matt's pictures

road to cali (leaving town)

I went out to LA to see my friend Ashley, AKA Smash, AKA chef to the unnameable stars (not that I signed an NDA, but trust does still mean something). But before I got there, I had to roll across two deserts, two mountain ranges, and untold small towns that I passed without even realizing. I covered half of I-40, coming and going. I know that road fairly well from my college days, but there’s a difference between a full on burn, at the edge of what’s possible for a college student to run out in the time he’s got to get to school, and a nice leisurely drive across half the country. On the way there, I split it across three days; six hours from home, I stopped in the New Mexico rest area and slept, after getting out and staring at the moon. There’s a kind of tired that’s familiar to anybody that’s done any solo driving. You start to feel it at the edges of things hours before you pull over— a little ache at the corner of your eyes, wandering attention between songs on the radio. When you need to push, you can push through that kind of tired. It’s not safe, but it is at least interesting. I started to feel it before I got to Amarillo; I knew there were two rest areas before Albuquerque that would do, if I could make it, so I pushed through a little. Now, understand, this trip has nothing on some of the epically stupid things I’ve done; Once, I started to feel the same driving through Arkansas, and turned north to drive through Kentucky, for what I thought would be a shortcut through to Virginia; about 20 hours later, sans stop, I made it. It’s easy to lose yourself; to get disconnected from the moment. All that you see is a million miles of flat ground, and the same white and yellow lines; it’s easy to feel cut off from the rest of the universe. In that moment, the most important thing to do is concentrate. Lose focus, the mind wanders. Eyelids get heavy, and then it’s up to luck- bumps in the road, rumble strips, a song change on the radio. Or you don’t wake up. I have always been very lucky. Anyway, this time I decided to be at least a little rational, and stop and sleep not too far into the journey. I took pictures to try and get that feeling down, and there was a storm off to the northwest that helped-things wander, and then you get a jolt of the present that brings you back.

Posted on 2012-08-02T05:04:15Z GMT

camping trip (nights)

I think this was before the fourth, but don’t quote me. There’s been a lot of beer and quite a few miles since then. This was a good time, getting to know some new folks, and seeing some old friends as well. Hammock camping is awesome; I was set up and ready to go in like 15 minutes, and down and ready to leave in 5. Things to remember not in the photos: getting stuck going up the hill coming into camp, the place we stopped at was the shortest, everything tastes good cooked over a fire, and be sure to wear sunscreen. There is a second post, with the day photos, below.

Posted on 2012-08-01T05:01:56Z GMT

camping trip (days)

These are the day photos; let the recording angel note that this is the Illinois River, outside Talequah; That we spent 7 hours floating 6 miles; that by the end, I was burnt, exhausted, and took a two hour nap the moment we got back to camp. Recommended: take a waterproof parasol, a camera with a housing, and use a canoe. Canoes go faster.

Posted on 2012-08-01T05:01:01Z GMT

traci's hilo birthday

So, there was a lot of wildness this night, including a dude with leopard print tattoos over 90% of his body. Singing, dancing, and that was just in the living room. Than we went to the Hilo in cabs (for those of you in real cities, fuck you for having cabs that show up within 15 minutes when you call), proceecded to get hammered, then the dfry for fries at last call; we nearly lost Jay to some dude, and had to circle around twice to get him. Props to (in no particular order): The Morracan cabbie that dealt with our drunk asses, the bartenders at both bars, my downstairs neighbors for not calling the authorities, and finally, to Sarah, Reaghan, Sophia (who was somewhat new to this madness at the time), and of course, the birthday girl, Traci.

Posted on 2012-07-31T00:26:41Z GMT

sarah francois comes to town

My friends are sort of scattered, not just in the head, but geographically. All over the US and in several countries abroad as well. So I’m always stoked to see one of them come through my neck of the woods. Sarah is one of those friends with whom distance and time don’t matter; A hug and a beer and then we’re back on bikes, as if no time had passed since we’d last seen each other. Ben, her Londoner boyfriend, came along, and with Sophie rounding out a quartet, we had a grand time catching up.