Mutterings of a Madman

Rideshare anyone?

themarine — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 05:19:23 GMT

So, I just heard back from the insurance people today that my car is totaled, and I have very limited options in transporting myself to the Playa this year. I hate asking for help when I should be totally capable of doing things myself, but would anyone happen to have enough space for me, a crate of possessions, water, an ice chest, and possibly a bike? I'm conveniently located on I-80 between the bay and Sactown, and compensation can be negotiated (ie roadhead) Thanks in advance!

Major Bummer

themarine — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:35:45 GMT

So I was on my way into the Bay for a relaxing afternoon/evening with some friends, and what do you know, a slowdown on I-80 pops up! No surprise really, so I apply my brakes quite liberally (no pun intended, silly hippies) and some asshole smashes into my rear fender. Not a huge deal, I thought, until I realized that his vehicle was trapped under mine, and my bumper got ripped off in the process of removing his trash, er, I mean vehicle, from mine. Also, my exhaust pipe was bent in half, so there was a bunch of smoke coming up from the engine that wasn't really promising. So I got hit right at 430 pm, and I didn't actually get home until about 11, and only because my dad and a family friend came down with a dolly to tow my car home. Fun times in Berkeley I tell you! The funniest thing was, I drove four thousand miles without a problem, and as soon as I get home and start to relax, I get hit like a motha fucka...

bright star

themarine — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 09:41:34 GMT

okay, so my arrival might not be the news of the century, but I'm here, nonetheless. What's going on? I'd like to be with friendly people, so let me know :)

Say what?!?

themarine — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:02:58 GMT

Yeah, that's right. The day is finally here, and I'm leaving the Marines for good (unless I get recalled) In just about two hours I'll be starting my road trip home, taking a break for Transformus and meeting a few cool people on the way. Don't be surprised if you start seeing me around the Bay in a few weeks. Peace out, homeys.

It's strange to know

themarine — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:52:09 GMT

that you've been heading towards an event you've been waiting five years for, and then suddenly realizing that it's less than two weeks away. The joy that comes from the end in sight, and the unease that comes with a major life change are awesome feelings to be had right now. Less than two weeks, and I'm free!

Sketchy

themarine — Tue, 27 May 2008 07:01:34 GMT

So I set out from my North Charleston hotel room via taxi, which decided to make multiple stops and pick up multiple passengers on the way to my destination. Luckily for me, the rate was a flat fee taking into account only my starting and ending location, broadcast over the radio at the beginning of the travel period. I finally made it to the pub after about an hour (to travel the three freeway exits between me and the bar) and proceeded to drink my fill. When it was time for me to leave, I called two taxi companies. One told me I was SOL, and the other told me to call back in fifteen or twenty minutes to find out an idea of when a cab might be in my area. Great. So while bitching to my friend, a friendly voice called out "you need a ride back to your hotel? Cause WE need gas money..." I carefully looked the couple over, and hung up on my friend while answering in the affirmative. I then haggled a deal that was well in the favor of the gasless vehicle owners (it cost me ten dollars by taxi to get there, I offered them twenty to get me home) and wondered if I'd ever actually see my hotel. After some bumbling through the city (they were travelling entertainers, and I didn't know the exact part of Charleston that we were in) we finally pulled into the mall area that I was familiar with, where I directed them further to my doorstep, where relief overcame me. Relief overcame me, because I made the SAME mistake that I made once in Montreal (where I thought I learned a lesson) and I gave up the money before I got the goods. The goods being, in this case, a safe ride to my safe room. Since the people were cool, all was well, but I still chastised myself the entire way home. When will I stop being so trusting, and stop throwing money towards people because they say it's a good deal? Oh yeah, Velvet says I'm not allowed to travel by myself anymore...

The Geek in me

themarine — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:52:55 GMT

It was time for me to get a new phone and contract, and I originally intended on downgrading, getting a simpler phone and a cheaper plan with fewer minutes. Battery life was really my only concern, as long as the phone could dial out and text. But when I got to the store and started looking at the Blackberrys (which I swore I'd never buy, they're just TOO smart) I decided to go make the leap and try it out. What the hell, I have the money (for now) so why not try some fancy techno gadget, right? I got the Pearl, a sleek, sexy Blackberry. It's a nice phone, I can't lie about that, and I think the interface is pretty neat, but after playing around with it a bit, I'm pretty much unimpressed. I still have two weeks to return it, and I don't think I'm even going to wait that long. Sometimes the simple route is the one to take. (especially when taking the simple route cuts your phone bill almost in half) Although it IS good to know my inner geek doesn't need fancy toys to be pleased... or is it just holding out for a much fancier toy?

