: one that drifts; especially : one that travels or moves about aimlessly
Oh, ok. I thought I would actually fall into this definition, but there's nothing particularly aimless about it.
Regardless, yes, I am moving. I moved to San Antonio with the hope that a lower unemployment rate then Chicago would mean more jobs, and me getting my unemployed ass a job. It worked! It totally worked. Not only was I able to get myself a job, but I was able to get myself a DIRT cheap one bedroom apartment, as it is also the second cheapest place to live in the country.
And for a wihle it was good; my job was right where I wanted it, a part time position in some back slave-closet of an office, managing and organizig data and files into a comprehensive system. I'm good at that for some reason. I don't know why. I don't particularly want to be good at that because it has become my most marketable skill, and ends up being the soul-crushingly boring (but decently paying) job I get over and over again. But this was nice because I was only working 28 - 32 hours a week, allowing me to start TEXARRAKIS OBSCURITIES, the new commercial wing of TEXARRAKIS. My girlfriend also has a successful Etsy store, where she sells her handmade jewelery. Check it out. She has helped me immensely in the success of my store.
Which I have had a lot of fun with, and is the reason this webpage fell by the way side. After my day job, and working on the Etsy shop, all I had the energy to do was watch Star Trek. I didn't even have the energy to take screen shots of Star Trek, as I had promised to do. Sorry.
Then, suddenly I became the office manager at my day job, and started working full time. I don't like working full time. I just really don't think it is good for my soul. Plus I think I have some sort of psychological disorder that makes me just really hate being bossed around. Maybe that is natural. I don't know. But I apologize to anyone reading this who is working full time that is grumbling to themselves like "yeah well why don't you just try I mean what are you lazy I have to work full time you should to I have 300,000 mouths to feed you can't just expect me to I mean get a job", I fully understand where you're coming from.
But yes, all of a sudden I found myself staring down the eternal barrel of working 40 hours a week 15 miles away from my home doing things I wouldn't have any desire to do if it weren't for the fact I was being paid to do them. Then, I got a bafflingly large tax return from the federal government, apparently my reward for being an unemployed weirdo for most of 2010. Then, I was contacted by someone (or something) that, for better or worse, reminded me of exactly what my life has been, and should be. At the very minimum, living in the middle of the desert, and surrouded by mountains.
photo by Haley Filamond
That, and being self-employed. TEXARRAKIS OBSCURITIES is enjoying fairly moderate success, especially considering it isn't even three months old yet. Each month I make more sales and more money then the last. I have enough money saved from working and the generous donaiton from the federal government for being really poor in 2010, that I will be able to pay for rent for FOUR months outright, giving me at least a two month window of opportuity to attempt going FULL TIME with my Etsy store. Not just the Etsy store, but all aspects of TEXARRAKIS; this blog, Star Trek screenshots, the TEXARRAKIS youtube channel; everything. If I fail at being to fully support myself with this, hopefully at least I can go back to being a wage-serf extremely part time.
At any rate, the amount of money I am making right now from TEXARRAKIS OBSCURITIES is definitely living off grid in the middle of the desert sort of money. A vague plan is underway right now to make another attempt at FORT AWESOME in February of 2012, with building up it's infrastructure remotely from Alpine in the mean time. I don't want to move back out there until some BASIC needs are met. Living out of tents as weird desert sages was certainly an amazing experience, but not at all conducive towards anything productive.
It was amazing though, and was an incredible first step; it would have been nice to know it would just be a first step as it was happening. That's ok though.
Until I am settled in Alpine, this is Gene of TEXARRAKIS saying thank you for your continued patronage.
For the two and a half months I lived in Texas, off the grid and twenty miles from civilization, my closest neighbors were the coyotes which roamed/owned the area. You would hear them at night, sometimes walking around our camp, sometimes howling or yipping (or making a terrifying shrieking cackling sound (at least I hope that was a coyote)) from near and far.
Now I've moved to Chicago, I don't have coyotes for neighbors, right?
To my surprise, I do. There are apparently two coyotes outfitted with GPS tracking units embedded somewhere within their flesh roaming around northwest Chicago, and they have a permit to do so. Information is scant on this, but apparently this is part of a study by the Cook County Rabies and Animal Control office, to monitor the travels of the coyotes and their effect on the rat population.
Of course, this generally makes people nervous, but coyotes are more popular in metropolitan areas then people realize. They generally keep a low profile and go around controlling the size of deer, rabbit, and rat populations. It's very rare that they attack humans, they have no need or desire to do such a dangerous thing. Instinctively, by this point maybe it's possible they even fully understand the consequence -- DEATH.
But now, I stand the possibility of running into a coyote that is authorized to coexist with human beings, which will make walking around Chicago a little more interesting.
This is not just an entire town, but a GHOST TOWN. Located four miles away from TEXARRAKIS, it only became a ghost town in 1991, but was bought by a group of German artist types. Unfortunately, they do not live there, they only use it as a vacation spot a few times out of the year.
They have their own motel and swimming pool, though! An entire town as a Fort Awesome compound!
