Dance to Vinyl. Then you'll know what it's like to feel alive.
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Wherever you go, there you are.
Dance to Vinyl. Then you'll know what it's like to feel alive.
Today's sunset.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: For an Unhappy Otter
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:34:12 -0800
From: Kat Gangoso <*****@gmail.com>
To: Lovine Gopez <*****@lovine.com>
Just because you deserve to smile today.
Love,
Kat and Nickel
Greetings from Guam.
Having just been kicked out of the office (I am forced out when store closes - mostly because I'd shit myself being alone in a warehouse that holds a lot of dark corners and flying cockroaches), I was on a hunt for a coffee shop with wifi to continue working when I came across a little detour on the island.
I followed a red tram full of Japanese tourists that turned into a small road marked "Two Lovers Point", which sounded more exciting than the continued course of the highway. And I just realized I've never really gone around to explore.
There's a little elevated outcrop where they charge $3 for an unempeded view of Tumon Bay, and the vastness of the Pacific. Of course I didn't pay and went to a side section instead, where I found myself staring into the massive blue. The wind was blowing steadily from behind me as I leaned on the railing. I tried to look where the beach was below, but there was nothing to be seen except for several hundred feet of nothing and the gaping wide blue ocean below.
It's a comforting and familiar experience. I remembered with arresting clarity all the moments that I found myself staring at the massiveness of the ocean from up high. The bunker in San Francisco. Batanes. And how relieving it felt to feel so small and irrelevant.
I love how the grandness of the world easily opens itself up to those willing to stop, look, and listen. And how it guides you away from the comfort of your own mortality and the immediacy of your problems and your needs. All become inconsequential, and special at the same time.
That we are both nothing, and the entire universe, all at once.
My head feels like it's about to explode. Fun times. Yay work!!!
1/10/2011
1/09/2011
On a brief stopover en-route to Guam. Attending Jaime and Nicole's wedding in a bit. As usual, beautiful sunsets across the sky.
This morning, I finally completed installing the EMPI heavy duty sway bar on the bus. It was pretty straightforward, but it took me awhile to figure out and get the tools I needed (c-clamps) to get all the clamps back together.
To be honest, I forgot about them as soon as I pulled out of the driveway. I had already gotten used to the 'boat-y' handling characteristics of the bus, which after all is shaped like a breadloaf. But while I was cruising the highway several minutes later, I quickly noted how I didn't have to grip the wheel as a semi truck passed me - less buffeting from the wind. And when I took the curved exit ramp out of Sherman Way, I broke out into a smile. The bus seemed to hug the road and actually leaned into the turn, instead of feeling like we're all about to capsize and flip over. Vanessa, are you turning into a sports car? Pretty darn amazing, I can't believe I didn't do this upgrade sooner. She handles like a charm!
In a few hours, I'm taking her back up to the Bay Area. I need to sleep. Now.
Guess who?
And this is what it looks like in real life:
Roar! My girlfriend is the bestest evar.
Click for the big version.
Thank you for the generous blessings of friendship, family, and the continuous opportunity to make ourselves the best person we could be. That we may find the strength to persevere in seeking the truths of the world which matter to our lives, and continue to live our days full of love and ball-breaking adventures.
That we may continue to discover the beauty of life in between each beginning, and every end.
Happy Christmas. Don't eat too much chocolate - save some for a rainy day :)
Posting from the new HTC smartphone. Trying to keep up with the interconnected times by writing about being disconnected once in a while. Good to know I can make nonsense wherever I go.
Now here's a picture of Nickel with his butt in the air.
Tried to take my nieces' annual Christmas Card portraits. I just noticed that shooting RAW really brings out amazing detail and unparalleled post processing control. I'm just not too fond of the file size it eats up. But, wow.
I think I came too late and did not get a shot I liked (one that my sister would agree to using for a Christmas card, that is). Going back for round two later today.
A few weeks ago, I took Vanessa out to LAX to pickup my friend Joesy and his wife Abigail. I was waiting on the intersection of Howard Hughes and Sepulveda a few minutes away, when the light turned green. I advanced on first, and was about to shift to second when all of a sudden the clutch pedal fell to the floor with a loud thud, the bus shuddered violently to a stop and the engine stalled. Clutch cable, dead. Hooray!
Since I wasn't sure if the local shops would have a spare clutch cable lying around, and the fact that Joey and Abi were already waiting (ironically just a few blocks away), we figured it might be best for them to take a door-to-door shuttle and meet them back at my house while I used up my AAA to tow the big V back home.
Replacing the clutch cable was a relatively easy task, and had the bus running within a few days.
Yesterday I ordered new H4 headlights and a thicker gauge sway bar, both to make the upcoming trip to SF this holiday season a little bit safer. Another item on my to-do list is to replace the old style seatbelts with modern retracting ones, but it may have to wait with the ever growing laundry list: windshield rust leak, replacing the battery tray, rotating the tires. I think it's safe to say that the love and attention you put into a Volkswagen will be repaid several times over, with the adventures it takes you on (and off) the road.
A big thank you to those who came out and supported their local artisans in this year's Unique LA shindig :)
