Monday Fun Day U.S.A.!!

It's manic Monday, and let me tell you, it was a weekend and then some. If you can't quite make out the black car in the picture, it's a Lambo! There were three of them that day racing by me on the PCH on my way home from Egypt this last Saturday. I always wonder who drives those things. One was a younger looking Asian guy. The second was a middle aged Caucasian, and the third was a grandpa and his not so likely grand daughter! Just sayin! It's Cali, and it happens. The rest of the drive home was smooth. I drove by my usual running trail and sighed a bit realizing I need to get more miles in for my race if I can get to it this coming weekend. But, I just miss it. Running. I guess I miss a lot of things some days more than others. There is something to be said about being able to run with your headphones on and see lots of people and places and keep going, and going till you can't go anymore. LOL.

It was just a week ago I got a Facebook message from a gal I had work for me on putting my tax book entries into QBs. I needed someone because I was loosing my mind going over the various transactions and the time they represented over the last year. In the end of that interviewing process, I had four different gals work on them only to end up doing most of it myself because of schedule  changes and just because I knew where all of the expenditures needed to go. One of those gals messaged me that she had essentially had some similar life experiences as of late.

I understood her pain and could only offer her some song lyrics and life philosophy. What we have in common is that we both left what we knew as our life, the people we know and love, and went after it...happiness and went after a person that was supposed to be the one we wanted to share the rest of our days; it was a chance at being more complete than we were and maybe experience what it is to be in love (for me again). All the joy, memories, and experiences that are part of being alive and not just living came to mind as I listen to her relate part of her story to me. It takes a certain kind of person to take a leap of faith into the unknown hoping they're right...that what they saw the evidence of in that person, place or thing. I must've been true, and all we had to do was show up at a minimal so "life" could happen. This is the substance life that comes out of our humanity--it is as sweet as honey when we find it, and as bitter as vinegar when you loose it. Which ever end of the experience you're in, you have to embrace it, breathe it all in, and be in it for how ever long you get to or have to so that when the time comes you can exude it from you..winning or loosing.

Beyond that, I missed going to karaoke. I was so determined to go this weekend, but it didn't happen. The more I thought about it I realized it has become more a difficult activity to do..well the ride home after. All the driving during the week just sucks it out of me, and driving the 70 miles round trip comes with a cost. So, I'm doing less of it now and days until it's "all good all the time"! I think if I'm not running the race next weekend, I'll make a short beach day out of Sunday in Zuma if I can and maybe make it up to a burger place I haven't been to in awhile, watch the sun set, and breath....and let it out. There it is.

Faith, Social Collateral, & Believing Continued Friday 9/18/15

The season is changing! It's more apparent in the Home land with the colors in the trees and consistent cooler temperatures. In SoCal, I have to look at what the corporations are marketing to know the seasons are changing coming from Minnesota; the seasons all look the same to me..perpetual Summer, and early Fall/late Spring! LOL. So I look for the signs like the Thanksgiving designs on today's morning cup of Joe. It's an experience you have to have a few times to appreciate how much of your life or my life, as it is, was affected by the anticipation of having to hibernate when the cold comes and everything that follows. I remember the first time that I flew home to the Winter and was "too happy" according to my friends! They were right. I was happier. I had sun and not the constant overcast of Winter sucking the life out of me! Hahaha.

There are some positive things that do come out of the seasonal changes this side of the calendar like the "food holidays" we all remember our families, the bigger picture in life that we are apart of, and if we're not one of them, the less fortunate. This is the time when people take time to slow it down, spend a little more time with a loved one, and cherish how good we have it just to be apart of something with someone. True story. Or, like a good number of people, we want it to go by quickly, painlessly so we are past it..past the season of not being with people or someone and only observing others in it. As I look back it all now, I've spend an even share of holidays with loved ones and with strangers I'd met along the way that understood why I was there...alone. I often was contented that other people had what I was looking for, and in the moments I had mixed feelings (anger, jealousy, sorrow, etc.), I was reminded that I was that much closer to having move of it.

