Sunday, September 28, 2008

jamoke-tastical fun


last night i was submerged into the fixed gear hipster counter culture of Missoula. free cycles is Missoula's version of the Hub (in Bellingham), but they throw a much better party. the shop has high ceilings littered with random bikes and forlorn rims, the wood floors are in good shape besides grease stains, and the place is generally in good order. 

after hosting the 1st annual alley cat messenger bike race yesterday, the United Cyclists of MT regrouped at Free Cycles with a free keg of Big Sky slow elk in tow. after taping the keg at 8pm, we pulled out radical and mix&match bikes to engage in some ol' fashioned combat. 

after mounting our mini-bikes similar to that of the ZooBombers of Portland, we began our jousting matches. my roommate and i entered the first two bouts and we were handily beaten. i managed to throw my opponent off his bike in the first round, but i was sent flying into a pile of broken bikes in the second round and left with a bleeding ankle after the third round. 

the bikes were cleared and wrenches, broken bikes and buckets emerged. everyone gathered in a circle as one fixie hipster began to beat box, others started wailing on the bikes with the wrenches in a chaotic beat...and we began a flow sesh. just a bunch of 20-ish year old white dudes wearing capris, hipster bike t-shirts and bike hats attempting to flow. it was pitiful and glorious. im just glad slater wasnt there.

all in all it was a glorious night. i met a 70 year old dude at free cycles from Guatemala that turned out to be a huge perve, a gorgeous 19 year old from Alaska (who is Palin's third cousin twice removed and can field dress a moose), and finished my night off at the Rhino playing shuffle board against a 30 year old law student from upstate new york. le cougar.

if i only would have got the number of the 19 year old

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

chemicals chemicals, i need chemicals

week two of missoula: work, chemicals and cous cous

i've deemed myself ready to return to the world of chemicals. not in a George Hayduke way but a re-entry has occurred nevertheless. after 6 completely sober weeks i drank a ceremonious High Life with mike davies, katrina and trish while playing a shirtless beer point signaling the end of our sectionals ultimate tournament. actually, i was the only one shirtless.

i started training at City Brew as a barista yesterday. the managers are 31 year old males and the baristas are 20 year old-ish college students. mostly all girls. i was also hired at a swanky bistro on a golf course called Shadow's Keep. the menu is small, mostly Mediterranean, and pretty straight forward. i start tomorrow.

im running low on money so my life is filled with cous cous, carrots and burnt pastries with coffee from City Brew. my roommate and i are brewing a 5 gallon batch of IPA and im dehydrating fruit, black beans and quinoa. this is life for now.




Monday, September 15, 2008

hi...are you 19 or 27? thanks


so i cruised by U of M pickup tonight and saw 55 of missoula's finest ultimate players displaying their athletic prowess. i picked up with a team called the TH seagulls. now that's original. the standard uniform consisted of homemade capris, awkward dreadlocks, bare feet and tie dye, or a conglomeration of all of the above. luckily nobody was hurt. its always fun hanging out in a college scene and realizing that some of the girls recently turned 18 and others are 26 year old grad students. its amazing how blurred the line is becoming. back me up jcd.

and then there is the job hunt...
5, 10, 19, 50? how many blasted garbage restaurants, gear shops, grocery stores, bike shops, and sandwich and pizza joints do i have to apply to before someone throws some money at me.

right now i'm at 19 and recently heard another college educated girl reached 37 before she landed a lucrative job at....johnny carino's. i can just imagine it.

"hi, im ethan and i'll be your server today! (insert fake smile and gelled hair) Can I get you started with some drinks? Great! I could use a drink too! Im gonna run back into the utility closet and shotgun a 8% tilt and I'll be right back ok? Great, thanks!

also, i've come to the sad realization that 3 out of my 4 roommates are jamokes. undoubtedly. im going to do some careful observation throughout the next week and then i'll provide case by case profiles. hopefully with pics. Lord help us all.

ps. lomen, did you forget you have a blog? with all of my unemployed time floating around i need some new reading material. get some!

Friday, September 12, 2008

thrill of the hunt


life in missoula has begun. breakfast of mate and life. i spend my mornings sending my resume to every guiding company that i can lay my hands on while listening to daft punk at a blistering volume. then lunch with jo. next a few hours pounding the pavement attempting to convince local employers i'm a legetimate human being and since i am a legitimate human being, they should pay me. i feel like i should be able to 'challenge' a current employee to a showdown and after i run circles around them, i earn their position. apparently it doesnt work that way in missoula. evenings of brown rice and potatoes, more mate, john steinbeck, bon iver and an episode of House...my new favorite show.

i'm moving into a house on the rattlesnake river, about a 10 min bike ride north of downtown missoula. its quiet, in the foothills, near the river and my roomates are rad. i hope. the owner of the house is el capitan of the missoula triathalon club and works for Adventure Cycles as a tour and logistics coordinator. perhaps my dream job. it seems he spends more time riding than working. turns out that everyone in the house and most the neighborhood runs ultras, bikes and hates tv. mostly. i move in sunday. stay tuned for individual profiles on roomates. there is bound to be at least one jamoke in the house. maybe its me.

Friday, September 5, 2008

the perfect job...and my road to Missoula


Some obvious facts:
I am a white male, grew up in a 2 parent home in white-christian-upper middle class suberbia, enjoy a stable family life, am proud owner of a college degree and truck of which I contributed nothing towards (monetarily) and have been given every advantage I could ask for.

So my life seems to go something like this (in a very crud and simplified model):
birth
childhood
school
college
job
adulthood?
family
retirement
death

So what happens when you arrive to the job part, and you receive an offer from a company that ties together your skills, passions and interests perfectly. They want to pay you a healthy salary, benefits, 10 weeks vacation, free personal travel home for Christmas, a 30 hr work week, a moving package complete with food vouchers, hotels and a resort condo, and finally commit to a long term endeavor. A commitment that can be summed up by a word I have come to fear.

lifer

They want me to put me on this road...the lifer road.

Its interesting what your 'dream job' looks like which you are in college, and then how much of a nightmare is can be when faced with all the realities it actually entails. For now, I am still a student of the Henry H. Lightcap theory. He said (loosely),

"Thoreau once said a man can live an entire year off 6 weeks hard work, but Thoreau didn't have to deal with the bills and garbage I am facing, so I intend to live off of 6 months hard work."

I'd rather work 8 months and life simply the other 4 months while traveling, hiking, touring and exploring than work 50 weeks a year and live comfortably with a plush savings account and 401k. I understand that at some point my responsibilities will catch up to me and force me to work more, but until then I fully intend to work hard, save, and then experience every bit of nature possible.

So I said no. No thanks. Maybe next year. Maybe.

Stupid? Maybe. Will I look back in 10 yrs, 20 yrs, or 30yrs and regret this decision or will I be looking back, smiling, and cherishing the months I was able to travel, spend time in Missoula with my sis (probably my new home for the next year) and family/friends elsewhere, and experience people and places I've never imagined.

I think the answer is obvious.