July 2009
213 posts
Old Posts
I just wrote a little program to import all my old Word Press blog posts. Sorry for all the blogs at one time. These are all about 2 years old, and recount my trip to Berlin/Buenos Aires. They start with the latest and go back in time to when I first got to Berlin.
So we’re launching our new drinking shirt site today and it feels great. It’s a mountain of work to put these things together. There are still some minor things we will be working on over the next weeks and as issues arise we’ll address them. We’ve got 50 already designed shirts to add as well, and will probably be adding them a few per week after the new year. We’re kinda viewing from now until...
CLOSING THIS SHIT DOWN
So I’ve decided to stop posting here and just use my Tumblr blog. It’s way cooler and faster and more in tune with how I’d like to blog. I will still post longer posts from time to time…but they will be over there as well. WordPress is so 2006.
CLIKE HERE TO SEE IT
Tumblr Blog
So I decided to make a tumblr blog. It’s this new blogging software that’s a million times easier to use and post. But it’s more for random little shit rather than full posts. I’ll still wrote on posts…but probably more on that one.
Check it out here:
http://jdubblog.tumblr.com
JW is still 12. Peter is 11
So last night we had a big Argentine BBQ with the roommates. It’s their thing here. They start the fire about 10 PM, cook till 12 and you eat at 1 in the morning. And they cook up a massive spread of animal flesh; cicken, chorizo, blood sausages, beef, pork, the whole nine. They also have a little section of the grill where they cook up some innards, like intestine and stomach lining and...
My first Man Kiss
Argentina is of course, a Latin country. They speak Spanish, dance the Tango, eat empanadas, wear big sunglasses, tan great…the list goes on and on. It also means that the men here kiss each other hello and goodbye on the cheek. And I suppose because we are officially Porteno’s now, it is expected of us too. So 2 nights ago, I had my first man kiss. One of our roommates, Diego met us...
A Taste of tango
So Peter and I have been in BA for almost 2 weeks now and I feel like we haven’t seen the city. We are days, maybe hours, from launching a website we have been working on for a loong time. It’s an idea I’ve had for years and it feels great to finish it. I’ll be announcing it here any day. But all the work has made it hard to get out and into the city. So as a break, last...
The Maid Cometh...and veggies too!!
So I thought that life in BA couldn’t any sweeter until I found out today that we have a little Argentinian house maid who comes once a week and cleans the joint from top to bottom. She made my bed, mopped my floor, and tidied up the kitchen/bath. And of course she’s free, included in the already ridiculously low rent we pay here. In fact, shit is so cheap that Peter and I signed up...
Where the streets are made of meat
So Buenos Aires is one cool city. At least the parts of it I have been able to see in the last week, which isn’t much since Peter and I have been working so much. But from what I can tell, I think our 5 and a half months left here is gonna be pretty amazing. First off, the weather is fucking gorgeous. It’s like California, maybe a tad hotter. I totally forgot how great it is to have...
Empanadas for Thanksgiving
So today is Thanksgiving, but aside from the ads I see on US websites, I’d hardly know it. We are about as far removed from the traditional Thanksgiving as you can get. Instead of the onset of winter, down South here, it is a blazing springtime, with the onset of a steamy summer ready on the horizon. Instead of turkey and friends and family, Peter and I spent the day working on our websites,...
666 - Malo o Bueno Suerte
So Pete and I have arrived in our new apartment. We live at 666 Cata Marca in downtown Buenos Aires. When we told the cabbie our address he gave us the sign of the devil and made pointed Lucifer ears with his hands. But the place is as far as possible from anything bad. We live with a German girl Yanna, her Argentine boyfriend Jorge, and Jorge’s brother. The house is actually an entire floor...
Buenos Aires!!!
So Pete’s and I are no longer stuck in Brazil. We’ve made it to Buenos Aires, alive and well, albeit a tad bit on the nasty looking side from a week of travel caked onto us.
We got to spend one night in Sao Paolo, the capital of Brazil. It is a wonder to behold, the size and scale of the place. The only city with a more impressive sense of space and urban terrain is New York. The...
Salvador de Bahia
So Salvador de Bahia is probably the most bananas place I’ve ever been. It is a squalor on par with the back alleys of Tijuana, yet as beautiful as Hawaii at the same time. Since I am short on internet time and I want to record this place with as much detail as possible, I’m just going to bullet point some of the shit I have seen here.
