Whitaker Art Walkin'

"There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda. . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . . And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting — on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . . So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark — that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."- Part of Hunter S. Thompson's 'Wave Speech'

I've always felt connected to the West Coast, specifically the Pacific Northwest. I can LIVE here. This place is still wild. We are new. There is a romantic notion that sometimes only proves itself true in spirit- that the West is the land of prosperity, unbridled freedom, and progressiveness. It's much more complicated in reality, but it is tough not to see the spirit of this freedom all around us.

I've often wondered if I would fit in better on the East Coast. My new friend, Anne, is from Philadelphia. She is awesome, elegant, and I find that we have many subsurface qualities in common. I dig her. Which coast do you identify with?

Sean, Dr., Anne and I meandered through the streets of Whitaker, awake to the sounds of drunk bohemians screaming about art and champagne. After an hour long conversation with Anne over wine, we went to the Blair Street Housing Co-Op. The co-opers were putting on a show of enjoyable Cuban drum beats with a Japanese singer.

I've been considering this thought recently, spurred by 'Revolutionary Road'---the idea that 'maturity' translates to settling in, down, and becoming comfortable. To actually live, take chances, travel, experience culture on a moment-by-moment basis is considered 'flighty'. What say you?

From the Land of Tuva!

About a week ago Sean and I went to see 'Daughters of Tuva', an all women Tuvan throat singing band at Beall Concert Hall on the U of O campus. Until recently, women were not allowed to perform throat singing in their native land because it was thought to cause infertility or even death. We sat next to woman who had just moved to Eugene from a small coastal town near Newport. She was quick witted and a little eccentric---we had fun laughing at some of the more traditional songs (which included loud grunting and sheep noises).

From the wikipedia article about Tuvan music: " The musician's intention was usually to emphasize timbre and harmonics over rhythm. The performances were often in places of natural acoustics such as caves, cliffs, rivers, and so on. The performer would often take long pauses to allow nature its own chance to converse back. The modern music found today is often composed of ensembles of musicians playing multiple instruments and often is much more pulsatile than its traditional uses".

Shamanism is prevalent in Tuva, so much of the music is seen as a utilitarian device to converse with nature or to help herd sheep.

Below is a video of the last song they performed.

Knowing Our Place

I have always been a very place oriented person. While residing in my head most of my early days, I found joyous escape from the toils of my thoughts in my environment. Personality, ideology, basically every facet of my identity is an emanation of my place, my home.

This blog is going to be about living on Lawrence St. in Eugene, OR. and all the crazy experiences/ideas/people/cats/philosophical musings that occur within the 10 blocks around it. These two pictures were taken today 1/29/2009 at 5pm within two blocks of our apartment.

What is your environment like?

Consider this article about the effects of city life on the average persons brain. I thought it was just the alcohol...