Someone didn't give me the memo...

I'm sitting in a bar in big bear, ca listening to 80s music... Its our 3rd bar of the evening (I know what you're thinking, how crackin' can a bar in big bear be?) And its the busiest one. I'm ready to call it a night and drive to San Jose early in the am, but we've walked into a time warp of sort where 10 of the 20 people partying in this bar are dressed in 80s outfits.. One big girl has a head band around her ponytail on the side of her head, with a cut off the shoulder shirt. The dance floor has about 2 people on it at any given moment, and right now its a guy with tight, knee length jean shorts, a blazer, and a white tie. And white socks in loafers. Yes, loafers.

I sit here amused as I watch jeremy may play beer pong and dance to poison by BBD.. (That's bell biv devoe for those of you too young to remember)... The music moves me and I get up and start to dance at the table I'm sharing with chris reilly... I stop my typing to sing, "you'll fall in love and you'll be screaming, demon!" And back to it once again...

I'm really ready to call it a night... I have a lot of work to get done, and although I know this scene well, I'm over and been over it for quite some time... Oh well...

PS: there's a nagel on the wall..

Dusty...

Is how I would describe the fading colors of the sun in the sky as I make my way across the barren desert between los angeles and las vegas.. The sun has already tucked itself behind the horizon and the remaining rays light up the sky in ambers, pinks and coppers. Above my head the indigo color is not marred by a single cloud.

A car passes to my left with a swiftness I equate to 100 miles an hour. In the time its taken to write that sentence, its already disappeared over the ridge ahead.. I'm driving with my knee and a yawn engulfs my face as I try to enjoy natures beauty all the while trying to stay awake..

Gummy bears...

Are not all alike as one may think.. Yes, they have the same general shape, flavor and consistancy to the average consumer. But to a gummy bear connoisseur such as myself, there are so many different variables that make a bear appealing..

Take these sugar free bears for example. I just picked up 3 bags for 99 cents. At first glance, that's pretty on par for a bag from a drug store. But this bag has 50% product than most.. After sampling one, its a tough, chewy consistancy. It's sweet, but not too sweet as many gummy bears often are..

Some gummy bears are softer, some are chewier. Some are much sweeter and some are sour. There are ones that have fun on them and others that are smooth. Some are long and skinny; some chubby and short.

From all this, you can gather 2 things. That I'm a nutcase, and that I need to go to the dentist... :)

Its raining...

I luck out and experiece beautiful weather almost everywhere I go... And its awesome and amazing that I do.. What many people don't know is that I enjoy inclement weather and sometimes home for its soothing effect on my sometimes overworked body..

The weekend has been long and I reflect on it as I hear the pitter patter of the rain drops on the thin roof above my head.. My backpack weighs on my shoulders and I turn my head as I hear the *whoompf* of a green and white striped umbrella open near by.. Across from me I see a father and son look hopefully at the train coming down the track with their baseball gloves in hand and cubs jerseys on.

The redline pulls into the station going both north and south on the track and I step on and choose my seat. The train is pretty full and I look around at the diversity of the people on it from the guy across from me with complete tattoo sleeves and a glint of gold on his wedding finger, to the russian grandmother with her bun high on her head sitting close to her granddaughter who nervously bites her fingernails. Tattoo guy can't sit still and he hops each leg up and down; the nervous energy is not reflected in his face- perhaps he doesn't even realize he's doing it.

I check the map to see where my transfer point is. I realize that the nervous granddaughter is no such person indeed as she disembarks from the train with a huge backpacking style bag over her shoulders neither saying goodbye to grandma, nor bestowing a kiss upon her cheek. She doesn't look back as she exits out into the weather..

Damn.. I should have gotten off at the last stop.. Looks like the orange line follows the loop in the same direction that the train that I am on does. I stay on patiently as I head out towards the airport. At every station we stop at I see ads and billboards advertising cool new items at mcdonalds and movies like mike myer's newest comedy. I wonder if that marketing works and if they have a way to track its ROI.

