glowingfish

This is where I went on Friday. This is Otter Crest, which is about 25 miles from where I live. I took a local bus to a nearby stop, and walked a few miles to get here.

This is what I do when I am not working, being sick, or fiddling around on the internet.

So, related to the last post about alcohol:
One thing I do like is getting a "flow state" started. And it is hard to define what a "flow state" is, but it's obvious when you have one! And so I guess my point with drinking is that sometimes it can tip me over to the point where my ideas and thoughts just start flowing.

Is the theory.

Of course, there are a lot of other things that can do that. One thing that is ironic for me is that I have the internet here, where anyone and everyone can converse about anything and everything---and that seems like it would be a perfect way to uncork that desired flow state. But in reality...it seems to be more poking around the same 5 or 10 pieces of content, and frittering away time feeling bored.

So today is Thursday. I thought I was going to have a long day. Which for me means, I started work at noon and ended at 5. I had three students scheduled, and also had my own French class. So it was going to be work 12-1, my own class from 1-2, break from 2-3, then two more hours of work.

The thing about teaching is it requires almost constant attention and mental focus, and also talking, so by the end of it, I can be quite tired.

Butttttt, right after my own French class ended (which was also a lot of work), I got a late cancellation for my 3 PM class. And shortly afterwards, an email message to cancel my 4 PM class. Both of these were late, so I still got paid, for the activity of...walking along the beach.

So sometimes my life actually makes sense.

On this Friday, I took a 9 hour, 180 mile bus trip. Not on a single bus. And not all of those nine hours were spent actually moving.

This is a game that some of us do: extreme transiting. Finding rural bus routes that go to small towns, and taking them...to prove something. I took five different buses (and one train) to go in a big 180 mile loop from the coast to the valley and back.

And I learned something, maybe. But right now I am too tired to think about it.

This is for people outside of the US, to explain some of the content of what is going on right now.

In the US, Trump was a doofus celebrity and tabloid fodder for a long time. Then a reality TV show host. The entire thing was a joke, and no one took it seriously. And during his first term, even as he said scarier and scarier stuff, it was hard for people to not view it as another zany, slightly entertaining tabloid story. Personally, during his first term, even as I saw things get weirder and weirder, it was hard for me to ever take it seriously.

He got angrier (probably fueled by dementia) during his time out of office. This term, he is doing things that should scare everyone in the world. Including talking about attacking an allied nation.

But for a lot of people in the US, there is honestly a very deeply buried idea that this is...a television show.

And you see it in things like Trump dopily accepting a trophy for FIFAs "Peace Prize". Even while he is talking about attacking allies, he still wants the show to go on. And Americans kind of believe it can: somehow we can go to war with Europe but there will be no consequences, even to entertainment?

So one of the things that can be done immediately, that will have a bigger impact than most people could guess, is just start talking about boycotting and cancelling that type of stuff. Do we really think that we are going to have World War III, and also have a fun summer time World Cup? A World Cup that involves Canada, the US and Mexico all in harmony? Are the Nordic counties going to laugh this all off when it is time for the Winter Olympics? All of these things will make a gigantic impact to begin with, because Trump is obsessed with ratings and being a star. The idea that "The show must go on" doesn't apply for ever will burst a gigantic bubble.

But I will make this post just to say I am...well, like I said, I don't have words.

The stereotype about the Oregon Coast in winter (and at other times) is that it can be a cloudy and gloomy place, even in the eight hours of daylight that we get around solstice. And that is true. Even "sunny" days have a constant drizzle and mist.

But not totally true: the last two days have add clear skies, bright sun and I actually felt uncomfortably hot at times, walking around.

So this year is ending on a high note. I hope this presages a lot of energy for the year coming up. I can't cocoon and hibernate forever! Maybe even January will have some energy in it!

I also hope to add some friends on here. I've been on here for a year, but haven't really heavily utilized it. Maybe that will change in 2026!

When I got here, I felt two things: relief that I was no longer travelling, and happiness that I was in such a beautiful place. And of course, I am still happy to be here, and I have already gone to a lot of places around where I live. I live a few hundred feet from the Pacific Ocean, and I can go and walk on the beach for miles. (I should include some pictures.)

So I can do all those things, and I also have solitude and peace, and it is comfortable and I can read and eat. I have no complaints. Okay, maybe one or two things that are not 100% perfect, but it is close to everything I need.

But of course, also, once you live in a place, you start thinking about normal life. Yes, I consider all the beautiful natural locations I want to visit, but I also think about when I need to go shopping again.

I guess that is just what life is like!

The hardest part about moving isn't the logistics, and it isn't how tiring it is, and it isn't the fear that I've mixed up dates or addresses.

The hardest part about moving is that a big part of who I am won't exist in one week. Everything that I have built up as part of my daily life, all the little details that define my daily rhythms and how I function, all the comforting little sights and sounds that make up a day...that will be gone. And who will I be then? It is a question that has come up five times in the past few years.
And then also, I think about this: 72 hours ago, what was I doing? Because 72 hours from now, I will be (according to plan) asleep in a hotel room.

How can that even be?

Of course, the thing is, after that time, I still feel like me. Spokane Me feels like Costa Rica Me feels like Montana Me feels like Corvallis Me.

This is actually even in Doctor Who (if you are familiar), sometimes before regeneration, the Doctor says "some other guy will walk away with my face", but afterwards he says "its just a change in perception".

So yes, moving, exactly like Time Lord regeneration.

In my old LJ days, at least some of the people following me were people who I knew in real life, but here that isn't true. So, a few fun facts about me:

I don't really have many distinguishing characteristics, at least on the surface. I am a 46 year old white male, of medium build (at least by contemporary standards), and I have brown eyes, and am bald. I have brown hair, although a lot of it is grey or white. I usually dress in conservative attire---Dockers and a button-up shirt. And New Balance sneakers. I have a few t-shirts with non-controversial pop culture things on them (Spider-Man and Jimi Hendrix, and a few team shirts). I don't have any piercings or tattoos. I don't usually cuss, and I don't discuss my political or social views in public.

So the interesting thing about all this lack of interesting things is that most people tell me that I am a bit unusual. Like there is something about the way I act that is a little funny---either meaning humorous, or meaning odd. I can be clever, and I have life experience that means I might make comparisons that come out of left field. But for whatever reason, all my life, I have been a bit odd, at least to some.

There was maybe going to be a Part II here, but I think I will leave that for another day.