In Long Island at a little old hotel built by a ship s captan just off the water, the room had a slanted ceiling that encroached on the space, old patterned carpet, probably fancy once.  since i spent all of my money in Honduras i ate my meals in the hotel, which was directly over my room. but the strange boy that i am, even though i didn't have any money in my bank account i still spent around $70 for one of my dinners… an appetizer, Mussels, desert and a bottle of wine, I don't remember what the appetizer or desert were, and the Mussels were just so so. Another night at the bar  i got in a conversation with a man who was getting married we chatted about beer and the meaning of life by the end of the evening he was insistent that i join he and his wife on their honeymoon trip in the spring on  a ship traveling back to NYC from London.

In Iceland on my two day layover the bus from the airport to the bus station  happened to line up perfectly with an abbreviated “Golden Circle” tour.  at one point we walked right down the north america and eurasia plate. the second day my goal in this land of fire and ice was to soak in a hot spring. First choice the “blue lagoon” required a reservation, nope, a search for an alternate  revealed an option but  i need to be making my way to the airport by then but went walking to the  hot spring by a light house took longer than i thought, the walk took me along the ocean,  fog covered view of the mountains across the bay,  couldn't find the hot spring.  but it was a lovely lighthouse
I took my shoes off and started running back to town, all of my stuff on my back, there were probably busses, but didn't know how to find them. With thumb out.  not many cars. but one with two women stopped, they're first question was “do you do mushrooms” and one of the next was “what are you doing for christmas”
I made my flight just fine.

I'll just leave this here

Notes from the Green Tortoise in San Francisco

Ok, I broke down and bought a season pass to Brighton and Solitude and realized that not skiing or snowboarding for several years isn't a good way to maintain ones skill set.

Did some modeling

Drove a $750,000Lamborghini really fast on a track

F 

Built a carbon fiber cargo bike and one a ribbon for best experimental bike at the North American handbuild frame builders show

Did some work converting Raquel and Olivers old garage (it's not theirs anymore) into a sound studio  

A little trip to Georgia for Apple where I got kicked out of a "punk" show for being to loud

Today

8 weeks after Erika told me that she's not ready to see me,  6 weeks after she said she missed me, 4 weeks after she asked me to help her move from a dank to a sunny house I'm in a San Francisco at the green tortoise hostel eating the free dinner and listening to the foot duo (really good)  'cause between my 7am flight and the difficulty of getting too and from Estelles house and that she is in Idaho so I don't get to visit with here and her son I'm choosing a different make your own adventure.

This place is really great too.

Amsterdam fixed

20 years or so ago when I was in Amsterdam for the first time, I walked past an art gallery that had what looked like an art opening, It didn’t feel inviting enough to walk into. But I really wanted in.

 I’m In Amsterdam again. Wandering turning left and right following the thing that looks most interesting I happened upon a glass door with what looked like an art opening, just outside the door was a tall lightly bearded man, said go in, have a drink and I did. 

Yes it was as much fun as I imagined.

One of the artists had what looked like a simple wall section cut out and hung as art. I loved it, revealing what is under the wall as found art. I loved it.

They were an artist collective. six artists who share space and show together. while talking too several of the artists I realized that I'm an artist too, practical sculpture 

it was a good evening 

Broken

Erikas mom just looked at the CAT scan and noted that the images show that my sternum is broken and displaced by about 1.5 inches... yea she was surprised that the ER doc in Palau couldn’t tell.  it appears that i am healing and everything will be fine. 6 weeks is the normal recovery time and i seem to be on schedule.

So yea, I jumped off a long abandoned bunker in Nikko bay about 40 feet high, which seemed like a reasonable thing to do, but nope, 40 feet is plenty high to kill you, lucky I didn’t do that much damage. 

Bonus i got these great photos of my ribs.

I think this brings my total broken bone count to five, but how can one really know.

xameslives

I've started Vlogging on youtube. Yea, says the crowd  

come give it a look and Subscribe!

