THIS IS MY BASIL

or is it my catnip? basil may have died. either way, Maria, I too have basil. It's a basil with no name.

Really busy, pretty boring.

Sorry yall. I am tired, worn out, worked hard. No days off, busy busy boat. Not complaining though,because most boaties are only working 3 days a week this time of year. I am going to try to get a car this week so I can start getting up an hour later in the morning and driving myself to work, going to the store whenever I have to instead of waiting till my landlords need to go and hitching a ride with them, and I want to have it for when the Fam comes to visit so they only have to rent a small car or jeep and we can just buzz around in 2 cars instead of a big uncool van. :) I am also busy doing research on charter boats in my area. I want to take my family out sailing for the day but that is proving to be a difficult task. Most boats in my price range are 6 pac boats, which means they can only carry 6 passengers. We have 7. I found a cool boat that goes out of Virgin Gorda but getting back to Tortola to catch the ferry to St Thomas is proving to be a problem. I just want us to all have one day of sailing together and the rest of the time they can just do whatever the heck they want to. ok its like 8pm, past my bedtime. Gotta go to sleeeeeeep. We have a private charter tomorrow, big bucks. Hopefully. Look at this "ponytail", more like a big fat dreadlock. Its horrible. I washed my hair and couldnt get the brush through it. So I haven't tried again. That was 4 days ago. I need to put some serious conditioner on it an brush it out. Akim (my coworker) wants to dred it for me, he says "oh yah Julie (he calls me julie, his west indian accent cant pronounce jO, too much effort) you harr lock up good nah." That means my hair is able to "lock" like black hair. wow. :)

uh huh

more cat pictures

been busy

workin tired. working. working. in between i have been having all night dance parties with brandon. and sometimes i hang out with my "non romantic life partner" AKA Dale my gay boyfriend. damn things are looking up; but i cut my pinky open on the boat today. hope i dont get staph.In other news, my neighbor Warren died yesterday. It was really sad. He was like in his 70's and I talk to him every day. He came and played in the pool every day. He also fed all the stray cats. Now Im not talkin like he fed them leftovers, Im sayin, he made them each their own little plastic bowl of food covered by a piece of tin foil and then he would have them all come over and sit outside his house by his chair and eat dinner. so we always have these plastic pie plates and foil blowing about, but now i guess we dont have to worry about that anymore. so sad. those kittys are gonna die. guess they will have to eat crabs like the rest of the homies. story goes, warren didnt show up for work so they called him, he didnt answer so they went to his house, no answer, got the landlord to open the door, found him slap dead on his bed, shampoo in hand. apparently he was gettin ready for work and just had a heart attack. bad news is he was most of the population of frenchtown's lawyer. dunno what they are gonna do now. honestly I was gonna have him look over my realestate contract when i decide to go on with that. damn. gonna miss him. night night. i can hear the kittys crying. no joke.

My friend Brandon's brother's tatoo!

El Chupacabra!!!! I found my soul mate!!!!

And this is where I will live, when I retire to my West Texas Desert homestead.

Tumbleweed Tiny Houses are so cool! I will live in this one, called the Loring. It is 251 square feet. Can you imagine how much fun you could have planting and maintaining a massive garden if you didn't have to worry about spending all day cleaning your massive house? I just can't wait. I will build it myself. :)

Good Morning St. Thomas and the rest of the world!

more cat pictures

Great! Now what? The hits keep a commin!!!

Apparently the Stripling famliy has sold Curb Checkers, my favorite bar in Texas, as you can see by clicking the link on the right. No one even called or emailed to tell me. I sure am feeling the love today. I basically grew up in that bar, from when I was 18 to when I turned 21 I was there every night or pretty close to it. The Stripling family is like my family. I feel so out of the loop. I guess that's what I get for running off to the Caribbean.

this is me, in the middle with randi on the right at the Curb in 2002 probably. Thats from the bar website. we were rockstars.

Soundtrack for life at this hour.

I had a dream.

