My MacBook Pro is brand new and the card reader isn't recognizing my SD card from my camera. It's always something. Luckily I'm in Orlando again and the Apple store is across the street. Hence I don't have any photos of my own to post as of yet but I'll find some visual stimulation for you this post.

Photoshop continues to daze me but the weather here is brilliant. Sitting poolside sipping Fanta naranja gives me incredible joy. I'm convinced Vitamin D needs to be a huge part of my life. I'm getting better at building out websites and eager to learn more but I must admit, it seems so daunting the amount of information to learn about coding, wordpress, photoshop, fireworks, so on and so forth.

SO...I read an issue of Maxim magazine the other day. A favorite of mine is also GQ and I've read FHM before. I'm a huge advocate of a media revolution of sorts (I'll have to expound on that subject another day...way too much) and I've done extensive studies in the way media is presented to and by women. Bottom line? Sorry but women's magazines suck ass. I admit, I occasionally pick up a Cosmo or probably my favorite (if I have one) women's magazine is Marie Claire but seriously??? Men's magazines are so much cooler. And have more interesting material. In Maxim I learned how to filet a fish, siphon a gas tank, learned about a new hit comedian, got to experience Cameron Diaz in her real element (foul mouthed and sex crazed) and not some watered down version for the ladies, learned how to make some great new summertime alcoholic punches, heard some new jokes that were actually funny, read about the history of the donut, read articles peppered with swear words (which is ACTUALLY the way people talk) and avoided a host of ridiculously stupid articles about how to please your man or low fat recipes and overpriced clothing options. In short, fuck you women's magazines. I think if I read any magazine that is feminine or such, I will choose Family Circle or whatever because it's $1.99 and I would buy it for organizational skills, crafts or recipes instead of stupid shit in Vogue, Elle, Cosmo etc....

I've been thinking (again) about a book to write. Or a script. I started one when I was at DePaul but I have to find it. It's so difficult to get into the habit of writing regularly. On that tip, I started a few more blogs so check them out!

www.grievancesagainstsociety.wordpress.com
www.pagesfoldedover.wordpress.com
www.postcardsfromhell.com

grievances against society i welcome experiences from others. The people that co-exist in this world with me sometimes baffle the shit out of me. And sometimes get on my every last fucking nerve. I hate saying that because I have a lot of awesome people in my life and I also just try to understand that everyone is different and like Oprah said on her last show "just because you were born gives you worth on this planet". God bless your heart Oprah. I try to keep your words in my mind but it's really hard sometimes when you encounter fucking idiots. So grievancesagainstsociety is an outlet to share your pain with the rest of us.

pagesfoldedover will be a book review site of sorts. I have many books that have made it to my top favorites list. And all of them have tons of pages folded over because that particular page struck me in some way or held significance. I always meant to write about them right away but just as this site lacks frequent updates, those books stayed on my bookshelf waiting to be written about.

postcardsfromhell is also a site I would want you to contribute to. Please send me your stories from vacation or abroad.

It's been an interesting 6 months for me. I went from thinking I was going to be in Costa Rica for a really long time, to deciding to move back home and really missing my friends and family. I went from being completely heartbroken over someone who wasn't even worth my time in the first place to gradually learning to give myself more credit and realizing things don't work out with certain individuals because I deserve way more and am way better than that. Looking back I realize the goals I have made I
actually reached, therefore, setting the bar higher once again and making some goals in my head that I'm certain will eventually be reached. I now realize the sky is not the limit! there are no limits.

Hm...well I don't really know what visual aids to post with this post. I promise I'll get on the picture thing.

Next Stop Miami!

Could my life get any more interesting? I sometimes think about what I'm going to write on this blog and think nothing quite interesting is going on. But I'm beginning to realize it's quite the opposite. I landed in Orlando six days ago. I was a bit sad when I arrived at O'Hare in Chicago. That's always the case. And when I think about home I get a little teary eyed. But I know home will always be there. Needless to say when I touched down in Orlando that adrenaline rush, that excitement and flurry of being in a new place, washed over me. The roar of jets coming and going and the bustle of the people going to and fro in the airport always gives me a thrill.

