It was nice seeing you again. When and where will we meet next?
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
On Friday I will be leaving the farm I have stayed at for the past month to hang out in Whitehorse at various hostels and couch surfing spots for a week. I have a very
large love/hate thing for Whitehorse. I love it because the independent/underground scene here is very active and it's not difficult to find. I hate it
in the same way I hate Banff or Tofino where it is full of gift shops, hotels, and other stupid things that attract tourist business (minus the annoying Australians).
Not to say it's not necessary, but when it's so in your face it's kind of a downer.
The original plan was to head to Dawson on Monday morning, but alas my good friend Ayumi is coming to explore Whitehorse next week and I just can't say no to that face.
I have decided to fly from Whitehorse to Dawson rather than hitch hike. The 3 reasons I choose to hitch are all of equal importance; the economical factor, the sense
of "adventure" as part of travel, and the self medetation and reflection I personally feel when being on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere. To be honest with
you, the thought of blowing just under $190.00 to head to a place that's a 7 hour drive is eating away at me, but the other 2 reasons just aren't there.
Hitching to Dawson just seems like a nightmare right now. I'm told it's an easy hitch that can easily be done in a day, but when I think about standing on the side of
a road, alone, for an unpredictable amout of hours, the only thing that comes to mind is "no fucking way". I am usually quite fond of the hours spent alone. It gives
me time to reflect, listen to nature, read, write, or just close your eyes and enjoy the solitude. I think almost anyone that has ever hitch hiked will tell you
the same thing (unless you're just trying to get from point A to point B and you're incredibly hungover, which I learned last weekend).
In the last 45 days, I have literally spent 98% of my time either alone or with
2 strangers (and at the end of the day, even though you work, eat, and share a home with them, they are still strangers), and I'm much more excited thinking about
setting up my tent, finding a job, and living normally* for 3 months. Sure, it only takes a day to hitch, but the excitement, and more importantly, the NEED to start
something fresh would make those 24 hours feel like hundreds.
It's been an incredible time on these farms. I would encourage anyone interested in self sustainability, good food, and meeting like minded people to give wwoofing a
shot. The things you learn are things you will take with you for the rest of your life. When I think about what life is like in the city, buying food that you hope
wasn't sprayed with too many chemicals or treated too badly (and I can tell you, with words like "organic" and "free range" being such hot words in the food market
right now, you REALLY need to look into the companies you buy from), being bored 5 minutes after you turn off your laptop or television, turning on a tap or flushing a
toilet with no connection to how you're getting that water or where it's going, it urks me now. In all likelyhood it will be something I'll need to be apart of again
soon enough, but at least I'll have a much better understanding of it and a lot more of an idea of how to combat it.
The community aspect of organic farming has much the same feeling as that of the punk scene. You feel like you're a part of something. There is a small group of people
wanting change and actually doing something about it. A community where people communicate on how to make things better. A group of people sharing ideas, books, and
helping each other out. Actually, now that I type that out, it's not much like the punk scene at all.
Of course, this is all random thoughts that would need numerous posts on their own to really go any further. I should also note that I have been doing more writing in
the past month than I have all year. I will probably share some of it, then delete it do to self conciousness, and file it away with the other writings that will never
make it past my notebook or laptop.
I look forward to wwoofing again in Alaska this August.
*Going to a job, paying rent, buying food, going to work, paying rent, buying food...
Playlist
Propagandhi - Supporting Caste
Color Dream - Live In the Sky
Oxbaker - Discography
large love/hate thing for Whitehorse. I love it because the independent/underground scene here is very active and it's not difficult to find. I hate it
in the same way I hate Banff or Tofino where it is full of gift shops, hotels, and other stupid things that attract tourist business (minus the annoying Australians).
Not to say it's not necessary, but when it's so in your face it's kind of a downer.
The original plan was to head to Dawson on Monday morning, but alas my good friend Ayumi is coming to explore Whitehorse next week and I just can't say no to that face.
