adrian is rad

Last night I put ice cream between two Hob Nob milk chocolate digestives. It was incredible.

Some days I have no choice but come to the conclusion that I’m the smartest person alive.

I bought a bike this week. It’s road bike, a few years old. It runs well. I’m going to modify the set up a bit to make it more into an around-town bike, but I’m liking it so far.

(I’m definitely getting rid of the red bar tape.)

I never mentioned this. It’s a start.

It’s appropriate to say “I’m just looking around” in response to “Can I help you?” in just about any store, except hardware stores. You should always be looking for something in a hardware store unless you want funny looks. If you don’t have something in mind, I suggest “picture hooks.”

I got new scissors today. The packaging is marked “Cutting Series.” I wonder what other series of scissors they have?

Two instances:

• A couple weeks ago, running late for lunch with the friend, I parked at the wrong restaurant, so went to get back into my car to drive to the right one. I got in the left front seat and looked for the steering wheel.
• A few days ago, distracted by a whole host of things, I made a left on red. That is not legal in South Africa.

Remember that time I wanted to get new underwear and I couldn’t find where to get the ones I wanted. I went to Macy’s and Nordstrom’s and all those places and you said, no, you should just try Walgreen’s. I said, no, no, Walgreen’s won’t have them! I mean, Walgreen’s!

And then I found them at Walgreen’s?

That was funny.

A runner got arrested for flicking off SA President Jacob Zuma.

Maxwele was jogging on Cape Town’s De Waal Drive just before 6pm last Wednesday when a convoy of six government cars sped past him.

“I waved them away, as if to say ‘hamba’, because of the noise. After that a black BMW X5 pulled up and three guys jumped out, pointing guns at me,” Maxwele told Sowetan.

Say you want about the current or past US administrations but I think they would at least respect one’s right to flick them off.

Part 1: It’s raining on my plants. This wouldn’t be a problem if they weren’t in my room. My hats—I have a collection, six, hanging by my plants—are also getting wet. The carpets. But no electronics. That’s good. The hallway above was flooded by the cleaning lady. She is coming down to clean up the mess. No big damage.

Part 2: I took a minibus taxi for the first time in Cape Town today. (I’ve taken them in rural areas before.) They’re pretty easy: just flag one down, get on, pay the fare and then tell them where you want to get off. They usually have a two person team: the driver and the shouter. Well, I’ll call him the shouter—he shouts out the destination and also takes your fare. On the way back, the shouter’s line was “Cape Town! Waterfront! Table Mountain! 2010!@” I laughed at this along with some of the other passengers.

I’ve realized recently that my favorite way to nap is the following, which overtook dozing on the couch while watching TV:

• on my bed, at a slight angle across it
• on top of the covers
• feet hanging off the end and head below the pillows
• arms folded under my head

Who knows why.

I’ve seen very few of the Superbowl ads but I liked this NFL ad with music from the Arcade Fire.

Odd things about watching the Super Bowl outside of the country:

• None of the commercials. Well, there were commercials but they were all EPSN’s own commercials about its programs. They repeated often—there are lots of commercial breaks during the Super Bowl—and got old quickly.
• The announcers for the ESPN International broadcast were different than the ones for the US (CBS?) broadcast. Big differences:
  • They referred to the sport as “American Football”.
  • They explained many more rules than the normal American broadcasts do, including ones that seem quite obvious to me. They also explained what a “slot receiver” was. Despite this they left unexplained many other football terms, guards “pulling”, names for routes, various penalties, and intricacies of various positions.

So that was strange. But it was a fun game! Go team!

Notes on my new room[1]:

1. My room is color coordinated. I mean, not ridiculously so, but things generally match. When did I start caring?[2]
2. Who doesn’t want a man cave? Unfortunately my room is closer to just a cave.

[1] I moved last week.

[2] Probably when I moved to SA and bought all my room things at the same time.

