No Performance

So the dude running the live band karaoke queue was totally corrupt, openly promoting and accepting bribes to accelerate your performance. I wasn't paying to offer gold, so we left before my name was called. No big loss. There were a couple decent performers, one good, and the rest were mediocre. The sound system was garbage, and we had waited over an hour only to be told it would be "about half an hour" before taking the stage. F that.

Nice to see my friends. Had dinner with The T Man, who devoured a 1.2 lb burrito. There was not a trace of it left on the plate. Fun hanging out, though our numbers were fewer than expected. Everyone that showed was happy to be there.

And there was an amazingly bright full moon tonight. The bar was right along Pacific Beach, and rather than seeing rolling black capped by white, you could actually look at a midnight blue ocean rolling into the shore under a bright moon. It was beautiful. San Diego is quite a place.

More packing tomorrow, and a whale watch in the afternoon. Tomorrow is my last night.

Check In

Quick post as I am in the midst of packing and seemingly endless errands. Looking forward to meeting up with my local friends for a bit tonight and try out live band karaoke. I stopped into the Lamplighter last night for half an hour to sing a song ("I Didn't Mean To Turn You On") and be prepared for tonight. Should be fun.

Hope everyone is well.

Last Monday

First of all, a Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! Hope everyone is feeling a warmth in heart and youth in spirit.

My day has been pretty quiet and uneventful. It's a bit chilly here today, and the weather for the remainder of the week promises temperatures in the 50s and some rain. Thanks to the wealth of technology available in today's world, this forecast was known to me for a few days, and I made the most of the weekend. Got some beach time, a sunset with dolphins, and the next morning's sunrise. Yesterday I spent some of the afternoon on the beach and, for the first time this year, went headlong into the water. It certainly wasn't warm but it wasn't overwhelmingly cold either. It felt great.

Right now I'm watching palm trees sway in the silver blue light of early evening, the sun having set only about 20 minutes ago. Beautiful scenery.

This will be my last Monday in San Diego for awhile. On Sunday, I will be hitting the road en route to eastern Connecticut.

When I set out for California, there were many factors. One was that I wanted to live in a new place on my own and broaden my horizons. More importantly, however, I set out to develop a career in liquor distribution, build wealth, and eventually find love. I wanted this decade to be better than the previous one, and to keep building that way for the remainder of my life. Turns out, I will be able to better achieve my goals by returning to New England.

This was not the case 12 months ago, but as we all know things change. While I was home for Christmas, I suddenly had more job interest than I had experienced for the previous year and a half. People were willing to talk to me and express how much I had to offer. I found that I had true love in my heart that could not be denied. And I also knew that it felt good to be close to my family. On Christmas morning, the thought of returning to the area was the furthest thing from my mind. But with each passing day, a myriad of events and signs pointed me in the right direction.

Upon returning to San Diego, the signs continued to present themselves. The job interest that came from my ongoing search all came from New England, there was no response in California. The economic prospectus (posted here in January) for San Diego was yet another indicator. I have continued to look for work, both temporary and full time out here to no avail. I don't have a job waiting for me back East, but I feel that I am destined to go there for my career to take off. So I have spent the past 6 weeks looking for someone to take over my lease. I had someone lined up a few weeks ago that fell through, but now everything is in place, so it's time to get the show back on the road.

I spent this weekend feeling liberation from stress and enjoying my surroundings. This is a wonderful place, and there is much more to explore. But there is not opportunity here for me now, and it would be foolish to persist in trying to create it when I have so much going for me elsewhere. I don't have a doubt in my mind about my path. Certainly I have nervousness, towards which I invoke the words of Martin Luther King, Jr: "Faith is taking the first step when you cannot see the entire staircase."

Coming here last year was the right decision. It has been difficult, but I feel dramatically strengthened for it. Now it is time to move on, and I am not only very excited but focused. Life sure is funny, because I never would have expected any of this, but everything feels right. If I had not come here, none of this would be taking place. Now it's time for the next step.

Listening:
"Destination" by Damn Arms, Ted & Francis remix.

Sunrise

I don't remember the last time I watched a sunrise. Never taken a picture of one. Sunsets are my bag. Those pictures are all labeled with dates, times, numbers. Sunrises, few and far between. So these are saved under the simple heading Sunrise 1, 2, 3, etc.

Just a beautiful morning and invigorating start to the day. No dolphins this morning, but plenty of seagulls.

Dolphins!

Before visiting my friends up in Encinitas I stopped by Moonlight Beach. Found a nice perch atop the jetty and settled in to watch the sunset. As I looked out into the Pacific I caught sight of a flutter in the water and thought it might be a seal. To my delighted surprise, it was a dolphin. Then I saw that it was a pod of dolphins, with a flock of trailing them from above, and likely a school of fish getting snapped up under the surface. The dolphins were moving north as the sun set to their side. I sat their with a wide smile and warmth in my chest, it was quite a thrill to see them. California is magical.

The C maSheen!

I can't post the picture directly but check out this shot of Charlie Sheen at UCLA with Coco Crisp, Eric Davis, Brandon Watson (anyone?), and Mr. Personality Milton Bradley!

Post your jokes in the comments below!

Keep At It, Sean-0!

Really enjoyed the excellent piece by Chad Finn on Sean McDonough in today's Boston Globe. Sean McDonough is part of the Red Sox identity for me and millions of other fans. I miss him on Red Sox broadcasts. Certainly I'm a big fan of Don Orsillo, but Sean McDonough really started it all. He was a complete departure from Ned Martin, who was also unceremoniously dismissed by the Red Sox brass. [I'll never forget that. Sitting in the Pisick's attic watching the final game of the year when Ned Martin was told before the bottom of the 8th that this would be his final broadcast. He stammered through shock, confusion, and sadness over the final few outs of the game.]

McDonough's dismissal was not as abrupt but I still don't understand it. I do know that in 2003 the Red Sox switched over their entire season to their cable network with the exception of Friday night games. I had a lucrative job as a bartender that year but I refused to pay for cable and took every Friday night off so I could watch the Sox. The rest of the games I heard on the radio or watched on the tv in the bar. That was a very meaningful commitment for me and it became more so when the ownership yanked (pun intended) all the games off broadcast tv in favor of cable. Acceptable business decision, completely amoral. Dan Shaugnessy wrote a great piece about all of the hospitals, nursing homes, and other fans that would be left in the dark by the decision. But the team got their way, all cable, no McDonough. As Chad Finn points out, many people don't think about it much these days. For me it was significant.

I watched a couple of the opening day games for the 2010 season last Spring. McDonough called the Cubs opener, when Zambrano got absolutely destroyed by the Braves and was out of the game in the 2nd inning. McDonough called a great game (making the call on Jason Heyward's first major league homerun), and was customarily hilarious in the process as he reminded Cubs fans that Big Z did not lose his cool as he got rocked, and if you were looking to any saving grace to his performance, that was it.

I've had the opportunity to meet Sean McDonough on a few different occasions and I can say that he is a very nice man and a good tipper. He seems to have a very good nature towards all that are around him. I know have no idea what happened between him and the ownership, but I'm glad he's getting a more high profile gig with ESPN.