About my Mema and Papa's house. I don't know why I am writing about it, but It happened like 2 months about and I am still thinking about it. I was walking down their street, Sunset Blvd. I think it was, in the middle of the night and I walk up to the sidewalk at the street. And I just stand there and look at the house. And I remember all the fun times and happy memories I had there and I start to cry and I sit on the steps of the house right under where the mail box used to be attached to the siding, and this lady comes outside and asks me if I am ok. And instead of explaining why I am crying on her front porch I just say that I am fine and that I am only early to repaint her address on the curb and the other painters will be there soon. I also tell her that her phone number used to be FE 71156 but she doesn't know what I am talking about, and I just keep on crying and walk down to the taco villa. I remember waterballons and painting turtle shells with fingernail polish in the back yard. And locusts in my shoes. And that only reminds me how angry I am at my uncle for abandoning me and my brother and my aunt and how I can never forgive him. Now I am really sad tonight. I am going to sit in the shower and try to breathe a little. I think I overwhelmed myself with future plans which caused me to revert into past issues I have yet to deal with. Breathe in. Breathe out. I can't believe I am going to post this crap. Now we know why blogging can be detrimental to your life.

:) like U mean it.

I feel like life personified.

Tonight, everything is so clear and exciting! I have potential. I have a choice. I can buy land. Why not. I know the taxes. I can do this. I am building my empire! hahah! just kidding. But honestly. I really want a big area of west texas for my very own. I don't care if eventually its "worthless" at least it will be mine. I can build a shanty out there and live life and love life and not worry about a thing. I get to talk to all kinds of people on the boat every day, most of them are successful real estate agents or bankers and I have been running my plan over with them for a month or so and I get the same reaction from them all, " land is never a bad idea" even if i don't have a thing on the land one of these days someone is going to want it, and i better get the mineral rights while im at it, when they come around and tell me they want 10 million for my little plot you better believe I may think about it. Anyway. I am babbling. Have you ever had a moment where you feel like you breathe a little deeper, think a little clearer and see a little farther? I just feel like I am finally growing up. Which I never wanted to do. I don't want to do it but it's happening anyway. I find myself being less inclined to go out and party on a night off, more concerned with how much I can save by staying in and drinking free rum. Ces't la vie. Ah yes I am still practicing my french. I wanna go to Paris next year and I don't want to be the "loser texan that cant speak french" because I have seen first hand how people treat "texans" out of the country. Australia was nice for the most part but I have never been treated so rudely in all my life when the occasion called for it on their terms. Thank god for my friend Jessica! Love you lady! Ok, I am going to sit here on the deck and swat mosquitos and fend off dengay fever. love ya.

Smile like you mean it!

"Save some face, you know you've only got one, change your ways, while you're young." - The Killers.
Today is a very splendid day indeed, in the distance across the harbor I can hear the erratic beat of soca rhythms.... there is a party on the waterfront tonight. That's not the splendid news... the splendid news is (i used splendid too many times there) my Gay Boyfriend Dale is NOT leaving the island and we can now proceed to be together forever! Yay! We are like Will and Grace on an Island minus the sugar mama and flaming queen sidekicks. I really wish we had a Karen... I had a lovely day at work today and came home to fix myself some "sizzle and serve" maple sausages. Yeah, that was my dinner. Not very healthy but hey I hav'nt been to the store in ages. Next up, ramen! In other news, I have contacted a realtor in west texas specializing in selling land in the middle of nowhere and I am lookin to buy. I just want about 20 acres that i can call my own in the middle of freaking nowhere! and at 400 bucks an acre i may just be able to afford it. catch yall on the flip side!

Here she is!!!

This is Ms Cleta! If you recall I told you our 2 favorite passengers came out on the boat the other day, Cleta and Wayne, well come to find out Cleta was MS Virgin Islands Senior this year in the Carnival Parade! Wayne sent me a picture and I thought you should all see her! Hello Cleta and Wayne! Isn't she lovely?!??!?!

Its official!

I am an official resident of St. Thomas in the USVI! I got my license yesterday! It took about an hour which is surprisingly short! Then I lost a hundred dollar bill after cashing my paycheck. Yeah that sucks. But hey, they come and they go. In other news I hung out with Mango, we went to a birthday party for someone, I can't remember who because I was pretty drunk by that point, then we came back to this side of the island and hung out at Offshore Bar for a while before he started getting all kissy and I snuck out the back door and caught a cab home. I am such a bitch. So it's still proving to be a challenge being friends with the Mango.

She a sea urchin wranglah!

My past two days at work...