XamesLives Vlog

But more about ME!

In the last year I traveled to and worked in Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire. and Spent a Month in Honduras and two Months in Palau.

yea, Ive been lame about writing. But my Vlog is going to make up for all of that.

Really check out my Vlog and Subscribe

XamesLives

Gualala

I have a persistent image in my head, walking on a rocky coast, wind blowing and waves crashing, large furry dog at my side.

A gull just flew by, just over the edge, below ground level, the sign says " Danger, eroding cliff edge and Eddy is by my side.

I had blackberry pie for breakfast.

What more could a kid want?

Brooklyn Shave

As i washed my face with a towel almost to hot to touch and spread shaving cream on my 8 year old face, prepared the razor by taking out the blade i knew that shaving was the controllable thing that separated men from boys. Then I saw the movie “My Name Is Nobody” where a trail weary gentle man cowboy (Henry Fonda) sits in a barber chair for a shave, holds his head back while the barber, who we just learned is an assassin, holds a straight razor blade to his stretch back neck, maximally vulnerable, then the click of the hammer of a gun being pulled back and that gun pointed at the barbers crotch, the barber changes his grip on the blade and moves from the neck to the upper cheek and proceeds to give Fonda a clean shave, the barber even seems nervous as he glides the razor up Fonda’s neck, more assassins out side the barbershop seemed confused, Cool and collected Fonda checks his face in the mirror, then gun fight, No, real men get straight razor shaves.

Looking for pizza in Park slope Brooklyn, there are lots of pizza places but no where spoke to me, one place advertised Guinness Blond beer on their marque, really? so much good beer and corporate beer thinks that the word Guinness means good blond beer, for suckers only pease, so no, if they don't know beer, how could they know pizza. The coal fired pizza place didn't seem to serve pie by the slice. 

Then a barber shop, a hair cut was just finished make by the smock getting undone form a patrons neck and carefully pulled free such that hair fell on the floor and not on person.  The barber makes eye contact with me and gestures for me to sit in the chair. I continue to just watch. The barber walks outside, i ask “do you do straight razor shaves?” he responds “of course, eighteen dollars, I do a good job” i think i can see a blade on the counter top. We chat for a bit, my furry face still looks good but its time to shave or clean up my face, and I love a shave so i walk in the door and sit down.

His name is Jack and he left Tajikistan with his family when he was 14, Israel then Brooklyn, where he has been since. We talk while he shaves my head with an electric clipper then electric razor, he asks if i want the straight blade, i say no because i assume it will cost more and I'm feeling only so not cheap. He does my eyebrows and ears too, including separating my monobrow.

Then he adjusts the chair back, i fiddle to a comfortable spot, 

electric razor to remove beard

lotion briskly applied to face

wait

hot towel wrapped up under chin and around entire face including the eyes, but my eyes have been closed since i reclined, sinking deeper and deeper into the barbers chair with each moment.

wait

shaving cream applied by hand

straight razor starting at the cheek, 

his hand drags behind the blade feeling my skin. This continues over my entire face, sometimes it feels like he is pulling the skin tight sometimes that he is just monitoring the blades work. 

The razor to my neck, up it glide, other hand still monitoring and soothing.

(i think i feel a nick as he razors over  my old chin scar that i got learning to rollerblade and superglued closed because there was so much blood and that is what superglue was originally for, right? its a spot that i always cut and most barbers open little but this time there’s no blood i think i imagined the nick, or maybe he healed it as he worked)

slow and deep face massage while applying more lotion, moving my face skin away and around the structure underneath, i wondered if they were even really connected.

second hot towel.

second time with a razor over my entire face

more lotion

he asks if i want aftershave i don't answer and he says, “of course you do” I'm not a fan of the old man smell of aftershave but i know that the is important to finish the job.

it stings good and wakens me from my stupor like relax, i do my best to not wince, think i pulled it off.

maybe the best shave I've ever gotten.

Still doesn't make me a man.