I now work for a company called ZV Media. ZV Media does a lot of things. In fact, just about anything tech related they can do. For the most part what I am training to do right now is build out websites. When I say this, I mean there is a process from start to finish when a client signs on to use our company. First we buy the domain for them, then we register all of their information into our database, then we build out a pretty nice site for them and then we open a google applications account for them. Although I'm not programming and doing coding from scratch, I am learning a whole lot about photoshop, css, html and php coding. The company is new, and building every day. I'm not making much from start but I am taking a chance. I really believe in the company and most of all the people running it. My bosses are super cool and very hard working and enthusiastic for business. That's the gut instinct that had me take this opportunity and go with it. Some may think it's crazy to pick and go learn a new profession but really any profession for me is a new profession unless I want to be a paralegal again. I'm happy to have that experience under my belt but I'm not interested in going back into an office five days a week eight hours a day any time soon.

So it's been a week and we've mostly been working but last night I went to my first Ice Bar. We only stayed in the ice room for about ten minutes to take pictures but it was something I had never seen before so it was cool. As always I ran into a few people I know from the house music scene and people that know people that I know back in Chicago and Indiana. I swear I should go into networking. There's rarely a place I go where I don't have some kind of connection with someone. And now? I wake up Saturday morning and get the news. We're driving to MIAMI and the Florida Keys!!! Um. Yea. I am beginning to like Florida a lot. It's weather is amazing...I mean it's warm out and it's the middle of January. It's MISERABLE right now in the Midwest. The weather affects my mood and mental well being like whoa. I wouldn't mind trying somewhere in California too where the weather remains mild but you can access the beach or the mountains within an hour or so drive whichever way. I love mountains. I love the ocean. I must admit I would like to find someone who has the same vision as me. To flit about the world or the country and make a home base in somewhere like California or a place as I just mentioned that is close to mountains and ocean all in a days trip. Or even better, have a place in Chicago and somewhere else. I don't know, just a twosome, a team to make whatever decisions we make together and have someone to do life with. Alas, there are some things you can't buy, money and love. So until then, I continue on my path with me, myself, and I. And all the lovely people I meet and befriend along the way. And what a good life it is. :)

Here's the hilarity for the day....and this is why I fit right in here with these people in Orlando. We laugh every day about something or other. Recently A stumbled upon this website for an "attorney" supposedly here in Orlando. He was joking and sent the guy an email asking him if he wanted us to do a new website for him. Just please check out http://www.bobduljohnsonattorneyatlaw.biz/ Seriously you can't help but chuckle at the very least. Anyway...the guy wrote him back several times with hilarious witty responses. For real the guy should go on a night time talk show. If he is a lawyer, it's an interesting approach for business. lol. BJ, Bobdul Johnson. lmao.

Laughter and Forgetting

There's a book I read, "The Book Of Laughter And Forgetting". There's a lot of laughter in life. And a lot of forgetting. But how is it that we come to forget the things we forget? Or remember the things we remember? I like laughing. Depends on what I'm forgetting if I like forgetting it or not. Funny thing huh?

Anyway....Central America and all of its peculiarities don't cease to amaze me. I'm made fun of for lawn furniture in my bedroom and suicide showers. Today at my old apartment, where friends of mine now live, there was a nasty sounding snake found in the doorway, literally of their apartment. Black with yellow or red or yellow and red diamonds on it. Small head. Literally between the wooden door that gets shut and the iron gate that sits outside of the door. I've found large frogs/toads in my kitchen sink and under my sink, I've had cockroach madness, and I've seen stingrays in the water, hell, I've even seen a snake on the beach and in the rainforest, but never in between my two doors at my apartment. Creepy. Last night I was sitting in my bed and I saw an ant carrying a small (but bigger than the ant) dead black crunchy looking spider across my wall. The circle of life won, I killed it with my shoe. That won't stop more from wandering around in my house in the jungle.

My favorite store, wait, no, my favorite two stores here are the Libreria and Gollo. The Libreria is kind of a mix between a toy store, a paper store and a craft store. But you can get all sorts of stuff there if you know what they have. Backpacks, toys, games, wrapping paper, notebooks, coloring books, crayons, erasers, drawing paper, paint, glitter, learn Spanish books, Costa Rica hand held flags, memory sticks and SD cards, adapter for international plugs, pens, graph paper, music paper, all sorts of fun crafty stuff. Gollo is magic. I bought a mirror for $8 where the hardware store (Ferreteria) wanted $40 for a cheap flimsy mirror. Gollo is the answer to every cost effective person's dream in Jaco. Ashtrays, makeup, dog beds, closet organizers, candle holders, towels, linens....i guess it's just like a walmart or target but cheaper and smaller. Hard to explain, kinda like a dollar store.

