Body don't fail me now

When I started running a mile seemed like forever, it seemed like it would never end, that first blocked felt like a mile.  Then a mile turned to two, two turned to three, three to four, and then I did my first 10k.  I did it injured and that was a mistake, but the feeling of accomplishment I felt when crossing the finish line was exhilarating.  My stubbornness to run while injured cost me 4 months of running.  My leg was slow to heal but a few weeks ago I took my first running steps again. It was only a mile and I felt like I was smoking a pack of cigarettes the whole time.  Slowly one mile turned into two, and then two into three.  My mind knows I can do six, but my body is fighting me.  My cardio is there but my knees are screaming.  I know that knee pain, it’s the pain I’ve gotten every time I’ve tried running in the past, I know it means I need to ease up a bit, let my body recover, but my mind knows I can do more and wants to do more.  I have to learn from past mistakes and listen to my body because something that once seemed like the dumbest thing in the world has now become something I can’t see life without.

That wasn't so hard

I gave myself a project, 30 blogs in 30 days. Write, take pictures, just a post a day. I’ve discovered it’s been way easier to think of excuses not to write than it has been to think of something to actually write about. As I sit staring at my blank computer screen, the only ideas flowing are, “it's just one day, if you miss no big deal” or  “you're not getting paid or graded for this, it's self imposed, you’ll write tomorrow for sure”.  The jokes on you procrastination thoughts, I just turned you into a blog. That wasn’t so hard.

It's the balls fault

After missing a putt four times in a row Sunday my golf ball went flying into the L.A. river.  I threw it in. It was a childish reaction to say the least and my mom made sure I knew it. My dad, Ross, and her proceeded to give me a good amount of shit for it. I needed it, because as a smile came across my face I realized, I’ve never played better pissed off.

So God created a Super Bowl ad

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God needed a caretaker, so God created a farmer. God needed someone strong enough to clear trees and heave hay bails, so God created a farmer.  Dodge needed a powerful ad campaign, so God created Super Bowl commercials.

That parking space is TOO far from my hike

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I know hiking in L.A. sounds like an oxymoron but there are a few small patches of nature scattered throughout the city.  Today was my first trip to Runyon Canyon, which apparently is the spot to hike in L.A.  I almost expected a red velvet rope at the gate.  Like all places in L.A., parking is an issue.  The only parking available is street parking and several of the nearby streets are permit parking only.  As the throngs of people converged a battle for available spots nearest the entrance ensued. People honking and speeding around cars trying to parallel park; cars backing up down the street hoping to grab a spot that opened up behind them.  All this…just to avoid having to walk too far to their hike. 

Slow your roll Netflix

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“Flick” - slang for movie.  “Flix” - a hip way to pluralize “flick”.  “The Net” - slang for internet.  So isn’t it implied that Netflix is a place to get movies from the internet?  Have you tried to stream a movie from Netflix recently?  More times than not when you type in a movie title they seem confused by your request. They do offer up suggestions for movies they think are close. For example, when I type in Rocky, they suggest Rocky and Bullwinkle.  Not exactly the same movie, but they’re trying. In the latest issue of GQ there’s an article about how Netflix has begun producing multiple TV series with ambitions of bucking the network television system.  No more conforming to standard episode lengths, ordering whole seasons without a pilot, shows won’t be canceled midseason because the entire seasons will be available at once.  Those are ambitious goals, my concern is they weren’t able to accomplish their original goal, flix on the net.  When your store is called Donut Hut and I ask you for a donut, you can’t tell me, “well we never really figured out making donuts”.  Then expect me to believe you when you say, “but we’re working on some great new recipes for vegan lasagna.” 

Who would you pick up?

Would you pick up a 70 year old woman and give her a ride across town? My friend did yesterday.  Strangely she told me this story last night when I myself had just started watching the Thumbs Up! series where David Choe and his friend Harry film themselves hitchhiking across America.  It was interesting to see the people that picked them up so far, mostly weirdos, but there was a mother and her teenage son that gave them a lift for about 50 miles. Would you pick up two guys, one playing acoustic guitar and the other playing a mini drum set (that's how they try and get attention to get picked up) off the side of the road?  I don’t think I would, but many people did.  My friend told me that immediately after letting the woman in her car she thought, “what the hell did I just do?” What she did was help another human who was in need.  Sadly we have been conditioned to not trust strangers, even as adults. If you were the one stranded, would you trust the person willing to pick you up?  I don’t think I would…especially with the beard I’m rocking these days.