Life moves on. I'll let that one speak for itself. I am just along for the ride. The current is carrying me somewhere different, but all these hard times of the last year seem to be lifting and floating away with it. I am making some positive changes in my life, and it will only make room for more good things to come my way. Don't get me wrong, I'm stilll having all kinds of naughty fun.......it's just in a happier place.

Burning Man was incredible this year. One of my favorites so far. The weather was incredible, I shared several beautiful moments with a wonderful lady, and I was able to grow and let go of many things I was hanging onto. This being said, how about some pictures?

Okay

I've been lagging on posting here.......but with good reasons. Things have been very good. The summer has been flying by. I've been taking a few highly concentrated classes, which has been keeping me pretty busy. But don't worry: I've still been having some fun. Here's a few random goodies:






And I have a beautiful, 7 foot long, new room mate!!


I can still hardly believeshe's mine. Things are looking up


Oh, and Burning Man is in less than three weeks!! We are working hard getting ready for it. We have a theme camp called Garden of The Holy Moment. It will feature three large swing sets, a bar, fully-functioning kitchen, lounge area, and best of all, sock puppet therapy. I will be heading two sock puppet workshops/happy hours throughout the week, which will segway into sock puppet confessional. We will have a trained, um, "professional" on staff......so if you need to release your innermost thoughts to an unassuming sock, we can make that happen for you It should be very fun. It will be my first project of this size at Burning Man, and so far, everyone has had a great time making the sock puppets......I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Until then

I just got back from ten days in Greece and Turkey (seven of which being on a boat). What a breath taking trip it was. I still haven't completely processed it yet. One of the highlights included hitting up the Nude gay beach in Mykonos and swimming in the turqouise waters of the Mediterranean, while Depeche Mode played over the sound system. I also enjoyed hitting up a nightclub in Istanbul and seeing some amazing belly dancers. There are really too many things to recap, as I hit up 8 places in those ten days.

It is an abrupt culture shock to be back in the U.S. I have many thoughts going through my head. For example, the vegetables taste way better in Greece. They don't believe in fast food, so everything is made fresh, and just has a flavor that is unimaginable. Another thought that crosses my mind is about how dirty it is here. There isn't the same factory-based mass-production going on there, and everything seems to be a lot more clear. I think I could become very used to living in Europe. I am already planning my trip back. My heart is waiting

This weekend I gave my first piano recital (for my students). It went so well, and everyone did a very good job (of course, I made sure they were all extremely prepared......you know, not to toot my own horn or anything)
Afterwards, I went up to LA to see Gunther perform. What a trip that was! I went there, trying to figure out if this whole thing is just a big joke, and I still have no idea. But, I did have a hell of a time. It turns out there is this whole underground scene that is into him. There were all kinds of guys dressed up as Gunther, and Gunther look-alikes trying to get up and share the stage with him. Everyone was singing along, and the girls seemed to be feeling all frisky and bisexual (which is just fine by me)............It was a really fun time, and I ended up getting wasted and crawling all over a tractor during an impromptu photo shoot. Here's some pictures of everything.









What a night! hahaha........the next day, I still wasn't entirely sure what it was exactly that happened to me, but I know I had a good time. If you don't know about the "Pleasureman" go check out his website
Gunther
(find pictures of him......coz it's a riot)

I don't know if it's some sick joke, but I am in. Sign me up

Wow.....I haven't blogged in almost two months..........

Life has been getting better. I went through a bout of wanting to move to San Francisco, but I've decided to stay in Long Beach for the time being. I am getting too dialed in with work to feel ready to leave just yet. Word of mouth is spreading about what I do, and the phone calls keep coming in. Let's hope it stays this way.

Aside from this business, I have also been having all kinds of fun. Desert parties, a trip to Vegas to see David Hassellhof in The Producers, hiking like a hippy in the woods, making out till the wee hours of the morning.........yeah, I can say it's been pretty good. (and it's about time!) I am excited about summer, and also to see what the future holds for little old me.

I will post some of my new pics in the albums.

