my sister called me a masochist yesterday, but while i'm seriously stressed i'm still actually *enjoying* what i'm doing, so i'm sure i'm not. here's a relatively brief summary of what feels like an aeon gone by:
thursday: travelling
it took us much longer to finish packing than i expected, and i've been informed by pg that this is normal for her so next time: we'll pack the night before :P
to make matters worse, we forgot something important at home and only realized it when we'd finally gotten to rishpon, so we turned around and came back for it... the traffic density in both directions was high, but at least on the way back north we had some music - something else i'd forgotten to pack :P
the kosher-for-passover cookies i bought before we hit the traffic jam after afula were great: marvellously morish, they kept me going for the first two days of the festival :D
we stopped by my cousin's kibbutz for a delightful couple of hours, and left fairly late. we stopped to pick up coffee around 22.55, and this is important because that meant we were *just* in time to purchase araq before sales curfew. one shouldn't arrive at a festival without alcohol, that's just not cricket!
what a difference, being the driver. last year got me so used to stressing about hitching, bussing, and walking... this was a pleasure.
the festival. d-d-d-d-d-d-DOOF. four days of mayhem. and, all told, about five hours of sleep - the double mattress had a hole in it so resting time was rocky and at awkward angles. we got there the night before and set up without any hassles, except for my own personal awkwardness. on the first morning - which was a bit rainy - pg and i ran around sorting out the sign posting once the police pre-inspection was underway; on friday afternoon, with ten minutes to go until my eight-hour shift as a parking attendant, i wrote out my villanelle on the graffiti wall and then headed out to the trenches.
being a parking attendant in israel is an experience. some of the people were okay, but the vast majority required individual explanations (and we're talking about a *lot* of people) as to why they couldn't park wherever they liked: i felt like a kindergarten teacher half the time. and every time one person gave me shit they distracted me from another two or three who were doing something just as bad or worse.
at some point, i found myself being attacked (verbally) by an ars who was explaining to me why someone "with a job like mine" shouldn't be trying so hard or thinking too much. i don't know why i didn't inform him that i was a volunteer. the thing that bothered me more than his aggressive tone was his racism. i've mentioned before how unimpressed i am by the vilifying of civilization, and this asshole didn't stop calling me "ashkenazi" in the pejorative. when i responded in a way that i hoped would make him realize his stupidity, he continued by slurring his own friend for being of yemenite background. his behaviour was so aggressive that i felt uncomfortable with pg having rocked up at that very moment, because i was terrified that he'd associate us and have a go at her too...
the sad / amusing thing was seeing that same asshole two days later on the dancefloor, obviously extremely high and standing amongst the crowd looking sage and mystical. much like with chc, i often wonder what happens to the stupid / narrow-minded on lsd. i hope i never find out.
to offset the unpleasant people, there were a couple of nice ones and a lot of smiles and waves. i was particularly grateful to the woman whose partner parked in *exactly* the wrong spot while he went to pick up tickets, but made a point of helping me out and before they moved brought me a vodka redbull in a cup and a can of redbull for the rest of my shift. i saved that for another day :)
once the main parking lot was full we were all sent down to maximise the use of the lower one. hours of planning and coercing people to park considerately was edifying; it's incredible how much space you have when people don't leave half-car lengths between them and manage to park parallel to one another :P
i haven't seen dp's nephew in a year, and seeing his dreads was inspiring. i now know that i should be ready to have a go by this time next year :D
notable sets prior to sunday: sensual squeak, dirty saffie
i once again thank india for teaching me how to comfortably use public facilities.
i got a fair amount of reading done in the first couple of days; in retrospect i should have been reading something study-related, but i was on holiday and survival of the sickest
is amazing!there weren't a lot of options as far as food and drinks were concerned, but the selection wasn't bad and pg and i had backstage passes so we ate really well a couple of times.
i was amused to meet a couple of the people on the dancefloor who are staying in my apartment. apparently, my pad can handle four european girls simultaneously, and has surprised them by exceeding their expectations ^_^
on the second evening i'd had far too much to drink, and had difficulty with basic motor skills. that was also when my left arm really began to act up. i'm experiencing pain on either side of my elbow, and it takes me back to what i suspect was the original cause.
sunday morning was *cold*. and i became absolutely convinced that the chemical toilets were much cleaner and simpler to use than the "real" ones which were constantly backed up.
azax syndrome is always a good start; i wasn't too sure about the paganka people though...
and then the fun began. at 2pm i missioned to the dirty beach, entering the water only to walk out soon afterwards because i wasn't comfortable with its lack of cleanliness...
