Tablerock Boise

I need to buy a camera. I have one right now, but it is packed on a trailer, somewhere between Chicago and Boise. In the meantime, my beloved Mother and I spent a good deal of time in the past few days, while she was here in Boise, exploring the surroundings. What I have found in exploring Boise is the presence of beauty, topography, and nature in close proximity to my new apartment, which is exactly why I moved to this city.

Boise is nestled at the base of a series of lovely foothills, which border the city from the North. During my daily runs, I often times will run East from where I am currently staying, along some streets, then through a golf course. While running through the golf course, there is a hilltop high above my head in my view. On the hilltop, there is a cross and a good number of antennae, many of which are for either cellular or radio traffic.

The day before my first day at work, Mom and I were thinking of things to do for a short bit, prior to dinner. I was speaking with one of the lovely young college students up at the front-desk, and she suggested, "Drive up along Broadway; turn right, and take the windy roads up to 'Tablerock'." Mom and I grabbed my car; drove up the foothills bordering us to the East, but drove down. At the point, I was driving through a ravine, along a dirt road somewhat covered in snow. We turned around, and drove back up the hill. Nearing the top, I saw the street running perpendicular with a sign saying "Tablerock." I turned left, and up we went.

Tablerock is the hilltop I was just speaking of, the one with the cross and antennae. We parked my car, and got out, looking both North and Southwest over the city.

It's so amazing to me how sometimes due to hundreds of years of literary romanticism; one takes in a view, and sees it in its most romantic setting. I stood there looking over the city and over the mountains ahead, and I thought to myself, "My goodness, this is perfect; this is why I moved to Boise." It genuinely felt that resolute. I can only draw analogies to being close to the Pyrenees in the Basque part of Spain.

While I can go endlessly about all of the things in Boise, by which I have been captivated, I am under strict instructions. In short: I am not supposed to tell others how great it is here in Boise. I fear more of the country now knows, but that is a bias I hold individually. I think this xenophobia has existed here since the Interstates were built. With that, I think that I am not the first transplant to hear, "keep it a secret." Whatever the case, it is just such a wonderful place. As you are my friends, please of course, keep this little bit between us a secret. In the meantime though, I could not be happier about my decision to move here to Boise. Is this area problem free? No, of course it isn't, but I am not sure of anywhere that is. In short, I am looking very forward to discovering the wide array of dimensions to life here in Boise. I don't find myself missing general components to life in Chicago, viz., the aesthetic. Rather, if I miss anything, it is seeing my friends so often. Check that, however, as my last year in Chicago saw the returns on frequent encounters diminishing. With that, those components one misses in their mind's eye are sometimes things that weren't there as they seem to have been. I suppose that is very similar to the way one looks back upon a relationship. Whatever the case 'tis not for me to say tonight.

In short, netting everything out, I couldn't be happier to be here in the Mountain West, and I haven't even been skiing yet. It is brilliant.

Spam and The Market's Truths

Immediate Qualification! As this is a G-Rated Blog, or is meant to be, I will not quote any specifics.

That said, there is a relatively common expression used these days "Truth in Market." "Truth in Market," as I use it and understand it otherwise, means simply that if a product or behavior exists consistently, it must then be because the market supports it. Based on that premise, for instance, there must be a demand somewhere for the H2 or the Escalade, because GM would not make those cars and market them if there was not a demand. In this example, GM is driven by their market's demand for automobiles that meet these criteria. GM uses market research, psychologists and designers to come up with and market test these products, to then decide if they pass muster. Once they do, they come out on the market.

Based on this idea, one can apply the same reasoning to other marketed items. Case and Point, SPAM. I know many of you have GMAIL, and you can easily delete all of the SPAM from the SPAM filter. With that, in the process, does anyone ever spend time reading the headers prior to deletion?

Upon a glance of the 67 in my "SPAM" folder, a wide variety contain reference to the following:

1. A certain pharmaceutical labled "Cialis"
2. Enhancement of something quite adult shared between two in the process of intimacy
3. General Pharmaceuticals
4. Another Pharm "propecia"
5. "Rolex"
6. And lastly, enlargement of something, let's just say something phallic

With all of these items, and how consistent they are filtered by GMAIL's "SPAM FILTER", I have to assume that the products are appealing to a rather massive market. It's just so absurd, but if one looks at media, those are all related to what we have marketed to us most often: vanity, intimacy and money...

