welcome back, peej

please meet acacia and jareth, my two new mates. seriously, this pup rules.

sometimes you need to dance with a turtle. just saying.

after the show in LA i was starving and half sober. i decided i needed to change both of these things, as it was the last night and life is supposed to be fun. seeing as the bar was closing and drinks were expensive i took advantage of the various wounded soldiers floating around the bar and topped myself off free. sure, i suppose i could catch some gnarly disease this way or ingest something gross; but you know what? such things don't really concern me. with that, i saw a rather delicious looking meal left on a table. an almost full takeaway container with french fries and an "indian pizza." i'm assuming that's what it'd be called on the menu. it was basically naan bread with a sauce resembling the sauce in malai kofta, a kind of indian version of vodka sauce (basically tomatoes and cream, i'd assume, with nice spices) and then that was topped with what seemed like palak paneer, a creamy spinach dish. it was amazing, especially while so hungry. you might say that this didn't belong to me, so i was wrong for taking it, but i looked around at the near empty and further emptying bar and quickly realized this didn't belong to anyone and would probably be either thrown away or eaten by the staff. so, i ate it and drank my free drinks and was merry. i'm not sick now, days later, so i'd say it was completely worth it. sometimes you just need to be an industrious scavenger, thereby furthering your survival and keeping from having to worry about or make money.

back "home." i have a love for jersey that will never die.

this was from the airtrain to the nj transit train that would take me back to new brunswick. i tried to get in touch with my buddy brian to just have him pick me up and then i'd get back to the bruns the next day or so. i really only needed to go there to pick up my car, so there was no rush. but, getting out of that specific train station is near impossible unless you're actually on a train.

it turned out though, that me taking the train was a good thing. there was this guy eddie, originally from liberia and now from minnesota who got screwed with his visa and couldn't take his flight, so he was headed to philly to meet up with a friend who'd let him stay while he figured everything out. but, understandably, eddie was a little lost and didn't know the area well, so he and i spent the next half hour or so together waiting for the train and then on the train trying to figure out how to get him to his buddy. it felt really good to be able to pay back a little of the positive "karma," or whatever you want to call it, that i've built up on this trip. the way i see it, i'm incredibly lucky and people are always taking care of me, so if i can help anyone else out, either by way of showing them a good time or aiding in travels, maybe planting seeds of positivity and possibility. regardless, i was happy to help and felt good about it.


i got off the train and headed to the apartment where i was to crash for the evening. before heading inside i saw the next door neighbors and they invited me up for a drink. rather than head inside first and drop off my stuff i figured i'd take them up on their offer. me, scott and reeshi shot the breeze, caught up, shared libations and laughed about ridiculous stories we each had. after an hour or so suguna came out on the front steps to share a smoke with a friend and saw me.

"pj! when did you get home?"

it's funny to think about people i barely knew just a few months ago, and now seemingly see all the time. i like that. suguna and her friend came over to the porch, and we continued our relaxing but enjoyable evening. i had planned on going out, but was tired and this was the perfect return to jersey and the perfect evening for my state of mind and body.

if you're wondering, this photo is from scott's bathroom and i just thought it was funny. i hope you enjoy it.

yesterday i went to my brother brian's new place where he's living with a bunch of our friends. the house totally rules and is very DIY, but not in a shitty way. sometimes when you get a bunch of DIY kids together certain niceties and comforts fall by the wayside, and other times it's just a blend of beauty. this is definitely the latter, and the kind i love. they have all sorts of projects, including lots of music, roasting fresh coffee beans, brewing beer, making pickles, homemade veggie dogs, just generally cool stuff. i loved it and felt inspired being there. it's places like these that make me not want to travel anymore. one i finally plant roots i want the trees/flowers to look like these.

and now i'm at buddy brian's house, and we're going to cook mussels for dinner. i'll let you know how it turns out.

hope you're great and laughing.
peej

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