2004-10-25 - 11:21 p.m.

Woke up in bed with Dean, intertwined, sleeping late. When we were getting ready to leave the house to go for a drive some friends called to make plans with us for the night, and Dean realized he wasn't going to have time to get his writing done for the day like he had hoped. I told him if he wanted to skip our drive and stay in to write, I wouldn't mind, my feelings wouldn't be hurt, because I know how important his writing is to him and I didn't ever want to come between him and his life's work. He pulled me to him and kissed me and said that he wouldn't dream of missing our date, he said "I don't ever want my life's work to come between me and you." Wow! Dean says that kind of stuff to me all the time- he is always saying the most romantic things, he is always making me feel so good!

Then we went for a drive in the mountains around Santa Cruz - we had never explored all the little mountain towns and our aim for the day was to wander through the woods and see what we could see. We started in Felton and then just took roads wherever they led . . . It was raining part of the time, and when we stopped for lunch in Boulder Creek it was really pouring! Which made having lunch in a random mountain town very cozy inside. He kissed me in the rain and we kept driving, going in any direction we pleased - After the rain the air was beautifully foggy white and misty, which made the windy roads and trees feel so magical . . .

On the road to big basin I spotted some gold rooftops and told Dean, he turned the car around and we parked on the side of the road and walked up to a sign for a monastary - We didn't want to tresspass, but the signs and the trail seemed so friendly, we thought we'd just walk up and take a quick look and since we were pure of heart we figured that anyone who we encountered there would be understanding. As it happened, we were completely alone and didn't run into another person as we explored.

As we crested the top of this trail we saw the most amazing intricate gold rooftops above what appeared to be pagodas!! We had found, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the deep forest, golden pagodas that looked like they came straight out of Thailand! INCREDIBLE. They were so beautiful!

Dean and I were quiet as we tiptoed around the pagodas, and Dean took some pictures on his digital camera, and then we found another trail leading into the woods - so we took it! Dean and I didn't hesitate at all - I love how adventurous Dean is! We walked through a beautiful trail in the woods with occasional benches and buddist statues resting on moss covered tree stumps.

What an incredible day! I love that whenever Dean and I go exploring, we always find something more exciting and mysterious and magical than our wildest expectations!

This is the kind of thing that really inspires me to write, not just in my diary but to remind me that adventures are all around us, and it inspired my short-story mind to write about characters who really do find treasures and magical happenings, these things really do happen!

I really need to keep days like this Saturday in my mind as I go through my week -- To recharge myself when daily routines, distractions, and irritations come upon me --

I'm having a hard time at work right now, even though I work at a Comic shop for $7 an hour which should be FUN - But my boss, who I like on a personally, is a type A personality, who places alot of emphasis on perfection, and punctuality, and who is actually kind of hard on me. I work very hard and try to do a good job, no matter what the wage I always commit myself to doing the best job possible on any job, but because no one is perfect I think it's impossible to be perfect for this job -- I'd like to find work better suited for me but it takes time, and in the meantime I am keeping this job to pay the bills, but I find myself stressing over my boss more than I'd like, so I have to remind myself to keep being positive, keep being sweet, keep the joy of comics formost in my mind, keep having compassion for my boss instead of anger (it must really be a burden for him to feel like he needs to be in control all the time, to be stressed out over such small things!) and to remember to leave my work at work, and keep my magical self ready to spring forth at the end of the day so that I am ready and able to do the real work that I am passionate about in the evenings - writing!!

Oh, I also want to write about my great day yesterday, too -- Yesterday I worked with my friend Miriam and after work we went out for a cocktail at the Red Room, which was awesome because I'm so glad to have a girlfriend here, girltalk is definitely a much needed part of my life, too -- and at night Dean and I went to see KRS-1 in concert -- and may I just say that KRS-1 ROCKS THE HZOUSE!

Damn! KRS-1 was electrifying, to say the least, more than that he was empowering - the message of the concert was that "Rap is something we do -- but Hip-Hop is something we LIVE" and he ended the concert with a song that had the message "Lift YOURSELF up!" He talked about visualizing the changes you want to see in the world, and the success you want to see for yourself, and making it happen!

He also made a joke about college that made me laugh, he asked the audience how many were in college, and when the crowd raised their hands he said "When you're at your college graduation and they hand you your receipt- I mean, diploma" (hahaha) and then went on to say that basically that college was a business, but that anyone can educate themselves without a degree, and he advised the crowd to think about their future and the implications of the job they take after college and not to go work for a corporation but to do something that contributes to the betterment of the world and to remember to follow your dreams . . . This is somthing that really spoke to me recently as I found my college degree looks good on a resume but doesn't really mean that much, it's what you do with your life, and how you continue to educate yourself in so many ways that college can't teach you that is important.

After the show, he asked if there were any MC's in the house, and invited anyone in the audience who wanted to rap to come up onstage, and so for 30 minutes after the concert he listened to and rapped with members of the audience - awesome!! I have never been to a more inter-active concert, I am just completely impressed with KRS-1.

Oh, and he reminded people to VOTE ON NOVEMBER 2! This is such a critical election, it's on my mind every day. I can't wait until Nov 2 when Bush is booted out of office, I will finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief after the nightmares of the last 4 years under this administration.

Ok, going to go watch THE STAND! And finish reading book 3 of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I bought book 4 today. I can't wait! This series is SO EPIC. This is what as a writer I aspire to! I have to Thank Stephen King for sharing his mind with all of us for so many years - He has inspired so many stories and storytellers - Thanks, Stephen King!