Riftwave.net - Kevin's web log

I have purchased a new motorcycle and upgraded from the GS500. Its really late, so I will keep this post brief. My new motorcycle is a 1999 Yamaha R6. Rode it home from Lawrenceville tonight (35 min in 49ºF weather). I’m going to try to get a tag for it tomorrow. Here are some photos:

-kevin
Justified & Ancient.
(and bound for Mu-mu Land)

I might have some interesting news to report tonight. Stay tuned!

Today was a very run-of the mill day. The only extraordinary thing to happen was 3 of my tumbling students getting their standing back tucks on the spring-board at job #2 (the gym). Incidentally, this post’s icon was taken tonight at job#2. One of my students shot it with my digital camera (at my behest).

I have finished painting my bedroom It came out quite nicely…. and I feel like the results were definitely worth the effort and almost worth the money. I learned two things: 1 - All coats (1st and 2nd) of thin paint colors (whites, blues) are best applied with *fresh* (unused) rollers and tins. 2 - Track lighting looks much better reflected off of a dark surface.

I now really enjoy being in my room during the evening. The cool walls give it a very nice ambience. I have 3 daytime photos, but only one nighttime photo of my room so far… I still haven’t cleaned all the clutter out of it from painting it, so better photos than these will have to come at a later date

My day went by alright…. but a special synergy of happenings has ruined my night and put me in a bad mood.
My ‘friend’ Verutzka seems to have come and gone from Atlanta without so much as a phone call, Rumbi (apparently in a bad mood) treated me like a stranger (even though we only bloody chat online), and my attempts to get out and make new friends don’t seem to be bearing much fruit (I had someone cancel on me).
I am pretty frustrated at the moment. The amount of energy I put into my efforts doesn’t seem to have any effect on their inevitable futility.

“Remember, remember, the 5th of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot;
I know of no reason, why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.”

Tonight I journeyed to the Medlock Crossing Regal Cinemas to see V for Vendetta, and WOW. This movie *floored* me. I have never read the Vertigo comic of the same name (upon which the movie is based), but I immediately took to the mysterious main character, V. He now stands out as the new standard by which I shall now regard all other heroes & protagonists, and not many of my now former-favorites can measure up to the high bar set. This movie has a lot going for it. Engaging clever dialog, action, plot twists, mystery and (dare I say it), the hottest, most alluring Sapphic character I have ever laid eyes on (I don’t usually get over-excited over something like that, but I will make a happy exception this time).
The rough plot follows the struggle of a citizen (Evey), and a revolutionary modern-day-Guy-Fawkes (V) against the future-set fascist regime that rules Great Britain.
If you are into mindless action movies, then you will fail to find anything particularly exemplary about this movie (except, perhaps for the 1812 overture ). However, those among us who enjoy some ‘cereberal’ seasoning with some of our guilty pleasures (like action movies) will find much to rave about in this film.
I’d see it again in an instant. Well worth the price of admission.

I finally got sick of my el-cheapo little $2 desk lamp (which i got at a yard sale) with the popsicle stick lampshade that I cobbled together with elmer’s glue, so I went to the home depot and put some track lighting on the ceiling above my desk. This solved my lighting problem, but created another one… the increased illumination made my dirty walls more visible and bright… including the fact that they were in dire need of paint. So it was back to the home depot I went. I chose a shade of almost-blue purple for the walls (Gem). I have put a first coat on 1/3 of the room so far, but I am starting to toy with the idea of putting a lighter blue on one or two of the walls, or some kind of pattern.

Painting is fun, but it is also currently a pain in the ass because I don’t have anywhere to put my stuff while I am doing it. (My room is a disaster area x 3). At $24 a can, paint is also expensive if you choose a wrong color. I’ll run some photoshop simulations to see what colors I end up going with.

After inadvertently leaving my lunch at home today, I was forced to venture out at noon to find something to eat. I wandered about indecisively for 3 minutes on my bike until I decided to at least check out the menu at a Carribbean restauraunt about 1/4 of the way home from the office. I expected to find a very watered down, general menu with red beans and spanish rice or fried plantains being among the most exotic items, but it seems that Lady Serendipity is quite a coy mistress indeed . Much to my delight, I found ox-tail, Jamaican patties *and* cao-cao bread available for takeout! Previously, I had been making a 20-35 minute journey to Marietta or southeast Decatur to find such delights… but now that I realize that Carribbean Fiesta has them, I will be able to drive 10 minutes down the road from home, or 5 min from the office in order to get them. My only lament is that they do not also sell harddough bread and bun (not to my knowledge, anyways).

I got her email today! One of the first friends I made when I came to Atlanta for school. She’s coming back to Atlanta! … but only for a week. Even so, its been a long long time and I’ve missed her being around. Can’t wait to see her again I wonder what we’ll talk about… I hope she’ll have time to hang out more than once

Hurry back, Veru!