Yep, now I lay in my bed and look at my beautiful green surfboard and hope that I can get all my work done so I can go surfing soon. It's very interesting to reflect on how I felt when I left Jaco and how I felt when I arrived in Chicago and how I felt when I left Chicago and now how I feel upon my arrival in Jaco this time. I've met new people, got to know others that I felt farther away from before whom now I am closer to, both here and back home. Life is so interesting isn't it? Kinda had a doldrum day but thinking about how weird and fun life is makes me remember, and laugh. :)

Sleepy Daze Blogger Madness

My job is not hard. It simply requires me to post 20 blog entries a day. Currently its 10:30 and I'm on posting #4 with a 2 year old on my lap. It's no different in Chicago. Friends call, they stop by, they want to gchat, I distract myself with boxes to pack. Hmmmm...it's REALLY hard to tell the kids no, that if they let me be for three hours I can play with them the rest of the day. They don't understand that concept and I hate trying to explain it because all I WANT to do is play with them. Speedy blogging speedy blogging today Staci!

Guess that means I shouldn't be posting on here. But I want to. So I am. I am on my computer now. Meaning not the mini Dell, the nice big functioning Dell. It is soooooo nice. I miss it. I have to start my sister's computer over first before we trade computers back but I can't WAIT for the day.

Going for surf and turf tonight. Lobster and steak. I'm excited. I supposed other than that I don't have much surface talk to talk about. I always have something more observant or poignant to say, but that could take hours, of which I don't have right now. Usually I think of things as they are occurring and then forget when I want to blog. Still looking for something to give readers a laugh. I seem to recall busting a gut yesterday but I'll have to remember what it was about. Until then, keep it real. I'll give y'all full status reports of Innnddiaaana....ohhhh and there will be an earful that's for sure!

My Life The Earthquake

For those of you who didn't know, I witnessed my first earthquake in Costa Rica. It wasn't damaging and I didn't know what was happening until it was over. It felt like vertigo. I'm using this parallel to describe my life right now. My life is not an 8.2 on the richter scale, but I definitely feel vertigo between the two worlds I'm living in. As I've said before, I don't feel weird being home but...how to clarify...the anxiety level I used to experience here has returned. I didn't sleep but two hours last night. My mind is here, in Chicago, trying to keep everything paid and in balance, in addition to work and seeing family and friends. All of this is stressful enough, just in a normal sort of way but at the same time I have anxiety about returning to Costa Rica. I won't get into the reasons, but I have them. All I wanted when I came home to Chicago was to feel comfortable, at home, no stresses. The same is what I want in Costa Rica. In fact, home is supposed to be a comfort zone. That neutral zone when you can shed everything else and slip into your own. I'm very sensitive to energy and home is one of the most important places to create positive energy. If that is off balance, I am off balance and it's not such a great time.

On another front, I am going to Indiana in about ten minutes. Going to have to finish this now or I will miss the train. I'm already late but that's because I barely slept last night. I have 25 posts to do and my brain is all over the scene. This is one thing I like about CR. I don't have all of these things to think about. The here and the now is much easier there. Can't wait to go camping and drink some whiskey, dance with some hillbilly's and rock out to some GREAT music. Pictures to follow my friends.....sorry no funny, witty stuff today. Not a lot of time but wanted to say hi!

Perspective

Back to the perspective thing. Maybe this won't be a book. I'm reflecting on my writings and they just seem like journal entries to me. But I do have another idea for another book and I'm still going to pursue my initial concept of All In Rhythm hence "Perspective". I don't know where any of it is going....I just want to write. Perhaps I will be dispensing a dose of my own medicine as I write about perspective so take note, I'm probably the most self-aware person you know. When I step outside who I am to logically speak about an issue, I'm aware that it's easier said than done so I'll call myself out on it when necessary.

Dictionary definition:

the state of one's ideas, a mental view or prospect: example: the dismal perspective of terminally ill patients.

