Help! I'm being held prisoner!

No, I'm not really being held prisoner....It's as if I'm a prisoner in a strange land, and like all long adventures (count of monte cristo?) there is always a chunk of time spent in bad circumstances, or incarcerated either against one's will, or one is out of money, etc. etc...  I do feel though as if I've acquiesced to have my adventure be a foregone thought because I'm now in Ohio and Ohio was never my first, second, third or any choice on lists of places to live. But then again the plan was always to ride this out and see how it goes, and hopefully it brings me back overseas :-)

It was supposed to be two years in Ohio and then I'd be back in Europe or somewhere overseas with the company I work for.... Two years passed on November 1, 2013 and so I'm getting itchy and ansy...Itchansy I guess.  I want to purge all my stuff save that which will fit in a backpack or on a bike again.

My mind is revolving around thoughts of adventure, specifically winter adventure and bike adventure. I want to go to a place where I can dream again. Where possibilities are limited only by my imagination and the power of positive and purposeful thought.

Partying doesn't hold much interest for me anymore. It could be due to the fact that I'm here in Ohio, or I'm just moving to another phase in life. Or my stomach is all fucked up and I can't really drink much anyways. I've always been a lactard, but now I'm all gluten free and only try to eat veggies or even vegan. Doesn't always happen, but I've been getting back to healthy. Hitting the bars all weekend hasn't helped that, but hey how often you get to hang with two 5'10" good looking sisters and drive them around in your big pimp daddy cadillac. (yes, I own a big pretty blue caddy now that is a fucking spaceship...its ridiculous and thirsty. And no, it's not an old person's cadillac... Its one step down from the V series and it was owned by a caddy executive so it has options it shouldn't have, as in it was $70K new back in 2006 and I bought it a year ago with only 45K miles on it. And I got a sweet deal on it, so I don't feel that bad about owning it...but this is another whole story).

I know I'm going in all directions (surprise!) but here's the revolving door of my mind right now:

Adventure
Bike touring
Seeing a new place in this part of the country every weekend
The arctic or very northerly and rugged places
Weekend trips to friends with $200 or so airfare range or driving distance (Atlanta, Connecticut, Maine, D.C....)
Trip to PDX to see my family of friends I miss so much

So I'm sure no one is following this anymore, but Karl is back....

La Roux - In For The Kill (NortHHeads Remix) - Drum n Bass

Oohhhhh i really like la roux

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt_W-9tFq6k&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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503-998-8994

Holy crap.

I have a new apartment! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!

i must be in the USA cuz....

the beer sucks, people are loud, the styles are bland and the bar just asked for something called my ID!

so travelling today is still not over. It all started at 4 am italy time. i had to carry an enormous heavy box containing my bike down 4 flights of narrow stairs.
then it was maybe a mile to the station, and i had to keep setting the damn box down because its so big, awkward and heavy!
So at 435 i arrive all sweaty at the beginning of my journey with a train ticket (without a bicycle) to milan centrale. so im already sweaty and illegal.
luckily i found a car right away with a spot to lean the box up against the wall and a seat i could watch it from. it only fell once. that old lady needed to be put out o her misery!

3 hours later i am wrestling this giant bike onto the platform, which is pretty low compared to the height of the train.

i spend 50 feet slugging it along and a nigerian with a cart a tiny tiny cart, comes to my rescue. but in a third world fashion we strap the elephant to the rollerskate and make it work.

im glad he showed up...it was a long way to the cab. the first cabbie couldnt even accomodate my size (haha). so another stepped forward. we then drove about 20 mins to linate milan airport. he talked on the radio the whole time!

i get to my gate with huge box by 830 or so. its a short line to lufthansa with only one ticket person. It takes forever. not until 930 do i talk to someone. my flight is cancelled.

i end up with a new routing onto british airways (BA) and a whole bunch of little slips of paper. this is bad. i hate little slips of paper. these look like some archaic train receipt. something that probably only italians use. they make no sense and have no times.

i go tothe ba line with my pile o stuff. HUGE lines. apparently all of japan was on ba today.
at least i (after another 20-30 mins) got a smokin hot check in girl that spoke english.

