gecko

wow, is may really almost over? i'm not quite sure where it all went but i know i spent a whole bunch of money, with a substantial amount of it going towards boring semi-practical things like insurance. insurance companies must spend a good deal of money to hire a marketing team that makes you feel happy and responsible for buying insurance against all manner of calamities because i have to admit that at the moment of purchase, i did feel responsible, if not happy. at this moment though, i begrudge living in a country where a trip to the hospital can bankrupt you.

i've begun to pack in earnest and to consider how i'm going to store my things until i come back. it looks like i'll be giving what little furniture i have away again, keeping only my books and music. i'm also parting with my old drumset. i haven't played it in some time but i have such good memories of dragging it around to shows and practices that i can't help but wonder how i ever found myself in a position to have to sell them and buy things like insurance instead.

on a happier note, i've already begun making some plans to see some sites in taiwan while i'm there. high up on the list is to check out the east coast and learn to surf. i've also learned that taiwan has some excellent places to go paragliding. i have no clue how much that hobby will cost but it'd be something i'd love to try.

round round get around

yesterday was an awesome day. i got a call around 10am to meet a bunch of friends by 11am to head to the beach. i'm always late, so i said i couldn't make 11 but i could make 11:30 which of course turned into 11:50. no problem because this set of friends is always late too. i packed up some clothes, my camera, and my beloved kite and frisbee and headed out the door.

apparently everyone else in houston was invited to the beach too because there was a lot of traffic headed to galveston. finally we made it and went to east beach. i had never been to east beach before because as it turns out you have to pay $8 to park there, which is something my parents would never have done if there was a free beach nearby. however, the two main reasons you pay $8 are:

1. so you can bring alcohol to the beach.
2. so you can go to a less crowded beach.

so i got to see east beach for the first time yesterday, and it was pretty nice as far as galveston beaches go. nice sand, not too many rocks or shells, decent looking water. we swam a ridiculous way out into the surf. the only people farther out than us were two guys on inflatable boats with fishing rods.

besides swimming, we had a lot of fun on the beach. bobby flew the kite out to the end of the string after i had told him i had done it before. we played frisbee with kyle's dog elsie who would run down any throws we didn't manage to catch. i ate a lot of junk food snacks and enjoyed a mixed drink of sailor jerry rum with sierra mist which tasted like cream soda.

afterwards, we had dinner on the seawall with a great view of the sun setting on the gulf. but, everything has it's price. i was the only one who escaped without sunburn, but i am kinda limping around on a bruised knee after being dominated in a chicken fight with nancy. to my credit, kyle cheated because he grabbed my arm and yanked me into the water while luis did his best to support me by holding on to my legs as i fell in, which is no doubt how i sustained my injury.

a little alcohol, a good beach, great friends, and battle scars. you get what you pay for.

scratch city

summer in the swampy bayou city is beginning to show its ugly face again. earlier last week two days of good rain rendered many parts of the city impassable with some roads under water for two or three days. i went out to my backyard this afternoon and was immediately set upon by an army of mosquitoes, each one leaving a bump the size of my thumbnail. it's really starting to warm up outside to the point that i wake up, have a little lunch, and siesta all afternoon until the sun goes down which leaves me wide awake at 4am. heat, humidity, and mosquitoes. i wish i was in san francisco right now.

i'm wavering between putting most or all of my things in storage, or selling everything to raise some extra cash for my trip. on one hand, it seems too hard to part with all the little things i've accumulated through the years, most especially my music and book collection. on the other hand, do i really need to keep all this stuff? am i going to carry it around for the rest of my life?

i sold a whole bunch of cd's once before and even though what i sold i wouldn't listen to that often now, i still regret it. the cash i made selling them has long since been spent but from time to time, i'll hear a song and say to myself, "i wish i still had that cd somewhere." so...crap. it seems i'm going to put my things in storage after all.