The Artisan Café

Sweet! I'm so glad I can finally check this place out. It's a really cozy coffee shop. It reminds me of Winning Coffee in Albuquerque but with more couches and less breakfast burritos and more beer. This is been on my "to do" list for a while now. The Coffee is really good too. It's a nice place to relax and write a blog. This one is going to be short though. I have to pick up Lindsey from work here in a few minutes.

I tagged along with her to work today. She took the kids to church in Columbia and I came too. That was fun. Then we went to Mickey D's and had a few McChickens. Then the mall. The mall is something else. Well, it's like every other mall in the U.S., but I took some pictures of odd things.

A Saturday In Moberly

I got my oil changed finally! I went to a local shop here in Moberly. I was pleasantly surprised. The man was supper nice and the price was totally reasonable. The oil change took about an hour, but that wasn't a problem. I just left my car and went for a nice walk down Moberly's main street. I stopped in the Goodwill and looked around. I am really happy with how things went! It's really hard for me feel comfortable doing things here. I feel like people are always looking at me and recognizing that I'm not from here. I mean, I am different looking I know this. People can't really figure out what my race is. People at work wanted to ask me, but felt weird about it. I'm not the touchy type though. I'm proud of my heritage, but I don't care if people ask me questions about it. But, anyway I know I'm not from here and my inner thoughts make me nervous that people won't like me here... But in reality I'm sure it's pretty much just like NM where I feel welcome. This man at the mechanic's shop made me feel okay thoguh. I think it was called JC's auto shop. I'm definitely going there next time I need an oil change.

So far this day is good though. I'm a little upset at how much our utilities were. Our electric/gas was $185 USD, and our water/sewage/trash was $85 USD. That is nuts! I never payed that much. But, we do have a washer and a dryer, and the building is older and not that insulated. Also, I like to take two 9 hour showers a day. And floofy is just a jerk! J/k, I love Floof. Whatever though. Our rent is still only $315 USD.

I'm really starting to like this place though. I'm checking it out. I'm like Floofy when he first met my apartment. He lived under my bed for an entire week, only creeping out to use the bathroom (in the litter box thankfully) and to drink water and eat. Then he acted like he owned the place, and he still does. I'm not going to act like I own Moberly. I'm not running for mayor. I'd probably anger a lot of people though if I did. I'd push for a maybe a bus system, or a van system. There would be a bus/van that runs from downtown to CCCB (Lindsey's school) and one that ran from downtown to MACC. And there would also be a line that ran from downtown to Wal Mart. And, I'd get the funding too. I'll find the person that keeps all of Missouri's money and I would challenge them to a game of horseshoes. I'd win because everyone knows that New Mexican's are amazing horseshoers. Then I would make this town a booming town once again. It's called the "Magic City" because it sprang up almost overnight because of the railroad. Now it'll explode again because there would be cheap transportation to downtown. Businesses would thrive. And there will be a connecting bus to a commuter train that takes you to Columbia. Maybe I'm dreaming. ...yeah I'm dreaming. But it'd be cool.



Here's a blog I typed on my typewriter. ("Typewriter is the longest word that can be typed on the top row only of a keyboard.)

From 2010-01-30

Here's a picture of some "Colorado", "Soutwestern" food! (It was made somewhere around here.)

From 2010-01-30

Some Old Granddad!

From 2010-01-30

And some more photos of my Moberly walk. Notice my strange yellow NM license plate!

From 2010-01-30

From 2010-01-30

A panorama view of a field. Exciting!

From 2010-01-30

Somewhere close to Santa Fe (the restaurant in Moberly)

From 2010-01-30

From 2010-01-30

Good Ol' Dave

I got my ears lowered! Yeah, I went to the beauty school here. I told them it'd take a miracle worker to make me look beautiful though. I told her my mom's been cutting my hair since I was one. I think that made her nervous. She did a good job though... Ears lowered. Ha! David Hake used to ask me that after I would get a haircut. I never knew what he was talking about. Surgery? No Dave, I didn't have my ears surgically lowered.

