Rootieboy

Story of My Life

2012-01-27T11:14:00.002-07:00

Tucson Mexican American Studies Banned

2012-01-25T10:47:00.003-07:00

It is now 2012 and people are still afraid of books and certain subjects in school. The Tucson Arizona school district is banning Mexican American studies and banning certain books that have to do with the curriculum in the course. These books wont even be offered in the school library for students to read on their own. Are people afraid of loosing their whiteness or something. The ability to understand another culture is how we gain respect for and from others. Arizona is a border state and should be a lot more sympathetic to the diversity of cultures it has. Ignoring it is only going to break up its community. Here is a link to one article.Tucson Mexican American Studies Banned. We also went over the list of banned books in my Contemporary American Literature class. Go read history from another perspective. I'm finishing up a book called George Washington Gomez by Americo Paredes. It is about the transition that border families had to go through shortly after Mexico lost its North American lands. Mexican families had their lands taken away and were forced to move to a near by state across the border, a place that was foreign to them because culture is different form state to state, town to town, family to family.

A Purpose for Everything

2012-01-20T07:23:00.002-07:00

Brown paper napkin,
to you I write my balad.
Too corse for my nose,
but not the sandwich infront of me.
Her greens wet your edges.
Transparent becomes your center.
You're tearing at the fold.
Where else will I place you,
but in the plastic depths of hell?
Why do I write this?
You deserve a proper burial.
Your history now recorded.
I leave you to decompose.

Irony

2012-01-13T10:30:00.001-07:00

Jesus served others and lived a humble life.

I'm Always Behind on Music

2012-01-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

So I'm not always the cool and hip, up to date person on new music. This last year I found a few bands that were either introduced to me by friends, or came up through surfing Pandora or channels on youtube.

Vampire weekend was introduced to me by my good friend Colin Jennings while vacationing out in California. He knew I would like Vampire Weekend after hearing me listen to The Spinto Band. I compare Vampire Weekend to a cross between Paul Simon and The Clash.
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I found White Lies while watching a Quick Silver surfing video of Kelly Slater. It was the background music and it was just perfect for the moment. I even used it in my own California trip video this last summer.

When Mandi introduced MGMT to me I thought, "What a bunch of smelly hipsters." You can't judge a book by its cover and I feel dumb for doing so. They deserve a lot of respect.

On my drive to Washington, we got the chance to take turns playing our music. Tyler put on Girl Talks album, "All Day." I was blown away at how well the music was mixed. 70's and 80's pop and rock blended with hip hop to make a dance album. Just awesome!

Foundation

2012-01-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

I had a bit of time for some leisure reading over winter break. While school is in session I don't really have a lot of time to read books of my choice. All of my reading time is taken up by the books that are assigned to me by my professors.

I love science fiction and there was one trilogy that kept coming up on the greatest science fiction sagas of all time: Foundation by Isaac Asimov. By chance, I picked up the first book at savers for 50 cents a few years ago and it had been sitting on my shelf collecting dust. I bought the book because I knew that Isaac Asimov was an important author in science fiction and I thought I would get around to reading the book some day.

The first book was a little hard to get used to. There were sometimes 100 year gaps in the stories. It was hard to follow who was who because there were so many characters for each time period. This is not to say that the character development was lacking. In the second book I found a greater emotional attachment to the character called "The Mule." He was a "mutant" who despised all of humanity for treating him different. Because of this, he used his mind control power to dominate the galaxy.

It made me think of how we are all a product of our environment. We need to be very careful with how we treat others. I think a lot of this development happens early on, like in grade school. I think of how much can change in the world because of how one person is treated. There is a lot of talk about anti bullying laws. People do not realize that these laws not only protect the individual, but also society as a whole. Once again I find science fiction literature to be a leader in preventing harmful futures by playing out possible scenarios. Science fiction helps us think and change for good and bad. It is a genre of understanding and deserves respect.

My Question for the Crew of the International Space Station

2012-01-04T17:35:00.001-07:00

This week I saw that Space.com was looking for questions to ask the crew of the International Space Station. I submitted about four, hoping that one would be chosen out of the many that were submitted for the ten minute time slot they had to talk to the astronauts. I got my wish. I asked about the research the Astronauts were doing in order to prepare us for missions beyond low Earth orbit. You can hear my question at 6:33 on this video.

I care very much for space exploration. If you want to get anywhere in the future you must start now or the future will never come.

It's Been a Good Year

2011-12-31T13:24:00.000-07:00

It has been quite the year. Spring semester was challenging, but there was always time to relax on Fridays to paint in the hallways

Mandi Died her hair after her last ballroom concert as she was no longer under contract to keep it natural. Love it.

Right after school got out, we took a trip down to Snow Canyon and Gunlock Reservoir.

My brother Tyler organized a trip for the boys to see Grandpa Pete. We interviewed him on camera to get his accounts of family life, World War II and personal thoughts.

The last Harry Potter movie came out and we sold over 60 wands that night. Krystal and I split the $600 we made.

Mandi and I went out a few times over the summer to do some stand up paddle boarding.

I bought a used 1975 Shwinn road bike and used it as my form of transportation to school. As you can see, we also moved into a new apartment.

We took our annual California trip out to see James and Colin.

We went camping one last time at Joes Valley with my brother Tyler before the school year started.

Mandi and Seth competed in their first big ballroom competition together at the Nevada Star Ball.

I dressed as Ash for halloween and Mandi dressed as a 1940's print comic book character

I hosted a few star parties and got my first sweet shot of the Orion Nebula

I sold the Rambler to get us to the dentist. A sad day, but a necessary decision. Riding my bike in the winter isn't so bad. I only have about a mile to get to school.

Mandi and Seth got a solo in the winter ballroom show.

Mandi met Naomi, her birth mother, for the first time since she was only a couple days old.

There was a lot of studying at the semesters end. We both finished all of our required math classes.

I also wrote an awesome paper on the importance of science fiction in literature. Here is a photo of som e of the books I had to research for my paper.

We had a great Christmas with our real Christmas tree.

New Water Camera

2011-12-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

Last year I took my old video camera and made a water proof housing for it. By the end of the trip there were so many scratches on the plexiglas cover from the sand that you could hardly see anything through it. I've been waiting a long time for this present and we finally bought it for Christmas. It's the W200 Rugged Full HD 1080p Pocket Camcorder from Samsung. Now I will admit, it's not the best water camera on the market, but it's rugged, shoots in HD and I can pull 5mp stills off the video. I also found it on sale for one day only at $100 from Target. It has since gone up to $159. Lucky me. I can't wait to make some awesome trip videos this year.

Life Changers

2011-12-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

I don't want to call them goals. I feel that goals have an end. I'll just call them life changers. If I still can't achieve them, oh well.

I've already started on a few new things. For one I have been reading at least fifty pages a day. As an English major I should get serious about reading outside of what is given to me in class. I am also preparing myself for a heavy semester, as all of my classes are literature based. I'm on my second book since Thursday. I will finish the Foundation Trilogy before the end of the break and I hope to get an early start on my school reading as well.

I've also started a workout routine. I realized how out of shape I was when I went on my anual week long surf trip this summer and failed miserably when it came to paddling with my arms. My upper body strength has deteriorated over the last couple of years. I remember just two years ago I was out in the ocean for three hours a day and I wasn't bothered by it. That was thanks to the six months of workouts that Nate and I put together. Well, I've got about six months till my next trip. I hope the workout routine I have set up will help me with my range of motion, endurance as well as balance. I'll be thirty years old in March and at that age I should be in the prime of my life.

I actually eat pretty well already. The one thing I am eating more of are greens. Your body has an easier time at processing vegetables. I'm also eating just half of my meals at sit down restaurants and not appetizers from now on. Salads are ok though. Everything in moderation.

I'm also saving more time for my blog. Facebook is a place to keep up with friends, but blogging is a place to write out my thoughts and feelings on topics. I will now use facebook as a communication tool rather than a soap box. This is going to be a tough one, but if I want people to know my opinions, I'll just direct them to my blog in a post. I find facebook so addictive that it will be difficult for me to just limit my visit to one a day. I love communicating with people.

Mandi and I have racked up some dental bills on a credit card because we have no insurance. My plan is to have that card paid of by May. Sacrifices have to be made, but those sacrifices will lead to a good summer. The only big thing we will be doing between now and May is our Valentines trip to Vegas to see The Darkness. I almost feel guilty for that one but we promised ourselves when we got married that if they ever came neer Utah, we would see them. "I believe in a thing called love" is actually our song. Don't worry though. That trip isn't going on the credit card. We've got the money set aside to pay for that separately.

And now for the big one. If it is in my power I will be graduating in the fall. This all depends on if I can get registered for the right classes. This is always tough, as there are limited class times for upper division courses. I am also aiming for all A's this semester. I've gotta focus!

Posting Format

2011-12-27T11:31:00.001-07:00

I finally found out what has been wrong with the format on my posts. I had yet to upgrade to the new formatting tools on blogger. Now when I paste from word all of my indents are saved. From this day forward you will see more clean blogging!

Pleasure Point

2011-12-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a creative non fiction story I wrote this semester. It's just a conversation I had on the beach with an old surfer a few years back. It's not meant to be offensive so if you feel like I'm targeting anyone, that's just the way things were that day. I hope you enjoy it.

Pleasure Point

He sat on the beach with his faded yellow surfboard lying next to him in the sand. His wetsuit was pulled halfway down his beer belly and his beard dripped with salt water leaving little bits of sand stuck between the hairs. He smiled at the ocean.

“Beautiful day for surfing, isn’t it?” he said to me, eyes squinting as the sun was in its afternoon decline.

“Yeah. I got lucky this week. I used to live about twenty minutes away but now I only make it out to California once a year.” I wanted him to know that I could still be considered a local and not just some tourist, hogging up his waters.

“Really. Where are you guys living now?”

“Utah.”

“Utah?” He looked confused and I didn’t blame him. I hated my current living location but somehow I got stuck there with time playing against my financial situation.

“Yeah, I know. You’re probably wondering why I would ever move away from such a beautiful place,” I said rolling my eyes.

“Kind of. Utah’s not such a bad place. There’s plenty of desert camping, too many Mormons though. You’re not Mormon are you?” he asked with a chuckle through his raspy voice.

I knew the Mormon question was going to come up. How could it not? He had every right to ask. I grew up Mormon, even served as a missionary for their church. I renounce the religion just a few years prior and I didn’t really want to burden him with my outing story.

“Once upon a time…but that’s another story. Religion’s not my thing, you know?” I said, hoping to find some common ground.

“I hear you there man. My life with God is personal. I don’t need some self-obsessed priest in a collar to tell me what God wants. My meetinghouse with God is right here on these shores. Welcome to church my friend!” he said with a great big inviting smile. “Happy to have you.”

I was fascinated with his happiness. I could tell that he probably wasn’t living the “high life” and he seemed to be somewhere in his sixties, although I couldn’t tell from the wear and tear that the sun and salt water had done to his leathery face.

“I’ve been wanting to move back here but I just don’t know how I could ever afford it.”

“Afford what, living? Hell, I’ve got myself a studio apartment about the size of a millionaire’s bathroom.”

He described the shower in the corner of his apartment, just a faucet coming out of the wall with no curtain and a drain in the cement floor. There was enough room to store his surfboard and clothesline ran from each wall to hang his towel and wetsuit. I imagined a bed just barely long enough to stretch his legs and maybe a small cooking stove to heat a cup of coffee, for his beard carried the light brown stains above his lip.

This is how he spent his social security checks, all day at the beach and home just long enough to sleep at night. What is it that motivates a man to give up the luxuries of a nice car, a fancy house, a respectable job and everything else that marks one as successfully retired in America? It didn’t seem like he cared all that much of how other’s saw his lifestyle.

“I guess that’s all you need…if you’re not married,” I said, throwing my head to the direction of my wife who was sunbathing just beside me. Her long brown curly hair was pulled to the side. She sensed that she had become part of our conversation and tied up the back of her black and white polka dot bathing suit.

“What are you talking about Jeff,” Mandi said, inviting herself into the conversation with a smile on her face.

“This is my wife Mandi, and this is…”

“My name’s Carl, very nice to meet you Mandi. Jeff and I were just talking about why you need to get the hell out of Utah and live in Santa Cruz.”

“I have no objection there,” Mandi said raising her eyebrows, head tilted and staring at me in the face. Mandi was originally from Hawaii and moved to Utah when she was nine. She was pretty bitter about her parent’s decision to move to the main land. Who could blame her? I once went on vacation with her family to Hawaii and found that it was the tropical paradise I had always dreamed it would be. I guess being a surfer she saw me as the perfect way out of Utah. Little did she know that I was going to take forever getting through school.

“You see. She’s got the right attitude. You have a smart wife my friend,” Carl said, pointing his finger to gesture the fact.

“Yeah I know. I probably wouldn’t have these once a year vacations if it weren’t for her. My family wasn’t much for traveling. Too many kids and not enough money.”

“That’s why we are waiting on kids,” Mandi butted into the conversation. “We’ve got lots to see in this world together,” she said, looking at Carl while placing her hands on my shoulders. I’m sure he could tell that Mandi was a very convincing woman.

“Do you have any children?” I asked, wondering why he was living alone.

“No. I was married once. It didn’t really work out for me though. I was young and too drunk and drugged up to remember those days. I couldn’t really blame her for leaving. I was a real asshole. You know, selfish and rude.”

I respected Carl. He didn’t try to hide anything. He was open about his past experience with the drug scene in Santa Cruz, even if I didn’t ask. It didn’t feel awkward though. With other people, this type of conversation would feel more like a confession but Carl spoke about it as if it was totally behind him.

“I’ve been clean and sober for fifteen years now. Life is good when you actually know what’s going on around you. Better than waking up without knowing where your pants are.”

Carl realized that he was speaking in the presence of a lady.

“Sorry, I didn’t…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I don’t care,” Mandi said, flipping her wrist, as if it was no big deal. I could tell that this made Carl a little more at ease.

“You’re a lucky man Jeff. Maybe that luck will bring you back here one day.” He winked at Mandi as she acted out her best shy look.

“I’m going to go back out in the water. Do you want to come with?” Mandi said as she slipped into her wetsuit.

“I’ll join you in a minute babe.” I wanted to finish up my conversation with Carl.

“Will you be joining us Carl?” Mandi said, holding her board in her hand.

“Nope. All done for the day. I’m probably going to go get some coffee.”

“Have it your way. Nice to meet you Carl.” Mandi turned and ran towards the water.

Carl yelled back. “Nice to meet you too!” He waved watching her skip through the shallow shore until she took a dive into the water with her board.

“I know I said this before but you really are a lucky man. Hold on to that girl. You don’t run into many of them in your life. In Fact, I don’t think I’ve run into one until now.” I could see the look of regret on his face but he wiped it off quickly. I didn’t want to be there to ruin his Zen so I tried to lighten things up a bit.

“Do you know of any other good surfing spots I could try out? This is really my first time coming to pleasure point.”

“Well, you should come here earlier in the morning. It’s kickin’ but you’ll want to follow the rules when it comes to the night fighters.”

I knew exactly what he was talking about. There was a wooden sign at the top of the stairs just before you walk down to the beach. In yellow letters it read,

He told me that he was happy to have me there that morning and that I could come back to his town anytime. I was surprised because I have run into too many surfers who discourage tourism due to crowded waters and losing their “Zen” moment of the day. I didn’t blame them. Those beaches were my waters all through high school and I didn’t go there to dodge the surf school riders while riding a perfect wave. Carl saw it as everyone’s right to have a piece of the ocean so long as they respected her mood swings. “She can be a real bitch, unforgiving and nasty, but if you show her your respect she can give and give.”

He was kind enough to give me the names and locations of other surf spots in the area and departed saying he’d hope to see us living in California again some day. As he made his way up the weather beaten stairs that lead to the main road, I zipped up the back of my wetsuit, grabbed my board and slowly waked into the water. I dropped my board next to my legs and let it float while I splashed my hair to get it wet enough to slick it back out of my eyes. The water dripped down my face and my body adjusted to the frigid North Pacific coast.