This is Akim. He is my coworker. He was "bawn ya" as they say. Thats "born here" in stateside chat. Akim and I have become very good friends, we have been workin together since March when I started on Limnos and we have had some fun times! Yesterday we had a private charter and Instead of doing our normal trip to Virgin Gorda and Norman Island we went snorkeling at Water Lemon Key off St. John, cleared customs in Tortola, went to Peter Island for lunch at the Peter Island Resort then over to Jost Van Dyke for the afternoon! We dropped the folks back at the Ritz where we picked them up and went back to our marina. Today we just had our normal trip but two of our favorite guests came out, Cleta and Wayne! They brought their daughter and granddaughter and we all had a wonderful time. I have taken to picking up sea creatures for the enjoyment of our guests and of course to make some extra tips, so my boss Capt. Clement snapped a quick pic of my with my friend Spikey the Sea Urchin. I love Spikey. There was an octopus sighting today but personally... I don't know what other defenses the octo has other than hickeys and ink, so I didn't touch him. So basically I am fondling sea creatures for the customer's amusement.

Dinner and a movie.

Well, my legs hurt! No pain no gain I guess. It's a lovely evening on the island and I just got finished cooking up a big pot of red beans and rice, grilled up some chicken on the grill by the pool, sliced it up and threw it in the pot with the red beans and rice and ate a big scoop for dinner! It's early, 5:15 now, but I figure if I eat early my food will digest and not sit in my tummy turning into fat while I sleep. While I was cooking up the RB&R, one of the local Frenchy homeless guys walked by my window and hollered "oh girl dat pot smellin good ya know!", I know this guy, he does a little work around the property for Doug every once in a while, cuts banana tree leaves out of walkways, climbs coconut trees to chop the ripe coconuts down so they don't fall on anyone, etc. Now as some of you may know, cooking for one is just no fun, and here I was with a big ole bubblin pot of cajun fare and no one to share with. So I started looking for Ratty, thats the Frenchy's name, but I couldn't find him. Maybe I will see him later. I fixed him up a plate. In other news, tomorrow we have a private charter! Me and Akim will be working and we will take the people to Virgin Gorda like we always do then they want to have lunch at the Peter Island Resort which is like 1000 bucks a night and the restaurant is freakin expensive too! They better buy us lunch... I am headed back up to my room to catch a flick and call it a night. OH! There is Ratty! Gotta go!

Running for my life!

This morning I woke up at 8:30am, snoozed for another hour, put my running shoes on and did my best impression of those freaks you see running down the road looking all fit and sweaty. I ran all the way to Nisky Center and back, walking of course every once in a while when I felt like I was about to die. All in all I am very proud of myself! I feel good. my shins are a little achy but i think its because I didn't stretch before I ran. How does one stretch a shin? Well, by the time I got back I was so hot and tired that I took my ipod and my shoes off and fell fully clothed straight into the pool. It felt so amazing. Then I stretched and put my swimsuit on and came down to the deck to blog. Just now Jill came out and told me to come in and have breakfast, its 11am, I am going! I am going to try to keep doing the running thing, I started doing the sit ups and push ups thing I was doing while I was in Australia again last night while watching the new CBS sunday UFC thing, I tell ya, I just love MMA. Makes me wanna get all tough and punch things! They had a chick fight on last night too and man, I don't ever wanna be in the ring with that Gina Carano chick. She's all pretty and sweet in the interviews and then BAM! You should see what she did to the other girl's face! I'm all pumped up and ready to rock! Time for brekky!

This book may be a bad influence...

Like I need one! Things I have learned so far: Betty Crocker is evil and must be taken out, Be particular, and "Live every day like you have all day tomorrow to apologize."

Like I said, this may be bad. :)

What I'm reading.

why naut?
its actually a box set, 2 sweet potato queens books and one big ass sweet potato queens cookbook and financial planner.
we shall see.

OH my freakin gosh holy crap wow.

I got this link from my Capt. and I am not even gonna post the article and pic on my blog because its so horrifying. If you wanna see it click the link. Its a true honest to god boating accident, picture is in the emergency room. http://bbcboards.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=250185

From my time in Tortola

Meg just sent me some pics of me from last year when we lived in Tortola. Thought you might like to see them. The big chess game and A Hoe! Ha!

Pirates be in ye harbor!

