City vacation
As much as I love beach holidays, sometimes city vacations are great. I love exploring new cities, the trendy areas, the cool streets, the sights and smells and FEEL of the place, the restaurants - oh the restaurants! - the coffee shops, and all the little nooks and nuances in between. Brilliant.
Vegas was... Vegas. I'm still not a fan, but it was fun to hang out with my brother and cousin. Maclean was all aggro for the first day or so because we were staying at Taron's which wasn't close enough to the Strip for him, but we made it down to the Strip lots and he got over it. He was relatively well behaved, although when he ordered a gin and tonic on the flight into Vegas I had my worries, but I held my tongue and let him buy myself and Jade a drink as well. I tried to let Mike dictate what we did in Vegas, since it was his first time there. He really wanted to play poker but ended up not playing, which was silly on his part since we set aside an afternoon specifically for him to poker it up. Oh well. Except now he wants to go back..... We gambled some, met up with Jacob, Tara and Zee and all played games at Circus Circus (super fun), wandered the casinos and the Strip and the beautiful hallways connecting them all. We partied a little and never went to bed before 3am, and all in all it was a good trip. Mike had a few too many drinks a few too many times, and got rather emotional and kind of aggressive, but I took it in stride and managed to ward it all off before things got out of hand. Good times. But chilly. Vegas chilly? I know. It was 32C the week before, but then rained the first two days we were there and was rather cold the rest of the time. Oh well.
One morning we went out to the gun range with Tar and shot a bunch of his guns. Crazy boy. But it was fun, handguns and long range rifles, I was a crack shot with one of the big guns which was pretty cool.
Then came San Francisco. Taron was supposed to come but couldn't, so it was Jade, Mike and myself. We spent enough time together in Asia and Auz that it wasn't a big deal. Our hotel was old but nice (although I'm pretty sure they seriously overcharged us..). It rained the first day, which kind of sucked as we all got soaked and cold and miserable, but we wandered through a mall (I really need new clothes but I seriously hate shopping) and then decided to check out the SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art). There were some cool exhibits, and it was extra interesting since Jade and I are taking an art class. There was a small Salvador Dali piece that was pretty cool, he'd glued sand and tiny seashells to the canvas. There were a couple of Picasso's and a Frieda Kahlo and a few other famous artists work. I may not be a huge fan of all their art, but it's amazing to look at it up close, to see the paint and the brush strokes and wonder where they were at...
I've been having a pretty serious urge to move to Europe or some romantic destination and just become a total bohemian. Live and paint in a big open studio/apartment, dress in eclectic, flowing layers, sip espresso in the morning and red wine at night, nibble tiny tapas meals, have intense conversations with all the other seriously bohemian bohemians.... Lol!
Jade and I also saw a sign for an art gallery that announced a showing of Dali, so we went and checked it out. His work is so interesting. Of course his big famous paintings are incredible, but some of his smaller lesser known work is just as interesting, but so very different. I was surprised to discover that he uses a lot of mixed media, attaching cut out magazine pictures, rhinestones, shells and more to the canvas. His painting varied from detailed to wide swaths of seemingly random colour. His drawing is incredible, sometimes abstract but sometimes so accurate and detailed, yet whimsical. Amazing, seriously amazing. We missed our art class this week, but learned a lot by viewing art close up. I even emailed our teacher to tell her about it! :-D
The rain cleared up and the next two days in SF were dazzlingly brilliant, sunny, warm, gorgeous, so charming that I absolutely wasn't ready to leave. We took a tour out through the giant redwood forest of Muir Woods. Gorgeous. I love forests, nature, the smell of leaves, the energy of things so vibrantly alive. Had lunch in a tiny town called Sausalito, which doesn't get all the fog that SF gets, just sunny and cute, although super touristy - like Banff. But I had some clam chowder (it's everywhere in the Bay area) and an avocado and brie sandwich. There's avocado on practically everything down there! Even in mid October there's so much fresh produce, and such variety, I'm jealous.
Then we ferried across to Alcatraz. Super interesting. I'm pretty happy to not be in jail...... An obvious understatement, but it's mind blowing how many people, not that different from myself, end up on the streets, addicted to drugs, in jail and with such radically different lives from myself and everyone I know.
We rode the cable cars up and down the hilly streets. Wandered through the shops and sea lions at the Wharf. Shopped the crap out of Haight & Ashbury. Ate delicious Caribbean food and sangria at Cha Cha Cha, started our trip with fresh oysters and fish 'n chips on the pier, then ended our trip with a fancy seafood dinner overlooking the water. Food. Mmmm..
