Thoughts for the Cubically Inclined...: The name of the game is negotiations

Hey friends--time to get you caught up again on what's happening in the great state of CA. As I sit writing this, I'm snacking on plain organic yogurt, raisins, oats and dried dates all mixed together. No, California hasn't changed me into a crazy, tree-hugging, nature loving health nut (although i do like nature). It's just that the Doritos have been open for two weeks and are getting stale.

So let me see--lots of stuff has happened as usual, so I'll just some fun moments. I'm still closing in on the job decisions, but have managed to negotiate my way into a pretty little signing bonus so you'll know soon when I make my decision. What else...a little while back, Nicole and I went to help out our friend Marcy in taking the kids she teaches on a field trip to the park. Marcy runs a class for an after-school program at an elementry school in east oakland, which is sort of like the Ill Hoods for those of you who need a comparison--generally a little bit ghetto. So picture me in a group of maybe 50 elementry school kids, mostly Mexican and African American, not a single Caucausian in the mix--needless to say, my blue eyes were a big hit ;) Anyways tons of fun, the kids are incredbily cute--one kid, Jose, tried to teach me love poems in Spanish to say to Nicole (Me gustas Pepsi, me gustas Coke, something something something i like the taste of your lips even more...damn i need to learn more Spanish). I ran the basketball station and refereed/participated in some pretty intense games of 3 on 3 ;) Also, while sitting in the bleachers and keeping an eye on Cesar and Maceio, I had a conversation with an elderly man dressed all in black--apparently his son had been killed in that same park a year earlier when he was shot 13 times. Although we went on to discuss the importance of providing mentors for kids at an early age, I was sort of struck by what felt to me like a pretty extreme contrast between what i was used to, and what I was hearing about in Oakland. I'm not sure if it's a Canadian/US thing, or just obviously that I grew up in a good neighborhood, but it made me think...sad to hear about that man's loss, but interesting and a little touching to hear his thoughts on how to help young people get a good start.

What else...oh, went to see Manu Chao last night at the Bill Graham auditorium in SF with Nicole, Prya, Marcy, Nadia and Armando, which was a ton of fun. The whole show was super high energy, way too many hippies dancinc their crazy hippie dances, but aside from that, really awesome. And on the topic of music, got to hear my friend Raul play bass with a little combo at an outdoor pizza joint, which was kinda fun. Definately am missing music and performance a little bit, so I'm hoping to hook up with Raul and do some playing, maybe fool around in the studio a little bit.

Finally, I've made some sweet new purchases! In order to tell their story, I've enclosed something of a photo essay. I hope you enjoy!