It’s been extremely hot in Los Angeles the last couple days. Not just hot, but dry, angry desert heat that I haven’t felt since I lived in Las Vegas. Being LA though, this is extremely abnormal and feels more like the hot days in July and August back home when you can hear the heat in the power lines. Where the air is thick and the weather person on the news cast talks of the heat index. Those days, where your parents tell you to be in by 10am because it is just too hot to play outside.
Well, while I sit in my bed writing this at a little before nine in the morning, that is what I am reminded of; Those days because I have the air conditioning going constantly and water right beside me. I always thought of those days as snow days in the summer because the only thing you can do is sit inside, watch movies, clean, or bake. When the oven goes on, the air gets turned up even more. I don’t even want to mention the horrible habit, yet love, of turning the air up so you can curl up in a blanket. Yes, it is such a waste of energy but once in a while, it just feels too amazing. Take a nap, watch a movie, talk on the phone: Everything we don’t have time for in our everyday lives. Somehow though, I now sound like a teenage girl. Oh well.
Find out what's on my mind and what is going on my life. Or, maybe just drop a note and tell me what you think.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Catfish
I went and saw Catfish yesterday. I went in thinking that it may possibly be a scary film, similar to Paranormal Activity which came out last summer. It is completely not even close to a horror film. I find it better going into the film knowing this because it will make it easier to focus. It really is a great film that shows how our technology can be a vehicle for so much more than what we use it for, being for the good or bad. The movie also shares a great example of how we really are in need of human connection. That connection that is being missed completely every day and even though we don't acknowledge we are missing it, we desire it and yearn for it.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Large Changes
I'm contemplating the idea of dropping everything, my job, life in LA, my podcast, to travel the country by car getting to know our beautiful country a little bit closer. I don't have focus in my life at all. I am just going day to day living through the actions, just as a cardboard cut-out that is suppose to do these actions every day. Well, that has never been me, and it really just doesn't work well for me. I'm not depressed right now, not dead inside, nor walking around asleep. I'm fully conscious that this is happening, I just feel antsy and that I'm not living to my full potential.
I realize that I am at a point right now that bills are paid, there is no commitment for where I am living, and my relationships in Los Angeles are strong enough that I don't have to live so close to these amazing people. I'm not committed solely to another man, and have no children at the time, so why not take on this adventure? It sounds like something that will be a challenge to me and not something that will just come along easily. It will take work, commitment, and a lot of patients. I will have to have some strict boundaries for this journey so I stay on point as well as am not falling into old patterns.
Well there's a little sharing about what may be next. If you read this, please leave a comment. I'm anxious to hear what others may be thinking about this.
I realize that I am at a point right now that bills are paid, there is no commitment for where I am living, and my relationships in Los Angeles are strong enough that I don't have to live so close to these amazing people. I'm not committed solely to another man, and have no children at the time, so why not take on this adventure? It sounds like something that will be a challenge to me and not something that will just come along easily. It will take work, commitment, and a lot of patients. I will have to have some strict boundaries for this journey so I stay on point as well as am not falling into old patterns.
Well there's a little sharing about what may be next. If you read this, please leave a comment. I'm anxious to hear what others may be thinking about this.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
This Old School House in Lyndon Station
I’ve been thinking a lot about my hometown lately. For those of you who haven’t ever heard me talk about where I grew up, here is the synopsis. The name of my hometown is Lyndon Station. It sits about an hour north of Madison, and is ten miles north of the famous Wisconsin Dells. It’s a tiny little blip of a town with about four hundred and fifty people. It has a general store, a gas station, 2 churches, a park, a hardware store bank and post office. It has 2 trailer parks, one of which I called my home for 16 years, and some of the best, most kind people you could ever meet. I was blessed to grow up there and learn everything that I did in my youth for having grown up in such a wonderful small village.
The reason I began thinking about home was because something I heard on NPR a couple days ago. They were talking about the age of school houses and how our education system has become what it is now. For me, school houses aren’t something unknown in history. When I was in elementary school, I was actually in a school house. Until 1989, students in Lyndon Station were still using a 2 story school house. I spent some time searching the Internet for any pictures that might still be out there of it but unfortunately, I couldn’t find any. So, in the fashion of writing, I will paint you a picture with words.