With my feet digging into the wet sand I pushed off jumping chest first onto my board and gliding slowly out to sea. Paddling hard, the first set of waves gave their best to push me back towards the shore, but I paddled harder making it over making it over each swell before it crashed hard, kicking up sand from the shallow sandy shore. I pressed my face to the board, ducking under the bigger waves. The vanilla scented sex wax rubbed against my nose as it helped repel the water away from the top of my board.

I reached the point where the waves were spread much farther apart and they pushed towards land long before they curled and broke. I paddled over to a lineup of about twenty surfers hoping to catch just one good wave. There sat Mandi on her board, reaching out to me as to lure me in from twenty feet away. I gently made my way over and positioned myself next to her. Mandi extended her neck out and puckered her lips to give me a kiss and I did the same. Holding hands, we waited as a set of seven to eight swells rolled in. There we were, waiting for life to catch up with us and we were perfectly at ease. There was no struggle to get ahead in life. I could live my life like this and be happy. Nothing else really mattered. Not cars, not houses, just Mandi and the ocean.

Poetry

2011-12-26T10:50:00.015-07:00

I've done my best to try and understand poetry this semester. I've attempted to write in different forms, not just the easy rhyme scheme that everyone loves. So here is my attempt and I will start you off easy just to show you how much of a poet I am not. Unlike other poets, I shall give you a hint in a picture of what my poems are about.

Better Than A Beat

He is not a Beat,
Without beard.
Sucker in place
of a cigarette.
Sitting,
writing,
linear lines.
No martini, but
coconut rum
instead.
"Must art be
abstract to start
a revolution?"
Too old.
Moldy ideas.
Irrelevant.
Nobody listens.
Death.
Into the cannon
with his work!

Conversations With a Monster

Mangled faces take time to heal.
A stitch here, a scar there.
Makeup covers pale grey skin.
It's natural they say, to cover the decay.
An old man's wants are a young woman's worst nightmares.
We don't use makeup sir.
It's not for us, but only those queer folk.
We are a different bread of human,
somewhere in between and never able to
cover up.
Sex is beyond us.
Looks keep out company,
even a simple conversation.

Sex Wax

The board is heavy
He slaps her ass
The boy is ready
For sex and wax

She arches back
And opens wide
He takes a chance
And rides her high

Of foam and blue
The white wash falls
He read too soon
There go his balls

Inside the pipe
He slips around
She squeezes tight
He almost drowns

In bay he floats
His body limp
She gives him push
He washes in

On sand he lay
She waves away
Just another day
Rollin' in the surfers hay.

Sleep Induced

Fluffy blue cotton head.
Comfort eyes,
lobotomized
Dreamy dawn wakes his face.
Stony arms weigh down heavy lids.

Anesthesia clouds the foggy air.
A broken wing and set to foot.
Moving legs,
alley ways,
run away.

Neon red with blue shadows chase.
Endless walls, to sky,
from ground.
Brick face, breaking yellow and orange.
No escape,
dead end,
collapsing door.

Core of Existence

Infinity sets the light of a diamond
The star is dwarfed white
Spiral orbit spells doom

Tilted axis swirls the season
Blue moon escape, travel round wonder

The bang is black, expansion infinite
Red, dead no pulse

Time is the eye, all relative
Yellow collapsing, bending
Rocky, icy core of the ring

Slave of the sphere
A horizon unknown

The negative is a selfish dance
Reveal until it's time

Where the Gold Lay (A Sonnet)

The beast is dead, his claws now cracked, no breath.
In fight he fell, one victim for the proud.
On fields men kill, the great, the bold, till death
and climb the dead with woe. Knight takes a vow,
a token of true fondness. Gazing blind,
death's stare is but a day, a week, a year
and still love keeps the fake of powdered mime.
In dreams she peers in crystal balls. No cheer,
no sound, she screams, his beat of heart is wrought.
In time the scars of dreadful past will stitch.
The day is far she keeps him close in thought,
in breast. Her bones now ache the burning itch
of tells when rock with stone are forged and crushed.
To stop a crown the Gold lie down in dust

The Struggle of Science Fiction as a Serious Literary Form: A Literal Escape into Reality

2011-12-24T00:54:00.016-07:00

As English majors we are asked to write creative arguments. We were given the book Travels with Charley to read this semester and we had to come up with an argumentative topic to write about that was somewhat connected to the book. Travels with Charley is in no way Science Fiction but I was able to take the threat of the Atomic bomb in the story and pursue the inspiration behind the technology. I received a little bit of research help from my friend Chris Peck, who is much more knowledgable about science fiction than I am. The books that I have chosen for this essay are books that I have actually read, so don't get upset if I didn't mention your favorite science fiction stories. There are many that could be relevant to this essay. This is really a first draft so it's not as clean as it should be. Pasting things from Microsoft Word to my blog leaves out Italics that I had for every book. With that said, Enjoy.

The Struggle of Science Fiction as a Serious Literary Form: A Literal Escape into Reality
What is it that prevents the most serious of literary critics to write about the complexities of science fiction? There is a very shallow pool of published science fiction critique and that which I have found is mostly written by science fiction authors trying to argue the importance that science fiction literature has in society. Critics continue to write about authors like Ernest Hemmingway, Harper Lee and Sylvia Plath, who have had their due credit recognized the world over and yet science fiction, a genre that has worlds of knowledge to be studied and analyzed, waits for higher attention in the academic setting. How does one argue a strong case in favor of science fiction if traditional literary critics are too preoccupied with the more popular literature to give it the serious attention that it needs? A closer look at the first science fiction works can shed some light onto this question.

The earliest science fiction belongs to British and French authors, such as Mary Shelly and Jules Verne. By the literary community, Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus, is not generally accepted as science fiction because it was first published in 1818, a time before the science fiction genre is even born. Instead, Frankenstein is classified by some as gothic literature and sometimes associated with the Romantic Movement, giving the story credit enough to be included in British literature and gothic studies (Fox, "Romantic and Gothic Representation in Frankenstein").
Brian Aldiss argued that Frankenstein should be considered the very first true science fiction story, because unlike stories of it’s time that dealt with fantastical elements, the central character turns to modern scientific experiments in the laboratory to achieve fantastical results, like bringing back life into the dead (Aldiss 78). This differs from much of the Science Fiction written in the 1800’s, which focused less on the science in the story and more on exploration of uncharted territories. Individual characterization is still moving the story forward, but one can see the affects that the creation of the monster has on everyone who is near and dear to Victor Frankenstein.
Science fiction like Frankenstein also shares a relation to medieval literature, in that both forms are considered to be didactic (Russ, "Towards an Aesthetic of Science Fiction"). This is to say that both forms of literature are written with the purpose to teach the reader a lesson or experience something they may or may not come understand in their own lives. In his book Future West: Utopia and Apocalypse in Frontier Science Fiction, William H. Katerberg writes, “I have examined…that it (science fiction) has to speak to people’s experience of the present and the fears, expectations, and hopes about the future, for themselves and for their descendants” (Katerberg 209). Concepts like fear of death and the desire to live are common elements that were instilled in science fiction since its birth. These themes are clearly represented in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, for a man who has once experienced death, is brought back to life and is afraid of experiencing death again.
There are also lessons to be learned from explorative science fiction, and it should not be held in any less regard compared to stories like Frankenstein that deal with work being conducted in the laboratory. Explorative science fiction does more than question the ethics of physical human development through science. Through explorative science fiction the reader’s world is expanded as it was for explorers like Lewis and Clarke. Jules Verne is considered to be the godfather of science fiction and primarily focuses on new and unexplored frontiers. While fantasy authors had written stories of traveling to exotic locations, Jules Verne focused on the plausibility of the vehicles that would take the characters to their newfound locations.

In his book De la terre a la lune, (From the Earth to the Moon), Jules Verne is the first to write about modern rocketry and even trajectories. Although the science behind Jules Verne’s space vehicle is outdated, some of the concepts like multi sections on his rocket could be adapted as multi stages for rockets that were later developed in the twentieth century (Westfahl 26). Jules Verne would later go on to write Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, inventing the idea of the first submarine. Jules Verne’s fictional manned moon mission and underwater voyages would help inspire scientists to question the possibility of making these fantastical voyages into a reality.
In 1914 English author H. G. Wells released The World Set Free: A Story of Mankind. The book was about a bomb so powerful, that it could destroy entire cities through a series of chain reactions. Wells called it the atomic bomb. Wells was no stranger to the latest study of the power that radio active elements held, and through imagination he was able to conceive a very possible scenario that inspired scientists in the late 1930’s and 40’s to develop his “fictional bomb” into a reality (Rhodes 24). Not only does Wells focus on the technological aspect of the atomic bomb, he also dives into the complexities that the bomb has on the individual. To hold that kind of power in the hands of a human is worthy of serious discussion. It is an object so small and yet it can affect the lives of everyone living on the planet.

Robert Goddard, the father of modern rocketry, became interested in space after reading H.G. Well’s War of the Worlds when he was just sixteen. The story inspired him so much that he would later write, “On this day I climbed a tall cherry tree at the back of the barn… and as I looked toward the fields at the east, I imagined how wonderful it would be to make some device which had even the possibility of ascending to Mars,” (Stern). In 1926, Robert Goddard launched the first liquid fueled rocket. Goddard never saw his dream of spaceflight come true because he died in 1945, but his inspiration for making the first liquid fueled rockets still lives on in H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds.
Without the inspiration of science fiction literature the passion behind the science like Goddard’s attempts of reaching space, may have never been ignited. Authors like H.G. Wells, Jules Vern and Mary Shelly were the first in a long line of science fiction authors who would inspire some of the most incredible moments in the twentieth century, such as the first manned moon missions, the possibilities of medical technology and soon to be missions to Mars. While science fiction has been accepted into popular culture as a form of entertainment, there is a need for deeper literary critique of science fiction because it is arguably the influence of history before history is even written.
The first science fiction authors would create the material that would allow so many postmodern authors to explore the complexities that objects like rockets and the Atomic bomb would have on the lives of people living in the fear of the Cold War. Respected postmodern literature focused more on the psychological effects that the atomic age had on individual characters, while science fiction authors focused on how the technology affected society as a whole. Some of the most respected science fiction is written post World War II, because the authors focused more on realities that were already in the process of forming.

In John Steinbeck’s book Travels With Charley: In Search of America, he writes a chapter that helps the reader understand the effect the atomic bomb had on the lives of people who never experienced its destructive force first hand, and how his trip across America is directly affected by that fear. While trying to get to the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Steinbeck is taken on a detour through an evacuation route and writes, “My head was spinning. I had lost all sense of direction. But the signs-“Evacuation Route”-continued. Of course, it is the planned escape route from the bomb that hasn’t been dropped. Here in the middle of the Middle West an escape route, a road designed by fear” (Steinbeck 100).
While Travels With Charley is a book that needs further critique, Steinbeck has enough literary acclaim to be discussed in an academic writing class for an entire semester. When analyzing a book, most critics will look into the events that inspired the author to write the story. As it is with Wells’ atomic bomb, a chain reaction begins that continues to grow generations later, allowing new authors to build on a previous author’s ideas because eventually science fiction becomes a reality. It is debatable that the atomic bomb itself would have become a reality as soon as it did without the inspiration of H.G. Wells’ The World Set Free, and had that material not been written, would authors like Steinbeck be writing about the fear of the world they lived in?

The most famous of the science fiction authors during the postmodern era is arguably George Orwell. Orwellian science fiction novels have found a strong place in popular literary critique because his stories focus primarily on the politics of the era. Two major governments were trying to spread their ideas around the world by the use of military force and censorship, Russia’s communism and the United States’ democracy. While popular authors of the era like Jack Kerouac were writing stories about how the political differences were affecting the individual, George Orwell was writing about how the spread of political differences were affecting the collective, which is a science fiction concept.
George Orwell’s book 1984 was published in 1950, just as the Red Scare was heating up in the United States. The story is about Winston Smith, a low ranking member of the dominant political party in the nation of Oceana. The people are so oppressed under their government that there are cameras even in their own apartments so Big Brother, the nations leader, can watch their every move. Winston questions the party’s tactics in private and writes about his worries in an illegal journal he has purchased. By expressing his thoughts and ideas freely in his journal he is influenced to experience more illegal practices like sex with of love and the joining of the Brotherhood, a movement secretly trying to bring down Big Brother. In the end, the movement betrays Winston, as Big Brother created the Brotherhood in order to find any opposition to the major party. Winston is then brainwashed into being a faithful member of the party again.
As a science fiction author George Orwell was writing about a future that could be if current political events took a turn for the worse. 1984 is mostly a critique on Soviet Russia, but it also shows what could happen if their ideas of censorship were adopted into a democratic society. The story serves as an early warning as to what limiting the spread of ideas can do to a society (Berman 85). The American media caught on quickly to these ideas, as the United States Government was investigating or throwing anyone in jail that was thought to be a communist or socialist sympathizer, many of whom were popular authors of the time.

In 1953 Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451, a vision of American society to where books become outlawed and the only ideas that people have come through the television controlled by government censorship. Fahrenheit 451 received more critical acclaim than Bradbury’s story The Martian Chronicles; a scenario in which the atomic bomb makes the Earth so unlivable that humans must colonize Mars. Concerning Ray Bradbury’s cold war novels he had this to say, “The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451 come from the same period in my life, when I was warning people. I was preventing futures,” (Bloom 89). Both Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles were very possible outlooks on what the future could hold if events continued to go as directed.
Why is it that Fahrenheit 451 is chosen to read in a variety of classes over The Martian Chronicles when both books were written with the same intentions, to prevent future problems? Even Bradbury suggests a deep kinship between the pieces showing the necessity to understand the value that both works have in literature. Literary critics heavily focus on Fahrenheit 451 because it describes a scenario that was in the process of happening during the Cold War. It is much easier for a critic to deconstruct an idea that has already been put into practice like censorship, than for them to critique something as speculative as leaving this world to go to Mars when we had no plans at the time to send a man into our own Earth’s orbit.
The exploration of unknown frontiers may be too difficult for literary critics to want to make a connection to. The science fiction that receives the most credit is that which deals with the psychology of science. Postmodern literary authors produced some of the most profound looks into the human psyche. Literary criticism bloomed during the Cold War as colleges became widely open to the liberal arts and it was safe to study books that questioned authority. The most daring authors were those who wrote against censorship during the Cold War and the more famous they were, the more influence they would have on the society they lived in.
By the 1960’s American’s were becoming free from the red scare, finally giving authors the freedom to express their critique of how the United States was handling the spread of Communism with less fear of being put into prison. The threat was still there, just not as prevalent. One can only wait so long for the bomb to drop before it becomes a normal part of life. Steinbeck expresses this sentiment through the character of his dog in travels with Charley. Steinbeck writes, “He wasn’t involved with a race that could build a thing it had to escape from. He didn’t want to go to the moon just to get the hell away from it all. Confronted with our stupidities, Charley accepts them for what they are-stupidities,” (Steinbeck 100). It was much easier for Steinbeck to give a political critique through his dog, because dogs could not be held accountable for their thoughts.
Steinbeck knew the United States government was watching closely. Thomas Steinbeck, John Steinbeck’s son, said the United States government harassed John Steinbeck for his opinions on Cold War politics, so much that the FBI launched an investigation into his life. When the FBI could not find any wrongdoing on Steinbeck’s part they used the IRS to audit his taxes every year of his life just to annoy him (Steinbeck, "John Steinbeck, Michael Moore, and the Burgeoning Role of Planetary Patriotism").
This kind of intrusion into the lives of authors during the Cold War era was all too common. If the United States Government could prevent ideas from spreading that were contrary to the support of democracy, then credit must be given to the science fiction authors who predicted these events. This is one of the reasons why novels like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 have been given the critical attention in the academic world that they deserve. Naturally authors will pay attention to other authors who share their same struggles, and for a time science fiction authors were able to share a harmonious relationship with popular authors of the Cold War era. It has much to do with when the literature is released. This would only last so long.
Perhaps tales of alien abductions and space operas like Buck Rodgers and Flash Gordon have overshadowed the most serious science fiction. The misinterpretation of what science fiction is often turns people away from the genre. With the advent of film we now live in a very visual world, and the first adaptations of books to movies were not at all very accurate. Take Marry Shelly’s Frankenstein, considered by many to be one of the very first science fiction stories written. In 1931 the famous film version of Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff, gives the idea of an over the top mad scientist who is driven by a rage of passion to create this monster. The story went from being a serious tale behind the science of bringing a human back to life, to a monster movie aimed at enhancing the entertainment value over the science. Instead of an intelligent human being in a scarred body we are left with a monster barely intelligent enough to use his own limbs to walk straight.

