Life Is Better With. . .

(This is the second article I published in the local magazine. So if you read this before, thank you again)

“Short on time. Short on money. Short on sleep. Long on memory”—This was how to best describe the short, unplanned trip to the City by the Bay. Jason and I were due for an adventure. He was finishing a semester of Respiratory School and I just finished Pharmacy Tech school. We were both mentally fried and in much need to getaway.

Plus, I suspect Cousin Jason was feeling the same way I was. You see most of our cousins were married with families of their own. As the last two unwed cousins, we instinctively knew that we won’t have too many chances like this again. So in the middle of the night, we headed out for this trip up “North.” North was still a distant mystery in the night.

With a fistful of cash, a tank full of gas, and no reservations anywhere, we stormed off to what may be the last of the “Cousins” road trip together. Armed with a San Francisco guidebook, we had a tentative plan. Go to the places with the coolest pictures. Didn’t say it was great plan, but it was what we had.

On the way, we agreed on a few immutable rules. First, wherever we were, we would sit down and watch the NBA Championship games. Boston Celtics were beating our hometown LA Lakers 3 to 2. We weren’t going to miss the latest chapter of the basketball rivalry. As die-hard fans, the next game could be the last one. Second rule was not to think too much and just let Flow. Third rule, visit as many landmarks and tourists sites we can fit in this long weekend.

Pumped up on adrenalin, we made it to San Francisco hours earlier than planned. Having never visited the city before, we drove around and explored much of the early morning.  We drove the Golden Gate Bridge, hurried through Fisherman’s Wharf, and found where Ghirardelli’s was located. All before 6 a.m., way ahead of the early morning commuters.

Feeling car weary, we stopped by City Hall to stretch our legs and capture some photos of the city’s interesting statues. Than out of the blue, a 40 something peppered-haired man started walking toward us. Thinking we were going to be warmly greeted by a local. Coffee in hand, this once smiling middle-aged man started shouting obscenities for now obvious reason. After he gave us the angry person salute—I  think he thought we were taking his pictures without his permission—Jason and I looked at each other and got in the car. No use arguing with an obviously, unstable person with too much caffeine.

After this warm greeting, I couldn’t really remember what we did these next four days. We said sped through the days in a blur, avoiding every 40 year old man with a coffee in their hand. In three days, we were in Palmdale, San Francisco, Chinatown, Big Sur, Carmel, San Simeon, San Luis Obispo, Solvang, and Santa Clarita.

We walked the Golden Gate Bridge. Almost got run over by a cyclist, too. Got lost in the alleys of Chinatown after dark looking for authentic hand-made fortune cookies. We drove up and down Lombard Street, around  five or six times. Rode our first taxi. Ate chocolates at Ghirardelli. Had fish and chips at the Wharf. Got lost on the way to Carmel and had to get directions at cemetery by a real life grave digger. We were stuck in traffic jam in the quiet town of Carmel because of the US Open at Pebble Beach. Drove PCH and got mesmerized by the scenic coastlines. Chased a blue jay, which led us to unused lawn chairs in the middle of river at Big Sur (We used them).

Saw sea lions sunning. Watched a brown cow chase after a herd of  zebras. Touched an ostrich. Toured Hearst Castle. Videotaped people parachute surfing.  Ate my first Danish Meatloaf in Solvang. Went wine tasting. Met and took pictures with the famous UFC referee “Big John” McCarthy.  And top it off, we watched our hometown LA Lakers comeback from a 3-2 game deficit to beat the Boston Celtics to win the NBA Championship in the last few minutes of the fourth quarter.

Can’t tell you what the best part of the unplanned because it flew by so fast.  I can tell you two hings from I learned from this adventure:  First, sleep is way over-rated. Second, rechargeable batteries are a must. 

When I write about the road trip and looking back at the many, many pictures, I can’t help think of this end of the 2009 year movie “Up In the Air“ with George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, and Anna Kendrick . It was one line in the movie that hit home for me.

Actually, when I come to think about it, the best part of this road trip was not the may sights we seen. Nor was it delicious food we ate. It wasn’t the interesting people we met. Nor was it the songs we were screeching (Can’t honestly call it singing we were doing). The best part of trip was can be summed up this way.

