South America Trip - Part 1 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

I have spent three days in Buenos Aires. We have had bright sunny days, but there is a steady chill in the air. It gets pretty cold at night so I had to accessorize my hoodie with a scarf. It goes great with my new Mohawk. I am enjoying the cold after our hot summer in California.



After we flew in Friday morning, we took a taxi to the MALBA, the Museo de Arte Latinamericano de Buenos Aires, in the Palermo district. There was a lot of abstract art, including a wooden bench that flowed over the balcony in tangled wooden threads to reconnect with another bench on a different floor. My favorite painting was of a sad woman's face shrouded in an intense red shawl of tassels created with thick swirls of paint. They also have one of Frida's self-portraits where she is posing with a parrot and a monkey.



After walking through the Japanese Gardens in the Parque Tres de Febrero, we went to the Soho part of Palermo. We came here to have dinner at La Cabrera Restaurant, one of the best parrillas in the city, but it was booked solid. We ended up having some delicious empanadas, the gourmet hot-pockets of Argentina, at another restaurant instead. Soho was filled with shops and bars around the Plaza Serrano where I bought my scarf and Chad had to buy a jacket.



We have lucked out with our hotel here in Buenos Aires. We got bumped to the four-star Hotel Carrson on Viamonte from the pretty run-down place we were originally booked. After we discovered that we didn´t have to change hotels on Saturday morning, we went to the Plaza de Mayo and took a tour through the Rose House. The Buenos Aires version of our White House. We spent the rest of the afternoon around the up-scale Puerto Madero district where we ate lunch and walked down the long crowded boardwalk along the nature preserve.



We met up with our group later that night. Most of them have already been traveling for months, starting on the west coast of South America. It is a mix of English, Scottish, Australians and a New Zealander. Except for another couple, Chad and I are the only Americans. We started drinking vodka shots in one of the hotel rooms before ending up at the Krakow Bar in the San Telmo district. I didn´t get to sleep until 3:45.



After sleeping in a bit on Sunday, Chad and I went to the Recoleta Cemetery where Eva Peron (Evita) is buried. Lots of impressive tombs. Then we took a train to Tigre, the delta area on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. We walked around the town and canals before finally eating at a parrilla. We were served a large sizzling tray covered in steak, chicken, sausages and some fatty piece of meat that I only tried a small piece of. (Turned out to be intestine.) We took the slower and more scenic "Tren de la Costa" on the way back into the city.



We are going to go out to dinner tonight for our last night in the city. Tomorrow morning we take a three hour ferry across the Rio de la Plata, the widest river in the world, to the town of Colonia in Uruguay.



p.s. This computer in the Internet cafe is so crappy. I have to slam the space bar every time for it to work. My thumb is getting a work out. Heh!


p.s.s. There was a crazy video presentation at the MALBA of a dancer in a white suit twirling two ropes with hunks of meat on the end as he was attacked by hungry barking dogs. Very strange performance art.


p.s.s.s. I liked the Krakow Bar in San Telmo. Cheap drinks and lots of people playing card and board games at many of the tables.

Midnight Madness Ride

Chad and I rode our second Midnight Madness Ride in Downtown San Diego last night. Chad was able to replace my bent back wheel the day before so I was ready to ride.


The night was full of mishaps but we had a fun time. It started with Chad's cat escaping from the house as we loaded our bikes. We had to track her down with flashlights before we left. Also, my bike wasn't fully fastened on the roof rack so we had to stop on the freeway to lock it back down. Then Chad realized he forgot his helmet after we arrived Downtown. Both turned out all right. My bike was only slightly bent and Chad was able to buy a new helmet before the ride.


We arrived early enough to watch the costume contest this year. I don't know how some of them can ride the full twenty miles while wearing them. On the course, I was amazed to see a guy pedaling in a giant sumo wrestling suit. It must be tough to keep balanced. Before the start, a rider was doing some cool tricks off the back of a pickup truck before the ride started.


The crowd had really built up before the ride began. At midnight, they released us in groups of 200 every couple minutes and we were in one of the last groups on the road. I haven't ridden in a while, because of my bent wheel, but I felt great and I quickly got better at weaving through the tight pack of slower riders ahead of us.


Right after we left Shelter Island out on the course, I hit a massive pothole with my rear wheel in a dark section of road and flattened my tire. My spare tube had cracks in it so we had to patch up the two holes in my flattened tube. The problem came when we tried to fill it. We quickly realized the tube in my new rear wheel had the old-style Schraeder stem that doesn't work with the small emergency pumps on our bikes. Luckily, a mobile bike tech from REI came along with a regular bike pump and we were able to re-fill my tire.


