So he was interested in traveling for a bit, and this Australia thing caught his eye. I filled him in, describing both that program and my Korean sojourn in all the florid glow I could muster. When I'd finished, he told me that he was vacillating between bugging out with me and trying to patch things up with his ex-girlfriend. I told him to do what he thought he needed to do, but think it over. He promised he would, and I sent him the URL concerning the working holiday in Australia (http://www.liveinaustralia.com/working-visa/, if you want to know) as soon as I got home. We'll see what he says.
So supposing he doesn't spring for it (which I wouldn't blame him for, either, I guess), my plans become more concrete. I'll bum around my folks' place until the end of August, possibly early September, and wait and see if I've got any bites on any of the reporter's positions I've applied for around the country (Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Alaska, the Virgin Islands, D.C., and a few others). If I do, I'll decide whether to go for them or not. If I don't, then my decision becomes even easier: head straight for Alaska. I'm still technically mulling over whether or not to stay here a year and work to save money (which is why I might wait here until mid-September: to see whether or not I got my old job at the newspaper). But in my heart I sense that I've already decided to head off for the Great North.
The drive will be fantastic. I'll be going up Interstate 15, through the Mojave Desert, the northwestern tip of Arizona (and the Virgin River Canyon), Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Butte, and then into Alberta, Canada...thence to Calgary, Edmonton, the northeastern corner of British Columbia, the Yukon Territory, and then into Alaska itself and balmy Anchorage!
I don't care if I bankrupt myself, really. That's worst-case scenario. I don't care about finding my dream job right off the bat either. I'll work in a smoke shop, or drive a cab (I've always thought the latter would be really neat). Just being up there would be enough. Once I've secured some kind of gainful employment (any kind) then I can focus on finding ideal and optimum employment, like a talk show host on a radio station. And then I can start taking flying lessons again, and maybe eventually start up an airline...and there you have it.
Either way, the wanderlust is kicking in bad. I love my parents, and it's swell living in their house with their generous hospitality, and seeing all my friends from high school again, and kicking around this old desert town...but I've got a rocket in my pocket. It's time to be off for a new horizon.
A few quick things before I sign off: one, my mom purchased a new dog to take the place of dear old Molly, her Belgian sheepdog, who perished a few months before they moved away from Wyoming. The new dog is a purebred six-year-old collie mix. She's quite beautiful, tri-colored and tractable. She seems to have an unusually large amount of Borzoi blood in her...her snout is quite long and tapered, even for a collie. We've named her Maggie. We got her last week. Mom took her to the vet today and found out she has a nasty case of gingivitis, which will cost $500 to fix. Oh well. She's so nice and friendly that we don't mind spending the money on her.
Two, I just found out that Princess Eugenie Victoria Helena Mountbatten-Windsor of York has a blog! Holy smoke! Why wasn't I informed about this? I've always thought she was pretty, and was intrigued by her list of personal interests on the Royal Family's website (she likes computer games and hot dogs and Desperate Housewives, among other things), but she blogs, too! Like she said in that article in the Daily Mail back in 2007, she and her relations try to lead as normal lives as possible. Zowie, how about that, eh? A princess's blog! I've got to see if I can find it. I'll be honest, I've fantasized a little about meeting her someday. Okay, I'll be totally honest: I've fantasized about bumping into her under thrilling circumstances in some foreign country, rescuing her from terrorists or something, whisking her to safety in my souped-up cargo plane, and having a whirlwind romance of some sort or another with her à la every action movie ever made. I'm sounding kind of silly and lovesick here, aren't I? Okay, I'll stop. Goodbye.
If you're reading this, Your Highness, please forgive me.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Hunter, Maggie, and Princess Eugenie
I hate to keep posting an endless torrent of these personal updates, on the chance that my suspicions are correct and nobody out there truly cares, or even notices what I'm putting on here. Be that as it may, I feel the need to once again declare how I am. I think my plans and aspirations have finally evened out and some form of order has coalesced. Previously I was all in a turmoil. Australia? The Virgin Islands? Colorado? Idaho? Alaska? Japan or the Orient again? Or stay here in California and work for a year to save up some dough?
