fractured reality

Last night, we were at a bar, which was weirdly lit with multi-hued lights (maybe holiday decorations?) and during random singing of songs, I was delighted (and horrified) that someone else knew the Eels song from Mighty Boosh season III.

After much cavorting with people I haven’t seen in far too long, I found myself in the middle of a business trip which involved no fewer than four different hotels in a week. I found I couldn’t recall which room I had at the last hotel. At some point, one of my coworkers had pissed me and the locals off a bit, and someone threatened to sic their angry midget friend upon him, at which point my coworker fled to the elevator, leaving behind his satchel. I took the opportunity to tear up the MLS tickets he had in there (???). We then hung out in the hotel lobby for some time, while he shot me suspicious glares, as if he knew all along that his missing tickets were in shreds in my pocket.

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Gray today, outside. It has been beautiful the last few days, crisp and bright, the blue sky contrasting so well with the orange of the changing trees, and so I feel we were due for some October Ohio drizzle.

The JoCo show was very fun, despite the sound guy leaving Paul and Storm turned up a little too loud on backups (especially egregious on “Blue Sunny Day”). The result was that any deviation in their strange harmonies ended up being amplified to the point of cringing. But it was great fun.

Last night I went on a treasure hunt of sorts, after some convoluted business at work. The hunt ranged all over a campsite, including the bottom of a lake. The previous night, after being key-logged at a department store display computer and subsequently failing to navigate the city’s bus system properly, I was driving crazily down back-alleys and eventually ran over a pedestrian’s foot. I got out to apologize, and we ended up hanging out for some time after that.

Anyone who has been keeping track, or has interfaced with me regularly, has probably figured out that I *really* adore having vivid, story-like dreams. I’ve had a solid week of memorable dreams, now, and I am curious to see how long melatonin use will continue this trend.

Other current events: Gonna go see Zombieland tomorrow night and hang out with Chris friday night. Work has been worky. Next weekend we’ll spend some time hanging out with the ‘rents. I finally read The Selfish Gene and Once Upon A Time In The North, and both were (very differently!) superb. I really need to grab a copy of The Extended Phenotype soon. Bleargh!

That should do it for now!
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Wow.

So, I had thought, with all my conscious awareness, that this evening was the date of the JoCo show to which I had purchased tickets, to the point where I had prepared to leave early to arrange for proper travel time and such.

It is in fact on the 23rd. Not even one week off, but TWO.

Way to go, brainmeats.

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Or it could just be that Autumn makes me into a damned fool.

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When riding, there are moments when I feel more alive than at any other time. Maybe I am experiencing the amplification of the senses of an animal in danger, and that is why the sky is never bluer, the trees never more colorful, the air never thicker with the scents of the world, and I am never more aware of gravity, momentum, position and time.

Stepping outside, the air might seem chill. Riding two minutes later, the air is a frozen knife across my throat. The sky modestly lurks behind the blinds of my office, but on the road it is vibrant, blazing against the form of trees, buildings, clouds.

Driving to work in my car, I smell car; I am insulated. Riding to work, I can smell a wood fire somewhere, possibly miles away. Someone is mowing their lawn for the last time of the season. There is the smell of dying leaves, of pavement drying after rain. I feel the pressure of wind against my frame, the temperature of the air in different valleys varies startlingly. There is a sense of connectedness that brings me swiftly back to moments of painful clarity on the Kokosing Gap Trail, or dozens of other places, and my heart swells and I smile and fall willingly into the next turn, just another wave of matter lucky enough to experience the world through the lens of consciousness for a brief time.

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