Wow! I was just shouted at! Some man came up to me and told me to lower my headphones! He was angry! Dang! I'm really sorry sir! Oh boy. I've only been here two months and I'm maddening people. Anyway...

So yeah, ears lowered. Good ol' Dave. He always had some good stories to tell me. He told me of a story of a bunch of deer wandering around Albuquerque. The weather also seemed to be so much worse back in the day for Dave. He told me they had a storm so bad one year they had to get places in a canoe! So crazy Dave!

So, I hope the man that yelled at me isn't still angry. I really didn't mean to anger him. But here's a photo of a book in the library. I'm considering reading it.

Missouri Stuff

It's a little cold these days in Moberly, MO. Spring time is welcome! I really can't wait for the weather to warm up. I really wish I would have remembered my headphones. I'm sitting in the library and I'm typing on the computer, but there is no music in my ears. I like writing when there's music playing. It's okay though. I'll listen to some music when I get home. The library is only open until 8pm CST anyway.

I'm excited and I'm kind of bummed out at the same time. I'm excited for a number of reasons...ummmm here it goes. I'm excited that Lindsey and I are experiencing this together. ("This" being Missouri). I miss New Mexico greatly, but if we were in New Mexico we would be too comfortable. There are the same bars, the same coffee houses, the same everything and we wouldn't be challenged. Here, we are challenged. Lindsey's being challenged at school, and at her job, and I'm being challenged at work and being a husband. Being a husband is especially hard. Before, I only had to worry about me (and Floofy), now there are two opinions (really stubborn opinions I may add), and sometimes we disagree. It really is hard sometimes, and I'm still learning. Sometimes I get really bored, sometimes I become sad, sometimes I miss my mom and dad, my brothers and my friends back home. But, I'm also learning so much! I'm learning a lot about people. I'm learning to cook New Mexican food because I can't buy it here. I'm learning to appreciate things more. I think it's all because I'm not comfortable. So yeah, right now I feel really lonely. I can't call Joe or Jon and grab a pint with them whenever I want. I can't just go to Satelite and get some coffee with Lindsey... No UNM skateboarding or late night downtown ABQ runs. No Thursday Burt's or Wednesday Copper or Ed's karaokee. I can't just go to ABQ uptown and browse the Apple store (and believe me I'd love to check out a iPad). I miss my mom and dad. It's okay.

I need a haircut! My hair is getting so long. I feel like it's grown double as fast this as it usually does this month. I need to shave too. I feel like it would be easier to just not shave. I don't mind the beard, but I feel like I should at least be a little presentable sometimes.

I like blogging now. It feels good releasing my thoughts.

I'm starting to enjoy my daily drive to and from work everyday. It's kind of far. It takes me about 40 minutes to make it from my driveway to work. I'm starting to enjoy the scenery a lot. There are so many hawks on perched near the roads here. It's kind of awesome! There is also lots and lots of roadkill. Sadly, people out here seem to care very little about their dogs and they let them roam wherever they want, and sometimes I'll see a dead dog on the side of the road. I also see lots of dead skunks, deer, and even a possum. There are so many trees on the drive to work too. The bare trees make me feel like I should be listening to Elliot Smith, or something slow, sad and acoustic. I don't though, I'll put on something poppy and fast like Five Iron Frenzy.

I had a lot more on my mind, but I'm about to be kicked out of the library. I'm sure I'll blog some more later this week. Maybe I'll even have internet at home soon! That'd be exciting.

Stumptown, life, et cetera

What up P-town, bridgetown, Burque of the NW? I'm coming. Be prepared. I'm not important at all. I'm not used to seeing such natural beauty. Where I'm from is dried up and shriveled. Well, it's not so bad. But I'm not trying to compare geographic locations. I'm grateful that I experienced life in such a unique place. But I'm sure that every regioion has it's own uniqueness. I'm sure I'll love Portland. It produced Lindsey, how could I dislike it?

I'm looking for tickets now...I think I want to take the flight that has a 4 hour layover in Seatlle! Normally I don't look for flights with layovers...but I've never been to Washington. I've never been to the Seattle airport. I'm sure Lindsey and I could do some airport exploring. Airport exploring is so fun! I love it so much. I like meeting people in the airport too.