This same discredit to science fiction literature happened again in the mid to late 1950’s.
With the beginning of the Space Race there also followed an overabundance of B movie themed science fiction films that lowered the interest in good science fiction stories. The films were more interested in the idea of making aliens into monsters rather than understanding the nature of an advanced species intelligent enough to travel across the stars. Atomic fallout created giant ant-like looking monsters and even Japan, the only country to ever fall victim of an atomic bomb, gave the world Godzilla (Booker 140). This resulted in blending science fiction with fantasy. Yes the Space Race was in full swing but the audiences wanted science fiction to be entertaining, not complicated.
It was now difficult to convince the world that science fiction was not just a form literary of escapism. The reality is that the science behind the fiction should bring audiences closer to the issues that are in the process of affecting their lives. Arthur C. Clarke is one of, if not the most respected science fiction authors in history. Regarding science fiction and escapism Arthur C. Clarke writes, “There's no real objection to escapism, in the right places... We all want to escape occasionally. But science fiction is often very far from escapism, in fact you might say that science fiction is escape into reality…” (ESA, "Space-in-Bytes: Science Fiction-Science Fact”). Here Clarke argues that science fiction has more to do with reality than popular fiction does because it deals with real scientific concepts that are affecting the masses.
Concerning science fiction Clarke goes on to write, “It's a fiction which does concern itself with real issues: the origin of man; our future. In fact I can't think of any form of literature which is more concerned with real issues, reality” (ESA, "Space-in-Bytes: Science Fiction-Science Fact”). Instead of escaping into the lives of other characters, as most literature does, in Clarke’s literature he tries to wake up the reader into the reality that they themselves are living in, or could be living in very soon. It is through this method that science fiction serves, not only as good literature, but also as a warning to all those who read it.

Arthur C. Clarke’s novel 2001: A Space Odyssey approaches some of the most debated ethical questions of its time. The novel is based off of a previous story, The Sentinel, he had published in 1951. The Sentinel did not gain much attention at the time of its release because it dealt with topics to premature for critics to understand. The success of science fiction has more to do with when it is released and less to do with what is foretold.
2001: A Space Odyssey is a story of how man evolved through the help of an unknown alien race. These aliens leave behind various monoliths, objects that allow for an accelerated jump in the evolution of man. The first is found on Earth during a time when human ancestors share more ape like qualities. This is when the first acceleration in evolution happens. The next monolith is found on the moon in 2001 and that monolith leads man to a signal that is being broadcast from the planet Saturn. The spaceship constructed to take astronauts to explore this signal is controlled by the computer Hal, who is programmed with the most realistic artificial intelligence. The mission goes wrong when Hal feels threatened that the crew will jeopardize the mission he was sent to do. Hal Succeeds in killing off all of the crew but one, David Bowman, who finally disconnects all of Hal’s systems. David Bowman reaches the monolith in a small shuttle pod and decides to go through it. The result is the next advancement in human evolution in which David Bowman is transformed into a “Star Child,” a new immortal entity that can travel through space. Upon his return to Earth David finds that world is at the brink of nuclear war. He detonates an orbiting nuclear warhead and must make a decision of what to do next with his newly given powers.

2001: A Space Odyssey was released in the height of the Cold War. Man was just one year away from landing on the moon and the public finally understood the themes of the perils of technology through nuclear war, possibilities of space exploration and the debate over how life evolved on Earth. If the story is released too early it is Arthur C. Clarkes first interpretation, The Sentinel, and if it is released too late, it has less influence on a societies decision to pursue the possibility of a future unknown. It is difficult to see why literary critics can give praise to popular authors who write about ideas that are revolutionary or ahead of their time, when they will not give the same praise and attention to science fiction authors who write stories that primarily focus on possible futures, by using real science and current problems to support their stories.
Concerning the role of science fiction in society Arthur C. Clarke wrote, “One of the biggest roles of science fiction is to prepare people to accept the future without pain and to encourage a flexibility of mind. Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories. Two-thirds of 2001 is realistic — hardware and technology — to establish background for the metaphysical, philosophical, and religious meanings later,” (Combs 147). Clarke wanted audiences to understand that true science fiction was not to be taken as entertainment. Science fiction should be written with the intention of spawning a discussion worthy of serious thought.
One of the difficulties that literary critics may have with critiquing science fiction literature is that it has to do with science. In her 1975 article, “Towards an Aesthetic of Science Fiction,” Joanna Russ argues, “A modern critic attempting to understand science fiction without understanding modern science is in the position of a medievalist attempting to read Piers Plowman without any but the haziest ideas about medieval Catholicism” (Russ, "Towards an Aesthetic of Science Fiction"). If a critic cannot understand the science behind the story, they just may never understand why the story has relevance in fiction.

Enter Carl Sagan; Cornell Universities top astrophysics professor, an advisor for NASA from its inception in the 1950’s and one time science fiction author of the novel Contact. If there was one person in this world that could bring the understanding and plausibility of science fiction to anyone is was Sagan. He is the author of non-fiction science based books like Cosmos, which help explain the most difficult scientific concepts to the common person. It only took one attempt at writing literature for Sagan to write a well-respected novel. In Contact, Sagan shows very clearly that he understands how to balance the weight of the characters along with the technology.
Contact is the story of radio astronomer Dr. Ellie Arroway. While Ellie is well respected for her knowledge of radio astronomy, she is criticized because she focuses her time on finding funding for the search for extra terrestrial intelligence. Her theories of extra terrestrial life come true when she receives a deep space radio message from Vega, a star located in another part of our galaxy. Encoded in the message are blueprints for building a transport. Because of religious opposition, a suicide bomber destroys the first transport. A second transport is built with the help of an eccentric billionaire and Ellie, along with four other international scientists, are taken to the other side of the galaxy to get a glimpse at what the future may hold for humanity.
Although Contact is a fictional story, in reality it was an indirect way for Carl Sagan to write out his personal frustrations of finding funding for the program S.E.T.I. (The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence). Sagan also used the book in hopes to reveal the possibilities of why the mission of S.E.T.I. could change the entire Universe as we know it. The story was actually written by Sagan as a screenplay first, but failed to find interest by major studios. In 1981, Simon & Schuster gave Sagan a $2 million advance to write the screenplay into a novel. At the time, "the advance was the largest ever made for a book that had not yet been written" (Davidson 342). Contact’s initial printing was 265,000 copies, but the popularity of the book quickly soared and in its first two years more than 1,700,000 copies were sold.
Was Carl Sagan’s Contact more widely accepted by critics because he was a scientist writing science fiction? It would be very difficult for a literary citric to blow off the influence of a novel that is written by an expert on the science behind the story. A respect for Carl Sagan was already established with his involvement in planning major NASA missions like the two Voyager space craft that have traveled farther than any spacecraft made by man and have been exploring our solar system since the late 1970’s. Sagan was also the foremost expert on what to do in the event that an alien civilization tried to contact Earth.
Sagan received the Locus Award in the category, best first novel, for his novel Contact, but it would be the last time Sagan would attempt to write fiction. Carl Sagan was already devout to science stating, “I found the science to be more subtle, more complex, more challenging, more full of wonder and having the additional, not inconsiderable, virtue of being true” (Gross, "Charles Hadden and Carl Sagan"). As a scientist, Sagan had difficulty accepting the inconsistencies of the science behind science fiction. One can go back and change a textbook but literature is forever engrained in history.
Still, Carl Sagan continued to show his support for the science fiction novel as an approach to reality. Carl Sagan worked closely along side director Robert Zemekis to develop the film version of Contact. Although Sagan died before the film was finished, his passionate argument for the science behind science fiction is depicted through the character of Ellie Arroway in the film version of Contact. The film itself was dedicated to Carl Sagan and the story serves as a testament to his work.

The most memorable scene in the story is when Dr. Arroway is told that her ideas for searching for extra terrestrial life sound less like science and more like science fiction. In return Arroway argues, “Science fiction. You're right, it's crazy. In fact, it's even worse than that, its nuts. You wanna hear something really nutty? I heard of a couple guys who wanna build something called an airplane, you know you get people to go in, and fly around like birds, it's ridiculous, right?” (Contact). Unknowns in science also face similar challenges that science fiction has in the literary world. Blowing off potential science due to lack of evidence could result in the loss of some of the most incredible discoveries, just as ignoring science fiction as a serious form of literature could result in the loss of expanding the literary realm.
In order to convince a panel to support funding for her research in alien transmissions, Dr. Arroway pleads with potential investors by saying, “Look, all I'm asking is for you to just have the tiniest bit of vision. You know, to just sit back for one minute and look at the big picture. To take a chance on something that just might end up being the most profoundly impactful moment for humanity, for the history, of history (Contact).” This is a reminder to never stop seeking what seems to be unobtainable. There are possibilities in science fiction that the literary world cannot ignore.
If the complexities of science fiction continue to be viewed as the lesser form of literature by serious literary critics, does it require the need to be studied in other fields? When I asked my creative writing professor, (whom I will not name), at Utah Valley University why there were no upper division science fiction literature and writing classes offered to the students, she responded by saying that one must learn to write “good fiction” first in order to become a respected writer. She implied that science fiction was not good fiction and belonged to the ranks of lesser literature. For this reason she says that we do not learn to write genre in college, we only learn to critique ideas within literature, such as feminism and religion.
Serious interpretation of literature must evolve throughout time to have anything new to critique. Although science fiction has solidified itself as a genre, it is still relatively new compared to the rest of literature. As our understanding of the most difficult science changes through the scientific process, one can only hope that support science fiction literature will experience the same. Only through serious literary attention can the complexities of science fiction be revealed.
Concerning science fiction’s importance in literature Ray Bradbury said, “Science fiction is the most important literature in the history of the world, because it’s the history of ideas, the history of our civilization birthing itself,” (Bradbury, "Science Fiction"). Science fiction stories focus not only on literary ideas like feminism, industrialism and the self, but also on a more wide variety of subjects like futurism, possible political oppression and the plausibility of ideas that one day could affect humanity as a whole. If anything science fiction has more to bring to academic literary studies than what is already included in the cannon because it pushes itself to think of what comes next.

My works cited page is a little messed up when I pasted it from Word but you get the idea.

Works Cited

Aldiss, Brian Wilson. The Detached Retina: Aspects of SF and Fantasy. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse UP, 1995. Print.

Berman, Ronald. Modernity and Progress: Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Orwell. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama, 2005. Print.

Bloom, Harold. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2001. Print.

Booker, M. Keith. Monsters, Mushroom Clouds, and the Cold War: American Science Fiction and the Roots of Postmodernism, 1946-1964. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2001. Print.

Bradbury, Ray. "Science Fiction." Brown Daily Herald [Providence] 24 Mar. 1995. Print.

Combs, James E. Polpop Politics and Popular Culture in America. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green University Popular, 1984. Print.
Contact. Dir. Robert Zemeckis. Perf. Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, and James Woods. Warner Brothers, 1997. Film.

Croker, John W. "Review of Frankenstein." Quarterly Review [London] 1818. Print.
Davidson, Keay. Carl Sagan: A Life. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1999

European Space Agency. "Space-in-Bytes: Science Fiction-Science Fact." European Space Agency. ESA. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .

Fox, Stacy. "Romantic and Gothic Representation in Frankenstein." Home The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. UNC, 31 July 2001. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. .

Gross, Terry. "Charles Hadden and Carl Sagan." Fresh Air. NPR. WNED, New York, New York, 3 May 1996. Radio.

Katerberg, William H. Future West: Utopia and Apocalypse in Frontier Science Fiction. Lawrence: University of Kansas, 2008. Print.

Rhodes, Richard. The Making of the Atomic Bomb. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986. Print.

Russ, Joanna. "Towards an Aesthetic of Science Fiction." DePauw University. DePauw University, 28 Oct. 2011. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. .

Steinbeck, John. Travels with Charley: in Search of America. New York: Viking, 1962. Print.

Steinbeck, Thomoas. "John Steinbeck, Michael Moore, and the Burgeoning Role of Planetary Patriotism." The Huffington Post, 27 Sept. 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .

Stern, David P. "Robert Goddard and His Rockets." NASA.gov. NASA, 14 Jan. 2005. Web. 19 Nov. 2011.

Westfahl, Gary. Space and Beyond: the Frontier Theme in Science Fiction. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2000. Print.

So Proud of my Girl

2011-12-22T21:12:00.002-07:00

Mandi had a wonderful ballroom show this month. Enjoy some of the photos I took

The Hobbit Trailer

2011-12-20T23:18:00.001-07:00

We've waited so long. It's finally here. Enjoy.

Merry Christmas From The Killers

2011-12-07T08:37:00.001-07:00

Orionids

2011-10-25T18:51:00.000-06:00

Watched the Orionids meteor shower last weekend with some friends.

California 2011

2011-10-04T08:03:00.000-06:00

Here is a little video recap of my California trip this summer. Even if we didn't make it to Santa Cruz, Colin and James gave us the LA experience! We had a great time eating Korean Tacos, Bacon Wrapped hot dogs, we surfed, body boarded, went bike riding along the coast, saw the Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA, road roller coasters at Magic Mountain and much more. Every trip we take is unique so enjoy this little video.

Update-Orion in my lens

2011-09-26T11:59:00.003-06:00

Update-Here is a stacked image of 2 photos I took of Orion. I just downloaded Gimp and the difference in color is amazing. I can't wait to see what more I can do.

I'm proud to show off this incredible photo of the Orion nebula that I took. This one is going on my wall.

NASA - NASA Announces Design for New Deep Space Exploration System

2011-09-15T09:09:00.000-06:00

NASA - NASA Announces Design for New Deep Space Exploration System

The Man Who Stole the Show

2011-09-07T07:28:00.003-06:00

I celebrated Freddies birthday on Monday by listening to Queen and posting a series of videos and pictures on facebook. There is not much I try to convert people to and music seems to be a little silly to take as seriously as religion and science. I don't think people know how important art is in their lives. The man who changed my devotion towards music did it all. It's weird that we have these devotions. Some people worship invisible Gods, or burry their heads in the lab, and others enjoy life through the fruits of their fellow human beings. In 1985 Freddie Mercury held the world in his hand for 20 minutes. Here is how Freddie got the worlds attention towards fighting aids.

First Photo of a Galaxy!!!

2011-09-05T12:08:00.002-06:00

I am very proud of myself today. I stayed up late while camping in Joes Valley and was very determined to find a photograph the Andromeda galaxy. After paying close attention to star positions I found the faintest fuzz that I thought was a smudge on my telescope. I decided to piggyback my camera on my telescope and open the exposure and sure enough it was the Andromeda galaxy I saw. So I mounted my Camera to the view finder to get a closer look. This is what I got.

My Summer Summary

2011-08-31T08:29:00.006-06:00

Too much has happened this summer for me to catch up in multiple posts. I have decided to pick out one photo per event that shows how busy I was and how much fun I had. My summer was great because of the people who I spent it with.

I visited and got to really know my last surviving grandparent

Krystal and I made and sold quite a few wands at Springville Art City Days

I volunteered my telescope for an astronomy festival in Bryce Canyon

I went tumbling with friends

I celebrated the final film in the Harry Potter stories

I hosted a few BBQ's to keep the summers real

Completed a few projects to keep the apartment comfortable

Made good use of my Dads paddle boards

Visiting James and Colin is always a high priority

We went down to Vegas for Mandi and Seths first competition together.

Brandon Flowers, Right Behind you

2011-06-19T11:03:00.002-06:00

I found this gem on youtube this morning. He is still my favorite modern day song writer and I hope he continues to give me hope for real meaning in music.

