San Diego was predictable. I went to University of California at San Diego for four years and worked in San Diego for one more. Since moving away, I’ve tried to go there at least once a year to visit my friend, Ali, and others. My visits are always enjoyable but usually consist of the same activities: Going to the beach or sleeping during the day and going out to bars at night, with some eating in between.

Last time I was in San Diego was for the Fourth of July weekend. I hoped to escape the depressing San Francisco weather but I got gyped. It was muggy and overcast the whole weekend. This time, however, made up for that. The weather was warm and shinny, how I remember San Diego most.

I wanted to shower. Ali was picking me up at 7 and he didn’t want to back-track to his place in Del Mar before we started our night so I gave in. We ate at the Old Town Mexican Restaurant, an originally named Mexican restaurant in Old Town. Afterwards we headed out to the Ould Sod in North Park to meet up with some of Ali’s friends whom I’ve never met. It was karaoke night so I grabbed a slip of paper and looked up my favorite karaoke number: Rhythm of the Night by DeBarge. They had it. It was only a few songs before I was given the mic. The crowd was mostly engaged from what I could tell, especially two cute girls in front. One of them mouthed, “I like your mustache.” After the song, I high-fived my way to the back of the bar where my friends were drinking. I told Ali about the girls, glaced back and saw that they had left. Ten minutes later, they appeared in the back of the bar, next to our table. We started chatting it up and I eventually sang a couple duets with one of them. I said I wouldn’t do any Grease and suggested Don’t You Want Me by the Human League, which we sang. Then she suggested Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me by Elton John, which I still don’t think is a duet, but we pulled it off. She gave me her business card. She was a masuse. I would have felt special at having pulled her number except for the fact that she had given her card to two other guys. Cards are impersonal anyways. That didn’t stop me from texting her the next day. We texted a few times back and forth and then nothing. I guessed she didn’t respond because I was leaving and perhaps because I was too young. I never would have guessed it, but she was 35. I knew this because she asked me my age, testing to see if my age was within her self-set boundaries, whatever those were. Read the rest of this entry »

We left Santa Cruz right after my last post at 2:30pm. Captain Gary called me on my cell phone while I was using the free internet at the brewery. I walked down to the harbor, we pulled up the bumpers and pushed off. Gary waved goodbye to his son who spent the previous night on the boat and had been helping us prepare. Jordan, the other crew member is Gary’s son’s friend.

The wind wasn’t generous but we were moving at a decent pace, 8 knots or so. After two hours the wind became stingier and we slowed to 2 knots. This wasn’t fast enough, so Gary made the decision to fire up the engines and motor until we encountered better wind conditions. Read the rest of this entry »