New York and I had a love affair with Irene last year:





















The media really blew her up! The night before(when these photos were taken), the national guard had closed off the streets and had troops posted everywhere. I was afraid to go to sleep that night...just thinking everything would be demolished when I woke up! Not the case at all. She was surprisingly gentle...I even went out walking around the next morning and felt safe outside.

This year its Sandy. She seems much bigger than Irene was, and is said to cause huge damage and bring in some snow and really cold weather afterwards. We have to remember that its the job of the media to get everyone alert, so we will see what Sandy is really like!

In response to seeing End of Watch the other day, I started doing some research on the Mexican Cartel. I was surprised at how many of them there are... the Gulf Cartel, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Zeta Cartel...and the major purpose of all of them is for smuggling and distributing drugs among other crimes. Since Im in San Diego right now, I was mostly interested in the Tijuana Cartel. I can remember having lots of fun there back when I was stationed here, but now it just seems too dangerous. Although theres a part of me that wants to go see for myself...to infiltrate. Alas, its things like this where "imagination is more important than knowledge".

Im here to talk about bleeps in the universe...weve all felt them. Those times in our lives when strings of unexplained, out of the ordinary coincidences happen that leave us wondering whats going on. Is there some hidden meaning behind this we have to be more aware of? Maybe, and maybe not, but the only thing thats certain is that theres a change in energy thats difficult to determine weather its positive or negative. Call it an unseen force, like the eye of a hurricane or an ocean wave...Im going to ride it into shore until I reach the beach. This morning I drove around my neighborhood listening to the most awesome music on my ipod...getting high on life and just feeling the beautiful fall morning. The leaves are changing and the shadows are longer, and my spirit takes flight with a passion...

Ive been on a mini bakery kick in Seattle, and discovered some places that are definitely worth mentioning! First off...the Macrina Bakery. I tried the ham and cheese brioche that was to die for! Similar to a ham and cheese croissant, but the pastry is more dense. I also had a salt caramel cupcake, which interestingly enough was not in a traditional cupcake liner but what looked like a piece of paper instead. Right away I knew it was no ordinary cupcake, but when I tasted it I was reaffirmed. The cake was moist and not too sweet, and there was a generous amount of caramel frosting that I could definitely taste the salt! The second place I found was the Dahlia Bakery, in the same place as my favorite restaurant in Seattle: Dahlia Lounge! Here they have salads, bread, and lots of sweets! I had the beef Vietnamese buns that were unlike anything else Ive had before. The lemon zest mixed with the beef was really balanced, and I couldnt figure out what the sauce was but it went really well with the bread. The peanut butter cookies were really creative as well...two cookies put together with peanut butter inside. I know what youre thinking...they sound like a belly bomb, but they werent because the cookie itself wasnt very sweet and neither was the peanut butter. Im sure there are many other cool things to try at these two places, but Im afraid Id end up like a house if I continued. Help me out here with some feedback!

Chicago

Im back from Chicago, and there was just so much going on there that I had to write about it in order to keep track of everything for next year! First of all, we were in the midst of Oktoberfest so one could hear German polka bands playing in random bars and restaurants along the streets. Im normally not a beer drinker, but all the festivities were enough to convert me. The second thing causing a stir along the streets was the Ryder cup people dressed in American flags and painted faces. Its enough to think the world has gone mad! Personally, I think its the influence of the harvest moon, which can also be deducted that since the Chicago winters are so oppressive everyone tries to get out and do as much as they can before the weather starts to freeze. Me, Ill be avoiding it entirely...aside from the fact that I have to go back for the holidays!

Moonlight Festival

Last night I went to the Moonlight Festival in Seattle, which I guess is a Chinese celebration for kids where they eat moon pies. Unfortunately, I wasnt able to find any moon pies, but it was really a blast! I guess the first presentation was a dragon dance (which I missed). I arrived just as the keiko drummers were playing. What an exciting team! After that the Massive Monkees break dance crew took the stage...those guys (and one girl) are amazing! I guess the recently won the world championships recently, which was quite evident to see. The part that really stole the show was when they brought kids out from the audience to learn some  moves. It was a total kick in the pants when they had a "battle"...all the kids and audience volunteers showing their stuff one at a time to see whos the best! I think some of the older kids must have been doing it for a while, because they were doing some very acrobatic still that must have taken years of training. I think Ive found a new form of dance that Im a fan of now!

Im going to Dallas for the first time a week from now, and have been doing some research on good restaurants and whats fun to do there. So far its Texas BBQ, Kuby's, and Home | The Sixth Floor Museum. I found these three on the travel channel, which ive kind of been into lately. I also plan on checking out Main | Texas Ballet Theater while im there. This huge state seems like a whole different world to me, whith all kinds of things I never knew existed! If any of you have been to Dallas and know of some good spots please let me know...