I particularly like her points about the necessity of diversity to form neighborhoods and cities.

I asked the woman behind the counter if she knew where I could get a Victorian Village parking permit (for the streets around my neighborhood) and she scoffed that she lived way out in the suburbs and had “no idea why someone would want to live downtown!”

She was nice enough, and I let it go, but I will never live in a place where I can’t access all of the essentials within a short walk.

Anyway, this seems to be a trend in the Ohioans I’ve met, which is shocking to me… maybe a state with such a history of poor industry in cities has become afraid of them?

Looking forward to being able to bike to work.

Since I last wrote, we returned to Joao Pessoa, took a bus to Recife. Were thinking of staying in Recife to see the oldest synagogue in the Americas, but decided it wasnt worth the day so we caught the overnight bus to Salvador. I bought a bunch of records, and a cuica (which I will hapily play for anybody anytime once I return to the States) Its a pretty bizarre, yet totally amazing place. And you can buy random handmade gifts ina market once used for slaves.

Then yesterday we flew to Curitiba, marveled in its extraordinary public transportation system (urban planning orgasm***) went to the Niemeyer museum and walked around with some awesome crowds of people. Southern Brasil is SO much different than the northeast. The accent is cooler (imho) and everything is much more European-seeming. There is also *gasp* infrastructure, such as consistently paved roads, and futuristic bus terminals…

Next Up: Floripa tomorrow for two nights, then Flying to Rio on the 11th for four nights, then two days in Sao Paolo and back to NYC! Love you all, and please email me at bazoomercom at gmail with your address if you would like a postcard…. Ive sent out a bunch, but they probably wont arrive until who knows when….

 Lots of photos to come when I am using my own computer…Â

Also, a note about some parties:Â

**FINAL EAST COAST APPEARANCE**
Party in New York on Friday, August 17, details to follow.Â
Party round two, Columbus OH, August 24

I’m pretty much over my sickness now, but my day is still broken up in weird chunks thanks to a terrible mattress, sunset at 5:30 pm and no real structure to my life. There is this Mike Birbiglia bit about his sleep-addicted friend Sleepy Carl that continually entices him to stay in bed, while his girlfriend jumps out of bed yelling, “put me in coach.” Well that’s pretty much how its been going here. Johanna passes out on the couch watching a movie, and I stay up coding until 4am, then she yells at me when I am too groggy to want to kiss her when she wakes up (before her alarm!) at 8am. If that’s the biggest problem in our relationship, I’ll take it.

Anyway, finished reading The Razor’s Edge, which is a pretty incredible success story about someone looking for their own happiness, which brings me to, what am I doing after this vacation in Brasil?

Well… I’m looking for jobs at the moment, but strongly considering several options. I like the idea of trying to put assemble some sort of co-working setup in Columbus. I’ve enjoyed freelance work in the past, but I keep recalling that I *need* people to work with and keep me inspired. Plus I’m not sure that I want to go entirely freelance when I get so bummed out with the stupid projects and pay that are floating around on the internet. More about this topic later…

We’ll be moving into this *AMAZING* condo that we (well technically, I) bought! [for you stalkers, Google Map it]
in the heart of the Short North district of Columbus. Hopefully Jewish will suffice for gay and artsy in Columbus, and I don’t see why it wouldn’t, as they are synonymous everywhere else. I’m excited to help Columbus become the new San Francisco.