My perspective on it is this: there is a poor person going through SPAM solicitations to buy these products, or there wouldn't be the SPAM. Who are these poor folks? If they have access to SPAM, surely they have means to obtain ED Pharmaceuticals, right? I just don't get it, insofar as all of these products are those that one can obtain through more legitimate channels tha "T()dd Sc()nz Farm The Playz Where Real Playaz Playz"

Dinner with Dear Friends and the Regressive Nature of Things in Process

My friend Abbie and I had dinner together tonight. I was so excited she could go with me. I was hoping that her beau could as well, but the poor guy was whacked with an illness. Nevertheless, Abbie and I went to dinner, and we had a marvelous time. With Abbie’s and my marvelous time came for me a bittersweet realization.

I am leaving Chicago in less than forty-eight hours. Please don’t get me wrong, I am most excited to move! For that, there is no question. On the same note though, I couldn’t help but try to figure out where to eat tonight with Abbie, as I have so many favorite eateries here in Chicago. The first place on my mind was Marigold, which is not too far from where I live in Chicago. Marigold is just a smidge North of Lawrence on Broadway. At Marigold, they serve nice Indian cuisine, but what is so delightful about it is that it has a Modern aesthetic. I called Marigold for reservations; alas, they close for Mondays.

I called Abbie to let her know, but as I am moving and she hadn’t eaten anything interesting, we continued with plans. I went down to Ben and Abbie’s, and we got in Abbie’s car to go out for dinner. The next place I picked was May St. Café, which is in Pilsen, Southwest of the Loop in Chicago. Pilsen is largely a Latin neighborhood, but probably will not be as much one the next time I return. I say that because Pilsen is re-gentrifying, filling with hipsters and Indie Rock record labels. Whatever the case, May St. Café is Nueva Latina cuisine, and it is terrific.

Of course, as Abbie and I drove by May St., we noticed they too were closed. Therein, we decided it was time to head to one of my other remaining favorite not-to-be-missed-while-still-a-resident-of-Chicago-for-forty-eight-hours restaurants. Abbie drove us up to Argyle, which is the Vietnamese equivalent to Chinatown on the North side of Chicago. I took Abbie to a favorite restaurant up there, Hai Yen, which has another wing in Lincoln Park now. I still prefer the restaurant up on Argyle for atmosphere and its proximity to more things Vietnamese. Dinner was great, and Abbie was great company.

Throughout dinner and trying to find folks to join me, I kept finding the same thoughts running through my mind. First, of course, were thoughts relative to how little time I have remaining in Chicago, such that if I do not go out for dinner tonight, then I can kiss that restaurant goodbye for a year or two. Who knows? I thought of that a lot, and I thought, “My goodness, I am moving to a place with fewer restaurants with fewer ethnicities.” In the process of that though, I thought about happily giving up the plethora of ethnicities for greater proximity to the outdoors in Boise. Beyond that, I thought of something even more captivating with my move, via comparison and contrast.

While there may be a plethora of eateries, neighborhoods and ethnicities in Chicago, the hours I work and the difficulty moving between geographies is such that I don’t get to enjoy the accoutrements of living here in Chicago. I was thinking the same thing about the proximity to my friends.

Of course, everything is relative, but in saying that I found tonight that with two nights left in Chicago, it is near impossible to last minute motivate a few folks to do something. My theory on why things are that way is, the barriers of entry to activities requiring movement from one’s couch or neighborhood are too high from an opportunity cost-perspective. Living here in Chicago, I find that most things are too inconvenient for us to embrace more impulsive things without planning for them (of course, that means they wouldn't be impulsive...). In factoring in a job that requires more than forty-five or fifty hours a week and the commute that comes with that to and from home, it becomes obvious that even with all of these opportunities or adventures, we are too constrained by what makes the city an attractive place to move. I am sure one could find the same things said about London, New York, San Francisco, Tokyo and Shanghai.

At the end of the day, it all reduces to economics, which is to say that there is truth in the market. Cities and populations coalesce and grow due to the demand for their qualities; it is only geographic and environmental concerns that inhibit growth. For those of us fatigued from the size and inconveniences of accessibility to everything, the alternatives lie elsewhere, but they come with sacrifices. For one, I am quite sure there is not a thriving Modern Indian restaurant, Vietnamese or Latin eatery in Boise that could compete with that I mentioned. Knowing that, however, I have to say, I still could not be more excited about my move this week. Quite simply, as Boise is smaller than Chicago is, Chicago is smaller than New York is ad infinitum. As our wants are insatiable, so are the populations of cities. One can move continuously in search of new experiences, features and capabilities of respective cities’ substances. Yet, I question whether one can achieve their objectives otherwise, as wants are insatiable isn't attempting to sate them infinitely regressive?