-This place is a combination of Mexico and...
We're stuck in Brazil
So Peter and I are stuck in Brazil. Seriously. We thought getting to Buenos Aires would be easy since it’s on the same continent and both Salvador de Bahia and BA are major cities. We’re were 100% wrong. It’s further than going from LA to New York. Brazil itself is a fucking gargantuan country, bigger than the continental US, and lengthwise is wider than the distance from London...
Peter and I have survived out trip to Salvador de Bahia. It is a squalor of the highest magnitude.
Getting here was an ordeal. First, we had to rise at 5am on Monday morning. When I say rise, I mean just get out of bed, because I had spent the night almost entirely sleepless. For some reason leaving Berlin was triggering memories of leaving California and a host of conflicting thoughts and...
Brazil
Peter and I have survived out trip to Salvador de Bahia. It is a squalor of the highest magnitude.
Getting here was an ordeal. First, we had to rise at 5am on Monday morning. When I say rise, I mean just get out of bed, because I had spent the night almost entirely sleepless. For some reason leaving Berlin was triggering memories of leaving California and a host of conflicting thoughts and...
So packing up your shit and getting ready to fly to South America sounds easy. You pack your clothes, catch a cab to the airport, and off you go. But for some reason, for me, instead of feeling 100% excited, I am half filled with a sense of overpowering sadness to leave this place. The memories of mid-Novermber continent hopping from one year ago come flooding back into my brain and I am almost at...
The Hole
Once again, sorry for the no write. I got people emailing me and asking if I’ve been kidnapped by gypsies or am lounging in between the legs of a Brazilian supermodel all sunbaked and laughing and boozed. The truth is hardly as exciting.
I’ve been in the hole.
In this case that means crawling into the sheets with my laptop on my knees and programming day and night on our new...
Poland
a couple weeks old….from when we went to Poznan…
_______________________
So I am going to just fess up right now. I was 100% wrong about Poland. The way I wrote it up last time I made sit seem like I expected to be met on the border by a toothless prostitute and her track suit wearing pimp; both pulling on Mason jars of home-made Polish shine. And while I’m sure those people...
The MutherLand
So I have always been a little jealous of people who have a definite ethnic heritage. Maybe it’s from watching too many movies like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, where ones family becomes a sitcom of supporting characters each complete with their idiosyncrasies and quirks; but I’ve always thought it’d be cool to have a huge Italian or Spanish or Persian family to...
Stupid asses....still
So right after I posted that last entry with the hottie Brazilian I did some searching around on Google and found that everybody from the US needs a VISA to enter Brazil and of course me and Peter don’t have shit. We’re still illegal as hell in Germany and have no clue how to get a Brazilian Visa as an American over here. I tried calling the Embassy in Washington DC but the guy...
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Tickets Bought!!!!
So Peter and I bought our tickets today for South America. We were looking for a direct flight to Buenos Aires, but they were too expensive, like 4K each, so we decided to fly into Brazil instead. We thought about San Paolo or Rio de Janeiro, but those flights were booked in May when we want to come back to Europe. So now, we are flying out on Nov 12 on a direct flight from Frankfurt to Salvador...
JW Mocks Peter; Proves just as stupid.
So like a big ol’ dumbass Peter lost his email confirmation for his return flight home and Air Canada has basically said it’s gone. You see, both of us booked return flights home with the understanding that we would just keep extending them back to later dates. This happened like 4 months ago and I’ve been wondering how such a thing can happen ever since. Well today, I officially...
Dead Grammaws and New Niece or Neph
So I just found out that my last grammaw died about a week ago and nobody from home called to tell me. I’d like to say it’s sad because that’s what you’re supposed to say, but in reality I don’t really care. She was suffering for a long time and the last time I saw her she had the Alzheimer’s and didn’t remember me. I have only met her a handful of times...
JW's Experiment
I woke up yesterday and nobody was around so I decided to go out and be a camera nerd and take some pictures of ol’ Kreuzberg, which is pretty much the coolest part of the city. I ended up having a blast by myself and walked around for like 6 hours just taking pictures of the most random shit in the world. Berlin is full or hip, urban weirdness and you almost don’t see it unless you make it a...
