Boomboxes And Dictionaries

I took a drive today, thought about you

I thought about a friend who passed

And how much we just went through

I saw the sunshine off the hood of a Cadillac

I thought about some things I'd say

And some that I would take back

I thought about how fortunate I feel to be alive

And if you're scared of the future tonight,

We'll just take it each hour one at a time

It's a pretty good night for drive 

So dry up those eyes, dry up those eyes

Because the radio will still play loud

Songs that we heard as our guards came down

Like in the summertime when we first met

I'll never forget, and don't you forget

These nights are still ours

(The Gaslight Anthem - Boomboxes And Dictionaries)

Mystery creates wonder and wonder is

the basis of man's desire to understand.

(Neil Armstrong)

Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree.

(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

I hope to be able to post new pictures soon. My two jobs are keeping me busy, but until I've got new photos that I want to share with you, I don't want to bore you with old pictures.

Let me share some blogs, photostreams and websites I discovered last week... 

On Flickr: #1; #2. The photography of Roger Weber. The cucumber cocktail. The amazing murals by Herakut. Mexican Fireworks, which is one of the best collections of photographs I've ever seen on the internet. Beautiful photographs of Canada's National Parks. A beautifully captured moment. John Bauer's illustrations. Great pictures of the Dutch Wadden Islands. A series of pictures of the moon. "Criminal Minds" has some remarkable quotes. The 99 best things about summer. An interesting article on Bruce Springsteen. Last but not least, three awesome motorcycles: BMW R75/5, Honda CB350 (#1; #2), Kawasaki Z750.

Goodnight.

- Dom

Old Haunts

So don't sing me your songs about the good times

Those days are gone and you should just let them go

And God help the man who says

"If you'd have known me when"

Old haunts are forgotten ghosts

Old haunts are forgotten ghosts

(The Gaslight Anthem - Old Haunts)

Route 66, Arizona.

June 2009.

It's only Thursday but I've already worked 30 hours this week - and I'll be working from Friday to Monday, too. Today was my only day off this week, and next Tuesday is gonna be my only day off next week. That's why I still don't have any new pictures to post here - I haven't even been able to enjoy the awesome weather this week. 

No matter how much I love doing what I've been doing for the past eight months - working as a barista, that is - there's gotta be more to life than this job... and my other job... and my archaeology studies. 

Some of my friends are married already, some have children... and they're not older than I am. Some of them are happy, others pretend to be. Either way, having a wife and children doesn't sound anything like me, at least not for another ten years. I don't want to settle down. I'm able to live out of a suitcase for weeks, and I would love to do it again. I'd love to get out on the road again, and see where it might take me.

I guess I'm looking for it again - for that belief I had when I was younger, before I got caught up in the working life... the belief that I could do whatever I wanted to do... the belief that I could go wherever I wanted to go... the belief that I could live wherever I wanted to live... the belief that I could work wherever I wanted to work... the belief in happy endings.

Abraham Lincoln once said, "In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." 

I want to get more out of my life. For the rest of this year and probably the first half of the next year I'm gonna bust my ass doing what I do now, making as much money as I can possibly make, trying to save as much money as I can possibly save, so when I decide that it's time to leave, I won't need to worry about money. 


I'll definitely do something next year - whether that will be going to Canada on a working holiday visa and going on an extended road trip across the same country with friends or just going on that trip is a decision I have yet to make, but whatever I end up doing, it's gonna be awesome. 

Anyway, for the next few weeks I'll be too busy to take new pictures, maybe even too busy to post old ones, but one thing I do promise: On my next day off I'll check out your blogs and comment on all the posts I've missed.


Something I did enjoy was this year's Tour de France, especially because Bradley Wiggins has become the first British winner of the Tour. Click here to view pictures, click the following links to read what the papers, the French, and the Queen had to say, and last but not least, click here and here to read what the man himself had to say during and after the Tour, respectively.

The Gaslight Anthem have just released their latest brilliant album, "Handwritten". The song above, however, has been taken from their previous album "American Slang".

Goodnight.

- Dom

Down Around My Place

The radio is busted, down around my place

Every tool is rusted, down around my place

Creeks and rivers dried up, down around my place

My woman's tears are cried up, down around my place

And I put my faith in you

Did you make that error too?

Bound to fail that he might show his grace

Down around my place

(John Hiatt - Down Around My Place)

Somewhere in Arizona.

June 2009.

This Hard Land

Hey there mister can you tell me

What happened to the seeds I've sown

Can you give me a reason, sir

As to why they've never grown

They've just blown around from town to town

Back out on these fields

Where they fall from my hand

Back into the dirt of this hard land

Now even the rain it don't come round

Don't come round here no more

And the only sound at night's the wind

Slammin' the back porch door

Yeah it stirs you up like it wants to blow you down

Twistin' and churnin' up the sand

Leavin' all them scarecrows lyin' facedown

In the dirt of this hard land

(Bruce Springsteen - This Hard Land)

Picture taken near Kayenta, AZ.

