Training, Surfing, Birthday Party and a righteous concert

Okay folks, we are back after a brief lack of blogging, my sincere apologies to all. The big news right now is that Veronica is training like a Communist gymnast for the City to Surf run in 7 or 8 weeks time. The run starts; you guessed it, in the City and ends at Bondi Beach. It is a big event here, similar to San Francisco’s Bay to Breakers, and Veronica is excited.

I’m excited too, not about running, but about the fact that I am finally back in the water after a month hiatus. Truly, I have felt like a little kid this past week each time I put on my wetsuit and run along the sand to the water. But as with any good thing, there was a bit of pain involved. My first two surfs in Manly this past Tuesday and Wednesday were brutal. The waves were SO good, and the only thing I was doing well was wiping out. Eating crap actually is a better description, and while it was humiliating and frustrating it was made all worthwhile on Friday when I caught an absolute cracker of a wave. That beautiful blue Narrabeen wave gave me a hell of a ride all the way to the beach, and it put some serious joy in my soul.

We had a HUGE weekend. HUGE, no joking. We partied like we were in our 20’s. Wait, Veronica is still in her 20’s. Damn. Okay, we partied like we were in college by going out hard 2 nights in a row. Dastardly behavior I know, but our friend Kate’s birthday was Friday, so we went out in King’s Cross for a night of dancing. Dear readers, you will be relieved to hear there were no stabbings this night though. However, it was a long night, enjoyable nonetheless, but we made it home around the unholy hour of 5.

Saturday, after sleeping in, we made our way down to Barefoot for coffee. We took our heavenly combinations of roasted beans and frothy milk to go and headed to the beach where we met up with Jay, Ria and Jamie. We played with Ria on the beach, and I did not have the camera, which is a shame because the Rigler is one extremely cute toddler. I am keeping the camera with me all next weekend, I promise! We headed home and took it easy the rest of the afternoon to prepare ourselves for the night. Somehow we were lucky enough to score tickets to see The Black Keys at The Manning Bar. Who are The Black Keys? Sadly this will most likely be a common reaction, but let me tell you, these guys ROCK! Made up of Dan on guitar and vocals and Patrick on drums, these two blues rock Gods hail from Akron, Ohio. They own it. There sound is soulfully heavy, and I have to say this was one of the best concerts that I have seen in a long time. Incidentally, Dan Auerbach’s guitar is a Gibson SG, the same guitar that Angus Young plays. Just like dear Angus, the sound emanating from that axe was pure sonic pleasure.

So after getting home at only 2, Veronica and I managed to sleep until noon Sunday. Excellent stuff. Had coffee, and then had some Fish Mongers, before grabbing some groceries to make our Chicken Tortilla Soup. Relaxed. Made dinner, watched the series finale of Grey’s Anatomy, then we watched the best show on TV right now, Flight of the Conchords before crashing.

I apologize for the lack of wit regarding this post; I am still out of commission. Even though I surfed this cold, sunny morning I still feel like I am moving in slow motion.

A sunny day before the rain

The past two days have finally seen the sun resume it's rightful place in the sky. Apparently it is to be short lived though as this weekend is supposed to be rain filled. It's been quite depressing being back in Australia. The weather has stunk, we had to go back to work, and I haven't been able to surf because of my eye. As such I have been sleeping and reading a bit more than usual.

In that vein, I finished reading Etgar Keret's "The Girl on the Fridge" short story collection. Keret is a literary sensation, especially in his homeland, Israel. Having read articles about him in 'The Believer' I had tried in vain to find some of his collections, but it was not until going to City Lights in San Francisco that I actually found a bookstore that carried him. While the stories were a bit hit or miss (apparently they were a collection of some of his earlier stories), the standout stories really make a huge impression. What is most fascinating about his writing though is that none of the short stories surpass 3 pages. The dude is remarkably economical in telling a story. I would recommend this book, however, I read a review that said the book to get was 2006's 'The Nimrod Flipout'.

Oh, I will try and get the camera out this weekend to take some photos for the next post. Only other news I have is that we scored tickets to see The Black Keys next Saturday. STOKED!

Arkansas

This morning I just finished the novel 'Arkansas' by John Brandon. I am generally not a big seeker of new writer's, but since I have a certain affinity towards McSweeney's I asked for this book for my birthday. Thankfully it was a much better novel than the last McSweeney's book I read, 'Bowl of Cherries'.

Brandon's prose is flowing, and the story is certainly interesting (drug runners who pose as Junior Park rangers). However, what really sets the novel above most derives from the quirky characters that have been thrown together. Anywho, you won't see this book on Oprah's Book Club, and most likely it won't be on The New York Times bestseller list, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't pick it up if you get the chance.