Tuesday night we went for dinner with our cousin Kristi. She's 10 years older than I am so we never really grew up with her. I've met her at family reunions and recognized her when we met up, but it's strange to have first cousins that you don't have much connection to. My mom got excited when we first told her we were going to San Fran, saying we had a cousin there. Dad got in touch with her and she was eager and accommodating about meeting up, she picked us up at the airport and then suggested dinner later in the week. It was great chatting with her, learning a little more about her, and about our mutual family. She took us to her favourite Italian restaurant and it was sooooooooo delicious! I ate until I was too full to move, and then proceeded to clean my plate anyway. We walked from our hotel to the restaurant and back again, which was awesome. I love walking, especially when it's nice out, and down interesting streets, plus it gave us a chance to talk more.
Kristi is 43, lives alone (with her 2 dogs), never married and has no children, and I desperately wanted to ask her about all of that, but I didn't. I didn't want to be offensive, although she asked Jade if she had a boyfriend and seemed pretty open about everything. I guess I need to get over myself sometime and just ask what's on my mind.
And of course, the main reason for the trip was INCUBUS!!!!! We saw them in concert Saturday night in Vegas and then again Sunday night just outside of San Francisco (with Young The Giant, who were aaaaaaaaaawesome). They're so fantastically amazing live, love love love them!! It was a mellower concert than they usually put on, mostly because their new album is pretty chilled out, but they rocked it up too. Such great songs, such talented musicians, and Brandon Boyd is just so fetching HOT.
Speaking of Brandon, after their concert in Vegas Ben Kenney, the bass player, played an acoustic set of his own music in this little lounge bar also at the Hard Rock, so of course we went. He was good. The rest of the Incubus boys were there, although behind a roped off VIP section. Mike saw them first and practically dragged me over to see Brandon. I didn't want to be an annoying fan, bothering him while he was trying to enjoy his friend's music. So I hung out for a bit and just kind of marveled at being only a few feet away from him. Eeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!! He started getting hit up for photos and stuff a lot so he moved back away from the rope barricade, and I went back to Taron and Jade. Then Jade pulled out the book of Brandon's art that I'd purchased and was all, "You should get him to sign it." Hells yeah. Normally I'm not an autograph person, but having Brandon sign his book of art.... It would have been amazing. I went back over with my book, but unfortunately I couldn't get close enough to get his attention, and then he left. *sigh* So close, and yet so far. But it was still cool seeing him.
He's stunningly beautiful, has a gorgeous voice, is a compelling and interesting lyricist, and is an absolutely incredible artist. It's totally unfair that one person should have so much talent and wit and beauty all to themselves.
All in all it was a good trip. No major meltdowns, catastrophes or upheavals. Nothing mind-blowing happened either, but that's alright. Now we're back to impending winter in Calgary. *pouty face* Although it felt good walking into our clean, large, comfortable, welcoming home. I love it here at least, and that's something.
Vegas was... Vegas. I'm still not a fan, but it was fun to hang out with my brother and cousin. Maclean was all aggro for the first day or so because we were staying at Taron's which wasn't close enough to the Strip for him, but we made it down to the Strip lots and he got over it. He was relatively well behaved, although when he ordered a gin and tonic on the flight into Vegas I had my worries, but I held my tongue and let him buy myself and Jade a drink as well. I tried to let Mike dictate what we did in Vegas, since it was his first time there. He really wanted to play poker but ended up not playing, which was silly on his part since we set aside an afternoon specifically for him to poker it up. Oh well. Except now he wants to go back..... We gambled some, met up with Jacob, Tara and Zee and all played games at Circus Circus (super fun), wandered the casinos and the Strip and the beautiful hallways connecting them all. We partied a little and never went to bed before 3am, and all in all it was a good trip. Mike had a few too many drinks a few too many times, and got rather emotional and kind of aggressive, but I took it in stride and managed to ward it all off before things got out of hand. Good times. But chilly. Vegas chilly? I know. It was 32C the week before, but then rained the first two days we were there and was rather cold the rest of the time. Oh well.
One morning we went out to the gun range with Tar and shot a bunch of his guns. Crazy boy. But it was fun, handguns and long range rifles, I was a crack shot with one of the big guns which was pretty cool.
Then came San Francisco. Taron was supposed to come but couldn't, so it was Jade, Mike and myself. We spent enough time together in Asia and Auz that it wasn't a big deal. Our hotel was old but nice (although I'm pretty sure they seriously overcharged us..). It rained the first day, which kind of sucked as we all got soaked and cold and miserable, but we wandered through a mall (I really need new clothes but I seriously hate shopping) and then decided to check out the SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art). There were some cool exhibits, and it was extra interesting since Jade and I are taking an art class. There was a small Salvador Dali piece that was pretty cool, he'd glued sand and tiny seashells to the canvas. There were a couple of Picasso's and a Frieda Kahlo and a few other famous artists work. I may not be a huge fan of all their art, but it's amazing to look at it up close, to see the paint and the brush strokes and wonder where they were at...
I've been having a pretty serious urge to move to Europe or some romantic destination and just become a total bohemian. Live and paint in a big open studio/apartment, dress in eclectic, flowing layers, sip espresso in the morning and red wine at night, nibble tiny tapas meals, have intense conversations with all the other seriously bohemian bohemians.... Lol!
