Saturday, July 14, 2012

I miss this...

In a little while, my family, myself, and a few others from our church will be going up to Alaska. We'll be helping out with a camp.

Makes me think about earlier times.  I'll try to blog about it more, but this is one of my favorite pics and memories.



We were at a smaller village outside of Savusavu, Fiji.  The house we were in didn't have windows or doors...just frames & we didn't have electricity.  So at night, we had to use our flash lights to see & when our team would have dinner or talk about stuff, we would notice dozens of little eyes staring at us following our every move...like we were a TV show.

The next morning, we got to hang out and play.  We passed out stickers and little bouncy balls...and other kinds of stuff.  It was really amazing to see how excited these kids were to get these gifts.  Made me think about how simple things can bring so much joy...and how we...I might take those types of things for granted living in Hawaii.

Moments like these have shaped...and probably changed the way I see the world and the people living in it.  There is a lot of beauty in the world, we just need to dig a little deeper sometimes to see it.




Me, the bike, & the POOP

If you know me, you might have heard this story before.

But as I just wrote a little blog about riding bike to work, this story came blazing back to the forefront of my mind.

It's funny. Pitiful. and maybe a little disgusting.  Ingredients to a great story if I do say so myself.

So this happened in California where my uncle lives.

I guess during the week, my uncle and cousins were planning a mountain bike ride.  You know cause we were visiting from Hawaii, so they wanted to do stuff that we don't normally do.  So on the way (it was early and) my stomach wasn't feeling very good. IT'S NOT AN EXCUSE! IT REALLY WAS NOT FEELING GOOD. So there was that.

So in my mind, I know I can ride a bike.  How hard can riding through a few "hills" be?  Plus I'm the oldest of all my cousins so that automatically makes me the most athletically gifted! I should shine here.  This is my time!

So we get out.  There's me, my two cousins, & my uncle (as I remember this...although there could have been more, but I feel like the four of us will be the main players in this story). We all get our bikes...except for my uncle.  He's gonna run it. That's right, I said run.  He's crazy.  But he runs marathons...so you kinda gotta be a little crazy to run marathon, right?  Anyway, on to the story...

this isn't the mountain we rode up. but it could've been something like this!
yeah, it probably was...I'm sure of it.
I don't really remember the beginning...so that part must have been easy.  Until THE HILL. Virtually straight up.  Like trying to climb a vertical wall w/ a bike.  I don't know how my little cousins did it so quickly.  But all I remember about this part is...
not.
moving.
at.
all.

Until my uncle comes and saves the day!  He comes up behind my bike, grabs the seat, and pushes me up the hill.

Yup, I'm officially embarrassed.

My "little" cousins, just pumping their pedals beside me and riding like it's nothing...and here I am...now going smoothly up the hill powered by my uncle, who was running.  And now that I think about it, he made it up really fast.  He didn't just give me a boost and say, "Go Jared!" He kept pushing me to the top.  [pitiful][...in reference to me of course]

(Now that I'm writing this, I realize that the bike I was using must have been broken or something.  Probably couldn't go up hills)

Ok, so we're at the top of the hill...I mean mountain. Now is the fun part down the hill...I mean mountain.  It's not too steep and kinda zigzags down.  My cousins have done this before so we wait a bit, which gives me time to watch how other people are going down.  Doesn't look that hard...and we're off!

Down hill is WAY funner than up hill.  For sure.  It'd be even funner if there weren't so much rocks on that path.  Bumps all the way down.  No smooth areas.  And you know how my stomach was giving me problems in the beginning of this story?  Well it wasn't getting any better going down this path.

Finally we make it to the bottom and I gotta go. Take a crap.  But this is the mountains.  No 7-11 or gas station bathroom to stop by here.  It is just trees and grass and mountain and...that's it.  At this point, after coming down this mountian, I will not be able to ride back to the car, wait for my uncle to finish his run, get into the van, drive back to the house, and use the bathroom there.  No.  This is happening now.  Another minor detail...I don't have any toilet paper.  GREAT!  This is turning out to be the best bike ride EVER.  I ask my cousin if they have any and he says, "yeah, I do." No he didn't, cause who packs toilet paper on a bike ride?  But he does rip off his sleeve and gives that to me to use.  Wow.  That's family. (sniff sniff)

Ok, so now I run to an area with a few trees and a lot of bush for covering.

I do my thing.
[Poop]
Relief.

Didn't think I was gonna make it there.  But I did.  So after taking care of business, I get back to my cousins who were waiting for me.  They ask me I went to take my crap and as I'm pointing to where I went, along comes a deer...goes right to the spot where I went...puts it's head down...sniffs...& leaves.
[funny]

Wow, I just saw a deer.  In the wild.

