This morning, I got up around 10ish, and did a couple template order recordings, and then took a shower, and watched “Foo Fighters Live”. At about 12:10, Cha-Cha called me and told me to meet her in the I-95.
We met up with a couple other techies, Wes and Brad. We got off the ship together. I went to get money out of the ATM, but of course there was a problem, and the working ATM was out of money. So.. Cha-Cha lent me some money for the day.
We caught a taxi which was a VW Beetle. This car, I wanted VERY badly as a middle schooler. And riding in it made me want it just to have it. Ran real smooth, and it was small.. But you have a better feel for how it can move. The taxi guy tried to get 15 dollars out of us, but Cha-Cha stuck to her guns and said she wouldn’t pay more than 10, which he agreed too. So we were taken to Paradise, a club/outside restaurant.
We got a table out on the beach for 6 bucks with an umbrella. So we sat down, and just like any other place in Mexico, we were approached hundreds of times by people trying to sell necklaces, cigarettes, gum, kids belly dancing and singing, rings, masks, ice cream, massages, bracelets, jet-ski riding, bung-jee jumping salesman, and a lot more. We rarely went 5 minutes without having to say no to someone.
Two ladies came over to our table and offered me and Cha-Cha a massage. We both said no at first, but then they said the first 2 minutes are free, so they gave us a back massage, which was truly amazing, since I haven’t had one since I last had a girlfriend (and because I’m cheap.) After she gave it, I needed more, so I got a 30 minute massage for 15 bucks. So as I ate chips with guacamole, I was getting a back, arm, neck, and head massage, which was just so great. Cha-Cha told the lady to come back in an hour and she’d have one.
After my lady finished, we ordered food. I got orange juice, and a romanian mixture of seafood which included octopus, shrimp and scallops. Then Jon, me and Cha-Cha just hung out and talked, while Wes went over to hang out with some of the dancers. This was most of the entertainers’ night off so a lot of them were on the beach getting drunk. At some point some guy came over and asked for our names to write down. So Cha-Cha made up names for us. Wes was “Sloth”, She was Sarah, Brad was “Steve” and I was “Frank.” Turns out the guy painted shells with our names in it. Looked neat.
As I was talking to Cha-Cha, the massager came back and offered to let her lay omn her stomach in which she said she couldn’t. So, smartass wise, I asked if she was pregnant, in which she said yes. I first thought she was joking.. Turns out she wasn’t. She was pregnant. So we talked about all that. She’ll have her baby in May.
So we hung and talked through out the day. The sun seemed to just stay in front of us all day. Being that close to the equator makes sense for that reason.
Brad told me a bit about what he’s done in the past, which included running lights for Leigh Anne Rhymes, Brian Johnson, and WWE.
At the end of the day, we caught a taxi who also quoted us 15 dollars, and Cha-Cha talked him down to 10. That guy drove crazy fast, maneuvering through the roads. No cops pulled him over... It was insane...
We got back to the ship, and then I got ready to go to supper club. Dinner was pretty delicious. I got Surf and turf which was plenty for me.
Afterwards, we made our way down to the crew bar which was relatively empty. But after about an hour, karaoke was set up and it was packed full of terrible singers. I talked with Glenn, Aaron, Irynia (bar waitress in the casino this week), Katerina and her boyfriend Manuel. After I heard the terrible singing for a few minutes and got burned out and went back to my room, and here I am! So, I’ll work on some music things until I get tired and do more tomorrow.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Black Friday and practicing..
San Diego day started off with SCC class.. or rather, the test. Marco told us to be there at 9 sharp. So I got there at 8:45 because I’m punctual like that. 9 o’clock comes around, and it’s a ton of people who are leaving the ship that show up. Class doesn’t start until 10ish because the instructor didn’t get on the ship until roughly. Which really sucks because that’s another hour we have to stay on the ship. My one day off a week is San Diego and I like to enjoy it.
The instructor comes in, and tells us we’re taking a written test, and then some f us randomly will be asked questions, and then we’d demonstrate an evacuation drill.
He gave us the tests, and it was actually the exact same test we had for the practice test.. Just in a different order. So I breezed through it. He asked 6 people random questions, that were actually pretty tough. Luckily I wasn’t called on. We then made our way up to 3rd deck, and did the demonstration. He picked four people to be the evacuators, and the rest of us were “passengers.” So it went over well. Then he asked a couple people some questions about the liferafts. But we didn’t finish ‘til 11:30 am, and with it being Black Friday, I had to make my way out there!
So I grabbed my computer and phones and got going. Called Nick, but he was working I imagined.. Then called my Dad, and filled him in on stuff. Went up and got my usual sushi, and teriyaki chicken. Then went down to Starbucks, got a carmel latte and worked on some internet stuff.
Afterwards, I went into Sam Goody to see if they had any good deals. They had a lot of good movies for 4 dollars, so I got “Evan Almighty”, “Man of the Year”, “Something’s gotta give” “Borat” “Watchmen Motion Comic”, “Foo Fighters Live,” “Kings of Leon Live”, “Pay it Forward” and “Once.” Also got a guitar techniques book. Really wanting to teach myself to do leads better.
Talked with Felicia on the way back to the ship. Then got on the ship, dropped my stuff off, went to boat drill. Afterwards, we had a quick meeting. I got a positive comment card that Stu read aloud which was cool. Then I went back to my room and put on Evan Almighty. I practiced some scales. Over and over and over again. Then got cleaned up and played.
I had a few people that were very interested in what I’m doing, but overall it was a very dead night. I went to my room and finished Evan Almighty and continued practicing. Then I went to sleep to have a pretty bad nightmare. The ship sank in it so fast, I didn’t have time to help anybody, and I was nearly sucked under water. It was really intense and insane.
I woke up the next morning at 12. I put on the Watchmen Comic, and practiced a ton until Gabe came over and we went over some guitar stuff. Then Dinner, and then had work. Work was dead again, and I finished early. I went back to my room and watched more of the Watchmen, and practiced more.. Then fell asleep after taking my pain meds. That knocked my out until 2 pm today. I got up and did some laundry, and finished Watchmen. Then I put on Man of the Year, and kept practicing guitar. Cleaned my room at some point.
