One Man’s Walk through life

The Nature of Understanding

I’ve been on this kick lately about layers.  I believe the way we work is that we hold on to one model for the world at a time, or one “layer”.  This layer is sometimes wrong, but most of the time it is right.  It is true.  But it isn’t complete.

As an example, let me talk about my understanding of understanding (very meta)…

Layer A

Every question has one right answer.  Anything besides that right answer is wrong.  Also, every question has an answer that can be discovered…all I have to do is ask my parents.

Q: is there a god?

A: yes

Layer B

My parents don’t know everything.  Some questions I have to find the answer for myself.

Q: why is the sky blue?

Layer C

It’s okay to live with a question.  Some questions we can’t know the answer for right now.  But the answer does exist, maybe we can figure it out later.

Q: how can we be responsible for our actions if God created us as he did?

Layer D

Some questions have answers we can never know.  It’s helpful to find possible answers for those questions.  But our answers are probably all wrong.  Jews greatly value this idea, and (if I remember correctly) one of their holy works, the Midrash is devoted to theories (many conflicting) that explain events in the Torah.

Q: what does life after death look like?

Layer E

Some questions can have more than one answer which are all true, in that they are part of the truth.  The example is the 3 blind men who are all touching a part of an elephant.  When asked to describe the elephant, they give 3 seemingly conflicting accounts and start to argue, not realizing that they are all correct.

Layer F

Most questions have more than one answer, and it is only by holding all of the answers in your head that you fully “grock” the truth.  This is impossible (or next to) for most questions.

In other words, “the map is not the territory”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map-territory_relation.  Reality is too big, and too complex to fit in our small heads.  So we create abstractions that simplify it and help us to predict and deal with it.  But these models are not reality, and when we think they are we start becoming arrogant and making bad choices.

Layer G – where I currently am

Layers

I am using the term “layer” to refer to people’s “models”.  Everyone is at different layers to different questions.

Layers are not liner

For me I came to the above layers in this order : A, B, C, D, E.  Someone else might come to those same layers in the order A, C, E, B

No layer is complete

As stated above, the whole truth is the totality of every layer, each of which is part of the truth.  It is next to impossible to hold so many layers in your head, so to simplify my world, I try instead to remember simply that layers exist.  So that when I talk to someone I can try to take into consideration which layer they are at because…

Your next layer of understanding depends on your current layer of understanding

As above, not everyone experiences layers in the same order, but if someone is at layer B, for example, it may be impossible for them to go to layer E, but they may be able to go to layer C or F.

This is why it is so important to consider where someone is.  If you don’t you may be wasting your breath trying to explain something to them at your own layer.  After finding someone’s layer, consider small jumps to other layers that are closer to yours.  They may make much more sense.

You’ll know more tomorrow

This is tied to “no layer is complete”.  But you can bet that in a year your layers will all change, at least subtly.  This is why it’s OK for someone not to be at your “enlightened” layer.  Because in a year’s time, or 2 or 10, you won’t consider it “enlightened”.  It’s only relatively enlightened.  And on the scale of absolute truth it’s just as naive and “unenlightened” as the person you are talking to.

Getting Engaged!!!

I’m engaged! And happy. Very happy.

I’d been planning the my proposal to Karissa for something like 4 months and it worked (more or less) without a hitch. Karissa cried and said yes, and cried some more.

So here goes.

It was Friday, June 1st. Karissa had spent all week at one of Andrew Sutton’s Workshops in Sacramento. I was supposed to pick her up at the airport in Portland where we were meeting for Come Rain or Come Shine, a dance workshop weekend.

…except, I wasn’t there. I made up a terrible excuse for why I couldn’t be in Portland until the next day and had stranded Karissa at the airport.

…except, she wasn’t because she “ran into” Topher, Glen, and Sean, who “happened” to have this big 12 passenger van. They had space so she went with them, but they had to pick up “some people” before they got to the dance.

…”some people” turned out to be Laura Friedman, Haley Kellison, Virgil, and Cid, and they “happened” to be hanging out at Chuck-e-Cheese, Karissa’s favorite place on earth. So they pick them up and go to Scott’s house to get ready for the dance. There shouldn’t be anyone there though.