The only difference is that I was out trying to find it---happiness. I just wasn't there yet, and seeing others having it was really the Creator motivating me to keep moving forward for at least a couple of reasons: First, remembering I have a family that loves me and is always waiting for me to come home from where ever I am at in the world. For them, it's a matter of pride that one of their own left with little to nothing, had many obstacles to overcome, and achieved much with the odds stacked against me with nothing except some street wisdom and iron will determination to rise.

Secondly, that although my efforts and striving have often left me alone, my having taken some leaps of faith towards those various endeavors inspired others to "keep on, keeping on" if they were at a point of deciding to pursue of their dreams. I'm not yet sure how this holiday season will go, but I'm optimistic it will be as good as last if not better cause the ocean isn't that far away, the sun is shining, and I am being give exactly what I need when I let go of my control and have "faith" that things can and will happen--I just have to show up so they can! LOL.

So, now let's get back to it, the talk about faith, social collateral, and believing. I left off at the point were we discussed what the basic definition of faith, and I was leading up to how it develops over a person's life by practicing it. When we begin the learning process of ourselves, we are exploring the unknown. We are asking ourselves not only personality questions, likes/dislikes, but we are also learning what we are good at 'smarts-wise' but also in a practical kind of sense. "What am I good at and what do I like to do?" So, begins the experimental process of succeeding and failing until we get a feel for what and how we do things. This is the beginning of having some faith in yourself, and we grow out of the failures and successes alike.

The later leads to other areas of  our life like relationships, employment, family development and whatever other manner one is able to experience to further develop their sense of self. Some people travel, live in foreign countries, diversify their education, etc. etc, and at some point in time we get a feel for what we can do in most situations or may be able to do if we reach out a little bit in new ones! We do this all of  this in front of, with, and in relationship to other people...family, friends, and the people that become our significant others. This is the beginning our social collateral , and this is the presence, ambiance, sentiment, or picture we paint of ourselves, someone else or our interaction between us and someone else; it is the conscious and unconscious development of support or validation for the ourselves, another person, or our interaction with that other person to use any number of ways in the present time or in the future.

Now with a working definition of social collateral, it should be acknowledged that not everybody keeps on striving to reach for new things, and that's great! People may decide sooner than others what they want and are happy with where they are at in life. Others spend more time in life trying to answer the same questions with what makes sense to us because the world as we know it is rapidly changing and growing smaller with the advancement of technology, knowledge, and health. So many options are out there that we have easy access to, live longer to enjoy and to have to decide on one thing over another is not necessarily a requirement...we can get around to move of them in time...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Monday Blues...Running The PCH & The Book.

It's Monday! Unlike most Monday fun days, I'm filling in today for a doc..so it's really Monday blues! LOL. That being said, the weekend was quiet nice and hot! I thought the heat wave was over , like most people around me, with the few nights last week that were perfect Minnesota Fall weather days...ya know! The days were warm and the nights were cool making it ever so hard to get out of bed after a blissful night of good sleep (more than 4 hours w/o wake for me). But, we were wrong!! The heat has been turned back on with only mildly cooler temps in the evening hours. I'm happy to have a ceiling fan! LOL.

The weekend was full of new things and people. I managed to make it out to a paddle board place on the PCH, but it turned out the class and the rental were a bit steep to re-learn something I already kinda knew how to do. I ended up figuring out what kind of board I should ride (length, thickness, and contour) so that if I happen to see one at a garage sale I'll know if it's a winner. After some measuring and cost comparisons, it won't be too long before I find a good one for cheap. I'm a cheap guy when it comes to that kinda stuff, which is much different than stuff I do care about like my Jeep!

It's true. I've spent a good chunk of maintaining fees over the years to keep that green guy running smoothly. The odometer read 259,789 this morning! I've had a few other cars along the way while owning my jeep, but its the one that I've kept the longest and that has been the most reliable considering I don't have to pay for anything other than the basics on him. This weekend I cleaned him up and detailed the trim a bit because the tree that I get to park under is constantly dropping crap on it! Besides that, I'm considering putting in a "mild" lift kit installed into him and finishing the tint on the windows cause of the heat but also cause everyone looks into your car in the middle of traffic. Jeez!!  

Photo credit.. Kelley.

