I went for a walk to take some pics...

here's one:







other than that, it's been hot as fuck 105 today i think. I'm spending a lot of time working out, trying to rehab my knee before I take off, and mostly I'm getting stuff together for a roadtrip, probably tour the NW for a bit, 13 days till I fly from SFO.

sweet.

here's to good times all the time...

Not much to report

Hedonism is slow these days. I've been house sitting, resting, trying to get my knee healed up for adventure.

heading out on a roadtrip next week, 2 weeks till I land in Australia.

sweet.

second saturday

Still house sitting. Went out to the Second Saturday art walk today in downtown Sacramento. Some good art, some crappy art, likewise with the music scene. I saw a good amount of cool murals and the Bike Kitchen had a pretty good western band playing... at least i think that was what was going on, i only caught half a song. The yuppies there drive me crazy, but I know they're they ones who spend the money and keep it all going.

Made plans to go out tomorrow with a girl I met through Couchsurfing.org who seems really cool. I've been wanting someone to go take pics with for a while.


here's a few sights i saw out there today:

house sitting

Went out last night to visit my friends Matt and Kate who were in town house sitting for some friends of Kate's. They invited me over, we made burritos and drank dank beer. A bit of lounging around the pool, some skinny dipping, and then I got a call. Some of my other friends were going out of town and wanted me to house sit for them.

Glad to have my own place for a few days, I drove over and set up shop in the spare bedroom.

Today they got up, packed and left to go see a sister's graduation from SLO. I spent the day enjoying the alone time, its infrequent that I get some time alone in a private home... one of the downsides of not having a home. Today i just lounged; movies, video games, web surfing. No one expecting me to entertain them, no one asking me to do anything, it was great.

I love my lifestyle, and I do enjoy visiting friends, but its just infrequent for me to really get alone time, and I'm digging it.

Next week I'm house sitting for different people, this time with a pool and hot tub =) score.

slow days

I've been lounging around for a few days now, not doing too much. Video Games, Hulu, and cooking (including incredibly strong ganja cookies) have been occupying most of my time. I've started working out a bit again... started with 100 full body crunches and moving up a few every day plus additional stretching (which i think of as 'fat-guy yoga') that I made up as I went. I'm going to get my weights today so I can get back to lifting.

I'm getting stuff in order for my trip to Australia. Getting a bit panicked about how little money I'll have when I'm there. I'm trying to save as much as possible now, but I want one decent road trip before I leave... I want to go to SF Pride, Mutant Fest, the Babbs's 4th party and some time in Eugene before I go down under... I'm looking at a 10 day whirlwind tour of Cali and Oregon to make it all happen. But, we'll see how it goes.

I need to start finding ways to pick up a bit of extra cash before I go.

Finished up with work, ready for the summer.

Seasonal work is great, it allows me to change up my focus every few months, keeping away some of the monotony I felt when I was still working a 9-5 m-f gig. Yesterday my 3 months of work taking people out camping was over.

I have about a month of no plans. well, vague plans; there's a few festivals and shows i'd like to go to, maybe a party here and there. Then, mid-july, i'm off for an adventure in Australia. I'm hoping to take a lot of pictures and explore a good amount of the area, maybe even make a trip or two to other places nearby.

Today was the first day I've woken up free and clear.... days to spend as i choose... in a few months, i'm enjoying it. but, for the first time since i began this particular seasonal job, i miss working a bit, i could stand to do another couple weeks.

I think my willingness to keep working at this point has a few reasons: less personal tragedy this season than prior ones; i wasn't working directly with the groups as much - more kitchen work, which i really enjoy, a good final program including the downpour on the final morning; i had good spacing of time off throughout my season; and I met some interesting people and made friends this season whom i hope to run into again.


that said, i'm glad to be free again & ready for adventure.

$690 spent.

i filled out the online form from the airline, but i didn't click anything, i just stared at the page. i stared and smoked a bowl. the button was red, rectangular with rounded edges and said confirm in white letters. my cursor was right on top of it. to the left was a larger box with a mathmatical equation in it. the final line read "Total: $689.21".

i'm poor, i dont make much money at all, well under the poverty line... $700 is a lot of money to me, i dont have too many bills, but i did think of everything i could get with $689.21: tattoos, a gun; i just saw a nice motorcycle on craigslist for $700. I could live well for a month, maybe two, on this much money... and i was debating on spending it on purchasing 30 hours trapped in a little tin tube breathing recirculated air and eating rehydrated space food while sitting next to an obnoxious bore.

i told anna my dilemma. she is level headed and wise. probably more sane than i am, and i trust her judgment on things like this... i know she's much more conservative than i am when it comes to adventure and danger. she encouraged me to go. said she wished she had the opportunity. just the support i needed to make a tough decision.

i clicked the button.

the fucking webpage had timed out.

so i filled out the 5 page form again and clicked the ominous red button.

payment confirmed.

i did it

i bought the fuckers; i'm going to australia.

the idea came to me 5 days ago. my doctor told me i should hike much for the next few weeks, which blew my plans to go to arizona and help herd sheep for the navajo. a friend had told me the day before about a special sale on tickets to australia that was ending on june 2nd. so i looked at the options... and wound up here now.

i dont really know anyone or anything to do there. i can't afford motel rooms or bus fare. maybe not even food or beer, but we'll see. i looked up some stuff online. and am trying to put together a rough plan.

i've wanted to go for years, and have put off a lot of possibilities to go, waiting on having a travelling partner, or a little more money, or whatever... but this time i decided not to put it off any more, i can make it happen... i can make my dreams come true.