I actually agree with a corporate slogan. Argh.

Ok, so I’m starting my search for companies to apply to when I graduate with my BS in Mechanical Engineering in May. I would like to work in sporting goods design for some type of outdoor recreation outfitter.

While there are many companies that fit the bill there are, of course, only 3-4 that I really want to work for. As I was looking at Gerber Knives for possible employment I came across their new slogan: Fend for yourself. I couldn’t agree more with the bit of prose located on that one page. Furthermore, in their ad archive there is this ad:

Isn’t that the freakin truth?

p.s. For all two of you who read this: I know it has been a while since I posted. I apologize. I'm over busy with my last year of college.

A picture instead of 1000 words.

This is a pic of me about two weeks ago on a short hiking trip. It's a little blurry but I like the effect. Notice the bottle...what is it filled with?

Script Frenzy Winner

I did National Novel Writers Month back in November of last year and I had a great time so I did their version of a screen play challenge.

The challenge is to write a 20,000 word screen play in one month.

Well, I completed that challenge today and I'm pretty happy about it. I found out that I am not really a screen play writer. I like the ability for inner dialogue that short story and novel writing allow.

My screenplay is a zombie film. That pretty much says it all. I wanted to do something different than the standard zombie film but it ended up more like Dawn of the Dead than I would have hoped.

Anyway, I completed the challenge and here are the icons to prove it (the other one is at the top).

Categorically

You know what I find pretty lame? I mean, besides the Chargers getting beat by New England last year.

It’s pretty lame when you go to a party with new people and you meet some guy/girl, we’ll name him/her Kelly, and it goes something like this:

“Hey.” I say (I say hey a lot).

“Hey, my name is Kelly.”

“I’m Adrian, how are you doing?”

“Pretty good, the dip is tasty.” Kelly says scooping a large load of chip and guacamole into his/her mouth.

“Yeah.” I say because I am, generally, a complementary type of fella’.

“So,” Pause a beat to shovel more dip into his/her mouth. “What do you do?”

“As little as I have to.” I respond already irritated at the question (who really cares what I do? I don’t even care). However, since I am normally polite I return with (while being irritated at myself for asking it) “What about you.”

“I’m an engineer /writer /school teacher /librarian / whatever-they-do-to-pay-the-bills” says Kelly.

“Oh look! Whiskey!” I say and walk a way to get just a little more lubed.

Now, this thing of saying “I am a …” is lame. I mean how many people are an engineer /writer /school teacher /librarian / whatever-they-do-to-pay-the-bills? Is it really who you are? Is the thing that defines your soul your job?

If it is, that is great! There are people out there who fit their job so perfectly that they really are whatever they do to pay the bills. That is fan-freaking-tastic. Really, I wish everyone could have that, but most of the time it just isn’t so.

Most of us can’t be summed up with just one thing. We are husbands/fathers/pipe layers/sissies/tough guys all in one.

Just because I write doesn’t mean I’m a writer and just because I surf doesn’t mean I’m a surfer.

People like to put themselves in category. It lets them know where they fit in to the larger picture. This is because, many times, to define yourself you must define the differences between yourself and those around you.

I am not an American I am an African-hyphen-American….Asian-hyphen-American…and on and so forth.

I think the more and more narrowly people define themselves is a mistake. It sets you apart from the whole. Again, it sets you apart from the whole. To set yourself apart from the whole is isolationism. Want to know what an isolationist nation looks like? North Korea. You ever see anything about their world beliefs? They are pretty narrow.

To set yourself apart from the whole is to give yourself a narrow view of things. You have only the view of the categories you put your self in.

This can be seen when people go on international trips. People since the dawn of time have been astounded at the things they see when they leave their own land and see other lands. People have sent their children off for generations to let their minds open by making them a world traveler, indeed, a world citizen.

It’s the broadening of one’s own category that is the path to greater knowledge and personal growth. It’s also by broadening your own category that you are a more interesting and well-rounded person. No one wants a computer that only plays solitary and no one wants to get to know person who defines themselves by a single thing.

So the next time you are at a party and you are meeting a new person try something different. Try something they’re not going to expect. This is how it goes if I think to get to it first:

“Hey.” I say (Again, I say hey a lot).

“Hey, my name is Kelly.”

“I’m Adrian, how are you doing?”

“Pretty good, the dip is tasty.” Kelly says scooping a large load of chip and guacamole into his/her mouth.

“Yeah.” I say because I am, generally, a complementary type of fella’. “So what do you like to do for fun?”

(I would like to add at this point that, many times, people look at me funny. It’s a question you ask a 12 year old and yet it stumps full grown adults.)

“I like to watch movies.” They may say

“Sweet. Me too. Have you seen Way of the Gun?” I’ll say reaching for a bottle. “Want some whiskey?”

This method allows us to both not be categorized by something and to get to know each other in a truer and more open way. Also, it won’t bore the holy crap out of every person you meet.

You won’t be an engineer /writer /school teacher /librarian / whatever-they-do-to-pay-the-bills any longer, you will simply be you.

I loves me some trans fat

You know…when I want fried chicken I don’t really care if the fat it’s cooked in is healthy or not. Its fried chicken for Pete’s sake, it’s not suppose to be healthy for you in anyway shape or form.

Same thing with my French Fries.

Ditto for my potato chips.

Don’t even try to give me low-fat or healthy chocolate cake. What’s the use?

The black on my steak and chicken has carcinogens? I DO NOT CARE!!!