I ran some miles this weekend on the PCH. It's been awhile since I've done it. The last time was actually this last weekend one year ago when I was hill training for the TC 10 miler that I'm actually training for this year. Of course the sentiment is different, but it's been good to get out and run. I remember how hard the hill in the picture was when I ran it last year and how we were so happy to run back down it cause of the breeze, and it's easier going downhill than up...kinda! It was a good day then, and it was a good day this time around. I'm looking forward to what will come of it all. That being said, I've been going back an forth with my book publishing company on a few details. 

I've decided to remove about half of the pictures from the third story, The Pursuit Of Happiness, because of the printing and actual impact it will make on the retail cost per book. So, if you've actually read it, the present on-line version has about the right amount of pictures that will actually be featured in the published edition. There are two more sections that I added to the story that are not on the blog page as of yet, but if the publishing takes any longer, I will post them. I want it to be reasonable so that the maximum number people can get their hands on it, but I also decided there only needs to be a certain number of pictures available to paint the best picture possible and bring a certain amount of realness to the story as a courtesy to K.C. and myself. I go back and forth about this weekly, but ultimately the story needs to be told for both of our sakes..Believe it when I say both of us even in this late hour!

As I think about my writing on Faith, believing, and social collateral the more I feel it's the right thing to do--and that is be more conscious of what I'm communicating about our time together with my friends and my readers. The book is the creation or the destruction of "social collateral" which is what I'll be writing about this Friday's talk on Faith, Believing, and Social Collateral. Stay-tuned cause it's about to get real interesting fast. But, until then, a very simple definition of it, social collateral, is the presence, ambiance, sentiment, or picture we paint of ourselves, someone else or our interaction between us and someone else. We do this to create a kind of support or validation for the ourselves, another person, or our interaction with that other person to use any number of ways in real-time or in the future. I look forward to sharing with you more on Friday.

Friday and the topic of Faith, Social Collateral, & Believing Updated: 9/20/15 11:00 AM

It's Friday! Friday! I know. I know. It comes around every week, but it's not every week that I have the new few days off. Yes! What that really means is that I'm gonna be hitting the running trail to catch up on some miles for the upcoming Twin Cities Marathon and 10 miler. I'm running the 10 Miler with a team including the billing office specialist from Burke Chiropractic--Dani. Dani, K.C., and myself all ran it last year in 34 degree weather; it was freezing. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have made it if it weren't for the cold and a half pint running right behind me. So, I'm excited to be home for the race and to run it again with a couple of familiar people and a few new ones. This weekend I will get to paddle board experiment!! I'll let ya know how it goes on Monday. Yes. I couldn't help but laugh myself blue when I saw this pic and the guy that came out of it! Funny.

The week was short and was full of new opportunities to grow professionally and personally. I've been speaking a good deal with my mentor as of late, and we recently discussed the topic of "social collateral" in passing as we spoke of taking life action or, as it is, stepping out in "faith" into or onto the unknown of life...kinda. The topic came up as we discussed the topic of unilateral loving of your enemy or disconnected loved ones and how the process is a combination of all three areas of discussion.

The first is the very notion of faith. For the purpose of this Friday's short writing piece allow me to define it as.. "the belief that there is something there, in a person, a place or in taking an action, that you have previous experience of or experience (internally or externally) with that is an unseen platform onto which you are reaching for with yourself (person, life, resources) to step on to or grasp a hold of in the unknown." I realize that was a lot to process, but if you recall back in the 90's the worldwide fascination with hidden 3-D posters and the images that could only be seen if you looked long enough and let your gaze go slightly out of focus. If you looked too hard you can only see what was obvious to you in the various objects or colors in the picture. Those shapes and objects in and of themselves were something to look at, but it's not what you're looking to see! They are obvious things we immediately focus on because you can see them; they are defined, and if you only look at the picture in passing, you will not see what is in it.


Being able to see the picture within the picture takes a little bit of patience and actual practice of letting go of your expected outcome. It requires you do something your 'person' is not used to doing--letting go of your control of things and letting your focus on them blur just enough so your mind can start to open the door to what else is there to see. You have to be patient. You have to keep looking just long enough to see it, and you have to let go or loose your focus on the obvious for what will become the emergent evident picture in the background. This is true in our real life.

