#OH we must have listened to it on our roadtrip........crazy to think that was this year. HUH

[digirainebow]

Spotify wrapped!! 7, 24, 51, 72, and 96!

[panda-paco]

Cancun and Furnal Equinox: The whole adventure!

Seriously do you want to read all my adventures that happened to me the past two weeks? It is a lot, so here is an index of events in case you want to skip something that doesn't seem so interesting for you: CANCUN - The airport - The hotel and the Cancun's bar area - Chichen Itza and Ik Kil - Beach and Kayaking Day - Viernes Furry Podcast ROADTRIP IN MEXICO - Trip to Chetumal - Trip to Coatzacoalcos - Trip to Mexico City - Mexico City FURNAL EQUINOX - Snowy day in Toronto - Artists Alley - Fursuit Games, Fursuit Festival and Toronto walking - Cutthroat Artist - The end of the adventure.

CANCUN

The airport

All this trip was a plan that came up very unexpectedly, a few weeks before I didn't know that I would go on a trip to Cancun, and even less than it would be with Fox Amoore, Majira, Kurtt, Dixie and Ed Puma. That unexpected is life with me, obviously I can't complain, it has been great. I LOVE IT!

Fortunately the flight went very cheap, I didn't pay more than 1,000 pesos (less than 50 dollars), a direct flight from Guadalajara to Cancun. And it was also fortunate that I arrived at almost the same time as the guys who came from the United States, but at another terminal. I arrived in terminal 1, they in terminal 3, and there was no way to go from one terminal to another, maybe they think "Who wants to travel from terminal to terminal in this airport if people only come for vacations?" so with baggage and backpacks, I had to walk to Terminal 3 to wait for them.

I must say that I was very nervous, not long ago I had started talking to Majira, and had spoken ver few with Fox Amoore, I didn't know Dixie, and suddenly knowing that I was going to spend a whole vacation with all of them, I felt I was not going to have much to contribute and I could feel intimidated since they know each other much more than I knew them. They are already like a family, I am just someone else, who is known in the fandom for drawing cute and such, but in reality I don't feel that I'm someone as interesting as them, I almost don't speak, I am very nervous and quite shy.

When waiting for them for a long time at the exit of terminal 3, there was a lot of confusion, because they thought that they were already outside the terminal and that I should go to where they were, that it was a place full of restaurants and bars, but I didn't have access to that area, it was still a place inside the airport arrivals. While I was waiting for them, a taxi driver, astutely, made an ephemeral friendship with me so that he could take me to the hotel as soon as my friends arrived; At the end it was good because it really gave me a price much cheaper than the one originally charged to me by other taxis. He told me that it was not as hot those days as it had before, he mentioned that when he saw me that I was sweating a lot, but believe me it was more from nerves than from the heat. In the end they knew where I was, and they were already escorting by another taxi driver who was willing to charge them much more than even the normal fare. What a pity that in Cancun there is no Uber, because all taxi drivers were charging us dearly. However, we went with that guy who had already talked to me several minutes before. I made them save 180 pesos, which for Mexicans is a lot, I don't know if 9 dollars for them is a lot of difference but for us it's like several days of food XD hehe. While we were on our way to the hotel, I still felt very nervous, as someone very inferior to them, I was more intimidated than they spoke in English, something that I didn't have a hard time getting used to, my English is not perfect but we can have a very good comunication. What I liked is that they quickly made me feel integrated into the group, with hugs, selfies, and very casual conversations. I realized at that moment that nothing would go wrong.

The hotel and the Cancun's bar area.

When we arrived at the hotel we met Ed Puma, who had already checked in the room several hours before. We went out to walk on the streets. It was evening and we went to the bar area.

This was the fourth time I went to Cancun, I love to go even though it is one of the most expensive places in Mexico, the beach is so beautiful that you never get tired of being there. However many foreigners see Cancun as the place for spring breakers and crazy parties without ceasing; for me that was not Cancun, for me Cancun was a place of relaxation and swimming on a very clean and beautiful beach. So I had never even stepped on that area of ​​bars, which each was more bizarre and stunning than the other. It is a place like anything but Mexico:

All speaking in English, with prices in dollars, they charged tickets for entering any of those bars, the only ones that seemed to be in that area were American people.

I must say in advance that it was the only bad experience I had during the whole adventure, the only one I didn't enjoy even a little, what a pity it was of the first things that happened, because it made me think that it would not be a good start. But all the rest of the adventures on this journal were positive, this is the only one that I'll tell which was negative: We go to a bar, I must give the name of the place, to recommend avoiding it if possible: "Señor Frogs". Where I paid the most expensive beer I've paid in Mexico. I have paid more expensive beers in other countries, and I haven't complained, but in Mexico, not even in a concert I have been able to pay that amount, they definitely take advantage of the fact that foreigners don't get so stratospheric prices, so these places are thought only for them. And something that made me confirm that fact was a terrible experience I had with one of the local waitresses: She put in front of me a bottle of ... I do not know what it was, I completely ignore the drink, and she just yelled to me "SHOT", I really didn't know what she meant by that, if it was like a challenge from part of the place , or what was going on. I told her in Spanish, asking questions about that act, that if she was inviting me to challange that I could have a shot of that drink (even didn't know if it has to be directly to the bottle or if she had one of those little glasses) or if there was a price for that challenge to which she wanted to instruct me. Yes, if I had it, it costed me, and it was not cheap, and even though she understood perfectly what I asked her in spanish, she continued speaking to me in English, she asked me where I was from, when I told her my home town, she saw me with the worst possible face , almost like disgusting, and she said "What the heck are you doing in this place?" In short, I was being discriminated in my own country for being in a place that ideally is only for people who are not Mexican. That's horrible! Actually I didn't mention anything to our guests about this fact because I didn't want to leave them with a bad first impression of my country. I preferred that they didn't know that happened; if any of them for some reason is reading this long journal: yes, it happened, an apology for not telling you, I think the right thing would have been to leave that place immediately. I appreciate that nobody left tips, haha. On the way back to the hotel, while they wanted to take pictures with each of the funny sculptures that were on the street, a man offered to take the picture for us, he was a tour salesman, and of course he took advantage to offer some tour prices to us. It was where they learned that we had to ignore those people and just go indifferent, saying no. Well, they didn't do it with this man, they listened to him, and he wanted to sell us some tours, very similar to the same plan we were already willing to do on our own, but he wanted to sell that for only 99 dollars, Dixie thought for a moment that in reality It was a good offer for only 6 people to pay that. Oh, but no, the offer was BY PERSON! Dixie couldn't help but laughing in front of her face and leaving at that moment. Since we were back to the hotel, Kurtt arrived. We went out to buy food at Oxxo, a very popular self-service store in Mexico, very similar to a 7 eleven. Majira bought a gallon of purified water, which lasted him absolutely the rest of the trip to Mexico City.

