Jonathan Field - Maker of Random Stuff

My second night in New Orleans was very different and also very fun. Kris knew an old college friend here, so he gave me her number. She suggested a local’s bar outside the quarter that served tapas, so we hit that spot and chilled out.

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Today New Orleans seems just like a wonderfully quaint Euro/US city. Go figure.

I got a excellent tour of one of the graveyards. I got a mild sunburn. I ate rabbit and smoked sausage jambalaya.

Now it’s raining and I’m hiding out in a garden cafe with a latte and a chocolate chip cookie.

No idea what I’m doing tonight, but I just found out I’ve got a friend of a friend to call.

I don’t think New Orleans is actually part of the US. It is some kind of warp into another dimension. I have been to 5 out of the 7 continents, and I’ve never seen anything like it. South Africa and Chile are like Disneyland in comparison. Las Vegas is like a bowl of Cheerios.

Of course, this is all based on but one evening in town, but it was a fun and crazy evening.

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Eric just sent me an HD version of Matt Harding’s latest dancing video. Much nicer and I think for this video it makes a big difference being able to see the expressions and such.

Also noticed in the comments that I’m not the only person brought to tears by this. I find it very interesting that something so random, so abstract, so simple and seemingly unsentimental can bring out similar emotion in otherwise unconnected people.

Not that it would make any sense to anyone out there, but if they’re going to throw something on the next Voyager disc, I nominate this.

I’ve been a fan of Matt Harding since the beginning. He’s the dude who danced all around the world and put it on video.

He just released his latest dancing video, number 3, which I think is a nice expansion on the theme.

I get emotional and choked up watching these videos. Bonus points to anyone who understands why.

Remember, bonus points can be redeemed for valuable prizes!

I’ve been in Florida for the past several days, visiting with the family and prepping for a trip back to Las Vegas with all my stored goodies in tow. Musical equipment mainly, and some other odds and ends. All things to make my place feel more like my place.

For the drive I bought a Toyota Corolla. That’s my new (used) car, and with a little luck I’m hoping it’ll last me for the next five years. It’s not as nice as the Prius I sold last year, but it’s also not as expensive, and I don’t want to spend that kind of money right now. It’s supposed to get pretty great gas mileage for a non-hybrid, but I’ll reserve judgement until I’m on the road.

I’ll probably leave by the end of this week… after I get my iPod hookup installed. Drive cross country without my tunes? I can’t go for that. No. No can do.

On the trip I plan to hit New Orleans, Austin, Albuquerque, and the Grand Canyon. All new for me. A leisurely pace of nine days, I expect.

I’m sad about some things. I’m hopeful about others. Such is life.

Today is the five year anniversary of the death of a friend of mine: Andrew Phillips. I knew him since high school, and he took his own life rather peacefully in 2003 without explanation.

We didn’t spend all that much time together, but he was one of the most fearlessly creative and inquisitive minds I’ve known. He sparked more than a few “whoa” moments for me, and many laughs, in our rambling conversations late into the night while nearby computers churned out frame after frame of shoddy 3D.

Today I also randomly happened across an interview with Douglas Hofstadter. He’s the author of GEB, a book that deeply changed the way I think about the human mind. The interview touches on the notion of immortality through memories. I couldn’t help but think about Andrew as I read it.

Incidentally Andrew was the source of the copy of GEB that I read, and a fan of synchronicity.

I don’t believe in the supernatural at all, but I admit that I like things that seem supernatural.

Also about dying and being immortal: I’ve moved to Las Vegas again.