waste o time place

i have been doing stuff.
lots of stuff.
went over to hawaii again but not for fun, for work. unfortunately, the didn't get hired for my new dream job.
i'll have to try again later. Dont bother asking what it was. I'm not posting about it in public.
But it's got nothing to do with fetish or club work and that's exactly what I want.

i went to SFO to check out the new terminal 2 opening
ran into big_al

i've been posting lots of images over at my moblog though.
http://kumimonster.tumblr.com

I've been seriously craving a diving trip but unfortunately, funds are an issue. I have to save so I can blow it all in Hawaii! But still, after I got back from Texas, I didn't want to spend a stagnant week just bouncing around craigslist and other places (still looking for a new gig).

While I was looking up dive operators in Hawaii, I realized some of them charge over 2-3x more than here! So I decided to just get in some scuba related stuff this week regardless by signing up for the Rescue Diver course. :-) Which I did.
Saturday required a trip down to Monterey and some in-water sessions at Breakwater. It seemed like it was going to be a chore because of the weather forecast but in the end, the skies were clear, the sun was out and the water not too terrible after all!
Oh and to make my trip easier, I drove half way down to Santa Cruz to spend the night with rjkeener  and misscon . We hit the Jury Room for a show while I avoided pounding shot after shot of JD (didn't want to be feeling like shite in the am). I woke up with the sun (and my alarm) and bundled up for the drive down CA-1 along the coast. That was pretty damn nice too!

I like Tampa airport.
it's easy, it's nice, and it's got free wifi and a smoking area after security.
instead of heading back to california, i decided to stop off in phoenix to visit cookie and steve during their arizona heat fetish party weekend.
i wasn't booked to work or anything, i just figured i'd spend time with them and also enjoy the hot weather (since i didn't get enough of it in florida!)

2010 August 10 - TPA to PHX

2010 August 11 - Phoenix
Cookie thought it was a good idea to hit a goth club.
so we went. my face looks chubby sometimes.


drinking happened


so taco bell was needed.

2010 August 12 - Tempe
lots of sun. cookie worked out. i stayed lazy at the pool


 

2010 August 13 - Tempe
cooking for cookie (ok not really)

2010 August 14 - Scottsdale
we shifted over to the hotel for the weekend - that way i could spend more time at the pool. actually, it was more convenient for the party.
i just like going to the pool. it was so hot. and the room i was in ended up having a busted a/c unit. i usually don't like a/c but it's nice to have a little bit of a cool room when it's 110+ outside and around 100 inside.
oh, the main show that night was lords of acid and thrill kill kult. i'd not seen them in ages.
not really my type of music but hanging out with friends was nice.

 

2010 august 16 - PHX to SJC
flew back to california :-)
phoenix airport is cool too. the giant window at the end of the D gates is great for watching planes take off.
oh, and free wifi too!
idiot me passed out before i could remember to stay awake and get shots of the grand canyon tho.
dammit.

After the week at sea, I spent the next few days hanging out with F and S. I also got to meet her friend S who lived in the area.
( F & S used to live in San Diego).
After the journey back into the US, we all met up at the Sheraton near the airport. Most of the hotels around were full because that same weekend ComicCon was happening.
So then, we ended up heading downtown to have some sushi which was yum.



then we headed back to the hotel for an early night, except I headed over to Shelter Island to the Ramada where I met up with some of the guys from the dive trip. Unfortunately, I forgot to take many photos of the drunks and the ones i got aren't that great.




the next evening we met up with corruptmorals  and sissystck  for dinner.  we were joined by S's friend S as well as stevedietgoedde  too. we got to sit outside and watch the freaks from comic con too. heh.









after dinner we walked up n down the street for a bit before going out separate ways.

the next day me and F & S headed for La Jolla and it was really nice!
we also came across a farmer's market full of yum things.

















Then we left La Jolla to visit S's friend S again for dinner. The day continued to be pretty damn nice!






And that was it. Cuz then it was off to the airport...
http://kumimonster.tumblr.com

OK> now this is going to be from memory since I just about stopped writing every day while I was on the boat. I was just either too lazy or... too busy! haha. Luckily I have the moblog images and the occaisional tweets that may have helped a bit!

2010 july 21

as usual woke up early and had the first breakfast as we cruised over to the dive site. omg. the water seemed like it was going to be cold too but as we were headed to the Eureka Oil Platform, I decided not going in was not going to be an option.



So yeah. i did the first one. and yeah. it was cold! But I saw some neat things, even harbor seals that played in the water though most were just chilling out where they could.







I skipped the 2nd dive. Brrr! But after lunch, we headed over to Santa Catalina where the sun decided to make an appearance. Some of us got to dive around Long Point and then afterwards we were offered the option to dive again, or hit Avalon - I did the latter where we found establishments that served beverages that were made from alcohol. *hic*







mango margarita ! and some shots of tequila from melody...





then it was back to the boat.
i had dinner and then ended up going to bed.
i heard lots of the others that went ashore entertained themselves and the other divers by dancing and drinking a little bit more.
dirty divers!

there were hangovers the next day! haha

2010 july 19



Early AM rise - 06h00. Showered and then got dressed for the first breakfast and first dive briefing. Lots of sea lions on the surface got me excited to jump in regardless of the much colder temps. Off near the small beach on the island were larger seals. This time used my 1mm suit under the semi-dry. Lots of sea hares and some kelp. Star fish, urchin and a crab. Didn't run into any sea lions among the kelp though. Short dive. Got a bit cold but bearable with the suit. The double layer did end up compressing against my arms though which slowed down circulation so it was constantly in the back of my mind. Oh, and low vis. Not the best dive of the trip so far.





