Day 1:

Arrived in SD at 5AM and slept ’til 11AM to start the day. We headed over to 5th Ave. to eat at Dick’s Last Resort. Bryce didn’t know the servers were dicks and he was truly offended when our server threw our silverware/napkins on the table. Bryce: Wtf… he just threw that shit… Me: Are you being serious? Bryce: -confused face- Me: They’re supposed to be dicks to you. LOL. He wasn’t expecting that shit that’s why I found it so funny. He was TRULY offended. There were actually a few customers who didn’t know that the servers were dicks. One customer yelled at my server cause my server was yelling at him and everyone (all the other customers sitting outside) started laughing. Afterward, we quested for the Rainbow Sandals.

(The whole point of this SD trip was to buy Rainbow Sandals. The Rainbow Sandals shop was an hour away from our hotel and was scheduled to close at 4PM and was closed for Sundays. We were at Dick’s (close by our hotel) from 3-4PM so obviously we couldn’t have made it to the sandals shop. We had to think of another shop, like Journeys, that would carry them.)

Quicksilver was the closest shop to us that we knew would sell sandals. Unfortunately, they didn’t carry any. Daniel got hella bummed. I was actually looking to cop a pair of sandals myself so I was bummed too. Went to Puma next door to Quicksilver since I wanted to cop a pair of Puma 917 Lo’s. I ended up buying two pairs of shoes though. I got the Puma Suedes and the 917 Lo’s. Bryce and Daniel also ended up buying two pairs of shoes haha. Bryce was actually the first person to decide that he was getting two pairs of shoes and he didn’t even plan on buying anything in the first place lol. I actually traded in the shoes I was wearing (only wearing my socks in this photo) for a 30% discount on my Puma Suedes too. I say it was well worth the trade ;]. Pumas > Vans > Chucks. That’s how I feel about my shoes.

(When I decided I’d go to SD with Daniel, I decided that I’d only spend $200 for the one day that we’d be there. $100 for gas/hotel and the other $100 for whatever else. The Dick’s lunch and both of the Pumas that I bought totaled $100. So yea, I started swiping my debit card after that ;[. Things never go the way they're planned when it comes to traveling and spending.)

After Puma, we headed back to the hotel to meet up with Aria at the bar. Bryce and Aria bought two Jagerbombs for themselves and Daniel and I bought Irish car bombs. We were pretty much buzzin' the whole day since we kept buying drinks everywhere we went. We chilled in the hotel room for a few hours just to kill time before the nightlife started. Went out at around 9PM. Daniel was looking to eat a place where they had steak so we hit up Lou & Mickey's. Daniel ended up buying a 16oz. rib eye for $39.95 LOL. The bill was pretty big. Since I didn't have any cash (cause of my gay ass spending) Bryce had to spot me and I still owe him $25 lol. Fuck. Now I'm thinking about how much I spent total again FUCK. Aria mentioned a placed called Voyeur where they played electro while we were eating so we decided that would be the next spot we'd hit up. When we got to Voyeur, that shit had the biggest fkn line ever. Cancelled that shit instantly. Walked up the street and found a club called Onyx. That place was pretty poppin' although clubs aren't really my scene. I HAD A MOMENT WITH A GIRL! I GOT HER PHONE NUMBER AND SHIT! Just kidding. She was passing by and said, "You look a little young to be in here." I told her, "Thanks for the compliment! (In my mind: Now keep on walking cause I don't feel like talking to anyone)" The end. Hahahahaha. I hate growing out my hair. I know I DO look younger with longer hair though. I just can't help but think to myself that I could gain back some stature if I just cut it all off and look my age and shit again. I hate when people my age talk down to me like I'm sixteen or some shit. It gets really annoying and I'm not one to take any lip from anybody.

