Well, I’m back in Philadelphia, returning to a ton of work and projects.

I’ll be busy over the next two weeks working on three different papers for two of my classes (due next Tuesday), and two additional papers due for my independent study. I have to finish several more non-fiction short stories for my graduate project and fill out my application for graduation. Seriously Arcadia, why do I have to apply to graduate?

Photography wise, I’m heading back to New Jersey to work with recent Universal Records signees Cash Cash, doing new press snaps for Hello Jersey, and planning for a week stint on this year’s Van’s Warped Tour, a week that will be both exciting and miserable.

Geekadelphia will be hosting a party here in Philadelphia for Battlestar Galactica’s series finale. That’ll be all kinds of fun.

And as for vacation snaps, you can take a look at some Hawaii pictures here.

Back to work!

Four and five star hotels are so last year. The new chic thing to do, is to stay inside a two star dive. A romantic hole in the wall. Last night, I partied something ridiculous with Cynthia, her roomie Ginny, and some cool new people I’ve met through out the week. So behold, the checklist that explains why this last night was fantastic.

You know you had an awesome night when…

1. Your pal accidentally invites a prostitute back to the hotel, who then proceeds to grasp him by his balls, and, in a loud whisper, says “so, do you want to get some ass tonight?” Please note: I toned down the language in that quote.

2. At four in the morning, you’re awakened by extremely loud screams for help. Upon opening the door to your hotel room, you discover a man that’s just been maced in the face, stumbling around outside your door. Awesome.

3. A pimp shows up to your party and just hangs out.

4. You take a ‘booze cruise’ with your new friends, and while sipping on mai tais and Budweisers, have a good time laughing at the elderly couple who were expecting a romantic private dinner. A dozen drunken 20-something-year-olds later, they realized their mistake. Sorry guys.

5. You wake up with “I Heart Balls” written across your face and forehead. Thanks for only doing that in eyeliner guys instead of permanent marker, otherwise the plane ride home would have been quite interesting.

Hopping the plane home tonight. Back on the east coast tomorrow night.

This great bar / restaurant here in Honolulu serves every Mai Tai with a real orchid. When I asked why, I was told it was so people could keep track of how many drinks they were having.

As you can see, I was well on my way to being on my ass.

Today I made my way to Hanauma Bay here in Hawaii. It was an epic quest to say the least, since I had to take a bus. Cynthia was at work, so I was to fend for myself for the morning and most of the afternoon. I could have taken a taxi, but I didn’t want to feel like a tourist, so public bus it was.

I mean, how hard could it be?

Um…

Hm…

Eventually, I figured out how to catch the bus, and off I went to the bay.

I took a whole bunch of photos like these underwater with my waterproof camera, which I bought specifically for this trip. Seriously, I don’t want to sound like a commericial or anything, but I highly recommend the Olympus Stylus series. I picked up last year’s model via eBay, and my God, the photos, both above and below the water, have been wonderful.

I’ve always wanted to go snorkeling and adventure underwater, even since I was a little kid. I was obsessed with Jules Verne novels and undersea specials on Nova. I stayed in the water for two hours, which was the amount of time it took for my lungs to start hurting and my camera’s battery to die.

It’s raining in Hawaii right now, so I’m trapped inside for the time being. Time to work on some more pictures. I’ve been uploading them to my Flickr. Take a look!

So I made it to Hawaii without any problems, save for the fact that I almost threw up on the guy sitting next to me on the first flight. He understood. He also didn’t care when I grabbed his arm during some turbulence. Or when I fell asleep, woke up, and forgot I was on a plane and started freaking out.

Otherwise… no problems.

I’m staying with my pal Cynthia while I’m here, and she has a lovely place. I’m up early as hell due to the time differences, so I’ve got an excuse to be on my computer. Plus I already locked myself out of her apartment once this morning, while outside taking photos.

Can you blame me though? Look at that! That’s the view from Cynthia’s patio, as soon as you walk out the door. The office buildings are around the back.

Today we’re off to have breakfast with a bunch of her co-workers, and then it’ll be time to wander aimlessly around the island, doing the whole tourist thing. It’s funny, I’m used to being the tour guy, since all my pals request historic tours when they visit Philadelphia. I hope I don’t embarrass her too much.

The fact that I’ve never been on an airplane always surprises my friends, what with my vast knowledge of the United States and Canada. I’ve just been extremely fortunate in my travels with bands, to have seen every single state (except Hawaii and Alaska) and most of Canada without ever having to take a plane. Whenever I go visit Heather, I take an Amtrak.

So I’m going on my first airplane ride… ever… tomorrow morning. I’m heading to Hawaii for about a week and a half. One of my close friends from Ramapo, Cynthia, lives there, and I’ll be crashing with her. So don’t get any crazy ideas about me spending ten days in a resort and blowing tons of cash on a hotel stay. My ass is sleeping on a couch.

I’m excited. Any airline travel tips are more than welcome right now.

… is it bad that all I can think about is posting photos on my Flickr?

Dear Thief in Queen Village,

You stole the decoration off my front door. A bronze fleur de li costs like, $15 at Ikea and is probably worth less. Good luck hocking it on Craigslist. Idiot.

Sincerely,

Eric Smith

Sorry, it’s true.

Oh Walgreens on South St. Your coupons make me laugh.