AC and TV aka "The Good Life..."

Today I spent the most worthwhile $200 of my life. I bought a 5,200 BTU window unit air conditioner and a 20" TV. I bought them both out of necessity. The AC unit is designed for a room much smaller than mine. However the humidity over the past few days has made every bit of cool air that I can pump into the room precious.

The room I am in is a studio apartment which means that the only truly private area is the bathroom. It is a decent size and has a modest kitchen. The water pressure is OK and everything seems to work. It's not all a bed of roses though...

The downside is there was no AC and the traffic noise from Hempstead Turnpike. The window unit air conditioner solves both of those problems it cools the apartment off and the sound from it drowns out the traffic noise. So it serves a dual purpose. As for the TV being a necessity...

My roommate is moving out and taking his TV with him of course. It seems our differing schedules is a bit too much for him. I am a night owl as many of you may attest to. He goes to bed early(read:pansy) and is a light sleeper on top of that. I suggested he invest in earplugs and a blindfold. Instead he has decided to leave so he can have a private bedroom.

It seems he and I are able to share a parking spot with our motorcycles but not an apartment. My roommate from last year might have had the best idea by getting a place off campus. But I got the next best thing, a room on campus to myself...

I don't wanna jinx myself (cause they could move someone in) but I knew 2 people who had doubles to themselves all year last year after a roommate failed to show up or moved out. I will cross my fingers and hope for the best..

All in all it's good to be back in school. As always the people are the best part of being back. The work is just that "hard work" but it is good for the soul. The classes I took this summer reinvigorated my desire to be a lawyer. It seems they also helped my GPA jump up to a 2.72 and probably 15-20 spots in the rankings.

I just realized tonight that I have a 3 day weekend coming up because of Labor Day. I haven't made any plans but maybe I'll head up to New Hampshire one last time before it gets cold again. Maybe I should stay in town and get some studying done. I'll check the weather and sleep on it...

Back under way...

School has started again. That explains my lack of recent posts. I'll try to update later tonight with a real post...

Home of Clam Chowdah...

I have made the 270 mile trip up to New England to visit my Yiayia & Papou (grandparents). They are doing well for being in their 80's. I hope I make it to their age and am doing at least half as well.

It was a long ride broken up by the Cross Sound Ferry which takes 80-90 minutes. The weather couldn't have been better if I had asked for it. The traffic was great, I was doing 85 and still getting passed by cars left and right.

Even bigger news is that my student loans finally got approved. That is nice especially seeing as classes start 1 week from today. The hoops they make me jump through are no fun, but still a small price to pay for getting my education.

I get to relax up here for a few days before heading back to the hustle and bustle. Welcome back to the House of Pain...

If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere...

I have made it back safe and sound. Tomorrow I get to wake up in the city that never sleeps and find I'm king of the hill, top of the heap, A#1...

I missed the bright lights big city. Dave will be happy to know that I had a Sabrett as soon as I got to Penn Station...

Tomorrow I will be riding my motorcycle up to New Hampshire to see my grandparents. I can't wait to take Yiayia to church on Sunday...

Classes don't start till next Friday. That means I have a little bit of time to get settled in and catch up with my friends...

Goodnight to all and to all a goodnight...

Riding with the folks...

Well my time in Arizona has come and gone much too quickly. There were too many people that I didn't get to see. Just to name a few Drew, Randy, April, Trish, and Shawn. There are more people that I didn't get to see, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind. My visit was much too short, but I guess that just speaks to how much I love Arizona and all my friends and family there...

I made 2 major trips while I was in the southwest. Both of them were with my parents and both were an absolute blast. The first trip I made was to a horse ranch just across the border in New Mexico. Now some of you may already know about my irrational fear of dying in New Mexico. For those of you who don't know I have avoided New Mexico for the past decade or so because I have this feeling that I can't explain. Keeping that in mind I may have been pushing my luck by riding around on animals there that weigh 5 times what I weigh...

I had a great time there though. My mom, my cousin Merel, River (son of my mom's friend), and I loaded up a couple of my mom's horses and drove out to Glenwood New Mexico. The ranch we stayed on was so nice and we all had a great time. As you can see from the picture above they even managed to get me on a horse for the first time since I was 11 years old. I guess riding on a horse shouldn't bother me too much because over the past 12 years my mom and I have had an equal number of accidents on our respective horses (mine is a steele horse)...