…except there is, Scott…and Heidi Fite. So they climb in the van too. Then someone gets a call to pick up Sara Dwyer & LUKE TEMPLETON who just “happened” to run into eachother. Luke “didn’t even know the weekend was happening” and was supposedly here for something else.

So they pick them up too. Here’s where things took a downhill turn. Amazingly, up to here, Karissa’s buying it. But the van stops at an arcade and our roomate Dan walks out, and apparently here people started doing some really bad lying. She figures it out but decides that this is awesome and keeps playing along. Everyone gets out to go play in the arcade along w/ Carolyn and Cole.

Meanwhile the van goes to “pick up” Ted, Karen from Austin, Orville, and Elizabeth who’s car “broke down”.

They get back, and Karissa’s having a great time, looking for me now, but it’s time to go, so she goes. 21 people, TWENTY ONE PEOPLE get squished into the poor little 12 passenger van, and it’s off to downtown.

The last stop is the Star Hotel in downtown Portland. It’s got an old photo booth in it, and right after Karissa comes in and almost has time to register my brother, Nathan, Vic, and Lessa, she gets forcibly thrown in.

Of course, I’m in the phone booth, waiting for her. I get down on one knee and ask her to marry me. She says she hates me and then yes. I give her the ring.

It’s awesome.

The rest is on tape, and you can almost make out the words, I have to subtitle it at some point

Wedding will be sometime in June 2008.

Holy cow, man.

Going to Seattle…Slowly

After getting back to El Paso, we headed out to Austin for a few days. Hung out with Karen and Titus

Then to Dallas for Red, White, and Blues. Good time. We stayed with one of the most gracious hosts I’ve ever had, Bruce. Also there were Kelly Porter, Mike Faltesek, and Steven Watkins…that is an interesting bunch…

Back to El Paso, where I started my mom scanning old pictures into flickr Heard some very interesting stories from a slightly drunk Nathan

Then to New Mexico on no sleep, to hang out w/ Luke. Good time, a little dancy dancy.

Then Denver, where my cousin Diana was a SUPERB host. We hung out with Chris and Sean a ton. I love those guys. Sean took us on a desert tour of the city. It was awesome.

We’re in Salt Lake City now, and hanging out at Karissa’s parents house. Catching up on work…

Mexico City

Mexico City was the last stop on our trip. It was great, tons of walking and shopping.

We saw a mural that blew my mind, La Libertad here on the right.

We also got up at 5am one day to see Teotihuacan. The pyramids of the Sun and the Moon. They were magnificent. We spent 2 hours on top of the Pyramid of the Moon and it was magical.

Where the hell am I?

See where I am by checking my Google Calendar

My Life by Bill Clinton

On my travels, I really value the compact nature of audio books and this was one I brought w/ me. I especially liked it as an audio book, because it was read by Clinton, as always a charming and dynamic speaker. Listening to it was almost like sitting down and hearing him tell the story of his life.

“My Life” is definitely an atypical book for me to read. I don’t read that many biographies, but I felt like I had a lot of questions about his presidency, many just about what happened at all. Also I was curious what someone like Clinton would write in his own book.

I liked it. I don’t tend to be that political or entirely up on the news, and reading this book was a chance to see an 8 year stretch of my country’s history at least as one man saw it. It was a chance to hear him talk about the struggles he had trying to do what was right in his view (frequently in mine as well) and hearing him explain his side of all the scandal that plagued his presidency.

I also liked hearing someone as smart as Clinton talk at least a little bit about his mistakes and where he is now.

All in all a good read, and I recommend the audio version.

Chapter Two - Belize, Merida, Palenque…

It’s been a busy week and a half…

Friday – September 15 – Chetumal & Mexican Independence

We wanted to be in a big city for “El Grito”. This is a shout that happens across all of Mexico at 11pm on September 15th, Mexican indepence day. We chose Chetumal because it was on our way to Belize.

After Tulum, always full of tourists, Chetumal was a welcome change. After walking around for 5 hours at the park waiting for the fireworks we saw thousands of Mexicans and maybe 2 tourists. It was great.

Karissa learned that Mexican food is sometimes better the cheaper it is. We ate amazingly for 5 dollars and even had ice cream.

When the fireworks started, we were right next to the water and they were just across it. I love fireworks over the water, and it was a good show. I did expect an actual shout that never seemed to come, weird.

