Sunday, October 21, 2007

I visited San Diego, California, sometime back in the 80's. San Diego is located by the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, the second largest city in California and the eighth largest city in the United States. It is a pleasant city with access to some beautiful beaches, the largest of which is Mission Beach. It has a pleasant, mild and sunny weather throughout the year with average monthly temperatures of about 14°C in January to 22°C in July.

San Diego is very near the Mexican border with the United States sharing a border with Mexico at Tijuana, just approximately 16 miles or 25 kilometers south of San Diego. Americans and tourists go to Tijuana to buy prescription drugs, fake brand-name clothing and accessories plus for entertainment. There are many night clubs at Tijuana. I went there, but didn't buy anything.

San Diego Mission Beach Southern CaliforniaThe residents of neighbouring states of Arizona and Nevada flock to San Diego in the Summer when temperatures reaches into the 100s. They would seek San Diego Beach Rentals for their sojourn there. Mission Beach Rentals are popular with the beach lovers. Mission Beach is a stretch of sandbar along the Pacific Ocean east of San Diego. There are many well-known bars in Mission Beach which are relaxed, beach-style gathering places for residents as well as visitors. The more popular one are The Sandbar Sports Grill, The Beachcomber and The Pennant.

If you are going to San Diego with a large of extended family, a great option would be Togethering, vacations with extended families. You can get accommodation for groups of approximately 12 to 27 people. You can then spend a relaxing time with the uncles and aunties or nephews and nieces, etc.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

So, I've always wondered about everyone's first time smoking marijuana. If you've smoked and/or still smoke marijuana, how did you finally pop your cherry?
  1. Where did you get it from?
  2. Who introduced you to it?
  3. Did the marijuana have a name?
  4. How did you smoke it - joint, blunt, pipe, bong, or other?
  5. Who rolled/packed it?
  6. How did you handle your first hit?
  7. Do you remember the kind of high it was - heady hallucinogenic high or a couch lock body stone?
  8. Did you get munchies? What did you eat if you got the munchies?
Important. Don't answer the questions line by line. That's BOOOORING. Answer them in story format. I'll go first.

I'll have to say that I had three first times. The first first time was back in high school when I was around 14. If any FDA folks remember, Darron aka Ratboy introduced me to it. But, it was both our first times. Supposedly some kid in the school sold it to him. Anyway, after school one day, we go around my way which was 155th Riverside Drive. We went to the underside of it which was the ramp to the Westside Highway by the water.

Side Story: Now, the reason we even did it in the first place was because when I went to go get condoms, I asked for Easy Riders. The dude gave me "e-z wider" which are rolling papers if you don't know. I was too embarrassed to ask for what I really wanted and I took the papers and left.

Anyway, we're sitting on the rocks and he pulls out this little nickle bag of green shit. We break up the bud to put in the e-z wider. Damn it all to hell if the wind aint pick up and we lose about a third of the stash. Still enough for a joint which I ended up rolling. We puffed on that shit and got NOTHING out of it. Not a damn thing whatsoever.

Note: This was also the time I found out I was violently allergic to common cigarette smoke. It's gotten better over time to where I could tolerate it. But, there was a time where I'd get really sick. I blame this on Corey R. (yeah you but not all you) for using my furry ass face to get cigarettes and cigars. We tried that shit and I think we learned our lesson. Smoking cigarettes is horrible!

The second first time was about two years later. This is after Darron had left school but we still hung out and shit fromt time to time. All I remember was them, Darron and L, picking me up after school and hanging out in St Nick projects. They already smoked before they came. Now they smoking some more. Peer pressure with a generous shot of unfulfilled curiosity got the better of me. So, we go see Quatesha (few grades below me). We hung out in the stairwell to smoke some before we came over. This is where I made the biggest mistake of my days. I was smoking and it was getting me buzzed but not high at all. I took this deeeeeeeeep puff and ended up coughing like a maniac and then throwing up in the stairwell. Needless to say, I got harassed for that shit and I deserved it. Word travels quite incredibly in one night. I get to school the next day and everyone is coughing and making fun of me.

My third first time, the REAL first time, I was 23. Already out of college working some shitty ass job on 40th & Lexington Ave. I went to hang out with my good friend Felix I. Now, college became my sort of "fuck the bullshit, I ain't here to play" mindset. I had sworn off girls and I definitely wasn't doing any drugs. But now, I am out. This only meant I'd waste a few minutes on women. It had nothing to do with drugs.

So, I am sitting on this couch as I've done plenty of times in the past. And many times in the past, Felix has offered me some smoke. I had no problem around it. But, I wouldn't smoke it. Nothing could move me. ROCK! I felt like a lot of people felt. It's not for me. Smokers are successful. They're brainless. They're ignorant. But, I see my boy is doing well for himself and he doesn't fit those bad boy stereotypes at all. Dude's a fuckin nerd to be honest! LOL.

Anyway, The first time Felix does NOT ask me to smoke, out of constant rejection, I tell him to pass that shit. He's all surprised. Felix passes me the blunt and I get my first real "I want to get fucked up!" smoke! I didn't know what I was smoking. All I knew was that it got me HIIIIGH as all hell. We got hungry and got to ordering food and shit. Since then, it's been no looking back, eyes on the prize, full steam ahead.

This is where my story ends!

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

I am old enough to have memories of weddings of long ago. The family will just get a relative or friend who has a camera and some skills to help. Today's generation is different. They have different expectations for their (hopefully) once a lifetime event. They want something more professional. I know because I have married off 2 daughters, and both of them engaged professional photographers. I have to admit that they did a much better job at what used to pass off as wedding photographs. Not only did they produced beautiful photographs to keep memories alive, the professional photographers even produced impressive slide shows for the wedding receptions. Reluctant to admit it, but it was much better than the weddings of the past. Was nice to see myself on the screen at the wedding reception too, as the brides' father.

But how do you go about getting a professional photographer for your wedding? Some get them by word of mouth. With the ubiquitous Internet, you can now search for the perfect wedding photographer for your wedding. One way is to go to find wedding photographers. There you will find all the states of the United States of America listed. If you are looking for wedding photographers in California, go to California wedding photographers. Happened to be in Texas? There is Texas wedding photographers.

If you happen to be a professional photographer, there is a provision for you to list on that site. Unfortunately, when you click "Add listing", at the time of publishing, I got a message "Details soon....". Perhaps by the time you read this post, they will have the details up. Clicking on "Contact" produced the same "Details soon...." message. I am no professional photographer, so you may ask why I am so interested. The reason is I have a friend who is a professional photographer who do wedding photographs, and she is a member of WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International). See Mana Photo Graphics for your wedding photos, I would like to let her know about this site. Perhaps I will try again later.