Some people give up too soon because it's difficult to do somethings when your inexperienced at it. Being able to see these images essentially is directly connected to your ability to let go of the obvious, or control of what you can see and control for what you can't see yet but may see it if you can let yourself. You letting the focus of your eyes blur just a little so the image that you are supposed to see can be seen. It takes some people a few tries before they get it, and the people that do persist and keep reaching while letting go of their control of the familiar while reaching out to what is really the unfamiliar....those are the people that the image comes out for and makes itself apparent. Once you see the hidden image you wonder it took so long, and you didn't see it sooner. The evidence was there. Other people saw it. Heck, the fact that you know it's there really required a minimal amount of faith from you, but it required some!! It required just about the amount of a mustard seed of faith and belief. I read somewhere that it only takes faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains. Just that small amount of faith in yourself and also in the thing, activity or person you are laboring over or suffering through can make the difference in you achieving something greater than that epitaph of your life or being defeated by it. We all have mountains in our lives that need to be moved or climbed. No one can do it for you. You are solely responsible to make the journey up, through, around or under that mountain.

The mountain(s) in our life can come from any number of sources. It can be our inability to let go of what we know and are familiar with because those things are safe. You are not required to believe or have faith in something you are familiar with. It's when you leave the familiar or 'let go' and determine that there is no way up until you take the action that likely needs to happen for you. Lots of times you don't do it because you lack enough faith or the practice of it to move forward and onto newer and better things that should happen for you in life. You might be too focused on the details of the obvious picture of your life because you've been hurt and don't want to let those details go because in them there is the deceptive kinda of 'familiarity' that lulls you into non-action; don't do it because you will miss the very image, life changing event, or person that is right there in front of you waiting to change your very experience of life.  Open your eyes (They look but cannot see...they hear but they cannot listen...they search but cannot find) and join them and be apart of that new picture.

Faith or having enough of it in yourself is something we have to develop in ourselves through trial and error.....TO BE CONTINUED...

Monday Fun Day!! The Weekend Review. Updated 9/15 6:57 AM

It's Monday morning, and the weather is nothing short of beautiful. There are clouds in the sky, mild moisture in the air, and I have a cup of Joe to get my morning started that is pretty exact in it's cream/sugar/coffee ratio! LOL. These are the mornings I wake up and want to sprawl around under the sheets. These are the mornings that I'm also driven out of bed to go to the gym or just get my day started because there is no one keeping in it...my bed, and somehow staying in it alone isn't gonna change that. So, I rise! LOL.

The weekend was good. I got some time to work on my Jeep and get'm cleaned up. All that driving is instantly getting him dusted and the moisture is making it stick! :(. I managed to get to the gym with my work-out partner and keep on body-building task. I managed to get a four mile hike/run in with my partner in crime only go have her kick my ass. I'm apparently not keeping up with my miles in all the gym time I've been putting in lately, and I need to cause I'm running the TC 10 miler next month...in three weeks.

Hopefully, by October I'll be within 3% of my ideal body-fat percentage. This has been a challenging road for a few reasons. One of the big ones is getting to the gym at a reasonable time before or after a work shift because depending on the client the day could start as early as 730 or as late as 1:00 and end sometime around sun down. It's nuts. There are still days that I drive more South than I care to pressing the time issue even further. My approach has been to do 3/4 work-outs on my long drive days. I do some cardio, stretching, and Ab work in the AM, and then I work-out whatever target muscle group for the day in the evening. I do take one day off from everything. One of my six days I spend doing functional motion exercising that is more or less body-weight stuff to keep flexible and strong. Ya know like running, pull-ups, sit-ups, and push-up in rapid succession. All of this coupled with a 89% clean diet has been letting me grow, keep some energy for the 150+ patients I see in between things, and attempt to stay somewhat socially active. Sooner or later I'll post the before and after pics. LOL.

