adventures of a little fish

Holy shitballs, just visited my dad’s family compound in China. Talk about time travel. Will...

Fri, 25 May 2012 02:24:08 -0400

Holy shitballs, just visited my dad’s family compound in China. Talk about time travel. Will post photos later.

J.D. and M.D.

Sun, 20 May 2012 18:21:51 -0400

J.D. and M.D.

Our little box truck among the 18-wheelers. On Monday morning,...

Fri, 18 May 2012 11:33:09 -0400

Our little box truck among the 18-wheelers.

On Monday morning, my dad, Larson, and I drove around South Philly running errands. Larson received an email saying that the UHaul we’d reserved a month and a half ago was ready for pickup on Tuesday at Roosevelt Boulevard (WTF), so we said F that and drove over to Penske to make reservations.

About a half a block way, we watched a UHaul run a red light and tear the front bumper off a woman’s truck. They both pulled over and the UHaul driver, who apparently was a UHaul employee, loudly protested and claimed that the woman was at fault. Then, the punches started flying and someone yelled “I’m going to shoot you!”

My dad dryly observed how stupid they were not to just trade insurance information and call the cops. Larson just called the cops.

The moral of the story: Penske trucks drive better, they were able to get us a truck the day of graduation, and the employees aren’t as likely to fuck you up.

Anyway I’m in Vermont now. On Sunday there will be two insufferable doctoral degree holders in this relationship (only one of us will insist on being called “Doctor” — not me); on Monday we’re leaving for Boston; on Tuesday we’re on a flight bound to Beijing.

Now that school’s ended & my rock gym membership has...

Sat, 05 May 2012 15:43:30 -0400

Now that school’s ended & my rock gym membership has expired, I basically have nothing to write to the internet about. L. — who finished with his last med school duties on Thursday — and I are afflicted with the same problem: we both don’t know what we should be doing but we think there must be something.

Fortunately, I still have my part-time job to keep me busy for another week. A couple of projects to finish up. And then we pack up my stuff and drive 9 hours to Vermont. Then maybe after we can:

Snuggle with the dog
Sit in the chair swing
Take walks in the woods behind the house
Bike up a tall mountain, and fly down
Pick up and carry around L.’s blonde-haired, blue-eyed nieces, even though they’re twice the size they were when we first met
Lie on blankets in the sunny field and listen to the soft noises of the horses padding about

Do things that will restore our humanity, piece by piece.

finished my last law school exam, had the obligatory beer and...

Wed, 02 May 2012 15:29:48 -0400

finished my last law school exam, had the obligatory beer and nap. then i rolled right out of bed and logged into my work laptop. it never ends!

New sushi place @ 20th and Walnut, Machi Sushi. Run by actual...

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 19:15:20 -0400

New sushi place @ 20th and Walnut, Machi Sushi. Run by actual Japanese people, not a sketchy Cantonese man who used to pocket the tips I left for the chefs. It’s really good for cheap sushi.

donut bread pudding @alla spina

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:56:26 -0400

donut bread pudding @alla spina

the most badass food truck in philadelphia, at the northeast...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 14:50:19 -0400

the most badass food truck in philadelphia, at the northeast corner of 20th & market. no menu, no posted prices. the owner shows up when he wants. the outside of the truck has shelves covered in garlic, and he has a tray built in with herb plants. he serves some variant of chicken & falafel, and whatever else he feels like. everything is top-notch.

people will wait in line for half an hour or more. i did.

Photo

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 20:00:16 -0400

<3 <3 <3 day drinking - now it’s time to ride ...

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 14:21:56 -0400

<3 <3 <3 day drinking - now it’s time to ride drunk

i love this place! it’s the bottle shop at local 44, 44th...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:04:00 -0400

i love this place! it’s the bottle shop at local 44, 44th & spruce st. this room is the unrefrigerated beer room, which basically felt like a home library of beer. the main section is neat too because you can buy beer, have them open it for you, and then stand around and drink.

Photo

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 23:37:00 -0400

mama called me last night to say we wouldn’t have much...