It's like this, currently. If I find somebody to go to Australia to me, we'll go. Australia takes priority. But it all hinges on finding a travel buddy. I've had it with roaming alone, for now at least. Thus far I haven't had any definite interest. Virginia and John, both two of my best friends from high school, said they could go...in a year or so. Johnnie wants to finish his degree and Virge wants to give her current job with Hesperia Parks & Recreation at least a year and a half or so. I can't blame either of them for that. (Yeah, right! What a couple of squares!)
But then...the day before yesterday another old high school friend, Hunter, dropped me a line on Facebook. He said he was interested in seeing me again and talking over this Australia gig. So I went down to meet him at The Grind yesterday evening. (The Grind's a new coffee shop down by Jess Ranch on Bear Valley Road in Apple Valley...pretty hip, with some good atmosphere. As a result, however, it attracts every hippie and freak for miles around.) Over a couple of oddly-named, trendy coffee drinks, we caught up on each other's doings. He'd graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara in June 2008, just about the same time I'd left for Korea. He hadn't had much luck after that. No jobs to be had...everybody knows how the market's been lately. He came back here to live with his folks, similar to yours truly. He was working as a substitute teacher for about $120 a day...not a bad engagement. But he wanted something more. He'd just come out of a long-term relationship and was without prospects of more than one kind. 
So he was interested in traveling for a bit, and this Australia thing caught his eye. I filled him in, describing both that program and my Korean sojourn in all the florid glow I could muster. When I'd finished, he told me that he was vacillating between bugging out with me and trying to patch things up with his ex-girlfriend. I told him to do what he thought he needed to do, but think it over. He promised he would, and I sent him the URL concerning the working holiday in Australia (http://www.liveinaustralia.com/working-visa/, if you want to know) as soon as I got home. We'll see what he says.
So supposing he doesn't spring for it (which I wouldn't blame him for, either, I guess), my plans become more concrete. I'll bum around my folks' place until the end of August, possibly early September, and wait and see if I've got any bites on any of the reporter's positions I've applied for around the country (Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Alaska, the Virgin Islands, D.C., and a few others). If I do, I'll decide whether to go for them or not. If I don't, then my decision becomes even easier: head straight for Alaska. I'm still technically mulling over whether or not to stay here a year and work to save money (which is why I might wait here until mid-September: to see whether or not I got my old job at the newspaper). But in my heart I sense that I've already decided to head off for the Great North.
The drive will be fantastic. I'll be going up Interstate 15, through the Mojave Desert, the northwestern tip of Arizona (and the Virgin River Canyon), Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Butte, and then into Alberta, Canada...thence to Calgary, Edmonton, the northeastern corner of British Columbia, the Yukon Territory, and then into Alaska itself and balmy Anchorage!
I don't care if I bankrupt myself, really. That's worst-case scenario. I don't care about finding my dream job right off the bat either. I'll work in a smoke shop, or drive a cab (I've always thought the latter would be really neat). Just being up there would be enough. Once I've secured some kind of gainful employment (any kind) then I can focus on finding ideal and optimum employment, like a talk show host on a radio station. And then I can start taking flying lessons again, and maybe eventually start up an airline...and there you have it.
Either way, the wanderlust is kicking in bad. I love my parents, and it's swell living in their house with their generous hospitality, and seeing all my friends from high school again, and kicking around this old desert town...but I've got a rocket in my pocket. It's time to be off for a new horizon.
A few quick things before I sign off: one, my mom purchased a new dog to take the place of dear old Molly, her Belgian sheepdog, who perished a few months before they moved away from Wyoming. The new dog is a purebred six-year-old collie mix. She's quite beautiful, tri-colored and tractable. She seems to have an unusually large amount of Borzoi blood in her...her snout is quite long and tapered, even for a collie. We've named her Maggie. We got her last week. Mom took her to the vet today and found out she has a nasty case of gingivitis, which will cost $500 to fix. Oh well. She's so nice and friendly that we don't mind spending the money on her.
