Day Nine of the journal I kept on an Alaskan cruise I took in 2003.
Other Days: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
1:54 AM ADT
That nervousness was for naught. I figured that maybe Victoria was waiting for me downstairs, so as I started to walk down there, she was in the hallway looking for my room. So, everything worked out all right. We went and met up with a bunch of friends of hers and ended up hopping around to a couple different bars. After a while she wanted to head back to her house and grab a 'Birthday Girl' button she had for the birthday boy, so we headed over there, then met back up with everyone at one of the local, very Alaskan, gay bars. In case you are curious, an Alaskan gay bar seems to mean that it looks like a normal wood-paneled bar, but with better music and people with mullets kissing and grinding each other, regardless of gender. I have to say, the music there was much more entertaining and everyone seemed friendlier than the other places we'd been. It was just a plain old fun night. After all that, Victoria brought me back here and, well, here I am. Tomorrow we're supposed to go around to some music stores and just generally hang out and stuff, so that should be good. I hope that all works out well. Silly me, nervous over everything. Well, I think I'm going to go and lay in bed, then do a bit of reading. One interesting thing, it's night time but it's not dark here. Well, it's headlight dark, but there is still a distinct bright part of the sky and you could easily get by without a flashlight if you were in a nice open area away from city lights. I hope it doesn't cause me sleeping problems. We'll see. Tonight was a good night, and right now I'm happy.
Oh, one other interesting point to note, when we arrived at the first bar, Darwin's Theory, one of Victoria's friends just so happened to be wearing a Suicide Girls hoodie. Talking a bit about that site, it seems that one of the girls who works, or worked, at Subterrania has posed on there.
11:27 AM ADT
Well, it's now morningish time here in Anchorage. I woke up at about 10:00 ADT and tried giving Victoria a call, but her mom answered and said she wasn't awake yet and to try back in a bit. So, I went and took a shower, shaved, brushed my teeth, and did all those other random morning time activities. I tried giving her a call after that, but I just got her answering machine. Still sleeping, I'd imagine.
So, I'm sitting here listening to music and playing some PopCap BookWorm Deluxe. This game is definitely fun, so much so that I might even pay for it. If you haven't played it, what happens is that the screen is filled with tiles with letters on them and you need to find paths though the tiles which form words. There's a couple more things that make it more complicated; bonus tiles, burning tiles, etc, but it's still really easy to pick up on. I just want to break the 100,000 point mark. I've almost made it there once and gotten somewhat close a few other times, but I Just can't seem to do it. Ah well.
I'm starting to feel jittery, needing some food and all, so hopefully I'll be able to get something to eat soon. I feel silly being that guy who is waiting by the phone, but since there's no GSM service here in Anchorage either, I sort of have to. Ah well, that's all right. I don't mind. I think I'll actually go do a bit of reading, or maybe watch a movie. I'm not sure yet... Actually, there is a TV here, and seeing as I haven't watched any TV lately, maybe, just maybe, there is something good on.
8:05 PM ADT
I'm back. Victoria and I ended up getting a hold of each other and she came by and picked me up. We first got some food at a great little place downtown, where I snagged a grilled cheddar (both sharp and mild) and tomato with a salad. That was some absolutely tasty food, especially the salad. After that we headed over to a local record store called Mammoth Music. For being an average sized independent store, they sure had quite a bit of stuff. In fact, just about every band that I could think of was represented there, and the prices weren't bad at all. I ended up picking up Wire's 'Send', which seems to basically be 'Read and Burn' 1 and 2 on the same disc. Nice disc, it's currently in Victoria's car, though. I figured that she would want to listen to it on the ride back to her house.
After that we headed over to a Salvation Army store, but I can't remember the name of it. I think it was a Value Village, but I may be mistaken. Either way, Victoria got herself some pants, I poked through the records and books, and all was happy. After that came a stop at the gas station, and I was back here at my hotel. Victoria had to run home for a bit, but we made some tentative plans for later in the evening. I'm supposed to call her in about 20 minutes, so we'll see what comes up then.
Anyway, after being back here at the hotel I decided to go for a bit of a walk. It was generally uneventful, but I was able to get a photo of the business next door to Subterranial; 'The Anchorage Masonic Temple Holding Company'. Wow, there it is right there, the Mason's money making front, right out in the public. I reckon there's a conspiracy a'brewing. So after the adventure with the Masonic money making venture's sign, I started walking. I'm not exactly sure where all I went, but I did end up wandering through the mall for a while, then heading off in search of a deli I had seen earlier where I could get some food. I found the deli, then as I was perusing the posted menu, I overheard a guy on his cell phone with the police. He was reporting that one of the native homeless guys had been waving a pair of scissors in someone's face a few minutes before, giving a description, etc. I blew it off then went inside and had some scrambled eggs, some potatoes, and a bagel. All that for US$4.95 (there's no tax in Anchorage) plus tip.