Saturday – September 16 – Belize

On a whim, we decided to go to Belize. This adds one more country to both of our lists, and Sara was always so complimentary to it. We had to see it.

Turns out it was quite the detour. There are exit taxes you have to pay as you leave Mexico and before you reenter it as you leave Belize. It was a not inexpensive in time or money busride.

That said, it was absolutely worth it.

Belize feels so incredibly different than Mexico. Say goodbye to short mayan looking spanish speaking meek people. Say hello to tall beautiful dark skinned beautiful and very friendly (or maybe pushy is a better word) people. I’ve never been to Jamaica, but it felt like I imagine it to be there.

Belize was settled by English and many of their slaves. So english, creole, and spanish are all spoken there. It’s much more diverse than Mexico, with a blacks, whites, and latins all over the place.

Very different atmosphere. Neither Karissa or I felt quite as safe as we had in Mexico, but I’m not sure that wasn’t just us not giving it enough time. I liked it for sure.

We were there on a Saturday night, so we went out. The music there is one of the biggest differences. It’s all african and reggae, and just moves me We hit a couple clubs and saw some amazing dancing.

And we met this Turkish guy that… well maybe that’s another story, ask Karissa about it.

Sunday – September 17

I never cease to be suprised by how EVERYTHING shuts down on Sunday in Latin America. Luckily this was a travel day, so we spent the day taking a bus to Chetumal, and then to Tulum, running out of time and staying there for the night.

We discovered this WONDERFUL taco place right next to the Weary Traveler. I think these were some of the best tacos I’ve ever had. 50 cents each.

We also danced on a rooftop at a restaurant next door. Yeah

Monday – September 18 – Chichen Itza

Woke up early and went to Chichen Itza. The ruins were the most impressive yet. They were so huge. The main pyramid was so impressive. It is the one upon which you can see a snake crawling up and down at the equinox. We are so close to the equinox that we would have seen it, had it not been cloudy. Bummer.

Nevertheless, the ruins were breathtaking. There were so many of them, and after the main courtyard, we seemed to escape the mess of tourists and actually find some secluded places. I’ve decided that my favorite at a ruin is to turn a corner and see something that just takes my breath away with noone else there. Its the same feeling I had as a kid that I had discovered something new.

We decided it was still early, so we headed off to Merida after the ruins. Upon checking into our hostel, we went shopping and cooked some very quality mac and cheese. The hostel had some live music to go with our dinner and I believe that Karissa fell in love with Mexican music during that dinner.

Tuesday – September 19 – Merida

I’ve spent a good 6 months of my life bouncing between different hostels around the world, and I can honestly say that Nomadas is one of the 2 or 3 best I’ve stayed at. They really have their shit together. They have information that they give you on checkin, maps, bus times out of the city, etc, they have a knowledgeable and super helpful staff, free salsa lessons, live music in their courtyard at 9, 24 hour internet, a chill room, plenty of hammocks, huge kitchen, and cheap prices, and nice clean rooms with good sturdy beds and fans.

Karissa and I both really liked Merida. We are both city kids, and Merida is a big city. Like the best cities, it is very pedestrian friendly. Super packed with tons and tons of shops. This suited us, as we had decided that today was going to be a shopping day. First on our list was hammocks. Merida is apparently one of the best places to by a quality yucatan style hammock at a good price. So we bought…3. We also bought a bunch of other gifts for people later on. Sometimes it’s good to be a rich tourist

In what seems to be a strangely recurring event. We happened by accident to find exactly the right place to buy stuff. A little alley that only sells stuff at night that was actually not in the place it was “supposed” to be. It was really cool. We topped the night off with an excellent veggie pizza. Karissa was ecstatic.

Wednesday – September 20 – Palenque

We left for palenque fairly early, but it’s a long busride, so we got there too late to see the ruins.

The ruins are a few kilometers out of town, but they’ve done this strange and brilliant thing there. They’ve created a settlement in between the two, right in the middle of the rainforest. There are a bunch of hostels there and a couple restaurants – right in the middle of rainforest. To go between rooms, you step on slices wood strategically placed.

We settled, and hung out in the restaurant for some amazing live music and really good food.