About to hit dive spot number two now. I think I'll take a siesta. The sun is still not shining yet. There are still sea lions popping up out of the water. It'd be great to play with them but I can't see jumping in right now.
Second dive underway. Still seem to be the same conditions only even more sea lions popping up above the surface. They seem like they are ready to play and as much as i'd like to play with them it's just too cold and i'm a bit tired. There is the option to lower the kayaks but one of the crew says it's a bit too foggy and difficult to see us if we end up going out too far so they suggested we wait until the next stop. Which is fine.
cuyler harbor. (north) to prince island. 2 dives
Ended up passing out for the 3rd and 4th dives as well. so only one dive for me today in the cold water!

2010 july 17

Woke up with the waves hitting the porthole and eventually stopped near the Coronado Islands.

At North Coronado island, we all had breakfast and then geared up for the first dives of the trip and day after the meeting. The water temp was a little warmer than expected.




My diving suit is a new one. It's a ScubaPro 6.5mm semi-dry suit with hoodie and gloves. The boots I'm wearing are Aqualung and don't actually go with the suit but they worked out fine. Steel tank full at 3400 - nitrox. Unfortunately I was weighted down with an additional 14 pounds. First dive of the day felt comfortable enough. Suit works great although there's some leaking at the wrist - the interior of the suit gets wet up to my forearms. At the legs, my ankles and lower calves get wet but the middle part and back are fine as the neck and hood create a pretty nice seal. Initially the water seemed cold but it wasn't really - or else the suit is doing its job quite well! I'd be curious to know how it'd work with the proper boots.
This first dive was pretty awesome, saw a smattering of fish, but also quite a few sea lions that decided to come out to play. One swam around me quite a bit and then at one point when I was near the bottom, one swam up under me and stopped. Then while I looked at it, it started to do some barrel rolls while keeping eye contact! Fun! It seems like if you react to play with them they stick around. If you do nothing they get bored and swim away to find someone more engaging that will play with them. :-)



Second dive was pretty much the same but saw a few other things. This time though, I was having problems equalizing with my right ear. Eventually it got sorted out. Saw some sea hares and other large slugy things. Again, then sea lions came out to play.
Both dives went well enough during, but near the end I was having problems popping up too quickly around 20-25 feet. Seems the issue might be the BC - need to try and completely dump the air out of that thing, also, i'm sinking too quickly. Need to drop some weight.
For the 3rd dive of the day, the ship cruised over to some kelp beds. I skipped this dive.
Then we headed into the USA and into Shelter Island in San Diego to go through customs. After that, back to sea!

In Eureka @ MedicalToys.com :-D

This time, I left SF earlier than last time which was the best idea.
I got to stop off at the various attractions on the way.
But now I'm thinking an extra day or two would have been better to really take the time to do things like the SkunkTrain and throw my feet in the Eel River!
















http://kumimonster.tumblr.com/
^^^
all the rest of the images

need to write about suspension attempt and jazzfestival too later!

once again i'm behind on the blogging.
And once again i'm awake early due to jetlag.
So maybe it's a perfect time to make an attempt at posting something in here but too much has happened to cover all of it so instead i'll end up making a half ass attempt to write anything to fill the space - at least that's what usually happens. Perhaps this time I can write something worth remembering?

Either way, I'm currently in Texas now. Dallas to be exact and staying with allenfalkner . I actually flew in to San Antonio after a DFW connection to shoot there for a day, then headed directly back to Dallas. I can't recall if I've ever visited here before. I know I've never performed here but on Sunday that will change. I'm going to attempt to do the show I did in Rome a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to figure out how to get around the nudity issue. Sometimes being back in the US is really irritating. But come to think of it, San Antonio & Dallas are two new cities I can now add to my list of places I've worked and SAT, DFW (?), and DAL are 3 new airports I've been to. I really need to take advantage of today and find something touristy to do! Any suggestions? The weather is hot and full of sun and it'd be stupid to spend it in front of the computer all day.

I'm certainly enjoying these bounces into Texas. Funny how just last month (19-24 May) I was in Houston. It's find it odd how after never (or rarely) traveling to an area all of a sudden I do two visits in the space of so little time. I'm not complaining though. I enjoy the heat and this domestic travel is helping me to appreciate being in the USA (ie. not hate being in the US).

In other small news, I think I'm going to have to seriously consider going back to virgin atlantic. the last 4 flights with british airways have left me wanting.
here's a shot from 2010 may 19 of my LHR to IAH flight.
*Reminder: I'm lactose intolerant so I keep a BA profile which states I require a non-lactose meal.



Houston, though it took place a month ago, deserves it's own post. So i'll do a new one for it.
I also need to write new emails to British Airways about the last series of flight experiences.

One good thing about the jetlag is that I keep waking up early without any problems.
This is great because I'm awake on time to watch the WorldCup matches happening.
I can't believe Italy, the current world champions, were knocked out. I can't believe the runner's up to the championship for the last WC (France) not only failed to make it out of the group round and acted like spoiled infants.
I can't believe the US made first in its group over England! Both were great last games!
It'll be interesting to see the upcoming matches. This am it's Portugal against Brazil!
Actually the past matches were great too.
I didn't think i cared much about North Korea but watching them play against Brazil was amazing.
Especially how the defense prevented Brazil from scoring at all until the 55th minute of the game.

For some reason, I like this image

the other nite a bunch of us went to dinner.
it took us a while to get there but it was probably worth the walk in that we got to see some pretty neat things!

2010 may 14
me n ropemarks 




sleek_imager  wandering around


ropemarks  playing at modeling