Oh, and the weather still sucks here in Sydney. Cold, rainy, miserable. Bummer dude.

I am an IDIOT!

I have just been informed by my friend Nic that my bad mouthing of Google was not deserved. Apparently you can post more than 5 pictures per blog posting. So it is with a sense of shame that I publicly apologize to Google. Additionally I would like to admit that I am a technological retard.

Now I am wondering if perhaps the all knowing Google had an instinctive notion that I was a moron when they shot me down for a job last year? Dang.

I have included a few more pics from the wedding. Not just 5 as you can tell.

Pictures of our hotel room walls and wedding

Here are some additonal pics since I am only allowed five per post. What a rip off Google! Geez, can't you make things better that are free! :)

Hotel des Arts

Monday morning arrived way too fast. Both Veronica and myself did not want to part ways from the Hilton bed, such was its comfortable hold. Finally we dragged ourselves out of bed and into the lobby to meet Sonia and Chris and others still in town for a brunch of dim sum in Chinatown. The restaurant was huge, loud, and crazy. We ate some interesting stuff to say the least. We ended up having to power walk back to the hotel in order to check it out by noon.

Veronica, Johnny and myself then trekked about 7 blocks with our bags to see if we could check into our new place, the Hotel des Arts, a boutique hotel right across the street from the Dragon Gates. I had found the place in the Lonely Planet Encounter guide for San Francisco and we had booked a room for $100 a night. We couldn’t check in, but we got a place to store our bags so we could mosey over to a café to chill and grab a beverage. The café was right around the corner from our hotel and it ended up serving a rather nice coffee. No Barefoot mind you, but it was certainly better than Starbucks. Mid-afternoon Johnny had to leave to go to the airport to make his flight. Veronica and I checked into our room and were greeted by some crazy artwork featuring Lego characters of Billy Idol, Blondie, Pat Benatar, and Gene Simmons. The unique aspect of our hotel is that every room had been individually painted by local artists, making the hotel a contemporary piece of art. Quite groovy I must admit.

For dinner, Veronica and I walked from our hotel up to North Beach. Our destination was The Stinking Rose, however we made a slight detour to City Lights, the quintessential San Francisco bookstore. Their selection was immense, not to mention impeccable, and I was rendered helpless in my ability to say no to buying a book. We escaped the Mecca of Bookstores only slightly more weighed down and resumed our quest to procure some tasty Italian for our tummies. The Stinking Rose has two locations, and I had actually eaten at the one in Beverly Hills about 6 years back. The San Francisco branch was different from LA in that it didn’t look like a Vampire hangout. Instead of being adorned in velvet the walls were painted brightly with murals of San Francisco. But I digress, their Italian food was so delectably delicious that we both stuffed our faces like we were kids at a Cici’s Pizza buffet. After rolling out of the restaurant we had a nice walk through Chinatown on our way back to the hotel. It felt nice to try and get a little circulation before heading back to our hotel room to pass out.

We awoke Tuesday morning ready to sight see, and our first order of business was to head to Telegraph Hill. The Coit Tower is perched up on top of the hill, and we were told that it was something worth seeing. We arrived at the tower about 9:15 am to find out it didn’t open till 10:00, so we hung around taking photos of the Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the statue of Christopher Columbus. The view from the top of the tower was quite impressive, and after getting our fair share of photos, we made our way down the Filbert steps (which our guidebook told us are quite famous) and in the process were made insanely jealous of some of the houses lining the path. We walked back through downtown and stopped off at What’s Up Dog (great name, eh?) for a hot dog. What can we say, we miss American junk food! After a delicious hot dog we made our way to the MOMA. I had been really looking forward to seeing this museum, but I have to say I was a tad disappointed. Not that it was a let down, the paintings and photographs were all top notch, but I found the 4th Floor’s display of video art to be quite pathetic. Perhaps I just don’t get it?

After a brief stop at our hotel, we took the MUNI out to Ocean Beach. The waves were a junky wind swell of about 2 foot, and it looked cold even though the sun was out. We walked back a few blocks to our destination, Mollusk Surf Shop. Surf shops and bookstores are my vice, everyone knows this, and I continued my consumer-ish ways and bought two t-shirts and a surf dvd for cheap. STOKED! Hopped back on the MUNI and made our way into Haight Ashbury. Feeling a bit puckish, we found the Escape from New York pizza and had some of the tastiest pizza on God’s Green Earth. Delicious would be an understatement. Amoeba Records was right next door so we went in and I fell victim to the overpowering sonic lust that Amoeba conjures in the souls of music lovers. Yeah, I ended up buying a record. And it gets worse, we stopped at another clothing store and I found a pair of sunglasses that I actually liked and fit my face halfway decent. Stopped in a few more stores before we realized we should be getting back to the hotel to wait for our friend Christina’s phone call.