Chichen Itza and Ik Kil

The next morning we left in a van that we rented to Yucatan. We stopped for breakfast at a cochinita pibil taqueria, which were quite delicious and very cheap.

Upon arriving at the archaeological site of Chichen Itza, I could see how amazed they were to see the main pyramid: the castle of Kukulcán, which is the first to be seen when arriving at the place. There we took several pictures and then we walked to the big ball game, a few moments later it started to rain.

We continue walking until we reach the sacred cenote, where we had to see a very beautiful iguana.

We missed a lot of the site, because unfortunately we arrived a little late, and they also wanted us to spend the same day at the Ik Kil cenote. Those who don't know what a cenote is, are natural formations from underground rivers, which regularly flow into caves. And in some you can swim. I recommend looking in Google images: "Cenote" to give an idea of ​​how they look, they are beautiful. The sacred cenote of Chichen Itza is not apt for one to swim, however the one of Ik Kil does. And that's what we went to! The use of life vests was completely optional, and the only one that rented one was Majira. Warned that swimming in a cenote was a freezing experience (its waters are very cold), they agreed that we should dive in from a very high platform of around 8 meters. The cenote had a depth of 50 meters, so one definitely has to know how to swim to decide to get into one. We dived several times in the water, and the last time, which incidentally was recorded, my arms lashed with water, and they hurted me all that day. It was a very fun day, tho. I think it was of my favorite parts of the trip. Back in Cancun, we had the bad luck that two policemen at different points stopped us, one of them sadly asked for a bribe. Bad! That evening I asked Majira to record an advance video for the podcast "Viernes Furry", and then after that we had pizza. Kurtt, Dixie, Majira and I went to the beach at night, only to wet our feet while we talked. It was a very pleasant and enjoyable night.

Beach and Kayaking Day

In the morning we had breakfast in Vips, they did a few purchases in souvenir shops (Fox bought some cuban cigars, which really came out very cheap, I feel that they gave him an incorrect price, because they were too cheap; when I asked the price, the lady doubted the amount she had to say), and the rest of the day was more of being on the beach.

We rented some Kayaks, I had never rowed before. My Kayak companion was Majira, it was fun to see how anything frightened him: the waves, other ships around, the water...

It was very tired but fun, ended up hurting my arms and legs.

That day we were in the hotel pool, swimming on the beach, suddenly it started to rain very hard. We ate very "mexican" in a Jhonny Rockets

Viernes Furry

As many of you know, I am one of the 3 hosts of a weekly furry themed podcast called "Viernes Furry" (a correct translation would be Furry Friday), broadcast only in Spanish. Sometimes we have guests in the shows, which had always been people who spoke Spanish (or Portuguese, once), but this time there was an exception, it was the first time we had an English speaker: Majira Strawberry.

That at the beginning of the broadcast was also Fox Amoore, but he went to sleep early and only left us Majira and me in the microphone that we transmitted from Cancun, although much of the program was also Kurtt with us. And of course with Koidel from Guadalajara and Apolo from Mexico city.

It was a particular difficult show, because at the beginning I didn't feel that Majira felt completely comfortable, although he had gladly accepted to participate in the show (thanks, Majira, I appreciate it a lot), the good thing is that the longer the time passed, the better he would let himself talk more (I still think that he was very tired that lasted 2 hours, we are already used to being in a microphone for 2 hours in a row talking). But the most difficult thing was to have been translating everything we said both in English (so Majira understood) and in Spanish (so that our audience could understand what Majira was saying and what we were saying to Majira). I think it could have been better, but we are not professionals in translations in real time. If you want to see the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBNli7hxtA4

ROADTRIP IN MEXICO

Trip to Chetumal

We had a great plan, the idea was to go very early from Cancun to Bacalar (from the north of the state of Quintana Roo to the south) and stay the night in Chetumal to continue our journey the next day.

But we never have the great delay we would have with the car rental, because the car we used the previous two days we had to return and rent a new one that we could take to Mexico City and deliver it there, but the time they made us wait for was until 3 o'clock in the afternoon in Cancun. While we waited, I was advancing work from the ipad, and Majira was taking videos.

Already on the way to Chetumal, we stopped to eat in Playa del Carmen, a very express stop where we tried to decide a plan B to stay better there and leave aside the Chetumal plan, because we would not have time to get to Bacalar . The plan B couldn't be made because the Chetumal hotel couldn't be canceled, as the hotel in Playa del Carmen couldn't be reserved. So we went to Chetumal, where I helped in driving, just to spend the night.

It was not bad, because the Chetumal hotel was very nice, it had a pool on the terrace and a bar. I liked that evening a lot, the 6 we played the tag game in the pool, running around like children all over the pool. And then Kurtt, Ed, Majira and I sat at the bar, both to talk with the waiter (who had some flirtations, because he had beautiful eyes and a cute smile) and of course talking among us. According to Majira, that was his favorite dinner in Mexico. It's funny that it's the second time I have a friend from another country in Mexico, I take them to eat all kinds of Mexican food, and in the end they say that their favorite food was nachos, which is not even so Mexican altogether.

