My what big teeth you have....

Finally got Preston's other bag - it arrived from it's world travels at our hotel at about 3PM yesterday.

Made the long trek out to Sea World yesterday. Got to the gate & waded through the lines of people to buy a ticket only to find that single day, single adult tickets cost $50US.... so yeah, thought about turning around at that point, but figured I'd managed to make it this far, I might as well stay, so I paid the money & tried to make the time 'worth my while'....

...money puts a funny set of expectations on anything you do. The part of me that worries about money & economics (likely not that big a part of me) gets into accountant mode & starts sifting through every experience, every moment to decide if the experience was worth the cost. That mental audit seems to rob a lot of the moments of value & joy because you're weighing everything against a dollar amount

And so I wandered with me the accountant, me the small child, me the introvert, me the artist & likely all the other facets that make up me. Sometimes all the parts got along, sometimes the voices in my head couldn't come to a consensus on things.

Sea world is made up primarily of three things: marine exhibits, shows & rides. You're likely getting a good deal with the $50 if it includes all of those & you're able to enjoy each of those. I'm not a rides guy at all (the child, accountant & worrier in me all get a bit terrified on rides), & so that cuts out a third of what there is to enjoy.

So I wandered to see the marine exhibits which were fantastic, but the artist was upset 'cause I couldn't figure out how to take quality pictures of the animals, but yeah, the child enjoyed watching sting rays float effortless through the water, like great alien birds sailing through some strange universe of blue. Got to watch a tank full of 6-7 foot long sharks, all gliding along. It's funny how the menace of sharks is still there even when they're caged behind glass & steel. The little kids would jump the barriers & stand right next to the glass to be as close as possible to the sharks 'cause they're 'cool', but there'd still be a tremble, a puling away ready to run, every time the sharks would pass by. They are great & terrible creatures - full of a terrible beauty, they are powerful & with an extra flick of their tail, they can turn or speed away. They are made to hunt & kill & so the child both stands in awe & fear of these monsters of the deep - both fascinated & afraid of them.

Went to the Shamu/killer whale show. Showed up an hour early to make sure I got a seat & yeah, it was pretty cool - they had four killer whales in the tank at once & it was a pretty great show - though I never seemed to get the camera in the right place at the right time to truly capture the amazing moments. The child liked the show & was wowed by the massiveness of the black & white whales, amazed by how fast they could move & how they could launch themselves (or launch their trainers & themselves) from the deeps into the air so effortlessly. The dreamer spent some time crying 'cause the theme of the whole thing (as cheesy as it may have been) was all about 'believing' and following dreams & believing dreams come true, etc. etc. & yeah, somewhere along the way, the dreamer (and maybe the child) feel they've lost some of the ability to do that....

Lots of other displays - moray eels, dolphins, seals & sea lions. But i got tired of the lines, tired of all the noisy, screaming children & noisy, screaming parents yelling at their children. Got tired of the light happy calming music played from speakers disguised as rocks intended to keep the mood light & fun - all it really did was drive the introvert nuts. In the end I just got tired & decided to leave, skip seeing the penguins & the alligators (the only other things I really wanted to see) & head off.

Part of the problem was the $50 thing - if I'd paid $20, I would've had a blast & likely would've stayed longer. But I just couldn't figure out how to make the day worth $50 & not run myself ragged going to everything. Part of it, too, was that I really loved & was totally amazed by the Vancouver aquarium (much quieter & less expensive than sea world) & so I end up comparing everything here against my experiences there

Oh, one other hightlight of the day was lunch - stood in line for 30-45 minutes to wait for a 'Texas Chili Cheeseburger' - got to put my own 'fixin's' on it, so loaded it up with a ton of pickles & some lettuce & tomatoes & yum, yum - it was delicious - had to eat it with a knife & fork 'cause it was so messy, but yeah, very yummy - finished off with strawberries & whipped cream for desert....

After leaving sea world (the artist & introvert just wanting to find some place quiet so it could listen to mp3 versions of a Neko Case CD I'd picked up a bit ago), I rode the noisy & chaotic bus system around San Antonio to track down a Wal-mart both to look for G.I. Joes (which was pretty picked through by the time I got there - I picked up one item & that was it) and to buy some new shorts. The ones I'd brought down with me, well, let's just say I've 'grown into' them & they, uhm, don't leave a lot to the imagination & are sort of uncomfortable (and possibly indecent) as I wander around in them.... So yeah, now have nice presentable shorts for dudes with, uhm, bigger bottoms like me.

Finished the day with a meal at Mi Tierra's - the mexican place we went to when we first arrived. Had Chalupas - little crispy tortillas shaped like a bowl filled with refried beans, meat, veggies & cheese and Sopapilla's for desert - tortilla's that have been fried in some way that they inside fills with air, so you have this crisp, light pastry surrounding a pocket of air & they cover it with cinnamon, icing sugar & honey - very yummy.

All in all a decent day. The accountant needs to be fired. Or at least gagged while I'm on holidays. Part of my problem is, too, that when I'm in a new place, I feel like I haven't really travelled unless I've seen a million things & so my day becomes this pressure to be on the go constantly - no spare moment that isn't filled with the activity of 'seeing'. I'm getting much better though, learning to listen to myself & to hear the voices of what I want to do - to recognize that rest, reading & just listening to the world around me are more enjoyable than doing all the tourist-y stuff. So I'm settling down a bit. It'll be good to see stuff with Preston. Sounds like he's finished with conference responsibilities at noon so then we can hang out together after that.

Oh & enjoying the "I am the central park jogger" book -read a lot of it yesterday & it's amazing to hear of her recovery both in the physical, but more importantly in the emotional, mental & spiritual...