Definitely an amazing thing to sleep and wake up in the rainforest. Still, I think we’re going to welcome a lack of mosquitos…

Thursday – September 21 – Palenque Ruins

We woke up almost early and hit the ruins. Again, the most amazing so far. They are so well preserved. And it is so green. We walked inside one and saw ancient tombs.

Inside another, El Castillo, you could go down into a maze of rooms. Amazing that a people could do this w/o even metal. The views from one structure of the others and the beautiful jungle inside which everything is set was amazing.

I was again astounded by how many ruins there were all clustered together. I think the thing that I enjoyed the most was ironically not a ruin at all, but a waterfall. El Bano de la Reina is a series of terraced stones with water pouring from one terrace to the next. It looks like it should be in some music video with a scantily clad Shakira singing in them. Instead I got to “discover” it when I took a left off the main path. Karissa and I had it all to ourselves for a good 15 minutes before we were joined. Apperently, at one point you could bathe in it, but no longer. We waded in and it was good.

After a good 3 hours of wandering around and up and down hundreds of stairs, we were ready to head out. We took a chance on a bus that took us to Veracruz after dark.

Friday – September 22 – Veracruz

Veracruz seems nice enough. Again a city, again, we liked it. Not quite as accessible as Merida, but it had a beach, which was good.

We heard about salsa clubs, and it was after all, Friday, so we went out. Karissa had a good time despite her worries that our salsa wouldn’t measure up, and I enjoyed her new dress from Merida. We were hot, what can I say? We were joined by this strange old man at a table while we were dancing at an outdoor courtyard with a live band. He seemed very impressed with us.

It was nice, nevertheless, the next day we were off.

Saturday – September 23 – Xalapa

We’ve heard amazing things about Xalapa, and we had to check them out for ourselves. We wanted to leave ourselves enough time to hang out hear should they prove to be true. Besides, I’ve had too much of this one night in a place type of thing. It’s sometimes nice to be a lazy backpacker

Xalapa, however is turning out to be quite nice. The first thing we noticed when we got off the bus is that it wasn’t hot. We’ve been hot and mosquito ridden on the coast and in tropical jungle since we’ve been here. But Xalapa is in the mountains, in the cool mountains.

So the weather is perfect, and it’s a charming (if upscale) little town. I believe it’s the most expensive place we’ve been. But I have to admit I don’t mind. People are smiling, the architecture is just…refreshing and simple. It’s very hilly and reminds us both of San Francisco for this and probably it’s laid back feel.

I will say, if you happen by Xalapa, go to the Cafe Lindo and have their pastel de tres leches. It was definitely a highlight of the night.

Sunday – September 24

I’ve been feeling sick, so today was kind of a sleep and internet day. I also got some time to myself which was a nice change. Karissa felt brave do to Xalapa and did some wandering by herself.

We did, however, do some cooking. We bought vegetables at the market and made stir fry. Very, very good stir fry. Yes, Karissa, you are a great cook…

What’s next?

We’re heading off to one more beach tomorrow then Mexico city, Teotihuacan, and then home. I’m actually looking forward to that just as much as to the rest of this trip.

Chapter One - Tulum

It´s Thursday, or at least that´s what the computer tells me, days seems so artificial when you are backpacking through another country. And, that is just what I´ve been doing with Karissa.

The last five days (has it really been only five days?) have been pretty busy. Take a look at our travel log…

Sunday – September 10

Caught a 7am flight from Juarez, Mexico to Cancun. Once there we caught a 4 hour busride to Tulum, a small little beach city in the middle of some pretty cool stuff. Checked into the Weary Traveler and after a very much deserved great Mexican meal, Karissa and I went to sleep.

The Weary Traveler, btw was a pretty cool place, not too many mosquitos and breakfast included. Very much a European backpacker ambiance, if you´re into that sort of thing. Lots of people in the common area, and it wasn´t too expensive.

Monday – September 11

We rented a cabana on the actual beach at El Mirador. Most of the day consisted of doing nothing but enjoying the breeze and amazing view of the beach, and swim a little bit. Towards the end of the day we walked to Tulum´s Ruins. They weren´t huge, but they were built upon cliffs overlooking the Carribean. The Maya sure know how to pick a spot :).

That night we slept in hammocks on the beach in our cabaña. Amazing – next time though, I´m bringing a mosquito net.

