the never ending present

HOLY CRAP I GOT A JOB!

I actually was beginning to think that I was going to be unemployed forever. Or at least for the foreseeable future. My mind constantly clouded by dark fantasies of homelessness and bad credit. In case you don’t know, Portland is one of those places notorious for its terrible job market (we’re at an official rate of 11% unemployment while the rest of the nation is at a mere 9.5% average). Needless to say moving back here while unemployed took a leap of faith. However, earlier today I got a call letting me know that I successfully passed my background check and that I was cleared to start working on Monday. I’m quite excited about the work that I’ll be doing and the people I’ll be working with. Granted it is still a corporate job, but I will be back doing environmental geology. What’s more is that the job is close enough to the Portland State campus that if I am accepted into the grad program I will be able to do it pretty easily. I know it will be a lot of work; consulting is not easy. I’m just incredibly thankful for the opportunity to get back to work. And also, thank you to all of you who helped out when I was broke and/or hopeless. It hasn’t been easy, but y’all have made it bearable.

Words to live by.

"Do not believe in something simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in something simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in something simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in something merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that something agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it." - The Buddha

do y'all know where i can score some poppers cuz i am bored as hell

2009 Recap

2009 was weird. The year started out with Pete and I living in San Francisco but wishing we could be back in Portland. I had been looking for a job back in the northwest for a while, but work was really beginning to slow down so jobs were few and far between. I did have a number of interviews but nothing came of any of them. I was unhappy in my career, but was getting used to the idea of staying put for a while. Pete was doing well in his job, but was was also starting to feel the effects of the recession.

By March it was becoming obvious that my career at Locus was on the rocks. It came as no surprise when I was tipped off on March 19th that I was getting laid off. After the initial shock of it, I was totally relieved. I had wanted a change and this was my opportunity to do it. We spent a great few weeks in San Francisco and packed up for home in Portland.

The job market in Portland is crap and I knew that when we moved back. However, I had saved up some money and used the opportunity to take some classes at Portland State in an effort to get into grad school. I had registered for summer classes and was about to start when I got news that my grandmother (Mosie) had died in Houston. My family helped me with a plane ticket, so I dropped my classes and went down for a long visit.

It was a sad visit and it was brutally hot, but it was really nice to be able to see the family. Mosie had been sick for over a year and while we were all devastated by her death, we were relieved that her suffering had ended. She was buried next to my grandfather (Posie) in west Houston.

After a brief visit to Austin to help celebrate my friend Heather's birthday, I came back to a beautiful Portland summer with nothing to do and a relatively stable (if paltry) financial situation. On my birthday weekend I headed down to Eugene for the Oregon Country Fair with Travis and Trevor and had an awesome time. Later on in the summer Pete and I went to the Oregon State Fair with Trevor and had a great time there too. The rest of the summer was spent at the beach or at the park or Crater Lake, Rooster Rock, Sauvie Island, Oktoberfest... It had been about 10 years since I had actually had any real time off. Near the end of the summer I visited my friend Ryan in Gold Bar Washington, northeast of Seattle and also took a trip to the coast with Trevor, Travis, David, Andy, and Pete.

At the end of September I started school, taking two graduate level geology classes - Life of the Past and Environmental Geology. I was taking classes in order to get my GPA up, get to know (and impress) the professors, network, and to get my brain back into a learning mode. All of this was towards the eventual goal of applying for the graduate geology program at PSU. I worked my ass off in school and did pretty well. I made A's in both of my classes and got my professors to agree to write me recommendations for my graduate application.

As the year is coming to a close, I am studying for the GRE (scheduled for the second week in January), continuing to look for work, and working on a lot of music. I'll be submitting my grad school application by Jan 31st, I have at least one good job prospect, and I'm working on getting an ep of my music out pretty soon. I'm hoping that 2010 is a little less traumatizing than 2009, but looking back on it there were a lot of positive things that happened this year.

Here's a short photo show of my year in review. BRING ON 2010!!!