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:11:00 -0400

mama called me last night to say we wouldn’t have much time in hong kong in may because we were going to urumqi (but above photo is turpan, another stop on the silk road. also on the agenda). i think larson, with his mostly caucasian but vaguely exotic, dark looks, will be taken as a local.

an ex-boyfriend would understand the personal significance of finally making my way out there, but i haven’t talked to him in years. no plans to change that.

what does one wear to go touring in the desert? birkenstocks? boat shoes? i think it won’t be too warm in may.

diary, 4/1/2012

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 23:31:00 -0400

i’m back from new york — came back last night, popped in to my place to drop luggage and facetime with larson for 3 minutes. went to a birthday party where the swing of a pinata bat broke the pinata and also a mirror. glass everywhere. later, a girl who was a stranger came into the room and started probing everyone’s life. she just kept swinging with one after another uncomfortable question.

today, the plan was to wake up, work, climb, and then soldier on. the revised plan became waking up, riding to the chinese bakery, climbing, and then soldiering on. it’s now 11:27 p.m. as i type this — no soldiering has occurred.

the climbing gym has a new route that i really like. i keep meaning to snap a picture of it. it’s pretty easy, but the right hand holds don’t exist for the first fifteen, twenty feet of the climb. nothing to do but just reach out to the corner of the wall and feel one’s way up.

larson and i won’t be climbing this summer. my membership runs out at the end of april, and we’ll be two people living on a resident’s salary until i start work. we won’t even have the money for a rope to climb outside.

but it’s fine. the best summer of my life happened when i was 17 — working 8 hours a day for very little money, but spending my evenings the way i wanted, lingering on our living room couch with the windows wide open and with people i wanted to be with. this summer will be more of the same — 8 hours a day of studying, yes, but ample time to do nothing and everything else. riding my bike in the morning. spending my evenings with the person i want to be with.

it’s 2am, time for a drunk post! i wish there was...

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 02:33:58 -0400

it’s 2am, time for a drunk post! i wish there was ramen.

SO, apparently i’m a really really friendly drunk! it explains so much about the fallout from the one and only time in my life i got blackout drunk. thank you, goodnight.

I got a large window office for my last month at the company....

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 08:51:09 -0400

I got a large window office for my last month at the company. The GC here is so great.

I think the office is close to the size of my (dirt cheap) studio. It’s competitive.

another stop on pauline and pedro’s Magical Tour of...

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 23:41:00 -0400

another stop on pauline and pedro’s Magical Tour of Philadelphia Restaurants That Serve Food After 10pm - prohibition tap room. it was quite good; i think they might be owned by the same people as resurrection alehouse. the duck salad came with a really interesting creamy peppercorn sauce. i swiped a few of his coconut mussels. lots of flavors at this place - not too subtle, not overwhelming.

(side note: watching pedro eat is kind of entertaining. this skinny twig of a kid - who actually has put on a tiny bit of muscle bulk since we started climbing together - orders SO much food and it’s hard to see where it goes. tonight it was mussels, burger, and a side of mac & cheese. it’s very much like watching a zoo animal eat.)

there are a handful of restaurants in the loft district, 13th & spring garden, that i want to make a project of visiting before my climby time runs out. there are a lot of restaurants in philly i still haven’t been to.

best meal for recovering one’s humanity after a night of...

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 12:53:00 -0400

best meal for recovering one’s humanity after a night of drinking:

chop up a cucumber
crack sea salt and black pepper over it
squeeze a bunch of lemon juice

best served with oranges squeezed into seltzer water. not mimosas.

oof — i ate a lot this weekend, but such a good reason to...

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 16:12:50 -0400

oof — i ate a lot this weekend, but such a good reason to celebrate! larson matched to one of three categorical surgery resident spots available in the city where i have a job. over five years together, most of which was spent in separate cities (sometimes countries - continents). we’re finally living together in june. things are finally falling into place.

i was watching this at school. see bouldering problem starting...

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 20:48:23 -0400

i was watching this at school. see bouldering problem starting at 3:30 — ohhh shit. just inspirational. i have trouble doing more than a handful of moves in that position even with giant ass holds.