That night we met up with Christina at her favorite burrito joint for some tasty Mexican food. Christina then took us back to her house in Bernal Heights and we were sickened with jealousy by the views from her deck in the back. The view was a full 240-degree panoramic view of the city. After hanging out on the deck we went on a nature walk up to the top of the hill. The views of the city from atop Bernal Heights was EPIC! Included is a blurry photo of the view, which I wish had a tripod for.

Wednesday morning was the day we had made reservations to go over to Alcatraz. It reminded me of going to visit Pearl Harbor in that there were a ton of people. We enjoyed taking the tour and having corny photos of us taken behind bars. Good times. Since we were back at Fisherman’s Wharf, we had another In-N-Out burger. Probably not the best move since we rode bikes right afterwards across the Golden Gate Bridge. I have to say, riding bikes over the bridge was one of the most enjoyable parts to our trip. We were blessed with a beautiful, sunny day. Not too hot and not too cold, but just perfect. That night we met up with an old coworker of mine from OREXCO, Jamie, for some drinks at the House of Shields. Cool little bar in SOMA, and afterwards we went and had Vietnamese food at Tulan, which is located on Sleazy Sixth. As the name implies, this area was a tad ghetto, but it literally was only a street away from a very nice area. The food was tasty, and Julia Childs is a fan of the place as well.

I was bummed as we woke up on Thursday morning. I was nowhere near ready for our vacation to be over. Such is life though. Our itinerary for the day was pretty loose, and the first order of business was to head to the best coffee shop in San Fran, Blue Bottle Coffee Shop over in Hayes Valley. After a tasty coffee (but can it beat Barefoot, I just don’t know) we ambled over to City Hall and took a ton of photos. After checking out of our hotel we went shoe shopping for Veronica before meeting up with Kua (Veronica’s last roommate before me) and her boyfriend. It was fun getting to catch up, and after a nice last meal we took the BART out to the airport.

Had a mellow weekend here in Manly. Slept a lot and did laundry, all in anticipation of getting back to work. Bummer dude.

Eye Surgery and the Wedding Weekend

Since it has been such a long time since we have posted I figured it would be wise to split the events of the two weeks into 3 separate posts.

After arriving back in Dallas we had a quick lunch and then headed to Plano for our eye exams. Veronica’s eyes were perfect, but once I got in the chair we found out that my right eye had a buildup of crystals behind the flap that did not dissolve as the doctors had hoped. Since we were leaving the next day early, they had to immediately open up my eye to scrape the crystals out. Not gonna lie, it was a little freaky having everything happen that fast. The doctor took care of it, and I went home to rest for a couple of hours before going back to the office to make sure the flap was okay.

That night we had a great steak dinner at the house and took it easy. We woke early, actually an hour earlier than we needed to because the clock was wrong, and then headed to DFW to catch our flight to San Fran. The flight felt short, and we arrived to a cold and grey day in San Francisco. Met up with my Peace Corps buddies Johnny and Jeff at the airport, and we took the BART into the city. Of course when we got the Hilton Veronica and I’s room was not ready for an early check in so we dumped our bags in Jeffrey and Jennifer’s room and headed out for a little snack before going to the welcome picnic at Golden Gate Park. After finally finding the picnic (Golden Gate park is big, and not to mention pretty amazing!) we grubbed on burgers and hot dogs and caught up with each other. Five years is a long time not to have seen friends who shared such a weird experience like living in Chuuk.

Everyone headed from the picnic to Oakland to go watch the A’s play the Boston Red Sox’s. The game was fun, and we had some ballpark nachos, which are always a tasty treat. The A’s pitcher threw a one-hitter, and the game sped along quite fast. I was stoked to see when we were leaving that a huge banner of Ricky Henderson adorned a wall commemorating his MLB stolen base record. Ricky was my absolute idol while I was growing up playing baseball. Cool stuff.

Getting onto the BART after the game was a bit chaotic, but it actually went a bit faster than I expected after seeing the masses that were in line. Jeffrey’s cousin Colin went to the game with us and took us out in the Mission afterwards. Hung out at two cool bars for a bit and then headed over to Colin’s place to see how a young person lives in San Francisco. It had been a long day, so after grabbing a late night slice of pizza we hopped into a cab and made our way back to the Hilton. For the record, the bed at the Hilton was heaven. Veronica and I could have lived in that bed it was so big and comfortable!