Time to update. Things in the world of Jessica have been pretty good, I have to say. It feels like my luck may be turning around (though I might not want to get too into that, in case I jinx it! hah)

I gave a piano recital to practice playing my audition repertoire in front of an audience. I wasn't expecting too many people to show up, but it ended up being a full house. My playing went pretty well over-all, and it was a great time. There will be a cd of it in the very near future (still working out some of the editing kinks) Here's some pics:






Then, a few days later, Ginger and I hit up Wumpskate for the first time in a few months. The theme was "the loving dead", so her and I decided to dress up as Dead Raggedy Ann and Andy. We ended up winning the costume contest, and having a cartoon drawn of us as well. Whee!!!






Later that week I had my audition in San Francisco. It went pretty well, and I will know whether they accepted me or not within the next month. I am keeping my fingers crossed. The rest of my weekend there consisted of gorging on Gourmet Vegan Food. *sigh* It was heavenly. I love the bay area. I think I will be living there by this summer. We'll see what happens............

It has been a great weekend, and week over all. Things are really starting to look up. Last night, I went to the infamous Long Beach Pirate Party, and it was as great time (as per usual) with a pirate band, and performances by a sultry flamenco dancer in between sets. Who would know that so many people like to get dressed up as pirates and congregate together for drinking and wenching







Then tonight, I was privileged enough to see a free screening of the new NIN tour dvd, and it was amazing. The sound, and the visual effects took my breath away. The music really sent me, and penetrated my being.........too incredible for words. It felt like being at the show again. (and I got a free lithograph! yay!)

I have a fresh perspective, and I am ready to start the week

<<bliss>>

So, it's now 2007. I am hoping for a clean slate this year, truly. There were things about 2006 that were great (i.e.- many great live concerts, and great sex for the first 9 months of it). There were many things that were horrifically harsh as well too, both emotionally and physically. The last month I have been on the rebuild, so I am planning to do things differently. I went to the beach last night, and cleared my energy of things that had been holding it back, and I felt cleaner. It was a good thing to do, and I am ready to move on now.

This weekend was pretty nice. On Friday, I went out for the first time since I've been so sick. We went to see some of the members from Skinny Puppy playing records at Das Bunker. The music was mediocre, but I had a good time anyways. It was the kind of set like "Oh, I don't know what I'll be spinning......I think I'll just get up there and start putting on my records and see what happens". But, as I said before, I like to make my own fun, and I did. On the way home we played with my new camera, and I am into it. Here's some pics:

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Saturday, I was wiped out.........so I stayed home and watched movies and painted. I will post pics of my art when it is done. It felt pretty good to paint and have that paint all over my hands.........

Last night, was pretty chill all around. I went to a friends, and we ended up playing mankala until almost 11, when our other friends showed up. We made a taxi driver wait for us to do a line, then we went to this creepy club around the corner. I don't know if it was really crappy coke, or if I just don't like it anymore, but I was really anxious the whole time, and felt weird around people. So I hid my anxiety with dance







After a certain point, I had enough, and wanted to go get my bike and ride home. Trying to catch a cab in Long Beach on New Years is futile, and the getting home situation wasn't looking good. Soon, I had random guys offering to take Ginger and me home, when, aha: The City Bus. God bless them! hah. So at 1:40 am, we got on the city bus, cracker out, and headed back to Ginger's place.
this is us on the bus:




Anyways...........it wasn't exactly how I planned spending the night, but it was fun all the same. And I was a smart kid and drank lots of water, and didn't indulge to heavily in anything, so I am not hurting today. I am hoping that 2007 will be much better............and here's to a new start.

Creative ways to deal with Cabin Fever 101:

So...............I've been pretty sick for most of the month; probably more sick than I've been in my life (that I can remember). But lately, I've been feeling much better. It is a tricky situation, because I know that I am not completely well, but am the total type A personality; always wanting to be doing something, going somewhere, causing mischief and mayhem, and having an all-around good time.

I've been cooped up in my apartment getting better (which is working), but I've been having to get creative on how to entertain myself. Tonight's escape involved me putting on lingerie and heels, and doing housework (while under the influence of some groovy meds). Well, this was too fun to keep to myself, so I decided to take pictures. Enjoy!



We'll see what the cabin-fever induces next!