Hola: A Quick Spanish Tutorial

On my way up through the Golden State I stopped in Huntington Beach. My friend Mr. Mike was Mr. Connections this trip with the hook up at 910 in La Jolla and then he got us all third row tickets to an Angels game from the President himself. (Not Obama President-though Mike really wishes they were tight-but Angels President).

There I am. Third from the right. I'm the one whose wearing the sun.

Allison took us to Taco Loco in Laguna Beach (which means Crazy Taco gracias). I can't even look at that picture with out salivating. In Mission Beach I tried a famous fish taco place that was on "Diner's Drive-In's and Dives" and I'm real sorry Guy Fieri but this place was muchos better.

Then we went to Magic Mountain with all the vato's and Jr. High kids. We rode all sorts of crazy rides like the one shown below. I'm the one who looks handicap.

Word of the Month: Moderation

This is similar to the manner in which I have lived my life, (observed and spoken so eloquently by Steinbeck in Travels with Charley):

“For I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard and too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness. I've lifted, pulled, chopped, climbed, made love with joy and taken my hangovers as a consequence, not as a punishment.” (Steinbeck)

Though it is a poetic and romantic way to live our all-too short lives, I decided some modifications should be made because it's not a mentally or physically healthy way to live a life.



Moderation. The word of the past month. I have forgotten the meaning of that word. I have forgotten how to practice the definition of that word. So in an attempt at practicing my word of the month I have made some goals.

Daily vitamin
Joined 24 HR Fitness
Walk more places
No more Coke
No more fast food
Get up earlier-and by that I mean nine or ten
More Fruit and water
And all unhealthy things I love that are not on this list must be consumed with moderation

The American City

Through out American history there has always been a city that has exemplified the American spirit of the times. In the 18th century it was Boston, representing political radicalism. In the mid 19th century it was New York, the symbol of the melting pot. The 20th century Chicago, American dynamism. And today….our very own Las Vegas the symbol of our national character and aspirations. A city devoted entirely to entertainment! A city of billboards, of consumption, of mass production. They have even successfully mass produced Elvis. Where things are quick and ready to sell, like McDonalds, even marriage has a drive through window in The Vegas. It’s the American way!



So I spent a couple days in the American City. And Las Vegas, the “Kingdom of If” always convinces me, with its trickery, I was intended for something better. Where people roll the dice and hope to change a decade of bad breaks and an unhappy life with an eight. "Gimme an eight! Dang! Screw it how about some whiskey straight and that all you can eat seafood buffet for 9.99!"

Vegas the Goddess of Luck, with all its neon and glitz, was not smiling kindly on my friend Mikey on the roulette table. If only he wagered on red!

A few days down there gives me a false sense of importance. Oh boy but it feels kinda nice.

Went to L’atelier, Chef Robuchan's famous restaurant. We did the nine course Chefs tasting menu. It was incredible everything was like a painting.




Then I finally saw a Cirque du Soleiel show, “Ka.” I was shocked at how good it was. It was incredible! Collapsing stages and crazy monkey trapeze artists and falling sand. It was like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon meets Lord of the Rings slash Narnia. Except that it didn’t really have a story. But that didn't matter cuz you were too busy being like "Whoa."



In the Vegas you can always wear shades cuz the sun never sets in Vegas.

Dream Places

Went to Kauai for Christmas and it was awesome. I think Kauai is the most beautiful place on the earth.



Kauai is one of the few islands that have fought the tourist plague that has washed through other quaint Hawaiian towns and replaced them with ABC stores, coconut bras and hula girl bobble head dolls.
Side thought: Tourists are terrorists with cameras. Terrorists are tourists with guns.


Hananlei, a stubborn town that has fought the plague as well. It seems to been winning, but money talks and always wins. I’m dreading the day the quaintness of Hanalei meets the ogre of tourism.



In Hanalei Waterfalls spring up at random down the green canyon walls into taro field valleys. Floods close rivers and bridges and nobody cares. And when it rains its stays 80 degrees.



A hammock, a camera, a notebook and pineapple juice is all I’d need for the rest of my life in Hanalei. I could go there and never come back.

People are lazy here, and why not? Words in sentences are taken out if they are not absolutely necessary. Hawaiians have taken out the western mans need for excess and corpulence. It’s called pigeon. One of the few things the Hawaiians hold on to.

In Kauai there are more roosters than people. They are beautifully colored like the island.



Even the dirt is deep red. And it paints everything it touches like my shoes. My Hawaiian souvenir: my red, once white, shoes. With all the hurricanes the locals build their houses on stilts. It looks like a circus of houses balancing carefully.






Kauai is a treat for my senses. Fresh fruit from the tropical garden. I had banana macadamian nut pancakes with coconut syrup almost every morning and pineapple juice. Everything is spectacular and breathe taking. Summer dresses are always in style and sweaters are always out. And it rains and washes the red dusty roads and the trade winds chase the sun westward. Kauai is a dream place not just because of its price tag.



Last thought:
There are four ways to make something (a place) yours. Or I guess, four ways men feel like a place can become more than a place to them:

1. Build on it, fence it off, put a flag in the dirt (modern man, western mans mind set)
2. Paint it, photograph it (the artist)
3. Hike it- defeat it in some way
4. There is one last one but I wont say what it is here

I tried to make Kauai mine by taking an excess of pictures check it out.

My Kauai Photos

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Though my heart and arteries may think otherwise, I’m grateful for this land of corpulence. Though, in obesity, Americans may be pouring out of their designer clothing, I'm grateful we’re not hungry in America. My cupboards are always stocked, my belly is always full and my tastebuds are always happy. I’m grateful for milk and honey and when feeling sinful a chocolate truffle cake.

For technology. That mechanical doors really do open like we trust they will and for cruise control so my foot can rest till it has arrived at its desired destination.

For virtual connections. So I can keep tabs on all the people in my life, whether they know it or not.

For simple pleasures. Coca-Cola. Lunch dates. Good movies. Reuniting with old friends. An album I can play from start to finish a thousand times. And chocolate, not the waxy kind but the velvety kind that coats my mouth and makes me happy.

I’ve said this before, I’m thankful for good friends who like to act silly and live silly.

I’m grateful for a Mom and Dad, who still both equally harass and nag me [hi Mom and Dad] and still pay my cell my phone bill. I’m grateful for a family that I can be proud of, and am.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a Fat Kid at Heart...

I think I’m the fat kid at work. Anything the Chef throws in front of me I consume. I leave work with an armful of food. Pretty positive I disgust and shock my employees with the plates of truffle cake and the platters of treats I devour. Today I walked out of the freezer with a 3 gallon carton of Dreyers chocolate ice cream that they said I could take home. After everyone was done laughing and pointing at the fat kid, they asked if I really was going to eat the whole thing. I said I could. So a couple of guys at work said they’d pool their money if I ate the whole thing by Friday before work. Two days. Three gallons. Can I do it?!

Closing Thoughts: I feel like my young body is keeping from being all things I truly want to be… just a fat old man.