Despite a really crappy Saturday…. thankfully, my Sunday did not hold any more direful surprises in store for me. I’ll did brood some, but a trip out and about the Atlanta metro area was enough to remedy some of my ailing spirits. I made my way to Smyrna (one of my old stomping grounds) to run an errand (*cough*buyacomicthatwassoldoutelsewhere*cough*), and decided to visit Valerie & Brannon since I was going to be within 1 mile of their house. Last year, I had promised to take Valerie out for a spin on the motorbike… but she had opted to wait until I had a few more months of riding experience behind me. So, since it was a warm Sunday, I strapped a spare helmet onto the bike and gave her a call to tell her that I was coming on over.
Being a bit nervous, she opted for a quick spin around the subdivision before heading out onto the road. I gave her the spare helmet to wear and off we were for a spin! This post’s icon is a picture of her on the passenger seat wearing my riding jacket. We took a 3-4 mile loop past Cumberland Mall and over I-285. We passed 3 motorcycles and one police officer on the way. I made sure to take it easy since I knew she was a bit afraid since bikes are dangerous. Nevertheless, much fun was had.
Upon my return to her house, Brannon took her place and also got to ride on the back (which proved to be a formidable task for my poor 40 hp motorcycle). Brannon had a few questions about riding in general after his ride. He has been thinking about learning to ride, but wants to wait until he has more time and money to purchase a bike (there is also the matter of a deal he made with Valerie, his wife, about her getting to spend an equal sum of money on any object of her desire ). Ah, marraige

On the topic of motorcycles… I got to ride a 2002 Suzuki SV-650S that a co-worker rode in on today. Apparently it is for sale, and within my price range. I have been looking for a more powerful bike to upgrade to, but am very undecided about which model to get. The SV has a decent bit of power, but I think it inferior to my gs500 in terms of looks. Here is a picture of the the SV-650S that I rode:

Yesterday, a phone call that I got took a turn for the worse. One of my friends whom I have been trying very hard to keep told me point blank that all of the contact had to stop because: it was making her snap at other people, she begrudges any of the time she decides to spend with me, and she doesn’t think I make a good friend (for her). Needless to say, it was upsetting to me. I have noticed a marked definite change in her actions… literally overnight, just before she originally broke off our romantic relationship. For the life of me, I can’t understand why she has this disdain for me. She says that i’m the only person she’s ever wanted to cut off in this way… yet when I ask her to look inside to give a reason she claims that I am the problem. Not anything I do, but the way that I am. I can’t accept that, seeing the way that her actions and her attitude has changed…. and how different she is when even one other person is with the two of us.
I’ve never noticed a hint before of emotional problems, nor this flippant regard for what we’ve shared. Its hard to not be angry at being thrown away despite making your noblest efforts and intentions. Did I make a bad choice? Can her heart be so black, spiteful with conceit?

I’m out of my depth here. There doesn’t seem to be any way to make her come to her senses. Whether she needs to grow up emotionally or lose a few of her friends in the same manner, I hope she can grow out of such a narrow-minded sense of value and priority… and at last be earnest, honest, and willing to work through problems and issues rather than deleting the good with the bad.

Amazing. Here I stand the recipient of her offenses, and yet here I am wishing her enlightenment despite it. Turn the other cheek, indeed.

Today was notable for a few different reasons. First, both of my managers at my job are in Barcelona (the b@st@rds went to SPAIN and didn’t take me! I @#$@# SPEAK SPANISH!!), so the dozen or so phone calls have been fielding in their stead have kept me from completing my increased work load.

Second, one of the engineers I work with took me to have dim-sum for lunch! During my college years, even though I had a slew of chinese friends I had unfortunately missed out on two seperate dim-sum outings due to bad timing and other obligations/priorities. The engineer who brought me to dim-sum’s name is Paul. Taiwanese by birth, he speaks chinese (mandarin), english, and japanese. Only Diego down the hall (german, spanish, english, bits of portuguese and italian) eclipses Paul’s linguistic flexibility. (I guess I come in third with fairly good spanish, basic japanese and even more basic mandarin). Anyways, dim-sum was very yummy. It is a Cantonese custom and means ’snack’ in that dialect . Although i passed on the chicken feet (perish the thought), I did try a few new dishes. My favorite was the various types of baozi (steamed sweet dough dumplings with goodies in the middle!). The icon for this post is the barbecue pork baozi (whose chinese name escapes me for the moment). Unfortunately, during lunch I clumsily knocked my glass of water over with the back end of my chopsticks (embarassing… but they were really long). Nevertheless, I’ll be headed back for some more dim-sum in the near future , hopefully with a friend in tow.

Third, was the weather today! 72-degrees and GREAT riding weather for the motorcycle. I rode it to and from work and then around and about on minor errands and to pick up dinner. I also got to jog at the park near here (East Roswell Park). I put in my mile-and-a-half at a good pace. I started my cooldown lap just it time to recieve a call from the very lovely Natalie Ramsey who was returning an earlier called to inform me that she’d arrived in Denver. I am not sure whether it was the endorphins in my system from the jog, but we enjoyed a really warm conversation and traded a heartfelt pleasantry or two. I haven’t felt like she was a buddy since waaay back in Harris dorm, so our chat left me in pretty high spirits. I hope it endures when she makes visits back to Atlanta.

Good Luck out in Denver, Nat!