gaining confidence

helena to mcdonald's pass and back, 27 miles, a little over two hours. easily the most intimidating ascent/descent i've ever attempted. the experience was so amazing, i actually started crying on the way down. haven't seen anything that beautiful since i was in japan.

imagine i'll have some serious jellolegs tomorrow.

helena, sweet helena

busted loose from portland this morning, almost exactly a week after i arrived. little sketchy comin down through the rough stuff, but we landed smoothly. still pretty beat from all the time changing, but now i'm an hour closer to japan time, which could only help things. i remember when anne came back from china and was dead tired for like a week and a half. i was all like "dude, snap out of it, get some sleep". little did i know the difficulties faced. what an asshole!

serious training begins tomorrow, as i only have three weeks to get into decent enough shape to cross the continental divide, a large desert, and the cascade mountain range. helena is ripe with training ground. there's a pass just up the road i'll attempt to summit in the morning. also nice to be back around a weight set. feel like the lack of sleep, meat, and exercise in pdx really waned me down.

wedding prep is in full swing here. i'm planning on sitting in on some dance lessons in the living room this week. feel like i could use a tip or two.

as usual, please don't comment on this. otherwise i might feel inclined to keep posting!

♫saturday, in the park♫/occasiono-lacto-ovo-game-o

straight up kicked it american style today. well, mostly american-esque. it was my first time ever cooking, let alone requesting, fake meat, and it seemed almost regular. unfortunately, my mega-map didn't motivate a whole ton of folks, but we still had some fun-ski. rocked the park for a while and met many a stranger with the draw ye old "ladder golf". post-parkin' involved some bikes, helmets (necessarily), and crazy 'burbies all over town. here go the visual deets:

the tone, grilled meats/veg patties representing the foreground.

i was honestly surprised when we approached the waterfront, and so many folks were already rockin' their spots. suppose i just never thought of heading down there so early. suppose some folk don't have much else goins on.

additional view of additional people. pretty incredible when you look at it. in peeps' defence, it was the blues fest, but it was honestly like this all over the waterfront.

rockin' out at v-tines. pretty fuckin fun, not too crowded.

for all a'y'all outside of the country.

more of the different

5. cheap sunglasses.
in japan i understood that sunglasses were pretty rare, and a bit of an edgy fashion statement. my cheapies broke a few weeks into my stay there and my peepers were screwed from then on, destined to squint against the ever strengthening sunshine. even if i found them, they undoubtedly would have been very fancy and therefore very expensive. went shopping yesterday and got a sweet pair for a ten spot.

subtleties

ignored the lagger today and set out all over creation firing out biz cards. after the first few stops i realized that my zipper was not zipped, and laughingly hoped that no one had noticed. as i cruised the hot blocks i started to compile a list of the little differences between portland and kobe.

1. first, most troublesome: faucet mechanics.
in japan you push the handle down to get water, and here you pull the handle up to get water. might not seem so difficult, but this one combines with muscle memory to F me up at least 5 times a day, putting valuable seconds between the tasty wetness and my dry belly.

2. solicitation.
a bit more prominent here (suppose i could use myself and the activities of my day as an example, but we'll not address that now). on corners in the KōB, there may or may not be someone politely, silently offering you a pack of tissues, but they are always easy to avoid. sometimes at night you'd even get a well dressed person inviting you to a brothel, but they aren't very persistent either. here it's a bit trickier, as you're met with the clipboard/sales pitch combo on most corners downtown.

3. public displays.
i'm perfectly comfortable laying topless in a very large park right now, just soakin it up. both the expanse and the nudity would be difficult things to find in ol' kobie.

4. voice volume.
with the exception of a few young children and political radicals on top of vans, japanese people stay pretty quiet. kind of in line with respect and all. 'mericans seem much more fond of noise, yelling, honking, and so forth.

to be continued? i should probably get some sleep, as my remaining days in oregon-shu promise to be action packed.

takin' it to the streets

part 1:
probably best to use this time in the states to shamelessly promote myself. gotta get some new biz cards printed up somewheres, then get fancied up, then put out the vibe. put together a whole list of places around town to visit, hopefully they all welcome solicitors with open arms. imagine i'll do the same in helena, and anywhere else i end up.

part 2:
it's come to my attention that none of my homeys have any idea what they're doing for ye old fiz-ourth. i think i'll organize a sort of tour around town, beginning mid-late afternoon, probably culminating with explosive patronization. maybe i'll call it "mikey's independence [day] extravaganza". all interested parties should leave me a goddamn comment.

part 3:
i've been trying to figure out how i'll get from ol' tanner back to pdx in august. after numerous price checkings of planes, trains, and automobiles, i've (maybe stupidly and prematurely) decided to take a slighty more adventurous route. it will involve two wheels, a tent, a couple weeks, and lots of sweat. i'd better start training, as i'm not quite in what i would consider peak bicycle shape. anyone wishing to join, again, hit me with a comment. i'll probably whip up a map for that too.

hot fun in the summertime

absolutely beautiful in portland these days. spent a lazy afternoon playin ladder golf in the park and catchin up with buds. i think i got some sort of sunburn. it occurs to me that this town got weirder since i left, and for a moment it just didn't feel like i belonged. supposed to hit the 90s this week, which as far as i'm concerned is totally out of the blue. should be pretty exciting!

whatever you do, don't comment on this post.