Then went to work, and it again was very VERY dead. I feel like it’s Alaska all over again. Now I’m in my room watching Kings of Leon live. So far, they are really REALLY awesome live. I’m very impressed. Tomorrow, I’m going to the beach with some friends in Acupulco, and then going to see “2010” and THEN have that thanksgiving dinner with all my friends up in the supper club! So it will be a good day tomorrow! I’m excited. Got two template orders and an original song order to write. So, I’ll get to it!
The instructor comes in, and tells us we’re taking a written test, and then some f us randomly will be asked questions, and then we’d demonstrate an evacuation drill.
He gave us the tests, and it was actually the exact same test we had for the practice test.. Just in a different order. So I breezed through it. He asked 6 people random questions, that were actually pretty tough. Luckily I wasn’t called on. We then made our way up to 3rd deck, and did the demonstration. He picked four people to be the evacuators, and the rest of us were “passengers.” So it went over well. Then he asked a couple people some questions about the liferafts. But we didn’t finish ‘til 11:30 am, and with it being Black Friday, I had to make my way out there!
So I grabbed my computer and phones and got going. Called Nick, but he was working I imagined.. Then called my Dad, and filled him in on stuff. Went up and got my usual sushi, and teriyaki chicken. Then went down to Starbucks, got a carmel latte and worked on some internet stuff.
Afterwards, I went into Sam Goody to see if they had any good deals. They had a lot of good movies for 4 dollars, so I got “Evan Almighty”, “Man of the Year”, “Something’s gotta give” “Borat” “Watchmen Motion Comic”, “Foo Fighters Live,” “Kings of Leon Live”, “Pay it Forward” and “Once.” Also got a guitar techniques book. Really wanting to teach myself to do leads better.
Talked with Felicia on the way back to the ship. Then got on the ship, dropped my stuff off, went to boat drill. Afterwards, we had a quick meeting. I got a positive comment card that Stu read aloud which was cool. Then I went back to my room and put on Evan Almighty. I practiced some scales. Over and over and over again. Then got cleaned up and played.
I had a few people that were very interested in what I’m doing, but overall it was a very dead night. I went to my room and finished Evan Almighty and continued practicing. Then I went to sleep to have a pretty bad nightmare. The ship sank in it so fast, I didn’t have time to help anybody, and I was nearly sucked under water. It was really intense and insane.
I woke up the next morning at 12. I put on the Watchmen Comic, and practiced a ton until Gabe came over and we went over some guitar stuff. Then Dinner, and then had work. Work was dead again, and I finished early. I went back to my room and watched more of the Watchmen, and practiced more.. Then fell asleep after taking my pain meds. That knocked my out until 2 pm today. I got up and did some laundry, and finished Watchmen. Then I put on Man of the Year, and kept practicing guitar. Cleaned my room at some point.
Then went to work, and it again was very VERY dead. I feel like it’s Alaska all over again. Now I’m in my room watching Kings of Leon live. So far, they are really REALLY awesome live. I’m very impressed. Tomorrow, I’m going to the beach with some friends in Acupulco, and then going to see “2010” and THEN have that thanksgiving dinner with all my friends up in the supper club! So it will be a good day tomorrow! I’m excited. Got two template orders and an original song order to write. So, I’ll get to it!
Friday, November 27, 2009
Scc training... Back spasms, and "To The Echo"
Wow... 7 days have passed pretty quick. And surprisingly there’s not a lot to talk about. The first three days were very good gigs. Except that my voice was terribly squeaky. I met a couple couples. One of which had been to a lot of concerts, and they loved all the 90’s stuff I did. We talked about a lot of career stuff, and all that. On the 2nd sea day, Another couple came to see me play, but at that point my voice was gone, so I just did instrumentals. I ended up talking to them for a bit. They were scientists for pharmaceuticals. They lived in San Diego. They were really cool.
Acapulco day, I got up pretty late for I had class at 2 for SCC. That day we were going to inflate a life raft in the pool. I got to lido deck about a half hour early, and got a cheeseburger, then saw Nina and the other spa girls so went over and chatted with them. Marco, the instructor showed up with the safety officer, and after a few moments of standing around, we all took off our shirts and put on our lifejackets. Every commented on how white I was. Lots of comments like “get a tan” were heard.
We got in the shallow part of the pool and Marco instructed what would be done. He asked me to help another person lift the life raft shell and put it in the deep end of the pool. As I lifted, I felt my lower back muscle strain. Luckily it was only a second I had the thing, before it was dropped in the pool. Marco called Noochie over to pull the painter line, which inflates the life raft. She tugged it hard, and the shells popped off and the life raft inflated. It was a lot smaller than I pictured. Noochie nudged my shoulder and pointed at the max capacity saying 12 persons. The ship has 35 person life rafts... being why it was a lot smaller.
We all got in the water, and marco capsized the life raft, and he called on me to right it. In the instructions, it tells you to stand on the CO2 tank and use your weight to flip it over. But because the life raft was so small, that wasn’t the case. I tried anyways, and the CO2 tank almost broke off... So... I just backed up, and three other guys just pulled some cables over. Then they got in and had to practice pulling people in. I was # 2 in line. As they pulled me, one got my arm, and the other grabbed my lifejacket... which was really choking me. So I just got myself in.. I sat in the back and we went through all the discussions of the life raft.
We got a group picture, and then said our goodbyes.
Before I left, I asked Aaron about the supper club, and if we were still going. Apparently, the Supper Club won’t open if they only have reservations for crew members... So I didn’t get to have that meal. As the day went on, my back started to hurt horribly. Sitting in the chair was painful, laying down in one position was comfortable, but everything else hurt. I had no desire to want to go to the bathroom. I tried to get up and walk, but the pain almost made me pass out. So I just went to sleep.