The end.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Poems & Dust - "Dirty Words" JAPAN EDITION

I tweeted about this and posted on Facebook, but here's another notice.  If you like great lyrics put to killer beats, I would recommend PND's "Dirty Words". The album is only $5 here.

This is one of my favorite tracks on the album.



You can actually sample the whole thing at their bandcamp page and then purchase it there too.

Who are you listening to that I should know about?  Lemme know.

Love supporting talented independent artist.

Thanks for stopping by.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Da-Bike experiment

This is me super tired, but trying to look cool and not tired. (failed on both counts)
Also the seat on this bike really hurt my butt. But I got a new one after that as you'll read.
So, I thought it would be a good idea to ride my bike to work.

I thought it was a good idea.

My legs sometimes tell me otherwise.

Now there are a number of reasons why I did this.  One is because I don't want the rail to be built here (just being honest)...and I figure if I'm gonna ask someone to not drive their car and catch bus or ride bike, I better do it myself.  So here we are.

4 weeks into the trial.  I've biked at least once a week (Wed)...sometimes twice (Wed, Thurs) if I'm feeling ambitious.

Now the first time I tried it...I seriously was doubting my ability to ride 10 miles w/o quiting or getting hit by a car.  But you know what? Neither of those things have happened!!! (and haven't YET!...crossing my fingers).

Now one might think, "Hey Jared, you must be some kinda ultra fit person to do that kind of stuff."
(I said might...)

And I would respond, "Why thank you for thinking that, but not really.  I love to eat pizza, candy, and all kinds of other stuff full of delicious sugary magic!  My doctor says I have borderline high blood pressure.  I have had gout.  I have a little bit of asthma...and I weigh about 226lbs.  So not as ultra fit as you might imagine."

So anyway, back to riding bike. It does take some courage to bike on the road WITH CARS!!!  But so long as you ride straight and be courteous to drivers, they won't really bother you.  (Actually I could just be so tired that I don't even notice people trying to bother me.  Anyway in either case, there is no bothering to notice!)

OK, so for the positive things about this experiment: 1) I made it to work  2) I made it home from work  3) It is getting easier  4)umm nothing I can think of...yet.

The negatives? None. Na. Just kidding. It does take me longer to get to the office.  But I'm just starting this bike thing and I imagine as I get into better shape and figure out the best route to work I'll shave minutes off the travel time. I also did get a flat tire cause I ran over a branch w/ a HUGE thorn.  I don't have a repair kit (which I should buy). And I don't "really" know how to change my tire...but hey! That's what YouTube is for, right?

What else should I talk about? Bike stuff/equipment!

So I have a helmet.  A BIG ONE...made by Bell.  They call it the XLV. (DON'T LAUGH) (OK LAUGH but not too much please).  I need a big helmet cause...you guessed it I have a big head.  What I also have purchased is a new seat...some kind of gel thing. It has been like night and day w/ this new one.  If you are considering riding bike, I would definitely recommend a good seat.  Here's the one I got...I think. Another thing you should get are lights.  I have something like these.  I think they work pretty good.  Also another thing I decided to get were some sleeves...CAUSE I WAS GETTING BURNT! They're something like this. They also have been a great purchase IMO.

When deciding to ride bike, I never realized how much stuff...extra stuff you need.  But it's been good.  Nothing really spectacular in this post.  It could be though that I am so exhausted from riding, that I can't formulate my thoughts properly and therefore can't write a better blog post. Hmm.

Anyway, that's all for now.  I have really good story about biking that happened to me like 15? no...MAYBE 20 YEARS AGO!!!! Oh My Lord I am getting old.  But come back for that.  It involves me, riding bike, & poop! C'mon add poop to a story and it is like a MILLION TIMES better than w/o right?!?!?! Anyway that's all for now.

P.S. Gonna go to Alaska (w/ my family and a team from church) in a couple days to help out w/ a camp!  Pretty excited about that. 

...OH and have fun biking!...and support your local bike shops.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

All For Love (DEMO)

So here's the newest song I have.  I really tried to write a song that convicts the heart...BUT it somehow ended up very happy and singsongy at the end.  I guess that's just the kind of person I am.  Also, I really need help/tips on recording...cause this is just...not good.  Or if I could find someone to sing my songs!!!???!?!?! That'd be good, too. I think really it's just that I need a church/congregation.  I really am uncomfortable singing by myself.  Anyway, to God be the glory.  

All For Love


Broken for me
The crown of thorns & nails in Your feet
& hands flow blood
All for love


You took my place upon the cross
You died the death that I deserve
You paid the ransom for me
Once and for all
for love
All for love


So I will sing
& I will praise You
& so I will worship You
with all my heart
And I will live
Giving You everything
for You gave everything
& You held nothing back
for love