hablando solo

I ride around on these little tram things in Hong Kong all the time, and they don’t have windows. There’s a picture of one in the previous entry. When it’s hot, you sweat, and when it rains, you get wet. It really makes me feel like a part of the summer. It’s not that bad, really; it kind of reminds me of Houston a little bit. I have this Texas-pride thing that denies that there is any weather, anywhere, that can be worse than Houston summers. Sure, we complain about it all the time back home, how hot and humid it is, but I think deep down we’re just proud. Nowhere can beat our bad weather, we’re convinced. You’ll find us thinking along this same thread when it comes to pretty much everything that has to do with Texas. Hong Kong is nice, though, because I can remind myself that the beach is just around the corner, and I’m in a tropical paradise. And that makes the heat and the humidity not so bad.

I ran into this crazy fish last week, in a tank at a design firm I was visiting. It would just rest on the bottom of the tank and then jump up and chase other fish, and it could rapidly change from dark gray to light gray. It looked a bit intimidating, as far as fish go; it reminded me of a bulldog, in a way. There was an amazing pink one, but it was very elusive. If there’s one thing that blows my mind here, it’s the marine life. The first time I came, I saw animals I never even knew existed, the strangest crabs and lobsters and shrimp. I’ll try to find pictures of some of those soon. The trees, too – those blow my mind. There is a little park which has trees with orange flowers all in bloom, and they scatter their petals all about the sidewalk. It would be a good place to think romantic things, I would imagine. Other trees are gnarled and twisted with roots and vines, the real jungle trees, constant reminders that we’re in a tropical place, and we should probably go hike soon. They are polite reminders, because they were trained in etiquette while the British were here. Subtle, but appreciated.

I’ve been going crazy over this Gaslight Anthem song this week, their new single. Aestival is how I’d describe it. That’s one of my favorite words. I didn’t know what it meant when I first read it – ‘of, or pertaining to, summer’, is the definition. An inspiring topic with a main friend recently has been finding words which perfectly describe something you’d really like to express (German has a lot of good ones, incidentally). Of, or pertaining to, summer; summery. Aestival. What a perfect word – how often do you need to express that precise idea?! I use it all the time. Very aestival, that song. I’m going crazy for it. Going crazy, in its different forms, has a common thread; you can explain one aspect of it by comparing it to another, and in this way express what you are trying to say. I’m going crazy for this song, listening to it all the time. There’s no one here who shares my love for Gaslight Anthem, no one I can gush to about it; it’s this kind of lighthearted-torture, wanting to go on so badly about this music-crush, but there is no one to receive said gushing. Nothing to do but listen to the song over and over and wait for the cd to come out in a few months. Waiting, waiting, waiting. I’m so impatient. The discipline is good for me. Trying to learn patience…

I was talking to one of the designers at the afore-mentioned firm about taking junk-boat trips, going out to excluded beaches, finding crazy fish. The little water-bulldogs were actually caught and brought back on such a trip. It’ll be a good summer for adventures. The surface-world here ripples with them. The air is thick with wonder, just around the corner, waiting for those who go even two streets out of their way searching for it.

It’s been one year since graduation. I’ve been thinking about that a bit lately, I guess. My, my, my. It feels like more than twelve months have passed. Twelve dozen, more like. These last four seasons, for all their busyness on paper, have been leisurely about it, and taken their time, like a breeze in the South. I don’t mind slowing it down a bit. So much has happened, but it doesn’t feel like it’s rushed by, like cities next to the highway. There has been time to stop and do something meaningful, and memorable, at each stop. It’s been one of the more cheesy-style road trips where, at the end, you forget where you were going and miss your turn, because you’re having so much fun talking to those you’re with. Dear friends, in many places… and it will continue into the summer.

Another totally aestival song from Gaslight is The Backseat. One of my favorites.

Summertime!