I'm not dead yet

Just don't have much to say to you all.

Prop 19 and the aftermath

Now I don't live in California however as a fellow West Coast resident I want to say a few things about Prop 19.

First off, I support Prop 19 100%. I have long wondered why we don't legalize the use of marijuana if for no other reason that the tax revenue. I read an article a couple years back that said marijuana was the 5th largest "cash crop" in Washington state, just ahead of cherries. That could represent a substantial amount of tax revenue, especially here in Washington where "sin taxes" are the norm.

It makes sense that California is the first to take it on because they're having even more budget problems than we are and let's be serious here: Humboldt County. 'Nuff said. So I encourage everyone in California to vote YES ON PROP 19!!!!

That being I said I want you all to understand what is going to happen. When Prop 19 passes the federal government is going to sue the state of California. Now before you get all pissed off about how when you voted for Obama you never thought he would do such a thing. He has no other choice. The fact is that Prop 19 violates the federal governments authority. It's the same reason that they sued Arizona over SB1070 (Immigration).

However by voting yes on 19 you're sending a strong message to the country that the time for marijuana reform is now. While the law is being argued through the various courts it may be enough pressure to convince the Californian representatives to start pushing for a national bill, allowing the states to self regulate their own marijuana policy. It'd be hard to lose the votes for that one. Democrats in blue states will support it if only to  defer the problem to local politicians. Republican, especially Tea Party candidates, are consistently arguing for smaller federal presence and more state control. So unless they want to pull a 180 on one of their core believes they're going to have to support the reform. Then Prop 19 stands and every other state is going to have a referendum vote on the issue. Everyone wins.

Now this would be a best case scenario and what it really requires is that first you pass the law. Then when it passes and the government steps in, write your senate. Write your congressmen. Write everyone you can. This is where those of us in other states join your battle. So I encourage anyone out there in California to get out and approve Prop 19 now because we've got your back later.

Hi are you one of those...

Late Night Show

Soak us in animal blood

The meaning of life?

Yesterday was 10/10/10. If you translate that into binary you get the number 42. So it could be argued that yesterday was the meaning of life. That is if you believe Douglas Adams was right. And that binary is the true language. And that the Gregorian calendar is in fact the true measure of time. And that for some reason this time it happened was somehow more significant than the last. Mostly it comes down to whether you're willing to put enough faith in so many things that are mere creations of man. It wasn't a bad day by any means, but it wasn't the best either. I guess that it could have been the meaning of life, in the sense that any given day could be...

Chili Cook Off was good times. Ray and Jen did a great job of hosting the event. I hope that it is the beginning of many successful cook offs to come. My quest for the winning chili failed yet again, but there's always next year...

Life's kind of complicated right now, but I don't really want to get into that. So instead I'll leave you with a little Deerhunter...

Happy 70th Birthday John Lennon

Crazy to think he would have turned 70 this year. In honor of the occasion I've compiled these videos for you all. Hope you enjoy.

Long walks, blogs and solitary confinement

Last night I was walking downtown to catch the bus home and for some reason decided to try just walking all the way home. I went down along the waterfront, through Elliot Bay Park, cut over to 15th just before Interbay, over the Ballard Bridge, up Ballard Avenue, and finally made it to the final march up 24th. The whole time I kept convincing myself that I wouldn't make it the whole way. "I'll just make it to the end of the park and then catch the bus." "I'll just go to the bridge and catch the bus" And so on. I'm actually very pleased with myself for making it the whole way. I google mapped my course and it worked out to be 8.4 miles. It told me there are other shorter ways to go, so I might have to try another route while the weather is still good...

For those of you who haven't noticed Joseph is back to blogging! YAAAAY!!! I really enjoy his blog. Great photography and always an interesting little blurb. Check it out if you haven't yet...

Lil Wayne is in solitary for listening to an unauthorized music device. I think it's fitting that it's his true love that got him put in the hole. Still need to get his new album. Haven't read many reviews but a coworker recommended it. FREE WEEZY!!!

I can't believe that the chili cook off is this weekend. I don't think I'm going to be much of a contender, unless P decides to do a joint entry. Then I'd be guaranteed a victory. He's never lost....

