something out of Demolition Man.
***Fits windows of all Suburu models.

Body of Work: Right Ankle

I'd like to introduce you to the latest section of WIDWINW,

Body of Work

In these posts, we're going to showcase a particular facet of my body that warrants some consideration.

Today, we're featuring my right ankle:

The yellow part is not the ankle. The ankle is under the white, cottony part.

Ol' Righty has recently been making his way back from a bad high ankle sprain. Usually, he quite enjoys running with his pal Lefty, occassionally jumping, either for a rebound or to avoid a stream of water, and not being in pain. After the sprain, however, Righty wasn't able to do any of the things he loved, aside from shambling along like a deflated balloon*.

After a bit of time, though, it appears as though Righty is back on the... right track. These days, he's been up to some good adventuring, including running in the sand, maintaining his composure when my center of balance shifts, and slimming down to his usual svelte self**.

Here's to you, Righty. In the words of John Lennon, "Long may you run".

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*Actually, like an overinflated balloon. He was getting his swell on.
**Two words: swimsuit season.

Route 1, Big Sur, and No Condors

In case you don't have time to check out the Flickr's, here's a carousel of the drive for you:

Created with flickr slideshow from My brain.

One or More Things I Did Today

And Let It Be Known, that on July 6th, in the year of 2 thousands and 11, I was up to this:

• Packed up and said "Adios" to Monterey.
• Hit Highway 1.
• Had a wonderful chat with the Pacific Ocean, my passenger for a good many hours on the drive, and a fantastic conversationalist.
• Found the only section of scenic Big Sur coastline not inundated with tourists (myself not included) and had what will be known going forth as:
  

The Most Scenic Picnic Ever:

• Oh, man, what a scene.
• Made it to LA in time for dinner. Kyle and Liz hooked a young bum up: pizza cooked on some stones in a grill, ft. bacon, goat cheese, pears, possibly etc. Thanks, y'all!
  

As they say, "It were a Day".

*

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*I hear you: there has been a veritable paucity of footnotes as of late on WIDWINW. Chalk it up to fewer hangovers, specifically the manic energy they inspire. Don't worry, though - those can't have gone far.

San Francisco: Recap

I visited San Francisco.

It was rad.

Here are some pictures from my visit:


Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.

Song Corner: Al Green

The theme of today's Song Corner: This too shall pass.

Al Green ft. Booker T & the MGs: A Change Is Going to Come

Never one to co-opt this civil rights anthem for personal extravagance, but in this case it feels appropriate. The ragged quality of Al Green's voice, the raucous backing of the horns and organ, the presence of the crowd.

Listen: this take on Sam Cooke's finest will move you.

Hey, look, the sun's come out in Monterey and pushed the fog away.

This Blog, or "Why This Blog Came to Be"

I've been putting off writing this post for about, oh, 13 posts or so, but it's high time I wrote it. No time like the present, and all that.

You probably already know the story, but it goes like this:

I recently left what from the outside looking in was a pretty appealing job*.

I did this in an economy where many people that share many of my characteristics and qualities are struggling mightily to find a job.

There are times when I couldn't be happier with my decision.

But, the truth is there are times when this freedom and beautiful recklessness** is alloyed with the bittersweet circumstances under which I left Portland, my home for the past 4 years.

I won't go into explicit detail, but due to a number of factors, one of which I've alluded to above, I decided to pack up and ship out.

And that's when this adventure began.

Which is why this blog exists.

Deep stuff.

But anyway, once I decided to do what I've done - a decision, by the way, that I considered for about half a year, making it likely the most diligence I've ever paid a decision in my life - I began planning for the trip that was to come.

The most important portion of that planning, in my mind, was sending an email to very nearly every person I've met over the past 10 years, roughly since I graduated from high school (though some high school chums were in there, too). These people ranged from dear friends I've known for years and have a wealth of experience with, to people I've met only once before, but for some reason must have made an impression on me.***

This email amounted to basically this: "You may not remember me, but I remember liking you, and I'd love for you to share your knowledge and/or time with me in the form of adventures or recommendations". I've pasted the full text of the email below, in case for some reason you didn't receive it****.

It felt good to write that email, great to send it, and wonderful to receive the replies.

I concede that it was a bit of an unusual email. You can take that as you like.

But I truly believed, and believe, that it was a good email to send, that no harm could come of it.

And I was surprised and delighted to receive the replies, which ranged from one sentence recommendations or "congrats!", to multi-paragraph, bulleted treatises on friends-of-friends I could stay with, national parks I should visit, festivals I should attend...(etc. you can get a feel for the sort of responses one might receive if they sent the email below). That being said, I know I shouldn't have been been surprised, considering the caliber I believe I've noticed at some point in the recipients of the email. Perhaps grateful is the more appropriate word.

So, that's basically the story of how this blog got started, why it existed, and why I'll probably keep writing it for the foreseeable future.

Again, thanks for the replies. I cannot say that enough. And even if you replied and you never read this, it feels good and right to give thanks. I will endeavor to repay the time you gave me in some way, somewhere, sometime.

Next blog post: what I'm actually doing***** with my time since I quit my job.

The unabridged email, entitled "This Summer"******:

Friends and Acquaintances,

Good news - I've quit my job, and plan on enjoying the summer while gainfully unemployed and on the road.

I may have already spoken to you about my plans, and we may even have begun scheming for adventures.