The next morning, I got up early and went to the infirmary. Turns out I got back spasms.. The doctor signed me off, gave me IBUPROFEN and tylenol. I went to my room and really just laid down all day. Got up to eat and suffered the walk. Towards the end of the day I started feeling a bit better. I went to sleep pretty late, since I kept taking naps all day.
The next day, I got up and went again, and found the pain was worse than the day before, so the doctor signed me off again. Which meant I couldn’t drive the lifeboat... which blows because that was the whole reason I signed up for the class. So I stayed in my room all day... But instead of feeling useless, I picked up my guitar and wrote a new song called “To the Echo (Here I Am)”. Then I took it easy.
The next day, I went again to the doctor, and I was signed off again. I didn’t want to miss another SCC class since I only had two classes left, so I went. It was a mere review. At some point I was having a conversation with Noochie, and I was joking about writing songs for girls, but a lot of them don’t like it, and she said she did, and asked me to write her a song. So I took her up on her dare.
I went to lunch and met up with Glenn to discuss our show. He wants to shorten it to a few minutes just to see if we can do it. If people like it, we’ll make more.
I went back to my room, and pulled out the ES-335 and started hacking away at Noochie’s song. Within a half hour, I had written it, and then I went and demoed it which took about three hours. Once I was satisfied, I started a new project in logic, and started on “To The Echo”. The song was originally a driving electric guitar song, but I experimented with electric pianos, and various effects, and came up with a cool idea. So, that became my mission and I recorded and mixed it until it was done. At about midnight, I took a muscle relaxer.. but got hungry so I went to get a quick bite to eat. Noochie was working behind the buffet. I told her her song was done, and she wanted to hear it, but I said I’d show her in the morning.
I went back to my room, and the medicine kicked in and I got very tired and dizzy. So I went to bed. At some point in the middle of the night, I remember being confused and I threw my shirt across the room in a fit of anger... But I don’t know why..
I woke up at 7:30 and got dressed and went to the doctor. She gave me the option to take the day off but in doing so, I wouldn’t be able to get off in San Diego. So I said I was ready to go back to work. I wasn’t 100% if that was true, but I didn’t want to be stuck.
I went to my last day of class, and of course the first person there was Noochie, waiting for her song. So I gave her the CD, and moments later class started. We went over our practice test. I got an 87%. Afterwards, we were given a break, so I took Noochie back to my room to show her her song on my speakers. Before I started it, the phone rang, and it was Stu checkin in on me. He told me I wasn’t in the Capper because they weren’t sure if I was playing. He told me not to worry about taking it easy, or not play as long.
So I showed Noochie her song and she laughed a lot and really enjoyed it. Then we went back to class.
After class, I went to my room and then lunch. Came back to room and checked my email to find I had two template orders, so I did those up real quick and sent them in for a quick 80 bucks. Afterwards, I watched some of The Office until dinner, which I went too. And it was a thanksgiving feast! Turkey, Lamb chops, shrimp, salmon, beef, desserts of all sorts. So I ate a bunch of good food.
Afterwards, I got my computer, and went to get set up in the Casino. A lot of people seemed excited I was back. My large crowd came back to listen to me, and I ended up playing most of the night, with one break in the middle. A lot of people told me they missed me a lot because I was the only one who doesn’t play Country on the account the most of the soloists do country. So, I had a great time, made some good tips and sold some CDs. I had a great time, and my back didn’t give me any problems.
Now I’m in my room, getting ready to sleep, and then have my SCC test tomorrow... then SAN DIEGO!!!!! I can’t wait! Black Friday.. which means nothing to me... because I have everything I could want. So.. yep! And on another note, I was talking to Kelly, the girl from the last cruise on Facebook, and it turns out she got another cruise to come back out on the spirit during Christmas. She asked if would be weird, because she didn’t want to look like a stalker. I told her she has to worry about that social host more than me.. Sooo.. yeah.
Acapulco day, I got up pretty late for I had class at 2 for SCC. That day we were going to inflate a life raft in the pool. I got to lido deck about a half hour early, and got a cheeseburger, then saw Nina and the other spa girls so went over and chatted with them. Marco, the instructor showed up with the safety officer, and after a few moments of standing around, we all took off our shirts and put on our lifejackets. Every commented on how white I was. Lots of comments like “get a tan” were heard.
We got in the shallow part of the pool and Marco instructed what would be done. He asked me to help another person lift the life raft shell and put it in the deep end of the pool. As I lifted, I felt my lower back muscle strain. Luckily it was only a second I had the thing, before it was dropped in the pool. Marco called Noochie over to pull the painter line, which inflates the life raft. She tugged it hard, and the shells popped off and the life raft inflated. It was a lot smaller than I pictured. Noochie nudged my shoulder and pointed at the max capacity saying 12 persons. The ship has 35 person life rafts... being why it was a lot smaller.
We all got in the water, and marco capsized the life raft, and he called on me to right it. In the instructions, it tells you to stand on the CO2 tank and use your weight to flip it over. But because the life raft was so small, that wasn’t the case. I tried anyways, and the CO2 tank almost broke off... So... I just backed up, and three other guys just pulled some cables over. Then they got in and had to practice pulling people in. I was # 2 in line. As they pulled me, one got my arm, and the other grabbed my lifejacket... which was really choking me. So I just got myself in.. I sat in the back and we went through all the discussions of the life raft.
We got a group picture, and then said our goodbyes.
Before I left, I asked Aaron about the supper club, and if we were still going. Apparently, the Supper Club won’t open if they only have reservations for crew members... So I didn’t get to have that meal. As the day went on, my back started to hurt horribly. Sitting in the chair was painful, laying down in one position was comfortable, but everything else hurt. I had no desire to want to go to the bathroom. I tried to get up and walk, but the pain almost made me pass out. So I just went to sleep.
The next morning, I got up early and went to the infirmary. Turns out I got back spasms.. The doctor signed me off, gave me IBUPROFEN and tylenol. I went to my room and really just laid down all day. Got up to eat and suffered the walk. Towards the end of the day I started feeling a bit better. I went to sleep pretty late, since I kept taking naps all day.
