words, words, words

This is Luke’s fat cat.
It is enormous but sweet.

San Francisco, California

Luke and I went to the Muir Woods today. This is a really cool spot if you like big trees. And big they are, really big. Over 200 feet tall. They are coastal redwoods. I didn’t hug any, but I did pet one. It purred.
I bought a giant sequoia seed. As soon as I see myself in one place for a while, I will be growing a giant sequoia. In 2000 years it will be fun although it may affect the resale of the house.

I found a new job.
I am going hunting for whale puke. (aka ambergris, floating gold, grey amber)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4642722.stm
Specifically, sperm whale puke (Physeter catodon). It washes up on the beach.

Today was a trip up to the base off the Hollywood sign. The plan is an art project, something about the emptiness of fame and folly of our obsession with it. It is hard to get to the sign, though and there are video cameras. Here is a picture of base-camp, though, and someday I will make the ascent. Tensing Norgay - where are you?

After I got sashimi, took a nap and went and saw Munich. I also went for a spin down Hollywood Blvd. to look at the freaks.

Today I got up and had breakfast at Fred 62. Then went to the La Brea Tar Pits with my friend Tiffany. I thought it was pretty interesting. It is a spot where oil and natural gas bubble up in Hollywood (no salt dome or other feature to trap the oil, so no drilling). The tar pits contain the largest collection of Ice Age fossils in the world. Mastodons, Saber-Toothed Cats, Giant Sloths, Lions, Bears, etc., all lived in L.A. before all the famous people. Oh to bring them back! Most of the animals starved to death after getting their feet stuck in the tar. Dire Wolves seemed to have the worst luck. So this all happened between 10 and 40 thousand years ago. There are no dinosaurs and only one person. People they think arrived in California around 14,000 years ago. Of course, sloughing their way from Africa-ca-ca (<— insert echo here). Then I got sushi at another friend’s house. It was quite good. I think I am going to try and eat sushi every day that I am here. I’m going to do some reading on Buddhism and Jung.

I am in L.A. People here are nice, they all say “hi” to you. People even chat to each other at red lights. Not like the East Coast where you only yell at people in other cars. Bizarre.
I went into a canyon for a hike with a friend.
All the L.A.ites were there walking their dogs and checking people out to see if they were famous. I am not.
It is a lot warmer than S.F.

I’m going to L.A. tomorrow for an undisclosed period of time.

Due to a number of reasons, not the least of which is the owner of a hotel being a jerk, I will be publishing a guide to surfing Ecuador and the Galapagos, on a budget, for any fellow surfers that want to go feral instead of paying too much for a tour. I will be including driving instructions, GPS coordinates, tides, best time of the year and a number of spots.
So if you want to go on a cheap surf trip in the Galapagos Islands or mainland Ecuador, send me an email and I will send you a copy of the article. bkoplitz@gmail.com

Ok, I’m still in San Francisco and today I am annoyed.
What is the deal with all the door-to-door zen masters? It seems like apathy, under the guise of “spirituality” has take over. The only change is going to happen through dedicated and angry people. Not the groovy. Didn’t the 60’s teach us anything?
I was strolling down Haight street today and was amazed at the number of people selling dope or talking to themselves.
Sad.

I am in San Francisco visiting brother Luke. Today I flew into Oakland at 9:00 AM PST, meaning I was up at 4:00 AM EST, or 1:00 AM PST. So needless to say, I had to take a small nap. I was powered by a bunch of coffee all day, and it wore off with a thud. So like an a typical American, being someplace new means that I had to eat a lot of different food. Yes, they are even fat in San Francisco.
From the beginning of the flight I got a swift dealing of Californitude. A fat family was arguing at full volume at 5:30 in the morning. Shut the fuck up, please. (This is going to be a recurring theme, so buckle up.)
We went first to Four Seas, a “safe” Chinese restaurant in China town. I ate far too much. All the food was pretty much unidentifiable, and we would ask the server and she would say what it was and we would still look at each other looking for some clue from the other; and receiving shrugs would plough into the strange food. For desert I bought a tapioca drink which rocked and Luke had a taste of Durian ice cream. I just had a whiff and the smell, which is a mixture of decomposing meat and the water in the bottom of a dumpster behind a Popeye’s Fried Chicken was enough to make my stomach churn.
Then we went to look at the sea lions. They are big, noisy and very fuzzy.
After that we went to the Aquarium, where one of Luke’s friends works diving into the tanks and feeding sharks. Just about the coolest job on Earth. We went behind the scenes, which was super-cool, and petted some stingrays.
Finally, I had some seaweed salad and we went out for pizza at night. It was a good day, entirely fueled by coffee. Now I sleep.