Sunday, everyone else's fun day, is the day I usually speak with my mentor. I've been doing this pretty consistently for the last 22 years. He's beginning to enter into final life-phase activities for health reasons that he is now losing the battle on. So we talk. We talk about all kinds of things. It could politics, theology, and the other possible meanings of life as of late. Maybe because his time is coming, we've been talking about faith, relationships, and the act of unilateral love for another person in the process of getting his affairs in order while he still can. Somewhere along the way he asked me again if I would give the eulogy at his funeral, and I agreed to do so but was quietly not wanting to be one of the men responsible to talk about him. He tells me I'm one of the students that has kept up with him the best over years and understands his approach to life and people more clearly than others. I'm not sure that it's true, but I agree with him so we can get to talking. LOL. The kind of talk I have with this guy can be interesting considering he's a theologian, Jesuit, professional government debater, spokesman for the Atheist movement, but over the years, I have learned a lot about my life and the world from him apart from my own exploits (Those that believe will go out and do great exploits for the glory of the Kingdom..The Bible.) in the world. Steves, as I call him, has always asked hard questions about various important things for the purpose of you understanding why you believe what you do about anything. It has been only in these last years that we have really just chatted as equals on various topics, but the faith one has been one he's taken the passenger seat on as of late.

I've said I will write more on the topic of faith at some point, and I did just post an older story earlier today on my FB for you to click and follow. It's available on my other blog, "Get Adjusted To The Good Life" under title, 'Living A Life Of Faith' for you to read as well. Perhaps its a better way to introduce the topic than just going at it. That's it for the weekend review, and. yes, I did karaoke.

Friday: A Moment Of Silence For The Fallen.

It's another Friday edition of California Dreaming and me a Midwest guy ranting about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Today is a special day because it marks the anniversary of an American tragedy that we take time to remember and have used as an awaking call to reality. So, if you haven't already, take a moment to remember the Fallen from the day and the days that followed.............
The picture is of my favorite lake in Minneapolis, Calhoun. I felt it appropriate for the day because its the direct flight path to the airport, and on 9-11 the skies were empty. Then, the military planes started to mobilize, and I knew the world was about to change.

Life is so very short and at times ended earlier than it should be for some and for others the opportunity to actually breath air for the first time was taken from them because of someone else's agenda to find an outlet for their anger. It was not right, but then again, the carnage that followed our pursuit of 'an eye for an eye' mentality has not proven fruitful either. We should consider the alternatives that facilitate redemptive, empowering dialog that lifts both parties up and not just 'evens' the score. There is a lesson we can learn out of the Civil Rights struggles that maybe applicable even in this late hour of our society and the global community to which we belong.

The week was short considering the Labor Day holiday on Monday. I wrote about a few important people in my life and my return home to a busy work week. In between there, I had to handle a few calls from my shorter white bro on our gal KC's reaction to our sharing some food and talk time when I was home. I have nothing to hide and have no agenda, but I emailed her and told everyone involved, I am open to some restorative talks for those very reactions because it can definitely freeing for us.

The weekend looks bright. I have an "outing" planned for tonight after work with one of my local gals, and I get some more gym-time in so I can continue to work off the corn dogs. LOL. See ya next Monday.

Labor Day In The Home Land & Direct Unilateral Loving. Updated 9/15/ 10:31 AM

 It's Tuesday, and it was a long three-day weekend that ended with Labor Day-one of the great American holidays. It's a day when we take the long weekend to do, hopefully, nothing! As much as I thought it was going to be the case, I've managed to stay busy doing other things people should do while in the Home Land like run around the lakes, eat food I would not likely eat in California, and, with out a doubt, attend the Minnesota State Fair with friends and alone. It doesn't matter how you do it really! What does matter is that you manage to get some of the annual tradition in!! I met Al Frankin on my first visit, and got to hang out with my actual brother and my brotha from another mother "Anican" as I call him. I'm trying not to get as dark as he is while being in the Land of Milk & Honey, but clearly I'm getting close! Hahaha. The weekend was fun. I had to find a teddy bear for a friend, move some storage stuff, and the hit the gym as much as I could considering the incredible drain the humidity had on me. I must be gettin old!

I had time to visit most of my nuclear family including my grandma. She started crying when she saw me after I knocked on her door. Something in her embrace tells me maybe she feels her time is coming, and I better see her while I can....while we all can. I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have in life without her or the rest of my relatives helping me along the way. I live on the edge of success and failure because of my upbringing, and that has helped me get far but it also has left me on the ground, at times, with no support network gasping for air. I came to the conclusion early on in life that there are somethings worth everything, and it might mean leaving what you know, are comfortable with, understand, and maybe die for it if needed. Dr. King was right in his proposal that if you haven't found something in your life worth dying for you may not be fit to live. So, I began a pursuit of knowledge and wisdom about me as a human being and the world(s) in which I live. It took me all over the world, into higher education, and ultimately home because I think I saw what I needed. Now, I'm in pursuit of it...happiness.