June 2009.

Long Time Comin'

Now I'm gonna get birth naked and bury my old soul

And dance on its grave

And dance on its grave

(Bruce Springsteen - Long Time Comin')

Cirque de Pougnadoires, France.

September 2011.

It's been three weeks now since the day my dog died. I'm not sad because he's dead, I'm sad because I'll live another 40, 50, 60 years without ever seeing him again. This recent event has put me into a contemplative mood.

I've thought about the choices I've made, about how I've treated people, about what I want to do with my life for the next few years. 

It's been five and a half years since my 18th birthday... It was back then that I set goals that I wanted to achieve in five years...

While I still believe that I've made the right choices as far as my working life is concerned, I've come to the conclusion that I've made some really bad decisions when it comes to girls. There have been so many chances to be in a serious relationship, but it never seemed right and I couldn't resist the temptation of other girls. I can't turn back time, I can't right the wrongs, but I can do it better next time. 

And that's just what I've been trying to do lately... there's this woman, Anna - she's a customer at my coffee shop... I know exactly what she's going to order, and her face lights up when she sees me, holding her lactose free Vanilla Latte in my hands before she's even reached the counter... I love seeing her smile... she's gorgeous... I enjoy the small talk... now I've got a second job at the place she works at (she's a medical assistant and I'm locating and sorting patient files) so I get to talk to her more often, and the next time I see her, I'll ask her if she wants to have lunch with me, and after a while, I might ask her if she'd like to go out for dinner or cocktails. 

One of my friends once told me from the bottom of her heart that she thought I was an amazing guy and that I deserved nothing but the best... and if what that girl said to me all those years ago was true, this might be it... it definitely feels right... and that's why I won't fuck it up this time.

Tomorrow's Stage 16 of the 2012 Tour de France includes Col d'Aubisque and Col du Tourmalet, and Bradley Wiggins, a British racer, is wearing the yellow jersey. 

After I came home from work, I looked through my archives from last year's trip and found the picture above. The river that flows through the gorge is the famous Tarn. Click the following links to see more pictures taken in the Gorges du Tarn: #1; #2; #3; #4.

Goodnight!

- Dom

Georgia Clay

Seventeen years old running on dumb luck

Spent the whole damn summer

Living in that truck

Them old tyres still covered in that mud

Like it sticks with me, in my blood

When life was nothing more than living for the night

Just trying to steal a kiss on a tailgate of that ride

Good old days don't wash away

Just like that Georgia clay

(Josh Kelley - Georgia Clay)

Another road, another photograph...

USA, June 2009.

Click here and here to view similar photographs.

Photographs And Memories

A man he loves a woman

They marry and they raise a child

That's the way the whole world over

But there's too much life involved

Now looking out the window

At the skies that keep closing in

And deep down in their heart they know

The void will never fill

Photographs And Memories

That never fade as time moves on

And he becomes the hunter

And questions burn like the sun

And for the pilgrim 

The road is always long and sore

But for the love of the father

You walk it all and so much more

(The Band From Rockall - For The Love Of Alison)

The Alster.

Eppendorf.

Hamburg, Germany.

July 2012.

Have a good weekend.

- Dom

One Way Ticket

If I never see your face again

Or sunlight come to grace a dawn

Our passion's work would not take flight

Our strivings cease, our glory gone

They gave me a ticket on a one-way journey

But you offered me a same price return

I've never seen a flower that didn't shed its seed

To rise in spring out of the ground

(The Band From Rockall - One Way Ticket)

Alster, Hamburg, Germany.

July 2012.

Over Me

Mojave Desert, California.

June 2009.

The Mojave Desert is an amazing place. The first picture was taken in Essex, the second picture shows Amboy Crater. For more information on this section of Route 66, click here. If you'd like to find out more about the lesser known sights of the region, click here. 

I left Las Vegas late in the evening, and because I wasn't successful in trying to find a cheap motel on the outskirts of the city, I decided to just keep on driving. By the time I exited Needles Freeway, it was already starting to get dark and I was really tired, so I pulled over on the side of Route 66. The next morning, I woke up early and took a walk around where I had parked my car the night before. There was an abandoned house nearby, and a bit of a junkyard. The light in the desert was incredible - the sun was so bright that you can barely see the power lines in the top picture... and that was only an hour or so after sunrise.

Click the following links to see some more of the pictures I took in the Mojave Desert (#1; #2; #3).

Blog post title taken from one of the songs from the Vanishing Point - soundtrack called "Over Me" by Segarini & Bishop. Let me share this epic performance by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band recorded in 1978, which would've been part of the soundtrack for that trip if I had found out about its existence three years ago. Click here to listen to some unreleased tracks by Bruce Springsteen. I reckon only a few of my followers know that I listen to house music - Yeah, I do! - and if you, too, love house music, I'd like to recommend the "Desert Drive" tape to you, which is available on SoundCloud. On SoundCloud I also found this amazing collection of African songs.