Tuesday – September 12

After waking up at dawn to go swim in the Carribean outside our door (yeah, how often do you get to do that?), we checked out and headed back to Tulum proper. We wanted to get some info about cave snorkelling and the nature reserve here.

We stopped at a bike rental place and made a quick decision to bike to Sian Ka’an, the nature reserve that day. It ended up being some 6 hours of biking Karissa and I did that day, there and back. Not bad for an old man, eh? Once there we rented Kayaks and looked about the lagoon. We didn´t see too much wildlife aside from some beautiful frigatebirds and pelicans and one gourgeous heron. However, it felt to us like the day was a triathalon – and we were very proud of ourselves when we made it back alive and wolfed down our dinner.

Since Tuesday, we´ve been at Rancho Tranquilo. And as the name implies, it is a calm oasis. It´s great, we get our own double bed complete with (blessed) mosquito net – they get downright vicious here. And it has a nice common room with big kitchen, book trade, and my favorite, a hammock. Breakfast is included.

Wednesday – September 13

Karissa has been insanely excited about cave snorkelling since she saw it a few weeks ago in the guide book, so there was really no question about doing it.

Throughout the Yucatan, there are a network sink holes called Cenotes. They are quite amazing as they all have incredible stalactite and stalagmite formations most of which are underwater. Some of them are connected to eachother, and they remain somewhat unexplored, though there are countless snorkelling and diving tours that take tourists through them.

We went on Hidden Worlds’ Cenote Snorkelling tour, and it was other worldly. They provide gear, transportation, and a guide that will lead you to do things that you probably wouldn´t do by yourself. If you´ve ever been to a huge cave with incredible formations, it´s kind of like that. But imagine yourself floating through it instead of walking.

Karissa was and is thrilled. I´m all excited now to go reef snorkelling at some point.

Thursday – September 14

We went to the Cobá ruins today. We took a bus there and opted to rent some bikes once we were there both to get around more easily and for the nice breeze they gave you as you peddled through the nice trails.

Cobá is several spread out groups of ruins. The most spectacular by far being a huge pyramid that we were allowed to climb that took you far above the jungle canopy and gave a great view of the surrounding area and lakes. It was amazing, and I was not expecting it. It apparently has the honor of being the highest structure in the Yucatán. I definitely recommend it.

What’s Next?

Our time in Tulum, however, is drawing to a close. Tonight we have our last dinner at Rancho Tranquilo, and tomorrow we head south to Chetumal for Mexican Independence Day.

After that we are heading to Belize for the weekend. Might as well sneak in a new country for my list, right? Party, party and maybe a little snorkelling.

After that I think we´re back to the ruins circuit, Chichen Itza, Merida, Palenque, and more to come. So stay tuned, same bat time, same bat channel…

Burning Man

I just got back from Burning Man. This was my second time, and it’s taken 6 years for me to feel like I’m ready to go back. It was amazing. I had a great time, and had a few small aha’s.

However, it was definitely not the life changing experience that it was last time. I wonder if that’s because I’ve learned much of what Burning Man has to teach since then. Or if I’ve just exposed myself to so much of it that it’s lost it’s transformative effect on me.

Either way, it was a blast, and a very, very different time than 6 years ago.

What was different? More alcohol, more of my friends, more swing/lindy/blues dancing, more classes, I was there with my girlfriend, so more love, more bonding, less searching, less drugs (on my part).

Dunno, I think I need to think more about this.

Improv Class At Freehold

I just took the most amazing class…

Since Andrew’s workshop, taking Jenna’s class on Improv in dance and reading Impro by Keith Johnstone under Anna’s suggestion, I was all excited about Theater Improv. I happened to see a program for the Freehold Theatre’s summer schedule which included a 60 hour “intensive” course over July.

Matt Smith taught the class and I have to say it’s amazing to have a really good teacher, I learned as much about teaching from him as I did about improv.

Anyway, it was an incredible amount of fun, and I’d suggest it to anyone that wanted to work on their acting, talking in front of people, or just interpersonal skills. The last night (2 nights ago) was a performance where I must say we were AWESOME.

I plan on taking everything I learned and throwing improv parties here in Seattle when I get back from my vacation (and have a house again) sometime in November.

Above is a picture of the class :

      (back row) me, Roarick, Mark, Patrick, Matt

      (front row) Michelle, James, Zoe__