Snow Canyon and Gunlock Reservoir

2011-05-22T10:28:00.013-06:00

I found out that I had two days off of work in a row this week so Mandi and I decided to make the best of it. Although it would be raining in most of the parks in Utah, we found out the weather would be nice down in St. George. Most of the campsites were full in the area so we had to camp in an overflow group site in Snow Canyon. It rained a little bit in the day but we were still able to get a short hike in on the butterfly trail.
The next morning we woke up hoping to stay one more night in Snow Canyon but the overflow was booked by a group. So we headed 20 miles over to the gunlock campgrounds and found that there were tons of spots open. The park ranger from Snow said that Gunlock was very primitive camping. Give me a break. We had bathrooms near by, a fire pit and a picknick table. That's more than enough. The lake was pretty and the dam made for some great waterfalls on the red rock. We headed back over to Snow Canyon and did some more hiking during the day on the white rock and lava flows trails. Here are some photos from our trip.

Clark Planetarium

2011-05-10T11:45:00.003-06:00

Mandi and I went up to the Clark Planetarium over the weekend and had a chance to watch the Hubble 3D movie. Pretty inspiring. We walked around and looked at all of the exhibits and went out for ice cream. Here are some photos. Enjoy!

Justifying Our Actions

2011-05-09T11:27:00.002-06:00

Too many justify their actions by claiming to have God on their side. When will people start taking responsibility for their actions.

The sky was finally clear

2011-04-28T11:54:00.004-06:00

The sky was finally clear last night and although I wasn't out for very long because it was so cold, I managed to take a few good pictures.

1. This is a photo of the star Vega. It is difficult to capture a star without a motor mount because of its drift.

2. Saturn is high in the sky right now. It's always exciting to view through a telescope.

3. This is a short, 2 minute exposure of polar north.

4. This is a one hour exposure of polar north. Notice how the star trails get longer as you go out from the center. Pretty cool. I had to stick the camera in the window well of the house and run the remote cable through the window to my laptop. It was too cold to wait outside that long.

Time Lapse of the Stars

2011-04-22T01:03:00.001-06:00

I did another time lapse video. This one is of the stars. It was kind of difficult because I shot out of the window and cars were driving by making for random light inconsistencies. Still pretty cool though.

First Time Lapse Video

2011-04-21T21:25:00.001-06:00

Here is my first time lapse video. I've always wanted to do one and with the new camera we bought it is possible. I'm really putting this thing to some good use. I can't wait to do some astrophotography when school is out.

Moon Photos

2011-04-19T09:08:00.004-06:00

The Skies aren't so clear because of the light pollution that comes from the full moon. So this is what I get until it goes away.

Rambler Rebel

2011-04-19T00:18:00.003-06:00

I figured it was about time to take some cool photos with the Rambler.

Mandi Looking Different

2011-04-15T14:38:00.001-06:00

For those of you who missed it. Mandi changed her hair and she's looking radiant!

Perception In All Senses

2011-04-07T19:44:00.002-06:00

This semester I am taking Anthropology, British Literature Before 1830, Critical Introduction to Literature, Math 1010 and American Social Dance. At times I feel that my brain will never adjust to which class I am attending because I have such a variety of subjects to focus on. Keep in mind that I never took a liking to education growing up but learned an appreciation for it later in life. So if you've taken more credit hours than I am currently taking, be gentle to my petty intellect. I'm improving.
I have noticed a common theme among all of my classes. Everything relies on the perception of the experience. You can sit back and watch the news or a documentary and believe that you truly understand the natives of another country at war. You can study in class and you can even go directly to the culture and study their ways yourself but this will never mean that you are the right person to interpret that culture. Only the people themselves can tell their own story. The only thing we can do is give our interpretation according to what we saw, heard, touched, smelled and tasted. Because we are so influenced by what our own society judges to be normal, our interpretation of another's culture will never be correct.
I cannot claim to understand what it means to be homosexual and I cannot understand what it means to be Catholic. I can give you my interpretation of what they are and the reasons why I support certain causes. Are my opinions subject to change? Yes. I went from believing in gun control, to not believing in gun control to expressing my reluctance to own a gun, to just leaving the subject be. I went from thinking that Homosexuality was the destruction of the family, to I don't hate you but I still don't think you should get married, to let them be but stay away from me, to confused, to why do I think I am any better than they? to they are people with wants and desires and deserve what I have, to we are no different, we all just want to be loved and not have to fake it for the rest of society. My views on abortion have not changed much but are less extreme believing in the review of ever case. I went from environmentalists are crazy people who want to enslave us by making us live in T-pees to global climate change is a hoax, to even if you don't believe in it there is no reason to trash the world, to woah, the oceans are getting warmer, the ice caps are melting, we have more sporadic weather and all this at an excelled rate than has happened in the past. It is good to have a change in attitude and I hope I continue to change.
It is what I have seen, experience first hand that makes me feel this way. I know there are many of you who do not agree and maybe you have had different experiences than I have. If you can let me know what those are maybe I can try to see things from your angle and make different judgments. If I offend you, let me know why and maybe I can feel and understand what makes me offend you. That's all for now.

More Photo Practice

2011-04-01T14:12:00.005-06:00

I'm just getting a little photo practice in between classes at UVU.

Mandi Paints a picture at the Zone

Buffalo in the science bilding

Spring Flowers

Orion from Mapleton

Harvest park facing the mountains

Looking North from Mapleton to Provo

Looking West from Harvest Park

Proud of My Girl

2011-03-31T12:09:00.004-06:00

Here are just a few highlights of Mandi in UVU's Spring Ballroom Concert. Enjoy!

The Little Ones

2011-03-12T13:52:00.002-07:00

A beautiful and sad song for the little ones who die in war.Written and performed by Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens)

Tsunami Hits Santa Cruz

2011-03-11T14:24:00.004-07:00

Back in August of 2010 I was surfing with some friends for a week in Santa Cruz. The beach in these photos is called Cowells and it sits just near the boardwalk. I have posted a few photos as to where the waterline was at during our trip, and compared that with how much it receded during the Tsunami. Take a look.

(Photo of how far the water receded from the cliff face)

(Photo showing the position of the photos taken back in August 2010. Notice the water level at the foot of the stairs and the cliff bottom)

(Larger photo of the bottom of the stairs (Mandi and Jeffrey)

(Larger photo of the bottom of the cliff (Colin)

Mandi, the Poster Girl

2011-03-11T13:42:00.001-07:00

Look who made the poster for Utah Valley Universities next ballroom concert!

Earth Quake & Tsunami in Japan

2011-03-11T12:06:00.004-07:00

It's days like this that I tell myself to stop complaining about my own hardships and focus on others who are suffering far more than I probably ever will. More Earth quakes, crazy weather, and other natural disasters are what we were expecting but nobody will know the effects until it actually hits home. This makes me want to be a better person and more aware of what I can do to make this Earth a much better and cleaner place to live in. Donate to the humanitarian aid of your choice, whether it be of a religion, private organization or government. A little bit goes a long way. PS: I don't need to know where or how much you donate, just do it because you should.

The Miracles of Medical Science

2011-03-10T07:04:00.002-07:00

Thank your doctors, thank your scientists!

Part 4 of our Santa Cruz Trip 2010

2011-03-09T14:48:00.002-07:00

Just finished part 4 of our Santa Cruz trip. Stay tuned for part 5

Touchdown!!!

2011-03-09T10:08:00.002-07:00

Space Shuttle Discovery makes its last touchdown

Discovery Crew Prepares for Wednesday Landing

2011-03-08T19:14:00.002-07:00

Space shuttle Discovery’s crew is wrapping up final preparations for its planned landing at 11:57 a.m. EST or 9:57 a.m MST at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. You should be able to go to CNN's website and watch live video of Discovery making it's final decent into the Earths atmosphere. After it lands, the Space Shuttle Discovery will be retired. Here is a video of highlights from its last mission in space.

Russell's Space Ship

2011-03-06T09:46:00.002-07:00

Russell built a space ship cockpit in his basement for a movie he is making. He did a green screen test to show what it would look like if he were flying through space. Check it out.

Carl Sagan: Perspective

2011-03-01T13:15:00.002-07:00

When the Voyager 1 probe was heading out of our solar system Carl Sagan requested that the camera be pointed back at Earth to take a snapshot of our planet from a record distance. You can see the pale blue dot caught in a sunbeam in the photo below. The photo just may be the most important photograph ever taken because it gives the inhabitants of Earth a perspective that they need to see in order to understand how delicate they are and how important it is to care for each other. Here is what he writes on the photograph.

Nerdy Bot: So Close, Yet So Far Away

2011-02-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

Nerdy Bot: So Close, Yet So Far Away: "Been there, done that. People talk about the Moon like it was a thing of the past. As if it were some very accessible island we once visited..."

This is a guest blog that I do with a couple of other guys. Check out my latest post.

Incase you missed the Space Shuttle Discovery launch

2011-02-24T19:11:00.002-07:00

I was just sitting in the control booth at my work and decided to share my thoughts on the Space Shuttle Discovery launch while I watched it live. Enjoy!

Space Shuttle Discovery Final Launch TODAY!!! at 2:50 pm Mountain time

2011-02-24T13:55:00.004-07:00

You all know how much of a space buff I am. There are only 2 more space shuttle launches left until they retire the fleet. This is Space Shuttle Discovery's final Launch before it is to be retired so it is an important day. I would encourage everyone to watch a launch live. If you have a chance go to the link below and watch the launch. If you miss it I'm sorry. One tip, the site will ask you if you want to download something for better video, just click on No and it will take you to the broadcast. The launch is at 2:50 pm mountain time. Enjoy!

http://www.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=stream3&hpt=T2

Questioning the Purpose of Life

2011-02-23T13:31:00.007-07:00

When you tell people that you feel there is something greater than the idea of God they see you differently. Parents wonder where they went wrong, brothers and sisters feel sorry for you and friends stop calling because they are afraid of your influence. Conversations with people you once admired are now discouraged because someone hates the questions you ask. Who do you talk to when you want to clear things up? If those in religion do not want to hear your questions or give better answers other than, "Because it's God's will," you end up having to look else where, something else they discourage. The longer you stay silent the more lonely the world gets. You've already lost what you were taught was the purpose to life and you do not know what to do next.

So how does one find a purpose to life when God is out of the equation? As a Mormon, I used to ask myself,"If there isn't a God, what is the point of living through all of the good and bad times if you wont exist after this life?" I used to think that all an Atheist did was persecute religion and only for their hatred towards God. I did not realize that the harshest attacks came from other religions against my own and I did not see how my own religious beliefs negatively affected the lives of others. As a missionary I asked people to question their own faith, it was only a matter of time that I would do the same thing out of fairness to those whom I left behind in Mexico.

Religion has always found a way to keep its influence in authority. When the Pope comes to Mexico his visit is nationally televised. He is showered with gifts and the streets are shut down as he drives by in his Pope Mobile. Now that's power. Islamic law is written into some of the governments in the Middle east and in the United States there is freedom of religion but not freedom from religion. Religious beliefs are written into our laws and those who do not believe are forced to abide by them. There is progress being made. Kids are no longer forced to say the words, "One Nation under God," while saying the pledge of allegiance and teachers cannot lead a class in prayer unless it is a private school. Prayer is different to all religions.

To question authority is what helps humanity progress. Ideas will continue to change and we constantly learn new things. When Martin Luther wrote the 95 theses, he challenged the interpretation of the Bible. He brought it into the public domain for all to read and understand in a totally different way than the Catholic Church did. Was he wrong for questioning the religious authority? The many protestant churches of today praise his efforts and are thankful for making their cause possible. Galileo challenged the church's scientific authority by confirming the Sun Centered model of the universe and he was put on house arrest. And then along came Charles Darwin. Through scientific research he proved that all life on Earth is the result of evolution and that it continues to do so even today. He held off on releasing his work because he didn't want to create controversy, he only wanted to show people this incredible evidence. Religion was quick to judge him and he suffered much persecution for it.

So what purpose can an Atheist find in living through life? As Carl Sagan would point out, "The beauty of a living is not the atoms that go into it, but the way those atoms are put together." There is so much life on this planet; plant, animal, bacteria, etc. and the variety of life is astounding! Look at the shapes these atoms form. The shape of a human, a bird, a rose, a bug and even a single cell. The years of natural selection from the first cell continue to give us more variety.

"We are all connected, to each other biologically, to the Earth chemically, to the rest of the universe atomically" (Niel Tyson). As Carl Sagan said, "We are star stuff." The atoms in our body were formed in stars that died out in the universe long ago. It is important to trace our origins to understand where we came from because we are a way for the universe to know itself. We are intelligent and one day we may find other intelligent life out there. We may even find a way to record our own consciousness into a computer, allowing us to live on forever.

Why is it so hard for me to believe in religion? For as long as humans have lived they have searched for their place in the universe, wondering how they came about. Stories turned into legend, legend became myth and soon myth would become religion. People felt comfortable knowing that they were being watched over. Some religious stories were passed on and altered to take shape in a new religion such as the flood myth. When I see the bones of a 3 million year old primate like Lucy, I wonder what things she had to worry about. I wonder what she thought of when she looked up at the moon. Was it just out of her reach or was it watching over her, keeping her safe at night? We see gorillas like Ambam walking on two legs as they Carry objects in their arms. What is their place in the cosmic perspective of life? Do hey also have a God they worship?

We trust in our feelings for love, faith, trust, and judgment. We see how those things can be an influence on others. We debate about who's God is real and who's God is false yet none can say, "Here he or she is." Only a few claim to have physically seen a diety but do not come back with any tangible evidence of their visit, just some tablets, a shield or a cup. On the other hand I can go outside with my telescope as Galileo did and look up at the planets and observe their orbits. I can jump up and know that I will fall back down to Earth. I can take my blood sample and compare it to that of a gorilla and have a hard time finding the genetic difference. This is why I have such trust in science. It gives answers with evidence to back those answers up. When there is speculation a scientist understands that they should not be married to their theory because someone may clarify their results giving us a new direction to go in.

I do believe in miracles but not from mysticism. Humans create miracles every day in the science lab. Vaccinations have saved millions and so have heart surgeries. If it helps for someone to believe that they are lead by the hand of God to perform such operations then that's a good thing. It keeps them more confident in what they are doing. Lets just not forget to be thankful that the doctor spent years in medical school and hours serving as an apprentice to perform in such a manner. Lets not also forget about the bacteria that works in a symbiotic relationship with our body to fight viruses. Yes there is bacteria in your yogurt and lots of it.

So my purpose to life is to question why things are the way they are. I want to see humanity progress into something so much greater than just prideful nationalities. I want us to explore the stars to search for our real past. Did life originate from an icy comet that smashed into earth? Was it lighting that struck a puddle? Did our DNA come from a planet with life that was destroyed billions of years ago? There are so many questions and I cannot settle with the easy answer. We can know if we only question. When we are discouraged from asking questions we undermine our own intelligence for the sake of keeping an idea alive. This is not an attack on religion, it is only an attempt to present the question why I should believe in one single idea when there are so many wonderful ideas out there?

On days I feel Mandi deserves better

2011-02-23T08:29:00.003-07:00

Except for the part about leaving and having a fan. I don't have those and I could never leave the woman I love.

Two of my favorite Abbey Road Sessions

2011-02-18T08:34:00.002-07:00

Here are two of my favorite Abbey Road sessions with some of my favorite artists.

Yes...I'm a Feminist

2011-02-16T18:34:00.002-07:00

(Funny Note. I accidentally published this on a joint blog I have with some other people called Nerdy Bot, all things nerdy. Nevertheless they loved it lol)

There, I said it.

No I don't go around burning bras and my friends don't call me butch, bitch or sex fiend. What I mean by this is that I believe that women continue to be treated unfairly. At my own university female teachers make about 20% less than male teachers. I hate it when people say,"But males are the bread winners of the family, they have to make more." Yeah, tell that to the English teacher who is divorced and has 4 kids to take care of. Why is it that men are so afraid of having a female in power? No really, I would like to see the reaction on peoples faces if a woman was appointed as the president's military adviser. Could you imagine the sexist remarks that would come if a woman was actually elected as president? We've seen it with Sara Palin running. I mean, come on, it's easy enough to poke fun at her for saying stupid things, she's a politician. There is no reason for sexist remarks.

