Lubbock, TX – June 8th~21st, 2008
Rave on the Radio in my Ride
On Friday of my second week here I discovered the most amazing radio station ever. Well, I knew about it for awhile but finally decided to turn it on at about 9:30 one night while driving back from some shopping. And on Friday nights they do a line-up of trance for a segment called Fusion. First time I’ve ever heard REAL trance/techno radio.
The station is called KTXT and is run entirely by Texas Tech. It plays a lot more than just trance and a lot of music you won’t hear anywhere else, though at times that can be its downfall. Especially during grunge and line-ups. Still, check out the live stream online sometime.
Father’s Day Weekend
It was a pretty busy weekend. Went bowling, played pool (he kicked my ass, obviously), ate out for lunch and dinner at some pretty spiff places, and went to see The Happening all in one day. Also, we finally put the motorcycle in the shop. And on Sunday I got to help cook a real meal for the first time since I arrived.
When it rains, it POURS!
So I had been here all of two weeks without a single drop of rain and the giant thunderhead clouds teasing me as they skirt the horizon passing just outside the city. And finally something happened. Took it two and a half weeks but the rain finally came.
I’ve heard that when it rains here it pours. And this is evidenced by the wide, deep and long drainways that I thought only showed up in populated European and Asian cities. So, getting back to the point here, the sky basically exploded. Dust rolled in at the front with the 30mph winds, clouds the size of skyscrapers scraped the sky, and the lightning was huge, bright and nonstop followed constantly by thunder that shook the house so hard things fell off shelves.
In the end the electricity never even went out during a storm that would have totaled a place like Fayetteville. After this one, the crazy thunderstorms have been pretty steady. The second even included some golf ball sized hail.
Then the Great Cow in the sky said “Let their be one among us.” There was and the taste was good. (Heifer 3:16)
Many of you may or may not have had the chance to hear me mention one of the best eating experiences made available to a college campus. It’s called Cowamongus, where you can get a top-shelf sirloin cut fresh off of one of Texas Tech’s very own hand raised cows sold for the same price as low-rate Chinese food from UNC Charlotte. What can I say, Texas makes things more delicious too.
In a nutshell:
Been spending most of my time taking pictures, trying to be artsy-n-craftsy, studying Japanese, organizing my father’s things, and reading On The Road.
I finally bought an external hard drive for backing up my photos, got a two-week membership at the recreation center, and jogged a 5k in 29 minutes 40 seconds. I even got a free t-shirt. And lucky me I dropped my cell phone the day after it rained and the thing landed right in a puddle. Didn’t work gain until the next day.
Most significant experience:
Wednesday, June 18th. I climbed on the motorcycle and felt the vibrations from the idling engine through the seat. Already a moment I hadn’t ever had the chance to experience on my own. I picked my right foot up and pressed it on the foot break. The engine was already in first gear with my left hand squeezed firmly on the clutch. I slowly released it as I lifted my left foot off the ground and my right foot off the brake – the bike rolled forward. The engine sputtered and the bike stopped suddenly, stalling as I bounced forward off the seat landing back down just quickly enough to rebalance. Hey, not everything in life comes on the first try!
Writing from Lubbock, Texas | July 2, 2008