Fun exchange while chatting with a friend the other day. I’m not quite sure how much of the humor translates without all the context.

me: yp
wow, brilliant typing
friend: you are a skilled typist
me: there’s a reason I’ve made my name in the field

…

[later, after I told him not to worry about me dating someone in particular]

friend: I’m not at all worried
about you making a move
ON ANYOEN
oh damn
undone by poor typing
it’s like I’m you!
me: haha
it’s because you have giant fingers
that are unsuited to normal sized keyboards
friend: it’s true
you should see me type on the G1
me: like a clown in a midget[1] car!
friend: everybody needs an automobile!
this was the largest car I could afford!

[1] Of course I mean a very small car, not necessarily one made for or used by little people.

So the One AM Radio is having a contest with their new song (found here or at the myspace page) and I’m trying to put off some other work, so I’m going to enter. The contest: Ok, let’s do this: the first person to transcribe all the lyrics correctly will get a prize. Type them out, and post them on your facebook page, your blog, website, or something like that, and send us the link.

It’s a good song, by the way. I recommend checking it out.

Oh oh oh oh oh (4x)

A old photo of your new lover
That you discovered in a book she left
Shot in some sun-drenched piazza
Or whatever in Rome or where ever it is she went.
There a sly glint in her eye
And you can only guess at what it might have meant

There’s a world without you.
There’s a world without you.
Oh oh oh oh oh (2x)

A new photo of your old lover
That you discovered to your chagrin
It’s been so long since it all went sunder
That you stopped wondering where she’s been.
Her hair’s changed. Her clothes are strange
At a party where the likes of you would never get in.

There’s a world without you.
Yeah, there’s a world without you.
There’s a world without you.
Yeah, there’s a world without you.

You don’t want the news if you’re not a part of it.
Even if it’s true you still fall apart a bit.
You don’t want the news if you’re not at the heart of it.
Even if it’s true.
Even if it’s true.

You don’t want the news if you’re not a part of it.
Even if it’s true you still fall apart a bit.
You don’t want the news if you’re not at the heart of it.
Even if it’s true.
Even if it’s true.

There’s a world without you.
Yeah, there’s a world without you.
There’s a world without you.
Yeah, here’s a world without you.

Oh

Oh oh oh oh oh (8x)

As far as I know, the only person to design multiple nation’s flags is Frederick Brownell who designed South Africa’s and Namibia’s.

My pony is trotting off into a field of bulls. He is not supposed to. He is supposed to be going down the steep hill. Vincent is yelling instructions.

His name is Power; I like to think of him as POWER. We’ve been walking along a flat dirt path now for a few miles. It’s been easy; surprisingly easy if you consider this is the first time I can remember riding a horse. I’m starting to think I’m good at this. Perhaps I’m preternaturally gifted at riding horses.

But I’m not. It’s just been easy. Vincent, our Besotho guide, arrives at the top of a steep hill, with a path covered with smooth, round rocks, and starts heading down without a hitch. POWER does not head down as easily. “Pull hard to the right! Hiy! Hiy!” I do what Vincent says. After walking through the bulls we’re back at the top of the hill. This time POWER starts the descent.

It’s very steep and POWER loses his footing on the loose rocks but finds it again quickly; this happens many times. I’m jarred. I’m jarred again. My heart’s racing and my knuckles are white on the reins. I’m starting to think we’ve made a big mistake. Is it too late to turn back?

We don’t turn back. My momentarily terror lessens to the point where even the steep parts seem quite normal. It’s beautiful out here. The roof of Africa, they call it; the lush green mountains with red dirt strips are gorgeous. It’s very sparse out here, very rural.

I think a lot about my gradfather’s journey through these parts seventy four years before. I can’t imagine him doing this alone, with even fewer resources and even less development. He must have been an strong man.

I don’t remember much of him; he died while I was still young and half a world away. He helped me make a tiny table and chair out of wood once with the kid’s tool set that I’d just gotten. He must have been patient as well as strong.

POWER’s stumbles-and-refooting become common place. I wonder if Grandpa’s horse stumbled, too.