We Americans take pride for being ahead of regions like the Middle East and Asia but we are far behind most of Europe which means that we should be open to progression with this issue. Too many people here say that we have achieved equality but most of those people have yet to experience the effects from the past that linger.

When a couple gets married they must look towards the feelings of their mate and find out how they want to live their life. Some women are fine with staying at home, taking care of the kids and making dinner for their husband so he can relax from a hard days work. When I got married I asked Mandi what role she would like to have in the relationship. It just goes to show how much power society has given me as a man in a relationship, I had to ask. Eventually we found a way to divide things out evenly but it still took a few years to find out what we both wanted. She still hasn't made a decision on whether or not she wants to have kids biologically or adopt but I will leave that up to her since it is her body. I can respect that. After all, I've never heard a man say, "I want to go through labor," but I'm sure there are a few crazies out there.

It just sucks when society says, "A boy is this," and "A girl does that." I would suggest to everyone to really look at their relationship and see who does what and how much work goes into what they are doing. It's always difficult to keep things even but everyone should always be working on it and avoid being stuck in routine to where they don't notice it. Yes, this is my blog and this is how I feel today because of the love I have for my lovely wife, Mandi :)

Santa Cruz Trip 2010

2011-02-11T15:55:00.007-07:00

Last year we followed along with the tradition of visiting two really good friends and their families out in California. Here is part one, two and three of our Santa Cruz trip and part four will be up next weekend.

Part one

Part 2

Part 3 *NEW

Buddy Holly

2011-02-03T19:39:00.002-07:00

The day the music died. Today marks the 51st anniversary of the Death of Buddy Holly, one of my favorite singer songwriters.

Anderson Cooper

2011-02-03T07:26:00.002-07:00

I just wanted to post this. I have a lot of respect for Anderson Cooper.

Space Shuttle Columbia and the Future of the Space Program

2011-01-31T20:01:00.007-07:00

While reflecting on the 25th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger last week, I realized that Columbia's anniversary would only come a week later.
On February 1st 2003 the space shuttle Columbia was on its decent from a science mission in space when it broke up in the atmosphere. I was on my mission when this happened but I remember a member of the church bringing it up while we were eating at their house later that night. Even in a small town down in the Yucatan they follow our space program. After an extensive investigation it was revealed NASA had failed to heed the warnings of engineers who had pointed out on the that a piece of foam fell off the external fuel tank and nailed the shuttles wing on takeoff. All it would have taken was a space walk to asses the damage but NASA did not see how a piece of foam could punch a hole in a wing strong enough to withstand the incredibly high temperatures that the shuttle experiences on re-entry.

A rescue mission could have been conducted with the space shuttle Atlantis, which was preparing for a visit to the International Space Station. People started to question why NASA would make such compromises on such dangerous missions. My opinion is that it has to do with money. The agency receives about 0.5% of the national budget. That's about half a penny on the dollar. When you delay a shuttle mission it is costly and when you don't have much money you end up taking risks. Even space shuttle Challenger could have been saved. It blew up shortly after takeoff because of an O-Ring failure. NASA was urged not to launch the shuttle in such icy temperatures for exactly that reason but they went ahead anyway. As you watch this video you can hear the commander say "Roger.Go at throttle up." When he throttles up the challenger explodes.

With only 2 more space shuttle flights left NASA has contracted with Russia to carry our astronauts into space over the next 3 years. Under President Obama's new vision for space exploration, NASA hopes that the private space industry can pick up the workload while NASA works on developing a heavy lift rocket to take astronauts beyond earth orbit, something they have not achieved since 1972. SpaceX is a major contender for the replacement of a crew vehicle. They have already achieved 2 orbital flights with one making it safely back to earth on a re-entry test.

It is not the end for the US space program, it's just another step to creating something better. When the Apollo era came to an end there was a 5 year gap in US space flight before the Space Shuttle Columbia had its maiden voyage on April 12th 1981. As you can see here, this is the only time the external fuel tank is painted white for a launch. The memory of the incredible crew and vehicle Columbia will always be a reminder that space is dangerous. You cannot put a price on life.

Russian Space Shuttle Bruan

2011-01-31T14:45:00.003-07:00

As you all know I am a space nut. I love rockets and space ships. What kid doesn't. A few years ago I learned that Russia actually built their own space shuttle. Although short lived due to the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russians were able to finish one of the fleet of orbiters they were building and 1988 it was launched into space. The Shuttle Bruan was flown autonomously (by remote) and landed safely after its mission from orbit. This would be the only time the Bruan would fly. It was then put in storage and in 2002 the roof of the building it was stored in collapsed, destroying the orbiter and the rocket it was attached to. The Bruan was actually superior to the American Space Shuttles because it was able to fly autonomously and it could carry a cargo of 200 tons. It also used powered flight during re-entry with smaller rockets attached to the back. The American Space Shuttles only work as gliders giving them one chance to land. Here is the Space Shuttle Bruan.

Learn About the Universe

2011-01-31T08:55:00.001-07:00

This is a great video to show your kids. Gotta love the Animaniacs!

In Memory of Challenger

2011-01-28T17:58:00.001-07:00

25 years ago the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on throttle up. I felt like paying tribute to the lives that were lost.

The Origin of Musical Influences

2011-01-22T09:32:00.004-07:00

I’ve been doing my best to find a variety of new music lately but it seems that I have failed. Most of the music I listen to comes from recommendations by those who I trust. People who know me well will usually know what I will like. Sometimes I am surprised at some of the music given to me. It may even take some time to grow on me but in the end they usually win. Here are some of my favorite artists or groups and the people who influenced me into listening. This is not my whole list, but it's go give you an idea at the variety.

The Beach Boys-Dad: For my Dad, music was supposed to be fun. We would dance around the living room listening to Beach Boys records when we were in diapers. They continue to have an influence in my life because of my love for the ocean. Here is "I Get Around"

The Beatles-Mom: My Mom and Dad are from two generations. While my Dad would say that the British invasion ruined a lot of music and culture, my Mom would say that it gave new meaning to music. Here is "Help"

The Pharcyde-Tyler: This will always remind me of being a freshman in high school. I wanted to be like my brother Tyler and we would work out to the Pharcyde in the weight room at Ponderosa high school. No body can flow or has the background texture that the Pharcyde does. Here is the music video for "Drop"

Peter Paul and Marry-Tyler: Tyler may not know it, but when I bought his last computer from him I fell upon Peter Paul and Marry by accident. I heard the song "If I had a Hammer" and fell in love with the true meaning. Here is "If I had a Hammer"

Cat Stevens(Yusuf Islam)-Russell (Through Aaron) Russell first introduced me to Cat Stevens. At the time I was listening to all Rap and Hip Hop. This would be the first real variety in my music. I remember listening to his friend's son would sing along to Moon Shadow at the age of two. That was what got me hooked. Here is "Don't be Shy"

Rufus Wainwright-Russell: I remember Russell waiting for MTV to play "April Fools" so he could show me the music video. This man's flamboyant style made me appreciate the people who are not afraid to be themselves. Here is "Poses"

Michael Jackson-Everyone: I don't really know who influenced me into listening to Michael Jackson. I remember listening to the Thriller album on record over and over again. I guess it was a little bit of everyone. Nobody performs like Michael.Here is his MTV performance in 1995. Legendary!

Mika-Bobby: I remember Bobby posting Mika's "Grace Kelley" video on Myspace years back. It was some of the funnest music I had heard. It made me want to dance like crazy around the room. Here is "Love Today"

The Killers-Rob:He convinced me to go to a concert at the Lo-Fi Cafe when we were living in Salt Lake. I had no idea who they were and didn't know if it would be worth being crammed in the basement of a building with less than 100 people. Needless to say, they quickly became one of my favorite bands of all time. 10 bucks at the door.

Queen-Mandi: Who doesn't know of Queen. I didn't really listen to them much until I met Mandi. She had most of their greatest hits and watching her walk on those stilts during "Break Free" at her ballroom concert, I was hooked :) If I could have anyone's singing voice it would be Freddie Mercury's. The man was an incredible performer.

The Darkness-Mandi: Before I met Mandi I had heard only one of their songs. I loved it, I just didn't really look into them much. While we were dating she was listening to "One Way Ticket to Hell". To my surprise it was the Darkness. Here is "I Believe in a Thing Called Love"

The Who-Colin(Through His Dad): Colin has Who memorabilia all over his apartment. He has seen them perform a few times in concert. I was curious about his passion for the Who so I decided to look up a few of their songs. They were way ahead of their time. Here is "My Generation"

Paul Simon-James (Through His Dad): Going to Jame's house in the morning to study for a test was even better when his Dad would come in the room and blast "Kodachrome" with the lyrics "When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school". Here is "Diamonds on the Souls of her shoes"

Judy Garland-Anna (Through the Judy Room) When I was 18 I moved to Utah for a summer. I didn't really have friends to hang out with so I spent my time watching a lot of movies that I rented from the library. I became obsessed with musicals, especially ones with Judy Garland. I met a friend online who shared the same interest as I did and she introduced me to the world of Judy music. Here is a radio broadcast of Judy Garland singing "Over the Rainbow" to the troops during WWII.

Deep Water Brian

2011-01-18T07:26:00.002-07:00

Here is another short story I wrote for my creative nonfiction writing class last semester. It is based on an event that happened in my childhood. The names of the characters have been changed but those who read it will know it even if it is not entirely accurate.

Deep Water Brian

Brian was a good kid. He tried his best to fit in but his only connection with the outside world was through church. Kind of odd calling church part of the outside world but that’s where he made all of his friends, if he had any at all. He was pale, scrawny and had a nerdy part in his ugly brown seventies hair cut. He was my only home-schooled friend and therefore I assumed that all home-schooled kids were weird because they lived in houses that smelled of apricots and urine. His family made gum out of dried up toothpaste stuck to wax paper. Sometimes they would dress up like pioneers, paying tribute to their Mormon heritage. They spent endless days watching The Sound of Music pretending to be the Von Trap family. The hill they lived on was probably dead from the sound of music because it was mostly sung in minor. Depressing.

You could say I was somewhat of an in-betweener when it came to the weird kids like Brian, and the socially acceptable kids. I couldn’t quite get over the magic of being a child in the third grade so when my nine-year-old maturity level would down grade to a seven-year-olds, I was disowned by the cool kids and would have to hang out with kids like Brian whom I was picking on the day before. This didn’t bother me too much because I could freely play Peter Pan in the trees of his backyard without getting laughed at. I would swing between the branches, hanging on for dear life with my skinny little arms. The swords we played with were made of wood with gold colored jar lids slipped through them to give off magical properties when the sunlight reflected off the surface. The gold jar lids also protected our fingers from bruising and breaking while we swung at each other when bouncing on the trampoline, trying to fly away to the second star on the right.

Brian’s dad had a computer and if we were well behaved we were allowed to play Oregon Trail. We hunted more often than we traveled. (Goddamn bunnies. You’re so fast! Three or four bullets wasted and none left for the slow buffalo.) I can’t imagine what else his dad could use the computer for. Couldn’t have been any more important than hunting green digitally outlined animals. Sad thing is, I ended up really killing Brian’s bunnies that year. Well they died in my care and I felt responsible. Some neighborhood dogs ate their faces off. I saw their mangled bones sticking half way out of the bent cage walls. I shuddered when I saw them. They were like hairy shells, empty and soulless. Such a scary thought to be dead.

Being my friend did not have many perks. My toy collection consisted of broken GI Joe’s and toy cars I usually found while roaming the garbage-laden fields next to my dad’s car lot. If I had anything of value to friends it was the pool membership at Lindbergh. The Pool was the place to be during the summer and it was the only place my family could afford a membership to because they had ten kids to feed. It was in the shape of an L and had a diving board. I say, “Had a diving board” because some fat guy ended up breaking it off. There were no lifeguards, so adult supervision was required. Just down the hill from the pool area were BBQ pits and a basketball court shaded by trees. Ironically, this is where the grownups spent most of their time, out of sight from the children swimming in the pool.

I remember the day I invited Brian to go to Lindbergh with me. He had on the ugliest looking 70’s shorts, kind of a sky blue with a nasty orange colored stripe down the side. He wore a brown leather belt to hold them up. They were most definitely hand-me-downs from either his older brother or father. I don’t know why that bothered me; I always got my shorts from my older brothers, but at least mine had the mark of Vans Skate Boarding Co. His towel was equally as nasty. It had holes in it and was marked with stains, or perhaps it was just dirty. I think a washing machine could have saved half of his reputation.

We drove to the pool in the back of my brother’s Chevy S 10, which we deemed “The Cow Truck” because of the grey primer spots on the side. As usual, my gold lab who we named, Kitty, would cut across the field and meet us a quarter of the way there. She would run down the road and chase after us until we stopped and picked her up. There were times that we could go a couple of miles, stop, and about a minute later she would come around the corner. “Stupid smart dog. Now you’ll just have to sit there and watch us swim from outside the gate”.

When we arrived, I ran immediately into the bathroom. All of the excitement about jumping in the pool got the best of me. Although we had a membership to this pool, it probably wasn’t the kind of pool you would imagine needing a membership to. The light blue paint on the bathroom’s walls was pealing from years of disrepair. There were cracks on the concrete floor and the urinals were stained with brown rust running off the pipes. One quick pee and I was out. I didn’t have time to wash my hands. I was too busy dodging the wasps that were hanging around the garbage can.

You know that unwritten rule about not eating before going into the pool? My family never followed it. We started off by sitting down and having Tang and pizza. There’s nothing like a full belly before jumping into a pool, and when it comes to pizza, kids don’t lose track of how many slices they eat. I love to brag. I must have had four slices that day, a big meal for a scrawny little nine-year-old.

After finishing my feast, I ran up to the diving board. I could feel the wet and bumpy texture under my feet. This always caused a tingle in my hands and hips making me afraid to slip and loose my balance. I could almost pee again. I couldn’t quite get a bounce out of the diving board because of my weight, but a good run straight off the end was enough of a thrill. I kept myself in the shape of a torpedo, slicing through the water and sinking to the abyss of an eight-foot-deep pool. The tap of my toes would amplify through the water when they touched the bottom. I pushed off with all my might while cupping my hands and flapping my arms downward. I always tried to resurface like Ariel from the little mermaid, chest forward, head back, and a deep breath. What nine-year-old boy didn’t think Ariel was a hot?

I swam to the side of the pool and pulled myself out to see what Brian was up to. I saw him sitting on the steps of the three-foot-deep end. I had been swimming all my life up to this point, so I assumed Brian had too. I ran to where he was sitting and jumped in the pool doing a backside method, a popular pose I learned from the cool kids at school. This motivated Brian to slide down into the cool water and walk out a little. He was too concentrated to talk much, and when I tried to splash him in the face he got pissed off. He even threatened to leave the pool. He wouldn’t brave going past the four-foot mark, and if the slant of the pool eventually got a hold of him, he would have to slowly doggy paddle back to the shallow end or make for the side. I hung out with him for a little while but only because I felt sorry for him. Pathetic wimp. Grow some balls and come out further. I couldn’t take much of Brian’s willingness to be a pussy so, I left him for more daring waters.

I would try to swim underwater from one end of the L to the other without coming up for air. I remember passing Brian, watching him continuously doggy paddle back to the shallow end. It seemed like he was having a hard time, but it couldn’t be all that hard could it? He was splashing like crazy, but his head was out of the water and he was making good progress on his way back.

Four minutes passed and I was getting bored with myself, so I thought I would regroup with Brian and play some basketball but I couldn’t see him on either end of the empty pool. I guess I was the only one left swimming. My family was eating by the gazebo. He probably wimped out and went over to the kiddy pool with the other bed-wetter’s. Nope, not there. I looked down towards the basketball courts; he wasn’t there either. Maybe he was actually using a toilet to go to the bathroom. I looked down in the water. Standing by the six-foot-deep end I saw a blurry blob in the shallow end of the pool. I yelled out “Brian” but of course how was he supposed to hear me if it was him 4½ feet under water? My first impression was, “He’s holding his breath,” but I was just trying to console myself. He wasn’t moving, and my knees went weak.