When you walked through the double doors, you has a small vestibule, and then another set of double doors. This school was completely reciprocate, so on the back of the school, you had the same doors, which then, after you walked through the second set of doors, were stairs. The stairs to the right went up to the bathrooms, 3 classrooms and library. The stairs to the left went downstairs to the cafeteria, small gymnasium and the boiler room.
When you got to the top of the stairs, there were hooks along the sides of the wide hallway for coats and bags. The bathrooms were here, with the women’s on the left, and the men’s on the right. Then, after those, were the classrooms. On the right, next to the men’s room, was the 3rd and 4th grade classroom. At that time, Mrs. Wolfgram was teaching those grades. I unfortunately don’t remember her too well. I remember her pushing me though, to get my homework done and complete and trust that I know and will retain what I learned.
Across the hall was the 1st and second grade classroom. That was Mr. Ingels and he was one of those teachers that really encouraged me and made sure that I knew it was great that I loved learning things. He would always say, “Now that you know that, what can you do with it?”
The other two rooms upstairs were the library, where I practically memorized every book on frogs, and the kindergarten room, where I had my first kiss from Erin Hall. Right behind the barn that Mrs. Kramer somehow fit in the room. I saw Mrs. Kramer when I graduated high school. Her daughter was one of my friends and fellow students and the day we graduated, I realized that Amy had that same beautiful kindness that her mother had which I remember still from the first day of kindergarten.
Downstairs was the cafeteria that Betty, Erin’s Grandma, would serve us lunch. Berta would help her and it was always the best food ever. She only had to cook for at the most, 50 people a day, so she would always make it extra special. When I got to middle school in Mauston, I remember my extreme disappointment when lunch came that first day. Erin, Ryan, Jessica, Josh and I sat there looking at our trays just thinking, what is this and where is Betty?
The other room in the basement was our gymnasium with the boiler room off of it. The gym was small, with low ceilings so when we played basketball, we were rockstars. The boiler room was only notable for one reason, it’s where we learned that our teachers smoked. Teachers weren’t suppose to smoke. It was like finding out that there is no Santa Claus.
Well, that was where I went to school for four years. Our little school house, with the large no screened window that tilted outward and one could easily jump out of. The little school house that had a great old fashioned jungle gym in the back. Its so funny how we don’t really think of these significant markers in our lives but then with a little trigger, we unleash an ocean of memories.
I couldn’t find the school house, but here are a couple pictures from my hometown. I hope this made you think about where you come from and the reason that you may treasure it.
The reason I began thinking about home was because something I heard on NPR a couple days ago. They were talking about the age of school houses and how our education system has become what it is now. For me, school houses aren’t something unknown in history. When I was in elementary school, I was actually in a school house. Until 1989, students in Lyndon Station were still using a 2 story school house. I spent some time searching the Internet for any pictures that might still be out there of it but unfortunately, I couldn’t find any. So, in the fashion of writing, I will paint you a picture with words.
When you walked through the double doors, you has a small vestibule, and then another set of double doors. This school was completely reciprocate, so on the back of the school, you had the same doors, which then, after you walked through the second set of doors, were stairs. The stairs to the right went up to the bathrooms, 3 classrooms and library. The stairs to the left went downstairs to the cafeteria, small gymnasium and the boiler room.
When you got to the top of the stairs, there were hooks along the sides of the wide hallway for coats and bags. The bathrooms were here, with the women’s on the left, and the men’s on the right. Then, after those, were the classrooms. On the right, next to the men’s room, was the 3rd and 4th grade classroom. At that time, Mrs. Wolfgram was teaching those grades. I unfortunately don’t remember her too well. I remember her pushing me though, to get my homework done and complete and trust that I know and will retain what I learned.
Across the hall was the 1st and second grade classroom. That was Mr. Ingels and he was one of those teachers that really encouraged me and made sure that I knew it was great that I loved learning things. He would always say, “Now that you know that, what can you do with it?”
The other two rooms upstairs were the library, where I practically memorized every book on frogs, and the kindergarten room, where I had my first kiss from Erin Hall. Right behind the barn that Mrs. Kramer somehow fit in the room. I saw Mrs. Kramer when I graduated high school. Her daughter was one of my friends and fellow students and the day we graduated, I realized that Amy had that same beautiful kindness that her mother had which I remember still from the first day of kindergarten.
