Ladytron

Funny story. I was working on board Gazela Primera (http://gazela.org) yesterday replanking the hull and we finished up about 18:30. We grabbed some coldies, and sat down on the hull out of the sun. Good stuff, drinking coldies, laughing about my new nickname "Get off of me" with my new friends "Oh God, faster faster" and "Is it in Yet?" and watching the bike that I had just donated to the ship get stolen right before our eyes just 20 feet away (third bike in 2 days). Luckily Oh God, Faster Faster was fast on his bike because he (50 yrs) ran the kids down (who were 14 and had a good 200 meters on him) and got the bike back after being called a "dickhead"! Well, this made for good conversation for sure! And when it started dying down a beautiful girl rides up the dock on her collapsible bike. She was, to me, obviously European. I don't know why. Gentle mannerisms, her hair style (above shoulder length, black, curly mussed up beautiful hair), wonderful nose, big beautiful eyes, like I said, beautiful. I spotted her as instantly as I had spotted that brat putting his leg over on my bike, although this time I did not yell at the top of my lungs "Hey! Get off of my bike!" All I said to Faster Faster was "Wow, she's beautiful." in low tones, almost muttering to myself. It was apparent that she was interested in the ship so Faster Faster gave her a tour. Being most appreciative to Faster Faster, I offered our host and his new friend a drink. DENIED! Ha Ha Ha! Here I was thinking that I was being brushed off. But in actuality, it was for good reason. After her tour, Mira (as she introduced herself to us) was showing her bike to Faster Faster and we all had a brief chat. She said that she was having a concert tonight, I asked what kind, she replied "electro" I was like, cool, what's the name of the band, Ladytron she replied, I was like, cool...........having no idea of the popularity of the band which I now believe is worldwide. It's so cool when musicians and celebrities aren't bungholes! She gave Faster Faster and I free admission to the show and buzzed off on her bike. I went to the show a bit late and learned at the box office that Faster Faster had snaked my ticket and given it to a woman! I wasn't peeved, just broke and couldn't afford the price of admission. The awesome girl in the box let me in for free anyway and if I had been in better financial status, I would have bought her a drink. The show was awesome. Never seen or heard their music before. Had a fun time bobin up and down. Mira was gorgeous (guess which one from picture). They did an encore and I left apres encore and grabbed theee best falafel pita I had ever had! Ladytron is playing in Baltimore tonight. I'm going to boring Connecticut for a boat show. I'd rather finish planking the hull of Gazela with my new friends and take a road trip to Baltimore! Ah lost love! Ha ha ha.

Awesome light show Mira, btw...

School's OUT !

OK OK, so like last week was the end of the school year and I have been like a kid in a candy shop self indulging on "me time". It's been awesome. I've been getting up early and doing chores like paying my bills that I have forgotten about for 5 months and getting them in one day before defaulting and things like going for bike rides on my 3 speed cruiser (that bike is so laid back). I'm diggin it pretty much except for the rear pedal brakes, tough to get used to. It's not really a trail bike, just for pavement so I may have to buy my old trail bike back from someone I sold it to years ago.

I'm getting the shop more and more in shape and am gearing up for a summer of woodworking and possibly more. I have some projects slated and some offers to build boards for some folks as well, so I'm hoping that I am going to learn a lot more this summer! I'd love to take a trip up to Maine to visit that new Grain Surfboard shop and enroll in their boardbuilding class! Their shop is state of the art........in my book...........and very interesting to me. Those guys are so laid back too. I'm just stoked to see that packed shop of my family's from last year start to look like a real shop instead of a storage unit! It's not easy cleaning up 30 years or more of "stuff". I'm stoked to have the freedom to do it now!

Tonight I went diving into a pool on the Wissahickon Creek called Devil's Pool with some close friends. It was dark, the water is mega-tainted with fecal coliform due to the numerous sites surrounding the pool laiden with partially degraded toilet paper. It's truly disgusting how uninformed people are in cities. The areas that need the most education on pollution are often the least. It's a shame really because it is a gorgeous area of the city! I scouted out the scene by clambering into the pool gingerly at first, then did a canonball after Kristy dove in off an eight foot high ledge. "Bomb" cut his fingers trying to open a forty with a rock and couldn't go in as it would have been a mistake with the high poo levels. Ian jumped in and then Kristy once again. We got erked by the inability to see where we were jumping and carefully plodded down the rocky path back to Kristy's car. It was fun while it lasted and good to see Bomb and Kristy again as they are positive thinkers and give off a good vibe. We chatted about future plans and made some tentative future get togethers such as possibly biking across the Ben Franklin Bridge tomorrow or doing some fountain hopping. Sounds fun! I hope that we all stay in touch as making friends and moving on has been such a big part of my life that I'd like to actually stay in touch with friends for once. It's a fact of life, especially in our more mobile society, to have to move on and leave friends behind, but in the same token the process of making those friends (and new ones) is what makes life worth living. We had an informal discussion tonight about what makes life worth while and I didn't have much input until now, but I think connecting with others and making new friends is quite fulfilling. Many people think that leaving your mark on the world is something to strive for. Some everlasting epitaph patting oneself on the back (sounds kind of selfish doesn't it? I didn't really mean it to because multitudes have left a humanitarian or compassionate mark on the world). I guess this is OK, but many of us may not be able to achieve such a position. Realistically, touching those around us is important to our well being. Too, sensitive. Time to go..........