I ran and jumped in the pool calling his name in panic. “Brian!” It felt like an eternity flying through the air just to hit the water. No torpedo, just a big splash of panic. Swimming to the bottom of the shallow end seemed more difficult than I remember. I had to swim head first to get a hold of him. His hair looked soft and was ghostly waving around. I was afraid to touch him, and when I did we was so stiff. Bending his joints was like trying to open rusty scissors. I grabbed him by hooking my right arm under one of his armpits so I could get a hold of his chest. Kicking off the bottom of the pool, I was able to resurface to catch my breath. I was kicking my legs as hard as I could and paddling to the side of the pool with one arm. I was gasping for breath, trying to shout out my dad’s name, who was sitting under a near-by gazebo. Eating food with everyone else.

When I finally hit the side of the pool, the gulps of chlorine stopped and my dad was there to pull Brian out of my arm. My older brother Richard was there to help me out of the pool too. He pulled me over the side, and I sat there on my hands and knees trying to catch my breath. I remember my dad asking me what happened and all I could say was, “I don’t know.” My mind was in such a panic, there was nothing else I could think about except for, “Oh God, please don’t be dead!”

I had learned the process of CPR in cub scouts, but I had never seen it used in real life. How many people can say they have? My dad started by turning Brian on his side and scooping his finger inside his mouth to make sure he didn’t swallow his tongue. It was then I first realized how pale he was. How blue his lips were. He looked like a dead fish. My dad began with the chest compressions while my brother Richard blew air into his mouth. I could see Brian’s chest rising with every breath. You know that story about the rabbits? Brian became one of them at that moment. A shell, soulless. “Stupid Brian. What were you thinking? You’re so stupid.”

A few moments in, my dad decided to run across the street to call for an ambulance while Richard continued to administer CPR. Some bearded guy with long hair named Charles from across the street came over and helped Richard. He was an EMT so he knew exactly what he was doing. He kept saying, “Come on, Come on.” He seemed so calm. He had probably seen worse.

Over three minutes had gone by when Brian threw up right into my brother’s mouth. Chunky orange juice was all over his face, and I saw my brother spit up a bunch of it on the pavement. Brian was gasping for breath like someone had hit him in the stomach with a bowling ball. More orange juice and pizza spilled out of the side of his mouth and he was coughing and shaking uncontrollably. My dad wrapped him in some towels and Charles was trying to ask him questions. Brian was crying. It sounded like high-pitched hum, the kind you would hear from a whimpering dog. Kitty sat there watching through the fence, probably more interested in Brian’s crying than all of the people gathered around to watch the scene.

Sitting there, watching all of this my mind was a haze. Was he all right? Was he normal? I remember hearing stories of people who had drown and were brought back to life. They ended up having brain damage because they were under too long. Brian started crying out for his mommy. Even though we were nine-years-old, it was still Ok to call out for mommy in a time like this. The next best thing to mommy came. I could hear a siren in the distance. It was coming closer and even though Brian had been breathing for a couple of minutes, I felt much more secure that a machine with flashing lights painted orange and white was speeding down the street.

The ambulance backed up to the front gate and the paramedics ran out. They placed Brian on a plastic stretcher and strapped him down with white bands, including his head. It looked so uncomfortable. He had an oxygen mask put over his head. The plastic would fog and un-fog as he took his breaths. It all happened so fast. Before I knew it the ambulance was speeding away. Kitty was howling, trying to sing along to the tone of the sirens like dogs always do.

I felt kind of lost. My dad went back across the street to call my mom, to find out how to get a hold of Brian’s mother. My brothers and sisters were all crying beneath the gazebo. I could cry when I was made fun of, I could cry when I scraped my knees, but I could not cry when someone almost died. So I pretended. I sniffled and squinted my eyes the best I could. I put my face in my hands and rubbed my face to make it turn red. I was afraid that it wasn’t believable, but when my dad came back he saw me standing there by the pool and gave me a hug. That was when I really started crying.

My older brother, Tom, rounded up the rest of my brothers and sisters and drove them home in the cow truck. Dad drove Richard and I to the hospital to see Brian. Living in the small town of Eldorado we had to drive to the closest big city, Placerville, which was a good 15 minutes away. We drove through Old Town where all of the historic buildings were. For some reason this always put me at ease. I think it was because it reminded me of Christmas. I could imagine all of the lights strung up on the buildings and the snow blanketed over the town Christmas tree. It didn’t matter that it was the dead of summer. I could still see it all. It was my way to break away from what had just happened. Imagination was a kid’s best defense against fear.

We drove down Cedar Ravine, and as we did, we passed by our church. I could feel God looking at me as we passed him by to drive a few more blocks to the hospital. Was he blaming me for being such a bad friend to Brian? Did he want me to repent for calling Brian stupid in my own thoughts? I decided to make a little repentance prayer so I didn’t feel so guilty when I saw Brian. “Dear God, please forgive me for calling Brian a pussy and a stupid and please make him Ok.” That was enough to ease the guilt.

I walked through the front doors of the hospital. There was a pregnant lady in a wheel chair being checked in to give birth. This all seemed routine for me. After all, my mother did have ten kids. The halls were white with a light green stripe down the side. I followed my dad until he told my brother and I to sit down on a bench nearby while he went in to talk to the doctor. It was the first time Richard spoke to me since the incident. “Dude, he threw up in my mouth. It was so gross.” I kind of laughed, but I quickly wiped the smile off my face when my dad came back out. “You can go in the room now.”

The doctor was standing next to Brian’s bed. It reminded me of the scene from ET where Elliot is laying in the hospital bed dying. “Are you okay?” I asked. He responded back with a “Thank you.” He even sounded like Elliot with that wheezy voice. He closed his eyes and just lay there breathing. He was hooked up to a bunch of tubes and wires that I had no idea what they were for. I went back out into the hallway and sat there with my dad. He kept telling me how proud he was of me.

We were there before his mother. I remember her coming down the hallway. She had wiry grey hair and ghost wide eyes that naturally gave her the look of being scared or worried all day long. There wasn’t much of a difference in her looks that day except maybe the way she expressed her mood through her movements. She hugged and thanked me over and over again. That’s all I remember of her. For years the thanking would go on every time I saw her.

Everyone around wanted to congratulate me. After a while, I began to question whether or not I played such a big role in saving him. All I did was pull him to the side of the pool. However, his mother thought it was enough to recommend my older brother and I for a life saving award presented through the Boy Scouts of America. There was quite a big ceremony. Charles was there, and for some reason I remember there being a few people there in orange service suits. They could have been the paramedics but I’m not sure. I was just stoked at the medals they presented us. It made me feel like I was in the army. Mine had a red outer ring with a gold colored center and it hung from a red and white striped ribbon. I’m sure my buck toothed grin stretched a mile wide when they pinned that thing to me.

Remember what I said earlier about the hero being nothing without the sword. Well that day I found out it was true. My medal was proof of that. It made me feel like a real hero. In my mind I placed myself in the final scene of Star Wars A New Hope where Luke and Han receive their medals. I imagined I was Luke Skywalker; my brother Richard was Han Solo and Charles was big, harry and bearded so naturally he was Chewbacca.

Everyone cheered but the end credits didn’t come. Did Brian and I end up as best buds? Did I learn my lesson about knowing who my real friends were? No. It was only a few years later that I had entered JR. High. Through those years a kid can’t be any fiercer in his adolescence. It must be in the hormones. You’re so afraid that you’re not changing fast enough that the only way to speed up the process is to become an ass hole like the eighth graders were to you. So, naturally, Brian would suffer for years to come. I continued to give him hell and may have contributed to him becoming an airplane-stealing criminal. But that’s another story. Just pretend that I’m still Luke Skywalker for now.

Pleasure Point

2011-01-12T19:32:00.004-07:00

This is a creative nonfiction story I wrote for one of my classes. That means that things are a little dramatized and spiced up to give the story more appeal but for the most part, it is a true story. It's about how I got my understanding of the surf scene. I'm also going to attach a video of the trip that this story goes with. I have a few more stories I am going to post over the next few days, so stay tuned. I'm hoping that you will get to know me a little better through my work. Here it goes...

Pleasure Point

By: Jeffrey Dean Root

My Dad was a surfer and worshiped girls, cars and the ocean. In those days the men you had to compete against for women were Greasers in their hotrods, Cholos and their low riders and Sailors with their ships. Girls loved him, but not because of his car. I mean, he drove around in an old sedan delivery. They loved him because all he ever wanted to do was to have fun. My Mom still says, “He’s lost in the 50’s.”

My father’s past was never kept a mystery to me. He was always willing to bring me back to what he called, “The best years of America.” He started me off dancing to oldies records in the living room when I could barely stand on my own. We listened to bands like Dick Dale and the Dell Tones, Bill Hailey and the Comets and I swore my dad was Mike Love, the lead singer from the Beach Boys. It could have been his haircut, the way he danced, or the way he was such a cheese ball when he sang. He taught me the Surfer’s Stomp, a goofy dance he used to do at concerts that Dick Dale put in Southern California. You pound each foot twice, jump, do a one eighty and land, knees bent with your arms dangling while you sway to the beat.

If there was one thing he wanted to share with his children, it was his love and respect for the surf scene. He moved us to Monterey bay when I was just entering my early teenage years. It was my first time in the ocean, but I immediately bonded to it. By that time my father’s knees were not conditioned enough to stand on a surfboard, but he was never afraid to go crazy on a body board. You could hear him yell out, “Look at that wave break. Awe man that is beautiful!” And then he would run and hop out towards the ocean, feet splashing in the salty water, finishing with a dive, foam board outstretched and gliding through the air before he made his splash. His reunion with the ocean would later spark the fuel within him to light a fire big enough to get his feet planted back on a surfboard at 66 years old. Even his two heart attacks couldn’t keep him from going back out again.

It was when he showed me the film The Endless Summer, that I felt deprived of the long lost art of the youthful surfing journey. I watched as these men visited beach after beach, ocean after ocean and my dad gave his commentary saying, “I’ve been to that beach” and “Oh, look at that woody.” Yes, he would say “woody” as if he were referring to the woody wagon as an erection. I knew he had lived the surf life, exploring the beaches on the California coast, and I wanted to experience it too.

The years went by, California got too expensive and my family moved to Utah. I got married, got into more debt and rarely had time to see the ocean. Once a year I would travel to Southern California to see my friends and reserve one day for surfing. It was my once a year moment of Zen, and I cherished it all winter long, giving myself something to look forward to after six months of depression in the white snowy hell.

It was when I was watching the surf documentary Riding Giants that I saw the first big wave surfers talking about their experiences while living as beach bums in Hawaii. These guys lived in shacks, caught their own fish, stole chickens, and ate pineapples and coconuts. They traded the comfort of a warm bed for a cot or the soft sand. Why couldn’t I do that? Because I was married, had little to no money, and my 1974 Volkswagen Beetle would blow up before I left Utah County.

No! It was wrong to let life get in my way. I think everyone has a right to be selfish every once in a while and it was my turn. I was going to plan a trip up the coast of California and nobody was going to stop me. Of course, I had to run the idea by my wife, Mandi. After all, she was the breadwinner and I was the college student. Oh, and I would need transportation so naturally I would need to talk my sister Krystal and her husband Nate into going and it would give my wife a female to bond with. Also I would need to talk to my two best friends, James and Colin because they had places we could stay while we were out there. But besides that, nothing else would get in my way. I was going to do it…so long as they all said, “Yes.”

I told Mandi of the idea first. That wasn’t very hard. She had always complained that our trips were too short. She grew up in Hawaii and her family loved to travel. My family was too damn poor to go anywhere so I was used to the occasional Saturday trip to the Coloma River. She didn’t even care about how much it would cost. She would have thrown the whole trip on a credit card. That was easy. In fact, everyone I told was waiting for me to finish my proposal so they could say yes. It was really going to happen.

We all pitched in and made suggestions for places we wanted to visit along the way. Instead of staying in hotels we all agreed on camping. It was fun, cheap and most of us were experienced at it, everyone but James anyway. We made fun of him because he went out and spent $120 on a pair of Patagonia hiking shoes. It’s the kind of thing yuppies buy and James was no yuppie. He was just innocent and clueless. We gave him crap for that for a long time. After all, most of the trails we would be hiking on were paved or nicely carved. A pair of $14 payless sandals did me nicely.

We planned the trip seven months in advance so we were well prepared when it came time to head out of Utah to meet our friends in Southern California. I don’t officially feel like I’m going anywhere until I leave the hour-long bubble reaching from Salt Lake City down to Payson. Once the Payson exits are behind me I feel like the car has exited some giant force field and the outside world is only a desert’s drive away.

Driving across the desert on the I-15 is just like riding a boat across the ocean. Every once in a while you will see a small island but the biggest island of them all is Las Vegas. We were not at all attracted to the money, boobs and booze that enveloped the city. Las Vegas could have been reduced to an In-N-Out burger and we would have been just as happy. My father introduced us to In-N-Out by taking us to one that was still standing since the 50’s. I could have thirty sentimental minutes in the Las Vegas In-N-Out with my animal style burger, strawberry shake and fries and I was ready to get out of that hellhole of a city. Carrot Top billboards polluted the sides of the road. Why the hell was he wearing that stupid muscle shirt. I think the steroids went to his hair. All I could think of was, “Orange Ass head.”

Farting would become quite the ritual on this trip. My brother in law, Nate, showed no shame when it came to letting them rip! He would sit back with a cheesy wide-open smile on his pale face, rolling down the window, letting in the fresh, hot Nevada air. Mandi was highly objective but Krystal was always brave enough to join in. We bonded well with this ritual but mine never made any noise. They were all left cheek sneaks and killed everyone in the car. Nate suggested that something crawled up my ass and died. He may be right. Two-years I spent living in Mexico could be the cause for it.

After ten hours of driving through the night we arrived in Marina Del Ray at Colin’s apartment around 5am. Colin is a happy guy, like one of those people you would see on Kids Incorporated on the Disney Channel. He had the beds and couches already made up for our long morning nap. What a friend! James would later arrive waking everyone up singing along to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonne Give You Up,” while dancing around the apartment like an idiot. James always knew how to get a party started.

Although we would stay at Colin’s apartment for the rest of the day, we wasted no time heading off to the ocean. It was time to get our feet wet and Venice beach was calling my name. Venice Beach is renowned for being full of character. It has a skate dancing plaza, Muscle Beach where the body builders show off, burnt out hippies, side walk performers and an awesome business front consisting of the coolest clothing and incense/marijuana shops. The buildings are pink, green, yellow, any kind of pastel color you can think of.

I ran straight to the beach with my board leaving everyone else in the parking lot. The sand was as hot as coals. It felt good to know that it was only making me run faster to the ocean. I found a good spot to throw my stuff on the ground and wax the surfboard. I dug a hole in the sand to place the fin into and pulled out a well-spent chunk of Sex wax to spread on the board. I took a big whiff of the delicious coconut smell. I could almost take a bite of that chunk of wax but there was none left after spreading it on the board.

I looked out at the ocean’s waves breaking right into the pier, slicing through each wooden post. The afternoon did not have the best surf, but after a year of waiting, I really didn’t care. The waves could have been three feet tall that day so long as they could carry this 150 lb body and a nine-foot board smoothly across the beach line. James caught up with me and threw his stuff on the ground. He didn’t take the time to wax his board up. It was covered in nasty sand mixed wax with other small pieces of crab and dead-sea life that could stick to its surface.

We decided to run out together with our boards held straight to keep us aerodynamic from the ocean breeze, feet splashing through cold, murky looking water. I jumped on my board, belly lying flat, face up and arms paddling rigorously. The waves were breaking down hard leaving a lot of suds to push through. Not much of a break, which meant mostly white water rides. When I got out far enough I turned my board around. James and I waited patiently yelling out the occasional “Woo!” But the waves just kept on crashing as soon as they would form, leaving a big white wall of water to push us back to the beach. I finally got tired of waiting for anything good and I spent my afternoon riding suds, one after the other. Sure I had a good time but it was not really what I was searching for.

