read karl's blog

do it. here is the link. his post 'i am unoriginal, but i love car talk' is really funny. i would just post it here, but i dont want to take credit for it, even though he apparently just cut and pasted it from somewhere else. but its a fun friday (or any day) read.

endless summer

so last night at 11:40 i got the call (well, actually missed the call, but got the message).

'hey kent, its kris (yes, he, spells it with a k). brandon (brown, of chilli davis fame), nick (lyon, of no fame) and i are all going to do a little night surfing. nick is coming over to my house right now and we are going to head on down to the water. we'll stop by on our way to the beach. there is a full moon tonight and the water is about 70-75 degrees (an over exaggeration. its probably 68-69. which is still quite warm. and while that may not seem like much of a difference between 70 degrees, you can really tell the difference in 1 degree warmer when it comes to ocean water. and the difference between 68 and 75 degrees is like comparing ugly betty with jessica alba. there is no comparison. jessica alba went to condit elementary school and el roble jr. high, both located in claremont, ca (remember how it rocks?), she is clearly superior).'

anyways, i was tired last night and my first response was to not go. i even took out my contacts so that i could use that as an excuse when they came by. plus, i had to give a presentation/argue in class today and i really hadnt done much preparation for it. but then zach jumped on board (pun intended) and i figured that its my last year of law school, and these types of phone calls rarely come around, so i better aprovechar, or for all you non-spanish speakers, carpe diem (or carpe moment).

so i threw all reasoning off, put on my boardshorts and headed out. and let me just say, it was spectacular. the water was warm. the moon was full. you dont have 100% visibility. you can see enough. you can see that a wave is coming, but you cant really tell until the last minute how big it really is, which makes for some gnarly wipe-outs for a beginner like me trying to catch a wave out of my league. but maybe its actually a better way to learn. if i could fully see the wave developing and see what i was getting into, id probably back out, but because i couldnt, i just had to go with it. and its not like the waves were so big they were dangerous or anything. just bigger than ankle slappers (im really trying to use a lot of surf lingo to fool people into thinking im so so. cal and really surf a lot since i live in surf city usa).

anyways, for as much talk as i do about the east coast and how great new york is and i should move there blah, blah, blah, there are moments, like last night, where i dont think that any living arrangement could beat what i have (well, besides the obvious one. but even that one could be contested at times. some days im pretty sure id rather be single in huntington than married in ontario). but, i really feel that it is my duty as a single twentysomething year old to act irresponsibly and to play instead of work. i mean, isnt that why we are all still single?

an american tragedy

what is the biggest tragedy of our generation, or of the past 20 years? well, probably 9/11, but in a close second, doesnt it have to be the demise and personal destruction of michael jackson? im sure that if you asked any person in the eastern block why they are depressed, they would tell you its because michael jackson stopped touring and has essentially stopped making music. sure, chernobyl was bad and has caused many physical deformities, but michael jackson has emotionally impaired millions and caused them to mourn. the governments dont think they'll ever recover. why arent their economies improving? because they are all depressed and cant find any reason to bother go get a job or an education. yes, michael did tell them to look at the man in the mirror and start with him to change his ways, but without him touring, the only thing looking back in that mirror is a sad and depressed image, which just worsens the situation. mirrors are banned on public streets now. its a real scary and concerning situation.

awhile ago i did a post about britney spears. i mentioned how sad it was that she fell apart. and it is a sad story. after writing that, my sister paige asked when and if i would give any thoughts about michael. ive wanted to for awhile, but the michael situation is just so much deeper. its more than just your typical talentless pop princess turned talentless crack addict. (so sad, but the saddest part was really just that she now looks terrible. remember how attractive she was? dang.) because britney falling apart didnt really effect anything besides the 'us weekly' ceo's bank account. michael on the other hand, has left millions of twentysomethingyearolds a little depressed and thus affected an entire generation and probably completely altered the course of history.