My other big riding trip was with my dad. We rented a couple of Harley-Davidson motorcycles and headed north. I got to ride a "Fatboy" and my dad rode a "Heritage", they are almost identical except I think the "Fatboy" wins on style points. If I can get some pictures I took from my cell phone or from Julie I will post them here...

We went up to Sedona by way of Jerome. It was one of the greatest rides I have been on in a long time, all the switch-backs were exhilarating. For the first time since I was 19 I scraped the footpegs taking a turn. That means I was leaning so hard into the turn that my footpeg was touching the ground...

We spent the night in a Sedona hotel and woke up to some of the most beautiful scenery you have ever seen in your life. We stopped for the breakfast special at the Bee-line Diner in Payson. For a while we weren't sure the trip would come together when it did it sure was worthwhile...

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to...

The birthday/welcome home party was outstanding. I would like to thank everyone who showed up. For those of you unable to make it you were dearly missed, and you missed some good times. You know you've invited the right people to a party when they clean up before they leave. I may post pictures if Brook sends them to me.

It has been very nice being home. The only problem that I have run into is that I have run out of money and will likely become a bum on the streets on New York. It will be interesting when the choice comes down to cigarettes or food to see which way I will go...

Not bad for 30, basking in the California sun...

Made it...

Just a quick post to let you all know I made it alive and well...

Just chillin' in Santa Cruz...

Say Goodbye to the Bad Guy…

Tomorrow morning I fly out of Sydney to California where I will spend my 30th birthday with my oldest friend Eli (I’ve known him since the day I was born). It will be the longest day of my life, follow my logic here: I leave at 2PM (14 hours into the day), have a 14 hour flight, and arrive at 10AM (14 hours left in the day). All of that means that the 28th of July will 42 hours long. In other words it will be the longest day of my life.

It will just be nice to chill in Santa Cruz and reflect on the past 30 years, and maybe make some plans for the next 30. I have enjoyed my time here in Australia and wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. I have made some good friends and some great memories. My time here in Australia reminds me of a line Bugs Bunny used to use “It’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.”

One of the nicest parts about coming to Australia was getting to see my cousin Hidde. He is doing well and passed all of his classes this semester. It seems that no matter where I go in the world Hidde is there. How lucky am I to have such a worldly cousin?

My next post will be from the United States of America...

Flying Solo Once Again… [abridged]

Well ladies and gents I am operating solo once again. Sadly just like all good summer romances mine has come to an end. Liz and I had a few very nice days up in the Gold Coast... ...I came to grips with the fact that I would only get to spend a [short time] with her right away. This made me determined to enjoy every minute of it as much as I could... ...I told her from the word go that I would never lie to her even if the truth hurt... ...and it ended up hurting me just as much as it hurt her. I tried to explain to her that I still care about her...

...it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all...

Beautiful Byron Bay…

The vantage point at the end of the beach


A view of the beach


The view across the bay


A southern view

This post is really nothing more than what I saw in Byron Bay. It is just as beautiful as everyone had described. It isn’t really a city just kind of a conglomeration of shops set up for the tourists who can’t stay away from such a beautiful place. Apparently the day before we went to Byron Bay there was an alternative music festival there. When we got to the beach we were knee deep in hippies, it made me feel like I was in Northern California.

The beach itself is really the main attraction. Clean fine white sands for as far as the eye can see. The sand between my toes felt so good. Walking along the waterline reminded me of my time in LA back in 2000. That’s when I used to keep my appointment with the sunset faithfully.

We didn’t stay long enough to catch the sunset but we did walk the entire length of the beach. It took about 45 minutes each way. At the end of the beach there was a lookout that afforded anyone willing to walk up there a magnificent view of the ocean and the beach. That is where most of my pictures were taken because it was such a good vantage point.

I would have loved to stay longer, but that was the beginning of the end…

Good Times in the Gold Coast…

Well this is an update post, but it won’t be too long. Liz and I flew up here to the Gold Coast. It is a great little vacation spot. We are staying in a quaint little motel called Twin Towns Motel. The people here are very friendly. Yesterday I got to know a wonderful retired couple from next door who are on permanent vacation (lucky them).

Today Liz and I are going to drive to Byron Bay which I hear is absolutely beautiful. The best part is that I get to do all the driving. It’s nice to know that I have the ability to adapt and drive on the wrong (left) side of the road. It’s going to be much too soon that we have to leave, and much too soon after that when I have to head back stateside.