The next day, I got up and went again, and found the pain was worse than the day before, so the doctor signed me off again. Which meant I couldn’t drive the lifeboat... which blows because that was the whole reason I signed up for the class. So I stayed in my room all day... But instead of feeling useless, I picked up my guitar and wrote a new song called “To the Echo (Here I Am)”. Then I took it easy.
The next day, I went again to the doctor, and I was signed off again. I didn’t want to miss another SCC class since I only had two classes left, so I went. It was a mere review. At some point I was having a conversation with Noochie, and I was joking about writing songs for girls, but a lot of them don’t like it, and she said she did, and asked me to write her a song. So I took her up on her dare.
I went to lunch and met up with Glenn to discuss our show. He wants to shorten it to a few minutes just to see if we can do it. If people like it, we’ll make more.
I went back to my room, and pulled out the ES-335 and started hacking away at Noochie’s song. Within a half hour, I had written it, and then I went and demoed it which took about three hours. Once I was satisfied, I started a new project in logic, and started on “To The Echo”. The song was originally a driving electric guitar song, but I experimented with electric pianos, and various effects, and came up with a cool idea. So, that became my mission and I recorded and mixed it until it was done. At about midnight, I took a muscle relaxer.. but got hungry so I went to get a quick bite to eat. Noochie was working behind the buffet. I told her her song was done, and she wanted to hear it, but I said I’d show her in the morning.
I went back to my room, and the medicine kicked in and I got very tired and dizzy. So I went to bed. At some point in the middle of the night, I remember being confused and I threw my shirt across the room in a fit of anger... But I don’t know why..
I woke up at 7:30 and got dressed and went to the doctor. She gave me the option to take the day off but in doing so, I wouldn’t be able to get off in San Diego. So I said I was ready to go back to work. I wasn’t 100% if that was true, but I didn’t want to be stuck.
I went to my last day of class, and of course the first person there was Noochie, waiting for her song. So I gave her the CD, and moments later class started. We went over our practice test. I got an 87%. Afterwards, we were given a break, so I took Noochie back to my room to show her her song on my speakers. Before I started it, the phone rang, and it was Stu checkin in on me. He told me I wasn’t in the Capper because they weren’t sure if I was playing. He told me not to worry about taking it easy, or not play as long.
So I showed Noochie her song and she laughed a lot and really enjoyed it. Then we went back to class.
After class, I went to my room and then lunch. Came back to room and checked my email to find I had two template orders, so I did those up real quick and sent them in for a quick 80 bucks. Afterwards, I watched some of The Office until dinner, which I went too. And it was a thanksgiving feast! Turkey, Lamb chops, shrimp, salmon, beef, desserts of all sorts. So I ate a bunch of good food.
Afterwards, I got my computer, and went to get set up in the Casino. A lot of people seemed excited I was back. My large crowd came back to listen to me, and I ended up playing most of the night, with one break in the middle. A lot of people told me they missed me a lot because I was the only one who doesn’t play Country on the account the most of the soloists do country. So, I had a great time, made some good tips and sold some CDs. I had a great time, and my back didn’t give me any problems.
Now I’m in my room, getting ready to sleep, and then have my SCC test tomorrow... then SAN DIEGO!!!!! I can’t wait! Black Friday.. which means nothing to me... because I have everything I could want. So.. yep! And on another note, I was talking to Kelly, the girl from the last cruise on Facebook, and it turns out she got another cruise to come back out on the spirit during Christmas. She asked if would be weird, because she didn’t want to look like a stalker. I told her she has to worry about that social host more than me.. Sooo.. yeah.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Last day of an awesome cruise
The last day of the cruise started off with me being 20 minutes late for class, which ultimately started at that moment, so everything was fine. My alarm turned off instead of snoozing... After class, I slept from 11- nearly 3. I was very tired. Afterwards, I played games until it was time to get ready for work.
I went to play at 8 and it was pretty dead until about 9:30 then from there on it picked up and was busy and fun until 1 am where I finished with the week favorite “Wonderwall.”
I gave out business cards to everyone, and thanked them all. Kelly and I hung out for a bit and I showed her my two gibson guitars which she fell in love with. She told me one of the social hosts was extremely flirty with her, but beyond just talk. He was very forward with wanting to bring her below decks, or meet her outside to get together, which she said no to both. At one point as she was getting on an elevator he went out of his way to jump on, put his arm around her chest the other hand on her butt... Which is EXTREME sexual harassment. She didn’t know what to do. I suggested she told someone, because if he’s doing that in his 1st two weeks on the ship, he will do it more, and make that many more people uncomfortable.
I made up some funny songs and all that, and she said she liked me a lot more than him because I was easy to talk too and was in no way pushy about getting together.. Which really wasn’t the goal. Just being cool and friendly.
Afterwards, I walked her to her hallway, she hugged me goodbye and I went to bed.
My alarm went off at 9 AM, where I got up quickly and went for a walk, calling Nick. Then went to Starbucks and did the online thing. Continued downloading the office episodes I bought last week. Then I got situated with the site Sellaband.com which gives regular people a chance to donate money to a band to record an album, and they get royalties, a CD and perks in return.
After that, I went and got some Japanese food which was delicious. Text talked with my friend Monica in Texas. She’s busy doing her little projects. For those who don’t remember, she was the girl who went to the Whittier bar with me before Whittier's revenge.
Then went to Sam Goody and got John Mayer’s new cd, Foo Fighters concert DVD, and Star Trek on blu ray. Then I went to the music store to get 5 packs of strings, and a new capo, since mine has been buzzing strings.
Called and talked with Felicia for a bit, and my dad. Had kind of a bathroom problem from something I ate.
Watched the new episodes of The Office I got, listened to some of John Mayer’s new album, which sounded cool. Then I fooled around on my guitar until boat drill. There were a LOT of kids running around. SOOO many...
After drill, we had a quick meeting, then I went to my room to practice some new songs until dinner. I went and ate and got ready for work, and went and played. The crowd was pretty laid back, but it is only the first night. A lot of teenagers on the ship too.
I got out around 12, and came back to the room and now I’m debating sleep. Got class tomorrow, and work at 7:30 tomorrow night!