I'm going to go see Iron Man tonight!

themarine — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:51:14 GMT

Suck on that, nerds! Shoulda joined the Marines like I did!

am I coming to the dark side of the force?

themarine — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 06:28:33 GMT

Last night I brought three fellow Marines to the local gay club for what happened to be the best night in recent history for them (and there was some kick ass DJ'ing to boot) on what was supposed to be a girl hunting mission... my bad?

It's about that time for a new computer...

themarine — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:19:50 GMT

and lucky me, the new line of Mac's just came out! I was trying to be all financially responsible and not spend money on stuff I only wanted but didn't need, and then almost magically, my computer started acting in a goofy and totally intolerable fashion. Troubleshooting with the Apple techs estimate that it'll take at least 500 bucks to repair, so I think I'm gonna just buy me a new one for a little over double that fee. Goodbye, ancient 4 year old laptop!

Finally, deployment pics!

themarine — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 03:45:32 GMT

They're taken in chronological order, for the most part. I couldn't separate them how I really wanted to, but they go all the way from the beach before we loaded the boat in North Carolina through the Atlantic, Malta, Greece, Turkey, the Suez Canal, and Kuwait. That was about the time my camera broke (second desert, and second digital camera I've lost to deserts...) I still have to develop photos of my trip to Israel, but that's about it for now. http://www.flickr.com/photos/24061902@N04/show/

Back from D.C.

themarine — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:18:52 GMT

My trip started off with my buddy and me dropping by Richmond to visit with Jade for a bit. It was nice, it's far to rare that I get to hang out with my San Fran peeps. Then we pushed on into D.C. and after an hour of cruising around lost, finally found our four star hotel that we were getting for only 90 bucks a night, and were checked in by 1 A.M. Of course, the only reasonable thing to do at that point would be to go to a club, which we did. Came crawling back into the hotel at around six, and proceeded to try to grab a few hours of sleep (I'd already been up for 24 hours by that point, so I was a little tired) The next day, after we got up and moving, we went sight seeing, and saw most of the traditional tourist sites, like the Washington Monument, the Vietnam memorial, the Lincoln memorial, etc. Then we had dinner in the Capital Grill, one of the best steak houses in the capital. At this point, I was definitely living above my means, and it was great. Later, we went clubbing again, as all good young single couple of guys would, and we actually met some really cool people. We ended the night early, and were back to the hotel at 3. After we checked out the next morning and were trying to decide whether to stay for another day or not, we went to the Arlington cemetery, and then to lunch in Georgetown, which we once again got lost trying to find. Afterwards, we decided that we were too burned out, and we headed towards home. After we finished the long drive and got back on base, we immediately regretted it. D.C. was full of impatient, rude people, but Lejeune is full of rude, angry people, and that's much worse. After I woke up this morning, all I could do was sigh and decide that I had to get away from base, or else I'd probably go crazy. I'm off to the movies here in a bit, and then maybe down to Wilmington later today if the weather improves. This was a fantastic weekend so far, and it's really hard to stay on a depressing military base after living so free and carefree with a few awesome people around you for a few days.

Internet Blues

themarine — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 22:41:06 GMT

I know what I'm about to say will probably sound kind of funny considering the method I'm using, but ever since I got back from deployment, I really haven't had the desire to spend much time on the internet. Suddenly, I feel like I'm wasting my time if all I'm doing is sitting in front of my computer screen. Is something wrong with me? Am I sick?

I'm off ship!

themarine — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:42:41 GMT

I got off of the ship today, and I couldn't be happier. I never thought I'd be so happy to see Camp Lejeune. My room mate has stuff covering pretty much every square inch of the room, leaving absolutely no place for me. At the moment, I don't even have a bed to sleep in for the next two weeks. But you know what? I don't care, because I'm back on US soil. Hooray for me! Anyway, just wanted to say hi, and hopefully I'll talk to you all soon. Peace out. Blend

Hey there, from the Holy Land

themarine — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:34:11 GMT

My first liberty port of the new year, and I find myself in Israel. I've always wanted to come here, but I never expected to be here so soon in life. Wahoo! I'm having a good time, I've gone to see Jerusalem already, and tomorrow I'll be seeing the Dead Sea. The country is really beautiful, and I realized as I was driving through it that for some reason all of my preconceptions were based entirely on old Jesus movies. Of course, I realize now how silly that is, but whatever. We're not being allowed a lot of time and opportunity to go explore on our own and meet people in somewhat decent places (bars and clubs are off limits because they're supposedly higher risk terrorist targets... whatever) but that's okay too. I am really liking it here, and it's really nice not feeling like everyone wants to sell us a bunch of crap and then slit our throats in the alley (Arab countries visited so far... ahem) Well, I'll be back in North Carolina around the end of the month, so my voyage is almost over. Totally a good thing. So, I'll talk to you all then!

