Blog-azic

At first I didn't realize that he was refering to our lunch at Biggie's Pub where I hesitated when he asked what I'd like to drink. I was dreaming of a Great Lakes Brewing Co. Christmas Ale, but asked for a Pepsi Cola. "Cola," I said, "contains a mineral that stimulates the appetite." I know it because I've been studying up on minerals lately. Clare had a test in one of her nutrition classes on Monday, and I went up to Perks to help her study on Sunday night. Coffee and flashcards. Life doesn't get better than that. I am safe and sound in the city of my birth, Lorain. The drive home was leisurely, though my leisure added about an hour to the normal time. I stopped in Nelsonville to lament my departure over a cup of coffee. I meditated on all the wonderful friends I left behind, and nearly cried doing so. Then I stopped at an military surplus store in Lancaster that sells wool field shirts - the kind of OD green sweater that I wear. I finally stop...

I'll be leaving Athens tomorrow and driving back to Lorain. Old Blue - my '89 Ford Escort - will accompany me on the 200 miles trip. Hopefully it will make it back the whole way! I feel ready to get out of this town. The past couple months have been real awesome. I'll miss many people: Zdinak, Clare, Troy - you all know who you are. Clare and I went and caught some free lunch at the Methodist Church. I met a few friends along the way and said goodbye. This past weekend was Halloween. I dressed up like a hobbit, which was not hard for me to do. I wore my OD green cape, glued hair to my feet, and had a necklace with the One Ring on it. Chris Z. and I both had bookbags filled with PBR and bag wine. We went to Joe Buzzelli's house and partied for a bit, then we crashed a party where Jesty Beatz was pumpin' the crowd. I met him a couple years ago under the alias Darell Green. He's about the most fun guy ever and a great party performer. I took my Chacos off whenever...

Clare plays the accordion - a small, Italian-made, sparkly red and ivory box. It's awesome to play music with her because she picks up music really well, and it's easy to communicate with her through the music. Anyways, we two play with Troy a lot too. He's in Silo Circuit with me. He's also my old college roommate (who almost never stayed in our room because he had a girl who had an apartment). Well, we three went up to the music building to do some practicing for a show we played last Thursday. And, we did it up nice on the rooftop balconies and in the stairwell. Then Troy went off to work and Clare and I went out to practice more. We sat on the portico outside of Memorial Auditorium. It was going real well: a Pouge's song, klezmer music, an Elvis song. Clare and I have the ability to play the same songs for hours on end. Like last weekend, we went out and played on Court Street for over three hours (and made about thirty bucks). Well, we were playing out there wh...

Me and the boys had a good weekend. Took a couple hikes: out to Zeleski State Forest on Saturday; up to Radar Hill to play some hackey sack on Sunday. Zdinak took some pics and posted 'em up on his facebook, and I linked 'em here. First of all, I don't give a f***. Remember that next time you try to step up to me. We found a whole bunch of sweet places in Zeleski. This is taken above a cool rock house. Colt (far right) came out with us, too. He works the graveyard shift at Walmart, so he can't hang with us much except for the weekends. Here's the posse. Colt in the middle. Chris Z. brought along his new backpack to try it on the Zeleski trails. We got up to Radar Hill and got ready to play some sack, which means the shirts just had to go. I saw a butterfly flying during a lull in the hack. I imagined it was the absolute last butterfly of the season, so I decided to chase it through the hills. I almost caught it! I think I'm ready to head back to Lorain. When I p...

I was out in the woods in the rain. Olive drab green, wool clothing. Leaning against a tree. Looking out over a steeply cut hollow at Strouds Run. Watching a group of blue jays dart from limb to limb, listening to their cries. That's when I got a phone call from Travis inviting me over his house for a bit of spiritual meditation based on the lessons he learned at Tom Brown's Tracker School . I had completely forgotten by that rainy Tuesday our conversation outside the Union on Friday. He wants to form a group to teach some meditation tonight at eight. Would I be interested? I didn't answer the phone, so he left a message. "Call me back," he said. It took me a few more hours to get out of the woods (I collected some sassafras root, some fungi and I shimmied down an hackberry tree from the top of a couple story cliff). When I first called back I told him thanks, but no, I wouldn't be over. Thirty minutes later I called again and told him I'd be there. He had...