Whew! What a long week. I have been working every day because the island is busy again! Woo hoo! I have been swimming with spotted eagle rays and sea turtles and I have even started picking up white spiny sea urchins. Mango taught me how to pick them up when we went diving and I finally got the guts to try it myself at Norman Island the other day. I was so nervous when I dove down to touch it, I was praying oh please don't hurt me! I picked it up and it just feels like a bunch of toothpicks! The passengers on the boat loved it and I let everyone hold it. I met some really cool people from San Marcos TX on the boat, Brian and Elizabeth! Hello guys! They are now going to follow my blog too, they shot some video of me at work so hopefully I will be able to post that here. I am tired today, I spent all day hanging out with Doug and Jill on the waterfront. Doug's new company is doing Pirate Harbor Tours and shuttling cruise ship people from the ship to town and back. It's a really cool trip. Way better than riding in a stinky cab and sitting in traffic. I have a feeling it will do very well. This is only their second day so for them to be so good at it already is amazing! In other news, Akim is back at work! Yay! Akim has been out of commission for a couple of months so its nice to have him back. In celebration we had dinner at the Mafolie Hotel last night and it was delicious! We hung out at Betsy's bar after for a bit then I went home. I am still in the market for a car, still saving my money and working as much as possible. It's saturday night and I am going to sit at home alone and watch movies, cuz its cheap. I am also moving back in to my apartment this weekend because they have patched up the holes they jackhammered out of my wall and I have to clean up all their dust that has settled. What a mess. This is a picture of Akim at work, I told him he has to smile or I cant see him... :)

I am here I am here!

So tired, working constantly which is great! No time to write. I love mom nita and maria! So happy to hear from yall. Season is in full swing again for some reason. I am going to bed but I will write and ketch up tomorrow cuz I have the day off!

Bored on the inside!

This evening has been a normal evening by any definition. But I have learned a few things. Number one, I don't like living in this hotel room while my apt. gets fixed. I don't know if I told yall or not but on tuesday of last week I was awoken (is that a word?) by plumbers wanting to knock my bathroom wall out to replace century old copper plumbing. They are still not done, and I have been living in room 12 since they started. Room 12 is lovely, 2 double beds, a bathroom a shower, mini fridge, microwave, tv with entertainment center and a desk! But what has been bothering me is, the space. There is too much. Its a big room and there is alot of open air! I miss my little house, where there is only room for my futon, a chair and my barstools. It is so cozy. I don't think I could ever learn to live BIG again. Small is cool. When you live in a small space you learn to love it. You only buy things you love instead of things to fill up the space. I went to the grocery store last night and bought a little food and when I stopped by my little casa to put the food in the fridge I realized how much I missed it. I miss my blue and brown walls, that I so painstakingly plastered and fixed and painted and repainted after the waterfall incident of 2008. I worked so hard. Those plumbers knocked a huge hole in my shower wall, they laid outside pvc plumbing over my art. They are supposed to come tomorrow and fix the wall so I can move back in. I will have to spend all day cleaning up because they jackhammered through the wall and there is a layer of dust on everything I own. I am venting. I'm sorry but damn. It's one thing after another. You know what? I should be counting my blessings, I am lucky that this is the worst thing going on in my life. I should delete this. lsadjflkdjsglkhdghsadlkglksdfals!!!!! Damn. I just want to go back to my little casa. Tomorrow is the big Memorial day party here at V.O. and it's a potluck! Should I cook something? All I have is frozen chicken breast and red beans and rice. Can I mix those together? Maybe grill up the chicken and slice it and toss it with the red beans and rice... hmmm.... That would mean waking up early and cooking instead of waking up early and running... we shall see. In other news, I bought 3 movies the day I bought the new shoes. Don Juan de Marco, Captain Ron, and Fried Green Tomatoes. Note to self: don't watch Fried Green Tomatoes when you have even the hint of sadness in you, even sober! Which I was. I watched it last night and cried and cried and cried like my best friend died when Mary-Louise Parker's character passed away. OH my! I'm surprised Dwayne didn't hear me in room 11! I think I need to do some yoga. OH yeah! Mom please bring the Yoga Booty Ballet when you come, that would be great! I sure hope - I have no idea what I was going to say there. I was in a daze. Ok gotta go! Happy Memorial Day! Enjoy your day!

That is the floorplan of my tiny hacienda! I love it. you may have to click on the question mark to see the page.

It was a dark calm night...