finally i get to a gate and a plane. ba is pretty damn good. theyre like how airlines were when i was young. roomy, efficient, attentive service.

but shit is it a long flight. i get from milan to heathrow, which is a huge cattle call of an airport. and i am not used to everyone having english as a first language. so thats my first culture shock.

my second one comes in the usa. we just seem like a bunch of happy hilbillies! our airport looks like a kindercare. its poorly organized. and security. omg! what a bunch of doofuses. "shoes off, liquids out!" blahblahblah...its like kids playing with security toys, only capable of wearing a short haircut.

so the italians didnt really put me in the system for the seattle to pdx leg. so i am using a voucher for food which lufthansa gave me...and didnt tell me about. i just happened to find it in the packet of pieces of paper (the one missing a ticket from sea to pdx!). and i am gettig on the 840pm to pdx...funny thing is my bike made it on the flight! Ahhh!!!

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Radler!

So i learned something about my new favorite drink. Radler is a drink in germany whereby one takes tap pilsner beer and fills anywhere from half to a quarter of the glass with lemonade (or any "ade" really). i prefer it with a quarter or less lemonade, but u can also buy it 50/50 in bottles at the store. Its great on a hot day as it minimizes dehydration and its realllly refreshing!
So today i learned that "Radler" means cyclist! haha...of course i lije the cyclist beer!! haha!


Sent from my old, slow but jailbroken iPhone

Sent from my old, slow but jailbroken iPhone

Sent from my old, slow but jailbroken iPhone

more berlin

so when my friend kim said "techno is everywhere here" i took it as hyperbole. but no. there really is techno everywhere. and it is in fact specifically "techno" or "minimal"!! and it is mostly terrible! i like richie hawtin/plastikman and his stuff, but it is just terrible here! 

The coffee is no match for stumptown. 
Most bikes are sold for about 100€. 
Summer is finally over. i bought a hat and gloves yesterday, at a "Woolworths" of all places. for the last three days or so i have fully utilized my rain gear, new "LaFont" thriftstore stylish 80's sleek blue puffy coat, hat gloves, bike lights and waterproof super messenger backpack(mostly for groceries, now huge packaging textbooks, and smuggling drinks into clubs).

My next stop is the Netherlands and then Italy and then home!!


"yeah, i kayak. so whut?"

a gun camera...flea markets are rad here!

graffiti in abe's courtyard where he's staying and running the kitchen of an underground bar.

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party fahrt!

U can dip your own, or u can request theirs...be nice though. Order the iced coffee!

So just a quick list of some Berlin-ness-niss:
a four story marble slide
urban climbing complete with shoes and ropes
5 day food poisoning
chicks on speed

do no think "Bisar!"
trannsexual karaoke
oktoberfest
iowa army
electro swing
bump de bump
hercules the green monster
viking tandem kayaking
the old love
crocodiles and hippos
my first schnitzel
underground bar
a bag of trees
the coolest blue pen ever
popebusters!!
diaphragm-headed women
a short discussion with a ventriloquist and himself
antipope demonstration
RADLER!! I love Radler!!!
pink tubes
turkish sucuk
the most amazing thermal spa hot tub complex EVER!!!!
cool graffiti
kreuzberg
trampoline parks
river clubs
HUGE BENCHES!!
3 huge men full of holes
"just because i like heavy metal does not mean that i like stinky bathrooms!"




yeah! bankpower is about the people!!! hahahaha!!!! rright!!!!

eurodont! because it dont matter u fucked up toothed weirdo!!

do NOT throw your canoe paddle out the window in Italy

yes, thats a diaphragm on her head.....
This is a needle exchange/purchasing vending machine...right next to the kids circus! Man it was fun to buy needles and then stick people and be like "HAHAHA!! I have AIDS!"

A bike company with my middle name! (they are very common here)

the badeschiff...outdoor pool on the river spree with some amazing views...the day it got hot enough to go, was just one day after they closed!!! ahhhhhhhhh
Berlin mauer east wall gallery...