I just survived another homecoming weekend here in Athens. The streets were flooded with people, some of whom I recognized as old college pals. Friday night I was up at the Union playing a show with Silo Circuit. I saw Monica Chillious. She and I both recieved a Templeton Scholarship , a four year scholarship named in honor of John Newton Templeton the 1828 graduate of OU. Templeton was a freed slave. The scholarship covered all of my college expenses (except beer!), and I'm very grateful to have recieved an education with little obligation in student loans. (If you want to see my official Templeton pic that was taken at the scholarship orientation the summer before I started college, click here .) I had another unexpected meeting. Johnathan and I took a year of African Ensemble (drumming and dance) together. I first heard his voice through the walls of the co-op. I said, "I know that voice." Turns out that he was roomies with Nick who lives here now. John and I spent a l...

Last week me and the boys were sittin' out on the porch, tryin' to stay cool through that 90 degree October heat wave. And I see this guy walk by on the other side of the street and he's carrying a camera with him lookin' all around and especially at us up on the porch. So then I see him a little later walking the opposite way down my side of the street and I said to the gang, "That guy wants to take our picture." Well, Chris Zdinak (fellow co-oper) invites him up on the porch and he gets to work snapping those pics. So then, Thursday we're all having our weekly potluck dinner and who shows up but the photographer (I've forgotten his name). Well, he hands me a CD with the pics he took and I said, "I'm gonna put these up on the old blog." So, for your viewing pleasure: Me and Wes Fillipo and Chris Z. We were having a musical jam session. Ryan was pickin' that banjo. Check out his emerald ash borer tattoo. I was jammin' a toy harmon...

I think that this eerily late, Indian summer has finally loosed its hold on October. Daytime temperatures will no longer peak in the upper eighties, and nights will be cold enough that more than a good sweater will be necessary to keep me warm. The trees have been crawling through their color change for a few weeks now. I remember back in the forests near Ironton the paw paws and spicebush, tulip poplars, sycamores and a few scattered sugar maples had begun to dawn their respective yellows, reds, browns and oranges. Back then it'd gotten down to the thirties on a couple nights, but until last night the heat and humidity was like August's in its discomfort. Of course, I wasn't outside last night to appreciate the cold. I spent the night on the basement futon at the co-op. After a night at Jackie O's playing banjo at the Celtic jam (and drinking for free because of it), and the symphony orchestra concert before that, and a few episodes of Aqua Teen after the bar, I was ti...

Well, last I talked about that bike trip, I'd just taken my run (almost) around Lake Vesuvius. Ryan and I met up the next day. It was rainy, so he'd gotten off work early and was waiting for me when I went by his trailer about 5. It was a very warm meeting. He offered me a beer and we listened to the radio, played banjo and made plans to head to Ironton for dinner. We settled on El Toro Loco, an "authentic Mexican-American" restaurant (watch out for those poser Mexi-Ameri places!). I slept in Ryan's trailer that night (it was equipped for 3 people, but only he was in it), and the next morning I went into work with him. We spent the day surveying a section of the forest that had heavy damage from a nasty ice storm of the previous winter. Lots of broken trees and thick brush. It was another rainy day, too. By the time we were finished up, my shoes were soaked with rain and sweat, and because I had no socks to wear, those shoes will forever reek of sweaty foot nastin...

I put up some new pics today. Check them out at the top of the column at left. My dad gave me a disposable camera when he visited me in the woods. I took a couple pictures of my camp and some more pics on the way back to Athens and some pics around Athens. I've been camping up at Bong Hill. A couple days ago, I cut down three paw paw trees and one maple. I did this just using a large knife. The paw paws came down pretty easy. I just sliced around the base of the tree then broke the trunk by bending the tree over (these were just an inch or two in diameter). The maple, however, was tough to fell. I've seen someone cut down a maple with a knife before, and I tried to imitate, but my knife was pretty dull. I got it down, though. Then I stripped them of their bark and cut them into lengths. I lashed them together to make a tent frame. I put a tarp over the frame. I also joined a new band, Silo Circuit. I first heard those guys (and girl) about a year ago. They play Klezmer rock. We...