Trip to Coatzacoalcos

Much of the next day was driving, and not even for a very fun road. It is nice to know that we are on a road in the middle of the jungle, but the landscape is very repetitive, and it is a very long straight where you don't go through any interesting place, and where there are no gas stations or any place to eat. It was me who drove all that way, from Chetumal, Quintana Roo to Escarcega, Campeche, which was where we stopped to eat at a Burger King. Yeah, Burger King, hehe, there were not many options in that small town either.

During the trip there were many check points, because we were very close to the borders with Guatemala and Belize, and there were many military checking the cars, something funny is that there were always street vendors who took advantage of the small traffic of the check points to sell anything: fruits, giant tortillas, cell phone chargers, windshield wipers, etc. And everyone chased us with their products in hand. Majira took pictures of them, some of them were gold pics.

From there we stopped to Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, where the Ed Puma's family hosted with an incredible kindness, which was much appreciated. That evening we had dinner in La Parroquia, and we walked by the pier of Coatzacoalcos, funny thing is pier in spanish is "Malecón", I laughed a lot when they said that was the Male-Con, the convention of male. In the Malecon there were many people, because there were some clowns doing a show, one of those clowns offered us to take a picture in a pyramid that was by the sea, and then we all took a picture with that clown. We were watching the waves on the seashore in the dark, and we also saw the cargo ships in the distance. As Coatzacoalcos is a port, mainly oil ships. I wet my feet with shoes on, and then I chased Majira threatening that I was going to get him wet too. It was a fun evening. At Ed's parents' house, we watched the Over the Hedge movie and then we slept.

Trip to Mexico City

We left early from Coatzacoalcos, not before having breakfast at the house of Ed's parents, who very kindly cooked for us.

We made a very express stop in Orizaba to eat, what a pity that we didn't stop there longer, because in January 2017 I went to Orizaba with Roni and it's a really beautiful place.

Before entering the state of Puebla, we passed through the summits of Maltrata, curves on the road that were very scary, and that there was also foggy. However Kurtt was driving at a speed as if the fog didn't exist, so we were very afraid, but at the same time a lot of laughter.

In Puebla it was my turn to drive to Mexico City, but there was an accident on the Puebla highway (don't worry, didn't affect us directly) that made us stay stucked in a traffic jam for more than an hour. But at last we reached Mexico City, and with it our hotel, in the Zona Rosa.

Mexico City

We had many plans in Mexico City in mind to take them, since it's the city that both Kurtt and I know as the back of our hand, we had many places in mind. But the traffic in Puebla, and other extra traffic in the summits of Maltrata made us arrive later than expected to the city, so we couldn't do much.

That night we made a spontaneous furmeet with some furries from the city, Apolo (great friend and fellow host of the podcast Viernes Friday), Alf (whom I had the pleasure to meet for the first time, after chatting with him on the internet for some months) arrived behind, Metalpuppy (whom we would later see in Toronto, for Furnal Equinox), and several others, whom some of them I completely didn't know them.

We went to dinner at "Casa de Toño", a place of pozole and verious Mexican food, quite delicious and excessively cheap. We were about 15 people at a large shared table, and when the bill came, Fox Amoore was very impressed how cheap it was (and we all really ate a lot) who offered to invite us all. (Thank you very much, Fox!)

We went for a walk along Reforma Avenue, one of the main avenues in Mexico, until we reached the Angel of Independence, a symbol of the city. And after we returned to the Zona Rosa, we stopped at a 7 eleven, where we bought many candies that only exist in Mexico. We went back to the hotel, and after an argument with the hotel managers to let everyone into the room, only to record a video, they allowed us to do it. We recorded a video for the Majira's channel, where we tried Mexican candies, both typical sweets and commercial candies that are only sold on this side. It was very funny, but also very tired, because we were arriving from a very long roadtrip, it was already late night, and we had to wake up early the next day, as Majira, Fox and Dixie had their flight at 1 pm. So immediately all the guests left, we fell asleep. The next day we still went to the Mexico City downtown, where we saw the facade of the palace of fine arts, we entered the postal palace, and we walked down the street of Madero to reach the zocalo. Everything was very fast, because in a few hours their flight departed. We said goodbye to Fox, Majira, Dixie and Ed Puma at the airport, I went to my sister's house to leave my bags, only to have a place to leave them, because in a few hours I was also departing to Toronto. While I was waiting, I went to a mall to see the Winchester movie. A horror movie which I liked and didn't like at the same time, because the story went well until it turned out that the ghosts had super powers, and that they used all the time the screamers resource to make the audience jump from their seats, instead actual situations that really provoke terror.

FURNAL EQUINOX Snowy day in Toronto

I departed from Mexico City to Toronto from very early in the morning, however I arrived in Toronto as it was getting dark, since the stopover in Dallas lasted longer than it should, the flight was delayed.

In Toronto, it was Dumpling who picked me up to the airport. Dumpling is a great person, a great friend, someone completely adorable and who has done a lot for me, I love him very much.

That night I stayed with him at his house.

The next day he took me to a frozen lake. It was the first time I walked on a lake made completely ice. At first I was very afraid that in some false step it would break, but apparently the ice sheet was thick enough. We saw traces that looked like from a canine, probably from a coyote. And that's where I made a snowman for the first time, which was more like a snow bear. I had a lot of Fun.

After those great little adventures with my mouse friend, we went to the Furnal Equinox hotel, in Toronto downtown.

My roomies this year were Buckley, Gauge and Stage Lion. Great friends, great people, I loved sharing the room with them 3.

Artists Alley

I won't much of my first moments in Furnal Equinox because it did not really happen much, I was tired and I slept early. And the next day I woke up to setting up the artists alley table.

It's funny that in all the times I've put artists alley table, the only time I had not been so successful was in Furnal Equinox last year, because the place of artists alley had been very hidden.

I thought that this time would be repeated that bad luck, because although now we were accommodated in a more visible place than last year, 30 minutes passed after they had opened the doors and no one went through the artists alley. It was not until I posted a post on Twitter and Telegram indicating exactly where artists were, that people started to arrive and, as usual, my commission slots were filled immediately. But it was strange to be more than 30 minutes at the table without doing anything or receiving anyone. Actually, I did something, I made two very quick birthday drawings for Bacon Coyote and Yipee Coyote, who were celebrating their birthday that day and a day later respectively.