The State Fair was amazing!! Everything from the bus ride over to the sweaty people walking around eating anything they could get their hands on. My first day I went with my brother and long-time good friend. I could tell the heat was getting to all of us, but we managed to get over to the birthing center where I got to see a one-day old piglet. We walked through the Midway and laughed at the dramatic change in prizes for seemingly the same number of games for $1! All the childhood memories that come with a short walk. As timed passed, we at cheese curds, corn on the cob, saw a lot of people, and one of my close friend's art on display in the Fine Arts Building. Michelle mentioned she entered one to be on display, but she didn't tell me it was one that I was the model for in my days of sitting at the Dunn Bros. in Loring Park. Yup. It was a nice compliment.

My second day was much like my first except I went alone to explore the rest of the animals, the bazaar, the heritage area that was newly reconstructed last year, and just sit and write in my journal about the last few months and how this time last year I was running around with a couple of other people and working a second job so I could fund my way to California as soon as that October last year. Well, as most of you know, I didn't actually get there till last May 31. The last three months can only be described as 'enlightening'! You have to seek out the truth in situations for your own peace of mind and so you can understand why other people want you to believe and necessarily behave in a certain way. When you don't have to be accountable to anyone because no one you know actually lives by you, you can tell anyone anything. But, when you have to be accountable, that's when your story either checks out or not, and I was checking out a story I was told...undecided at its validity at present.

I came to realize a number of things when I got back to California, and I almost left, but then I remembered I was always in the process of returning regardless of who met me or not upon my arrival. I paused thinking about how many people I had seen in the three days of being home that had not changed their situations or life and were "kinda" happy but for sure would be happier if they could do something else...somewhere else if they had a way of doing it. I thought about how regular it felt to walk into the Starbucks where I met the person that helped me determine it was time to leave everything behind again for what might be a better life...or at least a good chance at life that might be more meaningful because of our future family at the time, and I smiled. I understood her better after spending some time with her actual brother and why maybe she has disconnected herself from him. He said lots of things that I didn't agree with him on but could see why he said them. People, family or not, may keep you from going forward, but at the end of the day, they are still your family and should be given at least the courtesy of being treated like a human being.

This is why I leave an open stool next to me at certain places I go to in Malibu and Thousand Oaks. Ya never know..she might have an epiphany and realize she should join me. Deciding every single day to not acknowledge a person she once had/has strong emotional and relational ties to is not just cruel but it's down right inhuman! She might find the only way up is by sitting down and maybe foster the kinds of dialog we should've been having to really move forward and not just go through the motions of it socially. Most people can forgive someone loosing their shit in an extreme situation, but to consciously choose everyday to not treat someone close to you like a human being not only kills the spirit of that person but it also robs their soul as well as your own. We should love people and talk because it is the only way to step-forward (not backwards) in life. Although, I understand the psychology of her action, it doesn't justify it at all.

I will remain firm and open to that forward talk(s), or as Led Zepplin put it, "...be a rock and not to roll," for a season. Some people need that type of resolve and love from the person they are being cruel to because returning love for their mistreatment is the only way to break the cycle of dysfunction; loving someone while they intentionally try to starve your humanity works on both people-your depth of character for loving the person that is intentionally trying to harm you, and the perpetrator's conscious for actively choosing to do you wrong repeatedly. It's when you break out the kinda of determination that Toto speakings about in their song Africa, "It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you cause there's nothing that a 100 men on Mars could ever do," that people have to acknowledge what is happening (or not) between you. Once you arouse that person's conscious through direct or indirect love, they can begin to question the nature of their action(s) towards you, maybe accept responsibility for it...ya know..see it for what it is, and  then conclude there must be a better way. This is when real healing can begin.