Daniel, Aria and I left the club about two hours later to go back to the hotel room and left Bryce because he was still dancing and said he'd meet up with us later. Aria and I were completely sober since we didn't have anything to drink at the club. That was pretty much where I killed my buzz. Like I said, clubs aren't really my scene. If that place was more like The Griffin then I think I would've had more fun and wanted to stay. I really just wanted to GTFO of that place as soon as I stepped in. I just wanted to sit back and relax. Maybe have a social beer or something. Also, hearing the DJ kill breaks was upsetting me lol. WHY WOULD YOU MIX LIL JOHN AND SEAN PAUL IN A BREAK IT MAKES NO SENSE AKJDSKAJFASKJAHDG!!! Daniel, however, was smashing on beers in the club and they didn't hit him 'til we made it back to the hotel lol.

Daniel, Aria and I just chilled in the hotel room until Bryce came back from the club. Aria and I hit up 7-Eleven for some snacks. Some bum told us, "keep drinking, keep smoking and keep moving forward," on the way back to the hotel. I'm sure that's not what he said word for word, but it was something close along that line. He was pretty much just telling us to love life though hahaha.

(I'm attending two online classes for AAU at the moment and I had five assignments due before Sunday 11:59pm that weekend. I was planning to complete my assignments the night of Saturday/morning of Sunday, but I realized I didn't fucking bring my power cable for my computer. I brought my whole computer, as in tower and monitor, to SD with me. Yeah, you're probably thinking why didn't I bring a laptop. 1) I don't have a laptop. 2) My mom and brother's laptops aren't good enough to support Adobe Illustrator. So, I was stuck with bringing my computer and yes it was funny walking through the lobby with that shit lol.)

Day 2:

Aria and I get back to the hotel and I decide to start my homework. I fucking realized that I didn't bring my power cable and I started trippin' out like the world was going to fucking end. I really needed that power cable because I was thinking, "OH FUCK IF I DON'T DO THESE ASSIGNMENTS I'LL BE ON ACADEMIC PROBATION FUCK!" I was seriously not having a good night after that and it ruined my whole trip. It was to the point where I was wishing I was back in Vegas. A few minutes later I found out that the nearest electronics store that would sell a computer power cable was Radio Shack. That shit was about four miles away from the hotel and opened at 10AM. That meant I had to wake up at around 930 and take the cab to and from Radio Shack with enough time to finish my five assignments before our 12PM check-out time. I woke up at 10, left at 1030, got back at 11 and freaked the fuck out cause I only had 45min to do my shit and 15min to pack up and leave the hotel. On top of that stress I couldn't believe that I paid fucking $64 for my total cab fare including the price of my power cable. Optimistically, I'd say I paid $64 to get myself away from academic probation. Pessimistically, I'd say I just bought another goddamn computer power cable (now I have six total) for $64... FUCK! I DID finish my assignments though. I felt so fucking relieved.

Bryce, Daniel and I hit up Toscano Cafe & Wine Bar for some lunch and walked around downtown a bit afterward. Later, we decided we had nothing to do so we drove back to Vegas. (Yeah, we didn't go to the beach. Long story and I don't feel like explaining it here lol.)

I was the first person to drive since Daniel and Bryce drove the whole way to SD. I drove up to Escondido to fill up the gas tank. We almost died on the way out of the gas station. Okay try to paint this picture in your head. So, we're pulling out of the gas station. I look to my left and Daniel looks too. Bryce is sleeping in the back so he has no idea what's about to happen. We see a car going pretty fast down the street. I have two lanes to choose from. At least I thought I did. (You know when you're driving and do that thing where when you pull out of a plaza and you see a car going hella fast in the right travel lane down the road to your left and you think to yourself, "I could drive in this right travel lane and speed up so that guy doesn't have to slow down and nearly tailgate me, OR I can just use the other lane and get out of his way."? [that's some fucked up punctuation] Hopefully you do or else this story won’t make sense from here.) So, I start pulling out of the gas station and start to drive into the second lane. That lane was for oncoming traffic though. Daniel and I both thought that this two lane street was one way. I’m still looking to my left to make sure that car down the road doesn’t hit me. I’m close to driving into the other lane. Daniel looks back to his right and goes, “WOAH WOAH WOAH!” (He was actually really casual about it.) I instantly look to my fucking my right, see this SUV coming towards me and my initial reactions were: slam on the brakes, jerk the wheel to the right and speed off so that car down the road doesn’t rear end me since he was coming close. We almost fucking died. The accident would’ve been a head-on collision with the SUV, us spinning to the left to face that car down the road and that car hitting us head-on. I’m pretty sure Bryce would’ve gotten a concussion if that happened because he was just laying in the back without his seat belt. As I’m speeding off, Bryce goes, “Did we almost just fucking die?!” Daniel and I just start fucking laughing saying yeah. Bryce goes, “Why’re you guys laughing?! We almost just fucking died!” LOL. God, that shit was so damn funny afterwards. Dying in Escondido would’ve sucked. Fuck Escondido and their ghetto ass gas stations and fucked up road formats. For like an hour straight, Daniel and I couldn’t stop saying, “We almost just fucking died in Escondido,” and laughing about it. Why’s there always gotta be a time like that during a road trip? And why did it have to happen to me? Shit. Funny though.