Downstairs was the cafeteria that Betty, Erin’s Grandma, would serve us lunch. Berta would help her and it was always the best food ever. She only had to cook for at the most, 50 people a day, so she would always make it extra special. When I got to middle school in Mauston, I remember my extreme disappointment when lunch came that first day. Erin, Ryan, Jessica, Josh and I sat there looking at our trays just thinking, what is this and where is Betty?
The other room in the basement was our gymnasium with the boiler room off of it. The gym was small, with low ceilings so when we played basketball, we were rockstars. The boiler room was only notable for one reason, it’s where we learned that our teachers smoked. Teachers weren’t suppose to smoke. It was like finding out that there is no Santa Claus.
Well, that was where I went to school for four years. Our little school house, with the large no screened window that tilted outward and one could easily jump out of. The little school house that had a great old fashioned jungle gym in the back. Its so funny how we don’t really think of these significant markers in our lives but then with a little trigger, we unleash an ocean of memories.
I couldn’t find the school house, but here are a couple pictures from my hometown. I hope this made you think about where you come from and the reason that you may treasure it.
Waiting for Superman
I saw this trailer a while ago but then came across it again today. Twice. Thought that it was definitely worth posting and is a needed wake up call. Just the trailer inspires me so I can't imagine what the movie will do. Well, you decide and tell me what you think. The one thing that I can add though is that while you watch this trailer, think of the amazing teachers that touched you and inspired you.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Huffington Post Article on LGBT University Students
I came across this and just thought it was a good little read. We have to remind ourselves that even though we're getting further on different human rights, we still have a ways to go. It also reminds us that issues still come up in venues that we don't necessarily focus on.
RIP Houlihan's Wisconsin Dells
This last week I got some news of Houlihan’s, a restaurant where I spent a good portion of my adult life, has closed down. Obviously, anyone who has spent more than five minutes in the restaurant business knows that concepts come and go and the consumer wants change. With that said, a large group of us still feel a loss because we became adults there. I began as a bartender at Houlihan’s the summer ’09. I was nineteen years old, hadn’t a clue of who I was, and thought that it was time to actually learn how to serve and bartend. How was I to know that this experience would change who I was, how I let people into my life, and teach me the survival skills that would make me who I am the rest of my motivated life?
I was with the company on and off until I was 27. I have done everything for them and am eternally grateful to the ownership and upper management for giving me the experience and the guidance. Not only did I receive all that, but I have to this date, a very supportive family and group of friends because of it. I am a firm believer that greatness attracts other greatness and that is exactly what happened. In the few years to follow me being hired at Houlihans, a plethora of great people joined our team, not to mention the ones who were already there, and those people became my family. When I look at my inner circle of friends today, those people make up over half of my inner circle. Something was done correctly in the universe if my soul crossed paths with all of those extremely beautiful people in those years. That is something to be happy about.
Here is just one of the many triggers I have that rush a million memories at me.
I was with the company on and off until I was 27. I have done everything for them and am eternally grateful to the ownership and upper management for giving me the experience and the guidance. Not only did I receive all that, but I have to this date, a very supportive family and group of friends because of it. I am a firm believer that greatness attracts other greatness and that is exactly what happened. In the few years to follow me being hired at Houlihans, a plethora of great people joined our team, not to mention the ones who were already there, and those people became my family. When I look at my inner circle of friends today, those people make up over half of my inner circle. Something was done correctly in the universe if my soul crossed paths with all of those extremely beautiful people in those years. That is something to be happy about.
Here is just one of the many triggers I have that rush a million memories at me.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Just a Monday
Yesterday I was in my pajamas until 6pm. Yes, me, who gets up, makes his bed and jumps into the shower, was in his pj's until the early evening and it felt marvelous. My one outcome of this though, especially as I begin putting together this next life project is, Do I have completely too much time to dwell on myself? With all that time dwelling on myself, maybe some of it should be more focused on the bigger picture? Either way, its just a thought..... Now here is some music.
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Friday, September 10, 2010
About a month ago, I finished up with work and decided to take my camera for a walk. This gave me a great opportunity to take a walking tour of Slilverlake. This is a very mystical part of Los Angeles that I have frequented often but have never quite taken the time get to know personally. On this particular afternoon, my good friend Micheal was available and he went with me. It really was a great afternoon. Here are some of my favorite shots from that shoot.
Our latest Show
So I have been the worst blogger. This weekend though, I will get everyone all caught up. 1st of all, here is our new show.
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