Two, I just found out that Princess Eugenie Victoria Helena Mountbatten-Windsor of York has a blog! Holy smoke! Why wasn't I informed about this? I've always thought she was pretty, and was intrigued by her list of personal interests on the Royal Family's website (she likes computer games and hot dogs and Desperate Housewives, among other things), but she blogs, too! Like she said in that article in the Daily Mail back in 2007, she and her relations try to lead as normal lives as possible. Zowie, how about that, eh? A princess's blog! I've got to see if I can find it. I'll be honest, I've fantasized a little about meeting her someday. Okay, I'll be totally honest: I've fantasized about bumping into her under thrilling circumstances in some foreign country, rescuing her from terrorists or something, whisking her to safety in my souped-up cargo plane, and having a whirlwind romance of some sort or another with her à la every action movie ever made. I'm sounding kind of silly and lovesick here, aren't I? Okay, I'll stop. Goodbye.
If you're reading this, Your Highness, please forgive me.
So he was interested in traveling for a bit, and this Australia thing caught his eye. I filled him in, describing both that program and my Korean sojourn in all the florid glow I could muster. When I'd finished, he told me that he was vacillating between bugging out with me and trying to patch things up with his ex-girlfriend. I told him to do what he thought he needed to do, but think it over. He promised he would, and I sent him the URL concerning the working holiday in Australia (http://www.liveinaustralia.com/working-visa/, if you want to know) as soon as I got home. We'll see what he says.
So supposing he doesn't spring for it (which I wouldn't blame him for, either, I guess), my plans become more concrete. I'll bum around my folks' place until the end of August, possibly early September, and wait and see if I've got any bites on any of the reporter's positions I've applied for around the country (Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Alaska, the Virgin Islands, D.C., and a few others). If I do, I'll decide whether to go for them or not. If I don't, then my decision becomes even easier: head straight for Alaska. I'm still technically mulling over whether or not to stay here a year and work to save money (which is why I might wait here until mid-September: to see whether or not I got my old job at the newspaper). But in my heart I sense that I've already decided to head off for the Great North.
The drive will be fantastic. I'll be going up Interstate 15, through the Mojave Desert, the northwestern tip of Arizona (and the Virgin River Canyon), Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Butte, and then into Alberta, Canada...thence to Calgary, Edmonton, the northeastern corner of British Columbia, the Yukon Territory, and then into Alaska itself and balmy Anchorage!
I don't care if I bankrupt myself, really. That's worst-case scenario. I don't care about finding my dream job right off the bat either. I'll work in a smoke shop, or drive a cab (I've always thought the latter would be really neat). Just being up there would be enough. Once I've secured some kind of gainful employment (any kind) then I can focus on finding ideal and optimum employment, like a talk show host on a radio station. And then I can start taking flying lessons again, and maybe eventually start up an airline...and there you have it.
Either way, the wanderlust is kicking in bad. I love my parents, and it's swell living in their house with their generous hospitality, and seeing all my friends from high school again, and kicking around this old desert town...but I've got a rocket in my pocket. It's time to be off for a new horizon.
A few quick things before I sign off: one, my mom purchased a new dog to take the place of dear old Molly, her Belgian sheepdog, who perished a few months before they moved away from Wyoming. The new dog is a purebred six-year-old collie mix. She's quite beautiful, tri-colored and tractable. She seems to have an unusually large amount of Borzoi blood in her...her snout is quite long and tapered, even for a collie. We've named her Maggie. We got her last week. Mom took her to the vet today and found out she has a nasty case of gingivitis, which will cost $500 to fix. Oh well. She's so nice and friendly that we don't mind spending the money on her.
Two, I just found out that Princess Eugenie Victoria Helena Mountbatten-Windsor of York has a blog! Holy smoke! Why wasn't I informed about this? I've always thought she was pretty, and was intrigued by her list of personal interests on the Royal Family's website (she likes computer games and hot dogs and Desperate Housewives, among other things), but she blogs, too! Like she said in that article in the Daily Mail back in 2007, she and her relations try to lead as normal lives as possible. Zowie, how about that, eh? A princess's blog! I've got to see if I can find it. I'll be honest, I've fantasized a little about meeting her someday. Okay, I'll be totally honest: I've fantasized about bumping into her under thrilling circumstances in some foreign country, rescuing her from terrorists or something, whisking her to safety in my souped-up cargo plane, and having a whirlwind romance of some sort or another with her à la every action movie ever made. I'm sounding kind of silly and lovesick here, aren't I? Okay, I'll stop. Goodbye.
If you're reading this, Your Highness, please forgive me.
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