Majira came to my table (for the first time in life he stopped in my table!!), and he bought me some merch, paying me in Mexican pesos. Hehe, of course they were welcome, because I need them back home.

Finishing the artists alley, I went to eat something and then to the concert of Fox Amoore, who supposedly would be with Pepper Coyote, but Pepper was not in that concert. Instead of him were the members of the Xephyr band, and personally I didn't like how they sounded with Foxes and Peppers, they are great playing their own songs, very rock/alternative, but Pepper was very missed at that show, fortunately in the AD show, Pepper was there and it was very funny as always.

Fursuit Games, Fursuit Festival and Toronto walking

For the second year in a row, I participated in the Furnal Equinox fursuit games. And for the first time my streak of first places in fursuit games was stained, and not with a decent second place, but in a last place. X_X

But still I must say that it has been the fursuit games that I have enjoyed most of all the times I have participated, the contests were fun, the mood of the audience was very special this time, and I really had a very pleasant time.

Almost immediately afterwards the Fursuit Festival started, something that replaced the fursuit parade, as almost all the conventions are already doing. Personally I like these festivals more than the fursuit parades, they give rise to the fursuiters play more with people, and that not only we pass marching and having very little opportunity to interact with the cameras and with people.

Among the photoshoots, there was one of bears, and curiously we were only 3 bears that we wanted to be in that photoshoot: a grizzly, a polar, and me. So we wanted to take a photo making a pile, to make the reference of the We bare bears show, however the photographer didn't understand that reference and insisted on accommodating that pile that we wanted so much according to our size, and not to the position of: polar, panda and grizzly as it should have been. And when we insisted on accommodating ourselves in that order, the photographer ignored us and didn't take any pictures of us doing the correct pile.

After the fursuit festival, it was organized an alternative walking to the Roundhouse park, where we took many photographs on the railways and trains.

As you can read, I had already been in fursuit for several hours, around 8, so I was already running out, after returning to the hotel and taking off the fursuit, I went to lunch, I was starving.

However, I went back to put on the fursuit to dance, that evening of dancing was very fun, dancing until I got tired, and then watching the show After Dark by Pepper and Fox.

Cutthroat Artist

The next morning, the long-awaited artist Cutthroat was there. And although I had almost no hope of winning, I went with the plan to have fun, not so much to be competitive.

In this edition we participated Anyare, Cat-Monk Shiro, Underbite dragon and me. Three Canadians and one Mexican.

What is the Cutthroat artist about?

They are 4 rounds, each round lasts 10 minutes and in each there is a challenge. The interesting thing is that during each round, there are 1 or 2 sabotages that are up for auctions. Each artist starts with a certain amount of money (fake money, only for the contest) and this money can be used to buy and buy the sabotage for one or more of the competitors.

In the first round, we had to make a badge for a fursuit in the audience, called Barkley, a blue and yellow dog. While we were doing it, the first one to buy a sabotage was me, and I maliciously applied it to CatMonk Shiro. The sabotage was about not to take off the pencil of the paper during the rest of the round.

So he bought the second sabotage to apply to me as revenge, I had to draw holding the pencil with the two closed fists of my hand, it was very difficult.

At the end of each round, a judge eliminates a competitor. The one that had the least beautiful drawing. The first one that was eliminated was Catmonk, who because of me couldn't make a nice drawing in time. U///U Sorry!!

In the second round we had to draw someone's random character in the audience, and represent it with the theme of the convention: livin 'large (BTW were the only drawings we couldn't take them pictures, the owner immediately take them with them and left the place). In that round I didn't worry about the sabotages, between Anyare and Underbite the punishments were thrown, ignoring me completely. Anyare had to draw for the rest of the round with a silver sharpie, and Underbite with his left hand.

The challenge of Underbite was really difficult, it is very complicated to do something decent with the hand that we are not used to draw, however his drawing was very decent, and even so he was the participant that was eliminated. So the final was between Anyare and me.

For the last challenge, we took two random fursonas from the audience, a black dragon and a tiger, and we had to combine them to make a hybrid.

Very difficult, because Anyare is a great artist. In this last round there was only one sabotage, which was very abusive, was to stop drawing and to play blackjack against Huscoon, and beat him 3 times to be able to continue. I bought that sabotage, taking advantage of the fact that I still had a high amount of false money with me. She took 4 minutes to beat Huscoon, so she lost a lot of time. Even so, her drawing was incredible, I was more than sure that she was going to be the winner.

However, I was chosen as the winner, to my surprise. Being that at the beginning I didn't even want to participate, but Bcbreakaway had already insisted on me for two previous cutthroat artists, and I didn't want to tell him no. Also, I was sure it would be fun, and it was, I really wouldn't have minded in the least losing even from the first round, I went to have fun.

Another thing is that I thought the cash prize of up to $ 25 was a joke, but it was not, in the end I won 15 Canadian dollars in cash, haha.

Thank you, Bc, for inviting me, it was really hilarious!!! Sorry for saying no previous times.

The end of the adventure

There was not much else to do the rest of the convention, I saw the end of the fursuit dance competition, someone who I didn't even see his performance because he was one of the first and I got to see the last 6 participants. I saw the closing ceremonies. I was not much in the dead dog party because the truth is that this year was a very boring party, literally dead. I was in the lobby chatting with friends, I packed my stuff and I was in the room talking with my roomies.My return flight didn't leave until the next day at dawn, so I spent an extra day in Toronto, went shopping in art stores, and bought some plushies in a mall. 

Then Dumpling invited me to go out for dinner with the Asian group, it was very fun, I met new people, including Arco Shep, who I liked very much.

My flight ended up getting late until 7 o'clock on Tuesday morning, so Dumpling did me the great favor of hosting me one more night in his house, which I thank you infinitely for all the kindness.And all day Tuesday was of flights and buses, until arriving home, very tired and very sleepy, but full of experiences that became unforgettable. 