the other day i was driving with my friend and i asked her how much she would pay for a ticket to a michael jackson concert. without missing a beat she said $250. i said that i would throw down $300 without thinking about it. i know! $300 bucks BEFORE i would start to question the purchase. the other day i wrote a post called 'the trifecta' where i talked about 3 great bands that i am going to see. a ticket for each concert was roughly (after all the insanely crappy and terribly nazi ticketmaster charges) $50. and for each of them i questioned going because of the price. especially the white stripes. ive almost tried to sell the tickets on ebay a few times. mainly because i havnt seen them, so i struggle spending the money. ive seen arcade fire and muse before and believe me, both of them put on fabulous concerts. both bands are great in concert. true musicians. they sound just as good live as if they had 20 takes in the studio. yet i still questioned buying the tickets. my muse purchase was influenced by a woman (blasted attractive women) and arcade fire was influenced by remembering how happy i was after the last concert, and for my little bro, who loves them but cant go because at that point he will have completed 2 of his 720 days as a missionary.

the point is, many of us are suffering and would go to great lengths to see michael perform again. i mean, he is without a doubt the greatest performer of all time. everyone now just tries to replicate or some way recreate something that he once did. he was going so strong and everything seemed fine and then he suddenly fell off his merry-go-round or something and has never been the same since. im not really wanting to discuss the crazy life he has had and what may have caused him to end up in the position he is in. all im saying is that there are a lot of problems in the world, and i dont think that sociologists, economists, or even presidents are considering that many of the problems we face in society could very well be a result of the fact that michael jackson fell apart.

people call my generation the 'me' generation. we are a very self-centered, self-gratifying group of people. i was discussing this with my mom the other day and she was asking why i thought our generation turned out like this. i rambled off some stupid answers about increase in technology, demise of the family structure, lowering of morals throughout society etc. just baseless answers that couldnt logically have any sort of connection with why our generation is becoming self-serving and self-centered. at the time i guess that it just never donned on me that while there may not be a 'correct' or 'definitive' answer to this question, a main factor in us becoming the 'me' generation has to be that we were deprived of michael and lacked michael in our ever so crucial and formidable high school years. the ways in which he would have affected us are numberless. his impact would go way beyond just the fact that he stopped producing music so we were subjected (and still are) to endless dances where dj's play the ever undanceable 'billie jean' or 'beat it' and force us to move awkwardly back and forth for an excruciatingly long 3 and a half minutes. only 80's high schoolers knew how to awkwardly move on the dance floor for so long. that song was for them. we never had songs for us. and thus we suffered. and it continues.

when you have a minute, do a youtube search of michael jackson concerts. look at the fans. these people have found purpose, meaning and complete joy in their lives. how do i know? because they are all passed out. and thats what all the evangelists do when they hit their joy climax at church. they pass out. so i think that if we could integrate some michael into our lives, we could get this joy in our lives and our lives would have greater meaning. it only makes sense. unfortunately, he doesnt tour. that was always the easiest way to get some michael. i suppose there are other ways. cousin dave the other day posted a video on his blog of people that have integrated michael jackson into their lives. most people would look at this group of people and assume they didnt have anything to live for or were depressed, but they clearly are enjoying what little they have in life, and its surely due to the fact that they have michael again in their lives.

i dont really have answers. i find it easier to just ask questions anyways. so i dont really know how to integrate some 'michael' into everyone's life. but the next time you are depressed or perhaps questioning society or where we as a human race are heading, before you let your brain come up with possible answers or solutions, just listen to your heart for a moment and consider how much better life would be and a different course we would and could all be on if we all just had a little more michael in our lives.

vacation, all i ever wanted

so last night i noticed that the 'go-go's' are playing at the house of blues in anaheim sometime next month. i mentioned that i thought it would be fun show to go to and that we should get a group together to go. i was ridiculed and laughed at by my peers for saying such an 'absurd comment.' incredible. who doesnt like the go-go's? and even if you dont, wouldnt that still be a wildly fun night if you went with the right group of people? clearly im hanging out with the wrong crowd. they are only dragging me down in life.

anyways, i havnt posted in awhile. i did the whole family vacation thing. ill try and be more consistent now that school is back up and running. the vacation was great. my family, meaning my parents and the three singlets went to nyc, then upstate new york, and concluded our trip in washington dc. it was an oustanding trip. its late and i really dont want to do a recap of the whole trip, plus i think that a lot of people would find it rather boring and im sure dont care to read about it. if you do, send me a text or something and ill tell you more about it.

