Aloha

Since I last spoke Eric, John and I drove up to San Marcos (about 30 minutes north of San Diego) to stay the night at Aaron's lavish apartment before flying to Hawaii. Aaron's physical therapy class was having a party that night so we decided to go. Aaron forgot to tell us the party was a prom themed party where everyone was dressed to impress and we showed up looking like a bunch of Canadian lumber jacks. The people were very nice though. I soon realized that Aaron's PT school had a 4 to 1 girls to guys ratio. They were very friendly to say the least.


The next day we woke up drove 2 1/2 hours to LA where we took a 5 hour plane to Honolulu. The funniest thing about this plane ride was that the Pepperdine volleyball team was on board and their massive height created a wall blocking all of the inflight televisions. ha. It was actually a good movie I wanted to see too (Up in The Air) but I just ended up reading. I am onto a new book called Three cups of Tea it is a true story about a rock climber that got lost going up K2 and ended up in a Pakistani village where villagers basically saved his life by nurturing him back to health. In return he came back to build the village a school and since then he has built over 100 schools in different parts of Pakistan and Afganistan.

We got into Honolulu at 930 and got to our hotel at 11pm. Everyone had a queen sized bed to ourselves and there was a living room and kitchen as well. I woke up and red the news paper to find out we had arrived in Waikiki just in time for the Kokua festival. This is a Earth day concert to promote sustainable living that Jack Johnson, Ziggy Marley and Taj Mahal were performing at. We scalped some tickets, went to the beach, met a local named Sean, and at 4:30 we all went to the festival together. Everyone performed great and I was impressed when Ziggy Marley brought out his mother and son, and sang a tribute to his father Bob.

 

The next day we woke up at 530 am to hike Diamond Head mountain. It was an hour hike and ended up having an old army bunker at the top with a great view of Honolulu. After hiking down we had breakfast and took are 1230 flight to Kauai.

 

 

 

Once we got to Kauai we rented a jeep (thank you Mona) and found our lavish resort on our own private beach next to our own private pool. This place is much nicer than the one in Waikiki (not to say the other hotel was bad)!!! We got in the jeep and just cruised for a couple hours through rainforests and spectacular views. Stopped to eat the best Ahi Tuna wrap of my life at Mermaid Cafe. We caught a great sunset at a national park on the western part of the island. I will have to find out the name. Drove back to our place in the convertible jeep and got some groceries for a cookout at our place. Life is great!!!

 

 

 

 

Erics place

View in Lahoya

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Erics new place

Sorry its been awhile since my last post. Since I last spoke I finished up my week in LA. Dave and I went to Santa Monica and Venice Beach to explore the dichotomy between bums on the Boardwalk. It was a lot of fun. The trip to LA was great. Staying with Dave I managed to eat healthy the entire time and workout everyday.

Dave and I drove down to San Diego Wednesday afternoon and then met with Eric at his new place which is a nice house right on the beach with an amazing view (attached is the pic).

 

Eric took us out in Pacific Beach right near his place. It was a lot of fun but PB is like San Diegos version of a college town. We went to a place called Shore Club on the beach. It is a great feeling to start meeting new and different people again. I feel like I missed that while living in Sarasota because lets face it Sarasota is not conducive to meeting young, different people.

I slept on Erics couch and woke up to the noise of the pacific waves crashing into the shore. (probably not hard to get used too).

Today we packed up the car and drove to Indio, California for the Coachella music and arts festival. It is an amazing 3 hour drive through mountains and desert. At Coachella we camped for 4 days in the Mojave desert while spending the day time listening to the best modern bands from around the world. Some of my favorites were: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Passion Pit, Matt and Kim, Phoenix, Gorillaz, and Jay Z. I would say this had to have been one of the better experiences of my life. The people were nice, the atmosphere was great, and I was happy to spend time camping with my friends before leaving the country.

(Coachella website in case you are wondering.)


We got back from the festival Monday afternoon. I took a long needed shower!! I went to dinner with my friend John and his sister Stephanie and then fell asleep while watching a movie.

This morning Eric took me on a tour around the coastal areas of San Diego (Lahoya, Del Mar, and Encinitas) and now I get to look forward to leaving Thursday night to fly into Honolulu. Right now I am in the process of getting travel insurance, planning flights/activities, around the Hawaiian islands and sorting out a flight to Japan!!!! Life is good!!!

Jay Leno

Today David and I went to the Jay Leno show. It started in the morning when I recieved a call from TVTIX telling me that the showing of Bill Maher was cancelled. I was disappointed because he is my favorite political satirist, but the man told me to call back in an hour and he would try to get me on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno ( a good substitute i guess). I called back and he got the tickets. We waited in line for a couple hours being cattled in the studio with the occasional pause. We were position 139 and 140 in line so I did not think we would get good seats but once we finally got to the front the usher pulled us aside and took us to the 2nd row on the floor about 5 feet away from the stage (they must try to put younger people in the front). Dave was expecting this the whole time so he didnt think much of it, but I was real surprised and excited to be so close.