If not (or if you want to further elaborate on our previous chats), please let me know how things are looking on your end:

• Want to grab a beer?
  
• What are you up to this summer?
• Any adventures on the docket?
  
• Are you looking for adventures to add to the docket?
• Want to join forces for a bit?

I've set up a loose framework of tentpole events, places, and scenes that I plan on visiting this summer. This, like so many of the good things in life, is a very loose list, and gleefully subject to improvisation. My goal is to make detours, stay extra nights, and bring folks along for the ride when the mood strikes.

To that end, I hope to shoot out an email every couple of weeks or so to reap what I hope this email will sow: new leads. If you've got a friend I should have a beer with in Topeka or a great-aunt I can crash with in Des Moines, let me know. If you're planning on hitting up a Zydeco festival in July, let me know. If I absolutely can't afford to miss some state park / national park / festival/ seasonal phenomenon / brilliant road book / tiny town/ backwoods campground / Midwestern city I would never think to go, let me know. And if you're planning on flying to Halifax for no conventionally-good reason, that's my kinda plan! And: I want in.

I'm hoping this mass email will result in more adventures for not just myself, but a summer enriched by the insights, inspiration, and inclinations of my friends. We may have not seen each other for years, or we may have drank too many beers just last week in Portland. Either way, I look to you because I've known you to be awesome, and I figure you can add something awesome to the pot.

To something I've been wanting to do for a long while. Thanks for reading. Have a great summer.

Cheers,

John

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*******

*I was working as a media planner on the Electronic Arts business for Wieden+Kennedy, a renowned, independent ad agency based in Portland. I'd been there for just over 2 years, the longest I've ever stayed at a place of employment.
**In some sense; time will tell.
*** Okay, not really "must have". More accurately would be to put it at "clearly did", because I bothered to include them in that email. If you're curious, ask me about that impression. I've got a good catalogue in my head for those sorts of things.
****Shit. If you didn't receive it, my bad. I still think you're cool.
***** Besides writing this inane blog, of course.
****** Yes, I may be either a latter day hippy, beatnik, or space-child, depending on how you want to sum it up. Figuring it all out is one of the goals of this summer.
*******Yes, this is a horizontal line. It demarcates the footnotes from the main blog content. Yes, I used fancy HTML coding to make it. Cue the Jeffersons' theme song, because I'm moving on up!

Song Corner: Beirut

This song fairly accurately sums up how I'm feeling right now.*

Beirut: Scenic World


Do with this song what you will, but know that it's one of my favorite tunes of all time. In my 28 year old mind, I'd find it appropriate if they played this song at my funeral.


Like it? Here's more.**

Thank you for joining me for Song Corner.

Until next time.

*Disclaimer: to be fair, I can't quite determine the exact words at certain points during the song, so don't entirely hold me to what I wrote there.

**Important: if you're reading this, make sure you read the "early years" portion of the Wikipedia entry. Here, I've hyperlinked it for you. Now you have no excuse, now you can't miss it.

***(****) Bonus addition to Song Corner: I've added a picture this time. Nice, huh? Don't expect one every time.

**** Note: I tried to add an asterisk to the picture, but couldn't figure out how to work it. Please accept this footnote as a substitute, explanation, and additional footnote (I'm telling you, people love footnotes).

Getting Over It

Alright, I've just had my first blogging set back:

Looking back at my inaugural "Song Corner" post, I see that a paragraph where I described why I liked the Bonnie Prince Billy song had completely disappeared.

Tragedy.

Moving on.

I'm going to go back and rewrite that paragraph as best I can, thereby making most of this post meaningless from the moment I post it (technically, from the moment I go back and rewrite the paragraph and post that post, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here).

Update: Miracle - priceless text was not deleted, after all. Thank goodness.

Song Corner: Bonnie Prince Billy

Alright, I've settled down a bit. Time to start posting for real*.

One of the finest feelings of my life is sitting in a coffee shop / friend's living room / my bed when I've got a moment, high on coffee, and vibing on a wonderful song.

There's a lot of time for that now, so it would seem this is an excellent forum to share some of those songs I've loved.

Here's the first one:

Bonnie Prince Billy: I Called You Back

One of my favorite artists, I'm sure we'll see more from Bonnie, né Will Oldham, on Song Corner** going forward.

Listen to the tune. One of the most tender songs I've ever heard. Moves me every time. The simple, almost droning beat that sets the table for the tiny flourishes, the vulnerability, and Oldham's shaking voice.

I hope you enjoy.

Like it?*** Here's more.

Until next time,

Song Corner.

*I realized that I don't have to keep a particular voice or tone throughout this entire blog. I can dabble, I can experiment. I can write whatever I damn well please (case in point - I would never say that in real life). And here's the kicker, what compelled me to go ahead with it: the more I write, the more of a sample size we'll have. And then we'll be able to take this body of work as a whole, rather than a outlier from one particular manic, lonely, inspired, or hungover morning.

Minor epiphany.

** Going to have to think about this name. Might need to go back and change these at some point, but for the immediate future Song Corner will work just fine.****

***Everything in red here? Not a formatting mistake, though that's a good guess. No, this is all of the text I thought I had lost to the Angel's Share of blogging (see "Getting Over It" post). Turns out it hadn't been lost to the ether after all, but rather just made invisible! Wonderful news. My day has been made. And best of all? Yep - an opportunity for another footnote! God, I love this blog.

**** I love footnotes. So much fun. Expect these to be a mainstay on WIDWINW.