Last but not least, I'd like to recommend this awesome blog to you - beautiful pictures of Mother Nature always bring a smile to my face.

Goodnight.

- Dom

Everything I Do

Look into my eyes, you will see

What you mean to me

Search your heart, search your soul

And when you find me there you will search no more

(Bryan Adams - Everything I Do)

Auto graveyard near Canyon de Chelly, AZ.

Rolberto's Taco Shop, Mesa, AZ.

66 Motel, Needles, CA.

June 2009.

I love classic Americana... Route 66 or any other lonely highway, listening to folk music and rock 'n' roll, conversations with eccentric locals and other travellers, old cars... I even love the motel rooms - you arrive after a long day on the road, turn on the A/C, take a shower, watch a movie... and get some sleep before you find yourself on the road again, punching the pedal.

Drive

Arizona.

California.

June 2009.

I don't care if it's a highway or a dirty country road

I don't care if I'm leaving or coming home

I don't know if it's the song on that too loud radio

I don't know if it's the smell of that burning smoke

Here I go

Headed out to nowhere like a bullet from a gun

Putting miles on me and the wheels I'm rollin' on

Slide on over baby and I'll take you for a ride

I just like to drive

Well, I just like to drive

Well, I love to feel my worn out boots stompin' on the gas

Love to see your bare feet tappin' on the dash

Love to see your hand, girl, swingin' in the breeze

And I'm done burning up a tank of gasoline

Smells so sweet

(Casey James - Drive)

Summer Of '09

Oh when I look back now

This summer seemed to last forever

And if I had the choice

Yeah, I'd always wanna be there

Those were the best days of my life

(Bryan Adams - Summer Of '69)

Sausalito, CA.

June 2009.

It's been three years since I spent the months of June and July driving around the American West... Sausalito was one of the highlights. I loved that place... it's such a fascinating town.

My best friend and I have been thinking about going on a road trip around Canada (and possibly the United States too) next summer. I can't wait... by that time, it's going to have been ten years since I visited Alberta and British Columbia... 

I've got three long days of work coming up: seven and a half hours on Friday, eight and a half on Saturday, and another eight hours on Sunday. That's the only thing I don't like about my job - that I don't work Monday through Friday so I can have the weekends off.

Since I'm not going on a road trip this year, I might come home for a week to visit friends and family, probably in August or September. Until my friend Ollie crashed at my place last week, I felt at home in Hamburg and didn't miss London at all. Today was my day off from work, and while Ollie's been out of the house, I had time to think... and I realised how much I miss speaking English, how much I miss having a pint at the local pub (having a pint at one of the Irish pubs in Hamburg just isn't the same), I even miss having a fake fireplace in my bedroom... and right now... right now I'd love to get a veggie burger at Nando's. 


Speaking of travel, check out these posters from the golden age of travel...

Have a nice evening.


- Dom

Darkness On The Edge Of Town

Volvo Amazon.
Hamburg, Germany.

July 2012.

Tonight I'll be on that hill 'cause I can't stop

I'll be on that hill with everything I got

Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost

I'll be there on time and I'll pay the cost

For wanting things that can only be found

In the darkness on the edge of town

(Bruce Springsteen - Darkness On The Edge Of Town)

Wish You Were Here

So, so you think you can tell

Heaven from hell,

Blue skies from pain?
Can you tell a green field

From a cold steel rail?

A smile from a veil?

Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you to trade

Your heroes for ghosts?

Hot ashes for trees?

Hot air for a cool breeze?

Cold comfort for change?

And did you exchange

A walk-on part in the war

For a lead role in the cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here...

(Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here)

A question of perspective...

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA.

June 2009.

I'm done apartment hunting - I've spent a lot of time over the past few weeks viewing flats around Hamburg, but I didn't get any of the ones I liked. Instead I decided to renew the contract for the place I've been living in since July 2011 for another year.

For the next few months, my friend Ollie, who used to play with me on my school's football team and who has come to Hamburg for half a year of work experience, will be staying at my place. We've already been out last Saturday and he loves the city, because it's much cheaper to go out all night in Hamburg than to spend just a few hours in a club in London. 

The weather has been awesome for the last couple of days as well, so I hope it'll stay this way and I'll be able to take new pictures on my next day off.

I'm off to work now... 

Have a good day!

- Dom

Thunder Road

With a chance to make it good somehow

Hey what else can we do now

Except roll down the window

And let the wind blow back your hair

(Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road)

Two highways in Arizona.

June 2009.

Happy 4th of July to all my American friends, and to everyone else out there who is a follower of this blog - have a nice day wherever you may be.

- Dom