Well, it IS actually. Barely a breeze to ruffle a palm frond. Lovely though, warm, a bit muggy, but dry. I didn't go running, I decided to eat my dinner at about 6 and I felt to heavy and blah I couldn't force myself to go. I talked to my aunt Nita on the phone for a good long while which was nice, and I went to the store to see Dale. My gay boyfriend. He is leaving me on the 28th to move back to San Fransisco to live with his new lawyer boyfriend. I'm going to miss him so much. Oh whats that I hear in the distance??? Cats fighting. Oh you know what??? I was just coming home from the store and when I went to open my door, something in the bushes right next to me ran off up the hillside! It was big and loud and it scared the shitake out of me!!! You know what I think it was? THE CHUPACABRA!!! Now if you don't know me you wouldn't know my love for the Chupacabra or "goat sucker" in english. I have had a fascination with it since childhood. The legend of the Chupacabra started way back in the day in Puerto Rico which is of course only 35 or so miles from here. Well long story short I think I'm being watched by the Chupacabra, which would be an improvement considering what has been watching me lately. Drunks and losers. Anyway, the bats are out tonight munching on mosquitos, I love to watch them swoop down over the pool and flitter around. They get so close to me I am afraid they will get stuck in my dreadlocks. So I just told my neighbor Dwayne about the Chupacabra, he looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Have I ever told you you are weird?" I just nodded and continued typing. I told him to watch out because Chester the Chupacabra doesn't like non believers.

YOU DON'T WANT THIS LIFE!!! har.

So, yesterday I went back to work after my long paid vacation, and it was a great day! Made big money and had fun with my capt. and crew. I wish all people knew how to tip properly on a boat. These people did. Awesome. So I came home knowing I didn't have to work today and I didn't even go out! I have been de-toxing for the past 4 days and I really can't tell if I feel better or worse. All I know is I am saving money. I did however spend 90 bucks on something I really needed. Shoes. Yeah I haven't worn a pair of actual running shoes with laces or any shoes other than flip flops and crocs in almost a year. I decided to buy some awesome nike shox and I want to find a gym that teaches boxing! I took a boxing class in Australia and it nearly killed me but I am in way better shape than I was there so I want to try it again. I really love punching things. And I have a lot of pent up frustration I need to take out on something other than a bottle of rum. Besides all that, I love my life! I woke up whenever I felt like it today and put my swim suit on, walked fifteen steps straight into the pool. I floated on a raft for an hour or so in the hot sun and felt invigorated! Went downstairs and chatted with Jill and Doug for a while then went to my room and watched a little of Silence of the Lambs while eating a big dill pickle. My afternoon snack. Oh yeah somewhere in there I had lunch, a slimfast. I feel like I am alot more active these days but the weight is not coming off anymore. So I am going running/jogging/walking/possibly passing out this afternoon. I have these cool new shoes so I better use them! Now I am lounging on the pool deck listening to the waves crash on the shore. Just saw a coconut fall out of a tree, sure glad I wasn't walking under it. You know that you are more likely to die from a coconut falling on your head that in a car crash in the Caribbean? Seems true. I have been thinking about my so called love life. I don't go out with the guys that ask me for millions of reasons, the other one is simple. IM FREAKING ANGRY! I don't ever talk about the stupid asshole that hurt my feelings this year because I'm trying to pretend it never happened! He freaking left the island, nay the country and didn't even say goodbye!!!! Guess that shows me just how much he cared and more importantly what a fing liar he is! HE WENT TO ENGLAND!!!! I'm telling you, as soon as I found out he was home schooled I should have run the other way. CRAZY PEOPLE!!!! I don't want to give anyone else the chance to hurt me. Not worth it. And now I'm sad because I feel like I never see my friends. Or rather they don't ever call or want to hang out. Thats what really hurts. I call and they don't call back. I feel like a big loser. I understand we are all so busy in our island lives but for fuchs sake, when your friend calls you, call them back. I heard this horrible story once about this girl calling her friend and leaving a message just to chat and the girl didn't call back and the next morning they found the friend dead! She killed herself and left a note that said "I wish you would have called sooner." BAAAAAHHHHHH! THATS SCARY! So I always call my friends back because you never know what's going on in their lives. I'm not saying I would do that at all you all know me better than that I'm just saying people don't appreciate friendship. I made cheese dip! I also bought some ruffles potato chips and for dinner tonight I am having a ham sandwich with mustard and cheese dip just like I used to at home. I can't wait. (random!) In other news, I finally brushed my hair. I think I let it go for a week this time, I had a dreadlock. It was so hard to get untangled I contemplated just dreading my hair. This guy named Spicoli said he would do it for me if I needed help. The thing is, my hair is constantly getting tangled, I am in the wind on the boat all day and unless I wear it in a bun (lame granny style) it becomes one big dread at the end of the day, and I just get in the shower when I get home and wash it and go to bed. I don't brush it out or anything. Maybe I'm lazy. Someone somewhere in the world is contemplating politics and agendas, here I am contemplating the pros and cons of letting my hair dreadlock. You don't want this life! :)

Some recent pics of me and my friends at the beach!

