Sumpin' Witty

The pace of life feels sluggish from the heat and humidity, the days feel slow (and so does the service) forcing you too to slow down, relax, get into the Pura Vida vibe. And at first it is so seductive.   You feel changed and liberated. Life feels more raw here, there is nature everywhere and all of the Costa Ricans you interact with on your two week vacation are just so happy and friendly. Did you know that Costa Rica made the list of the ten happiest countries again this year? You tell all of your friends when you get home, tan, sunkissed, and transformed by the tropical heat, the life pumping through you from the unfiltered beauty of the land.   And so you think you will move there, live that way always, really immerse yourself in the laid back, easy going lifestyle of Pura Vida.   Over the past twelve years I’ve watched person after person, seeker after seeker come to Costa Rica thinking that this place will change them, fix them, rescue them, save them a...

 And Here's Why You Probably Should This is not the advice that most people will tell you. This is not the advice that most people expect to hear. Most of us grew up with some kind of puritanical dogma of standing your ground, rising up to the challenges set before us, being a man and facing what comes head-on. But what if you flipped all that on its head and just... ran away? One of my best friends says in this life, you have to choose your hard. Now, I'm not saying that every time you face a problem or a difficult situation, you should change towns and change your name. But I am saying, choose your hard. Have a job you hate? Staying in that job will be hard. Quitting that job and walking into the unknown of finding a new job will be hard. Choose your hard.  Stuck in a bad relationship with a partner who hurts more than helps? A partner that makes you cry more than laugh? Staying will be hard. Leaving and starting over will be hard. Choose your hard.  Living in a place t...

I wish it wasn't true, but sometimes I still feel like a baby; an incredibly awkward, over-sized baby, when I want something that I can't have. I want to scream and shout and throw a fit, and throw things for real, and I want to get what I want, no matter what. But then, reality kicks in and I remember that I'm a grown up (I use the term grown up loosely as I indulge in cookies and wine as my dinner). I'm not a creepy big baby, and I have to accept that I can't always get what I want. I'm not having a pity party. I do appreciate my life and everything in it. I have a great life. My family is large, insane, generous, international and awesome. My friends are so beautiful that sometimes I cry just thinking about how amazing they are and how I would gladly die for so many of them. I am lucky to be a great relationship and to have had great relationships with beautiful souls in the past. I live in Costa Rica, my dream location that I worked ten years to get to. Ev...

Sunset at Playa Algodones I'm sitting outside on the patio of Departamentos Adlai, a cute little hotel in the northern Mexican state of Sonora, in the small town of San Carlos, along the Sea of Cortez. It is overcast at 10am, and I wonder if the clouds will burn off today. When I arrived yesterday, it was sunny, and we spent the afternoon at the beach, running up sand dunes and just barely getting our feet wet. The water is warm, warmer than it is in California that is, but still not that tropical, so-warm-it's-warmer-than-the-air, warm water that you might expect in Mexico. Today is day five of this epic trip that I am on, along with my boyfriend Jahsiah, one of my best friends, Timmy, and my two dogs, LaDainian and Isabelle. I'm not quite sure how I convinced everyone to join me on the drive to Costa Rica, especially since this isn't my first attempt at this, and let's just say the first attempt did not end in Costa Rica, nor did it end well. So, really it...

I just returned from Southern California, where I stayed with my sister, who lives in Irvine, so that I could participate in the family celebration of Thanksgiving. The majority of my Dad's family lives in Southern California, from Fullerton to Duarte, Irvine to San Gabriel, the whole lot is there, pretty much. As a child, I spent a few weeks every summer in Fullerton, staying at my Grandma and Grandpa's house. I loved those trips down there. What kid wouldn't? They owned their own theater company, The Fullerton Civic Light Opera , so the trip was always filled with musicals and shows. Being so close to Disneyland, Magic Mountain, Universal Studios, and Knott's Berry Farm, and having connections to people who worked at all the parks, we always got to hit up at least one theme park per trip. Then, there are the aunts and uncles who would spoil us with the Orange Country Fair, movies, eating out, can you think of a better vacation?! So, it's no surprise that when ...

My head is swimming now. It  is with many, mixed emotions that I write this. Today is November 1st, which to me signifies a few things. Fall is in full effect, Halloween, probably my favorite holiday is now 364 days away, and tomorrow, I turn another year older. These facts are true every November 1st. But this year, November 1st holds more significance. It's our Thursday night show of The Fantastiks, as we always have a Thursday night show during closing weekend, but I am not working. Elaine, the new Box Office Manager of The Altarena Playhouse is working her first solo shift to see if I have trained her well. See, she will be taking over my job, now that I am leaving for Costa Rica. So, in a way, tonight marks the end of an era for me. Even though I will work the rest of the weekend and close the show on November 4th with my Altarena family, tonight I feel the reality of this chapter ending, and a new one beginning. Another significant thing about today being November 1st is ...

Last night, Jahsiah and I watched an Australian movie entitled, Wish You Were Here . It told the story of two sisters who travel to Cambodia with their husband and new boyfriend, respectively. After a night of doing drugs and partying too hard, the boyfriend goes missing. I won't spoil the movie for anyone, as it was good and worth watching. For Jahsiah and I though, the movie was perhaps not the best thing to have watched last night, as we both felt uneasy and nervous afterwards. As I brushed my teeth, getting ready for bed right after the movie ended, I realized that we were leaving in approximatley 7 weeks. That's about 49 days (even though we don't have a set departure date). That's not very far away at all! And watching a movie about everything that can go wrong when traveling in a foreign, far-off land, well, that's a bad idea when you are about to do just that! We laid in bed like little kids the night before a trip to Magic Mountain or Disneyland. We were ...

I finally figured out what I'm good at. No, not just good at, great at. I'm a great host. Whether it's at work, where ever I'm working, or at my house, sometimes even other people's houses, I'm good at taking care of people and making them feel welcome. It's what I really like doing, and it turns out, I'm better at it than most people. So that's it, after 27 years on this planet, I've found my talent, hospitality. What a relief. It's hard to not know what you're good at. Especially when you see other people excelling and succeeding in various other skill sets. One can become quite down on life. But to know, to really know you have found something that you can do well, it's a great feeling. This recent discovery has come from my return to restaurant work. I've taken a part-time job as a hostess at a restaurant in North Oakland, a rather high-end, American Brasserie. I only have two or three shifts a week, which is perfect as I...

I think I have a problem. An addiction if you will, to working a lot, being too busy, stressing myself out. I can't seem to help it. I have so many jobs, gigs, plans, and the funny thing is, I'm sort of a flake. I always go to work, and make sure to walk my dogs, and I've recently realized I am an administrative genius. I can juggle a lot of work related things at once, often times at the expensive of any social life or sanity. But I don't mind it, really. I mean at times it's stressful to work seven days a week and stay on top of living a somewhat healthy life, but I am hell-bent on saving money, because let's face it, it's always better on holiday, and I believe that the harder I work now, the easier life will be later. This has yet to be verified. So, I should start by saying that I will leaving in December, to drive to Costa Rica.There you have it, the official announcement. Obligatory in the age of Facebook, Twitter, and constant connection through so...