intuitive ink

'Tis been not quite ten years since my initial visit to Martinez, CA, and I can genuinely say I'm just as (if not more) enchanted with the town now as I was then. It especially helped that today was an incredibly gorgeous day in terms of weather. I've never really considered anywhere "home" and this return to Martinez as more or less full circle for something maybe symbolic or representative of home. To me, at least. The scent of foods on salty, brisk seaside air: hot foods, spicy foods, ethnic foods, greasy foods, sweet foods and the ocean, all mixing and mingling together in a euphoric olfactory . . . Finding decent/free Wifi spots on this journey has been an enormous challenge. I can never be sure if the places that advertise their "free Wifi" are actually going to deliver on the promise. I don't like hanging out at places of business without being a customer, so I usually end up purchasing something non-expensive. I haven't at this particular...

Fedora Core 5 Rocks! I know FC6 is out recently, but I'm still learning FC5. Anyway. Last summer ('05), while I was hanging out at Barnes & Noble in Flagstaff, AZ, I found this super cool book, called Red Hat Fedora 4 Unleashed . It was fascinating: a giant 1000+ page volume full of very interesting things to learn. What? There's a world outside of Microsoft and Apple? *solemn nods* And so since the summer of 2005 have I been tearing through this book, absorbing every detail and nuance and "update" in the *nix world. . . I've since tested 8-10 different versions of Linux, written code and programs for various tasks, and (until this summer) never received a penny for this borderline obsession. I can't help it. I'm done with school, and I still need to learn. But that's all beside the point. Fedora Core 5 is awesome. Being super computer geek girl, I've tested the following Linux distros: Slackware Free BSD Fedora Core 4 Debian "Sa...

Having gone a long while without watching television, I allowed myself an indulgence the other day. . . a schmoozfest of sorts: an entire afternoon and evening of television watching. This occured only because I was without net access. An initial run through the channels verified what I'd assumed: that I had not been missing much. But then did I come across the shuffly-footed comic animation of South Park . This particular episode featured Kyle and Kenny as they were off to summer camp. Though, this was not just any summer camp. . . this was a summer camp especially for Jews. And what Jewish summer camp would be complete without an appearance by Moses himself? CHIEF ELDER Great and honorable Moses, what do you desire from us, your children? MOSES I desire... I desire... macaroni pictures. CHIEF ELDER Yes, yes, yes, the macaroni pictures are coming right away. Uh, anything else you want from us, O great leader of the people? MOSES I desire... popcorn necklaces. H...

Eureka -- More of a Place than a State of Mind The summer of 1997 was the one before my senior year of high school. Something got into my restless little head that I should take a far-off and solitary voyage to some place I'd never been. I visited a travel agency (keep in mind this was back when people needed travel agents to "navigate" the Internet and book things for travel-planning purposes) and purchased a round-trip train ticket with money I'd saved from my part-time waitressing shindig. Destination? Eureka, California. I had a friend there, who was staying with her sister for the summer, and she invited me to stay. The train was to leave at 1:05 a.m. on Sunday July 13 from Salt Lake City and arrive in Sacramento at 3:05 p.m. the next day. (indiejade references her scrapbook, which has the train ticket stub and precise times). From Sacramento to Martinez via train, and then from Martinez to Eureka on a bus (train service not available). I conked out sometime be...

To keep going. Noticing a hitch-hiker at a random point on the road: he is some middle-aged dark-skinned reservation native of the area. He's seemingly stranded at seven-something a.m. on a Friday morning. I feel bad for him and want to stop. I almost _do_ stop, but then remember the "all kinds of trouble" I tend to get into for doing so. . . it's nice to have protective younger (albeit bigger and stronger) male siblings who care, but at the same time, I have empathy. Just when I'm about to turn around do I notice that the white pick-up truck that had been driving behind me stops; I am relieved and gladdened. * * * Mid-morning on Friday lands me just outside Page. I park my vehicle at a gas station and pop the trunk. It's nice to have packed to be prepared for just about anything: gallons of bottled water and some food, de-icer for the windows and snow-cables for the tires, blankets and first-aid kit, flashlight and candles. Books, notebook, and writing utensi...

Journey begun and out, out the familiar door and past the familiar neighbors and buildings. Over the concrete, the thrum of tires and wayward potholes. Out, out the familiar streets and landmarks; the edge of town and gone. Hours pass. Gone, gone deep into the desert. . . a random dirt road taken, hellspent with momentum and to be out and away from the being of even a solitary being; dust kicks up behind my vehicle and rocks protrude sharp from the road but I do not care. Tumbleweeds fly by and wave as old familiar cronies might. Camping. At altitude - in a small tent, on a gentle and sandy rise with but a lantern and a couple of blankets. March has taunted daytime; night turns to chill. Cold, no fire; with the warmth of some brandy and an old loaf of slightly stale french bread, I am satiated and moved to write. Hand and wrist poised over a blank notebook page, the spiral is steely and cold. Words beckon elusively but will not come. My fingers are frozen; my mind electric. Easier does...