A quarter of the way down Rosecrans, my tire flattened again. I walked the short distance to the am/pm on the corner and sat in the grass. I was done for the night and I had only completed the first 12 miles. I sent a text message to Chad who was a little bit up the road to pick me up with the car after he reached the finish. I enjoyed watching all the riders go by, but I didn't have to wait long. Two race volunteers picking up the race signs, gave me a ride to the finish area.


The first time I rode in this race, we finished near the front of the pack. This time I came in at the end on the "broom truck". Heh!

80's Prom Pub Crawl

I had a blast at the 80's Prom Pub Crawl last night, riding a crowded limo bus to six bars all over San Diego. Earlier in the week, Chad and I went to Flashbacks with Anna to get the appropriate 80's outfits. Chad got a cool mullet wig as well.



We started out at the bar in the Del Mar Plaza with a few drinks as everyone arrived. There was a great mix of 80's clothes, including old prom outfits pulled back out of the closet. I had never been in a limo bus before. Long rows of leather seats lined both sides with a stripper pole in the back. The bus was boiling hot in the beginning, but the A/C began to kick in as the journey began.



After a champagne toast on the bus, we arrived at Jack's in La Jolla. We were all given ballots to vote for 80's Prom King, Queen, Princess, Princess, Duke, Duchess & Best Dressed. I made a concerted effort to campaign for Duke, offering bribes, some vote-trading and demonstrating my dance moves to win votes. I think I had it wrapped up by the time we left. There was a lot of cool cow statues out on the street. Street art is even better appreciated with a buzz.



Our next stop was Tower 23 in Pacific Beach. It is right next to the beach and we arrived as the sun was setting. Very nice. I was having a beer and a shot of tequila at each stop and this is where the drinks really started to kick in. I think it was the same for others as well.



On the ride down to Jbar in Downtown San Diego, the winners were announced. I won Duke so all my campaigning had paid off. The Prom Royal Court had our pictures taken together over by the pool on the rooftop bar. It got crazy and was real fun.



Universal in Hillcrest was pretty empty when we arrived, but it was no problem for our large group. More room on the dance floor for us. I was really wasted at this point so it was a bit of a blur. The Pub Crawl had started out calm but got crazier and crazier as the night went on. Driving away, the bus was really rocking, everyone dancing and singing along to the loud 80's music.



Our last stop for the night was Whiskey Girl back in Downtown San Diego. Of all the bars we visited, this is the only one I had been to before. We ended up downstairs in the Karaoke room. After 8 hours of drinking, I started to run out of gas a bit. Chad, Anna & I left at 12:30am after a great night. Today, I am suffering from a mean hangover, but it was worth it.

Beautiful Day in Encinitas

I am so lucky to be living here in Encinitas. It is a beautiful day in Southern California.


Today started with a delicious breakfast after the neighborhood meeting down at Le Papagayo Restaurant. My sister-in-law works there and the restaurant is trying to get its alcohol and live music permit extended to the new dining room in the back. Everyone seemed very positive about it.


For my trip this fall, I also got my passport photo taken today for the Brazilian Visa Application. (Can't wait!) I took these pictures over at D Street while I was walking around Downtown Encinitas waiting for my Jeep Wrangler to pass its Smog Test. (It passed!) I am definitely going down to the beach tomorrow to surf and throw the Frisbee.


Now, I am off with my best friend to see the band, Skanic, down at Fiesta del Sol in Solana Beach. The last time I saw them play was in Mexico at Cactus Stock. That was a great trip.


UPDATE: It was good to hear the band again. On the drive back home, I took a picture of my favorite stretch of Coast Highway 101 as the sun was setting. The Pacific Ocean to the West and the San Elijo Lagoon to the East with the cliffs above Swami's in the distance.

Emery the Skater

My nephew, Emery, who just turned two is obsessed with skateboarding. He always wants to copy Justin, my youngest brother.

When I saw him skating with Justin in the driveway, I just had to take these pictures.

All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth

Well, it's finally time to pay for getting my two front teeth knocked out in a car accident back when I was 19. I was driving my first car, a 1971 Buick Apollo, to work on El Camino Real in Encinitas. People used to park the used cars they wanted to sell on a long stretch of the road. I had distracted myself by checking them out and didn't notice the red light. I saw the mini-van in front of me too late as I slammed on the brakes and everything went black.

