The Life of Syren Franco

We all went to dog beach last week. let me tell you, 4 dogs, a ten year old kid, and two adults... we made it work in the Ford C-Max! My three dogs, Sophia (border Collie Mix), Penelope (Canaan.Terrier Mix), and Artemis (white GS/Wolf mix) enjoyed it. And my friend Alice's dog, Claire, which we aren't sure what she is... dragon dog? She had fun but hated getting wet. Anyway, we recommend Dog Beach for sure.

Since Alice moved in she's been planning to get her son Jake for the weekend, but with getting settled, finding work, and relying on me for transportation, it has not been so easy.  Finally thanks to Spring break we worked it out where we would get him and spend time with him for a week. We had fun in Balboa Park, but don't know how frequently we'll be able to go get him.  Goal number 1 is to get Alice a car.  The Job hunt is still on!

This weekend my new bestie Annie came to visit Alice and I!  We had a lot of fun goofing around in the garden, eating baked goods, and being silly.  I can't remember the last time I hung out with a couple of girls and had that much fun! I met Annie through Kevin when he moved in with us this last time.  Kevin has lived with us twice before, and this was the final time to help him get on his feet.  Annie and him had an interesting relationship... Obviously they were a thing, but he was always saying they were just friends.  Eventually he manned up and professed his love, only to then cause conflict bringing their relationship to a rocky point.  But Annie is so loving and kind, I think they can work through anything and he agrees that he is so lucky to have her in his life at all! Anyway, sadly, Kevin and I reached a breaking point too after he made some bad choices, although I understand his emotional place, but it caused too much stress for me and I o...

I met my buddy Kurt years ago through my music performance endeavors.  Kurt runs Scene Wars Collective and organizes the Anti-Competition showcase cross-country.  When I met him he had reached out to me about my band Blackwater Prophecy and ended up booking it and the other band I was a part of at the time which sadly no longer exists. He lives in Missouri so it was difficult for him to make it out the first time he booked me, but eventually he was able to make it to California when he booked me along with my then band mate for a small show. We got to meet and hang out in San Diego that night which of course solidified the connection as now I had a face to put to the name. Since then I have even gotten the opportunity to work with Kurt helping him book bands too, but ultimately my schedule didn't allow for his late night calls to discuss bookings... I may be a night owl, but I am not about working remotely at night.  In any case I've known him for several years now and h...

I met Alice several years ago before buying our house in Jamul.  She had met me through a craigslist ad for a room for rent and after moving in and absolutely loving it with us she had originally decided to move to San Diego with us.  However our story of the home buying ordeal is rough and we had problems with escrow resulting in us not really having a home between sale and purchase of our homes so Robert and I had to live with our parents for about a month, first his then mine... Because of that Alice had to plan her life around it, and even though her stuff was in storage with us, she ultimately had to arrange for a change on moving day and we moved to Jamul without her. I don't blame her, a month is a long long time! It;s been a few years now since we moved here and Alice and I have kept in touch though I admit, I wish it was a bit more, but both her and I are the types that are bad about keeping in constant touch however are very pick-up-where-we-left-off in our interacti...

This massive storm really wrecked my neighborhood!  I uploaded this video about the damage and my neighbor was going to submit it to the news networks, but her dad advised against it.  People out here don't like to go public!  but alas, I own a blog! Watch the video for the shocking footage!

Turned out he did work for maintenance, we just couldn't see the crew from our end. =)

Recently my stripey cat, Togame (toe-gah-mee), had two kittens, but they didn't make it past 24 hours since she was too young to have kittens.

My birthday is on Christmas, so it's very difficult to celebrate it unless it is on a different day.  In any case I am not into celebrating my birthday but there are specific things I like being a part of Christmas - just for me.  Things like chocolate cake, lasagna, maybe tamales, and presents that say happy birthday rather than merry Christmas. This year, Nate kept telling me we were going to a Christmas party, on Christmas at his boss's house.  Meanwhile, at work with my dad I began to grow suspicious as to something being planned without my knowing.  My dad was buying a house, and then invoices came into the office with shipments to a new address. Was my dad planning a big event?  What is this order for dishes and tables?  Is it for a surprise party? I said to my dad, "Congrats on the new house!" and he gave me a very panicked explanation and said he had not found a house yet that it was for a friend.  He pulled up Zillow.com and tried to BS his wa...

Borrowed bikes and happy trails. I love the weekends when I get to spend it with my two favorite beings.

Quality time with my family. Is always treasured.  Nate joined me, my dad and three of my siblings on the family boat in Long Beach. I got the best pictures (some of which are in this blog) published into a book for father's day.

My awesome buddy from high school, Angela, is staying with Nate and me. Today we were frolicking about and ended up at Goodwill.  Everything and anything can be so much fun with the right people. She snapped these photos of me.

To celebrate the New Year of 2009, Nate and I drove out to the Salton Sea 1/1/2009.  A place that had come up in conversation quite a bit.  We did not find the ruins and urban decay of the once flourishing town, after all, that would've required driving around the sea and we just wanted to get some photos of the sea itself.  We found the nature reserve area and proceeded on our photographic excursion.  These are a few of my favorite shots! This will get framed! I love the natural blend of colors in this one. A bird disappears into the sea for the hunt. the glow of stagnant water...  here a bio process is giving this effect to the surface of the sea. Salt deposits. Wee three birds... Algea and gas bubbles more algea and gas bubbles The parade. Camera used Nikon D60