Me, Crystal, Dwayne and Dale. Dale being the genius party planner that he is, arranged to get a little generator and a boombox, a few bottles of booze, some sake, smirnoff ice, NIGHT TRAIN, ice and coca cola, a couple of styrofoam coolers and wonton quart cups for drinking receptacles. When you drink out of giant wonton cups nobody bothers to ask if you are having a good time, they already know.

Must get one of these...

Thataway I won't feel like a bum when I have days off. Coz I really will sit around and do absolutely nothing if I let myself. Must stay productive!

KRIKEY! Am I glad I left Melbourne before they pulled this crap!!!

Snatched off Bryan Boy's blog, referred by Ferroever, kid tested, mother approved.

http://www.melbournelockedout.com

On forced paid vacation.

Gets really mooring. This being slow season and all, I am trying to find things to do for free, and now that I have "broken" my new friend with a dingy's "heart", I have no way to buzz around the islands and socialize for cheap cheep cheep! Instead I have spent 16 dollars on taxi's to and from Magen's bay tuesday, 4 dollars on safari yesterday to get to the marina where I tried to pick up my paycheck but sadly there was no one in la oficina. But the trip wasn't for nothing, on my hike back up the gravel road to the main road the manager of VIP Yachts picked me up and gave me a ride all the way into Tutu where I caught safari and went home. You may be thinking, well that doesn't sound like much to get excited about but wait... Pamela and I chatted about boats and my boating experience and since she has been here for 15 years she knows it's the slow season, she asked me if I would be interested in doing any boat cleaning for her on my days off. WOO HOO! Cleaning boats can be big bucks. She also asked if I could cook, which I am noooooo chef, so I said NO! But she said honestly they only have 2 trained chefs in the whole company, everyone else is just a normal cook. They have recipies for all the meals they cook on charter and said if I ever have a week off she would like to have me work private charters for them! WOW! Then she said what I was thinking, "I knew there was a reason I plucked you off the side of the road! Everything happens for a reason." I gave her my number and she is supposed to call me tomorrow. Sometimes I feel like I must be doing something right. Things always work out in my life, even when it looks pretty bad. That's why I always say "Everything will be alright in the end, if it's not alright it's not the end!" Not that anything is wrong with my life at the moment, I'm just sayin is all. So yeah, I have been off work all week because my boss took the boat to Tortola for some unknown reason, maybe he will tell me all about it when they get back but at this point I think we may be getting a new boat! He has been on the phone alot with a guy in Mexico I think, who has a boat similar to ours. I'm totally going out on a limb with that because I only eavesdropped a little bit... But the coolest thing is that my boss called me on Tuesday and told me he was taking the boat but not to worry because he would pay me our normal daily rate of pay for the whole time he was gone! Wow! Thats unheard of here. Anywhere really. Jill thinks he really appreciates me and doesn't want to loose me. It's coz I rock. OH why did I eat a McDonald's sausage biscuit this morning??? My tummy is not happy. Oh also, I've decided to take a few days off from drinking, all these days off in a row spells trouble when you don't have to get up at 5am. I'm ready to get back on my schedule, I usually only drink 2 nights a week but this pirate life I have been living this week is tooooo much! I'm sticking with water and cran-grape juice for a while. (My favorite juice is Ocean Spray Cran-Grape by the way if you were wondering.) I have also decided to spend all day on Google Earth spying on unsuspecting polynesians. Just checking out the anchorages and tiki bars for my eventual arrival.

As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like the sun across the seeeerrrrrrrengettiiiiiiii!

Carnival this year... well kinda...

I have been trying to find video of the AMAZING rising stars steel pan band from this year but i cant. so this is last year... please take the time and let the video load. way worth it. its was amazing.

HEEEEHEHEHEHHEHEEEEEEEEE

WALRUS WALRUS WALRUS!!!!

This is what happens when you take me and my crew to a "yacht crew" social event.... I get tired of pretentious assholes and make a scene... :) This is an infamous pic SEE THE VIDEO BELOW FOR MORE INFO....

Walrus Walrus Walrus!!!!

If you wanted drama and excitement!!!!