After about an hour and a half of riding suds I decided to call it quits to hang out with Mandi on the beach. There she was wearing her 1950’s style black and white polka dot bathing suit and a pair of white-rimmed sunglasses. The fact that this beautiful sex Goddess lying on the beach was mine lifted my spirits from the white wash I had just experienced. I cuddled up by her side as she baked away the winter’s white mark. We listened to songs like Surfer’s Stomp by the Markets while chatting with Tim and Rob, a couple of old friends that came by the beach to visit for a couple of hours. Tim was an old friend from high school who was working the LA actor’s job waiting tables. Rob and I had met in Salt Lake. He had renounced his membership from the Mormon Church and moved to LA to become a sex machine. We traded stories and spoke of our aspirations for life. It really wasn’t a bad way to end the day but I could see the ocean mocking me in the distance. Each wave crashed with such ferocity that it hypnotized me into a dead stare.

The next morning we woke up and headed out to our first camping spot. It was a short two-hour ride North on the Pacific Coast Highway. The scenery is just amazing. On one side are the beautiful green mountains and the other is a blue ocean that goes on forever. One could never experience claustrophobia feeling as free as I did while riding next to the ocean. Life is so wide open. I squinted my eyes, looking at ships in the distance, sun reflecting heavy off their metal surfaces as they dropped below the horizon line.

We were all very excited when we pulled into Morro Bay. This small town is a fisher’s port and many of the restaurants are made to look like boats. The seafood is as fresh as it gets and the people are very laid back. The town is known for a lone, round giant rock that sits out in its bay. The rock is a couple hundred feet high and serves as a bird sanctuary.

None of us had seen any photos of the campgrounds so we didn’t know what to expect. When we arrived all we saw were rows of campsites separated not by trees but by paved parking. We knew that this meant no privacy. Kids were running everywhere and people had left their home only to pull out their flat screen TV’s, eyes glued to the screen as nature was ignored. It was a depressing campsite and the only time we spent there was when we had to eat dinner and go to sleep.

I was curious to see what the surf was like so we all jumped into one car and headed down to the beach to watch the sun set. James kept our spirits high by leading us in Tony the Tiger’s Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes song.

Just show them you’re a tiger.
Show them what you can do.
The taste of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes,
Brings out the tiger in you. And You!

As we neared the beach I was happy to see surfers cutting waves but when I realized what area they were in I knew that these guys owned this beach. They were riding pretty far out from the shore but close to the rocks that rose out of the water next to the giant round rock. I sat there admiring them for having the balls to pull off such a stunt. I had no insurance and I hadn’t done enough with my life yet to crush my head on a jagged rock.

As I wondered what the waters of Morro Bay would bring me in the morning, we strolled along the beach as James sang, “Here comes the sun,” but changing the words to, “There goes the sun,” as its clear golden orb, cluttered with birds, dipped slowly below the horizon line. Mandi pulled me close to share what is still the most beautiful sunset I have ever experienced. It’s too bad that camping on the beach was prohibited. My dad had told me how incredible it was falling asleep to the oceans lullaby. Who wouldn’t want to fall asleep on a beach with their lover cuddled close.

Morning came and I decided to go for a little jog. I love running in areas that I am not familiar with. It’s like speed-reading a book just to get the idea of what the story is about. Book Report: I saw a giant swamp area, large trees and a golf course. When I was warmed up we ate breakfast and headed into town to rent two more boards allowing us to be as selfish as we wanted to be with our time in the water. The board I rented looked like it was painted back in the 80’s. It was 2/3rd yellow and 1/3rd hot pink. Sadly they didn’t have any better-looking fiberglass boards in stock so I was stuck with the pansy board. I was really tempted to just purchase one but the load of camping gear on the roof of the car said otherwise. It’s sad really. In this town you could buy a slightly used but beautiful long board for just under $300. That’s a steal!

It was a nice sunny day but the wind was blowing cold. All the men threw on their wetsuits except for James. He wanted to show off his manliness by wearing nothing but a rash guard and some shorts. Krystal and Mandi stayed out of the water to keep warm and take photos of the guys. This is something I was adamant about after not seeing any photos of my old man on the beach when he was younger. And it’s no wonder my mother would constantly find photos in the garbage can. My Dad was too lazy to open up a box and go through it all the way before he decided that everything in it was trash. I figured that my own children would be just as curious with my past as I am with my father’s.

The water was absolutely frigid but shrinkage was the least of my worries. I ran out into an endless battle against hammering waves. This time it was more violent. These waves had a great force that would bring the water high up the beach. The water got so high that we had to move our place on the beach a good twenty yards back. There is nothing cool about saying “I rode great white water today”. This time I just learned to say, “Screw it” and tried to make the most out of it. The only thrills I got out of those waves was their speed and the way they knocked us on our Asses. Time after time I could see Nate yelling as he ate sand when the wave broke on him. The undertow at that spot didn’t help either. It felt like the giant rock was acting as a magnet, pulling us closer and closer as we tried to fight the current.

In all, we surfed for about five hours that day. James jokingly referred to Nate as Lobsterman because he was bright red from sunburn. Mandi looked pretty miserable all huddled up in a chair with her sweater over her face. The most entertainment we got on that beach was watching Colin’s dog “li’l Dude” trying to eat the flies that swarmed over the seaweed in the sand. Colin, James and I ended our day at the beach playing catch with a baseball, a ritual that has become all but extinct for the common American. If only people knew how relaxing it is. If I couldn’t ride a decent wave today I was going to throw the perfect ball. Wrong! I hadn’t thrown a baseball in years and it ended up just flying over James head or going too low and hitting the sand before anyone could even catch it. It was just not meant to be.

Well I knew that we wouldn’t be surfing for the next couple of days so Camping at Big Sur actually lived up to its expectations. On the way up we stopped by Elephant seal beach. We laughed as the Elephant seals belly rolled and bounced off their fat to make their way up to the beach. Their long noses hung back and jiggled, as they would face off with other seals in the water. The Big Sur Campgrounds was a sigh of relief. Trees surrounded our campsite, and although they messed up on our reservations by not getting us the site we requested, they did load us up with free corn, potatoes and firewood. There were no noisy kids running through our sites and if people had TV’s the trees blocked their brightly lit screens.

We made good use of its on site facilities by washing a load of wet clothes from the beach while we played some basketball. Dinner was especially good because of all of the food provisions we had acquired from the staff at the office. We all just wanted to relax for a day after getting our asses kicked by the ocean.

The next morning we took a beautiful hike out to a beach that reminded us all of the Goonies. There were multiple rock formations that formed out in the water. Channels had been carved through the years by erosion. The waves would explode through the channels and settle into the tide pools. We collected shells for keepsakes and pried red, purple and orange starfish off rocks to get a glimpse of their suction cups. We found sticks to poke sea anemones, watching their dark, circular bodies close up in defense. Li’l dude made friends with another dog. We were all just happy to be exploring.

When everyone started to walk back to the car, I saw Mandi sitting on a big rock next to the ocean. I walked up to her and I noticed that she had tears streaming down her cheeks. She asked me if I would just stay there and hold her for a while. I looked back and saw that the rest of the group was already out of sight. I told her that we should probably stick together with the rest of the group and when I said that she became angry and started to cry some more. That was when I realized why she had asked for the moment. It was her birthday. We had plans to celebrate it on the last day of the trip so I had forgotten about the actual day amidst all of the action. I felt like a jerk and I immediately took her in my arms and said I was sorry. She just pressed closer to my body and stared out at the ocean. After a few minutes she looked up at me and said. “Thank you. I’m done.” That was all it took. I realized that in that moment she had found what she was looking for on the trip: a moment alone with her husband by the ocean.

When we returned back to the campsite and I kept on trying to figure out why I had not had my moment yet. What was it that would make this trip unique for me? Mandi further had her day be brightened when Colin and James surprised her by dancing up the hill singing to the Beatle’s “Happy Birthday.” They were lightly drunk and holding a tray of cupcakes with lit candles. She was overjoyed that my friends decided to celebrate her birthday on the actual day rather than postponing it till we reached our last destination. She gave everyone a hug and had a smile on her face as wide as the ocean. I was so happy for her. It was really her day.

The next morning we took time to stop off at the Big Sur Bridge on our way to the beach house in Santa Cruz. I had seen how beautiful the bridge looked in photos and I just had to see if it was as surreal. The bridge arched high over the white sandy beach below. It clung to the two sides of the canyon that was filled with green vegetation. The foggy morning air covered half of the bridge making it look like a pathway to the clouds. Yes, it was just like the photographs I had seen and well worth the stop.

We passed only ten minutes away from my hometown of Salinas where James parents still live but we decided it wasn’t worth an extra stop because they would see us for a day in Santa Cruz. Memories of the area flooded my head. The old surplus army store and the Moss Landing Power Plant still sat by the ocean right where I left them. The sinking road that ran over the San Andreas Fault was still just as fun to speed over. As we entered the neighborhood of the beach house we passed by the liquor store where James had bought us all cigars and a Playboy magazine at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. Heading towards the beach house I saw the bench at the end of the cliff where we all smoked our cigars. It was good to be there.

We hung around the house for a little bit just trying to get settled in for our final three-day stay. The nearby beach was always good in the afternoon to do some body boarding because the nearby cove created a wave that would collide with a second wave creating a V shape headed towards the ocean. Even Mandi was bold enough to go out in the water when we pulled out a full body wetsuit that was waiting for her at the beach house. She rode those waves all afternoon. She told me that she had wanted to go into the water the whole trip but didn’t want to ruin my time with my friends. If only she knew that I would have been happier with her out there than anyone else.

We took a trip down to the Santa Cruz Beach Board Walk, one of the last remaining amusement parks on the beaches of America. The crown jewel of the boardwalk is The Giant Dipper, a wooden roller coaster from 1924 that is still operational. It was a must for all of us and even though its age would make it sound wimpy, The Giant Dipper does not disappoint. Just knowing the track itself is over eighty years old is enough to make one wary and excited at the same time. We had a great time playing miniature golf on a pirate themed, mini golf course. The cannons on the giant pirate ship would boom as you tried to make your shot. We pretended to be buccaneers, sword fighting with our putters, metal clanking as we plundered our way through the course.

On our way back to the beach house we blasted Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida,” a song that would affect the way I was feeling that night. There is a line in the song that goes, “I used to rule the world. Seas would rise when I gave the word.” This is how I felt about the ocean during our trip. As a teenager the ocean seemed so easy to tame. The truth is, I never really took the patience to wait for a good wave. I picked everything; I just didn’t realize it until the trip. I thought back to The Endless Summer. Those guys spent the whole summer looking for the perfect waves and all I saw was two hours of the best parts of their trip. Even my dad picked the best moments of his life to talk about. Who would want to watch a movie about guys bitching and moaning because the surf was bad? Who would want to listen to their father talk about what a loser he was growing up? It was all making sense. Whether or not I would find any perfect wave the next morning did not even faze me. I realized that being with the people I loved and staying in a place that made me happy was going to be worth the trip. I could edit out all of the boring parts later.

James, Nate and I woke up early the next morning for the last day of surfing. There is a legendary surf spot in Santa Cruz that every California surfer knows as Pleasure Point. We debated about hitting that beach because it was loaded with the pros that make the cover of surfer magazine. O’Neal himself has a house overlooking the point. Finally James just said, “Screw it. Let’s just go. If we get in anybody’s way, we get our asses kicked but it could be worth it.” So we grew some balls, threw the boards on the car and headed for East Cliff Drive.

We drove up close to the edge to get a good look over the side. We were in luck. There were no more than ten surfers out there and they were hanging pretty far out to catch the big waves. We parked our car nearby and grabbed our boards. It was cloudy, but the low fog made the surroundings feel mystic. There is a sign at the top of the cliff just before you head down the stairs to the beach. In big yellow letters it read:

SURF ETIQUETE
1.FIRST SURFER UP, CLOSEST TO THE CURL HAS THE RIGHT OF WAY.
2. PADDLE AROUND THE BREAK TO GET OUT.
3. HANG ON TO YOUR BOARD, LOOK OUT FOR OTHER SURFERS.
4. HELP OTHER SURFERS IN TROUBLE.
5. RESPECT THE BEACH AND OCEAN
THE HOOK
PLEASURE POINT NIGHT FIGHTERS

These were my kind of people.
Green moss covered the slimy rounded rocks and a large tree sat at the tip of the point, branches over hanging the cliff. We all took a nice long stretch, for we knew it would be our last time in the water on this trip. As I looked out into the ocean I saw no waves. It almost looked like a lake. The surfers were waiting patiently and knew there was a reason for it. I slowly walked waist deep into the cold dark water, laid belly first on my surfboard, and paddled slowly out to sea.

Intelligent Design: Bad For Science and Faith, Guest Blog by SteveP

2011-01-11T14:12:00.003-07:00

I got this off of my friends blog. It is a rare look at belief in God and evolution and debunking creationism. Enjoy.

I am pleased to introduce Steve Peck,

Steven L. Peck is a high school dropout from Moab, Utah and Associate Professor of Biology at Brigham Young University where he teaches The History and Philosophy of Biology and Bioethics. His does research in theoretical mathematical ecology, philosophy of biology, and insect stuff. When he grows up he wants to be a novelist or a poet or create sentient robots (all about equally likely). Until then he blogs at ByCommonConsent, and runs a Faith/Science blog (sciencebysteve.net) where he extols the virtues of mixing theology and Darwinian evolution. He lives in Pleasant Grove, Utah with his wife Lori. They have five children and 2.95 grandchildren.

(I am a biology professor and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and am committed to its teachings and beliefs. I take particular delight in being raised a ‘Mormon’ who was taught that education and knowledge are among our highest ideals. Many are surprised to find that I am also an evolutionary biologist. I am also a member of the Society for the Study of Evolution the United States’ leading evolutionary science organization and have published papers in its journal Evolution. I have published numerous scientific papers on the topic of evolution believe that it is the best explanation for the diversity of life we see around us. Evolution is at the heart of the biological revolution that has transformed everything from genetics, and medicine, to drug discovery and managing antibiotic resistance. As the great 20th Century biologist Dobzhansky said, ‘Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.’ As a biologist, I could not agree more. Few people realize that BYU, the university sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints, has a number of faithful evolutionary biologists. As a point of fact, evolutionary science is taught at Brigham Young University just as it is at any other accredited university. Intelligent Design has no place in BYU’s science curriculum. And I do not want it to be a part of my children’s science education. I would not mind it if were taught as part of a course in comparative religion, but as a science? Never. Let me be clear about something else. Intelligent Design is not about an Intelligent Designer, it is a fundamentalist Christian (largely) make to get fundamentalist beliefs taught in the schools.

Let me be blunt. I find nothing of value in Intelligent Design for both scientific and religious reasons. First, why it is bad for religion. Intelligent Design posits that evolution cannot explain the origin of biological complexity. This is nonsense. Evolution is the best explanation for complexity. The purveyors of intelligent design argue that complex structures like the eye cannot be explained by bouts of mutation and selection, they calls this irreproducible complexity, however, the truth is the eye has been explained exactly in those terms, by many evolutionary thinkers. The argument is tantamount to saying that skyscrapers are impossible to build because there is no crane large enough to construct one. The truth is the crane was part of the building as it was raised and finally dismantled when it was no longer needed. In the evolutionary history of life, this happened again and again. We see the remnants of these ‘cranes’ all over the place. The history of life is full of things being used and retooled, then lost. A whale’s leg being turned into flippers. Or consider bird feathers from hair, first being used in thermal regulation then being co-opted for flight. So set aside the notion that evolution cannot explain complexity. It does so magnificently.