In the movie, Up In the Air, Ryan (Clooney character) says to his soon- to-be-brother-in-law: “If you think about it, your favorite memories, the most important moments in your life... were you alone? No, Life is better with company” This statement could not be more true. Even with the angry, disturbed coffee man.

Frank Capra and Dragonflies

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Let History Judge

It’s a Wonderful Life--Soon, this movie should be hitting the airwaves in a month. This was a commercial flop given high production costs and the competition of other films. This movie was a considered a bust in its time.  However, this has become a movie classic. Listed by the AFI top 100 greatest movies. Movie lines, like, “When a bell rings, an Angel gets his wings” or "Remember no man is a failure who has friends.” make these movies unforgettable. It's A Wonderful Life

What If?

How would the world be without you presence? Think about an alternate reality based on your absence. Would it be better or worse? Would it have meaning? Would the acts you commit influence the ages?

People would like to think that the voice they carry has some meaning. Many would hope that the left they took, instead of right, played a part in deciding the course in the history of humanity. Why would anybody get out of bed if it didn’t. Many don’t.

So why should you?

(LONG PAUSE)

Somewhere Out There. . .

This took some time to answer. Absent of praise, absent of comment, absent of action has an effect.  Something will fill this void.  At times, good. At times, bad. Truth is Everything Counts. After you read this post, consider your actions, your thoughts, your feelings. Maybe not now. Maybe not later. But somewhere, the dragonfly flapping its wings in China will have caused a tsunami on the other side of the world. (Heather Wolf, Dragonfly was for you)

To Be or Not To Be

Look at your actions now. Click "Like" on Facebook or post a comment and poof strangers around the world have something to say. This is good. What you do with it, that is your gift. When people choose to remain silent, this too has an effect.  Too often, not pleasant.

He Stood Carrying Bags of Groceries

One of the most memorable things in my life happened on the other side of the Pacific some years back. A man carrying plastic bags of groceries stood up to four tanks. Alone in the middle of the street. There he stood.  Tanks would move to the left to get around this crazy man. He moved alone with his groceries in front of the metal giants.  Tanks banked right. Tianneman man countered, still holding the plastic bags. In front of them, he held his ground. Four tanks. This was ridiculous sight. I cried.

A saying comes to mind. The nail that stands up will get hammered down.

We all have voice. An important one. We can never know the effect that we have on others. Our view is limited. Some would say our capacity to know is tied to the amount of field in our view.  We, all too often, do not have all the information.  We never will.

Its a Mystery, but Things Work Out

Some things are true whether you believe or not. Our history has all too often proven this. World flat, Columbus discovering America (There were many before him), and so on. Some had faith to stand up and challenge dogma and long-held paradigms that were simply no longer true. I am sure Tianneman Man did not know what his actions had an effect on my psyche in Boston at the time.

Clarence

Thing is we cannot suffer through analysis paralysis.  Some believed in something more. Some took that act of faith and jumped.  Like Clarence, the Angel in It’s a Wonderful Life, he jumped to save another.  We need to do this at times. I am not saying stand in front of four tanks or jump into freezing cold river. I am saying, We need Heroes. We need to realize that others out there matter. Especially the one in the mirror.

What Are We

It is our gift to act. To think. To feel. To be. To Love. Read a snippet at the Wayfarers Chapel.  “People are essentially clothed are spirits clothed with material bodies.” If you have heard of Qigong, If you have ever heard of Kirlian photography, if you have watched a Star Wars movie, If you believe in a religion, then you know there is a Force. It flows. It runs through us, in us, and with us.

You matter.  They matter. We all matter. One voice by itself is beautiful Several voices in harmony that is a symphony. A Balance must be struck between the needs of the many and the needs of the few. 

It Matters, All of It

So when you start feeling and thinking that what you are doing is ridiculous and have no “commercial value.” Consider this, ridiculous as it seems. A dragonfly on the other of the world flapped its wings and its effects may have caused a tsunami around the world. A man with a bag of groceries stood in front of four tanks and would not let them pass. A movie considered a commercial flop would become one of AFI top 100 movies. A person challenged conventional thinking and now we have Dish TV and the Internet (That doesn’t fit) That doesn’t matter.  Wait, it does matter. I was just testing you. 