Disturbing

themarine — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:59:10 GMT

I didn't know this at the time, but one of the guys told me something that kinda bummed me out from when we were in Malta. He's from Peru, and totally doesn't look like a military kid at all, and so one of the girls told him that the real partying starts after all the Marines and sailors have to go back to ship. Apparenlty the rumor was going around that if a girl had more than a couple of beers, especially with us, then they were going to end up getting raped. What kind of a shitty reputation is that?

Kuwait is just like Nevada

themarine — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 11:23:29 GMT

except there's more sand, less mountains, fewer freaks and no booze. And a lot more guns.

Greetings from Malta!

themarine — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 16:30:10 GMT

Well, two weeks at sea, and I pull up on the beautiful island of Malta. Still a bit confused as to whether it's Africa or Europe, but they accept the Euro at a lot of places here, so I'll have to say the latter. Sitting at a fancy hotel (which I'm not paying for) having wine and cheese (which I am) and enjoying the scenery. Of course, this is much more like a high school field trip than a vacation, but it's nice to be away from the ship for a little while and enjoy some solid land. Lots of pictures will come sometime in the future, I took like ten of the sunset one night in the Med. Sea, so whenever I have plenty of time to sit around and upload pics, then I'll do so. Hope all is going well with everyone else. I don't know what you're doing reading this crap, don't you have a burn to prepare for?

Virgins are fun

themarine — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 23:39:31 GMT

I just got back from Transformus last night, and I had invited a close friend of mine to come with me, the first time I felt comfortable enough to try to bring someone into the fold. He had an appreciation for breaks and some other music that was fairly prominent there, but it was his first burn and encounter with "the community". Beforehand, I had tried to explain to him the burner principles and basically what to expect, but as he asked more and more questions I found myself telling him to just wait and experience it, because there was no way to explain it. When he asked me why I was bringing so many clothes, and shoes, he asked me why I was packing so much ("fuck, we're just camping with a bunch of hippies, right?") I finally told him to just wait, he doesn't understand. There's no way he can. It was really neat to see him show up in jeans and a t-shirt and a high and tight haircut (dressed kinda like me at RWB) with an expectation of a really sweet party, and watching as he slowly began to comprehend that it wasn't just a rave with etiquette, it wasn't just a bunch of dirty hippies in the woods, it wasn't anything describable. He was totally blown away when the crazy freak he was talking to was a doctor, or a lawyer, or whatever. I had told him all of this, but he needed to experience it to realize just how crazy and wonderful and beautiful it really was. He had gone through the entirely fitting transformation from straight edge, proper citizen Marine, to naked weirdo, to costumed freak all in the course of two days. I think probably the most rewarding part of it all was hearing him try to explain what he'd seen and done to his friends, and hearing him say "I don't know, you wouldn't understand." Watching him this weekend, I imagined what it must have been like for others who were watching me (Smokey, Penguin, to name just a couple) and I'm thrilled and exhilarated to have been a part of his Virgin burn

Understanding

themarine — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 10:01:09 GMT

it's almost embarrassing, the extent of knowledge you are willing to expose when someone truly understands you... Once certain points of view have been spoken, there's no coming back from them.

Good with the Bad

themarine — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 20:02:42 GMT

I've known for a while now that I wasn't going to be able to go to the big burn this year, but I just got a ticket for a regional event I didn't think I was going to make it to before. And I'm bringing a friend who hasn't ever experienced anything like it before. Yay!

Stay classy, San Francisco

themarine — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 21:57:45 GMT

The time has come once again for me to leave you all. I was incredibly delighted to have seen as many of you as I did, as I hadn't made specific plans to catch up with many people. I enjoyed every bit of time I spent here, and I wanted to thank you all. I'll keep y'all updated as much as I can during my deployment which starts in a few weeks. Other than that, I'll hopefully see everyone in seven or eight months! Peace, Bitches!

Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday!

themarine — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 05:02:58 GMT

I'll be camping with my parents Monday morning through Wednesday, probably getting back early afternoon. My hope is to then take the train back to the Bay so I can enjoy my last day on leave with some lovely freaks before flying back to North Carolina on Thursday evening. Anybody game?

Ducks in a Row

themarine — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 03:49:11 GMT

I'm checked out on leave, I have transportation to the airport tomorrow, a place to stay when I get home (at least for the first day or two, anyway) All I have to do is pack some clothes and my computer. So why can't I get the motivation to rip myself away from my computer and spend the (maybe) 15 minutes it'll take to get it all done? And I always thought procrastination only happened with work or school related stuff.

Weekend recap

themarine — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 03:11:24 GMT

A trip to Charleston, SC with one of my best friends, mobs of incredibly hot women, politically racy plays, a bachelorette party where I was coerced into giving the bride to be a lap dance, great food, awesome drinks, spectacular sights, many laughs, two tanks of gas and several hundred dollars. Fucking outstanding.