I am looking forward to being back on US soil. I miss the California coast, the Arizona desert, and the streets of NYC. I have one major thing I need to take care of once I get back and that is where I will stay when I first get back to NY. I get back 3 days before the dorms open up and Diddy is going to be out of town so I won’t be able to crash at his folks place.

Hopefully I can get in touch with Uncle Lou and Aunt Elektra or maybe Dmitri will have a place by then and let me crash on his couch for a couple days. Better yet if I can get in touch with Pat maybe I can hop on my bike on the 18th and go visit Yiayia and Papou up in NH. It would be nice since I didn’t get to see them before I left for Australia.

I’m sure everything will work out. Worst case scenario (or maybe best) I will hop on my bike and make my way up to Wisconsin. It would be nice if I could visit Captain Rubber Legs and my nephews. We will see. I’m sure everything will work out exactly the way it is supposed to…

Done and over with…

And your little dog...


Told you they had fun


The Emerald City

This is a post that should have gone up on Friday of last week, but I simply didn’t have time. Now that I do have some time I don’t have any internet access so I am writing this in Word and will post it ASAP along with the relevant pictures. Chances are also good there will be an update post shortly following this one.

Finals are done and as usual I am just glad to have them over with. It will be a month or so before I get my results back and know how I did. For both classes there is a non-mandatory curve on which the grading will be done. That means that they will curve grades up if everyone did poorly, but they will not curve grades down. The reason for this is the class size was so small (11 people) that curving grades down would be unfair especially since we may have all done well.

Even more interesting than the fact that my finals are done with is what I did after my finals. Finals were over with by noon and by three I was in a bar drinking with about half a dozen people from the program and the hostel. After a handful of drinks I decided to head back to the Hostel to grab a bite to eat at Rockys with Emily and our Italian friend Laurie. As usual the pizza was outstanding and I took a picture of the place to remind me of how good it was.

After the pizza I went back to the hostel to meet up with Liz, Devon (guy from the program), and Peter (works at the hostel). From there we went out to the Imperial Hotel (a gay bar) where we watched a drag show version of the Wizard of Oz. It was a 4 “man” show and I have to say I have never seen 4 people enjoy themselves so much.

The funny part about it, to me, was that if you had told me one week prior that after finals I would be sitting in a gay bar with a beautiful girl watching a bunch of gay guys run around in dresses, I would have told you that you were nuts. Another part that I liked about going to the show was it let me know I am still attractive, because I got hit on more than once. The only question is how am I supposed to respond to a gay man saying “hey cowboy”. I guess it doesn’t really matter since I don’t swing that way.

Halfway through the show we were joined by my cousin Hidde. He enjoyed the show just as much as I did and insisted on taking us up to Kings Cross after the show for more drinks. Kings Cross is the home of the seedy strip bar. We ended up hanging out there till almost 4AM. From there Liz and I went back to the hostel.

I was still up at 6AM to help Emily take her bags upstairs so she could catch her shuttle to the airport. I was also still up at 7AM to say goodbye to Devon when he left for the airport. Thankfully not everyone left so soon after the program ended because it gave me a chance to say goodbye to the handful of people who figured that they should take advantage of the fact that they were here and stay a bit longer.

Also included below are pictures of people from my program. I realized the day before the program was scheduled to end that I hadn’t taken any pictures of the people I had been spending the past month and a half with. They are a great bunch of people who I will definitely try to stay in touch with. It may be made a little easier by the fact that most of them are in North Cacalaca (North Carolina) which is a bike ride away from NYC. I hope to be able to go down and pay them a visit my first free weekend after classes start back up.

My next post will be all about the four days Liz and I are spending up here in the Gold Coast. Until then…

Sydney Peeps...

Nina, James, and Shannon (told you they love him)


Me and Shannon after finals


Me and Shannon


Judita and Laurie 2 beautiful Italian girls who didn't know eachother till I introduced them


Emily posing like one of CHarlie's Angels


Squire doing his best "jailhouse" pose


Nina


The least goofy picture I have of Devon


The Chazmanian Devil


Kevin and Chaz chillin'


Corey aka Clark Kent


Shawn doing his best Brando


Zach wishing he was Wessia Fa Lia


What is that on Zach's finger?