I went to play at 8 and it was pretty dead until about 9:30 then from there on it picked up and was busy and fun until 1 am where I finished with the week favorite “Wonderwall.”
I gave out business cards to everyone, and thanked them all. Kelly and I hung out for a bit and I showed her my two gibson guitars which she fell in love with. She told me one of the social hosts was extremely flirty with her, but beyond just talk. He was very forward with wanting to bring her below decks, or meet her outside to get together, which she said no to both. At one point as she was getting on an elevator he went out of his way to jump on, put his arm around her chest the other hand on her butt... Which is EXTREME sexual harassment. She didn’t know what to do. I suggested she told someone, because if he’s doing that in his 1st two weeks on the ship, he will do it more, and make that many more people uncomfortable.
I made up some funny songs and all that, and she said she liked me a lot more than him because I was easy to talk too and was in no way pushy about getting together.. Which really wasn’t the goal. Just being cool and friendly.
Afterwards, I walked her to her hallway, she hugged me goodbye and I went to bed.
My alarm went off at 9 AM, where I got up quickly and went for a walk, calling Nick. Then went to Starbucks and did the online thing. Continued downloading the office episodes I bought last week. Then I got situated with the site Sellaband.com which gives regular people a chance to donate money to a band to record an album, and they get royalties, a CD and perks in return.
After that, I went and got some Japanese food which was delicious. Text talked with my friend Monica in Texas. She’s busy doing her little projects. For those who don’t remember, she was the girl who went to the Whittier bar with me before Whittier's revenge.
Then went to Sam Goody and got John Mayer’s new cd, Foo Fighters concert DVD, and Star Trek on blu ray. Then I went to the music store to get 5 packs of strings, and a new capo, since mine has been buzzing strings.
Called and talked with Felicia for a bit, and my dad. Had kind of a bathroom problem from something I ate.
Watched the new episodes of The Office I got, listened to some of John Mayer’s new album, which sounded cool. Then I fooled around on my guitar until boat drill. There were a LOT of kids running around. SOOO many...
After drill, we had a quick meeting, then I went to my room to practice some new songs until dinner. I went and ate and got ready for work, and went and played. The crowd was pretty laid back, but it is only the first night. A lot of teenagers on the ship too.
I got out around 12, and came back to the room and now I’m debating sleep. Got class tomorrow, and work at 7:30 tomorrow night!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Attack of the Cougar
Yesterday was quite an interesting day. Especially towards the end. After boat drill, and playing Madden, and hanging out in my room, I eventually took a nap. Which became a very very weird dream saga.
In the dream, it started off with three dancers from the ship in three cars trying to run me over. But like a joke. But they were cramming me against walls and such. Afterwards, one of them took me to a building I was looking to go to because they felt bad. When I got to the top of the building, it was night time and people started jumping off the building to kill themselves. Very confused, I just stood there. But after a few more people jumped, the first person that jumped came up the stairs broken and cut up and angry. He then accused me of taking something that kept them from dying. And they all came after me, eventually throwing me off the building.. but I lived. So I got up running from the area, and bumped into some girl who was in love with me, and wanted a kid. I didn’t know how to escape that, but it eventually I found myself going back to my room to sleep, and someone knocks on the door. I open it, and it’s just two guys who want to see the bathroom. Then they inform me the ship is sinking because we were in a terrible storm. I turn around and notice my room is abnormally huge, with a couch and access to other rooms in the ship. I open the door up, and look out and there’s hundreds of people walking in this large tunnel. I go out, and there are hundreds of thousands of people cheering for me to play. But the place I would be playing is in front of this little restaurant in what looked like Paris for 2 old ladies. Then I woke up. Definitely freaked me out.
I took a shower and got dressed in my clothes and I went up to Lido deck at 5 for the sail away concert. That went over pretty well. Only 3 interruptions.
Afterwards, I went to dinner, and sat with Glenn, Chris and Aaron. Talked more about the cartoon. Showed Aaron his cartoon self. After I ate, I went to get tea, and sat and talked with Natalia (CTC girl) and the new CTC girl, Kerrie. She’s pretty cool too, which is good. Simon was a pretty awesome guy. But she’ll do for a replacement I suppose.
After that I went to my room and played some Madden until 8:30, and then went up and got an iced mocha to wake myself up. Then set up all my stuff in the Casino and started playing for NO ONE. It was pretty dead the whole night (which I credit to the party on lido deck under the stars with all you can eat mexican food.) At 12:10 this girl Kelly and her mom came and watched. Kelly stands out quite a bit from the rest of the passengers because on her left arm she has a lot of highly detailed tattoos. Very pretty then. A tattoo of her grandfather and grandmother were there as well.
Then a woman showed up at around 12:45 who I’ve seen the last two or three nights I’ve played. She was very drunk, and kept calling out to ask if I wanted a drink, which I did not. When I finished up I sat at the bar to talk to some of the people. The woman who I found out was named Thoa, (pronounced Twah) put her arm around mine and kept asking me if I wanted a drink. I kept refusing and then she leaned in close to whisper but she was so drunk she was practically saying it out loud, that she never buys drinks for guys unless she plans on sleeping with them. Trying to find a nice way to respond to that, I thanked her for the compliment but told her I would be fired if I did anything like that. She kept pushing and offering. She asked a couple people to take a picture of the both of us, and she kissed me on the cheek during one of them. That made me slightly nervous, and I was looking around to make sure security wasn’t there, because I could see them blaming me for being in the situation. Kelly asked the bartender to pour me a glass of water in shot glasses, so that Thoa thought I was drinking, but that only made her want me to drink more. Eventually I got caught in conversation with Kelly, the Thoa walked off and went to bed. Though, I did find out Thoa was a pharmacist manager for all the Pharmacist in her city for a particular company. So that was my first real attempt from a cougar to get me.
Now as I’ve written, I got my hair cut and highlighted... Either that has caused the sudden interest in me from people.. Or it’s the Axe deodorant, Axe spray, and Axe body wash that’s doing it (for those who don’t know, AXE promotes that their products will make girls fall for you and lead to late nights). Next time I’ll have to do a controlled variable, and figure out my hypothesis.
