Defying Gravity

I had thought I might try to go to San Francisco this weekend for the Folsom Street Fair, but I could not find a reasonably priced hotel for the night. It is not that I am so much into the whole leather scene, but I thought it would be cool to visit and see what all of the fuss is about. I suppose I will have to wait until next year-- I have made it this long without attending this event, so one more year will not kill me. I know I have made statements that I was going to settle down for awhile and stay put in PHX, but I really do enjoy traveling so much and I think it is just in my blood. Speaking of things I enjoy, it is supposed to rain tomorrow. It is such a rare occurence here that I get to see it rain, I really enjoy the opportunity to get out and play in it and get wet. Although, now that the heat is over, I am sure the rain will be cold...I will still have to stick my head out in it for at least a minute or two.



October is going to be a crazy month. I am in training classes all of this month to learn some new things I will be in charge of once all of my 'kids' have been trained after the first of the year. I also applied for an analyst position that has come open (that also comes with a nice raise and a new office), so I am keeping my fingers crossed. If things go well, I may make it back to Europe before Spring. I would love to see the snow falling in Paris, although it rarely snows there from what I hear...Actually, my next 'big' trip I am planning is flying around the world next summer. All of my friends know and I am hoping the more people I tell, the easier it will be to hold myself to it. Tentively, the plans are to fly from PHX to PHL, from PHL to CDG Paris, from Paris to Dubai (I know it is not the most gay friendly place, but I am an architecture aficianado and Dubai has the world's tallest freestanding building now--the Burj Dubais, not to mention a plethora of other architectural delights), from Dubai to Sydney, Australia. Then, I am still trying to decide--part of me would love to see Hong Kong before returning home, but I think I will be ready to just head back to LAX and then to PHX because of sensory overload after leaving Australia. I guess as I start firming up my plans, I will make that decision. Plus, it may depend on if I am traveling alone or with someone special as to how the trip goes. This trip still does not take me into Africa or South America, so I can always do that round the world trip with Asia added into it at some other time. Besides, I have entered a contest at work that will take me into Beijing this Fall (it was just for fun that I entered, but I guess my odds are better for winning that than winning the lottery). We also have our company picnic on October 6th, and we always give away several (smaller, but still fun) trips during our annual picnic. I really don't have much more time left I can take off this year after spending so long in Paris, though. After all of these training classes I am in next month, I will probably try to take my remaining days off as several 3 or 4 day weekends. I also still need to visit my mom at least once around the Holidays (I told her I would make it back to KY once more this year and I am thinking the second week of December, but who knows--it may be too cold and I am out of practice driving in snow and ice and I would hate to wreck a rental car).



Here is the photo that I took while in Paris with my digital camera that everyone seems to like the most. My friend Tonya (and her friend Lori), who joined me for the first 4 days I was in Paris have dubbed this photo, 'La tour en Rose.' Enjoy!!