Well, I am in the mood to write. Therefore I am. As promised, I am posting pictures of my trip to Malibu Creek State Park and my Disneyland trip with family. There are other pictures that I want to post, but I think I’ll do them another time. This will be a long entry, so bare with me.

First, before I start with the new pictures, the pictures that I posted previously aren’t working too well on my journal. I have posted them through AOL. AOL have this certain policy of not allowing me to post my pictures on another website that is not affiliated with AOL. Should you want to see those pictures, please visit my so called website on AOL at this url: members.aol.com/nunuclikna.

Creek (August 2003)

Stork (August 2003)

Under Cover (August 2003)

Opening (August 2003)

Creek
This is the first picture I’ve taken at Malibu Creek State Park (MCSP). I believe it was about 8 in the morning here.

Stork
This is a white stork that I got the pleasure of seeing. It was just there at a part of the creek that wasn’t dried up. According to the MCSP Rangers and the Audobon Society, most of the birds come out in the early morning or in the late evening. I was fortunate to see this one catching breakfast. If you can’t make it out, it is a small crayfish that is in it’s mouth.

Under Cover and Opening
These were taken around the same area. There was a small trail along the creek bed. I followed it for about 200 yards and came up to this area.

Heron (August 2003)

Moth (August 2003)

Reflection (August 2003)

Six (August 2003)

Sun (August 2003)

Heron
Here is the Heron that I tracked for about 100 yards down the dry creek bed. It took me about 30 minutes before I got a chance to take this picture.

Moth
A little moth sunbathing on a rock. I got this while I was trying to track the Heron.

Reflection
A reflection of one of the rocky hills or mountains at MCSP.

Six and Sun
Here are some of the flowers that you can find at MCSP.

These are some of the pictures I’ve taken at MCSP. These are the intersting ones, well some of them. Again, I’ve taken about 120 pictures that day, about 3 rolls worth. There are other good ones, and many not so good ones. Maybe I’ll post some ot those up later, maybe not.

I plan on going back to MCSP sometime in the winter and spend the whole day there. By then, there will be no heat. Maybe I could catch some of the other exotic animals like coyotes, owls, mountain lions, and foxes.

The next set of pictures are from the Disneyland trip. I really had a great time there, well, for the most part. Most of the rides were very boring, but being around family again was just great.

Backseat Fun (August 2003)

Family Fun (August 2003)
Left to right: Ly, Michael, Me, Phi, Julie,and Jason

Awaiting Take Off (August 2003)

Lighted Peak (August 2003)

Blur (August 2003)

Waiting to Ride (August 2003)

Castle (August 2003)

Backseat Fun
Here we are starting our trip to Disneyland. Unfortunately the other two youngin’s weren’t ready for the picture. I especially like Michael’s makeshift arm rest.

Family Fun
This here closes our night here at Disneyland. We just left Fantasyland and are posing in front of the Castle. Unfortunately, it is too dark to see anything.

Awaiting Take Off
The three kids posing on Dumbo. This is the happiest that Jason looked all day.

Lighted Peak
Here is a picture that I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out. For those who don’t know, it is a picture of the Matterhorn. I was surprised that it turned out as well as it did. I thought it would have been too dark or too blurry, but it wasn’tt.

Blur
This is the famous Tea Cups of course. I would have to say this was Ly and Mike’s favorite ride. Phi, Ly, Mikey, and I all went on during the afternoon. I got a headache from it, and so did Phi. After we split up after lunch, Phi went to the car and took a nap. My headache slowly went away. This picture was taken toward the end of the day. The kids wanted to go on again and this time Julie went along. They were in line when the picture was taken. I’m glad that this one turned out as great as it did. The kids had fun on this, but I wish I could say the same for Julie. She got really sick from the ride. I don’t blame her.

Waiting to Ride
Ly and I in line for Gadget’s Go Coaster. The ride was no more than 40 seconds, but the line was about 40 minute. Can we say a waste of time? What was worse was that there was no shade and the humidity didn’t help the situation at all.

Castle
Inside Fantasyland. I’ve always liked pictures of clouds taken with a wide angle lens. It pushes and stretches the cloud and give it a very distinct look. I got my clouds here.

There are more pictures from Disneyland. Many with family. I’ll post them up when I get the chance.

All of these pictures just capture what have been happening in the past couple of months, not even. There are some that I’ve taken from my trip to Sacramento over Labor Day weekend. I met an old friend of mine up there. I might post some of those pictures up. Also, I have some pictures of the little runts from my trip back home. Many of them aren’t that great, but it’s nice to have picture of family.

* * *

I went to Vegas this past weekend. Not much happened besides me losing. I probably wouldn’t have written about it, but something did happen over the weekend. I haven’t been able to put my finger on it, but something happened.

Ever since I got home, there has been this sense of calm in me. I’m not that angry anymore. I don’t feel any angst in my body. Something must have happened to trigger this, and for the life of me, I can’t figure it out.

Could it be my earlier posting of what is making me angry? Could me putting it down on paper, putting my feelings in words, take away the anger that was in my life? I don’t know. That would be the logical explanation, cause honestly, not much happened in Vegas. Didn’t pick up any girls, met my friend’s friend from Jersey. Got a little drunk in the hotel room. Learned how to play craps and lost a bunch of money (it’s really not that much, but enough).

How long is this “State of Zen” going to last? I have no clue.

I like this feeling. I got this sense that I have finally grown up. My issues, whatever they may be, are gone. In a way, I sort of feel like a new person. So this is how it feels to be not “angry.”

I’m not even upset that I have a particular falling out with this person. It’s not the person that really ticked me off, but another. We have great repoir, almost a flirtatious relationship. For a few weeks, she’s been very distant, and I can’t figure it out. Things started to get back to normal, then I said something wrong to her. Things just came out wrong, and I realize my mistake right after I said it. I can’t take it back, and I think I’ve lost my chance. So ever since, things had gotten a little distant between us. Our relationship just isn’t the same anymore. I was stressing out about it and over analyzing it for the past couple of weeks.

Today, nothing. I didn’t fret about it. Sure I thought about it, but I know there is nothing I can do about it. I just got to let things play out and try not to force anything. If it wasn’t for this change, I will probably still be thinking about what I did, and about how I can fix it. I can’t do anything. We just have to let it go and move on.

I think a major part of this calmness, is because there is no one that I’m obsessing over. I’m not obsessing over anyone anymore. That use to be a big problem. I use to obsess. Not anymore. I’ve moved o from those that I need to move on from. So this is what it is like to not obsess. It’s peaceful. It’s nice. Should have done this a while ago.

Again, I’ve been in the mood to write lately. It use to be that I need to be depressed to write, especially if it is creative writing. I think I’ll start to write something now. A new script. I haven’t really thought through any ideas that I have, but watching Lost in Translation have given me a inspiration to write something from the heart. Something different, yet sincere. How far will I get, I’m not sure. But I’m going to write, and that is a start.