Kelly and I got to talking the rest of the night. She’s in cosmetology school. She’s from Orange county. She plays some guitar, and all that. She’s 21. So after we got talking I went to bed, to sleep in for the first time since I was sick. I slept in until 1:30, which was great!
Then I worked on a template song order, and sent that off. Then I played more games, took a shower, got dressed in my nice clothes for formal night, and am writing this now. Got dinner, and my show from 8-1. I’m the most popular musician with the younger crowd by far. I’m the only one doing new music, so that’s cool! Hopefully tonight’s a good night!
In the dream, it started off with three dancers from the ship in three cars trying to run me over. But like a joke. But they were cramming me against walls and such. Afterwards, one of them took me to a building I was looking to go to because they felt bad. When I got to the top of the building, it was night time and people started jumping off the building to kill themselves. Very confused, I just stood there. But after a few more people jumped, the first person that jumped came up the stairs broken and cut up and angry. He then accused me of taking something that kept them from dying. And they all came after me, eventually throwing me off the building.. but I lived. So I got up running from the area, and bumped into some girl who was in love with me, and wanted a kid. I didn’t know how to escape that, but it eventually I found myself going back to my room to sleep, and someone knocks on the door. I open it, and it’s just two guys who want to see the bathroom. Then they inform me the ship is sinking because we were in a terrible storm. I turn around and notice my room is abnormally huge, with a couch and access to other rooms in the ship. I open the door up, and look out and there’s hundreds of people walking in this large tunnel. I go out, and there are hundreds of thousands of people cheering for me to play. But the place I would be playing is in front of this little restaurant in what looked like Paris for 2 old ladies. Then I woke up. Definitely freaked me out.
I took a shower and got dressed in my clothes and I went up to Lido deck at 5 for the sail away concert. That went over pretty well. Only 3 interruptions.
Afterwards, I went to dinner, and sat with Glenn, Chris and Aaron. Talked more about the cartoon. Showed Aaron his cartoon self. After I ate, I went to get tea, and sat and talked with Natalia (CTC girl) and the new CTC girl, Kerrie. She’s pretty cool too, which is good. Simon was a pretty awesome guy. But she’ll do for a replacement I suppose.
After that I went to my room and played some Madden until 8:30, and then went up and got an iced mocha to wake myself up. Then set up all my stuff in the Casino and started playing for NO ONE. It was pretty dead the whole night (which I credit to the party on lido deck under the stars with all you can eat mexican food.) At 12:10 this girl Kelly and her mom came and watched. Kelly stands out quite a bit from the rest of the passengers because on her left arm she has a lot of highly detailed tattoos. Very pretty then. A tattoo of her grandfather and grandmother were there as well.
Then a woman showed up at around 12:45 who I’ve seen the last two or three nights I’ve played. She was very drunk, and kept calling out to ask if I wanted a drink, which I did not. When I finished up I sat at the bar to talk to some of the people. The woman who I found out was named Thoa, (pronounced Twah) put her arm around mine and kept asking me if I wanted a drink. I kept refusing and then she leaned in close to whisper but she was so drunk she was practically saying it out loud, that she never buys drinks for guys unless she plans on sleeping with them. Trying to find a nice way to respond to that, I thanked her for the compliment but told her I would be fired if I did anything like that. She kept pushing and offering. She asked a couple people to take a picture of the both of us, and she kissed me on the cheek during one of them. That made me slightly nervous, and I was looking around to make sure security wasn’t there, because I could see them blaming me for being in the situation. Kelly asked the bartender to pour me a glass of water in shot glasses, so that Thoa thought I was drinking, but that only made her want me to drink more. Eventually I got caught in conversation with Kelly, the Thoa walked off and went to bed. Though, I did find out Thoa was a pharmacist manager for all the Pharmacist in her city for a particular company. So that was my first real attempt from a cougar to get me.
Now as I’ve written, I got my hair cut and highlighted... Either that has caused the sudden interest in me from people.. Or it’s the Axe deodorant, Axe spray, and Axe body wash that’s doing it (for those who don’t know, AXE promotes that their products will make girls fall for you and lead to late nights). Next time I’ll have to do a controlled variable, and figure out my hypothesis.
Kelly and I got to talking the rest of the night. She’s in cosmetology school. She’s from Orange county. She plays some guitar, and all that. She’s 21. So after we got talking I went to bed, to sleep in for the first time since I was sick. I slept in until 1:30, which was great!
Then I worked on a template song order, and sent that off. Then I played more games, took a shower, got dressed in my nice clothes for formal night, and am writing this now. Got dinner, and my show from 8-1. I’m the most popular musician with the younger crowd by far. I’m the only one doing new music, so that’s cool! Hopefully tonight’s a good night!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Hair Cut, Loud Crowds and Cartoon
The last few days have been pretty decent! My day off in Acapulco was fairly laid back after class. I got my hair cut, dyed darker and highlighted. Then I worked more on the cartoon. At 3, I met up with Glenn and we discussed the details of the cartoon, and characters.
Afterwards, I went to my room and continued working on the cartoon until late at night, where I went and ate a bowl of noodles… Since I missed dinner.
The following day, went to class, and a lot of people liked my hair. I worked more on the cartoon for a few more hours, watching the office in the process. I had dinner, talked more with Glenn about the cartoon, and then I got ready for work.
I played my set to a small group of people the first set. Sold a CD. THEN every set after that was very busy and I had a big group screaming for me the rest of the night. I mean.. they were LOUD. Lot of fun though. More compliments on the hair.
Afterwards, I went to my room and played some Madden '10 until I fell asleep.
I woke up this morning to boat drill. Afterwards, I went to lunch and now the rest of the day I'll be working on the cartoon, and play tonight! Checked my email, and Robby Takac of the goo goo dolls said I could send him my CD to listen too. Cool stuff!!
Afterwards, I went to my room and continued working on the cartoon until late at night, where I went and ate a bowl of noodles… Since I missed dinner.
