just push publish. I once again have a large backlog to get through. bunch of trips, bunch of things have happened. Anyway. Probably more Amsterdam soon. in the meantime, while everything is bad, take the joy where you can.
I’ve been sitting on this edit since sardinia, trying to get it into a shape that works as a single post, but really, I was in Amsterdam for a week, a lot happened, and also I’m a little bit letting myself try to make a perfect post rather than just post already, nobody cares if every post isn’t perfect. It’s just a blog. So it’s gonna be four-ish posts, unless someone complains, in which case I’ll post every photo individually, out of spite.
Also, and this is true, I usually have a couple tabs open in my browser with this here blog up, just to remind me while I’m flipping through tabs that it would be good to pay some attention to this space, usually in the form of a new post. But for the last few weeks, at least since I got back from Italy/Portugal (that’s gonna be a lot of posts), I haven’t had the page open at all. So my ADHD ass hasn’t had the reminder to keep it real here.
Anyway, Amsterdam: hell of a town. I worked all day monday and tuesday, and then hopped on a direct flight. I arrived some time in the… morning? I think? and took the train into the center of town. I love when names of things are obviously a linguistic use-path; the central train station and transit hub is known simply as “Centraal.” Beautiful train station I immediately failed to exit, because I didn’t see the ticket machines at the airport and just got on the train. I was already jet-lagged. I managed to buy a ticket on my phone and get out, and the hotel I was crashing at was just across a canal, next to another canal. I know, I just described half the city (the other half being at the intersection of two or more canals).
The whole reason for this trip was Sophie was there for work, so the hotel was paid for and rather nice; it was chosen for its proximity to the office she was commuting to, but that also put it right on the edge of the Red Light district, which was… certainly something. I mean, just very gross before about 10am, when the street cleaners would come through. The thing is, it’s not just the girls in the windows, it’s a huge concentration of tourist bars and shops and the like. Like the French Quarter in New Orleans, or sixth street in Austin, maybe. I mean, there’s also the coffeeshops which don’t sell coffee (they’re for weed and mushrooms), but weed and ‘shrooms are practically part of a balanced diet next to the amount of binge drinking that had to be happening.
But anyway, back to my reasons for the trip. I really just wanted to get a feel for the city, hit one or two big museums, and that was about it. It doesn’t take much to get me on a plane. I walked around a bunch and took pictures. Tried and failed to find cuban cigars. I worked from the room and also the lobby of the hotel, where they had an excellent espresso machine. That and melatonin and my jet lag was gone in record time.
In Ted Lasso, the episode where they go play a match in Amsterdam, the character Roy Kent complains that the whole city feels a little fake, like it’s a set for a movie or something. And I kind of understand that feeling; something about the sameness of the buildings, and the improbable angles they tilt at just gives the whole place a sheen of unreality. It didn’t help that I was staying in the most touristy spot in like all of Europe, either. I’m sure there’s some historical reason the buildings are all the same brick, just like there’s a reason all the houses in Santa Fe have to be the same color (one of five, I think).
There might’ve been a point to all that, but I’m not sure. The giant fish head mosaic would probably agree.
one thing led to another and then there I was, in downtown brooklyn. It was pride weekend, by chance, but I decided to avoid the crowds and mostly just chilled for the four days I was there. I got in late on Thursday, took the train in from JFK, walked from javits to my airbnb (rip, airbnb in nyc, it was great while it lasted). Then got up and went to EMPEX NYC, the nominal reason for my visit. Well, that and it made the hop to AMS shorter and easier (and those photos are also coming, I just got to these first because… reasons).
New York in the springtime. This was the trip that I finally took friend Emmie’s advice and acquainted myself with the bodega sandwich. I don’t think I had a single slice of pizza the whole trip? The sandwiches, they are good. My sleep schedule was mostly fucked the whole time, falling asleep at like 3am and waking up in the early afternoon, so that affected it somewhat, and then also there was the problem that there just weren’t any slice places nearby where I was staying.
Made the trip into Manhattan to see the Popcorn and some Tabs discord folks, had a nice little picnic in Washington Square Park. There was some sort of Hare Krishna thing going on, felt weird and a little cult-y, especially the drum circle. Sitting on the grass on the other side of the park from the gathering was nice, though.
Then we wandered to a local watering hole, had some drinks, went and had dinner at some Thai place that was probably fine but I honestly don’t remember that much of (it’s been three months, a lot has happened). Then we stood in line for ice cream somewhere else in SoHo, which was really good but I have almost no idea where we were; everyone I was hanging out was a neighborhood veteran and it was my first time anywhere near NYU.
Then back to brooklyn, and it’s wild how a couple blocks from the tall skinny billionaire’s nests it’s just brownstones and apartments. I was in a fourth floor walk up, tiny one bedroom that belonged to someone in musical theater who was, sort of ironically, in wine country in california for the same dates I was in NYC. A lot of stairs, but otherwise a fine place to sleep and stow my gear. I worked on monday and then I was off again, to Amsterdam and another layer of jet lag….
This was what, late in june? Lots of ‘drops’ at this thing, paint, beats, etc etc. IYKYK. Very good, chill backyard vibes. Joseph played a set that went until the neighbor came over and yelled at us, at which point we packed it in. Austin painted (with some help by other partygoers). I took photos with the Ricoh accidentally in jpeg for the first half, realized my error for the darker parts, but the noise is still pretty crunchy after the sun went down.
This was what, three weeks ago? getting dangerously close to the fluid present, in any case. Sophie was out of town this weekend, off to do work things on the east coast, and I had a weekend free to do whatever I wanted. I realized it would be a perfect time to do a quick overnight in the sierras, see what Yosemite had to offer. I had a new camera to break in and get used to, and time to burn.
So after brunch and a stop for gallon jugs of water, I started driving east. There are a couple ways to get out there, the northern route on 120, which takes you to tioga pass and switchebacks down to the valley proper or the southern route, which goes through Merced to 140. I was headed for some campgrounds on 140 that are first-come first-serve, hoping to get lucky.
And, as luck would have it, there was one tiny spot open at the first campground I stopped at. Just big enough for my little two person tent and a chair, basically. I got my tent set up and went down to the river to put my feet in the water. I sat there and read my book, there being no cell signal, for maybe an hour, and then got up to go back to the tent and sit there and watch the clouds.
Unfortunately, instead of being high and pretty and harmless, they were a storm coming in. I rushed to get the fly on the tent and hopped inside. Then I had to get back out and re-tie the fly down to bigger rocks; the wind was gusting to maybe 30mph in the canyon, just wild. I sat in the noise of the wind and the rain, waited for it to blow out. Just sitting, alone, in the middle of the storm, can’t see out of the tent because the rain fly went all the way to the ground.
Got up in pretty bad shape, as my ground pad wasn’t holding air; made some coffee and some breakfast. Freeze dried biscuits and gravy, which is actually really palatable. Drove for a half an hour and I was in the park. Walked around, saw some things. Took a bus to a trailhead, hiked up to mirror lake, which is neither mirrored nor a lake; really a wide spot in Tenaya Creek. A nice hike though, with options that kind of get you away from the crowds.
Then, after a quick stop to buy gummy bears (the best gummy bears in the world are hte ones in the gift shop in Yosemite National Park, I don’t know how they do it, it’s some local confectioner), I drove home.
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