Sarah and Jay a little later in the day


Sarah and Jay from Boulder, CO


Kevin working hard getting ready for our last final and Greg being lazy


Good Greg


Evil Greg


Me and James (he owns Scoop the store next door)


Me and Janet (she also owns Scoop)


Rob runs the hostel


Me and Sam (a real spot of sunshine on any day)


The Ladies Love Cool James


Racy Stacey on her way out


Aaron and Ian


Greg pointing at Aaron's meat


Rockys the best damn pizza place in Sydney

In my wildest dreams...

OK I had a weird dream last night. I remember driving into a parking lot in a pimped out Cadillac El Dorado. The parking lot was outside of a busy night club and I was there to rob someone. I went inside and made my way through the packed crowd and spotted my bag o' cash. I grabbed it with little to no trouble at all and made my way swiftly out the door. Once I got outside to my Caddy I was astonished to find that it had been blocked in by my brothers Rolls Royce. That's the point at which I woke up...

Speaking of funny blog stories I got a good one about my blog. As some of you may remember a couple of weeks ago I was complaining about not getting my breakfast in the morning. Well one of the things I said was that I would get my moneys worth one way or another. Then comes last night, I was at the front desk asking Sam for some clips to hold small stacks of paper together. She with her usual cheer obliges me with 4 clips and asks if that is how I plan to get my moneys worth. She had obviously read my blog and I instantly doubled over with laughter. I figure if I can't laugh at myself everyone else will...

This brings me to another point. If she hadn't read my blog she would not have known my angry comment. The lesson here is not that I need to be careful about what I put on my blog (see first paragraph), but that I need to work on the way I react to things that frustrate me. The fact that she only knew because she read my blog means that I have learned to control my outward reaction. Now I must continue to work on my inner reaction...

The very next day after that post I took a much more even keel approach to life. Like the great Kung Fu masters that I love to watch so much I must learn a greater degree of self discipline. Watching all these Kung Fu flicks inspires me to want to learn. Maybe its not too late...

Well I am off to study. One exam done, one to go tomorrow...

Mother Nature does not disappoint...

Made it to the Royal Botanical Gardens yesterday and as expected it was absolutely beautiful. It is winter time down here so there were not nearly as many flowers in bloom as there could have been. Maybe I'll have to come back when the Rose Garden is in bloom. I had a great time wandering around, it was very relaxing.

Tomorrow I am taking Hidde, Derk, and Belinda out to dinner. It should be very nice especially because Hidde is an outstanding chef and probably knows some great restaurants. Of course the best part of any meal is always the company.

Monday is the last day of class and final exams are on Wednesday and Thursday. How convenient that my last final is on the same day Liz gets back from Darwin Australia. She and I will fly up to Gold Coast on the morning of the 24th (the day after her birthday) and come back the night of the 27th. That leaves me only 18 hours to say goodbye to Sydney.

I leave the next afternoon for California which will be my time traveling flight (departs 7/28 1:45 PM arrives 7/28 10:05 AM). Really it just allows me to stay in my 20's a little bit longer...


King of the Jungle...


Tree climbing is still fun...


The Tropical Kingdom in a Pyramid...


The bats here grow on trees...


Fire Tulips...


It may be winter here but some flowers are bursting with color...


One of those artsy pictures...


I took at least a dozen pictures to get this one good one...


Last but certainly not least is the picture of a bird who got me to take a picture of a sculpture I had no intention of photographing because there is no way a photo could make me feel the way this sculpture entitled Mother Earth made me feel...

The New South Wales "Art" Museum...

Well last night I went to the art museum and the best thing about it was that it was free. There was some very nice works there. I particularly enjoyed the Asian Art Gallery. There were however some things I found rather disappointing.

The worst of it was the modern art part of the museum. There were two totally separate paintings that were nothing more than canvas painted black. They reminded me very much of one of my dad's favorite pieces of art "Polar bear blinking while eating a marshmallow in a snow storm" in other words a white piece of paper.

This afternoon I am heading over to the botanical gardens. I am sure mother nature will not disappoint me the way that the art gallery did...

This is Martin Place the train station I ride to when the train is running. It is a pedestrian thoroughfare that is a great place for one of my favorite past times (people watching). I love my laptop. It allows me to do so many things that just a connection doesn't. Today I got to talk to my roommate Dmitri. He got one of his grades changed from a C- to a C+. Maybe I should talk to my Civ Pro teacher, but maybe I should just let it go and move on...