Category: Uncategorized

Riding out the storm

Hopefully I’m able to hit “publish post” before the power goes out this time…

Wilma is nearly upon us (as in, the worst is yet to come) and not long ago I was woken by the howling winds outside my bedroom window. It’s still pretty dark outside. I added another notch to my belt of experiences in the US, that of putting up hurricane shutters. I was able to convince my flatmate yesterday that this would be a good idea so we spent a few hours figuring out how the shutters got put up. That was a downright pain in the arse but we got the big windows on the bottom floor shuttered up as well as a top floor window that was pretty large.

This hurricane is also pretty interesting as it’s the first strong hurricane that has come through these parts since I’ve completely moved to the US. So, my feelings about hurricanes are a little different this time. I’m not as excited about them this time around because I’m living in my own place (well, I rent) and I have my own car which I worry about.

I did get the opportunity to have a hurricane party with a couple of friends Saturday night. We had lots of good food and drank a few hurricanes. It was a fantastic night and I even learnt how to dance a bit of salsa and meringue as the host of the party was also a latin dance teacher.

Wow, it’s getting really windy out there now. I can hear debris being blown about and when it was dark before you could see a massive flash of light as a transformer blew and the power cut out. The power always seems to come back on though.

This is the 6th time I’ve attempted to post this update due to power problems. I’m going to hit that “publish post” button quick smart as I think power around here ain’t going to be on for much longer.

Friday morning therapy

Ok, so I’ve just arrived at work and I’m feeling a little better this morning, but I think I need some music medicine to get the rest of the bad demons away. I’m going to see if this little concoction will work:

Writing to reach you – Travis (to match my mood)
Easy – Faith no more
I feel loved – Depeche Mode
Sweetness and light – Itchy and scratchy (classic track that one)
I still haven’t found what I’m looking for – U2 (awesome, awesome song)
Last train to trancentral – KLF
Anything but you – Way out west (awesome dance track)
No leaf clover – Metallica
Hold your colour – Pendulum (wickedly awesome DnB from some Oz guys)
Feelings – Shy FX and T Power (nice DnB track)

Yeah, I reckon that’ll do quite nicely.

Florida Panthers, Hurricane Wilma and other stuff

I’ve just gotten back from another Panthers game, and this time they won! This doesn’t happen that often when I go to watch a game. It seemed for a while there that I was not going to see a Florida team win in any of the baseball, basketball, college football or ice hockey games that I went to watch. One thing I was hoping to see was a bit of fighting action. Call it the neanderthal in me but there is a saying that goes: “I went to watch a fight and a hockey game broke out” – and a bit of a fist fight always adds a bit more to the game. Yes, how primitive of me. However I must let it be known that I do not enjoy watching boxing. Not in the slightest.

Onto other stuff, hurricane Wilma apparently has its sights set on Florida. There is a lot of talk around work about this one. Maybe Wilma won’t amount to much but I can say this: I really hate the name Wilma. Anyone who names their child Wilma should get some therapy in my honest opinion. I can’t take a hurricane with the name Wilma seriously. I’m really getting sick of the whole hurricane thing as well.

The whole blog thing. Originally this blog was created to update people back home with my journey to the US. This journey was only supposed to last 3 months but it of course ended up lasting a lot longer and now here I am living in the US. Newsflash: That was my original intent. At some points I really wanted this blog to be a venting spot for things that frustrated me. Relationship oriented. Work oriented. *whatever* oriented. But I have a fair idea of who reads this so I don’t feel compelled to write down everything I want to because at the end of the day I’m a pretty secretive person and I really don’t want people to know me that well. Maybe I want to keep up some sort of illusion that there really is more to me than it seems.

But you know, that’s where music helps out because right now I’m going to go play the piano and then play the guitar and then perhaps I’ll sing a song about an ex-girlfriend from a couple of years ago who really screwed me around. I’ve got like heaps of other songs in various stages of being completed at the moment. I just need more skills to get them to a point where I can say “I’m happy with that”. The thing is, they range from classical to house and I don’t really know how to finish them. Yet.

Now that I’ve been writing a while I feel compelled to hit “Save as draft” or maybe even just close the page to delete this whole post. But you know what? I’m just going to hit “Publish post” and let the chips fall where they may.

Whatever and ever, amen.

PK is still in da house

It’s 12:20am, I’m in a writing mood. I actually went to see Santos Renuentes play at a place called Hoy Como Ayer in Miami. The section of Miami this place was located in is known as “Little Havana” and it lived up to its name as I was surrounded by Cubans and the place had a very Cuban-like atmosphere (well, that I could imagine anyway. I haven’t actually been to Cuba yet). But hey, the DVDs they were playing before Santos Renuentes began sounded a lot like Buena Vista Social Club. Santos Renuentes were good again of course. So I won’t elaborate any more on that.

I did get a bit tipsy at the start of the night before Santos Renuentes came on. They were supposed to start at 8:30pm sharp – that’s exactly what the flyer said. I got there 8:30pm sharp, got let in at 8:45pm and then they didn’t actually start until 9:30pm. I had to fill in the time with a couple of beers of course… on an empty stomach. Hello PK!

Anyway, Omar the bassist asked me to send a message to his girlfriend who could not make it to the gig. So I wrote this:

“¡Hola! ¿Como estas? Anyway, it’s PK here. Not Kristian. Kristian left the building a couple of drinks ago. Truth be known, I ordered a presidente but they gave me two. Maybe they heard me say “duo presidente”. They couldn’t understand the accent or something. Hope your study is going well and all. Damn, Cubans have no concept of time. 830 sharp my arse.”

But, it makes me a little sad. People actually prefer to see and talk to PK than Kristian. PK is more fun apparently. Whatever.

DISCLAIMER: I really don’t have a split personality or anything else like that. I just use the alcohol as an excuse so I can act like I really want to without people raising their eyebrows *too* much. Really, it’s true! :-p