Irony

Jesus served others and lived a humble life.

I'm Always Behind on Music

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.


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

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

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

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

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

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

       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

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

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