My ancient car had only a lap-belt so I smacked the steering wheel with my face. I woke up with one of my front teeth sitting on my tongue. All I remember is a nice lady stroking my hair as I lay groaning across the front seat. The firemen found my other tooth between the seat cushions before I left in the ambulance to the Emergency Room. An oral surgeon was able to put my teeth back into my mouth, held in place with metal braces until they healed. He said they should last about thirty years before they need to be replaced. Now, my dentist is recommending I replace them with dental implants after a little less than twenty years. I am pretty nervous.

Update: 6/19/09

I am sitting here on a Friday without my two front teeth. It was pretty brutal getting them removed yesterday, but the pain is not too bad. I haven't needed to take any of the Vicodin I was prescribed which is a good sign. I have the rest of the weekend to heal up before going to work on Monday. Now I just have to hope I heal properly so I can get the dental implants in five months to replace my front teeth.


Update: 7/6/09

I had my three week check-up today. The oral surgeon says the bone graft is healing well so far. Except for an annoying sore throat that was bothering me for two weeks, I haven't had much pain.

Update: 7/27/09

I had most of my stitches removed today. Not too fun, but the doctor says everything is healing very nicely. I am starting to get used to my new look when I am not wearing the Invisalign. I feel like a Hockey player.


Update: 8/17/09

My last check-up before my trip to South America next month. My doctor says he is very happy on how everything looks. This makes me very happy as well.

Update: 10/6/09

I just finished my trip for three weeks in South America. I had been worried about having to deal with my missing front teeth on this trip, but it was pretty hassle free.

Update: 11/1/09

I took advantage of my look by dressing up as a hockey player for Halloween. It was very fun.



Update: 12/18/09

After healing for six months, I had a CT Scan today. It is a detailed 30 second X-ray that the doctor will use to create a study of my upper jaw for the implants. I am now at the half-way point of this whole procedure.

Update: 1/27/10

Today, I went into my dentist to have an impression made of the gap in my upper teeth. The oral surgeon called yesterday to tell me that he has finished the implant study of my CT Scan. I am relieved that the graft has healed correctly with enough bone to place the implants and he can now order them from Belgium. Computer-guided robots create the stents that he will use to accurately guide the drilling location.

Update: 3/9/10

I had the titanium implants inserted under my gums today and the doctor said it went perfectly. I am sore right now, but the procedure was not as long as the first. He also grafted a little more bone on the front for extra stability of the implants. Now, I just need to heal up for about six months before he attaches the abutments.

Update: 4/29/10

My third checkup was good. I had a mild infection after the surgery so my doctor kept me on antibiotics for an extra three weeks to be safe, but now everything is healing nicely.

Update: 9/16/10

So close to the end. Today I had my last operation with my oral surgeon to place the healing abutments onto my implants. It was the quickest of the three operations (thirty minutes) and I didn't even need stitches afterwards. I now have two shiny metal bits sticking out through my gums. After the gum tissue has fully healed in a month, my dentist will take over to replace the healing abutments with permanent ones and attach the crowns. I will have my new teeth a week before Thanksgiving.

Update: 10/19/10

I'm finally completed healed. Today, my dentist took the final impression so he can order the titanium abutments and computer-designed crowns. One more month to go.

Updated: 11/2/10

I no longer have to wear the Invisalign tray on my upper teeth anymore. After attaching the new gold-plated abutments which made me look like a blinged-out vampire, my dentist crafted some temporaries for my front teeth. I can now smile and eat like normal human being. The temps will be replaced by the final crowns in two weeks.

Updated: 11/30/10

I have finally arrived at the end of my journey this morning when my dentist put on my permanent crowns. I am so happy. Perfect holiday timing considering how I titled this post eighteen months ago. I ended up wearing the temps for almost a full month since the final crowns weren't completed by the lab in time. The temps looked good but they didn't feel natural against my tongue like these custom designed crowns do.

Tour of California - Palomar Mountain

Why do I torture myself? I had no plans to bike up Palomar Mountain at the beginning of the day, but I ended up near the top with no water while riding a bike with a bent back wheel that rubbed against the brake. The Tour of California was coming to San Diego for the first time on Sunday and Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour of France Champion, was back from retirement. I couldn't miss it.


The Tour was going to climb up Palomar Mountain in the final stage of the week-long race. This was a "Beyond Category" climb and mountains are the best place to watch the racing action because the riders are split up and moving slowly as they try to reach the top. I have watched all of Lance Armstrong's races in the Tour of France on TV and this was my first chance to see him race in person. I got up early and parked on the race route about a half mile from the base of Palomar Mountain before they closed the roads.