Jade and I also saw a sign for an art gallery that announced a showing of Dali, so we went and checked it out. His work is so interesting. Of course his big famous paintings are incredible, but some of his smaller lesser known work is just as interesting, but so very different. I was surprised to discover that he uses a lot of mixed media, attaching cut out magazine pictures, rhinestones, shells and more to the canvas. His painting varied from detailed to wide swaths of seemingly random colour. His drawing is incredible, sometimes abstract but sometimes so accurate and detailed, yet whimsical. Amazing, seriously amazing. We missed our art class this week, but learned a lot by viewing art close up. I even emailed our teacher to tell her about it! :-D
The rain cleared up and the next two days in SF were dazzlingly brilliant, sunny, warm, gorgeous, so charming that I absolutely wasn't ready to leave. We took a tour out through the giant redwood forest of Muir Woods. Gorgeous. I love forests, nature, the smell of leaves, the energy of things so vibrantly alive. Had lunch in a tiny town called Sausalito, which doesn't get all the fog that SF gets, just sunny and cute, although super touristy - like Banff. But I had some clam chowder (it's everywhere in the Bay area) and an avocado and brie sandwich. There's avocado on practically everything down there! Even in mid October there's so much fresh produce, and such variety, I'm jealous.
Then we ferried across to Alcatraz. Super interesting. I'm pretty happy to not be in jail...... An obvious understatement, but it's mind blowing how many people, not that different from myself, end up on the streets, addicted to drugs, in jail and with such radically different lives from myself and everyone I know.
We rode the cable cars up and down the hilly streets. Wandered through the shops and sea lions at the Wharf. Shopped the crap out of Haight & Ashbury. Ate delicious Caribbean food and sangria at Cha Cha Cha, started our trip with fresh oysters and fish 'n chips on the pier, then ended our trip with a fancy seafood dinner overlooking the water. Food. Mmmm..
Tuesday night we went for dinner with our cousin Kristi. She's 10 years older than I am so we never really grew up with her. I've met her at family reunions and recognized her when we met up, but it's strange to have first cousins that you don't have much connection to. My mom got excited when we first told her we were going to San Fran, saying we had a cousin there. Dad got in touch with her and she was eager and accommodating about meeting up, she picked us up at the airport and then suggested dinner later in the week. It was great chatting with her, learning a little more about her, and about our mutual family. She took us to her favourite Italian restaurant and it was sooooooooo delicious! I ate until I was too full to move, and then proceeded to clean my plate anyway. We walked from our hotel to the restaurant and back again, which was awesome. I love walking, especially when it's nice out, and down interesting streets, plus it gave us a chance to talk more.
Kristi is 43, lives alone (with her 2 dogs), never married and has no children, and I desperately wanted to ask her about all of that, but I didn't. I didn't want to be offensive, although she asked Jade if she had a boyfriend and seemed pretty open about everything. I guess I need to get over myself sometime and just ask what's on my mind.
And of course, the main reason for the trip was INCUBUS!!!!! We saw them in concert Saturday night in Vegas and then again Sunday night just outside of San Francisco (with Young The Giant, who were aaaaaaaaaawesome). They're so fantastically amazing live, love love love them!! It was a mellower concert than they usually put on, mostly because their new album is pretty chilled out, but they rocked it up too. Such great songs, such talented musicians, and Brandon Boyd is just so fetching HOT.
Speaking of Brandon, after their concert in Vegas Ben Kenney, the bass player, played an acoustic set of his own music in this little lounge bar also at the Hard Rock, so of course we went. He was good. The rest of the Incubus boys were there, although behind a roped off VIP section. Mike saw them first and practically dragged me over to see Brandon. I didn't want to be an annoying fan, bothering him while he was trying to enjoy his friend's music. So I hung out for a bit and just kind of marveled at being only a few feet away from him. Eeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!! He started getting hit up for photos and stuff a lot so he moved back away from the rope barricade, and I went back to Taron and Jade. Then Jade pulled out the book of Brandon's art that I'd purchased and was all, "You should get him to sign it." Hells yeah. Normally I'm not an autograph person, but having Brandon sign his book of art.... It would have been amazing. I went back over with my book, but unfortunately I couldn't get close enough to get his attention, and then he left. *sigh* So close, and yet so far. But it was still cool seeing him.
He's stunningly beautiful, has a gorgeous voice, is a compelling and interesting lyricist, and is an absolutely incredible artist. It's totally unfair that one person should have so much talent and wit and beauty all to themselves.
All in all it was a good trip. No major meltdowns, catastrophes or upheavals. Nothing mind-blowing happened either, but that's alright. Now we're back to impending winter in Calgary. *pouty face* Although it felt good walking into our clean, large, comfortable, welcoming home. I love it here at least, and that's something.