The following day, went to class, and a lot of people liked my hair. I worked more on the cartoon for a few more hours, watching the office in the process. I had dinner, talked more with Glenn about the cartoon, and then I got ready for work.
I played my set to a small group of people the first set. Sold a CD. THEN every set after that was very busy and I had a big group screaming for me the rest of the night. I mean.. they were LOUD. Lot of fun though. More compliments on the hair.
Afterwards, I went to my room and played some Madden '10 until I fell asleep.
I woke up this morning to boat drill. Afterwards, I went to lunch and now the rest of the day I'll be working on the cartoon, and play tonight! Checked my email, and Robby Takac of the goo goo dolls said I could send him my CD to listen too. Cool stuff!!
Friday, November 13, 2009
San Diego, New Cruise Director, and song on the Today Show!
San Diego day.. well.. it started off with waking up after an hour of sleep. I got up quickly and ran up to where I would need to be standing to get through immigration. Sure enough there were already 30 people there. But that was fine. At least I had a good spot. As I stood in line, I turned my iphone on and it worked just fine, I had internet access and all that, so I diddled with the for a bit. But at some point a terrible smell hit my nose and made me want to gag... The smell was unbearable. I came to the conclusion that it was one of the philopinos around me. Hadn’t showered or something, but it was absolutely terrible. I didn’t do much to hide my reaction. Just put my nose in my shirt, and prayed the smell wouldn’t eat through that.
After about 30 minutes, the line behind me was 150 people long. Growing by the second. Because the line was going into guest areas, the head people “moved the line” in the crew stairwell. I was in the line facing out, and the line behind me wrapped around where they were beside us. And for the few minutes I was worried because it seemed like, it would be easy for them all to just cram and butt all of us. And sure enough, that’s exactly what they did. So I went from being 30th to around 80th, because of a bunch of immature assholes can’t be patient and wait their turn. Fortunately, a girl from china was very stern to make sure I was in front of her, so she grabbed my shirt and pulled me in front of her. The crowd eventually bottle necked into a line, and within a few minutes I was out of there.
The night before I had seen the day’s capper, and it said Marky Mark would be the cruise director this week. Confused, I asked Stu what that was about. Stu’s going out of town in Acapulco for a Cruise Director conference, so Marky Mark would be cruise director for two weeks. I was slightly confused because Marky Mark signed off like 3 weeks ago, and we have another assistant cruise director. But I guess the reason for bringing MM back to the ship was that he had been here so long and he knew the ropes a lot better than the assistant. Which is fine by me. I personally like Mark a lot. Good guy, and he’s funny and informative.
So I went to my room and showered up and got my phone and Iphone and went up to deck B and waited patiently until the ship would let us off. I emailed some people, and texted a few friends.
Then I went down to Deck A to see the line to get off was already crowded. I thought it would only be a matter of minutes before I got off.. But alas... it took 45 minutes. Time I could have been sleeping. I saw Eric walk by, so did the handshake good bye again. I saw Nunik, the bar waitress from when I worked in the piano bar. She was signing off today too. Which reminds me, the night before, Agnes stopped by and gave me a huge hug goodbye because she was leaving. So I gave her my info, and told her to stay in touch.
After the 45 minutes went by, I got off the ship and called Nick, and talked with him about his wedding, a funny commercial skit idea he had “Don-Don”. Um, Christmas, and some other various things. When we finished up, I went into starbucks, got a Eggnog, and got online and started downloading updates for my computer and such, and talked with some friends.
Afterwards, I went up to the sushi place and got some sushi... Which was delicious. Then I went to gamestop and traded in 3 games to get Modern Warfare 2. THEN I went to Sam Goodys to get Switchfoot’s new album. As I paid for it, the lady asked me if I saw them in concert yesterday. I told her no. She said they set up right in the store I was at and played for a couple hours. DAMNIT. I missed it by ONE DAY! The band is from San Diego, so, it’s pretty crazy that I was that CLOSE!
After that, called Dad, and went back to the ship. I was delayed a bit by a veterans day parade. I made it back to the ship, played my game for a little bit, and took a nap until boat drill. Had boat drill, and went to our meeting, where Stu explained the situation of the cruise director stuff to everyone.
Then we split up and I went and played more of the game until 7ish, and went and restrung my guitar. At 7:30, I got playing, and within moments it was a busy bar, and I was having the best time I’ve had since the large group my first rivera run. A couple girls Anna and Megan were watching me and they said I was the best on the ship from what they gathered, so I played lots of new songs and got a good reaction. I talked to them during the break. Anna’s birthday was the reason they were here on the ship. She was turning 18.
After my gig, I went to my room and watched the Switchfoot dvd, and fell asleep.
My alarm went off at 8 AM. I felt fine, but decided I didn’t need an hour to get ready so I went back to sleep until what I hoped would be 8:30.. But was 9:02, so I jumped up and quickly got dressed, and ran to class. We went to the bow of the ship and practiced some techniques one of the release cables for the lifeboats. We also examined the shell of the life rafts.
I went back to my room, and started working on a song recording for a special event I can’t mention here.
Then I got dressed up and had to play 5-6, 7-8, and 9:30 to 12ish. The crowd was off and on, but still better than the last 3 cruises. Megan and Anna bumped into me while I was at the Cafe, and I asked what they did for the day. They said not much of anything. There wasn’t much to do during the day. Which is kind of true...
They came back and watched me play for a bit, and then they went to see the jazz hot show. Then came back and asked if I wanted to see the comedian. I said if I wasn’t busy, I would. Sure enough, the business had died so I was able to go. On another note, ANOTHER person won 25k or the BMW. She took the car. That’s two 25k prizes and and 14k in 4 days. That’s insane!
I went to the comedian and sat with them. Tom was funny. I’d seen him before but he’s a funny guy.
Afterwards I talked with the girls and Anna’s brother for a bit. Showed them some pictures of my travel thus far, and clips of my album. Which they both really wanted afterwards. So, that’s neat!