After the food, I took off walking back towards the hotel, but I ended up walking up and down Ship Creek, the bit of water behind my hotel, for a while, grabbing a couple of pictures of things around here. While heading back into the hotel I decided to wander around a little and I came across a 'business center' which had free (dialup) internet access. I got an access card from the person at the counter, plopped down in front of the machine, and proceeded to hop on AIM and talk to Erika (thirteenthfairie), Jeff (krhn), Jenny (EmereldaStarsign), and a couple other people for a little while. It was nice to be able to talk to some friends again, because while hanging out with Victoria is really nice (not to mention that she's uber cool and super cute), I've started to miss talking with friends from around home. I have tentative plans for Tuesday night with Pete and Michelle, so that should be nice, back in the swing of things.
I'm a bit concerned about how I'm going to handle things relating to getting to the airport tomorrow. See, checkout is at noon, but my flight isn't until 7:30 PM ADT. I can get a shuttle from the hotel to the airport, but that sort of leaves me with waiting around the airport for almost eight hours. Victoria said that she'll drive me to the airport, but she doesn't leave work until 5:00 PM ADT. Time works out well there, but I don't know what I'll be able to do with my luggage and my person for five hours. There isn't that much to do in Anchorage, I'm finding, at least not without knowing where to go or having a car to get around in. So, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I think I'm going to end up taking the hotel shuttle at around noon, then just sitting at the airport and reading or something. I really wish I could spent it with Victoria, but the time just doesn't work out, and it's her first day at a new job, so she has to be at work the whole day.
There was a bit of a time delay there, which while not obvious to you, resulted in a bit of plans for me this evening. Victoria's on her way over, and we're going to get some tea, then maybe check out some magazines or wander around or something.
Well, I think I'm going to visit the little boy's room and get ready. She's rinsing her hair from dying the tips yellow, then she'll be over. The weird thing about Anchorage is that even though she lives all the way across town, it will take her about 20 minutes to finish up and then get here. By my house it takes almost 20 minutes just to get to the record store or my parents house.
11:19 PM ADT
Ahh, what a great way to spend the last evening here in Alaska; hanging out with someone who I'd consider, after only a couple of days, a friend who I can trust. Victoria picked me up a bit after that last post, the time between I spent watching a bit more of Powaqqatsi. Since she has to work in the morning, the first thing I we did was head over to Barnes & Noble and pick up some tea. Although it probably wasn't in my best interest, I grabbed the same as Victoria, a nice Earl Grey. Surprisingly enough, it's probably been at least a couple of weeks since the last time I had any Earl Grey, as I ran out of bagged tea at work, and I never think to bring in the loose tea and a strainer. Ah well. After the tea purchase, we ended up wandering through the store itself, where I noticed that the new Eric Schlosser (author of Fast Food Nation) book is out in hard cover. After discount it was only something like $15, which I consider reasonable even for a paperback, so I snatched it up. Seeing as the book is so new, there aren't any reviews of it yet, but it appears that it covers the black market in the United States, specifically how it fills consumer's demands for pot, porn, and how it brings illegal immigrants to work. So far it appears that it'll be a good, although not very long, read. While I still have The Illuminatus Trilogy to finish, I might want a bit more straightforward reading for the plane, or I'll at least want something to read next.
After the book store we headed over to a park right near where Victoria lived a few years ago, an area which also happens to be not too far from where my hotel is. There is a nice long trail that leads along the water (or mud flats, depending on the tide) much further than we walked, presenting a nice view the whole way. I grabbed a few more pictures which will most likely wrap up my photo collection, unless I take a few more at the airport. After a bit more walking we ended up stopping by the Captain Cook Inn again for a restroom break, then it was back to the car and back to my hotel. I'm still most definitely not used to the sunset times here.
As we are heading back, I have the distinct impression that it's around 7:00 PM, where as it's actually edging closer to 11:00 PM. Seeing as for most of my life I've based my when-to-go-to-sleep schedule off of the sun setting (or occasionally the sun rising), it would be very difficult for me when living up here. Looking outside even now, at 11:31 PM ADT, it's still light enough to read. While I understand, I find it somewhat bizarre and disconcerting. I made sure I took a couple of photos to illustrate this point.