Here ya go. I went on my "date"with mango. He picked me up at the dingy dock with his captain in the boat and tries to sneak a kiss on me as to wich I put my hand on his face and push him away... rude bitch i know. but i told him none of that. so Jim makes a joke out of it and leans over and tries to kiss me and we all laugh. We drop Jim off at his boat then go to Water Island to the movie night but we are early so we sit on the beach for a while where Mango starts to quiz me on "whats up with US?" A.K.A. The most terrifying thing you can ask me. I'm like, "We are friends mango." He starts accusing me of being weird and not looking at him in the eye and I'm like "stop looking at me like that!!!" We decide to go back to STT to have a drink at Tickles in Crown Bay while we wait for the festivities to begin on Water Island. We get there and I realize that Mango has probably been drinking all day and I am waaaaaaaay behind on the alcohol intake, so I think its probably not a good idea to go with him back to water island in the dingy at night and back after the movie since we will both probably be drunk by then. To make matters worse he keeps asking me about US. Which I made perfectly clear since the beginning of us hanging out there was no such thing! All I wanted was someone I could hang out with on my days off that was fun and that I enjoy being around and that was him until yesterday. So at Tickles he decides to drop the bomb, the L word people. Now mind you, I have known him for a long time but just recently started hanging out with him, I'm going Mango don't be silly. You are just drunk. You don't feel that way. He goes on for an hour embarrassing me at the bar with people (the nosy fuckers that live on this island) listening to every word he says and me trying to make it clear that i really really want to be his friend nothing else, the bartender keeps giving me that sympathetic look. Finally the sun starts to set and he says It's time to go if I still want to go to the movie. I say I am tired and don't think I want to go, and that I will just wait for Dwayne to get off work (he works at crown bay) and we will ride home together. To this he says "Have a nice life." and storms off, not even in the correct direction, so by the time he realizes he needs to go the other way I have already cut him off and the pass and I am pissed off. I tell him "you know what i have put way too much time and effort into this friendship for you to fuck it up by being a selfish whore. you dont get out of this friendship that easily. sit your ass down." he is surprised and sits. We talked it out for a bit and left on a better note than originally happened, but we will see tomorrow. Im sure it will be fine and he was just drunk but damn. I have such a hard time finding friends that dont wanna do me. Thank god for Dwayne, he's my neighbor and roomate and buddy and I have just recently realized he is not gonna try anything sneaky with me cuz he loves me like a sister. Makes my life good. I know if i ever need anything Dwayne is only a holler away. Unfortunately he has me as the EVIL STEP SISTER who wants to know where he his and who he is with and i have to meet everyone he goes out with and approve before i let him outta the house... he loves it. So.... thats my day. Also Dwayne and I bar hopped this evening only to come home to a pool party being thrown by Danny, who also lives here, which is cool. I hope yall's day was as exciting but less dramatic than mine. Love yall! We need to skype maria!

Bah!

This is what you guys get today until something exciting happens.

these are freakin cracking me up.

How I feel on a daily basis at work.

Rude awakening!

Holy crap... I was trying to sleep in, at about 9am, NUDE, coz its hot, and coz i can, when I hear Doug my landlord hollering my name, and I hear other guys voices outside my room too. I manage a sleepy "yeah doug what?" He hollers through the door "sorry dude but these plumbers need to get in your room and do some work, i didnt know they were coming sorry" Im like "uh ok give me a minute." Seriously these guys stood outside my door as i throw on some clothes and grab my laptop and phone and open up the door. There are 4 worker guys standing there, "good morning" they say, i wanted to tell them to kiss my ass but i just walked by and into Jill and Doug's house, plopped down on my favorite chair and started to blog. BOY OH BOY I REALLY WANTED TO SLEEP THAT TEQUILA OFF! So, as if my morning wasn't traumatic enough, Doug tells me they have to knock my bathroom wall out to get to this old copper pipe that is leaking! I JUST FARKING PAINTED THAT BATHROOM I WORKED SO HARD ON THAT ROOM I CANT BELIEVE THIS!!!! I have to just roll with the punches. Looks like I will be staying in one of the guest rooms tonight. It's all good. They are jackhammering. I can hear it. I don't even wanna look at what they are doing. I will eventually have to go over there to get my stuff together for my "date" tonight. I think I should take a dip in the pool to clear my head. Oh wait, my suit is in my apartment. Scratch that idea. I need a nap. Gray Kitty sleeps through the jackhammering.

NO CHOICE I SAY!

For Maria!

Lucky I have a fake boyfriend who brings me bottles of booze... he knows the way to a woman's heart. Margaritaville Tequila...