Speakin' of Lil Wayne, here's the new video for the track he did with Eminem:

Can you smell the Fragrance?

Great weekend all around.

Friday night I went over to P's for some pizza and a bottle of Jameson. It wasn't long before we ended up going over to Sully's. I took some pictures, but apparently I'd had a few too many ales and none of them turned out too well. What I really wanted was a picture of the bartender, because she's the best reason to go there. Not only was she unbelievably beautiful but really friendly, up until I asked if I could take her picture. At least I asked right?

One of the things we talked about at the bar was going up to Bellingham and doing a little hike. I woke up Saturday around 12 and it was about an hour later that P showed up at my place. Kaz called just in time and we swooped him up too.

The ride up was pleasant. P was a little aggressive, but it led to some comical events. The main reason for going to Bellingham was because P wanted to get some soap. So we hit up Otion only to find they didn't have what he was looking for.

So we bombed south on the Chuckanutt Drive, great views, to Larrabee State Park. Now I chose this hike because it was under 5 miles and I didn't want to destroy my body since I'm pretty out of shape. I should have paid more attention to the elevation gain. We went up 1000 feet in about 1.5 miles. It destroyed me, but I did it. Strange thing, on the way up we found a shoe in the wilderness:

The lake was pretty cool. The water was so still that the trees reflected perfectly on the surface.

There were also some GIANT rock formation, these pictures really don't do them justice

We had decided to skip the viewpoint on the way up, hoping that it would be more spectacular on the way back since the sun would be closer to the horizon. We were right. Here's the view of Samish Bay, Lummi Island, and some of the San Juans.

After the hike we stopped by Angel of the Winds for some food and the end of the Huskies game (GO DAWGS!!!).

Major shout out to P and Kaz for the great company.

I'm excited, can you tell?

"Don't say I've changed because, man, of course I have"

I was out at a bar last night with an old friend. And as usual we got into some great conversation. During our back and forth he made the comment: "You've changed. You used to be so carefree about life." This led to a lengthly discussion, but even more thinking after the fact.

It's true I have changed. In my younger days I didn't worry about anything. I lived life for the moment. When I was 19 I had decided that I wanted to have 20 years of life experience in 2, mostly because I'd determined I wasn't going to life past 30 (I wasn't suicidal just convinced fate had a tragic end in my future), and I feel that in many ways I accomplished that goal.

One of the first things that changed about me after this was my relationship with the idea of death. I'm not exactly sure how or when it happened, but I no longer believed I was destine for an early grave. I think that this is largely attributed to the overwhelming amount of reading I did on the subject of religion, spirituality and specifically gnostic texts.

Through their study I was able to realize that while God/fate/whatever you want to call it can be cruel it's overall reason for being is to bring about good. And not good like a candy bar tastes good, good in way that we can't describe with our faulted human languages. I'll still make an attempt to. It's more in the sense that there is a perfection that coats everything like an thin dusting of snow that is often difficult to see, if possible at all, but is always there.

I actually used this concept in titling this blog, as Desomnia is a portmanteau of desolate and amnesia that I use to describe the life outlook of trying to forget the unfortunate or ugly parts of life. And Drull is a desolate and forbodding sense of forgiveness, or the good that I spoke of early. I struggled for a long time to find a way to express this idea and in the end there weren't any words for it yet so I found words. And it went far beyond just a blog title and became a sort of ethos for my life.

This is where the most substantial change came from. Where as before I had a very loose idea about life and it's grander implication I was able to live my life without caring about anything. As I developed these ideas I found myself becoming more and more grounded in them. That's not to say that I lost my free spirit, but instead of letting it run wild it has a rooted foundation that I find allows me to grow more and more as time passes.

It's easier to just go with the wind when you're younger, as you get older you have to decide which gusts will guide your life. However I still allow myself to be shaped by the winds of fate much like the trees that grow along the Oregon shores.

Now I'm not really sure where I'm going with all of this. Mostly just thought it might help me to try to express these ideas and hence better understand them myself. Especially since I'm about to throw myself at the will of fate yet again. Lets hope it all goes well.