However, this is not what bothers me about the Intelligent Designers’ designer. Recall that intelligent design makes no religious claims about a God (mostly, to distance itself from young-earth creationists), it claims only that the universe has an intelligent designer. But let’s look a little more closely at the designer they are proclaiming. The designer they envision is really quite a bumbling ner-do-well—a limited dabbler who has to keep sticking is finger into the pot to get things going. The designer in Intelligent Design is more like a grand tinkerer. No grand designer here who can create a universe that unfolds, develops and grows. No, the designer in Intelligent Design cannot seem to manage that. He has to keep nudging things in the directions he needs them to go, making course corrections here and there, fixing errant processes that can’t seem to stay on task, backing up and starting over when things go astray. The designer in Intelligent design seems more reminiscent of one of Harry Potter’s classmates in a potions class, who has to keep adding a bit of this and a dab of that trying to keep the potion just so. I find this version of the designer unappealing and nothing like the God who I envision. I often ask my students which of the two computer programmers is the greatest: The one who creates many video games, but which require constant intervention and fixes, endless updates, and repeated patches, or the programmer who has created a program from which the command ‘Go’ creates spontaneously a myriad of video games of infinite variety and depth? You pick.

Am I talking about a deistic god who set things in motion and then steps back to leave it alone? Heavens no, I think God enters into the world often and directly, but mostly by influencing his children through their consciousness, inspiring and directing them to fulfill his purposes, sending messages and messengers when needed.

My next complaint about the Intelligent Design fiasco is its pretense to science. Exactly, what makes it a science is not clear. It offers no testable hypotheses. It has established no research program. The theory of evolution has offered testable hypotheses that have been confirmed again and again. The theory of evolution says that we should find certain things in the fossil record, the genetic code of our genes, the distribution of plants and animals on the earth. We find those things (Do not be detracted by supposed missing transitional forms. Fossilization is a rare process and we expect to find few transitional forms.) What is amazing is evolution’s prediction that life unfolds in a process of change and development. Consider the recent lovely fossils coming out of China detailing the evolution of flight in birds from bird-like reptiles. It follows just as evolution says it should.

My last complaint about Intelligent Design is it sets religion and science against each other. It puts forward a false dichotomy in students’ minds that suggests that evolution and faith are incompatible. It makes people of religious faith suspicious of science. When students genuinely think that science and religion are incompatible, one of two things typically happens. One is they embrace science and since it is incompatible to religion, religion is abandoned. The other is that they maintain their faith but remain suspicious of science and cast doubt upon its methods and findings, inclining themselves to superstition and pseudoscience. I have to wonder if the reason science education in the United States is falling behind other countries is because misinformed people of faith have been dissing science to the point that many students are choosing other paths. Faith and science need not be enemies. I embrace both fully and without reservation. My religious convictions are part of who I am. My science and faith reciprocate and inform one another. They are part of the way I understand my place in the universe. Intelligent Design does nothing to promote the search for understanding and cooperation between these two vital ways of knowing. It is a darkening of the mind on every level, both religiously and scientifically. Please do not let it be taught to my children as a science. It is bad for both religion and science.)

It's A New Year

2011-01-07T18:10:00.002-07:00

Well it's a new year and already I've seen some changes. I am no longer with facebook so hopefully that will lead to more blog posts. This semester I have math 1010, which means after this semester I'll have one class left before I never have to take math again. I'm in an Anthropology class that will challenge me to put the study of subculture into practice. I'm thinking about observing the smokers hangout that is located outside of the library. Maybe I can play along by bringing my grandpas old pipe and blow bubbles out of it. Or better yet I can dress up as a Hobbit and smoke some longbottom leaf. I also have a British literature class that I'm not really looking forward to but it's required so I might as well read about what influenced the writers in their time. The most interesting class I have is Critical Introduction to Literature. We are going to read a broad range of subjects including Queer Theory. Yes, that's right, we are going to even watch movies like Toy Story and evaluate the male bonding relationship of Buzz and Woody. Don't be offended, it has nothing to do with homosexuality.

This is my blog and if you get offended by my posts, then don't visit. Just so you know I do not censor comments if I do not agree with opposing opinions but I will continue to debate until a resolution comes. Most people will probably pull out of the debate before I do. That's OK.

Here are a few photos from New-years eve and one a few of the ice on the front of my Rambler. This is going to be an interesting year.

Disneyland and California Adventure video

2011-01-02T00:37:00.001-07:00

Here is a little video I made of our adventure at Disneyland. Enjoy

2010

2010-12-31T17:24:00.001-07:00

Here's to you 2010. You started out rough but ended with a bang!

Digging the cars out

2010-12-21T22:39:00.003-07:00

We got three feet of snow this week. Had to dig the cars out and clean them off twice because it wouldn't let up. Merry Christmas!

Happy Halloween

2010-11-04T19:32:00.002-06:00

Another Halloween celebrated. This year I had to pull out an old number while Mandi made a new one. We had fun carving pumpkins with the McKinlays and I got to act as Willy Wonka at my parents ward party. The kids kept on coming up to me asking me if I was really Johnny Depp. Some couldn't stop calling me Johnny even though I kept saying, "Who is this Johnny character? I'm Willy Wonka!" That costume will live on for years and years. We got a great photo of all of the family after the party was over. Krystal did some great paintings of Han and Lea from Star Wars and some Umpa Loompas that you could stick your head into for photos. Well, Until next year!

Thank you for keeping the Hobbit in New Zealand

2010-10-28T19:26:00.000-06:00

I'm in this "Save The Hobbit" video that the technicians at Wetta put together. Warner Brothers almost pulled the Hobbit from filming in New Zealand because of the actors strike. There was a call to fans from the technicians at Wetta Digital and Wetta Workshop to submit video on why the Hobbit should be kept in New Zealand. It was shown to Warner Brothers in hopes that they would change their mind. I'm happy to say that it did. You can hear my voice at 1:48 and see me announcing my name at 4:35

Day 2: California Adventure

2010-10-22T17:17:00.003-06:00

Here are some photos from our second day in LA. We had a great time in California Adventure. It's really cool because you kind of get a glimpse of California through the years. I loved the Aviation section of the theme park. Very cool. They end the night with an awesome show called the World of Color. They spray mist in the air and project images in the water droplets. The fountains paint the sky in such amazing ways. You just have to see it.

Disneyland Part 1

2010-10-21T20:07:00.002-06:00

Over fall break the McKinlays took us on a trip to the Magical Kingdom of Disneyland. This is day one of our trip. We were all like little kids. We even joined in on the parade and danced with the characters in a Conga Line. Awesome! Thanks to Art we were escorted to the front of most lines because of the wheel chair. What a good sport.
Enjoy the photos and stay tuned for more with day 2 in California Adventure!

1959 Rambler Cross Country Wagon

2010-09-28T17:03:00.002-06:00

Yes. Once again I bought a car. It was listed as a 1960 Rambler but I found out that it is actually a 1959. For some reason the photos make it look like it has a good paint job but it must be the lighting. It definitely needs cosmetic work but it's still fun to drive around.

Day 9: Last Ride In

2010-09-20T16:19:00.003-06:00

Saturday was our last full day in California. The day was packed with fun from beginning to end. Mike decided to join Mandi, James, Billy and I for a morning of surfing. It would end up being the most amazing day of surfing I've ever had. While Mandi and I were finishing up we saw dolphins coming closer and closer to the surf spot. We quickly paddled out far enough to be within 20 to 30 feet of them. It was just incredible. We were lucky to have James on the beach snapping photos. Just awesome!

We headed back to the beach house and loaded the Kayak on the car. It was my first experience kayaking on the ocean. I had so much fun that I ended up going out twice, once with Mandi and again with James. I could have spent all day out there but we were limited on time. We got really close to a sea otter playing in the kelp beds.

Late in the afternoon we met up with some old friends from high school, Niel and Cynthia, who are now a couple. They are so perfect together. Two of the nicest people to come out of our graduating class. We ate at this really nice Hawaiian themed restaurant that makes a killer Blackened Ahi Tuna sandwich. Nothing like it. We then headed off to the beach and tried to light a fire but the wood just plain sucked. We finished off the night with a Rick Astley dance party, laughing our heads off and just going plain crazy. It was the perfect way to end the trip. Little did we know we would be stuck in a 3 hour traffic Jam the next day just 20 minutes before we hit Reno. The worst of the California trips always happens on the way home. At least it wasn't a car accident like last year.

Son Helping Father

Billy's last ride in

Mike's belly ride

James the poser, as usual

Mandi Paddles out

James peals off, Jeff goes on

Mandi Catches a wave

Mandi and Jeff say Hello

Friends taking the Last ride together

Mandi and Jeff make some unexpected friends

Look, a Dolphin!

Calling it in

Rack em!

Launching out

What a party boat!

Mandi spots something near by. What could it be?

It's an otter!

Colin and Bobby take off

James relaxing in the ocean

Just too cool

James and Jeff head out to sea

Niel and Cynthia. Such a great combination

Cynthia tries to tame the fire

Class of 2000

Mandi and Little dude

Niel Rules backwards

A fire. We are victorious. But it went out a few seconds later

A didgeri-what?

The Dynamic Tree'o. We all lived in Creek Bridge

The closest we got to all catching air

A deadly pillow fight

Resolving our issues

Laughing our cares away

James gets even

Colin is defeated

The ride home

Bored during the traffic jam

Totally!

Finally

Cool road open shutter photo

Day 8 Surf and Rapplell

2010-09-16T19:42:00.005-06:00

Another great morning of Surfing. I bought a disposable water camera the day before just to see how handy it would be to buy a nice digital water camera for the next year. I absolutely loved it. Mandi was snapping photos from the beach at the same time so we got some cool photo in photo's.
We then headed out into the Santa Cruz mountains to hike around a little and get some rappelling in. We ended up hitting the same rock we did last year because we were short on time. Everyone got down safely but I did have a hiccup at the beginning when I forgot how to tie a proper knot that I learned earlier in the morning. In fact, 4 of us learned it and we all forgot it. No matter though. We created about ten different knots on the spot. There was no way that rope was going anywhere. It would have had to defeat all ten knots in order to come loose.
At the end of the day Mandi James and I all went out to enjoy another beautiful sunset

Day 7 "I'm on a boat!"

2010-09-16T18:44:00.003-06:00

One of the funnest days of the trip in my opinion. Colin's parents were just off shore from us and invited us to hang out on their sail boat. They anchored a few hundred yards from the pier and we took a motorized raft to get to them. We also had time to cruz around in the raft to check out the sea otters. We accidentally bumped into a pair mating. Awkward but funny. They swam away from us and came back up about 20 yards away staring in unbelief. We headed back to the beach house and cooked another wonderful meal.

Day 6: Skipped Surfing

2010-09-13T14:17:00.003-06:00

We decided to skip a day of surfing to regain our strength. We kind of just did some shopping and hung out until Colin returned from his audition in LA. We took off to the Board Walk around 5 to hit $10 unlimited ride night. We had a blast. We were able to try a few more rides and we also got some Mini Golf in. Colin and I scored big by making a hole in one on the last hole of the game. We both won a free game of Mini Golf and we put it on the fridge for the next dwellers at the beach house to use.

Day 5 Part 1: Lot's of Surfing

2010-09-13T13:48:00.006-06:00

We started off with another great day of surfing. Cowells is a real wave machine. I was able to work more on moving along the wave and walking up and down my board. I'm doing the morning as a single post because Colin had to take off to an audition in LA. Don't worry. He came back the next day. After surfing we took it easy and didn't do much. So no pictures.

Day 4...I Think

2010-09-13T13:04:00.004-06:00

I think this is day 4 of the trip but if it's not...oh well
The first real day of surfing was a blast. We decided to skip Pleasure Point and head on down the Cowells to check out the surf there. This place is just north of the board walk and it was quite smooth. One after another they came in and we quickly found our footing after a year of no surfing. Sadly we were having so much fun that we forgot to take more pictures. No matter though. We had plenty more days to take pictures.

James, Billy and I decided to take a stroll around the cove. There is a spot that James' family calls six guns. The water comes up against the rocky shore and shoots out of a hole near by. makes for a great photo op. We also found some interesting art work on the near by bracing walls of the houses.

Liz and Cameron showed up that afternoon and we had another great day at the beach. Lots and lots of body boarding. Sadly, Cameron ate crap on a wave and chipped 4 teeth. He probably came out with a pretty bad concussion too.

To finish the day off we had a late night at the Board Walk in Santa Cruz. All rides were a dollar so we had quite a bit of fun until I got soaked on the log ride. Then I was freezing! Oddly I only brought my video camera that night. So not pictures folds. Stay tuned for another day.

Day 3 Mike And Maria Roddy Join The Crew!

2010-08-13T10:36:00.003-06:00

Once again we woke up early for some surfing. This time we decided on going just north of the board walk at a beach Called Cowell's. The waves were perfect out there. It was like the ocean put up a wave machine just for us. No photos though. Sorry. We then headed back home, ate some breakfast and headed off to the cove to play around before we got back out in the water. The waves were breaking hard but it made for some great scenery. We got word that Mike and Maria arrived and we headed back to the beach house to suit up for some body boarding. Mike decided to join us and had a blast taking on the great white water. We returned back to the beach house tired and hungry. The Roddy's continued with their generosity by buying us some delicious Pork and Chicken to cook on the grill. Once again Colin, James, Mike and Maria prepared a feast fit for a king.

California Day 2 Hit The Beach!

2010-08-13T10:09:00.003-06:00

The second day we decided to get up early and hit the beach. We decided to try a beach within walking distance to get back in the swing of things after being away from the ocean for a year. It wasn't the best beach to bring the surfboards to but it was a great spot to body board and skim board. We even went a second time that day. Later that night we had a BBQ and as usual Colin and James went all out with the tastiness of the food.

[IMG]http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s107/jeffreyroot/california%202010/IMG_5642.jpg[/IMG]

California Day 1 Mardi Gras!

2010-08-13T09:47:00.003-06:00

Mandi and I had an amazing trip to California. It was filled with non stop fun and many surprises. The first day we arrived with went out and did some body boarding. When we got back to the beach house we ate dinner and what would we experience out in the street? A Mardi Gras party! The neighbors had a live band marching up and down the street and tons of people in costume all having a great time. Other neighbors joined in throwing beads off the balconies. We had a great time dancing in the street that night.

Wasatch Classic Volkswagen Car Show

2010-07-29T01:49:00.002-06:00

2 weeks ago Mandi and I put our bug in the Wasatch Classic Volkswagen Car Show. We were very popular with all of the little kids. Here are some photos of my family that stopped by.

I AM A ROBOT

2010-07-22T23:51:00.002-06:00

Russell decided to shoot some more of his movie a couple of weeks ago and I was lucky to play the robot. Here are some photos of me in the Robots flight suit.

Bo Huff Rockabilly Car Show

2010-07-11T19:46:00.002-06:00

We drove down to East Carbon Utah yesterday and had an amazing time at the Bo Huff Rockabilly car show. We had a chance to meet Mr. Huff himself. Nicest guy around.

Huff took an interest in Krystal's baby Mila because of his grandson who is the same age. Krystal and his daughter hit it off right away. She even offered to let Krystal use their trailer while taking care of Mila.

I found out that this old sedan delivery was the same type of car my Dad was driving back in high school.

A car to match that pretty dress of Mandi's.

A picture of Mandi and I in a 58 Vet. Lovely.

Mandi was in a Pin-up contest that night and I was in a Pompador contest. I made the top 5!

We stayed late to watch the sensational band "Mad Max and the Wild Ones" They are all family and all cool. I have never seen so much talent come out of a band that together weighs under 400 lbs.
Here is a picture of their dad Mad Max.

The oldest son Wyatt who started the band and rocks on the guitar.

Second oldest is Cole who is absolutely amazing on the drums.

The youngest member of the band is Duke. He's the lead singer and plays the harmonica and guitar. This kid knows how to work the stage.

Here is a beautiful combo of the show complete with car, matching trailer and bike. What a way to travel.

This is a car from the personal collection of Bo Huff. Beautiful!

This is the very best of the rat rods. You can't get any lower than this and you can't find a car with more parts either.

This Cadillac Hurst was probably my favorite car of the night. It was converted into a woody wagon. It has a Chevy station wagon top and all custom wood interior.

This is a lot like the car my brother Russell is fixing up in his garage but the rear end of the car is different. Nice and curvy.

This is going to sound funny but I have a fetish for Dash boards. Here are my two favorites of the show.