Gina's Pest Problem

This was taken at my sister's house in Charlotte. Apparently the squirrels keep trying to get in. I don't know if any have made it through the screen yet but they have been successful around other parts of the house.

So I try again

This is my second attempt to write this blog today, I was almost finished and my computer shut off. I was writing really well but I'm going to try again.

I was free on Tuesday so I slept in, checked out of my hotel at the last possible moment, left my truck in the parking lot and took a cab downtown with my i-pod and cameras to see what I could get myself into. My tour-guide of a cab driver took me by the post office, a little work had to be done, before dropping me off at the acclaimed Chattanooga Aquarium. He insisted that I check it out.

I purchased my tickets and grabbed a quick salad and coffee lunch before passing the extremely bored ticket-takers. I knew that watching a bunch of fish on an empty stomach would make me want to run to the sushi bar, again.

I started off with the "Ocean Journey" part of the tour, which only consisted of petting sting-rays and reading a bunch of info boards. It was really hard to read while LCD Soundsystem rocked out my eardrums, so I skipped the educational part and checked out the butterfly garden before moving on.

Next was the "River Journey" building which, also housed the jellyfish and sea-horses. The jellyfish were extremely hard to photograph due to the low-lights and their fast pace but I got a couple OK shots.



I could probably watch them swim around for hours, especially with my i-pod cranked up.

The sea-horses were also fun to watch; they are the cutest little creatures.



It took me a while to get a shot, they are very quick, but I'm really happy how the above photo turned out.

I also had an interesting photo-opportunity on an escalator. I swear it took me up four stories but it was hard to get pictures with both cameras during the ride.



The rest of the tour was what should have been a fresh fish educational experience but I was more interested in my music and my photo opportunities. I could have spent hours wandering around in full amusement.

Here are a few more aquarium pictures...





After the aquarium experience I grabbed a cup of coffee and found the small shopping district just across the river. I wandered through the hippy shops and galleries for a while without buying anything even though I found a couple cute non-hippy clothing stores that had many tempting articles. I impressed myself with my strength!

I wandered back across the river trying to absorb the small city and in search for dinner. Yet another salad but I substituted the coffee for a beer sampler at the local brew-pub. That was plenty of exploring in one day for me so it was another cab ride and on to the next hotel.

Chattanooga People Suck (at least the one I met)

I was excited to find out that my Chattanooga hotel room was only a $5 cab ride from what is most likely the only Sushi joint in the city. I contemplated delivery but neither pizza nor Chinese sounded pleasing. Raw fish sounded much better. I was the only one in the restaurant sitting at the sushi bar so I felt privileged when I was offered to try a few things for free. I had octopus for the first time. It wasn't as good as the yellow tail but much better than squid.

After I had my Japanese fill for the day, I decided to wonder the streets of Chat instead of heading back to the homestead. I found a bar with a band and eventhough I figured it wasn't my kind of shit I checked it out anyway.

I was very pleased to meet a few cool people among the blue collared shirts and khaki pants. I spent a couple hours hanging out by the bar and making fun of the bands and the crowd. It was hysterical.

I hung out with this guy Sam most of the night. He was really nice until all of us were winding down. Out of nowhere, he got this asshole attitude with me. F-that! Now I fully understand why he is single. And to think he actually had a chance. I was really angry at him for his comments. Just more proof that older men can be just as immature, if not more, than the younger ones.

Frustrated and offended, I caught a cab back to my hotel.

I swear time goes so fast, which makes it really hard to keep up with this. I haven't been home in a couple weeks but it really doesn't feel like it's been that long.

I spent this weekend around Atlanta, mostly at my sister Carla's house. Last weekend I was at Gina's in Charlotte. I think I'm ready to get out of the burbs for a while, i can't take it anymore. It is nice to have a place to chill that isn't a hotel room.

I ventured to downtown Atlanta last night to catch LCD Soundsystem. Super Furry Animals played in another room there but it was going to be impossible to catch both. The venue had a capicity of 1100 but I swear there were less than 500 people there. It was nice to have plenty dance space on the floor. It took me all of about three minutes to find a group of guys to hang out with. It was awesome! My body hurts from dancing non-stop, but it was so worth it. I'm still numb with excitment. I'm actually thinking about driving to North Carolina to catch them again.