Sunday morning we awoke and caught a cable bar over to Fisherman’s Wharf with Johnny. After meeting up with Jeffrey and Jennifer we split up for lunch. I had seen the In-N-Out and my mind was completely focused in its desire to scarf down a delectable Double Double cheeseburger animal style. Only those who have experienced the holiness of having an In-N-Out burger can understand that it is more than a burger. In fact, it is a religious experience for your tongue and belly. It had been 4 years since I last had one, and Veronica was a newcomer to the bliss of In-N-Out. As you can see from the picture, Veronica was a fan.

Before long we had to head back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. Sonia and Chris had arranged some cable cars to take guests to the wedding. Cruising through San Francisco to the wedding in the cable car was so choice. The wedding was being held in Stern Grove, a park in the South of San Fran. The ceremony was gorgeous, set underneath huge trees that smelled so crisp. Speaking of crisp, the air was crisp as well, so it was a good thing we found out that we were sat inside for the dinner reception. The wedding was such a fun time. Good food, great friends, tasty cocktails and dancing made it a night to remember. I love weddings, nothing else quite compares to the happy times afforded by such a glorious occasion.

Jetlagged in Arkansas

It must be my extended age, but after arriving in America 4and a half days earlier, I am still feeling weird and tired. Veronica is the same, but since I am now so much older than her, I don’t think we can chalk her jetlag up to age.

The flight from Sydney to LA felt so much longer this go round. It’s no mystery why though as we flew United rather than Qantas. United’s plane was old, thus it was devoid of the awesome in-flight personal entertainment system that Qantas has. Instead of having a personal screen with your choice of 60 different movies, we were relegated to watching a screen halfway down the plane. So we ended up reading, a lot. Veronica read all of ‘The Road’ by Cormac McCarthy and I read over half of Michael Chabon’s ‘The Yiddish Policeman’s Union’. Not a bad thing of course, but it made the flight drag on like a cricket match.

Since we had a 4-hour layover in LA, our friends James and Maria picked us up from LAX and took us down to Manhattan Beach for lunch. It was a beautiful, warm day in LA and we had a nice lunch. Afterwards we went over to see James and Maria’s place. Made it back to the airport in enough time, boarded our flight to Dallas, and after a woman was booted off the flight for not being able to fully zip up her dog in her bag, we finally took off. Veronica and I slept the entire way to Dallas.

That night we hung with my family and had some chips and salsa from Chili’s. Go overseas for a couple of months, your appreciation for the small things like good chips and salsa will grow exponentially, trust me. Also got my birthday presents from my family. His and her Patagonia rain jackets and two books, stoked! Woke up early the next morning to fly an hour to Tulsa (I love short flights like that now!), where Veronica’s Mom came to pick us up. We drove back to Fayetteville in enough time to make it to a Church service graduation for the Seniors of Farmington High School. I feel I should mention one thing that stood out in my exhausted mind. As the Senior’s were entering the Church the pianist was playing a song that I instantly recognized yet couldn’t quite place. Luckily it came to me in a flash, ‘Freebird’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd. I nearly wet myself chuckling as the Redneck Rock Anthem was played in a manner befitting ‘Amazing Grace’. Maybe you had to be there, but I thought it was hilarious.

We had dinner that night at Penguin Ed’s, a great local BBQ joint. We then went to the school to watch Amanda play in her school’s Powder Puff Game. Thank goodness she didn’t play too much as one of the girls suffered a broken wrist. Some of those girls were vicious I tell you! One of Amanda’s senior teammates was playing 3 months pregnant, which Veronica found a tad strange.

It’s been nice here in Arkansas. The weather is sunny and warm, but not too hot, and Veronica and I have been catching up on sleep and eating a lot of good food. Oh, and it feels nice not to be at work. Go figure. The night before graduation we had a party for Amanda out in the backyard. Good times. And the other big news is that we gave Amanda her graduation/birthday present the day before. Amanda is now styling around Farmington with an iPhone. Lucky.

The day of Amanda’s graduation went and had an early graduation meal. Unfortunately the name of the place now eludes me, but it was just like Benihanas, so it was quite tasty. Jill had driven in the previous night from Dallas, and after lunch we went and saw ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls’. I was so excited for this movie as Indy is my favorite, and the film was quite entertaining, but nonetheless disappointing. There were about 4 scenes that were so over the top even I was scoffing out loud. Bummer.

That night the family headed over to the University of Arkansas to attend the festivities. Found out that the class song was actually ‘Free Bird’, the church scene now makes complete sense. Additionally, found out that there were 2 other girls in Amanda’s class of 120 that were pregnant as well. Outstanding stuff, and I think proof positive that Dubya’s sex education plan of abstinence is working like gangbusters. We then had a very late dinner at Friday’s with the Garcia extended family. Woke up early on Friday morning to drive back to Dallas for our eye appointments.