I really feel very grateful to the furry fandom for giving me so many things, so many friends, so many good times, and for letting me be myself.

Thanks to you for reading this until the end, sure were very few who read absolutely everything, I don't blame them, I think I wrote this more for me, and for those who wanted to take a time to know how it was in the latter Two weeks I was a little absent from uploading artistic content to my networks.

This panda loves you!!!

[fightmejai]

wildlife, wildnight

where: cara’s work place

when: saturday 21st july

triggers: mild NSFW

@wildlifecara

Jai: It might not have been the best of ideas, but what really did Jai have to lose? Cara seemed like a cool kinda chick and he was getting bored without his daughter in the house. Not sure if he should take the dog or not, he eventually decided to leave him at home. He followed the address he had been given and wandered up the small patch on the look out for the gorgeous younger woman, "Uh..." he began, getting a little confused as to where he was going, "Cara?"

Cara: Cara worked at the wildlife sanctuary and she was always there after hours when no one else was. She handled a lot of things there, so it was never a problem. The girl was used to doing crazy and spontaneous things, so this was nothing new to her. Although, the Australian Male had an air of something exciting about him. She started making her way to the back gate and heard her name being called. Sliding the large gate open, she waved him in. "You actually showed up," he stated laughing as she closed the gate behind them.

Jai: When she spoke, Jai raised a brow and wondered if he was actually supposed to have shown up or not. Was he not supposed to have shown up? He cleared his throat a little and made his way past the gate when invited in, "I didn't want to be branded a tease," he replied with a small shrug, "I can leave if you're happier with that..."

Cara: "No, no. I'm quite glad you did show up I'm just not used to people being quite as reckless as I am," the British girl grinned. "You certainly are not a tease. I'm sorry that I implied it. Come on then," she said, taking his hand and pulling him further into the park. "Is there anything you'd like to see?"

Jai: Jai was always one for an adventure, it was probably how he'd ended up with a daughter in the end, but that was another conversation for another time. He chuckled when she mentioned him being as reckless as her, "It's my wreckless weekend," he joked, following along with her as he was tugged along, "We'll ignore the comment of teasing from both of us, yeah?" he asked before adding, "So... what brought you here? Your accent is almost as obvious as mine."

Cara: "Wreckess weekend. I like it. I've got to start calling it that," she said, walking along some of the trees and animals. Most were asleep at this hour, but some of the nocturnal were out. "Heard Stonecastle had sexy Australian men,: she joked with a grin. "Eh, tragic family story. Moved her to be with the animals," she shrugged. "How about you? What's your story?"

Jai: "At least once a month I get myself a reckless weekend and it's pretty fun. I'll be sure to hit you up in the beginning of it next time." He hadn't ever actually been to that side of the town before so he didn't even realise the wildlife area was there, "Tragic family story?" he asked, though he smirked at the comment of sexy Australian men, "Sounds intense... but the animals help, I hope?" When asked about his story, Jai was truthful as he explained, "Trained for fighting in Australia, knocked a chick up. Got a break in the US, Is' mum died and she and I moved to California. This was a pretty decent place when I stopped off on a roadtrip, thought we'd relocate."

Cara: "Oh, you better. I'll be very disappointed if you don't," she grinned. "Yeah, mum was into drugs. In and out of rehab. A few overdoses. Pretty much raised myself. My best friend Kendall moved here with her sisters and it sounded pretty nice so I decided to go for a change of scenery " she shrugged before listening to his story. "I'm sorry to hear about that. Her death. Is is your little girl then? At least you got her out of it, yeah?" she asked.

Jai: "You'll be on speed dial under 'Nature Woman'," he chuckled softly, his brows raising softly at the revelation about her mother, "Fuck Mate... that's intense... Sorry to hear that -- but I'd be without an adventurer if it wasn't for all that, right?" he was trying to make light of it so nothing was awkward between them. He nodded, "Isabelle," he provided, "Yeah... we weren't together when her mum died. I didn't really know she had had a baby until she died and someone knocked at my door talking about custody."

Cara: Cara shrugged. "It is what it is. I don't let it define me," she said, looking at him with a smile when he mentioned he would be without an adventurer. "Wow. Surprise, here's a baby! That's gotta be something to wake up to," she shook her head and lead him to a little building. Opening the door there was a little room with a bed, a fridge, and a computer desk. She had an apartment, but this is where she spent most nights. It was convenient. "So trained in Australia," she sat on the bed, cross legged. "I bet I can take you," she said, putting her arm up in an arm wrestling position.

Jai: "That's something not a lot of people actually achieve these days," he pointed out, an air of pride in his tone. He chuckled a little at the comment about the surprise baby, "Yeah, it was a bit intense... but she's just so me at this point I can't imagine not having her in my life. If Tez hadn't died... I don't think I'd ever have met my own kid, y'know?" He watched her move into a surprise room that looked more like an apartment, "Is this a people zoo? Are you about to lock me away and study me or something?"

Cara: "That's sweet. You must be a good dad," she commented. She couldn't imagine keeping a baby from someone. At least give them the chance to be in the child's life. Of course Cara would know if she gave birth to a child, but it was weird to think about not knowing you had a child out there. "Everything happens for a reason right? At least that's what they tell me," she commented. A laugh escaped her at his worries. She realized how this may look. "Firstly, not a zoo. Wildlife conservation. The people have free reign. I mean the animals," she teased. "No, it's just easier to stay here cause I'm here so much. Now are you gonna wrestle me or what??"

Jai: "She's more like my mum, but y'know, we make it work." He grinned a little over at her, winking for good measure. He agreed when she said everything happened for a reason and laughed when she added the last part, "I actually believe that," he told her nonchalantly, "What happens is meant to happen." Jai grinned over at her and made his way to sit next to her, "Aah, a people conservation. My bad." He sighed loudly as he say down properly and faced her, holding his arm out, "Alrighty, let's go. What's the prize?"