the paganka stage was rocking. i met up with some friends who introduced me to friends of theirs... a couple of dodgy-seeming folk who introduced me to *their* friends... but the floor was anything but dodgy. it was beautiful. the music was mind-blowing, the smiling craziness all around, the perfect sunset through the haze of the sprinklers and mud splashing...
ears, eyes and feet
in this maelstrom of paradise
fantasy turned reality becomes
illusion
a now
forever
all of the nows
and this now,
forever
becomes the reality, is the reality
for it's more real
than the
figment of fantasy
than those outside our
cabal of communication
our whirlpools of discourse
swirling in droplets of rainbow pleasure
drizzling over our
prehistoric
primeval
sunset
the most surreal experience: stepping out of our tent in the evening only to be confronted by a girl fleeing security, jumping over the fence and screaming her goodbyes to us, seemingly personally. in my hazy state i couldn't figure out if i was supposed to recognize her or not... they caught her, and we couldn't figure out afterwards if she was just someone who'd snuck into the festival or if she'd tried to escape from something outside of it.
i knew that from 2am things were going to go crazy, so i tried to rest after organic's set. not so easy when the bass makes your body bounce even when prone. at 1am the sound seemed to fade out; that was when the dj began playing with the surround and it was magnificent even from 200m away.
2am: get up and dig. the music was preposterously good the entire night, totally indifferent to human physiology's need to sleep. i couldn't stop stomping until the final set, and even though i'm not a big fan of minimal it was so well-integrated with the full-on... bottom line: happiness overload. so many people going so crazy... and all remarkably similar to the last one. time really does stop for doof.
so: hearing loss, sore legs and chafing. on the brighter side, i think i know what my hair's going to look like dreaded. pg and i struck camp, but i got struck down in the process. i was truly exhausted. the goodbyes were... awkward. i was incoherent, and said remarkably stupid things. swak. to make matters worse, i was in no state to drive so pg had to take the wheel... at least we had space for a hitch-hiker. i like being able to "pass it forward" :P
once home, we did some shopping and then went straight to bed.
tuesday:
the technician arrived to set up the internet, and told us that to actually get it to work we'd have to call support and have them talk us through it. i called immediately while he and pg were still sorting out the paperwork, only to discover that there's no reasonable way to get hold of support.
fantastic.
when i told him this, he explained that he was aware of the difficulties and would help us, even though he usually charges for the assistance. WTF?!?!
anyway, so we have internet at home now. that meant that i could video-chat with my sister (w00t!) and work on my seminar paper. a good thing, too: that's all i did until 3am the next morning. the final grind was tough.
wednesday:
so i went to bed, and then woke up an hour or two later feeling sick as a dog. my throat was scratchy (as it is right now, on-and-off painful), and soon after i was so cold that i dragged myself out of bed to heat up in a hot shower. then i tried passing out on the couch so that i wouldn't disturb pg.
the bus to campus: i was *dead*. literally falling over. printing out my paper and handing it in seemed like a dream at the time, and i haven't yet experienced the catharsis that should've accompanied the action. it's like i cannot absorb the fact that it's finally done.
we had a class on sound poetry which required two cups of coffee to get through, and i sat with co-conspirator to advise her on her paper before stretching out on the grass with a couple of classmates to rest and chat. then i took a bus to herzeliya so that i could help mmf drive cars back to tel aviv.
on entering herzeliya: the guy with the hummer? all i could think of was "tiny penis". that was in opposition to the middle-aged guy who came careening past on his skateboard, and is made of win. i feel embarrassed for people who need to satisfy their egos with suits and expensive cars.
mmf and i both talk with our hands. i accidentally swatted his iphone out of his, which was embarrassing and unpleasant :$
after spending some time at his place (i suck at reading to children, apparently) and discussing work and studies, he introduced me to iphone multi-tasking and laughed at my lack of familiarity with something so basic. why on earth would i ever double-tap the button??? that's not very intuitive, IMO.
on the way home i stopped by the hardware dude to discuss hardware and psychedelics, and when i got in i went straight to bed. i woke up for dinner and went to my apartment to pick up mail and my doof shirt (^_^), and have a drink with the girls who have invaded my apartment. i'm well pleased at both the condition its in and that they're enjoying it. that's all i asked :)
i came home to study for the midterm and get some sleep. sleeping well was a shock after the previous week :P
thursday:
an early wake up, and a post office blunder: when i receive a slip from the post office telling me that there's a package waiting, i expect it to have been delivered AFTER they're ready for me to take it. this is not the first time that's happened to me, either... i cannot fathom how they're sending me an invitation to pick up something that they don't yet know they have. i don't see why they can't send the slips on the day that the items become available. i'm not a professional postal worker, but i can't see it being particularly complicated to do right. someone has informed me that the postman usually has the package in hand when he is putting the slip in the post-box; when he finishes his round, he puts it in the district post office to be delivered to the local one.