They went to bed, and on my way to my room I bumped into Jackob, the trombone player, who was pretty tanked... And Anna, the room service waitress. I talked with them for a bit, then made my way to bed, where I eventually fell asleep.
I got up this morning at 8:30 and took a shower and got ready for class. When we got there, we had a few test questions. I think I got all mine right. We discussed them in class, and we were free. I then went to my room to work on the song more. Had lunch, and went and got an internet card, since I hadn’t been online in a couple days. Wanted to see what I missed. Turns out my song Stay or Leave was used on the Today show for one of their segments. Though it was just the intro, that’s still really cool! I continued working on the song, and now I’m a break from it to clear my ears. Then I’ll go back to it, eat dinner, work 8-1, and catch some zzzs for class, and my day off!!
After about 30 minutes, the line behind me was 150 people long. Growing by the second. Because the line was going into guest areas, the head people “moved the line” in the crew stairwell. I was in the line facing out, and the line behind me wrapped around where they were beside us. And for the few minutes I was worried because it seemed like, it would be easy for them all to just cram and butt all of us. And sure enough, that’s exactly what they did. So I went from being 30th to around 80th, because of a bunch of immature assholes can’t be patient and wait their turn. Fortunately, a girl from china was very stern to make sure I was in front of her, so she grabbed my shirt and pulled me in front of her. The crowd eventually bottle necked into a line, and within a few minutes I was out of there.
The night before I had seen the day’s capper, and it said Marky Mark would be the cruise director this week. Confused, I asked Stu what that was about. Stu’s going out of town in Acapulco for a Cruise Director conference, so Marky Mark would be cruise director for two weeks. I was slightly confused because Marky Mark signed off like 3 weeks ago, and we have another assistant cruise director. But I guess the reason for bringing MM back to the ship was that he had been here so long and he knew the ropes a lot better than the assistant. Which is fine by me. I personally like Mark a lot. Good guy, and he’s funny and informative.
So I went to my room and showered up and got my phone and Iphone and went up to deck B and waited patiently until the ship would let us off. I emailed some people, and texted a few friends.
Then I went down to Deck A to see the line to get off was already crowded. I thought it would only be a matter of minutes before I got off.. But alas... it took 45 minutes. Time I could have been sleeping. I saw Eric walk by, so did the handshake good bye again. I saw Nunik, the bar waitress from when I worked in the piano bar. She was signing off today too. Which reminds me, the night before, Agnes stopped by and gave me a huge hug goodbye because she was leaving. So I gave her my info, and told her to stay in touch.
After the 45 minutes went by, I got off the ship and called Nick, and talked with him about his wedding, a funny commercial skit idea he had “Don-Don”. Um, Christmas, and some other various things. When we finished up, I went into starbucks, got a Eggnog, and got online and started downloading updates for my computer and such, and talked with some friends.
Afterwards, I went up to the sushi place and got some sushi... Which was delicious. Then I went to gamestop and traded in 3 games to get Modern Warfare 2. THEN I went to Sam Goodys to get Switchfoot’s new album. As I paid for it, the lady asked me if I saw them in concert yesterday. I told her no. She said they set up right in the store I was at and played for a couple hours. DAMNIT. I missed it by ONE DAY! The band is from San Diego, so, it’s pretty crazy that I was that CLOSE!
After that, called Dad, and went back to the ship. I was delayed a bit by a veterans day parade. I made it back to the ship, played my game for a little bit, and took a nap until boat drill. Had boat drill, and went to our meeting, where Stu explained the situation of the cruise director stuff to everyone.
Then we split up and I went and played more of the game until 7ish, and went and restrung my guitar. At 7:30, I got playing, and within moments it was a busy bar, and I was having the best time I’ve had since the large group my first rivera run. A couple girls Anna and Megan were watching me and they said I was the best on the ship from what they gathered, so I played lots of new songs and got a good reaction. I talked to them during the break. Anna’s birthday was the reason they were here on the ship. She was turning 18.
After my gig, I went to my room and watched the Switchfoot dvd, and fell asleep.
My alarm went off at 8 AM. I felt fine, but decided I didn’t need an hour to get ready so I went back to sleep until what I hoped would be 8:30.. But was 9:02, so I jumped up and quickly got dressed, and ran to class. We went to the bow of the ship and practiced some techniques one of the release cables for the lifeboats. We also examined the shell of the life rafts.
I went back to my room, and started working on a song recording for a special event I can’t mention here.
Then I got dressed up and had to play 5-6, 7-8, and 9:30 to 12ish. The crowd was off and on, but still better than the last 3 cruises. Megan and Anna bumped into me while I was at the Cafe, and I asked what they did for the day. They said not much of anything. There wasn’t much to do during the day. Which is kind of true...
They came back and watched me play for a bit, and then they went to see the jazz hot show. Then came back and asked if I wanted to see the comedian. I said if I wasn’t busy, I would. Sure enough, the business had died so I was able to go. On another note, ANOTHER person won 25k or the BMW. She took the car. That’s two 25k prizes and and 14k in 4 days. That’s insane!
I went to the comedian and sat with them. Tom was funny. I’d seen him before but he’s a funny guy.
Afterwards I talked with the girls and Anna’s brother for a bit. Showed them some pictures of my travel thus far, and clips of my album. Which they both really wanted afterwards. So, that’s neat!
They went to bed, and on my way to my room I bumped into Jackob, the trombone player, who was pretty tanked... And Anna, the room service waitress. I talked with them for a bit, then made my way to bed, where I eventually fell asleep.
I got up this morning at 8:30 and took a shower and got ready for class. When we got there, we had a few test questions. I think I got all mine right. We discussed them in class, and we were free. I then went to my room to work on the song more. Had lunch, and went and got an internet card, since I hadn’t been online in a couple days. Wanted to see what I missed. Turns out my song Stay or Leave was used on the Today show for one of their segments. Though it was just the intro, that’s still really cool! I continued working on the song, and now I’m a break from it to clear my ears. Then I’ll go back to it, eat dinner, work 8-1, and catch some zzzs for class, and my day off!!
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