I'm talking to Joe right now and searching for flights. So far Cheaptickets is the best. I love Cheaptickets.com so much--oh free advertising for Cheaptickets. But whatever, good buisnesses deserve to be found out. I have never had a problem with them. Also, they advertise the FINAL price, not the dumb price that doesn't mean anything. "Oh cool! There's a ticket for $124 dollars! Nice! Wait, taxes and fees make it $300... Okay, that's not $124 at all!" Yeah, that's what I just thought when I checked out Travelocity. Plus, I hate when they try to throw in a hotel room and a car rental too. I don't want those!

My back hurts! The chair...ouch.

I'm doing many things right now. I'm uploading photos, talking to Joe about GPS, blogging...I think I'm done. K, bye!

-Zohan




Music I'm listening to:

Saosin,

Saves The Day,

Circa Survive,

Emery,

Watch The World Go By

I'm so tired! My brain doesn't like early mornings. It is now 6:50 PM CST. I awoke from a deep sleep at around 5:03 AM CST. I was supposed to wake up at 4 ************. I didn't. I stayed in bed. I was late to work. It was -5F when I left. I didn't even wash my face, or make coffee, or brush my teeth. These are the worst type of days for me. When I start off the day running late it's extrememly hard for me to get back into a rhythm. This is helping... feeling the keys under my finger tips and the soothing guitar riffs of Mae in my ears, this is nice. I've almost forgotten the panic I was in 14 hours ago. Now I have to do it again tomorrow.

~tangent~ I'm always afraid to give out information in my blog and on facebook status updates as to where I am or where I'll be. I don't know who reads this... I don't want anyone coming to my house and stealing my stuff. Maybe I'll start giving out fake information about my whereabouts. That's the ticket...but still. Why can't we trust anyone in this world? It's really discouraging. So, yeah, crime. While I'm on this topic, I'd like to address one of my biggest fears, being robbed at gunpoint. It's happened to me twice while I worked at Pizza Hut. It's really scary haveing a gun pointed in your face. I know that most of the time the crook will not kill me, but still, most of the time isn't good enough odds for me. So, sometimes I think about the chances of my Starbucks store in Columbia being robbed. Yuck! The other day a man came in with a ski mask on and he was walking really fast. He scared the heck out of me. But he was just cold and needed to warm his face, and I'm not too sure why he was walking fast. So, yeah. ~end of tangent~

My head hurts. I'm tired. Life isn't clear to me. Why don't I understand everything in the world? Frustration! I just want to understand. I just want to be happy. How can I be happy when I know there are millions of people suffering? Man, the world is tough! I wish I was an awesome guitar player, then at least I could transport to a different spot every once in a while. Or pianist. I love hearing the piano. It's the most amazing instrument I think, when it's played right.

Things I would like to accomplish in the near future:
Make certain that Lindsey knows that I love her with all my being
Not be a dummy
Go to Portland to visit Lindsey's grandfather
Go to New York to visit Sean
Go to New Mexico to hug my parents and brothers and have a beer with Jon and Joe
Go to Saint Louis
...pay some bills
Find a real job
Start a ska band
Find people that are willing to hang out with me here in Missouri

I think I know how to transport to that other not suffering world, find random facts about different states and different countries. Facts that don't involve deaths of people. Yeah, by the way, why does every cover photo of The New York Times have a picture of killing and pain and hunger? Why can't they just have a picture of the Empire State Building, or Niagra Falls? Why can't they show some people who are doing good things? Ugh...I'm done I promise.

I want to see a live show soon. It's been too long since the last show. I want to see if Mae is touring. I know The Avett Brothers are coming to Columbia in March. If we're not in some other city I'd like to go to that show.

I'm done with this post. I just had to vent. I think my mind is wondering what to do with itself. I'm not in school. I'm in a strange land (Missouri). And I'm married. Whoa! Lot's of things I'm not used to. My mind will adjust. I'm going to make an effort to not waste. I'm going to make an effort to help others. I'm going to make an effort to give... World Vision