It was a pretty smooth ride back to Vegas after that. We got to Vegas at around 8PM. As soon as I saw the strip I felt angry and depressed. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want to go home. Bryce did since he was still hungover from clubbing the night before and wanted to rest. Daniel and I dropped him off and just hit up Cheesecake Factory for a Habachi Steak. Damn, that shit was good. Gave Cox a call and said he was on his way back from Utah. We picked him up when he got home which wasn’t too long after the phone call. Drove around Vegas a bit, bought 24 Krispy Kreme donuts and chilled at Desert Breeze Park ’til we called it a night.

That was pretty much my 4th of July weekend. If you actually took the time and read all of this then goddamn. You must really wanna know about my life lmao. Cause I don’t expect anyone to read this shit knowing how long it is without any pictures in between paragraphs.

When I start thinking about vacations I’ve taken in the past few years I can only say that I’ve left Las Vegas once since 2006. Back in August 2009 I went to San Francisco, CA to visit Michelle and Mycal. I actually went to Salt Lake City, UT in September 2009 for a couple days, but I can’t consider that a vacation because it was for my military processing (MEPS). Side note: Screw you USAF for that debt bullshit you pulled on me. I got kicked out of the delayed entry program a month before I was supposed to leave for basic training. How shitty is that? Let me tell you. Shitty as hell. I envisioned my future so well with the help of the USAF, but now I have to envision it in a completely different vision. I can’t truly be mad though because a lot of good things have been happening to me since I found out I wasn’t leaving for basic training. [Back to the topic] I don’t even remember the last time I visited my hometown back in Los Osos/San Luis Obispo, CA. I think it’s been six years. Every time my family has gone I always had work and couldn’t get the day off. My family just recently went back home last week and I couldn’t go because I had work. That’s.. so.. gay.. now that I think about it because my family made the trip back home about eight or more times in the past six years and the days they’d be gone just happened to be on the days that I’d have to work. Another thing that comes to mind when I think about vacations is the fact that I’ve been too M.I.A. for friends, events and other fun shit that I’ve been missing out on because I was too focused on getting into the military. So, I’m making a list of shit to do to make up for the life I lived these past few years.

FIRST SET:

JUL 3-4: San Diego, CA (Quest to buy sandals & light up fireworks)
JUL 26: B-day hotel party?
JUL 27 – AUG 3: Clovis, NM (Visit Perry)?
AUG 7: Los Angeles, CA (Hard Summer 2010)
SEPT 22: Phoenix @ The Pearl @ The Palms

I’m gonna make an event calendar on my sidebar to keep track of all of this. Also, so you can see what I’ll be up to :].

The last Crooks brother is finally graduated. Congrats Sean!

Flickr Photos from Sean’s Graduation!

Lucky and I were practicing with ATN (Battle Born) & Mumbles (POTS) a few days ago and ATN was telling us how he battled Thesis at B-boy City. “The kid is only 17 and he’s fkn insane.” Thesis is on the left side wearing the gray shirt. I knew he was fkn insane, but I didn’t know he was only 17… Jesus…

Bigass tonka truck right behind the production room workstations

Bathroom killing time

Someone came in lol

LOL’d when I saw this

Mike’s workstation (left) my workstation (right) and our supervisor’s chair in the middle

Editing powerpoint slides

LUNCH!

I had a total of 3 of these this day and I don’t even like pretzels.