I had over five hours to kill until the racers passed so I decided to ride up to the base of Palomar Mountain to check things out. I joined the constant stream of bicyclists who were heading up the road to get a good viewing spot. I didn't think I was going far so I left my two bottles of water in my Jeep. I ended up going higher and higher as I kept saying to myself, "Just one more switchback." The spectators on the side of the road cheering and ringing cowbells helped keep me motivated, but I had to stop several times to rest. It's been over two years since I've been on a bike ride.


After I passed 4,000 feet, I was really hurting. I was fighting dizziness and was really thirsty. A biker who asked me to take his photo shared some of his water with me and I was really grateful. I finally found a good corner to stop at with not too many people a few more turns up the road. It had a great view of San Diego County. I could see Downtown San Diego, Point Loma and the Coronado Islands in the distance to the south and the Encino Power Plant in Carlsbad to the west. As it neared 2pm, we started to hear the helicopters and spotted the peloton down in the valley. The police began to clear the road of bicyclists and we followed the progress of the racers on the visible sections of road below us.


Luckily, I think I ended up at a perfect spot on the mountain to watch the race. Jens Voigt, 4th place in the overall race standings, attacked the peloton half way up the mountain. This caused Levi Leipheimer who was wearing the 1st Place Yellow Jersey to chase after him with the riders who were in 2nd and 3rd place, Dave Zabriskie and Michael Rogers. They caught Jens before the top, but they passed my spot on the mountain in small separate groups. I went to the inside corner of my turn and got several great pictures of the racers, including Armstrong, passing right beside me.


I was very sore but I am glad I made the climb up. It made me appreciate the talent of the competitors as they raced up the 21 switchbacks of South Grade Road at an unbelievable pace. The last big group to go by was the Gruppetto. It is mostly filled with the fast sprinters who don't climb very well and help pace each other over these big mountains. I spotted the best sprinter in the world, Mark Cavendish, wearing the Green Sprinter's Jersey at the back of this group.


After the last rider, Fast Freddy Rodriguez who is a good sprinter but lousy climber, passed us I was able to descend the mountain. It was a little scary with my bent back wheel wobbling like crazy. I joined the big crowd at the bottom to watch the racers zoom past at high speed as the headed to the last climb on Cole Grade Road.


I spent over an hour in bumper-to-bumper traffic driving back to the I-15, but it was worth it. I taped the race, so I was able to find out that Frank Schleck from Luxembourg won the 8th Stage after I got home. I also saw myself on television when Levi Leipheimer, the overall winner, passed by me as he was climbing Palomar. Pretty cool! Levi's team, Astana, with Lance Armstrong won the race's Team Competition.

Pepper at the Belly Up

Last night was great. Not only did I watch the San Diego Chargers beat the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the NFL Playoffs, but I saw some good bands at the Belly Up in Solana Beach with Joe, Suzie, Abby & Aaron.


Passafire was the first band but we missed most of their set because the Charger game went into overtime. I really liked their sound, too bad they weren't the second band up. Afterwards, I wished I had gotten one of their CDs while I was still inside. I guess I will just have to look for them on the Internet.


The second band, Supervillians, was good but they almost blew out my eardrums a few times. With the saxophone and trumpet, they could get really, really loud. The lead singer was the drummer, something I have rarely seen. It seems like it would be so hard to sing while keeping the beat.


The crowd really got crazy when Pepper came on. There was a great atmosphere but the security was tough, yanking out anyone who tried to light up a joint. We ended up back at Joe & Suzie's place eating cupcakes and pizza while playing Jenga. Good times, good times.

Sensory Overload - Part II

After taking years off from writing my book, Sensory Overload, I am back up on the horse. I finally finished writing my first new chapter in a while, Chapter 8.

I remember hitting the wall because I had come to a cross-roads in my story and I didn't know which direction to take. Just thinking about it caused me frustration and sapped my enthusiasm to write. I felt like I would just have to wait for the inspiration to hit again. It lasted much longer than I thought, but the breakthrough finally came on a long drive up to my Grandmother's house for Easter. I tried to zone out the bumper-to-bumper traffic while listening to some music on the radio and a cool idea for my story popped into my head. Plot points just started to fall into place like magic and I found myself mapping out chapter after chapter in my brain and I even figured out how I wanted to end it.

Near the end of the drive, I had to pull into a 7-Eleven to buy a small notepad and quickly write all my thoughts down before they vanished back into the ether. That was a great drive.

Now, on to Chapter 9.

UPDATE: 2/14/09

I finished Chapter 9. My New Year's Resolution is to finish Chapter 13 by the end of the year. My book will then be half finished.

UPDATE: 4/9/09

I have finished Chapter 10. While writing this chapter, I had an inspiration on how to wrap up Part III of my book. I now have to decide if I want to end the book at that point or continue with my original plan to finish it with Part IV. An expanded version of the storyline in Part IV might make a good sequel.