We Need You

You matter. It all does. So stand up. Jump. Speak. Shout. Think. Feel. Act. Love.  Just don’t be absent. The world needs ya. We all do.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good (persons) do nothing’

Where's Waldo?

"Pull Over" Okay, I Will
October 2, 2010--Had to get out of the house. Needed to get away. Outside tapping at the keyboards just enjoying this nice autumn night. Can’t really tell in California, though. No demarcation from one season to another. It is just nice weather,  then not so hot, and back to nice again. After living back East, I rather have more helios. For me, I prefer the steadiness and sun

Just Sitting There
So what now? Well, its bucket list time. Found a website where I can start putting my bucket list on the electron internet-verse. Leaving a record of what I would like to accomplish. Having a guidepost of stuff I’d like to see and do. A list in which I can mark off things I have done. A reminder of what my dreams and wishes were before.

Little Things
Been using my journal to document this and I am a true believer in putting pen to paper. The act of putting a promise to yourself and what to do. Trouble is keeping reminders at times creates clutter.  Been reading a book of Feng Shui and learned something. Clutter, in a nutshell, not so good. I have clutter. Think its genetic. My dad had stuff all around, too. The garage is also a bit messy, too. Bedroom is like that. Clutter, time for you to go. You are are effecting my Flow.

Let Go, Let Flow
One principal states that one should remove the clutter. Let the energy flow. Don’t get stagnant. Reminds me of the Buddhist thing about carrying stuff and how it can bog you down. We are given what we need and we should leave what we don’t need.

Something Happen For a Reason

Well, the gist of this is that these last couple of weeks stuff has been swirling around the cranium. Stuff has been stirring in the emotional core. Body’s feeling backed up. Holding all this stuff is not good and a nice house cleaning may be in order.  My laptop crashed and I lost a lot of stuff there. Still, not too terribly torn up about it. Guess I needed to wipe the slate clean with stuff. Go tabula rasa.

Enjoy Where You Are At
Well, sitting out here in the patio of It’s a Grind. Feeling the swirling energies of the cars behind me. Listening to the crickets sing their song. Enjoying a nice hot cocoa. It feels nice to feel the swirl. To let the energy centrifuge the unnnecessaries out. It rained and lightning-ed (I know not a word) a couple days back. It was cleansing.  It is not the same as getting my ions recharged at the beach, but for now it will do.

Clockwork.Few days back it was the hottest recorded temperature for this time of the year. 113 degrees. Thought it would be an ideal to wash the car. You see I have got this gift. Whenever I go to a restaurant, less than 5 or 10 minutes, it gets busy thus slowing down the servers from getting or order in a timely. But that is not my greatest gift. I can solve the water problem in California. You see whenever it rains, the next day or two it showers. Well, like clockwork. Wash car Tuesday, rain on Thursday.  You are welcome.

Sitting There On Side of the Road

Anyways, just want wanted to enjoy the now. It is just nice to smell the rain in the air. Looking at the clouds hang so closely. It is nice to see the contrast of something a little dangerous and calming. For the longest time, I’ve felt calmest during the storm. My old Myspace had that background. (Think its to delete this one) Well, anyways, its almost eight and I think I’d like to just enjoy my hot cocoa.

Yeah, he's in all the pictures. Something told me to stop at that time. I then started clicking away.

Up and Away
Sorry, no moral. No theme. Just a pleasant sharing of thoughts with those out there.  Guess, I wasn’t ready to say, So Long. Getting the vibe to just take a moment of pause. Sitting there on the side of the road taking picture of the San Andreas Fault line on Highway 14. I realized that I wasn't the only one there taking a moment. Looked up and there he was. Guess, he needed something, too. We all need something. Needed to get some perspective. Needed to Elevate and Escape. Needed to know I wasn't the only one that needed to take a moment. At times, life goes by so fast that it would be best to just pullover on the side of the road.You'd be surprised there is much  to discover and appreciate.

Be Like Water. . .

Its cold.

Now
Air conditioning is on high. It is cold outside, too. Winter soon. May come early if this morning is any indication. Went swimming yesterday afternoon. Nice and brisk. The way that I like it. Finished 50, mostly legs. Zoomers and Scuba fins day.