In my walking around the City, I sighed because it felt really good to be home where my family is and where I came from, but I was alone. Ambition will do that to you, but I guess being an a-hole will too, which I've been known to be from time-to-time. Hahahaha. When it was over, I managed to see a few of my close friends and their families and just relax realizing that I was beginning to get anxious to get home to hit the gym, see a certain someone, and see what the work-month is going to turn out to be. I have post cards to mail, and a number of receipts I have to start getting organized.

On my way back to Cali, I actually got lost in my own airport because it's expanded and changed so much only making me appreciate the visit more. I've traveled so much less since my move here that it all seemed foreign to me (kinda....well not really! lol.). I found the usual spot to take in a drink and maybe strike up some conversation with people, had a drink and wrote out post cards. I looked around periodically cause I had a strange feeling I wasn't alone..as in the smurf was somewhere in the area. I laughed at the notion of it--both of us home for the Fair but having missed each other altogether only to run into each other at the airport! "It could happen!" As an old, stubborn SOB would say. My flight from Phoenix into L.A. was delayed, but I met a gal from Tulsa that seemed really down to earth and nice. We exchanged numbers and agreed to meet up this week for a drink! I may still have it just like my missing partner does!! LOL.

When I finally got to my Jeep, I cried. I couldn't believe the visit was over. As I tuned the station, The Police came on, Every Breath You Take, and I started him up. I listened to the roll of the engine. It felt good to sit in him again...my Jeep. Before long, I was on the road home and all the memories that come with me driving up the 101 from the airport only to get off on the same exit I have the last year or so. Yup. It was a good trip that I get to repeat for the TC 10 miler in October. I can't even wait!! There it is.

Home Land Bound...!!!

OMG!! It's finally Friday, and I'm on my way to the Home Land today. The week has been long and full of anticipation for anything on a stick, friends, and family. I will be at the fair everyday till I leave with various people. It's true. So if you're one of the Home Land readers (100+), hit me up! Maybe we can share one of those buckets of chocolate chip cookies. Hahaha.

I text my mom this morning that I was on my way home and the first few lines of an Ozzy song. In my younger years, I used to call my mom and sing them to her as I was coming back from out of the country from a mission or random trip. "Times have changed, and times are strange, here I come, but I ain't the same. Mama, I'm Coming Home. Hahaha. She'd cry just a little cause my mom's always gonna be my mama!

The week has proven to be full of new things and old friends. As far as the job goes, I've been offered one of the positions for a newly being constructed store in my old neighborhood. It is a fast-track to regularity in scheduling and a more regular life, and I've really been thinking about what that means....a regular life. I have nothing really keeping me anywhere, and it's made me think a bit on what to do next, who to do that with, and when I should get to it. I've got job offers internationally to practice chiropractic of which one includes Australia! Yea. I'm really considering it, but I also got an offer to do some other industry work in Japan, and that interest me for one reason alone--I might get a chance to study the way of the Samurai. I'm at a cross-roads of sorts, and I know the time is either now or never, but then there is a girl in there somewhere! LOL. So we'll see what happens this next quarter of the year. The New Year will be new beginnings.

 In the picture to the left, is my Australian friend Margie and her new husband Seth. They met last year in Colorado and three weeks later were engaged to be married. The rest has been history. I got the pleasure of meeting Margie a couple of years back at the place I normally do karaoke. I put the encounter in my second blog story, Recovery: Surviving & Reconstructing the Dream, where she essentially told me that my buddy Fallon was a 10 in singing and I came in somewhere around a 8.5! LOL. That number has gone up over the last two years and random times we've gotten to hang out. But, last night was just a star in the sky as I happen to be driving on my way home on the PCH and she informed me that they where in Santa Monica having dinner at a super familiar place. It was good to see her and catch her up on my love affair or the lack there of with K.C.

The rest of the week was more or less spent getting ready to come on home for a long weekend, stay healthy while getting my fair share of handy work done for my friend Al. Everything from cabinet assembly, to washer door 'jams', and dishwasher stuff. Yup. I'm glad I'm Mexican and actually know what I'm doing, but really I'm just glad to feel useful and able to participate in someone's life that I'm comfortable with and don't have to explain myself to. Hahaha. Although, I guess if I wasn't emotionally unavailable as one of my other chic friends put it, maybe things would happen. I'll let ya know how the HOME LAND visit is next Monday!! Till then, be safe, drink enough, and eat as much as you want!