Poppy Z. Brite's Blog, page 78

Teeter Hang-Up Inversion Table

My friend Harold let me try his Teeter Hang-Up Inversion Table yesterday. It looks like a torture device and I was scared, but it felt wonderful. My back has been pretty bad since I got home (the only problem with going to Amsterdam is that the flight home undoes most of the pain relief you got from mainlining THC 24/7, at least if you fly steerage like me). Harold loves the thing, but his health problems are quite different from mine. I'm wondering if anyone else with chronic back pain/injur...

Quickie

This will have to be quick, as I can't find my computer power cord and I'm losing the battery. The problem could likely be solved by the simple expedient of unpacking, but there are few things I hate more than unpacking from a really good trip. It sometimes takes me as long as two or three weeks to get it completely done. Still, I probably would have updated sooner except that I thought our Internet was out. I was going to make an emergency iPhone post letting people know I got home OK and sa...

Dutch Men's Underwear

Apparently everyone wants to know what's so special about it. Well, European men's underwear and Dutch ones in particular are just very colorful, creative, and comfortable. I discovered this when Chris bought some nice Claessen ones on our trip in November and they were too small for him, but fit me just fine. Dutch men have tiny butts (or I have a huge one), for I have to wear XL. At least in boxer-briefs, my preference.

My favorite pair so far (from the Bijenkorf, a big, fancy department sto...

Having Fun(gus)

I just woke and showered (at a lovely 1:44pm Amsterdam time) and I haven't had any coffee yet, but last night I paid for 24 usurious hours of hotel Internet and so far I've only used it to look up Psilocybe tampanensis, so I'll try to type fast. Let's see: I have answered Hunter Thompson's question, "What was I doing here? Was I just locked into some kind of drug frenzy?" The answer is yes. I've had no interest in psychedelics for, oh, about 20 years now, but last night, for the first time ev...

Bon Voyage

I spent most of today driving to and from Mississippi to help my mother with a car emergency (nothing dangerous, just expensive and inconvenient for her). On top of all the other bad habits -- adrenochrome, threatening Chris while hacking grapefruits to mush with a large hunting knife -- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas seems to have given me a lead foot. I didn't get a ticket, though, and having to make the drive was probably good, as it kept me from hanging around the house and getting all ne...

Vienna Waits for You

I hope yesterday's entry didn't come off wrong. I meant to imply I was afraid I would inadvertently bring further destruction and mayhem to Amsterdam, not that the loss of this beloved, historic old tree was merely an inauspicious augur for my trip. Of course, either one is magical thinking, which probably stems from a massive ego. I'm sorry.

Not a very good day so far. I woke up with fragments of a dream of being maddeningly attracted to some writer (God save me) I was traveling with, no one ...

Anne Frank Tree Felled by Storm

Well, that's not very freaking auspicious.

Dutch Readers?

I would like to go to a nice Mass at St. Nicolaaskerk on Sunday, August 29. I don't care what language it's in. Can someone please translate this schedule for me? (I can read the days/times, but am not sure about the qualifying information.)

Zondag

10.30 uur

Eucharistieviering (Nederlandstalig) met een aparte kindernevendienst: de Kleine Nicolaas. Op 22 augustus begint de mis om 10.00 uur i.v.m. de rechtstreekse tv-uitzending.

Zondag

13.00 uur

Eucharistieviering (Spaanstalig)

Ma t/m Zat

12.30 uur

Stil...

Warning: Hippie-Dippiness Ahead

Things were getting a little excessive around here. There are only so many nights in a row you can drink beer and watch Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas without strange things happening to you. Instead I've spent the last several days being quiet and calm, sleeping a lot, reading, watching no movies, accessing no Internet. Both of these phases have been necessary (as far as "necessary" can mean anything in the weirdly intuitive way I seem to be living my life lately) to prepare for my trip to A...

Today's Tip

Do not act out the "White Rabbit" bathtub scene from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, playing both Benicio del Toro and Johnny Depp, complete with gestures, in any restaurant you wish to return to. They were very nice about it, but they really needn't have been.