Cara: "Well someone has to keep you in line then, huh? She must be a tough girl," Cara grinned. "What would she say if she knew you were playing with strangers, tsk tsk," she grinned and turned to face him as he sat down. "Dont worry. We feed our people three meals a day if you do some tricks," she mused. Wrapping her smaller hand in his large one, she pursed her lips thinking. "Winner gets... whatever they want," she shrugged.

Jai: "Y'see, none of this would have happened if I had her. She'd be yelling at me that I was being a 'silly bum' or 'butter butt' -- that's one of her favourites." It felt weird talking so openly about his daughter with a practical stranger, but it was easy to talk to someone as open as Cara seemed to be, "Three meals?! Fuck yes, sign me up!" He gripped her arm and wondered if he was supposed to let her win or if this was a real competition, "Fine, fine... winner gets whatever. C'mon now, let's go."

Cara: "Butter butt? That's incredible. I need to start calling my sister that. I think I'd quite light this Isabelle. You should bring her by during opening hours sometime. She can hold a tiger cub," Cara said, chuckling. "Alright. Don't you go easy on me now," she said. "3...2....1....go!" She said, pushing his hand though it didnt seem to be going anywhere. "No!" she laughed, using her other hand as well to try and make it budge.

Jai: "You'll have to credit her or she'll copyright strike you," Jai said seriously before breaking and grinning. He kept his hand still once she counted down, not pushing, but making sure she didn't just toss his hand down the moment they began the 'fight'. When she added her second hand, Jai groaned dramatically and let her win, his hand falling down with him gasping in 'pain', "Fuck... well shit, you're a little pocket rocket, aren't you?"

Cara: "Oh boy. I dont think i can handle another copyright lawsuit," she joked in return. Cara used all the strength she could muster and eventually his arm went down. She knew he let her win but she was still gonna take the glory. "YES!!!!,"she exclaimed, throwing her arms up in victory. "Now I get one wish," she tapped her cheek as though she was thinking. "I've got it then," she said, leaning forward on her knees and putting her hand against the scruff of his face. She pressed her lips against his, her back arching forward into him.

Jai: Another barked laugh escaped Jai when she joked back with him, his mood improving now he had someone to actually talk to who wasn't his dog. Her celebration was cute and Jai watched her 'gloat' as she cheered herself. He clapped her gently and nodded, waiting to see what it was he could do to grant her wish. What he wasn't expecting was for her to be as bold as to kiss him, but after a moment of surprise, his felt himself press back against her, his large hand covering her lower back as he deepened the kiss slightly.

Cara: Cara leaned into him, pressing her whole body against his as she felt his larger hand press into her back. The girl pressed him down onto the bed and moved onto him. Her hand traveled from his face down to his chest and she began to smirk against his lips. "Ha!" she said, sitting on him and breaking the kiss. "Told you I'd sit on you"

Jai: He certainly wasn't going to complain when it seemed like Cara was taking exactly what she wanted considering it had been a decent while since he'd had a gorgeous woman push him down onto a bed. He gently tugged her bottom lip between his teeth before she broke the kiss. He looked up at her, a little confused for a moment before nodding, "Uh... I did tell you you could..."

Cara: "Hmm, you're right. Well, I guess you followed through. I would say were both excellent at keeping our word then," she grinned down at him. She studied his face for a moment, her finger circling one of his curls. There were signs of old scars and she wondered if it was from his days of training. "You know," she said, leaning down and kissing him again. "I'm not an easy girl," he kissed him once more.

Jai: "If anything, we're truthful you and me." He watched her carefully, not sure if this whole thing was a joke to her or not. Normally he'd whack someone's hand away when they were toying with his hair, but it felt nice as he laid there with her on top of him, "I wouldn't dream of suggesting that," he assured her between kisses, making sure not to move his hands along her body unless expressly asked to. He wasn't about to get himself into trouble with a gorgeous woman like her.

Cara.: "Truthful. I like that word. Truthfully, why did you come here tonight?" she asked him, cocking her head to the side and looking at him with curious eyes. A small grin spread to her lips at his reply. "I kind of just like watching you sweat a little bit," she teased him. Cara swept her hair to the side and pulled her shirt up over her head, laying back down on him, connecting their lips again.

Jai: She'd asked for truth, he'd give her the truth, "I spent the day talking to my dog. I don't have many friends and I thought the company of a gorgeous woman would do me good. Regardless of the making you." A beat passed and he asked, "Why'd you ask me. Truthfully." he watched her take off her shirt and was definitely into the sight of her with less clothing on, but he tried to keep his cool, "You should see me fight," he hummed against her mouth, hand pressed into her back still.

Cara.: "Truthfully, I've been talking to wild animals all day. I don't have many friends here and the friends that I do have are all busy working all the time. You were very sexy and you made me laugh, which... is a pretty good combo in my book. Loneliness is a hell of a drug," she bit down on her bottom lip. Pulling back a little bit to look at him, she raised an eyebrow. "What exactly is it that you fight?"

Jai: "So you invited another one over?" he asked with a small tease, though he was in agreement with her comments about loneliness. It felt nice to be called sexy again though, in person and not just on some social media post of his, "I'm in Mixed Martial Arts... like cage fighting, y'know?"

Cara.: "Yeah, I invited like five people, but you were the only one to answer my call," she teased, obviously joking. "No, like I said, I'm not easy. I mean... I'm kind of easy, but in a way that I'm okay with my sexuality. Huge supporter of free the nipple. Boobs are great, you know," she said, cupping her own chest. "But I don't just sleep with any handsome stranger either. I'm quite picky about my handsome strangers," she laughed. "There's something that I find quite enticing about you," Cara added. "Cage fighting? Damn it, you just had to go and say something sexier," she said, throwing her arms up in defeat. "What's your winning streak?"

Jai: "I meant animals," he laughed gently, "It wasn't another easy comment." Jai nodded as if agreeing with her about her sexuality and boobs. He was definitely into boobs, that was for sure. When they began to actually chat, Jai sat up a little and held her hips so he could wriggle them back together until his back was against her headboard, "Why do people think fighting is sexy?" he asked, shaking his head, "My last stint was one loss, five wins. I lost because I fell back into a pole and got a concussion."