Soooo....really the idea of quantum physics ties into perspective and reality. Yes, I just went there. I have always known that the mind is much more powerful than people give it credit for. There was a large chunk of my life where I pushed away all of the things I had believed from birth to say maybe age 25....somewhere along the way I thought it was all poppycock. But since graduating ....maybe like 2003 and experiencing the real world....there's a reason why they say be careful what you wish for. Because your mind, not God or Allah is what creates your world. Finish thoughts later, late for train. peace and love my young padouins.

Perspective & Booty Pops

Before I meander into the rantings of my mind, let me ask you WHAT THE HELL IS A BOOTY POP? I know WHAT it is, but the real question is WHY? Ok ok ok, I get it. America is the capitalist pig nation of consumers and sellers, one wanting to always look like or be someone who they are not and the other wanting to make as much money as possible. I get it. But why in the hell are they advertising for a fake booty in the Bed, Bath & Beyond weekly flyer that comes in the newspaper? I'm dumbfounded. Seriously. Thank you parents for endowing me with a perfectly nice and round booty. I would be so embarrassed if I had to wear a Booty Pop!



Whew. There's a lot going on. I've been back in Chicago foooor....six days now. It's been difficult to get into a routine for my job in online reputation management. A combination of the air conditioning, my nice comfortable bed and the daunting number of tasks I have to accomplish before leaving for Costa Rica again makes my head spin. But as usual, I manage. Today I was given a new responsibility and my pay will increase by $100 more a month! That may not seem like a lot, but when you are operating on nearly nothing, it means the world (and food in my stomach) to me!

One this is for sure, being home has opened up a whole new set of realizations about myself, my friends, and how I want to live my life versus how I was living it before. I've ended friendships, I've chosen my own path and I've done things other people will consider insane forever. And I am still here to tell the story.

Anyway...Chicago is alive and well. The only wheels I have are rollerblades so my legs are gonna be hot hot hot when I'm done with this city. :) Surfing and rollerblading....GOOD combinations for exercise! I've been to High Dive, Streetside, and tonight I am getting a six pack with Katie and we are going to study Spanish in the park. My intellectual muscle is being flexed with vigor and I am very happy about that. I am dying to get to Indiana and give my nephews a BIG GIANT hug and sloppy sloppy kisses. I don't think I am going to let them go. They might just be hanging on my back when I get back to Costa Rica. Oh how I would love to teach Karlo how to surf. My little man. Love you Karlo!

All in all, everyone has shown me the love. At my barbeque Katie held for my return there were best friends of mine who hadn't even met other best friends of mine. How does that happen? I start to realize that I am like the social glue sometimes. It's a good feeling, but I hope everyone continues to remain family in my absence.

Still prosing and writing more for my book in my head. Perhaps tomorrow I will get on with the "Perspectives" chapter. What is life than merely the perspective you see it through? :)

I will have gas on Saturday! Hot bath, meal in the oven....new roommate. Life is good.

Sweet Home Chicago

Everyone keeps asking me if it's weird to be home. The answer in short is no. The longer answer is yes. lol. Yesterday was pleasant. I ran into a friend from Jaco going to San Jose with his girlfriend and the 2 hour ride to the airport flew by. On the plane, a very smart little 6 year old girl talked my ear off. Actually, we had a mutual conversation. She quizzed me on some things....I got all the answers right and she gave me a piece of gum as the prize. She sang me a song in Afrikaan and French. She speaks English, French and Spanish. She told me three boys like her at school and gave me dating advice. We talked about all the places we had been in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. She was matter of fact about her trip to Panama. Told me her mom had been to Egypt and she was really impressed with her mom. We exchanged email addresses! Turns out her mom is from Spain and is a professor to keep her visa here. Nice people.

On the second plane a four year old was on his way to China and was commenting on being on a plane. I can't hear you there's something in my ears (ears popping). Then he started going whoaa whoaa whoaaa why is the plane falling? (as it was turning). Needless to say he kept me occupied.

Home still looks like home, minus a few plants and herbs and not knowing where some of my stuff is but for the most part it's home. I would like to cook but have no gas. What to do, what to do? I am going to splurge and go to my favorite taco joint in Chicago. Of which I can't remember the name, EVER, but luckily I remember where it is. I'm glad it's Saturday. I'm going to catch up on work, rifle through all of my things, enjoy my yellow living room and take a cold shower! I'll get around to fixing computer viruses and stuff LATER. :)