Day 2

As a way to shame myself into better habits I am going to document how much I spend on food and where. 

Yesterday:

• $1.00 - An apple, a banana, and a bagel at the Vons on Sunset and Virgil
• $1.90 - Coffee at some coffee place on Sunset and Vermont. 
• $2.75 - A veggie burrito at Golfo de Fonseca on Vermont, plus a dollar tip. 
• $9.00 - A stupid sandwich, curly fries, and a slice of cheesecake at a major fast food chain. 

The last one is where the shame comes in. It was the end of the day and I wasn't even that hungry. I just wanted to sit down under some florescent lights, read Infinite Jest, and eat some greasy fast food. That urge got satisfied but I'm poorer for it in more ways than one.

Golfo de Fonseca is the shit. Reverend X-ray introduced me to it a while ago. It is two blocks away from the Church, and they have daily specials that are stupid cheap.

I don't remember the name of the coffee place, but I'm not going back there, and I wouldn't repeat the name here anyway. (Like that is gonna shut them down.) I'd rather go to Starbucks. At least Starbucks doesn't cycle creepy poster sized ads on an LCD screen. They did, however, have the best chairs I've ever sat in at a coffee shop. Coffee shops, by the way, are my new office. It's great. For a buck or two I get a desk, a cup of coffee, and wifi. I can take care of all my internet bullshit in one sitting and then forget about it for the rest of the day if that's what I want to do. That is where I wrote yesterday's inaugural post.

Things I think I'm going to be doing a lot more of:

• Riding my bicycle
• Brushing my teeth

When there is always a bathroom nearby, you can always put off brushing your teeth. When you live in a van, you have to make sure you have your toothbrush kit with you for at least a part of the day, and when you are in the bathroom at the coffee place taking that post-coffee dump you damn well brush your teeth too because you know it ain't gonna happen any time soon if you don't.

I only need to move my van in order to avoid a ticket, or to get my piano somewhere. Everything else I can handle with the bike. The irony of living in a bike house, was that I hardly ever rode my bike.

Things I think I'm going to be doing a lot less of:

• Wasting time on the internet
• Taking dumps

My colon is intelligent and selfish. If I am camping or something like that, then I hardly ever have to shit. If I am in close proximity to a bathroom throughout the day, well then every time some pathetic little turd works its way down the pipes the little bell rings and I sit down for another round of disappointment.

So there's this website. I'm not going to name it here because I don't want to be the one responsible for turning you onto it if you haven't heard of it before. It is kind of like life. Most of it is shitty, but the good parts are good enough to convince you that its all worth it. If I'm gonna spend all my time dealing with something that is mostly shitty, however, its gonna be my life, and not a website. I found over the past few months that I was spending enough time on The Site to make me feel stupid for having done so.

Etc.

The van needs some work in order to make it feel a little more like the safe sleeping space that it is. I've been ignoring the shortcomings of this interior for too long. More on that as it comes. I'm about to take my first borrowed shower, and then practice with one of the best bands in the world. Looking forward to both.

Oh yeah and today's food purchases:

• $0.98 - An apple and a banana from trader joes
• $3.75 - Coffee and an everything bagel with cream cheese from Silverlake Coffee
• $3.75 - A Carnitas Quesadilla at Golfo de Fonseca
• $1.75 - 24 oz. Steel Reserve at the Riverside/Glendale am/pm

[Update]

• $5.50 - An apple, a banana, a pound of peanuts, and another 211