The Adventures of Toddicus!

Monday, August 29, 2005

leaving ketchikan, alaska and entering tracy arm...

well hello there lovers... thanks for coming out to my reading in clearlake at barnes & noble- lots of familiar faces and new people too!! thank you for coming out!

here's a slew of pictures from day three at sea in alaska... enjoy

as we left ketchikan i ran to the front of the boat...

...with my good friend johnny walker.

ok - this internet program is fucked up so the text is gonna be all over the place. i loathe computers! rahhhrrrrrrrr

just a bunch of ketchikanians living their ordinary lives...

see that little car going up the hill?

it's like that y'all.

ketchikan international airport is the only airport in the world with the airport's control tower lower than the runway... that's because they have to control both the aquatic planes and the land planes. i know the tower looks taller than the runway- but that's because i'm taking the pictures from a higher elevation than the control tower itself! also- funny little tidbit- a bear wanedered into the airport and frightened a lot of passengers a few years ago! ha!

here comes alaska airlines...

later that night we celebrated jason's birthday...

...with the whole cast! hey guys i miss you!!!!

the next morning i woke up at 6:oo am in tracy arm, alaska. is that glacial water i spy?

view from the room.

i poured myself a nice baily's and hot chocolate and went out to the deck.

icebergs!!

from the front of the ship...

um... wow.

we ran into a lot of icebergs... remember- those things go down about twenty feet- you're seeing about 10% of the iceberg and that's all.

i named that waterfall "waterfall du toddicus".

it was a little chilly, afterall.

i took a nap and then awoke in juneau... the capitol of alaska.

those pictures are for next week... see you in september!

toddicus

- Monday, August 29, 2005

Saturday, August 20, 2005

winners and losers- kayaking in alaska- barnes & noble reading.

hey everyone. i'm reading at barnes & noble on tuesday, august 23rd at 7:30 sharp. the location is 1029 W. Bay Area Blvd, off of I-45. you can call 281-554-5669 for more information. i have been informed that there will be an open reading afterwards for anyone that would like to come and share!

!! here are the contest winners !! (amazingly, two are from indiana!)

Diana McDonnell
Austin from Ft. Waynes (how funny is that kiddo- thanks for all your emails)
April Wescott (whom oddly enough i went to college with! hey babe!)

the first choice was the canopic garden needs no watering. the runner up was spanish moss.

congrats you guys! if there's anyone that thinks they've won please email me- there were dozens and dozens of votes.

ok! on with more alaska pictures!

here's my excited, wrinkled ass in the boat going to tatoosh islands for some kayaking!

leaving the town of ketchikan for a day of adventure!

and this was only at half-speed! she was having a great time.

ok! jason and i have on our gear and we're ready to go!

the landscape was so beautiful.

this mother bald eagle watched us carefully as we neared her nest.

i love this picture. it reminds me of the cover of kate bush's single the hounds of love.

you know, it was really amazing to see big purple starfish and clear jellyfish in the water. very cool.

hi! we're dweebs!

still dweebs. at least we were color coordinated.

this is jordy, one of our guides. he's from minnesota if i remember correctly.
everyone that works around here for the summer are from like montana, utah, etc etc.
i was like, is anyone actually from alaska??

and this is marvin, from southeast exposure. they do all kinds of kayak touring, etc.

i fell in love with this tree with the split down the middle.

the boat ride back- it was like fuckin' national geographic explorer- this is when we had to slow down because of the fishermen there- i couldn't even take pictures we were going so fast- the waves were high- some mexican girls were scared- it kicked sooo much ass!

this is one of the dogs on the pier when we arrived back in ketchikan. can't remember his name though.

i love this picture.

well shit on toast! believe it or not, with all the rain and clouds, i got a sunburn. i am the sunburn king (if you've paid attention to all of the pictures in the archives).

congrats to the contest winners and i hope to see y'all at my houston reading at barnes & noble this tuesday, august 23rd.

bless xo
toddicus

- Saturday, August 20, 2005

Thursday, August 04, 2005

sorry there have been no new updates recently... my computer dsl is whack right now. there's lots of new pictures to come and poetry as well.

i am reading at barnes & noble off of I-45 and fuqua on august 23rd... more to come on that. i hope to have the site updated tomorrow,

xoxo
toddicus

i'm home from alaska!!!

hello friends from around the world... i've just returned from an amazing journey to alaska and other places as well, and, quite frankly, had the best time of my life. the contest is now over and it looks like i've got some winners!! the final tally will be counted up and winners announced next week. i got a lot of writing done. thank you for the kind letter 'afar', i read it a couple of times and appreciate your feedback on the new work as well as my old book. and of course you can give the extra copy to my friend in indianapolis.

alrighty, here's part one of many upcoming updates from alaska. thanks everyone for participating in my contest. it's been a blast so far...

you see those four windows above the yellow part of the gang plank? the third window in was my room for the trip!! celebrity status baby!

the seattle skyline... (part of it anyway... it's huge!)

toddicus on the front of the ship.

see mt. rainier poking out in the background? we flew right over it and mt. st. helens on the plane but i stupidly left my camera in my luggage.

another cruise ship looking out from the front of our ship, the sapphire princess.

so awesome!

toddicus at dinner... look at the view! there's so much water on this planet!

i met up with my dear friend jason, one of the main entertainers on the ship. more celebrity status!!

out on the deck.

one of the main shows on the ship was 'the piano man'. the stars are liz, jason, roger, and shannon. hey y'all!! i miss you!!

"singing blah blah blah singing *dance moves* more singing blah blah blah"

who?

view from the room.

one of the many pools on the ship.

this is where they keep the skinny pigs.

that night we went to the crew bar (bar for crew only) and had a little party after the show.

some of the dancers... hey guys!!

natalie and kerstie from the uk, and jason, texan via the midwest.

toddicus and natalie... meow!

toddicus and natalie are lovers. it's that accent baybeeeeeeeeeeee.

liz is sexy even when drinking wine... roooaaarrrrr!!!!

later we went to liz's room and shannon took it like a good girl!

party in liz's room while at sea... jason, liz, her fiance charlie, adam, and carlos.

liz does her best johnny cash.

this sign was placed outside our rooms for obvious reasons.

stop leaning over the rails toddicus. we don't wanna hear three long blasts.

this is the view i woke up to arriving in ketchikan, alaska. the town has a population of about 14,000 and has the largest collection of totem poles in the world. it is known as alaska's 'first city' as it is one of the first communities that travelers visit on their way up north. the name ketchikan comes from the tlingit indian phrase meaning 'eagle with spread-out wings' and refers to a waterfall near town. it is alaska's fourth largest city.

ketchikan!

the dock at ketchikan.

jason likes to call the tongass the 'tongue ass'. hee hee hee

the tunnel in ketchikan.

the creek that runs through ketchikan. there were salmon making their way upstream for a spawnin' good time!

see the pigeons gathering on the rooftop of the church?

this is the chief kyan totem pole. i'm just about as tall and skinny it seems.
or maybe not.

you must visit annabelle's in ketchikan for tea or coffe or more!

and this is rick, our bartender! hey rick!

welcome to ketchikan

up creek road there is an area that used to be the 'red light district' with brothels etc... and this is molly's... the last of them. the rest are all art and tourist shops now.

one of the fine 'whores' that gives tours of molly's. (there's many other brothels
coming up in future updates...)

me at the creek.

yep.

even though it will probably never happen anyway, i walked the trail.

ok- next update will be kayaking in ketchikan around the tatoosh islands!

thanks for all the emails... keep 'em comin'!!

xo
toddicus

- Thursday, August 04, 2005