When I eat those foods I do it because I want either the comfort of the food or the taste of the food and that means fat. Fat is good. Ever had bacon? I just drooled on the keyboard. Seriously.

If I want to be healthy I eat a banana not banana nut cake.

I can do this because I don’t eat friend chicken every day. So when I do have some for dinner I want it to be the full fat, full calorie, full flavored version.

My buddy said to me once, and I’m sure he got it from someone else: Everything in moderation, including moderation.

If your worry is the kind of fat you’re eating then maybe you should just lay off the fat for a while. Otherwise, enjoy your fat and eat it too. (Get it, I plagiarized what that French Queen said about cake…hahaha…man I’m good)

On motivation and heart

I’ve just started running again after several years of sloth and low level self loathing. I had a back injury and misaligned pelvis issue that caused me some pain when trying to exercise. I got therapy and aligned the pelvis and started doing exercises to fix my back. Still, I sat around a bit because starting up a new exercise routine is more difficult than keeping one going.

Then when my girlfriend went out of state for work I started running again. I didn’t run far and I only went two times a week. Then when she came back I told her I wanted to keep my motivation up with running and that I was going to do the Carlsbad 5000. A 5 kilometer race here in San Diego that I had did several times, years ago, when I was running routinely.

I realized, due to my experience with NaNoWriMo, that I need some sort of goal, artificial or otherwise, to motivate myself to action. I put my money where my mouth was.

On the day of the race I ran faster than my expected pace and even though it wasn’t my personal best I felt good. My girlfriend’s heat was an hour after mine and I cheered her on at the starting line and then ran to the finish line to be there when she came across.

Just as I got to the finish line Eric Galvez was taking his final steps over the line. Eric was a co-worker of my girlfriend for years before he got a brain tumor. Eric had been a physical therapist and was training for triathlons and other races before the surgery to remove the tumor. To say he was physically fit would be putting it mildly.

After the surgery Eric’s body was not the same. It’s difficult for him to walk without aid and he gets fatigued easily but there he was crossing the finish line. A 5K is a little over 3 miles. He crossed it in a little over 2 hours to the cheers of the crowd. I can’t imagine what it was like for him to struggle so far. I must have been like me trying to run a marathon.

Motivation and heart. Eric is a lesson in motivation and heart. I hear excuses from people about not being able to walk around because of a minor knee injury or because their back hurts (i.e. me a while ago) and after seeing Eric I wonder. What are you complaining about? Eric has a hard time standing sometimes but he is out there in life pushing himself.

It is such a blessing to be able to move through space under your own power. People like Eric prove that. When you are disabled the ability to get up and go to the fridge is as sweet as chocolate, or so I would assume.

While Eric’s body may betray his will he is still strong in mind. Cruise over to his blog, They Call Me Galvez, and read about him. He has a book that just came out and he is traveling around giving speeches. He is working harder than many people in good health and with the full resources, such as driving, that come with good health.

Here is the youtube.com video showing Eric finish the race.

The next time you feel unmotivated and you don’t want to go outside and work in the garden, or do a set of pushups, or walk around the local park, think about the video of Eric and get out there and do it anyway. You’ll miss the option more than water or breathe if it ever goes away.

On living a full life

I started running again lately. I was an avid runner for a long time and fell out of step with it at some point.

Anyway, I was running and thinking, as people often do, and amongst all the jumbled thoughts and flitting images I happened onto some thoughts that aren’t necessarily new to me but I thought would be useful to write about.

I was thinking about: if I had a kid, would I enroll them in Karate class or some such thing, because the martial arts had really helped me when I was a boy. Anyway, I was thinking about the type of things you hear about programs of all sorts. Many times the program lists one of its strong points as “go at your own pace.”

Now, this go at your own pace philosophy is total crap. You will get nothing out of the program, school, or event if you are just going to go at your own pace. However, this does not necessitate competition with others. On the contrary, it implies that you merely need to challenge yourself.

“That which makes life interesting to human beings are the contrasts, the conflicts encountered. That which makes life challenging to human beings are the problems to be solved…Remove the contrast and conflicts, remove the problems – indeed, remove the struggles - and you remove the sources of life’s interest, challenge, and joy.” Daniel L. Dustin, The Wilderness Within

The above quote was from a book I read for a class over summer. A class that I thought was a little silly going into it but found a real use for as the summer moved on. We had to write journals and reflect on things. In the end it helped me to develop a better sense of some of the idea’s I had floating around in my head for several years. Overall it was a fantastic class, if you attend SDSU I strongly urge you to take Wilderness and the Liesure Experience (Rec 305) with Professor Larry Beck. I digress.

It has been shown, through surveys and investigations, that people have their best times, the highlights of their lives, when they go beyond their skill level to achieve something. Now to bring it back to running: if you run, say, a 10 minute mile day-in and day-out and then you do a race where you run your PR (personal record) and it is at a 9 minute mile. You will be elated; you will even call it your personal best. This is not because you went at your own pace, a 10 min mile, but beyond your own pace.

So, you know what I’m going to say. For you to live a full life – a life full of happiness, a life full of joy, a life full of zest and wonder – you will have to do things that are uncomfortable. You will have to push through what you normally do and reach for the thing that frightens you.

Here is my hope for you: If you’re shy ask someone to dance, if you think you are unintelligent start a class in something you’ve always wanted to do, if you sit at home and watch prime time TV every night go out and watch the sunset with your mate, and if you are in any way not feeling like your life is going the way you want it to then do something about it, anything. It’s through action and pushing your limits that you will finally feel alive and whole.