Red

Flask and Flora

Taking a Spill

Lazy hot days

There was a heat wave in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. It was finally hot enough to visit the usually windy beach and jump in the ocean. This is quite rare, as the "high" temperatures here rarely call for dipping in.
It was a mini vacation paradise.

a sight to behold

Oh baby! Devendra Banhart live at the Independent in SF on April 14th. I was there and it was incredible!

Rare Occasions

A new photograph from my new batch of diana pics. Taken from the rooftops of Pittsburgh, during sunset. Part of a recent and much needed vacation. Although this is not the most representative picture and probably not the best of the roll either, it does stand out.
When on vacation, there's often this anticipation and rush of doing everything and trying to get everywhere and see everyone.
The clock is ticking, every day is somewhat of a countdown. Let's go!! What's next? C'mon!
No time to lose.
While I really enjoy that kind of energy and push, this was the one afternoon that was different, where nothing but that moment mattered. There wasn't a time limit, a deadline, no sense of urgency for anything.
That sea of calm also washed away other things, if only for just for a little bit, for a tiny moment in time. Frustrations, troubles, anxieties, disappointments, demons...all the baggage and day to day bullshit where gone.
I was a shiny new rock, swept clean by the sea. All the moss on my back was taken away.
It's hard to put in words... but there was this feeling of contentment and joy. Of feeling like I was exactly in the place I was supposed to be. Of being grateful for the rocky road that had taken me to where I was.
It's a checkpoint. A very specific checkpoint. What lies beyond this place doesn't matter because there's this sense that it's all going to work out.
A profound, yet fleeting feeling...
I was hoping to be a bit more eloquent to describe what this is like. Maybe next go around.

All About Nothing

There are days when you wake up and it's beautiful outside and the sun is shining. You're bursting with ambition and excited to seize the myriad of possibilities that lay awaiting for you throughout the day.
Suddenly i'ts 10:03pm and you realize you haven't left the house. So much went on outside in the world around you and you were completely absent from all of it.
Fuck yeah!
Today was a wonderful day spent in my living with my roommates, eating, drinking and smoking. The matinee began with Pineapple Express with an intermission before continuing on to You Me and Everyone We Know.
What a grand day of doing absolutely nothing!
As the day comes to a possible close (the night is still young!) I have decided to be productive and make at least one contribution for my existence today and give something back.
Some friends have introduced me to these fine ladies and nothing has been quite the same.

riding down the coast

Last weekend I went for a ride...on a harley. I've ridden around on bikes before, years ago, but I don't recall ever riding on a harley. Needless to say it was one of the funnest days ever. We sped down the coast, taking the scenic route past Half Moon Bay and then to this biker bar/restaurant in La Honda, called Alice's.
After an hour ride a hearty veggie burger and beer was definitely in order.
Racing through the woods, cold wind against us, I remember the faster we went the more exhilirating it was. Of course I couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to die this way. For the bike to spin out of control and us to crash and hurl through the air at 80 miles per hour. How that would feel. What it would be like to race so fast towards death. I closed my eyes and imagined it as we sped along the concrete road.
Funny thing is this whole scenario wasn't frightening, I wanted to see just how fast we could go before it felt like we were flying through the air...
We did obviously made it safe and sound back to SF and I was left with a numb bum, feeling hardcore and looking forward for the next ride.

Alone

So Freakin' Lost

After over 6 months the wait is finally over. Lost begins it's 5th season. For me it's one of the most genius and addictive shows ever...can't wait for tonight!

A Day of Stolen Moments

When we met that hot January afternoon we were just strangers. Neither of us expected that by the next time the sun would rise we would know each other in so many ways. That the walls we built so furiously with such heavy bricks would come down so silently. If only for that time.

After standing on the edge for too long I decided to dive into the deep blue ocean of your eyes and trail through the golden field of bristles on your face. What a bold thing to do!

Once we found each other we held on. We held on tightly, because we knew we would have to let go before we became attached. But for that moment we would melt into one another. The boundaries in our landscapes would disappear and we would not know where one started and the other began.

Out in the world we wandered the same streets and yet everything seemed new and shiny as your hand slipped into mine.

Hidden in a tiny pub drinking sangria we quenched the thirst for each other as we shared our stories. No stone remained unturned. There was so much to discover!

Warmed by the wine and our new proximity we walked underneath the stars of a cool, clear night. Admiring the city from the top of the park made it seem so distant. It was the city that brought us together, yet it was also a different world that did not belong to ours that night.

Enough time outside.

Now was time to go in and sink into a sea of sheets and pillows. We swam naked, quickly submerging and only coming up for air in short gasps.

After such an adventurous day we soon fell asleep. The morning would come and would only serve to say goodbye and part ways.

It was a new day, warmer than others, sadder than others. We separated our bodies just was we had brought them together, quietly and effortlessly. There was no need for fanfare.

We were two open books, pages skimmed, some chapters read. Perhaps we would pick each other up again some day. Maybe not. This didn't matter.

That day we were given to each others as presents. And it felt to so good to be unwrapped.

Romance by Miranda July

"I made orange juice from concentrate and showed her the trick of squeezing the juice of one real orange into it. It removes the taste of being frozen. She marveled at this, and I laughed and said, Life is easy. What I meant was, Life is easy with you here, and when you leave, it will be hard again. The day felt like a birthday, our first, and we ourselves were the gifts, to be opened again and again.
...we pressed our legs against each other's legs, and these, too, were radically different sizes, and our curiosity was blossoming like a rose, we wanted to know, we really wanted to know, all the unknowable things about each other and how we were the same and how we were different, if we even were, maybe nobody is. We wanted to strike lightning in dark waters, to see, if only for a second, the entire world that lives down there, the ten millions species in amazing colors and patterns; show us life, now. We pressed our stomachs and lips together, and these too, were different sizes, but my lips were roughly the same size as her ear, and her arm, when wrapped around my waist, felt long and, more important, was warm.
We grew still and stared at each other. It seemed incredibly dangerous to look into each other's eyes, but we were doing it. For how long can you behold another person? Before you have to think of yourself again, like dipping the brush back in for more ink. For a long time; you didn't need to get more ink, there was no reason to get anything else, because she was as good as me, she lived on earth like me, suffered as I did. It was she who looked away and pulled the sheet to her chin."

One of the standout paragraphs from Miranda July's collection of short stories No One Belongs Here More Than You. I just finished the book and these past days it's fit perfectly into my melancholy mood.