What Tomorrow May Bring
Not sure what I will do this weekend. Maybe a moonlit night hike at Devil’s Punch Bowl. Maybe watch rubber duckies travel around Drytown. Maybe I will go to Highland and do the Relay for Life for Cancer. Not sure, but horoscope says that my emotional vibe will strong.

Tomorrow's Dreams
Kevin’s team plays tonight. Going against Kennedy. Somewhere in the Valley. They blew out Hart last week. Hope they win tonight, too. It would be nice for Palmdale to win a CIF Championship. They have been so close for so long. Next week they play Valencia. A perennial powerhouse. From what he told me, Valencia destroyed whoever they played last night. Normally, he can’t scout a team before they play them. Most high school games are all on Fridays. Last night must have been an unusual.

Starbursts and Bees, Look Up
Whatever is going, I can sense a something unusual in the air. There is something about the season changing. Days and nights are becoming more even. Autumnal Equinox soon. It is a time of balance. Soon we get to fall back, Day light savings time. Move the clock back an hour.

Time
It’s nice to have a reset. A time to get back some precious day, just by turning back the clock. Darkest hours does not come so soon. Still, it comes. The more we speed up, the slower things get. We start noticing the little things. Watched History Channel or National Geographic show. Talked about the physics of time travel and the theories on how it is may happen. Worm holes. Gravitational sucks. Spaceship surfing the time-space continuum. Essentially, the faster one moves the slower time gets. 

Fault Lines
This has been my experience. Being in the flow, where time and space seems to slow. Moments where one is in the Zone. Haven’t been here in awhile, yet I know it exists. Been there playing a good game of basketball. Swimming in the pool. Time, space, and mind is in sync. Where everything is right. Everything falls in place. It is where everything exist. The past, the future, the now. It all makes sense. Still. This pursuit for Zen, the “Flow”, Big Smile never seems to end. 

Civilizations have risen and fallen in the search for something Bigger.

Manic-Depressant
Yet, season change in the endless pursuit. One wonders why struggle? Why acquiesce? The mountains and valleys one yearns for seems counter-intuitive to follow. It is so Bipolar. Still, it is what it is. We live in many variations of the same journey. Whether it is the pursuit for State Championships. Whether it is the completion of that college degree. Whether it the fifty laps completed. 

Journey May Take Hours
This pattern of struggle invigorates and depletes. It is not to be mind tired of the countless hours at work or in school. It is not the countless hours in the gym or dojo being physically tired. It is not the time being in love. And out of love.

It is the journey of the keyboard tapping. It is the journey stroke of the paintbrush. It is the dance itself. It is the pursuit with ferocious unrelentlessness. It is taking the moment of the little things that makes all the difference.

Bonds, Be Like Water
Sure the many molecules do not connect. Many attract and repel. Some being ionic. Taking an electron. Losing an electron. We become positive and negative in relationships. Some times these bonds are covalent. Where supposed opposites find balance together. Think Yin Yang symbol. Inequality becomes mutually beneficial. Think symbiosis. Like the two hydrogen atoms forming a togetherness with the oxygen. Magical qualities happen. This alchemy of life makes something wonderful. Things fit.

Magic Happens
True, it may seem without purpose. It may be. However, when serendipity and synchronicity happen, magical moments happen. Like the musicians named John, Paul, George, and Ringo form. Like when basketball wellsprings forms in Boston and Los Angeles. When perfect storms destruct and construct something wonderful. Music is made. Dynasties are built. Ordinary becomes extraordinary.

Magical Moments, Taken for Granted
If everything wonderful happened all the time, miracles would not be so special.  Things is, as time speeds up and as we begin to slow down, we notice miracles happen every single day. Every single moment. Every everything. We learn that its all special. We begin to ride the wave.

Phil's Birthday, 9/17/45
As my second favorite coach has said,”In basketball - as in life - true joy comes from being fully present in each and every moment, not just when things are going your way. Of course, it's no accident that things are more likely to go your way when you stop worrying about whether you're going to win or lose and focus your full attention on what's happening right this moment.”—Phil_Jackson

Oceans Subside. Take A Ride
So let it be cold. Let the a/c be too high. Let the pursuit for football glory continue. Let Valencia bring it on. Let me do my fifty laps in the the sixty degree September pool. Let the keys be tapped and may this internet quietdom ring soon with joy and laughter. And remember to pay full attention on the what is happening right this moment. This is realization that the little things count, because they are never little. It all counts. Miracles happens all the time. All the time. All the time. It just become so common that we forget that nothing is common.Every moment is magical.

