The Carnival Valor

Things are finally coming together. I have been assigned a ship to work on for the next six months as an acupuncturist. This is the Carnival Valor - admittedly Carnival is well known as a "Booze Cruise" in the industry but at this point (with all that has gone on in my life recently) I am ready just to get out of the U.S. for a while.

I'll be in the Caribbean for the next 6 months - Jamaica, Barbados, St. Martin, Belize, Mexico, Bermuda, etc.... Life is rough.

Here's the floating city they call a ship:


I don't have a departure date as of yet, but I'll post it as soon as I find out.

Almost outta here...

I'm waiting on my ship assignment for the "Acupuncture-at-Sea" program through Steiner Intl. I'm just in the right place in my life where an adventure ought to shake out the cobwebs of my soul.

I'm hoping to be out of here by the end of the month (Oct) but perhaps November might be more realistic.

I'm debating as whether I should start a new blog in which (hopefully) I would record my experiences each day on board the ship. Any thoughts?

Full Steam Ahead

I'm back in Stumptown after surviving the wilds of Los Angeles. Being budget-minded I stayed in a Hostel in Santa Monica - big mistake. I'm just too old for that crap! I simply cannot understand why running up and down the hallways screaming at 2 am seems like such a good idea to a bunch of German 19 year olds, but they certainly thought so. It must be a lack of a fully developed pre-frontal cortex that does it.

Basically, I felt very old there, and had a strong inclination to hike my pants up to my chest and bitch about the weather/government/kids, etc... Er, wait I already do that... Never mind.

ANYWAY, the seminar was great, I felt like I learn a great deal about the Spa applications of acupuncture, and thus far (having absolutely no experience at all) think that it may be one of the bigger money makers for acupuncturists.

So, I'm going for it. I'm going to work on a cruise ship for 6 months and experience the whole thing. I'm at a point in my life where more of the same is just not welcome. I really need to shake things up.

So stay tuned for more posts as this adventure develops.

Slumming it in L.A.

I'm in Los Angeles for the Acupuncture at Sea seminar, a prerequisite for anyone wanted to work on the cruise ships, two days into it. Its a pretty good seminar so far, not sure what I enjoy more, the seminar or the seminar teacher, Stephanie (read: total hottie).

More to come...

Another Funeral

I'm in San Diego with all my family (on my mother's side). We spread my mother's ashes on the cliffs of Torrie Pines State Park. It was good to see all my family, including a cousin I've never met before, its too bad that it was for an event such as this.

The Shane Report

Here's the latest picture of "Little" Shane, who is now 6 months old, weighing in at 20 lbs and is 28" long!

Enough already!

I have to say this has been one hell of a rollercoaster year for me so far! My Nephew, Shane is born in early January - great news, but my father passes away three days later. Another great moment was the birth of my niece, Sasha in May. But good news just seems to require bad news, which is what I received two weeks ago.

I was making dinner, in a good cooking space, when my brother calls me and tells me that my Mom had just passed away! My first response was "You've got to be F@%king kidding me..." Not again, but that's how the cards have been dealt. Another trip to the funeral home, the oily dealings with the undertaker's attempts to sell you the most expensive items - my "Mother would want the best, right?"...

And now, off to San Diego for the services, seeing all my Aunts and Uncles, several of which I haven't seen since I was a teen.

For those who still have parents, two pieces of advice:

1. Don't put off the call, letter, or visit that you been meaning to make/write... you may not get that chance.
2. Clean up any unfinished business, clear the air, make amends if possible, again there may not be a tomorrow to do so.

I'm thankful that I had done both to a significant degree.