Summer plans

Northwest finally announced their usual summer sale, so I'll be going away this summer thank God. I was starting to worry I'd be stuck here. I hate Saipan in the summer with the passion of a thousand white hot suns, which is what Saipan feels like in July. Actually, it isn't that bad, I just need a break from this little island in the Summer. I also used miles and will be going to Palau to dive and dive some more. I'm leaving for Palau the day after school ends. Teachers are every bit as fried by the end of the year as students, and I'm really looking forward to Palau and the States. I've been to Palau already, but I always wanted to go back. Last time I swam in that famous milky river with the rejuvenating mud, which I slathered all over my head. Alas, I'm still bald. Maybe a second treatment solves the problem.

There are many things I want to do. I'm going to see Rush in New Jersey. I saw them three years ago, and many other times. I snapped this photo of one of the world's great bass players, Geddy Lee, on that trip. Rush has a new album out that I'm still getting the feel for. On that note, Amazon is shipping through DHL, so stuff gets here from the states via Amazon like rapid fire now. I got the new Rush album two days after it was released. No, I won't just download it. This will be like my 12th time seeing Rush.
I'll see the Dave Matthews Band in Chicago, where I'll meet my newborn niece and hopefully make it to Wrigley Field as well. I'm going to be in Charlotte and Asheville, NC to meet up with one of my old college professors that I hang with for a weekend every year. I'll definitely hit up a few comedy clubs in New York City, as well as all the restaurants featuring cuisine I like but can't get here -- Portuguese and French especially. I'll probably make it to Yankee Stadium. I took a tour of the stadium last time, and it was way cool. I literally had chills walking on that field. I can't even slightly imagine what it must be like to play there. There was no one there, and it still felt like being in an immaculate place. It was more impressive in its own way than when I went to the Sistine Chapel, but I've been a baseball fan a long time. After the Yankees won the series in 1996, I jumped in my car, drove from central Jersey and just hung out and partied with everyone there at the Stadium. That was by far my favorite Yankee team and season. When Leyritz hit that home run off Mark Wohlers in Atlanta in Game Four of the World Series, wow. Well, memories are all I have right now considering this current Yankee team.

If luck holds out, I'll also get to meet up with Arin Greenwood, who departed Saipan only Saturday, but I already miss and hope to see in NYC. There is a newish band called the Secret Machines, I'd love to see, but nothing is scheduled for the moment. I'd love to catch Doug Stanhope as well, but he doesn't have any shows scheduled. I'm similarly hopeful of seeing Bill Maher, who rules the bleeping planet.