random note #1: blog comments have been turned on! let the ruckus ensue. of course, there are a couple of factors that could cause me to disable comments again, including a) botporn, b) baby mama drama, c) nobody commenting on any of my blogs, thus revealing that nobody reads this thing, thus no real consequences, i suppose, except for the fact that i am living inside of my own bubble, talking to myself as a digital figment/extension of my imagination.

seeing that i don't expect my blog to necessarily fall under the target audience of cyber-nudie-spammers, and i've been getting so little play i'm not even a candidate for baby mama drama (my life probably falls more along the lines of "loner boy musical"), i think "c" is probably the only one i need to worry about at least for now. welcome to my vainness. make me feel popular.



random note #2: you know you're in oakland when you're jogging and you see a weave lying on the street. i know it's been less than a week since i've been "off tour," but with no out of state gigs until mid next month, these next couple of weeks are about to be the longest period of at-home time that i've had in months. it's a beautiful thing! this, along with me quitting my job at the end of the month, have propelled me into a process of trying to mesh into a routine of a normal oaklandite. factors in the process include but are not limited to:

a) buying groceries: probably a good thing that i cook when i'm home. it balances all those greasy pizzas and late-night tubs of pad see ew that i so gluttonously inhale when i'm on the road. now i'm not an especially picky artist when it comes to on-road amenities, but i'm quite a diva when it comes to cooking ingredients. as a result, for me buying groceries is a much more arduous process than it is for the average bear, because i: i) insist on buying all my asian vegetables at asian markets and chinatown, ii) only like to buy non-asian produce at berkeley bowl or farmer's markets, iii) am addicted to trader joe's frozen foods such as their crabcakes and veggie burgers, and iv) after all that, still insist on going to safeway so that i can get my club card on for milk and cereal. in addition, i hate waiting in line and have been known to toss items out of my cart in order to qualify for the express line.

b) paying bills: i have been aggressively seeking ways to hustle shrinkage into my cell phone bills and car insurance. i probably call verizon once a month threatening to switch to sprint if they don't give me a better rate, and right when they're about to let me cancel i say "well, let me take care of some...stuff first..." instead of wasting my energy on that, i should probably just be more assertive about cutting down on beard papa's, thrift store splurges, and magazines with cool covers but shitty articles. all that, along with a $300 bill i got from gold's gym (which i haven't even stepped foot inside but have been benefitting luxuriously from for its parking) have made it a bit of a nerve-wrecking transition into life without a salary.

c) exercising: it's very bay area of me to drive somewhere in order to jog. but hey, lake merritt is gorgeous. i've been jogging regularly since i got back from connecticut, and i'm quite proud that my pothead self has been able to keep a steady pace for longer than 5 minutes. maybe tomorrow i'll do a pushup.



random thought #3: oakland or not? i live along the border of oakland and emeryville. i get mail addressed to me that says i live in one city or the other. emeryville, being the denitrified neighborhood that houses ikea and pixar, doesn't quite have the rough and rugged connotation that oakland has. i have to admit, i am pretty intentional about insisting that i live in oakland and get a bit vexed when people challenge my oaklandishness. remember, i do have a gangsta-spoken-word-thug-ninja reputation to maintain.

the truth is, i probably wouldn't mind claiming emeryville over oakland (i mean, i do live along the border), if my living situation reflected that of "emeryvilleness." however, i feel that i have suffered my fair number of very "oakland" experiences living where i do, to earn my stripes. par example, i live across the street from a crackhouse. nothing "cribs" about my block, mofos! do you know how disheartening it is to open your front door to see a crackhead on a bicycle toss a brick at your car??? and then when you tell him to go away he responds by pissing on your tire and pedaling off?? yeah, welcome to THIS PAST FRIDAY. dammit, i pay my dues. oakland stand up.

random thought #4: voodoo crocodile from "all dogs go to heaven"