Trip to Carlsbad

At the Living Desert Zoo
Carlsbad Cavern Entrance
The "Big Room"
Cave thing
Nasty Motel in Carlsbad
The Zoo Entrance

Exactly what type of martial arts?

I went to the book store this past Saturday night. I headed straight for the magazine racks to find the travel section. First I found the bridal magazines. I stopped and reminisced for a second, just long enough to remember that while that was an exciting phase of my life, I'm happy that it only happens once. Next I found the do-it-yourself remodel magazines, followed by the boring financial magazines, and then the nerdy gamer magazines. I rounded the corner to the next shelf in hopes of finding the travel section, but instead I found a whole rack of magazines wrapped in dark plastic bags. I quickly turned around, embarrassed that I was on the "dirty" isle. As I tried to find something interesting in the do-it-yourself remodel section, I noticed a man in the dirty section. He had three or four magazines tucked under his arm. He kept picking up different plastic wrapped magazines, holding them up to the light and trying to move the plastic around to see more than just the title. He looked like a serious shopper - like I do when I stand in the cereal isle at the grocery store reading the nutrition label on the side of each box, carefully inspecting the amount of sugar in a serving. As this man carefully inspected each of his selections, his phone rang. It must have been his wife because after he answered he said, "oh, I'm, umm, umm, you know, umm, looking for, umm, a martial arts magazine." As he was saying this, he placed all his favorites back on the shelf, glancing around to see if anyone was watching him. That's when our eyes met. It was an awkward split second of eye contact - my trying not to smile, his silent acknowledgment that I was completely aware of what was going on – and then he left. He never did find a martial arts magazine, but I don’t think he really wanted to.

At the park