nyc - oh this wretched city. i wish i never knew you. but thats just it. i dont really know you and it eats away at me. i loved being there. even though it was sweltering hot and we almost died of heat exhaustion waiting for the subway one day. new york was a great time as always. there is so much to do there. for me, its sort of unfulfilling as a tourist though because i want to live new york, not just visit and sightsee. id really like to be a visiting student out there for my last semester of law school. i should have gone out there this fall when the weather is nice and then come back to huntington in the winter when its nice here and freezing there. but im sort of late planning this so i might just have to go there for the miserable winter. it will be cold, but hopefully ill be able to get rid of this itch i have about living there. we'll see if life even permits it in the first place. and by life i essentially mean the ladies situation. because isnt that pretty much what drives and determines decisions and paths you take in life as a single person in your 20's?

the first photo btw, is at the statue of liberty. we were sure to thank the photographer for taking our photo. did he think we didnt want the statue in the picture? we just wanted to travel all the way out to the island to take our family photo and we wanted him, the stranger to do it. thanks guy. the other photo is what we did most of the time at the met in new york. mom and dad left us, the singlets, to travel the museum on our own. so we just walked around and acted out statutes and paintings and took pictures. good times.

upstate - it felt a lot like the south for some reason. ive never been to the south, so i dont really know what it feels like, but i bet it feels a lot like upstate new york. it was really pretty though. really green. we made a stop by cooperstown to go to the baseball hall of fame. im glad we did because we were in the area and it was only about 20 miles off of the highway we were on. but if it was 30 miles off the highway we were on, it probably wouldnt have been worth it. and im a big baseball fan. huge angels fan. spent all my childhood money on cards. played little league. suffered a career ending injury at 12 but have always remained a part of the game. but the hall of fame was pretty boring and really a no big deal thing. if youre in the area, stop by, but i dont think it is by any means worth traveling great distances just to see.

for mormons - the church history sites: they were good. and just good. neat to see, but in a way, just like any other historical building or site out there. neat to see that this is where joseph smith once lived, but when it comes down to it, its not like he's walking around there right now or anything.

however, the sacred grove is fantastic. so fantastic, i dont even really feel like i should talk much about it in this blog. dont travel 3,000 miles to see the baseball hall of fame, or the smith home. DO travel 3,000+ miles to see the sacred grove. its worth the travel, effort, hassle etc. to wander around that forest for a few hours in your lifetime.

dc - i love unexpected and unplanned pleasant events on vacations. for instance, while traveling to the statue of liberty in new york, we nearly died of heat exhaustion on the subway and stumbled out into union square. we didnt plan it, but we were all dying underground so we surfaced at the next stop and luckily it was where there was a farmer's market and a great sandwich shop and not some red light district in east harlem.

so i guess stopping by gettysburg on our way down to dc was planned, but it was unexpected how much i was going to enjoy it. i do like history, but the way they have preserved the area and mapped out everything that happened in that battle is really impressive.

dc was great. by the time i got there, i was sort of sick of sightseeing. lincoln memorial is extremely impressive and very fitting for such an amazing man. no need to worship the man, but i have no problems if they erected a new monument for him every day. sadly, they dont, but the lincoln memorial is just as good as if they did. the korean war memorial was also very touching. i think because i didnt even know that it existed. i heard so much about the vietnam memorial, but before you even see that one, there is the korean war memorial looming off in the distance with shadowy ghost soldiers staring blankly and confused at you. cold, tired men, fighting a war they probably didnt understand. almost wandering and looking for guidance and help. hoping that its not their number that is next. its not fair.

the other stuff in dc is cool as well. i liked the city more the longer we were there. it has a really cool downtown and nice big city feel, which i enjoy. my friend tyler said the other day that if he was still single, he would definitely move to dc or somewhere on the east coast. i dont know what the attraction is. would i really enjoy it out there or is it just 'the grass is always greener on the other side' type of feeling? even though in this case, things actually are a whole lot greener over there.

dang it. i really want to shorten these posts and i didnt mean to make this some diary of my travels. oh well.