july 15 2008

spent a good two hours talking to my downstairs neighbor tonight. i should say i spent a good 105 minutes listening - the man seemed to be in the mood to talk, and i was in a listening mood.

stitch was a punk rocker. he saw the clash, the buzzcocks, gun club, richard hell and the voidoids, the jesus and mary chain, magazine, the cramps (his favorite), the ramones, and many more back at the turn of the decade, before the 80's.

now, he's a recovering alcoholic, and he says, "i can't listen to anything that's too rowdy, you know, because..." (universal drinking-of-beer hand motion and a stitch laugh)

he also studied islamic law. he was raised a socialist zionist, then allied himself with palestinian radicals, studied islamic law at an islamic university, converted to lutheranism for a gentile wife, attends catholic mass and episcopalian church services. he worked in the rare book trade for 12 years. now he runs the new age "hoo-doo" store downstairs, with a gothy girl and a gnostic priest. he does rune readings for all kinds of people, "even politicians."

when he was in high school, he was targeted by the federal government. he was pretty heavily involved in the young socialist movement, and led protests at his school in skokie. apparently, federal agents would show up at his dad's work and ask him very publicly and loudly about his son's communist activities (trying to get his dad canned).

then, he went through a heavy libertarian streak. he's still a little bit maoist. he's a voracious reader of political writing.

he gave me a tip about a nature preserve on the north side. i'll have to check it out. near pulaski, on the green line.

he also talked a lot about health care. i'd write more about that if i had the mental energy - basically, we need universal health care. if you disagree, you haven't met the right people, or heard the right stories.

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i gave john, my backyard neighbor, my old bike frame. he offered to pay me, but i know he doesn't have much money, so i gave it to him, because i'm pretty sure he'll put it to good use. he said he might give me a 12 pack of beer, though. we talked a lot about pigeon shit.

john is an interesting guy. i'll write more about him another day, probably.

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due to an ignorant purchase in light of attending a vegan barbeque, i ended up with 12 hot dog buns after this weekend. 6 of the whole foods whole wheat variety, 6 of the cheap-bin white variety. if you think you know which one was vegan, you might be wrong.

anyway. the first time i had tofu dogs, it was before i was a real vegetarian (if you can count my lazy ass as a "real" vegetarian now). i saw them next to the hot dogs in the grocery store when i was on one of my health kicks. i thought, "oh, man... all the deliciousness of hot dogs, without the calories, fat, or sodium? count me in!"

when i got home and tried one, i died on the inside. it was probably in my top five worst eating experiences. three years later, i have definitely made my peace with veggie sausage - but i hadn't tried a tofu dog since. tofu dogs are less than half the price of veggie sausages, though, so i figured it was worth a shot. i picked up a couple bell peppers and poblanos to roast and throw on top with some leftover cole slaw i made for some delicious tacos.

they turned out alright, i guess. i didn't gag or dislike the taste, and i didn't have to smother them with mustard or ketchup to enjoy my eating experience.