I think that tomorrow I will intentionally start working back on Eastern Daylight Time from the moment I get into the aircraft. With my flight departing ANC at approximately 11:30 PM EDT, I'm in for an interesting shift of sleep schedule. I'll be getting in to DTW at approximately 5:30 AM EDT, and I'll be feeling like it's 1:30 AM. I'm going to try to go straight home, get some sleep, then wake up at around 12:00 PM EDT, then head out and do things. By doing this I think I might be able to avoid jet lag via the same methods which allow me to stay up until 6:00 AM on Friday and Saturday nights (or would that be Saturday and Sunday mornings?), but go to bed at 11:30 PM come Sunday, so that I can be awake in time for work the following day.
Earlier when talking about the deli that I had dinner in, I forgot to mention one interesting point. Two rows of booths away from me sat a woman with her two children. That would typically not be a big deal, except when the kids were misbehaving, she would, in a very loud and clear voice, threaten to 'beat the fucking shit out of [them]' because they should know better than to act 'that way' in public. It was incredible. I just sat and ate, as Zen-like as possible, same as I did while on the train from Seward to Anchorage, forcing my self to not let it disturb me. While I personally have no desire to have children, I do feel that if you do have children, that you should raise them properly. Yes, they should be taught to behave, but this is something that should be done not through threats of violence but though peaceful means which allow the child to understand why they should behave a certain way.
Looking back, I realize that I didn't mention what happened on the train from Seward to Anchorage earlier. I was in too good of a mood after meeting Victoria and hanging out at Subterrania to ruin the mood with talk about the people sitting behind me. First off, they are a group that I'd seen around on the cruise ship, with one of the people being your standard western United States jogger, keeping himself in tip-top shape. I'm getting off topic, though, as his physique is not my complaint. All throughout the train journey he kept asking the tour guide of the ride is supposed to be 'that bumpy' and if the train is supposed to 'shake that much' and 'be that noisy'. While it's certainly possible that he has never been on a train, nor listened to one drive by, nor seen video from inside of a train car, I would think that he would understand that a 20-year old train car riding on 60 year old rails would shake and sway somewhat. The ride was not uncomfortable nor especially noisy, in fact, even though it took a lot longer than the bus ride would have, the comfort level, along with the scenery, and the fact that I was riding on a functional passenger rail system, made me extremely glad that I had taken the train. (Brief note, there is very little passenger rail in Michigan, and all that does exist is either Amtrack, designed for cross-country trips which are priced similarly to air travel but at a slower speed, or novelty trains designed as show pieces, not a method of getting to a destination.) Anyway, I'm getting way off subject here. I guess what I found was that most of the people I noticed on the cruise and on the train ride tended to complain. A lot. I understand that it's true that people are far more likely to complain than compliment, but every complaint I heard could have been addressed by either a little patience (yes, queues sometimes take longer than expected), a bit of knowledge (yes, it is your responsibility to read about something and understand it before you use it / embark), or a bit of tolerance (occasionally problems do crop up, but the tour company will generally attempt to fix things). Then again, that's one of the problems with the world these days. People don't seem to be willing to detach themselves and let the problems get worked out. They are too interested in what is best for them, right then. Or perhaps this has always been happening?
Oh, I didn't even mention the Chinese / American mother on the train with her child. This is another example of parental irresponsibility. It seemed to me like all her child wanted was some attention, but she was too busy talking about her cell phone or the 'steady shot' setting on her camcorder to notice the child. It was clearly obvious that the only time she'd pay the child any attention is when the child communicated using a form of talking/screaming, which would elect a 'shh' from his/her mother. No, this brief bit of attention isn't an appropriate amount of communication in my opinion, but when it is all that a child receives, what do you think the child is going to learn to do and latch on to?
Bah. That's enough ranting about my beliefs about parenthood. And still, with all these opinions, I don't want to have children. I just don't think I'm responsible enough, nor am I willing to develop the responsibility, to have a child. Therefore it is my duty to do my part to ensure that I don't get someone pregnant.
Well, it's now getting to near midnight here in Anchorage, Alaska. I just took a look outside and it looks like a summertime 9:15 PM back home in Michigan. I think I'm going to do a bit of cleanup on this journal, then head off to bed. I'm planning on catching an airport shuttle at some point around noon, then spending time in ANC reading, getting lunch, and just hanging out.