Thunder Struck!

Sitting at my little table this morning, sending out job applications and such, I heard a rumbling from outside. Oh, it's the end of the month, I reasoned, must be a moving truck. But as I went about my work and indulged in my tea and throbbing electro music, I kept hearing that rumble. Time to turn down the music and investigate.

I opened the blinds in my bedroom and saw the stretches of grey coming from one side of the peninsula. When I looked out my kitchen window there was sunshine on the opposite side of the peninsula. Hmm...a few minutes later the rumble came again. This was thunder. Thunder! In San Diego! Awesome! I love storms, I thought I had given them up when I moved out here.

I grabbed my flips and went out toward the bay. One side blue, the other side white. with a mohawk thundercloud streaking in between. This was exciting. After a few steps I discovered a flowerhead somehow perfectly severed and left to wilt alone on the side walk. I took it as a gift and picked it up to take with me. There was only a moment of very light rain as I approached the east side of the bay. Few people were out, and for a few moments everything was still. I began walking along the point towards the west side. By the time I was there the mohawk had grown, the thunder returned and brought actual rain along with it. I reveled in the moment. The wind, the rain, the dark, though always with blue sky at my side. This was cool. I took a few steps into the bay and released my flower friend into the sea, a much better place to retire than the sidewalk. Satisfied, happy, I walked back to my place to resume my daily work. That was a good break. Now the sun is out in full force, storm clouds are long gone. Back to work!

I thought of two songs regarding thunder, so you can choose which one you'd like to accompany your reading. It's Duran Duran, during their brief reunion with Andy Taylor before he screwed it all up with his ego. And the immortal KISS! with God of Thunder. Unfortunately, I could not embed the live version featuring Gene's full demon theatrics. There's a link below and it's worth it. The crowd shots are a riot. And that blood is actually food-dyed yogurt.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgkLhfiGIqY

The Dive In

Being poor and adrift, I put forth some free events to fill my calendar and help me get immersed in San Diego. Tonight was first up, free showing of Weird Science at The Pearl, a hotel in Point Loma. I had seen just slightly more than the prior description in a local journal, and had no idea what to expect. Was presented with an alternative offer, but I stuck to my guns.

So I ended up at the Pearl around 7:30. From Rosecrans Street, this place looked like the Bates Motel. What a dump. Then I walked in and I was in the middle of an ultra-trendy, L.A. like scene. Stereophonic servers, chi-chi clientele, and very expensive menu items. I mean look at the picture from the link below, Hollywood chic, right? On the outside it was a disaster, inside you would never want to leave.

I was ignored for a solid ten minutes when I sat at the bar, nothing unusual these days but I'd had enough and complained to the manager, a heavily tattooed short man who was working two blondes at the other end of the bar. I asked if the establishment didn't want my money. Soon enough, I had very attentive dingbat service. My orders were taken, specifications (no mayonnaise!) were ignored, and I sat there trying to enjoy such a happening spot. I talked with the guy on my right who clearly worked in the business and we dissected the service and some differences between the East and West Coast approach. On my left were two dudes acting as each other's wing while they ran sets with every server and woman they encountered. Pretty funny. A charming group introduced themselves to me and swept me away, right after I was offered a free dessert wine called "Naughty Silky" and had my request for more soda water completely ignored. My bill was drastically comped, so I saved a significant amount. All in all, good times.

The movie, by the way, was Weird Science. I remember living on Cottownwood Circle and going to see it with my parents in 1985. Meanwhile, my sister was babysitting on Tiffany Lane for Eric (ironically, eight months older than me) and Kara. My parents were appalled by all the sex and bad behavior in the movie. Even though I didn't understand it at the time, I loved it, and had much to tell Eric. Classic. Never thought I'd be watching it at a pool bar in San Diego, stepping back to appreciate Kelly Le Brock in all her delectable glory. Very funny movie, and I understand why my parents were outraged at the time. But that just makes the whole thing funnier. Good times.

http://www.thepearlsd.com/divein/

Some Cross Promotion

Today, pushups, cleaning, pullups, tea, stretching, job searching, cooking, phone calls, blah, blah, blah. Nothing exciting for you all out there. Truly have stepped into the void, standing before a big empty and it's up to me to try and fill it. Of course I'll need a little help from the powers that be.