Also, I forgot to mention that I had never really seen the Tonight Show before except for the couple glimpses when The Drain had been watching it before bed. So I was fortunate to be sitting next to 2 girls who were die hard fans and they explained the rules to me. 1)At the beginning you go up to the stage and shake Jays hand, and 2) don't yell or you will get kicked out. Very helpful information I must say.

Jay came out and started to talk to the audience and make a couple jokes. He is a real funny guy. I actually think he was much funnier when he talked to us before and after the show then during the actual taping. Demi Moore Barney Frank, and Train were on the show that night. I think we got a real good line up. What was interesting about the show is that it is a continuous taping for the hour. There are no breaks or cuts. The band even plays music during the commercials to keep the audience rowdy, and then quickly diverts back to the show.

The show was interesting to me. The studio was relaxed and Jay Leno appears to have much humility in tact. I thought Demi Moore was ok (her movie looks horrible though), Barney Frank was interesting, and Train was a pretty good band.

Here is the taping. See if you can see me. I am the guy on the front left with the green tshirt on.

Aloha!!

One thing I forgot to mention in the last blog is I booked a ticket to Oahu with Aaron and I am currently trying to convince David to come as well. We leave April 22nd and will be there for 2 weeks after this time I will fly to Cambodia to start working. I am looking for cheap airfaires to Cambodia at the moment and it looks like I might get to spend a couple nights in Japan before I get there. Yahoooo!!!!

First day in LA

Once again another successful trip to San Francisco. It was sad to leave Emily, but I am excited for her new beginning and also excited to see David. I took the 11:10am flight from San Fran to LA. When I get to the LAX and make it to the baggage claim Dave is spread out across several of the Airport chairs with his silent LA arrogance that I think has developed over time.

We get out of the airport and Dave immediately puts me to work (Workout that is). He must have noticed I was gaining weight.

Upon reaching Dave's apartment he immediately makes me change into workout clothes and join him running up Runyon Canyon. After running I am content with this workout for the day and ready to move on. Dave notifies me we will be making a a quick stop at the Cross Fit Hollywood. Forgetting to mention that Cross Fit is the gym that he and other athletic freaks of nature frequently attend for the most intense workouts on this planet.



At the gym the owner writes up a new workout for me that he says is light. We begin a different workout from the written. We start with rowing 250 meters followed by 10 pushups followed by rowing 250 meters followed by 10 pushups followed by 3 sets of 10 double unders (with a jump rope) and squats. Then we do 3 different sets of sit ups on a weight ball and then move on to throwing the 20 pound weight ball at the ground and catching the bounce 20 times.

After 30 minutes of this painful endurance I am content that I have had a GREAT workout for the day, but I am soon to realize this was only a warm up for the real workout (I will attach the specifics of the real workout). Needless to say halfway through the actual workout I did what most first time Cross Fitters do.....i threw up. The good thing about this is that if you throw up you get a free t-shirt. It looks like they are running out of t-shirts so i can only imagine how many have accomplished this feat.



After the workout we went to dinner with a lot of people from the gym for a cross fitter J.P.'s birthday. We had Mexican and it was a lot of fun.

Although this is not what I expected my first day in LA I feel good now and I am already enjoying the city. The people I have met are all very nice and helpful.

This is the only picture me and Emily have taken together so far. We went out to Butter (a bar) on Friday night and had a good time with a select few of Emily's friends. I think I am gaining weight. This picture has inspired me to begin running everyday until I leave San Francisco.

Old interview on Australian news. I am 3:30 in

Check out me on the Australian news!

San Francisco

Ok here I am back in San Francisco. I feel like I love this city more and more every time I visit. The energy is contagious. On a daily basis I find myself doing what I usually do in this vibrant, entertaining city- remedial chores for Emily which she is "to busy" to do herself. Besides for that I spend a lot of time walking the city and trying to see new things. Here is a brief re-cap:

I walked by CVS in time to see disgruntled employees protest the company.

I went to Golden Gate Park and realized the name Golden Gate Park in Californian means homeless hippie colony or underground marijuana distribution center. Seriously, I was offered pot several times. I'm wondering if this says more about the park or my appearance?

I took a jog around Lafayette Park slipped in dog poop and saw a dog that somewhat resembles a more youthful, alive version of Libby (R.I.P.).

I try to spend at least 1 hour every morning, in a coffee shop, reading up on local and international events. (Did you know the American dollar is closing the gap on the Euro?) This is what I assume most unemployed San Franciscians do on a daily basis judging from the overwhelming wait to get a table.

I am trying to find a way to get up to Redwood National Park this weekend. I don't believe this is what Emily had in mind though. (I am starting to translate Emily talk better than ever before. For example, I am sorry I am just to busy is Emily talk for I just don't want to fucking do it!)

I am reading a good book right now that is called "Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures". Unfortunately it has nothing to do with emergency sex like the title would suggest, but it is however a good biography of 3 UN peacekeepers during the early 90's in Cambodia, Somalia, Haiti, and Rwanda. I do recommend.

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