Some guy ina red jersey and matching red shorts walks by muttering something as he stares blatantly at my boobs.. He continues on down the train, still talking out loud, but not saying anything decipherable.

I step off the train at roosevelt and find a bench to sit on. I pass the cutest kid stepping onto the train with his father. As I'm waiting patiently for my transfer, I look out over my view of chicago to see that the skies are clearing up nicely and that in spite of the stormy weather reports for the weekend, that its going to be a beautiful day, perfect for the cubs game that father and son were on a train going the opposite direction to.

The orange line finally arrives and I board towards midway to catch my flight..

Flying....

Just passed over a mountain range. Its red rocks reminded me closely of something I had seen before. I looked at the surrounding city with its intricate patterns and the direction its freeways ran and began to realize it was the place I call home.

I had never seen Las Vegas from this high up before. Normally I'm taking off or landing from it, not flying high above it. It was interesting to see what was on the otherside (nothing) of the mountains face that I've seen from the east all these years.

I never expected to call such a dusty, barren place my home, but it, and its intrinsic beauty have grown on me.

We're flying over utah now. I think I see Mt zion. I've never seen it before, so I can't be for certain but my educated (or noneducated) guess is that I'm correct. I definitely want to take a trip there some time later this year..

3 more hours till our destination... Time to get some work done!!

Traffic court....

In LA county is a small version of hell. I'm standing in a long hallway, waiting in a huge line. The people in line are all shapes, and colors and dressed anything from suit and tie down to rope and slippers. I hear many different languages being used around me, as the chick behind me chomps on her doritos. My back hurts as I have just driven four hours to make it here on time.

A chick with bigger boobs than me leans against a wall nearby.. Only difference is that her belly button sits smack dab between hers and mine is at least a foot below mine...

The line starts to move as we all file into the court room.. Time to turn my phone off. I hope this is painless..

-tracy

So I changed my flight...

And now find myself walking next to the river thames. I just walked across the tower bridge.. Its interesting the amount of new architecture that is mixed with the amount of old history here.

I'm walking down cobblestone streets and to locals I can liken this experience to walking down the vegas strip with its food vendors and gawkers, and siteseers.

I have no destination in mind. I hopped on a train from the hotel and just kept going. The skies are unusually blue, just like the day I arrived. The air is hot. I'm wishing I had worn shorts..

Who knew this hobby of mine would let me see the world?

King tut...

I've been trying to see the king tut exhibit all over the USA. I missed it in LA, again in chicago, and then in philly. In in london now, and finally getting to see it!!! I'm thrilled :)!!

Silence...

Its all I hear except for the clickety clack of my keys as I type this... I'm on the shuttle going to the arena with some of the fighters and their corners..

I see jess lauding, antoni hardonk and matt wiman. Not sure who else is on here because I'm at the back of the vehicle, but all I see is black. Black hooded sweatshirts, t shirts, sweat pants...

I still can't get used to the driving on the wrong side of the road.. Glad that I'm not in charge of transportation right now...

The weather is no where near as nice as when I got here, but that's quite alright with me...

I see the o2 arena across the water.. Its a very odd structure with a ton of yellow towers pointing out of its domelike structure in weird angles.. Not sure what the reasoning or logic is behind it, but its a pretty interesting looking building at night...

Almost to the arena.. Gonna be a long night...

:)

-tracy

Funny...

How a t shirt can bring you together with others.. I'm on a train to meet my friend eddie... 4 drunk guys were singing songs to the tune of "the ants go marching one by one" and turned and saw my tapout shirt.

The excitement on their faces was completely overshadowed by how loud their voices got.. They all jumped up to take pictures of me, just because I was here for the UFC fight, and they were as well. They recognized that I'm from america immediatly. I'm unused to being the one with the accent, but I thought it was pretty cool.

The weather here is rainy right now, but yesterday was beautiful. Can't have blue skies every day! I love the rain anyhow...

Tracy