The Photos:

1. New Year's Eve last year at the Embarcadero in San Francisco 2. Chinese New Year Celebrations in San Francisco 3. Leaving my job at Locus for the last time 4. One last look at the ocean before hitting the road 5. Portland housewarming party 6. I'm a student again! 7. Mosie's funeral 8. Trevor and Travis at the Oregon Country Fair 9. Best Birthday Party Ever 10. Trevor and Pete at the Oregon State Fair 11. Crater Lake 12. Ryan and his awesome sun room in Gold Bar, WA 13. Pete and David eating donuts on Halloween 14. Pete turns 30! 15. Field work on Mt. St. Helens 16. The tree outside of our window covered in snow

Portland Snowstorm!

It started snowing earlier today in one of those "yeah it might snow a little but it certainly won't stick" storms. It's a few hours later now and the city is pretty much shut down. Here are some pictures I just took; some from my apartment, some from the roof of our building, and some from the walk I just got back from. The hills in West Portland (where I live) are usually the biggest problem area in any snow event. Snow + hills + unprepared drivers + rush hour = bumper cars. One of the pictures is of a pile of cars at the end of our street. Luckily for commuters, the snow will be turning to rain and it will probably all be gone by tomorrow morning.

selfsimilarity

Here's a new one that I just finished up. A bit more abstract and meant to be listened to on a stereo with a good low frequency response (meaning that it probably won't sound quite right on computer speakers). Thanks for listening!

Pictures of Mountains

I like taking pictures of mountains. Probably because I grew up in Texas on the nauseatingly flat coastal plain. It was so flat there that the horizon was always a perfect circle, magnifying every insignificant trouble and sending it back somehow more potent than before. Here I feel a little more grounded, knowing that the stupid things going on in my life are really not much when measured against volcanos and tectonic plates. Oh yeah did I mention I’m a geology nerd. Blech. Just look at the pictures.

Dismantled

Here's a new song that I just finished called Dismantled. This is a much more recent one than the last one I posted. Enjoy!

Regeneration - Space Mix (formerly Kevin is an Asshole)

Here's a track that has been hanging out unfinished for about 5 years. Funny because it's only like 2 minutes long. Today I was finally able to get it down to something I actually like. Originally it was called Kevin is an Asshole. If you worked at SAIC Portland in 2005 then you probably know what I'm talking about. I decided to call the final version something else because it really doesn't have anything to do with Kevin. Screw that guy.

Kiwano Melon Adventure

I had always wanted to try a Kiwano melon.  It’s one of the few remaining exotic fruits that I hadn’t yet eaten.  Usually they’re ridiculously expensive, but they must be in season as I found one that was reasonably priced at Uwajimaya last weekend.  I’ve read that Kiwanos are prized more for their exotic appearance than for their flavor.  I pretty much agree with that assessment now that I’ve tried one.

The outside of the melon is somewhat firm with large dull spikes.  The color is amazing orange/yellow.  I was shocked to find that when cut open the flesh is fluorescent green and segmented like a citrus fruit.  Oddly enough it seemed like the segments were going in different directions in the different hemispheres of the fruit (see closeup photo).

I went at it with a spoon because it is a ‘melon’ and that’s how my brain suggests a melon should be eaten.  It didn’t really work that way.  The ‘segments’ each contained a small hard seed surrounded by a pocket of green goo.  After a few futile attempts I realized that the best way to attack it was to squeeze the goods out into a bowl.

The flavor of the green goo was relatively mild, if not a bit tart (see the photo of the sour face).  It tasted strongly of cucumber mixed with lemon and possibly pineapple.  While the flavor was good, the texture was terrible.  It wasn’t a gross out kind of texture, but since each of the segments had a large woody seed in it it just seemed like more trouble than it was worth.  The seeds are edible so I wasn’t doing something wrong either.  Unfortunately it wasn’t sweet enough or delicious enough to overcome the seed thing.

In summary, while the flavor is good, the texture of the Kiwano leaves a lot to be desired.  I did see a few recipes online for a Kiwano sauce that would probably be delicious along side a savory entree, assuming that the seed problem could be avoided.

The verdict: meh, where’s the durian?