Yesterday the winds in Flagstaff were apocolyptic. I’ve never seen anything like that here before. Makes me think something is coming…hold on to your hats…something big is coming. The apathy of winter has been swept away. Change is in the air; change you can believe in!

I miss the wild already. I washed my balls in a river just two days ago and it seems like weeks. I love how slow the days are out there – spending the morning with a hot cup of tea and oats, watching the moon roll under the canyon walls towering in all directions. Days spent hiking, eating tortillas with almond butter, playing in the river, talking to lizards, and forever pointing up, saying, “holy shit, look at that!” Evenings spent collecting sage and cooking up rice, huddling under warm blankets, talking, listening, between nips of whiskey from the flask I smuggled into Utah.

We camped just a few miles from the famous Kolob Arch, the largest in the world – pictured above. The waterfall pictured is so thin, the water evaporates before it hits the bottom. All that’s left is a little mist, which creates a mossy wonderland of sorts.

I can’t wait to get back out there. It’ll be a good summer.

I just finished my Noise article on Hunger Awareness Week. It was a tad late because I waited to interview Bill Aal, founder of Community Alliance for Global Justice. Hopefully Chuck finds a spot for it in April’s issue.

…in no particular order.
I write for an international travel website and for my current assignment, they want me to write restaurant reviews. Just for fun, I started calling some really fancy places to see if they would comp my meal (specifically restaurants that I would never be able to afford otherwise). Turns out, it works! It’s a low paying gig, but I’m eating better than ever! And the service I get?! Don’t get me started.

Food Not Bombs is going to set up shop in front of City Hall on Sunday at high noon. Come and eat! Looks like Brother Levy and I are pairing up for another article in the Noise on the shenanigans that took place last weekend. After talking with other people on the issue, a lot of the animosity stems from mismanagement of the entire facility by the city. Drama rama. Stay tuned.

Planning on hitting up some trails this weekend on ma biciclet, but can’t seem to find any around here that don’t have a foot of mud to slosh through. Suggestions?

And last, but perhaps more exciting that any of the above, it looks like I’m going to have an interview published in the March issue of Z-Mag. I interviewed cartoonist/activist Stephanie McMillan, author of “Minimum Security” – click on the cute bunny with the ak-47 to your right to check out her work. I’ll be sure to post more about it when it hits the streets. This interview was nearly 5,000 words originally, and I cut it down to just over 2000 – a painful process indeed, but I think it reads pretty well. Plus Stephanie is fantastic.

If any NOISE compatriots want a ride to Chuck’s on Sunday, Bro Levy and I are heading down late afternoon. I can fit two more in my car.

I finally added that “links” page I’ve been talking about. I wanted to de-clutter my front page and put all non-AZ links on their own page. I added a lot and will continue to do so. Feel free to let me know of relevant or like-mined links that you feel should appear.

I also updated my “about” page, which was long over due. And I began to update my “column” page. I still need to go through and make all the links pdf. files instead of links back to this page, word documents, or links to myspace (ugh).

I spent the entire weekend outside. On Saturday, we hiked from a friends house on Lake Mary Rd. to Fischer Point, and then a 1/2 mile or so through the beginning of Walnut Canyon. There are a few shallow caves in that area – wish I would have brought a flash light. The sun went down and the moon rose as we hiked back. Our dogs chased the biggest javelina I’ve ever seen around here. There were two, huge, with tusks and everything. This was a little scary because an animal like that could really mess a dog up. My dog listened to me though, eventually.

Then I went to the second Alley Cat of the season and met some cool people. I didn’t race this time; instead I helped out with checkpoints, filmed with Ray’s camera, and I interviewed a few people (look forward to November’s column in The Noise!). There were way less people who showed up for this 20 degree race than last month. Josh won this time, hitting all the green lights, thus kicking everyone’s ass. One guy got pulled over for running a red light. This race was much longer: 7 miles or so with lots of uphill. I was finished in time to catch the last set of the last The Bears and The Bees show at Mias.

On Sunday, I went back out into the woods with a different set of friends — this time hiking the Weatherford trail between Rocky Ridge and Kachina trails. Higher altitude + evergreens and aspens = fantastic. Aspens are turning gold and my garden is officially dead.

Huxley Dawg was pretty stinky and her eyes were swollen from running through the tall grasses. She’s cool now though, laying peacefully by the stove (fire #3 of the season =exciting!)

One day last week, I rode my bike to ft. tuthill and back as quickly as possible just to blow off steam. On the way back, I kept stopping because the sunset was so magnificent. At the same time a huge storm started rolling in from the south. Thunder, lightning, cool winds, coming fast. It started sprinkling, then raining. The thunder shook the trees around me.

While riding, I secretly wanted to get struck by lightning. It sounds messed up, I know, but it’s true. “Strike me down!” I thought as I peddled as hard as I could over mud, splashing though puddles. I didn’t want to die; it wasn’t like that. But I did want to get struck.

You know how when people have near death experiences and it changes their life around? You hear of some dude who gets in a horrible car accident, or gets mauled by a bear, or falls off a cliff; then they realize that life could end at any moment. Then they quit the job they hate and finally start leading the life they felt like they were meant to live. I wanted to get struck by lightning so I could feel more justified in analyzing my life more existentially, to have the guts to pursue what I love.

It started hailing. It hurt, but I basked in the simple feeling of being ‘alive,’ feeling alive. For a second I really thought I might be struck. But, alas, here I am.

All of this begs simple questions like, what does a well-lived life look like? What does love feel like? Sometimes the simplest questions have the hardest answers. Over the past few days I’ve learned that it takes a lot of guts to be real with yourself.

The truth is, nobody has to face death to assert a level of autonomy and control over their life. If a dam blows, the long term habitat gain overshadows the short term loss. And all dams need to be blown.

Today I quit my job. And I didn’t even have to get struck by lightning.