Bad mouse.

Source Perrier

My view from the bus stop @ Fasion Show Mall

Was walking to Bryce’s house and saw this along the way ;/ RIP

Day 2: Nov 4

Mike brought some extra Halloween candy

Soooo goood. WAY better than those pretzels. I wish they had honey bbq though mmm.

LUNCH AGAIN! Those cannoli’s were seriously the best I’ve ever had.

This graph was the worst part of the job lol. It wouldn’t work correctly for the longest time lol.

Baby Sprite! Glass too

Illustrations by Mike Phillips. Looking at his sketchbook made me want to get back into graffiti. Time to start drawing in the blackbook again . Thanks for that Mike!

Illustrations by Mike Phillips

Illustrations by Mike Phillips

Illustrations by Mike Phillips.

Walked to Starbucks @ Fashion Show

Bought myself a lemon cake . SO GOOD.

Day 3: Nov 5

Day 3 and so much downtime…

LUNCH!!!!!! Sea bass, filet mignon, sauteed beans, tomatoes and dessert .

Workstations again

Tonka truck! Seriously this is bigger than it looks. Everyone was fkn amazed by its size. I’m 5’4″ and the TV to the left is taller than me.

Brought my MX518 and supermat since the mouse and mousepad I was given sucked lol.

DARKSIDE from Twisted Metal

This truck was said to be in Transformers 2

More trucks

More candy from Mike hahaha

The main room 1

The main room 2

Western Star Trucks

A truck engine

Aug 25: SF Trip: Back To Vegas

Aug 24: SF Trip: Dotty’s, Japantown & Michelle’s Birthday At Midnight

Aug 23: SF Trip: Seeing Michelle & Nick Showing Us Around

Aug 22: SF Trip: Downtown SF

Aug 21: SF Trip: The Drive To Daly City

Sean showed me this vid it’s LOL

What’s Mace doing

Bad shot of the IT’S-IT company. I love these but I’ve only tried the regular one.

I find it fun to drive for long periods of time lol..

DAYD

DAYD

Hi

bB

Hella good

Fixie and Specialized

Best strawberry candy ever

“We’re gonna share the open road” -Grace and Racks

Sneezies. Serious Business.

Guy on left toking and dancing to the guitar player’s music

Simba and Mace

Sack. Request by Giz

Japantown !

Giz, Racquel, Grace and Sean

Yee buddy

Rollin like a big shot

Chevy tuned up

Like a nascar pit stop

Me and Grace

No comment

No comment

LOL Sean

FL

I was standing in the middle of the road

He wasn’t actually running

Super7

Waiting outside fatlace

noon – six. steezy times.

Canon Rebel XT equipped with stock 18-55mm

Super7′s window

fatlace’s Window

Ey that’s my last name

A fountain inside Japan Center

Sticker set

Berry Good Crepes

Grace asking Giz something

jPN TOYS !

Super Mario shrooms

Equivalent to Tokyo Discount

Random toys and plush dolls inside a Japanse Restaurant.

DOMO

The place to take these kinds of pics

Walls of manga.

More walls of manga.

A mama and baby snail

Me

Sean

Us

Walking to the beach to setup a bonfire

85mm f/1.8 @ 1/60 sec. 800 ISO

Nick

BOKEH

Michelle and BOKEH

South African (left) and Thomas Jefferson (right). Tom says hes half filipino and half white.

08252000 @ 12AM: Happy Birthday babe . Told you you weren’t going to be alone on your bday

Grace was tipsy hahahah

Way to fuck up the picture Eric.

Remember….

Re..

Starfish firepit

Gizmike early morning

Safeway!

Michelle and I walking into 88 Ricebowl

Sean D.

Grace

Grace messin with Sean’s Canon

Chicken katsu

Sean’s foot

Hairpin

Michelle didn’t like ROFL

lolol

Turn

Down yonder

Sean D.

Sean D., Nick and Michelle. BTW thanks Nick for showing us the city

Gizmike standing on top of the wall

Me

Racks and her good form airbaby.

LOLOL

Let it be known that you’re in Castro

Two old men in Castro

Flags on every light pole

I loved the murals everywhere. Vegas needs to step it up.