As we wait and see what shall happen, here's my second article out on the Examiner.com. Still getting the lay of the land out there. If I want any kind of exposure I need to find advertizers, link lists, and a bunch of other stuff that is foreign to me. But, if I do all of that, I could be making as much a dollar an article. Big money!

http://www.examiner.com/newcomer-in-san-diego/great-burgers-despite-insidious-mayonnaise

More Frustration

Spanish group was a challenge. My Spanish certainly is not what it used to be, but there's also the fact that I'm in a forced situation. When I was in Mexico 2 years ago my Spanish flowed rather effortlessly. Not quite as easy with the situation tonight. But when people ask you if you're Brazilian when you speak Spanish it's hard not to be a little bit annoyed. Innocent question, but I expect better of myself and obviously I've just been lazy and adrift for far too long in my life and now here I am where everything is a struggle. I chose this, to see what I have to work on. The latest returns tell me I have to work on quite a bit. Improve my Spanish, improve my overall image, be able to hold my own in a fight, be ready to skillfully deflect other people and reframe situations. Frustrating. I used to think I was a pretty interesting person, now on a daily basis I get ample evidence to the contrary. I think, more often than not, I'm dealing with people who don't understand how to react to me, or haven't had enough interaction with people like me. Regardless, that's not their fault. And I need to figure out how to present myself in a palatable way to them or else it's going to be a pretty lonely, unsuccessful road. None of these thoughts are revelations, they've been on my mind for awhile now and, as I said, I needed to put myself in a situation where I am forced to change and improve myself for the better. I'm getting what I wished for. It's not very easy, but I'll figure it out and make myself better. The alternative certainly isn't very appealing.

On to tomorrow.

False Pretenses

Once again, another day, another scam. With a hectic schedule, and little happening in job world, I agreed to an interview for a financial advisor position knowing that it was a commission based screw job. However, I felt that the act of getting suited up, driving there, and pushing the interview into my own direction would be good practice for when I'm sitting in an interview for a job that I want. I'm trying to better exercise the act of framing and re-framing situations to my advantage. I thought today provided a good opportunity.

I arrived at the scheduled time and was first alerted by the receptionist asking, "You're here for the 1 o'clock?" as though it were a group interview. See, I'd received three different emails confirming that I was meeting directly with a specific person (fyi, the website showed it was some guy with flamboyantly manicured eyebrows). Turns out, this was a two-step process. First a group business presentation by some other clown, complete with brochures and questions to determine the group's worthiness and/or gullibility, and those chosen would move on into the one on one. When I heard this from the receptionist, I laughed out loud, stated I had no interest in a dog and pony show and walked right out the door. It took about 90 seconds altogether. But I didn't show up to get suckered into buying a time share, I went in for a job interview. I felt good telling them to kiss my ass.

After that, I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few items. As I had not eaten for a few hours, I soon became ravenous. A focused desire for quiche consumed my mind. I used the GPS to direct me to local French restaurants. I avoided the one at the mall, stopped at a couple others, both of which offered barbecue chicken quesadillas so those were out. 45 minutes and however much gas had passed out the window so I settled for an egg sandwich to be eaten at home.

The sun didn't make it out until about 3:45 today. Before that, it was still quite warm but grey and overcast. That made me happy. It was the kind of day where you felt free to walk around with a chip on your shoulder and a pissed off, East Coast demeanor. I enjoyed it while it lasted.

Now I'm trying to plan some events for the week so that I can get out and maybe find a home in this place where so far I am clearly not welcome. Tonight is the Spanish discussion group at La Costa Brava. I'm looking forward to that. Tomorrow there's a free movie showing and, though I've seen it, why not go rather than sit around here. The local event calendar comes out tomorrow so I'll pick it up and plan out the rest of my week.

Here's to future days.

Remembering New Things

Just came back from a walk around the bay, my first since returning last week. There was a spectacular red sunset, and dense fog of heat gleaming off the surface of the water. I took this picture a few minutes after the sun had disappeared and it does not do justice to the beauty I witnessed.

Now I'm settling in to watch some baseball and relax. The Red Sox season is ending, but how I will miss them once the final game is played. The Padres have a week to determine if they'll win the division, the wild card, or miss out on the playoffs, so that will provide some alternative baseball interest.

Sleep well, everyone.

Pacific Charms

As noted earlier, it is really hot today. After my usual job search carpetbombing, I made my way straight to the beach. While the sand feels hotter than the surface of the sun, once you get your stuff down there is enough of a breeze (which is absent anywhere further inland) that you can be quite comfortable. And the water is a cool, shimmering green. The waves were magnificent. Rolling and thundering, able to eclipse bathers one after the other. Best waves I have seen on Pacific Beach all summer. Good beach day.

Now back to grocery shopping, job searching, and laundry.