I have decided to fly from Whitehorse to Dawson rather than hitch hike. The 3 reasons I choose to hitch are all of equal importance; the economical factor, the sense
of "adventure" as part of travel, and the self medetation and reflection I personally feel when being on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere. To be honest with
you, the thought of blowing just under $190.00 to head to a place that's a 7 hour drive is eating away at me, but the other 2 reasons just aren't there.
Hitching to Dawson just seems like a nightmare right now. I'm told it's an easy hitch that can easily be done in a day, but when I think about standing on the side of
a road, alone, for an unpredictable amout of hours, the only thing that comes to mind is "no fucking way". I am usually quite fond of the hours spent alone. It gives
me time to reflect, listen to nature, read, write, or just close your eyes and enjoy the solitude. I think almost anyone that has ever hitch hiked will tell you
the same thing (unless you're just trying to get from point A to point B and you're incredibly hungover, which I learned last weekend).
In the last 45 days, I have literally spent 98% of my time either alone or with
2 strangers (and at the end of the day, even though you work, eat, and share a home with them, they are still strangers), and I'm much more excited thinking about
setting up my tent, finding a job, and living normally* for 3 months. Sure, it only takes a day to hitch, but the excitement, and more importantly, the NEED to start
something fresh would make those 24 hours feel like hundreds.
It's been an incredible time on these farms. I would encourage anyone interested in self sustainability, good food, and meeting like minded people to give wwoofing a
shot. The things you learn are things you will take with you for the rest of your life. When I think about what life is like in the city, buying food that you hope
wasn't sprayed with too many chemicals or treated too badly (and I can tell you, with words like "organic" and "free range" being such hot words in the food market
right now, you REALLY need to look into the companies you buy from), being bored 5 minutes after you turn off your laptop or television, turning on a tap or flushing a
toilet with no connection to how you're getting that water or where it's going, it urks me now. In all likelyhood it will be something I'll need to be apart of again
soon enough, but at least I'll have a much better understanding of it and a lot more of an idea of how to combat it.
The community aspect of organic farming has much the same feeling as that of the punk scene. You feel like you're a part of something. There is a small group of people
wanting change and actually doing something about it. A community where people communicate on how to make things better. A group of people sharing ideas, books, and
helping each other out. Actually, now that I type that out, it's not much like the punk scene at all.
Of course, this is all random thoughts that would need numerous posts on their own to really go any further. I should also note that I have been doing more writing in
the past month than I have all year. I will probably share some of it, then delete it do to self conciousness, and file it away with the other writings that will never
make it past my notebook or laptop.
I look forward to wwoofing again in Alaska this August.
*Going to a job, paying rent, buying food, going to work, paying rent, buying food...
Playlist
Propagandhi - Supporting Caste
Color Dream - Live In the Sky
Oxbaker - Discography
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
So what is more terrifying? Getting picked up on the side of the road, entering the vehicle, and noticing a mild smell of vodka in the air? Or is it meeting someone for the first time that offers you a couch to crash on, and seeing stacks of Black Belt and Handgun Combat magazines on the living room table?
Getting slightly too old for this...
PLAYLIST:
Omegas - Blast Of Lunacy
SQRM - Rodeo
Cursed - II
Relay Of Death - Birth of a Older, Much More Ugly Christ
Friday, April 8, 2011
Great times were had in New Hazelton, BC. Living in a house run totally off solar panels, a vegetable oil generator, and wood logged from the property is a pretty unreal experience, but something most of us can do (minus the wood part). Pissing on all over the property is encouraged to add much needed nitrogen to the soil. The closer to the compost pile the better.
New Hazelton to Whitehorse was mostly uneventful. Prince George stinks, Dawson Creek sucks, and Fort Nelson will not allow drunk native women on their bus.
At 3:15 in the morning I sat in a Tim Hortons with an oil tycoon, 2 girls who had to take the bus 4000 KM after their car was totalled in Calgary, and an unemployed man who was bored and bought a week long grey hound pass. I would probably never spend another minute with any of them but boredom has a way of bringing people together.
Whitehorse is nice. I will not be taking many pictures of the landscape. If you would like to know what it looks like out my window, find your 4 favourite mountain pictures on your computer, crop & paste them in a paint file, and thats more or less what its like.
Smelly, and a little thinner.
Dan
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
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