HAIGHT

The Opera

I will own one of these one day.

Lily Allen – Fuck You

Heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge

The prarie

Biking on the prarie

Hi

Racks and Grace walking down the grass

Invert attempt with a sprained wrist.. /fail btw.

I love her so much

Alcatraz

Seagull

Out of focus lol

In focus

Standing on top of the hill

A seagull

Michelle wanting to shoot the seagull

Sean D

Gizmike and Nick walking towards us

Michelle on the shore

Racks and Grace on the shore

Michelle’s feet

Gizmike.. Zabuza status

I <3 SF -Michelle

… oh, and Eric <3 -Michelle

“Da fuck is that on my lens”

Just a split second late..

Giz and the ocean.

Part of the GGB. I wish I had my 18-55mm during this.

Seagull

It’s a Starmie.

Fish

That warming hut was HOT as fuck

It’s wierd seeing stores modeled like this after living in Vegas for so long.

Lombard

Nick’s 240 and Grace’s xA. I hopped out of the car to take pics of everyone.

Michelle, Grace and Racks. “It’s the windiest, swirliest, whirliest, longest road in the world.” -Racks lol

We didn’t get a clean shot

Michelle stuck her body out of the window and started candid’ing everything.

More murals !

Sick mural !

“Haha eyyyyyyy” -Gizmike

“Nigga please” -Grace

Once again… remember his facial expression very well

Me.. btw thanks for lending me your sweater Giz.

FINALLY MET MARLA THE YORIE! She’s hella cute.

D:

In Safeway

Pepto

Pepto and bananas wassup?

LOLOL (Sean covered the H in Hass to make Ass)

LOLOLOL

EXTREME PIZZA! How extreme? Extreme as hell! Michelle said it’s not so extreme :/

Bananas

On phone with Don

Giz and Pepto

Sean and Pepto

Mycal and Racks

Mycal and Sean (Universal 5: 2 out of 5)

Me and Mycal (AINC/DEX: 2 out of 7)

The Mike’s of Hendo, LV: 2 out of 982

Yo what’s going on here?

Sleep

Too many fog

Racks and Grace walking to the car

Sean and Giz

FOG

Driving to breakfast

Walking to breakfast just to find out that the place was full

D:

A bum sleeping on a table

Eating breakfast at Ling Nam’s

Sup doo

Fried rice, 2 sunny side up eggs, tapsilog and vinegar

Racks, Grace and Giz

Murdered

I thought this house was nice

GELLERT

Sitting in the car next to Giz

We didn’t get to go here lol. JO-ANN is a sick place for arts and crafts btw.

The BART station

Buying tickets

Racks and her ticket

My ticket

Grace waiting for us to walk in

Tribute

Down down down. Down we go.

Waiting for the BART

Jump and SHOOT

Giz and Racks

Racks and Grace

Wrong BART

On the BART

He was flying foward rofl

Racks and Grace

On our way to downtown SF

I can play that instrument

Walking in downtown SF

Fuhhhhhhhhh… way too big.

Dancers expertising in popping, gliding and waving.

This kid was sick

Too flexible

Oldschool with a bike rack

The clouds were moving hella fast

Underground food court in Macy’s.

Fluffy pomeranian

Amap of course

Chinatown!

Someone should tag this with an Andre the Giant sticker.

Sean D, Canon Rebel XT and 50mm f/1.4

Giz trying on frames

A glimpse of Chinatown

I ate at Cathay House before

People walking

Nigga in charge of the crosswalk

Walking to Pier 39

My type of graffiti I wonder who did this.

A fixie pixie

Ended up at Pier 1

SF’s Island: Fixies

That guy was actually good. I wish I had my SD790 to capture video.

BMX’ers

Too crazy…

Riding the bus

Remember Gizmikes facial expression very well…you’ll start to see it everywhere.

At Fisherman’s Wharf

Our server randomly wanted to ask us some trivia: What was Bubba’s last name? Where did Forrest meet Bubba? Where did Forrest meet Jenny? What color were Jenny’s shoes at her wedding?

Sneezies. Serious Business.

BAY

Those people were on segways.

Tired