The Sentence and Its Structure

In going over my blog from yesterday, I found myself laughing. As I am sure many of you knew prior my first post, or have found out since, I tend to write in long complex sentences. As sentences go, some may well be imperfect, but I do most of my writing as I think through it.

What can I say? I beckon Kerouac's justification via methodology, "Streaming Consciousness"? Writing verbosely is the way I think and speak. I cannot say why that is the case, except perhaps that, for me, it is preferential. Trying to write other than the way I speak is insipid, if not for my readers, it is so for me.

One can say that about the principle of blogging, I suppose. At its roots, blogging is rather self-indulgent. I write because I enjoy it, not because I am so vain as to think you, my readers, are continuously curious about how or what I am doing. It is nicer to think the latter, but logging in to blog is more of a selfish pursuit.

That begs a big philosophical question, I guess. Similarly, on what I just said, cooking, writing, journalism, music or film are ultimately self-indulgent. In summarization one could take from that all art and communication, or the motivations therein, are due to one's wants and desires. Provided epistemologists and behavioral psychologists study these things interminably, my thought is that, no matter how long my sentence, I will not resolve the issue.

With that, the link below is one that I will point you to for writers of long sentences. Provided Faulkner and Joyce are the two most quickly referenced in the article, I feel a good sentence is in good order. What is the definition of "sentence"? From my memory, the statement concerns the conveyance of a complete thought. There are then "complex sentences," which contain main and subordinate clauses.

Whatever the case, I have evaded work in professional writing largely because of my love for the long sentence and my verbose style. Quite simply, I fear the red pen of the editor, the pen and the need for concision.

Please have a look below at the link I've pasted. What are your thoughts on sentence structure, any?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest_English_sentence

First Blog is First

It is ironic, sitting down to type one’s first blog on something as catholic as a move and company change, alas a beloved English teacher, Dr. Watkins, once instructed me, “The best way to cure writer’s bloc, is to simply start typing.” I am convinced, so that is what I am doing, and it is my expectation form and substance will follow.

That is to say, if you have not read a blog from Matt in a long time it’s not because you’ve not checked old forums. I simply have not written a blog, or posted anything substantive in a great while. It has been too long since I have, and as such, I think it is time for me to start writing.

As you probably know, if you have received or come to this link, I am making a move to Boise, ID here in the States. I have been eager to move out West for some time, and Boise has sat firmly at the top of my list of preferences. If you have never been to Boise, it is a lovely city, much smaller than Chicago, nestled in the Southwestern corner of Idaho. The climate is absurdly temperate, and the people of Boise are exceptionally kind and down-to-Earth. It’s hard to summarize it any further than that.

I suspect as you continue to come to this website, over the coming months you will see a more substantial reckoning; however, for the time being, I can only speak for the five days I have been in Boise, three of those being for my interview.

I have much intrigue in the changes I am to expect, both from cultural and quality of life perspectives. I suspect I will greatly enjoy attitudes that are less intense than those one might find in Chicago, but part of me also wonders about the times when I will want more intensity, when I am frustrated by the lack of progress on something professional or otherwise.

Alas, that is why one simply sits down to start writing, the form and substance will come, and that is my expectation with life as well. There are numerous clichés or allusions I won’t bore you with that say this more immediately, but I like the analogy back to Ole’ Dr. Watkins, “just start writing,” methodology, one just has to start making a desire change. With making a change, I have most certainly made the effort to complete this as prudently and as well planned as possible, but that is not to say there aren’t anxieties or things left undone that are more continuous doing so.

If my writing as kept you along to this point, now I suppose I should explain the title of the blog “Escaping the Iteration of the Pastiche.” I used “Iterations of the Pastiche in a conversation last night, and on its own, I realize the two words together “Iteration” and “Pastiche” are largely redundant. Quite simply, in the conversation from where this phrase came, what I was referring to were the iterative observations of the same thing repeatedly pertaining to “Sushi dates on Friday,” “Big Ten Male Alumni drinking macro-brew beer during NCAA Football Saturdays in Lincoln Park,” “keeping up with the Jones’s in condo purchases in fashionable younger Chicago neighborhoods,” or the “Rock Her World” advertisements for engagement rings and the truth in the market they convey.

Videlicet, this is my Blog and here I am. This is not meant for anything other than keeping up with my friends, and offering the opportunity to see my updates in this move out West. Of course, I always welcome comments or thoughts, and I look forward to the discourse.