why not leave it at the local one?
on the bus to class i was listening to music, and even through the trance blasting through my headphones i could hear the sounds from the guy next to me. that can't be good for his ears.
i was distracted for most of the first class, and we got back our grades from the midterm... i got a sucky grade. i'm now in pretty much the same situation that i was in in the first semester :S
second class was our shakespeare midterm - now, i don't know if i'm going to get a good grade or not but i *enjoyed* writing the paper. as expected, our masterful lecturer did *not* demand any memorization. he asked interesting questions that made us think. my second answer could easily have been expanded into a seminar paper that i would have been proud to write :)
one of our poetry society members followed me to lunch - i like him, but he's a really slow communicator and i was still unfocused. we discussed linux and seminars, and then i abandoned him to go get some work done. the hour in the labs went by quickly, and i'm finally relaxed about what i have to do. then i went to the vardi prize awards ceremony.
the lecturer came from prague. his slides were unreadable and his speech hard to follow - he was reading a paper he'd written and that never works. we were listless and confused - most of us, anyways - but every now and again* he'd say something that was so remarkably interesting that i'd realize that i actually like what he has to say. just not how he has to say it :P
* for a grand total of about ten minutes out of his hour and a half
our hat-wearing italian annoyed him with a question on "ontological fragmentation": it's always nice to have a smart man slam that sort of bullshit.
anime night - not too many people showed up. we had a new girl arrive, whose good looks totally captivated botchman, and neither her nor the only other regular who'd showed up had seen hunter x hunter* so we watched a couple of episodes until botchman and another regular showed up. then we watched some more guyver, and finally began galaxy express 999.
* wow. i only just realized that it's pronounced "hunter hunter"
a pity that botchman had to leave so soon, because galaxy express 999 is freakin' AWESOME. two words: space pirates. another two words: space steampunk. kick - ass. the music's great too. the only problem is that it's really, really, really long, and we didn't check the running-time beforehand. so we watched about three quarters of it and will have to continue some other time.
i wanted to go to the doof-on-the-roof party but pg and i had a misunderstanding when i got home that put me in such a foul mood that i didn't want to any more. by the time things had cooled down and senses of humour had been regained we were both exhausted... so we watched some more one piece and then went to bed.
proper sleep. *happy sigh*
friday:
when i said to the man who hooted next to me* this morning "thank you! i'm right here!" he responded that it wasn't meant for me.
oh! that makes it okay then.
that was followed by some idiot screaming and hooting at an old guy whose parking was interfering with his getting to the red light. i was almost at the post-office when everyone on the sidewalk jumped at a long, evil hoot followed by some jerk screaming "WHAT'S THIS?! WHAT'S THIS?!" at an old guy parking on the side of the road... then stopping immediately at the traffic light. it really does my nut in. what i really wanted to do was walk up to his window and repeat his cries, but i suspect he may have been armed.
it amazes me that everyone who laughs at me for being upset tells me that i should just accept the situation - but why can't those drivers just accept the situation that they're not the only drivers on the road? i sense hypocrisy. and unnecessary aggressive behaviour.
* when i say "next to me", his window was open and his head was right next to mine. the guy he was hooting at was driving slowly, but was already turning out of his way rendering the hooting completely useless. when i spoke to him, it was in a normal speaking voice because i didn't need to raise it.
the a truck passed me by with a loud grunt and a door-slap by the driver. that was surprising and weird.
the doctor's visit was simple and uninteresting. i like those.
on my way back from the clinic, i found myself staring disapprovingly at someone who had intended to walk away from his dog's... ummm... relief. i cannot understand a grown man that needs a look or a word to remind him to clean up after his dog.
of all the places to run into an israeli poet on the side of the road... we've just received a suggestion of city council cooperation in organizing something and i'm beginning to send out invitations and ideas... after picking up my package, urchin called and is rallying other troops as well ^_^
i met with one of my fellow completion course members over breakfast at coffeeholic, and we discussed travelling in south africa and polygraph examinations. then i went home to unpack pg's birthday gifts and verify that they're as awesome as promised :))
i spent an hour or two playing with google gadgets before joining pg, her mother and her sister in a slow friday blade. it was a beginner's group, and it was fun!
dinner was great, although my arm's getting progressively more painful. pg and i watched one piece afterwards, i put into practice my cunning plan on transcribing a few pages of my travel diary every day before bedtime.
today:
i can't believe i've finally gotten through this! now to nap again, then work and study. 'cause one must ;)
inspired by increased knowledge of dairy products: little miss muffet
english vs american: there're the differences, and then there are really alternative spellings
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