Cara.: "Right. I totally knew that. Do I seem defensive?" she teased. Cara braced herself when he began to wiggle himself up, holding onto his shoulders and curving his legs to wrap around his torso the best they could. "I don't know. I guess it just means... you're not afraid to get dirty. I don't know. It's not one of those things you can explain into words. Kind of like how...jealousy is kind of sexy? When you think about it it's not a great feeling, but the concept of it is sexy. Maybe like a protection thing," she shrugged. "Wow, tough guy. Is your head okay?"

Jai: "A little," he grinned in return, making sure the both of them were comfortable once he'd settled back against her headboard, "You don't have to be defensive here. I'm not one to judge. You wanna fuck nine people in a day? You've got great stamina, that's all I'll ever say." He listened when she explained what she meant and gently nodded, "Yeah, okay... that kinda makes sense." He'd never heard of the 'protection' thing, but it did make sense. People liked being safe, after all. He felt himself smirking as he replied, "No one's ever complained about my head before. So I think it's better than okay."

Cara.: "In that case.... I am feeling slightly less dressed than you and I think we should even the playing field a little bit," she said, tugging at his shirt upward. She chuckled at the stamina comment and shook her head. She was certainly in good company. Cara smiled at the other and let out a small sigh. He was quite charming wasn't he. "So do you like fighting then?"

Jai: Jai lifted up a little and let her tug his shirt up and off if she saw fit, "As you wish," he laughed gently, resting back against the bedframe one his shirt was off and out of the way, "I love fighting," he nodded, "It's a great way of keeping fit, getting aggression out and earning money without a real job. Do you like working with Wildlife?"

Cara.: When the other finally pulled his shirt off, she rested his hands against his pecs and bit her bottom lip. "Well... you definitely have the body to prove it," she commented, patting his chest. When he asked if she enjoyed wildlife. "I love it. It's my absolute favourite thing. Don't get me started talking about it because there's a good chance that I will never stop," she admitted. "Besides. You have a topless girl on your lap. Do you really want to talk about jobs?"

Jai: He has a fake few scars on his chest along with tattooes and hoped neither was a bother for her, “Thanks,” He grinned bashfully, his hands gently tracing circles in her hips, “I wouldn’t mind that,” he shrugged easily, happy to hear whatever she wanted to talk about. He laughed gently before smirking and replying, “Well, I’d could listen to you talk all day while MY month is busy.” To emphasise his point, Jai lent forward to press his lips to her jaw, kissing down her neck ever so slowly.

Cara: Cara traced her finger along some of the scars on his chest. None of it bothered her. She had tattoos of her own everywhere, including one of a lion on the finger she was using to trace the scars on his chest. The feeling of his hands circling on her hips sent a delicious chill up her spine. "Mmmfh,"she moaned softly as he kissed down her neck. "Thinking with your mouth bust doesn't seem in the cards, " she said.

Jai: Jai felt himself smirking against her skin as her reply came. The way she was reacting to his touch was definitely a good sign. He nipped softly at her skin when she moaned and took a long breath through his nose to fully appreciate the smell of her softened skin, "Try it," he challenged her, words muffled against her body, "Try talking while I keep myself preoccupied... when did you first get interested in wildlife?" Jai continued to move his lips against her skin in hopes she’d relax and tell him a little more about herself while he kept himself busy.

[basshouse]

Bring on the FAQs

I know you have questions! Oh, ok, I’ll honor the era of the fact check (be the change you want to see int he world, after all!): I think you have questions and I know I want to use questions as a framework for telling you more about my life. On board?? In case your answer is “no” and you choose not to click “keep reading” below, here’s the obligatory picture right up front: 

That’s me in San Jose a couple days ago. Yes, I have a “bum bag” (super apologies to everyone I ever mocked for a fanny pack, a sweatpant, or a mini van, and a reminder to us all that it’s ridiculous to judge people for the things they decide enhance their quality of life...are heavily starched jeans in my future?  who can say?).  Also, yes I am on the North American continent. Sadly not with enough time or planning to be able to connect with many people, plus it’s a work trip and I’m freezing by balls off.  More on that later (the work part, not my balls). Let’s get to the Q&A!

A bit of a heads up: a lot of these are combo questions, I grouped them by flavor to make things more compact... you bunch are good at asking the same question multiple ways.

1.  Do you miss home/Seattle/the States?  What do you miss the most?

Alright, I’m going to leave out the obvious friends, family and a certain tiny dog, because...duh.  Do you really need the validation?  You know I miss you.  As for P-dog, he was IN A WEDDING.  IN A BOWTIE.  So suffice it to say that while I still get sad when I get in bed at night and he’s not curling up at my feet, his new family is showing their commitment to him in a whole new and completely adorable way. 

I do not actively miss living in Seattle or the States. I haven't been homesick. and to be clear, Seattle is an amazing place and our lives there were full of amazing people and things. It’s just that I am enjoying being somewhere else and doing new things (and many of the old things in a new location). I can love Seattle (and you!) and love somewhere else at the same time, how amazing is that? One good thing about being faced with losing my job and visa was that I had to ask and answer the question of whether it was best to just “go home” -- and it was clear for both me and Jason that we did not want to leave Christchurch yet. No, we did NOT ask the kids this time :-). 

I DO miss some things about living in Seattle, and if you know me you won't be surprised to hear they are largely food related...La Palma.  Pickles.  Gardenburgers. Caesar salads that don’t have a poached egg on top. The ability to fulfill a special order (say, make a Caesar salad without an egg on top).  Jale-frickin’-penos!  It’s not to say that NZ doesn't have good food; overall the quality of the food is high and it’s nice that all the coffee shops serve real food.  Also, you almost never have table service, which threw me off at first, but now I really appreciate being in control of when I order and when I pay my bill.  A non-tip economy has its perks for sure, including less math at the dinner table! But there are some foods for each of us that fulfill a craving, are a go-to, and when you can’t get them, even a close approximation or a really good option just won’t do. This problemhas inspired me to learn how to cook new things, at least. Haven’t nailed the gardenburger yet.