Anahata: Zuma Recharged

Chakras 

Sitting, watching the waves crash. Having the water rush to where I sit. Drinking the colors of the rainbow. Spinning the chakras. Breathing red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. My base, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, brow, and crown. Lam, Yam, Ham, Ram, Ohm. Breathing the energy in to let the spinning. Taking the ocean of ions recharging the spiritual batteries. 

Clarity

Never been a great follower of the energy healing, however, why not.  I must admit sitting there, there were moments when the sounds of the ocean waves got clearer. Perhaps my sinuses were clearing. Maybe just sitting there and taking in just made thing more salient.

Upside down happy face by Angelo

My Needs

Breathing better now. Slept like a baby after the day at Pointe Dume. Don’t want to say it was the force, my prana, Big Smiles touch, or whatever divine intervention that brought some clarity. Hanging with family at the beach was. . . therapeutic. Honestly, needed to be there yesterday. Needed to watch the sun race across the sky, shine its light on me.  Needed to taste to the white waves crash. Needed to bathe in the smile of my family’s face.  Needed to hear the laughter of kids on boogie boards catch a good one. Needed to dance with the seaweed mountains as they swayed in and out the wet sands. Needed to feel safe as the lifeguards patrolled this space of heaven, while they twirled their red buoys in BayWatch fashion. 

This lifeguard saved two people today

Diaphragmatic

Taking a deliberate breath. Four seconds in, two seconds hold, and four second out. As I sat there I was reminded that transitory nature of everything. It was watching the kids dig holes on the beach, digging desperately to try keep the ocean out. Smiling on how this was incredibly futile. Their joy, their laughter, their cries, as they held on to what can’t be held. Yet, they dug anyways. I was reminded it was not that the holes was dug, it was not whether succeeded in stemming the tide. It was the act and their responses to endless ocean. Instinctively, I knew they knew. Yet, they smiled and sighed anyways. I forgot this was the fun stuff. Their joys reminded me of this fact.

What Is Really Important

Watching them dig deep for sand crabs. Pulling out little creatures as they tickled their hand trying to bury themselves in the beach, not knowing the crabs are in the hands of babes. It was watching Dorian laugh glee as the sand crabs disappear into the sand. It was the Flow

V

Entertainment was watching the overcast on the beach. Being amazed as the endless oceans crash. Seeing the flying “V” of the  pelicans. Looking at the water beyond the crashing waves, hoping to see a family of dolphins. 

Pelicans

For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge 

Lying on the unicorn blanket listening to college kids using the word, “Fuck” as an adjective, verb, pronoun, adverb, and an interjection. It was hearing their conversation transition from well-reasoned debate on China’s single child policy, to choice between death by polar bear, gobi desert, and mount everest.  It was listening to the gasping incredulity of the group as one of the group admits her inability to swim. It was the realization that I heard their parent’s guilt trip in these cynical kids. It was the listening to the necessity of IPads, desktops, and need for a shower.

Seaweed, Sand, and Sun

Joy was watching the family packed beach with makeshift forts made of umbrellas and boogie boards. It was the tanning femmes. The sight of footballs flying overhead amongst the kites and helicopters overhead. It was watching the bi-plane overhead telling all to Find their Captain and drink some innocuous drink.

ticket attendant. It was worth every penny

Something  about Point Dume. Something about Zuma.

Heliotherapy, Zuma-Style

Sunday at the beach recharged my batteries. It reminds me to take a moment of pause. It reminds me of the noise that one hears from all around. It reminds me that all these moments is the fun stuff is. It is wonderment of sand crab crawling on one’s hand for the first time. It was learning of a lifeguard saving a grandfather and grandson. It is watching a 3 year old sleep under a towel forever because he played  hard on the Dume. It is hearing the noise of college kids daily challenges. It is sitting watching  the summer sun chase after its lover to the west, to some place  special. It is not so much saving the world for me anymore. It is more staying in the right now. It is that one moment in time and being in the past, present, and future at the same time.

Sitting there she said this at least a 10 times. Must heard what I was feeling

"I Love the Beach"

It’s a gift.