UPDATE: 5/9/09

I have finished writing Chapter 11. I am ahead of schedule so far on my New Year's Resolution to write five chapters this year. I am going to spend the last three weeks of May editing the three chapters I've written so far, before starting to write the last two in June.

UPDATE: 8/2/09

Chapter 13 is finished. I know I skipped Chapter 12, but it's okay. My chapters are currently alternating between two main characters and I was feeling inspired to continue with the same one after Chapter 11. The good news is I figured out how I wanted to write Chapter 12 as I wrapped up this one.

I like the pace I am currently writing at, around two months per chapter. Fast enough to keep the storyline fresh in my head, but slow enough to think carefully about the upcoming plot.

This week, I also finished a rough chapter outline for my story arc in Parts III & IV. I have expanded my original plan for Part III to spread it out over III & IV. I realized that I was trying to cram too much story into too few chapters. Now my original idea for Part IV will definitely be pushed into a second book.

UPDATE: 11/10/09

I am back to writing after taking a break for my trip to South America. Walking through the hillside favela in Rio de Janeiro really inspired me to go back and rewrite two of my recent chapters. I have just completed making the edits to Chapter 10 and half-written Chapter 12. Now I have a month and a half to finish writing Chapter 12 and complete my New Year's Resolution. I will finish.

UPDATE: 12/12/09

I have finished writing Chapter 12 with two weeks to spare in 2009 and Part II is complete. My book is now 273 pages long at the half-way point. Since there was more than a five year gap between writing Parts I & II, I will spend several months editing both to make sure they are consistent with each other and the story flows.

Hopefully it won't take too long before I start writing Part III. I already have pages filled with notes about new chapters and I am eager to write them.

UPDATE: 1/2/10

I saw James Cameron's Avatar for the second time today. I really love it but I'm worried that people will think I stole some of it's ideas for my book even though the plots are radically different. My main character's name is Jâk, pronounced just like Jake from the movie. That is not so bad by itself, except that Jâk also has blue skin and is a former soldier who was discharged because of a combat injury. At least their injuries are different, Jake has paralyzed legs while my Jâk suffered brain damage.

The last item is only vaguely comparable. While Jake links up to an alien avatar body, Jâk uses a link to control computers and other machines over a network. I came up with all these ideas back when I started writing my story in 1996. It's funny because it probably won't matter at all. How many will end up reading my book to spot these details when it is finished anyway?

UPDATE: 3/6/10

I have spent the first couple months of 2010 working on fixing my grammar in Parts I & II. Using Find in my word processor to get rid of bad words like suddenly, completely or entirely, and changing my passive verbs to active. I have just finished going through and removing all the prepositional phrases that state the obvious or adverbs that intensify instead of modify. It's very time consuming. It is amazing how many little typos I find searching through my book in this way. I tend to miss them when I am reading the story straight through.

I have now started the part of editing that I love, re-reading the chapters and adding deeper layers to my story. Fixing dialogue and adding details. When I write my first draft, I am more concerned with pushing the plot forward and I use generic details and dialogue as placeholders. I have already found in my grammar search six scenes that need to be re-written based on how the story has developed in the later chapters.

I am planning on editing a chapter a week so I can get back to writing new ones before the end of summer. I have not stopped planning the future chapters and I have been making notes of all the ideas that keep jumping into my head when I am in the shower or driving to work.

Update: 5/8/10

I have finished editing 11 chapters so far with a few more to go before I can start writing new material. I think I have been making a lot of improvements.

While I enjoy writing, I am not very prolific. It takes me about an hour to write 1 page of rough draft and I get burnt out if I write more than 2 a week. When I am doing a thorough edit of a chapter (around 15 pages), it takes me about 10 hours to check every single line. I can easily spend an hour just tinkering with a couple paragraphs.

A quick chapter edit, where I read fast to test the flow of the story, takes about an hour. I haven't done the math but the amount of time I have spent on these first 14 chapters must be huge. I did about 20 drafts of Part I back when I was stuck on the future storyline.

Update: 7/19/10

I have finally finished editing all 14 chapters and I'm ready to start writing new material. I made some major changes in the prologue and had to follow the ripples it created through the rest of the novel. My biggest rewrite was creating a whole new version of Chapter 6. Russ had been reading some of my chapters and has given some great notes that I incorporated in Chapters 4 and 5.

I have also been working on the outline for my second book during the past month. For years, I've had the idea to write a travel adventure story, a fictionalized version of my international trips. I've finally figured out the basic plot and I have been writing down the timeline and locations.