The Journal of his Delights

I find myself in a lull between movements.  Everything is arranged that can be arranged. I dropped a hostel-mate at the BART station at the San Francisco airport. I read the newspaper front to back. I ate a quiet bit of lunch. When was the last time I had this much ease? I can’t say as I remember. Do you know? In the last two months, I haven’t stayed in any one place for longer than a week?

Tonight I meet up with Natasha and Shane - I’m staying at their place before I fly to Los Angeles tomorrow - but right now, I am just going to rest.

I signed a leased on an apartment today, and thanks to my brother, Malek, I was able to put down the first month’s rent and deposit. It looks like my itinerant days are nearly over - on Thursday I fly down to Los Angeles and on Friday, I rent a truck and haul my stuff up.

I’m looking forward to having a place again - to all the new beginnings just over the edge of this weekend’s horizon. Its been an amazing adventure traveling, and I’ll do it again at some point, but right now I need to settle in one place and see what happens. The next phase needs some foundation, some stability. A garden’s been planted, and the ground needs to be steady so that the seeds may germinate, grow, and flourish.

Point Montara Light Station is approximately 25 miles south of San Francisco, and the hostel there has been my base for the past week. There’s nothing quite like waking up in the morning, grabbing something warm to eat/drink, and heading out to watch the ocean roar against the rocks for a time.

I hope to be here for a couple more days as I continue the home-hunt. Speaking of which, there’s one place in particular that I think would suit well; a 1-bedroom apartment on a lovely street and within walking distance of downtown Redwood City. I submitted an application today, but there’s some competition and it’s not certain I’ll get it. *fingers crossed*

It’s been a long day, and I don’t have much else to add. Here are some pictures from the hostel though. Enjoy…

P.S. The lighthouse is still in duty, and you can see it lit up at night.

The Sekrit is revealed! I have a job! Woohoo! Let the dancing in the streets commence! Let loose the dogs of war! Oh wait, they’re already loose… reign in the dogs of war! But don’t stop dancing…

What? You want to know more? Okay, here are the not-so-detailed details:

I’ve been in Northern California for a week to interview with a mid-sized internet company working with non-profits. The process was a drain on my pocket book, but I felt it was worth 1) the trip down and 2) sticking around for an answer rather than heading back to Portland.

The interviews went well, all four of them, and I felt my chances were good. The week following was spent entirely on pins and needles and doing the just-in-case stuff - looking for other work if they said no, looking for apartments if they said yes.

But they said yes, and I signed the contract yesterday. Today, I looked at apartments. I rapidly worked down the list I’d already made and quickly figured out what I don’t want, but I’m hopeful about the handful remaining. They’re in the area I’m most interested.

Speaking of which, Redwood City - what a cool little town it is. South of San Francisco, a little bi-polar (soft/tough), an amazing library, the Pacific Ocean only 30 minutes away. Yes!

Did I mention they have an amazing library? Three floors, free wireless, a nice selection of just about everything, super-helpful librarians - it’s every kind of library win.

I’m happy and so relieved. And hey, I get to work for an internet company in the Bay Area… how cool is that?!

Even better, a couple of former colleagues from [*insert name of large human rights organization here*] are also there. Very competent and nice people too.

I’m so excited! Soon this phase of traveling will end, and a new one begin. Heehee!

I finished reading Farthing by Jo Walton two days ago. I didn’t gulp it down like I did with Dust. While Dust had a lot of interesting ideas and characters, and I very much enjoyed its riffs on religion and The Tempest, at its heart, the novel is an adventure yarn. Once the action and characters got going, I didn’t want them to stop.

Farthing is not that kind of story. Yes, it has its own kind of tension - a grip that slowly and ever so slightly squeezes as events unfold - but at its heart, the book is a meditation on politics, class, discrimination, and power. Ostensibly, it is a murder mystery that drives the story, but it is the motive for that murder that is the real center of the novel.

I’m getting ahead of myself though. Understand that the world in which Farthing takes place is an alternate earth in which Britain made peace with Germany during World War II. Britain would remain inviolate, but the continent would stay in Germany’s hands (although still contested by Stalin). A decade passes and then a murder takes place - it’s victim? The key broker of the peace. Political assassination is the obvious motive, but as the novel progresses, complications become evident, layers are unearthed.

Two viewpoints tell the tale. We get to both look over the shoulder of an inspector from Scotland Yard and read a first person account of a daughter of the house in which the murder takes place. Both viewpoints are problematic for the society in which the characters live. The daughter is married to a Jew who is the primary suspect, and the inspector… I’ll keep his secret. Midway through you discover his reasons for being cautious.

Both characters have reason to fear what is slowly happening to England; the ascent of fascism in the name of fighting fascism, terrorism, communism. They must fear the lengths and measure people in power will go to justify and implement… well… evil. I can’t think of a better name for it.

As I said, I finished reading Farthing two days ago, and I find myself still thinking about it. In the immediate aftermath, I thought to myself that it was a good read - not something I would typically pick up, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. At the same time, I wondered if it was worth all the award nominations. But the more I reflected, the more my appreciation of the story deepened for its craft, story, and message. And then just yesterday, it really came home. Continue Reading »

I love to share beautiful things with you, dear readers, so here is something clear, lucid, and human.

Tell me… will you hold my hand?

Sooper Sekrit Projket: Stage 2 - Compleat

[*Four hours!*]

Sooper Sekrit Projekt: Stage 1 - Compleat

[*insert sneaky laugh here*]

I woke up from an odd dream this morning. The early part is hazy - something about a conversation in a situation comedy dining room and the punch line… is Buddy Hackett sitting down to play the piano and sing Andrew Bird’s Scythian Empire.

Friends, my brain is strange.