Congrats to me. 100 posts!

Not much to write about except the fact that Killian, Dana and Alex all passed their captain's exams today and are legally allowed to drive us around the world in boats!!! One of these days I should take that test. Good job boys. In other news... like I said... the rumor mill upped production and from Mango and I hanging out one day we are now supposedly engaged! hahahhaha! fuckin great. no matter, we have another "date" tomorrow night to watch the beach movie on water island. I will take pics. should be good. its a movie called emerald forest about the rain forests in brazil and i feel like i have typed that before... hmmm..... well i gotta get to sleep and rest up for tomorrow. HANG IN THERE MARIA life will be so amazing when you get back to mexico, it will all be worth it in the end.

Ole pirates yes they rob I...

First time I've ever been political

I think he's fresh, young and cute. I would rather him be in the white house than that fuck bag oil hungry dumbass McCain. What a wack job. This is street art from nyc. look to the right and click on Wooster Collective in my links. Great street art from around the world. I got into it while I was in OZ. Melbourne is a breeding ground for street artists. Amazing stuff.

Just keep swimming just keep swimming....

I didn't get off the couch till 5pm. I was so hungover. Oh my. But when I managed to pry myself from the couch I showered and safari-d to the rum shack to nurse my hangover. I ran into Ian and we dingy'd back to Frenchtown where I live and went to Betsy's bar for food and drinks. When Ian's girlfriend Adrian met up they went home and I did too. Good idea because Mango and I will be going diving again in the morning. Whew! I just want to give a big shoutout to my mom. Its her Birthday!!!! HAPPY B DAY MOM! I LOVE YOU! When I talked to her and my aunt they sounded like they were having a great time. I can't wait till they come down to visit. Also, I got this dollar bill in the tip jar the other day that had a www.wheresgeorge.com stamp on it. so I entered it, apparently it came from Minnesota!

His name is Mango. He speaks 7 languages not one good.

More pics...

Friday!

We had a great day "date"! Let it be known that I am NOT dating Mango. If we hang out more than one time around here people start to talk. Let em gossip because I found a great runnin buddy! We started off our day towing Jill's sailboat over to its mooring in Honeymoon bay on Water Island which is the island just next to St. Thomas. After that we buzzed over to Sprat Bay and dove for a little while, we didn't find anything to shoot so we headed for some rock formations on the other side of the bay. Oh my gosh, it was the best snorkeling spot I have ever seen. I wish I had a waterproof camera so I could show you the fish and coral we saw! We also found a Lobster condominium! There were 15 small lobsters all under this one rock but they were too little to snare. We will let them grow up and then we will come back and get em! After diving for a couple of hours we decided to go back to Honeymoon Bay and have lunch. While we were eating lunch Mango's boss showed up and wanted our dingy! It's the company dingy so we have to do what the boss says, turns out he and his girlfriend and her sister and her sister's boyfriend wanted it to buzz over to Hassle island and walk the trail up to the fort that they just cleared. We decided to go with! We explored the main house at the water's edge which used to be a dry dock back in 1867. As we started up the trail we ran into a bunch of national park volunteers who were led a ranger of some kind. They were working on excavating the old yellow fever hospital half way up the mountain. The ranger offered to give us a quick tour of the main building so we agreed. He told us all about the island and the forts and what they were used for. After that we headed up the steepest trail ever in our flip flops and after about 15 mins of climbing we made it to the top. There were amazing views from the top! After resting up we headed down, took the 4 extra buddies back to the dock in St. Thomas and decided to go back to Water Island for cocktails and to catch the sunset. As we drank margaritas I remembered the small conch shell mango brought up for me earlier in the day, no one was inside the shell so I stuck it in my backpack. I reached into my bag and set the little shell on the table so I could take pictures of it. As I flipped it over to take a picture of the bottom side... PEEK A BOO! A crab! There was a damn crab in my backpack all day! It startled me, and I yelled "Mango there is someone at home in there!" So we put him back in the sea. After cocktails we went up the hill to Pirates Ridge where it just so happened to be all you can eat pizza night, stuffed our faces and headed back down the trail to the dingy. But not before we had another cocktail and sat on the beach for a while in the moonlight! How romantic. Bleh! :) It really was a fun day! Now Mango and I have another date for movie night on Monday at water Island, they are showing a movie called Emerald Forest which is about the rain forests in Brazil which is where Mango is from. So that should be fun too. I will get to posting pics...