Roman Edirisinghe

My brother Alex, his friend Max, and I went to Osco to buy some water. While the woman at the checkout counter started ringing up our order, I asked her if anyone had won the $180 million lottery.
To which she replied, “Someone won it. It was $215 million. They were from Idaho or Iowa… one of those farming countries.”

We stifled laughter as we were leaving with our drinks.

Later, I told Nicole about it, and she said there were two especially amusing things about what the check-out lady said:

1) Iowa and Idaho are states, not countries.
2) Wisconsin is ALSO a farming state, and the clearly dim woman had no inkling that she lived in a “farming country,” as she liked to call it.

Victoria Reynolds,
“Down the Primrose Path”Originally uploaded by caterina.

Yesterday, I was napping with Nicole, when I suddenly woke up craving steak. I told her, and she looked at me like I was crazy. As I recall, I believe I had a crazed look in my eye, too. But there was no denying it. Rather than hit a restaurant, I wanted complete control over my first piece of meat in years. I wanted it to be farm-raised, free range, non-GMO, antibiotic free, and prepared by experts. So I called up my parents. My mom thought I was crazy. So did my dad. But they grudgingly agreed.

Nicole & I picked up my mom & bought the beef at the Outpost. I wasn’t even grossed out looking at the meat. I felt like eating it raw. It was rather strange, really.

When we got back, my dad started preparing the steak. We boiled potatoes and made a red cabbage salad. And the steak was excellent. I ate very slowly and thoughtfully, appreciating every bite of it. I tried to chew it really well, to make sure I wasn’t going to put my body through hell digesting it.

I survived the night with no upset stomach or vomiting. For a minute, I thought my stomach was acting up, but it was fine. It’s been a full twelve hours with no adverse effects.

I hadn’t eaten steak in years. I started being vegetarian when I was in high school. That was approximately 15 years ago. But I haven’t been strict in the least bit. I have eaten meat here and there. I’ve definitely eaten plenty of seafood over the years. Nonetheless, I’m surprised by my ability to eat red meat without being sick. A couple months ago I had some great chicken in Seattle, but my GI tract was messed up for a week. So how can I explain it? I’m not sure. But the steak was great!

I want more.

Google Maps + GasBuddy = Cheap Gas

It’s a great way to compare gas prices.

A German restaurant, Espitas, is now offering maggots on their menu: salads, cocktails, desserts, all augumented by the fine flavor of imported Mexican maggots.

Honestly, they don’t really look like maggots. They look like the special, farm-raised worms available at edible.com.

via Ananova
Also, be sure to check out the Espitas website.

Interesting game. Move the pieces, and watch the process by which the machine calculates the best move to counter yours. Highly inventive.

via turbulence.org

I called up Didier (DDA) Leplae to play bass guitar for Oumar Sagna‘s CD release party last Saturday. DDA really came through, and playing music with him again was such a great joy. Additionally, spending time with him felt like being a kid again, and we spent a great deal of time laughing about nothing in particular, but it was something important enough to laugh about, for sure. On a whim, I did a Google search on “Didier Leplae” and wasn’t really surprised to find countless entries. He’s been quite a prolific individual over the years.

I had some weird dreams last night. I was still dating Nicole, but I had decided to take a solo trip to Southeast Asia or Japan or some place. However, I secretly visited the Carribean en route, apparently to hook up with an ex-girlfriend. When I got there (to the Dominican Republic), I had a key to a house (that I had lived in before, apparently), which I used to unlock the front door and enter. Within minutes, the occupants of the house, 3 or 4 college-age women, were freaking out, threatening to call the police. And there I was, scrambling verbally to come up with an explanation for my presence there. Somehow, I convinced them that I was harmless and a friend, and we all went to sleep in our respective beds.

Later, still on the island, I was walking around with Julio when we were approached by a totally hot woman, who was trying to pick both of us up. We vibed, etc, but moved on. Much later, I was alone, and was approached by the woman’s sister, who was a former teacher of mine (but looked totally different). Strange. Anyway, she wanted sex, so I agreed, and as we were walking to her hut, we were passed by her sister. That’s when I realized I was being used as a tool in some bizarre sibling feud or competition. Anyway, I think we got it on… end of scenario.

Me: “You’re keeping your fu-manchu moustache in your ears?”

Bootz (seemingly irritated): “Where else am I supposed to put it when I shave?”

Today, I feel like I got run over by a tank emotionally. Don’t ask me why. Perhaps it’s the erratic weather, or the fact that I tossed and turned last night.

On a cheerful note, happy birthday to David Wake! The first people I interacted with this morning were Dave and Jeremy Kuzniar, who were downstairs at Jer’s house mixing the forthcoming De La Buena CD. I passed along the pix I took on March 3 for inclusion in the CD art. They’re also available for viewing on Flickr.

This day is not yet over. Although I spilled tea all over myself at my desk, it has since evaporated. I have a chance to recover from this day attitude, and it’s all in my able hands.

Last night, I did not see the Chicken. I moped around my house until just after dark, got a sandwich from the Fuel Cafe, rode my bike to Lake Park, and ate it there, watching the city lights grow brighter. Then, I rode to Blockbuster and rented another 2 movies (I don’t watch movies, I just copy them – I paid $15 for one month’s worth of rentals, and I’m trying to make the buck count because my month is over on the 19th).

Then I ran into Matt Turner and Ethan Keller just outside of the Jazz Estate as they were setting up for the Chicken and we talked music and websites for about 10 minutes. Matt offered to pay me in rupees and Canadian pennies to build him a website. I’m considering it. And I’ll hold him up to it.

After that, I was biking home and I bumped into my friend Doug. He was one of the 2 guys present in the house when I ripped out my teeth back in 1992. We go way back (to high school & middle school). We were best friends for a long time, then grew apart after I quit using drugs. Since then, he’s traveled the world extensively on a shoestring budget. He’s an artist. A painter. And has really nice, interesting works. We don’t actually hang out much anymore. Ever. But when we run into each other on the street, we both stop and talk for about a half hour or more. I kind of miss him sometimes. I told him about new developments in my life, having a new girlfriend, etc. And I told him how I feel stuck, like everything I’m doing in my career feels like a dead end. And he recognized that my bicycle bell came from China.

Then, I went to the hot tub. I need to go more often. It is incredibly relaxing. I saw a young couple there (mid-twenties) and the guy has been coming since he was a kid, because his mom was a member since the 70’s. He’s really fun to talk to – a very loving, open vibe. And after they left, an older woman came. She knew me from One Drum shows, so we sat and talked about spirituality for a while. It was cool, and had the effect of centering me somewhat.

Afterwards, I went home and started backing up my laptop for the new upgrade to OS X Tiger. And I prepared to go to sleep. I think I finally got to bed at like 1:30 am. Had strange dreams. I remember waking up this morning because my door suddenly opened, and there was nobody there. Kristin & Yoshua hadn’t opened the door. It was weird. I had slept through my alarm, and the resident ghost was waking me.