This Is Great
This is a great post I found online about why it’s hard to find a rich handsome husband even if you’re a super hot chick. This reminded me of a ton of women I have met before and think every women should have to read this upon graduating from college. They should roll up a copy and put it in their diplomas. And if women really think this way, then it’s no wonder it’s so...
October 3rd.
Today is October 3rd, which is the equivalent of the 4th of July for us Americans. Today is the day that 90% of the German people voted to re-unify back in 1990 and become one country again after 40 years of division into communist and capitalist camps. In plain language all I can say that today is the biggest hot dog and beer party in the world. The Germans all have the day off today and get...
Berlin Marathon
Like I wrote earlier, the Berlin Marathon was very hard and I think next time I will have to prepare much better. I think I was ready cardio-wise, as I never really got too tired during the run, but my legs really started to hurt at about mile 18 or so. I started having an extremely sharp pain in the top of my foot, where it meets the ankle, that would shoot up through my leg every time my foot...
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I survived
So I finished the marathon. It was extremely difficult. I have mixed feelings on the whole thing. One the one and it was an amazing thing to accomplish with so many people from all over the world. The World Record was also set today, which was cool. But I also got a slap in the face in terms of personal expectations. The marathon deserves respect and if you don’t make adequate sacrifices to...
Tomorrow is Marathon Day!!!! Holy SHIT!
So in twelve hours I’ll be leaving the house for the marathon start. I can hardly believe I’m running this thing. I went and picked up my race packet today over in West Berlin and got to see the size and scope of this event. It’s mammoth. Anyone who has been to Wildflower Triathlon might think that that is a huge event with lots of coordination. The Berlin Marathon is 10 times...
Pete is a geezer too
Today is Peters birthday. He’s 29, a whole year older than me. That means either I’m super smart and got moved up one year in school or he got held back. Or maybe both fool! How does that make you feel.
Anyway, I can’t believe Pete is damn near 30. That means both of us are pretty much grown ass men. It’s time to start acting like it! It’s time to buy some god...
Cutting The Cord
So for a long time, I called San Luis Obispo my home. I lived there for 10 years while I was in school and after, and I really do love it, even today. It’s got beautiful weather, the ocean, culture, a great downtown, and the best BBQ in the world. And I was totally part of the community there. I was a business owner with friends all over town who I’d run into everyday at the store, the...
Polski Man Returneth
Do you guys remember Polski Man. He’s the mustachioed Polish guy who came to stay with Andre a few months ago. He got us boozed on homemade shine and taught us how to box. Well, a few days ago he came back and surprised Andre in his Bentley. I’m now 100% convinced that he’s mobbed up. Anyway, he brought us presents which was awesome. He gave me and Peter each a nice pen that...
Polski Man
Tour Guide Wars.
So it’s weird. Even though I’m retired from having a real job and am just working in my underwear on my laptop everyday, I have still learned a ton about business over here. And it’s come from a weird place; the Berlin guided tours industry. And even weirder, the thing I’ve learned the most, is just how shady and petty and conniving some business people really are....
The King
So I’ve written before about Berlin and it’s wonderful ethnic population. We’ve got more Turks than anywhere outside of Turkey and a whole bunch of Syrians and other Middle Eastern dudes. This makes the street food in Berlin mostly Schawarma’s, Doner Kabob’s, and Falafel. And for the most part all of these are 100% similar and they all taste the same, with a few...
Moving Day
I’m moving back in with Andre today and I can’t wait. Peter and I decided to head back over there so we can work more. We’re about a zillion times more productive when we live together.
Peter was living with a German dude, his hot Italian wifey, and their adorable little baby boy. Seeing them play and hang out made me want to have a half Italian baby with my own hot Italian...
I'm Alive
Sorry for the no writing that much for the last 6 weeks or so. I’ve gotten a few emails asking if I am alive and well.
I am.
I’m just super busy. Peter and I are on the verge of a major breakthrough on two DubCorp businesses. I will announce them here in a few weeks when they are ready. The launching of these two sites will be the culmination of not only the entire body of work we...
The Awk
For the most part living in the US allows you to avoid the socially awkward moments that occasionally spring up. People are chill and relaxed and friendly and the social mores are relatively simple to understand. Americans are awkward-adverse, which is cool. This is how society flourishes, I’ve decided.
But over here, I have minimum 2-3 socially awkward situations a day and it always...
Paris Weekend
Paris Weekend
Paris
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