Also, I miss yoga.  A LOT.  Props to Core Power, Shefa, Haute, and Maven for being awesome places to practice a powerful flow in the heat with music. Thanks to all of you who taught me and those that let me teach you.  Christchurch has more bars and restaurants and interesting places than we expected, but this style of yoga just isn't there as far as I can tell.  So hit me up if you're interested in investing in a probably-not-very-profitable business in NZ once I have a visa that lets me own a business, and you can weigh in on whether “Surfing Donkey Yoga” (Jason’s nomination) is on brand or not.  I have an opinion but no harm in workshopping it. 

2.  Wait, you said in an earlier blog you don't overwork (or sometimes even work at all when you should be)...what do you do/are you going crazy/how do you handle it/are you really you?!?!? 

This is an honest question I have gotten in phone conversations, and since I assume you know me and my, um, rather industrious ways, you may have it too.  I mean, it’s not a secret that when I lived in Seattle  I worked A LOT, and stressed over work A LOT, and talked about work A LOT, and did work-y things outside of work, and worked at home and on the weekends FAR TOO MUCH.  And for background: in New Zealand I have had a much better work life balance. And at the end of my time at SLI there were many many hours that I went to work but did not really have work to do.  So while I have done what I needed to do, and contributed to the business, and used my skills, working and being at work has NOT defined my life here, even in the slightest, which it did in Seattle.  That pains me a little, because I also did lots of of things besides work in Seattle, and I never valued being a person who was stressed about work all the time (at least, I did not value that for other people or in principal, though I did build up some kind of addiction or compulsion based on an anxiety about not working).  Can I attribute being ok with more balance to a “less demanding” job?  In part that would be fair, but after giving it some thought I also must attribute it to both breaking the chain of bad habits and the general difference in culture,  For, as far as I can tell, in New Zealand, it is not common to work outside hours or on vacation; people value value and respect family time; and there's a much more subtle and prevalent difference that's hard to explain about the feeling that everything really is going to be ok if you don't struggle to get it all done in record time -- there’s an undercurrent of pressure that does not exist, at least not for me, and I think it’s a Kiwi thing.  An informal poll and some observational data (e.g. one boss told me when I sent an email on a sick day not to do it again, no laptop, employment contract stating a 37 hour work week) backs it up.   

So what do I do and am I still me and not going crazy?  Well, I’ll tell you and yes and no to those questions. Let’s be clear that I still work 37-40 hours a week which is plenty so don't get too exited, but here’s a wee list of some of the things I’ve been doing with “all this time.”  Sadly not enough yoga :-( 

I write a blog!  You're welcome.  

Cook, surf, hike, bike, gym, listen to records...I think you knew that already. Same shit, different continent. 

Burlesquercize!  Yes, it’s what it sounds like -- a sluttier version of Jazzercise. My friend Tas and I also did a 6 week burlesque course that culminated in an actual performance.  On stage.  In. Front. Of. Real. People.  Body positive, pro-female and anti-agist?  You betcha.  Terrifying?  Kind of. Entertaining?  I hope so.  And no, we did not take our clothes off (that would have moved the answer to “terrifying?” waaaaay up). 

Tennis lessons!  Finally fulfilling a desire to learn and play tennis that I have had my entire adult life, I joined an adult beginner group lesson at the tiny Opawa Tennis Club.  Really, in American terms, this should be “club” -- because like the lawn bowling club and croquet club near my house, this is the kind of club that where pay $100 bucks to get a key so you have access to equipment and courts when you need them, and there are organized games and lessons a few hours a week.  Plus a water fountain. Croquet might be my next project, as I am still as shockingly bad at tennis as I was in junior high when I got moved from the 8th grade beginner team down to the elementary school group at a “real tennis club.”  But learning tennis is fun, and I have met some great people, and hey, it’s summer in December so why not? 

I grew tomatoes. It didn’t take that much time, so I could still do tennis and burlesque, thank god.  

I make pickles like twice a month. In NZ, pickles are almost exclusively sweet gherkins.  Most of you are probably like “making pickles is super easy, der.” You're right. I don’t know why I ever paid for them...oh except they were pretty cheap and super convenient to buy pretty much anywhere. It’s remarkable how scarcity, a bit of dill and a head of garlic can drive such commitment to a new activity.  Now if I only had a goddamn Gardenburger to eat with my pickle slices!

On a career path note, I became a volunteer city coordinator for Product School meetups and am working to get that off the ground.  I am mulling over ideas about generating and delivering content and education in the product management space...there may be a great opportunity to leverage my skill set and breadth of professional experience in NZ and I’m doing some activities that will help me network and consider the possibilities. 

I have read more books since we moved than I think I read in the last 10 years.  I do miss the New Yorker, I think I could finally be crushing the cover to cover in a week challenge. If you haven't read This is Where I Leave You, you should.  

TV: In the interest of transparency...I don't just read and write and exercise, and as much as I’d like to present as that virtuous, I can’t lie to you, even by omission.  If you have not seen the Amazon TV show Red Oaks, I highly recommend it.  Obviously the tennis montages have a new-found appeal for me, but the rest of it was really good too. 

Roadtrips!  There’s a lot to do around NZ, even within an hour or two of Christchurch.  I’m trying to think of a good way to tell you about the things we have done, there will be more posts to highlight what we’ve done so far. 

We hang out with friends, host guests, and sometimes try to make new friends. More on that in other posts as well. 

Here’s another thing we did, which was attend an interactive improv-y game show at the Busker Festival...yes, I am realizing as I get ready to hit “publish” that it sorta seems like Jason and I are into a whole new realm of adult entertainment. 😱. We’re really not, not that there's anything wrong with it.  I just thought you might appreciate this picture of Jason:

Next up in the blog: more FAQs.  Political! Personal! Practical!  See you soon. 

PS: I don’t just cook with cheese...and these are my tomatoes: