Just Another Day in Paradise

So here I sit once again at my desk, looking out my tiny window at an uncharacteristically nice Oregon day. I actually managed to get ahead in my biochem lab, so I didn’t have to show up today, and since it was my only class today, my weekend has officially begun. So, in the spirit of long weekends, I decided to put pen to paper…so to speak.

It has been almost a year since my last entry, which blows my mind. A lot has happened since I left Arizona, so I’ll try to keep the recounting brief:

1) I made the pilgrimage to San Jose, CA and attended Loopkicks camp 2009. I should have written something while I was there about it but I never had time, the epic good times took precedent over my desire to write.

2) I got my job as a busser at the Lake House back that summer, and due to the new management I actually made out like a bandit. Made some friends, had some laughs, and wore a funny hat in the sun 8 hours a day; not bad for a summer job. It beats the hell out of working produce.

3) I also painted part of a house, and found a couple of real friends in the two homeowners. Not only have they referred me to their neighbor, but they also tried to set me up with their niece. Sadly it didn’t work out, but I made a new friend, which is never a bad thing.

4) My final year of undergrad started at OSU with a bang. It has truly been a challenge this year , having to make up the classes I couldn’t take while I was in Arizona has been a couple tic marks above unbelievable agony and a few below pure hell; don’t get me started on the lab I had to take winter term. I am now halfway through my last term at OSU.

5) And last but not least: Taekwondo progress. When I left Arizona I had just tested for my cammo belt; I am now a blue belt in leadership, helping to teach classes. I have competed at two more tournaments since 2008 nationals, and brought home some bling from each one. My greatest achievement thus far: I am undefeated with my nunchuck form. However, progress will have to wait until my wrist heals; I broke it in December and due to my refusal to stop taekwondo, it still hasn’t healed all the way.

There is so much to say about the events of the previous year, too much in fact for a blog. Instead, I am going to talk about the future, since thinking about it is unavoidable when you are about to graduate college.

Here is what I know for sure: I am going to California to work for E&J Gallo wineries from July to November. I am extremely excited about this; I have always known that while I love chemistry, the last thing I want to do is to actually be a chemist and work in a lab. It’s a dilemma to be sure, but I am confident that I can pull it off. Working for a winery as opposed to a biotech firm or lab somewhere is a great mix of two of my passions: chemistry and food…at least, that’s how I see it. Also, I am thrilled to move back to California, if only temporarily. This means I am closer to most of my close friends that I don’t get to see nearly as often as I’d like. And while my heart still lies in San Francisco, at least now it’s only a 2 hour drive away. That is all I know for certain.

I have no idea what is going to happen with Taekwondo. Since I am no longer a low rank, It is more important for me to stay at once school and have my training facilitated and overseen by the same people, so they can mold me into the blackbelt they want me to be. Eventually, I will need to come back to Corvallis, or at least Oregon in general, in order to test for black belt. And this doesn’t bother me, so long as I have a good reason to be in Oregon besides taekwondo, but since going to UO is my last choice for grad school, it doesn’t look like there will be one. As it stands now, I will test for brown belt when I am in California, and after that I have no idea. It becomes a question of how generous my instructors are willing to be, rather than a question of my desire to continue training.

I have no idea what is going to happen with grad school. The plan right now is to study for the GRE and apply to grad school as I am working for Gallo, and then go to grad school in the fall of 2011. This is where things get grey. An OSU student received got the same internship that I have now with Gallo, and afterwards they offered him a full time job with the company afterward. It’s a B.S. (as in Bachelor of Science, not Bull Shit) level job, but its still a job and he probably makes a lot more than I do as an intern, and since I make 18 an hour that’s saying something. I am not counting on this happening, but it is in the back of my mind, and at the moment I don’t have a plan for if that happens. If I am offered the job and accept the job, what happens to grad school, especially if I have applied already? What happens to working toward my black belt under my current instructor? If I am offered the job and refuse, what happens to my chances of ever working at that company again, even if it is for a reason as good as “I can’t accept the job because I’m going to grad school?” What are the odds that they will offer me a PhD level position once I am available to work? As strange as it is, it might be better for me if they don’t offer me the job, that way I can go to grad school on time, but if they don’t offer me the job does that mean that the door to Gallo has forever closed? It’s a mess, and sadly it’s one that can only be made right by decisions that I need to make in the next year, as opposed to a phone call I can make now.

If you feel the desire to take something away from my ramblings, let it be the following: I’ve got great friends, and I've gotten even closer to them over the last year, I have a paying job wating for me after I graduate, though it is only temporary, I’ve got money in the bank, a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and a sweet pair of nunchucks. But most importantly: I am walking my own path. I am living my life the way I want to, and I like where I’m going. Until next time, take care.

-DK

Looking back on Arizona

Today is my last full day in Arizona. After quite possibly the hardest run of finals I have ever had, my third year of college has come to and end. And due to the difference in schedules, I have a 4 month summer break to look forward to, lucky me.

My room is in boxes. Mike, my roommate, has already left for his parent’s house in New Mexico, along with the majority of my friends in the hall. By the end of the day, the only people left living in my dorm will be my RA Jon and I. I check out of my room at 9 AM tomorrow, then it’s off to Oregon once again. Now that my room is nearly packed, I wanted to take an opportunity to reflect on my time here.

People have asked which school I liked better, University of Arizona or Oregon State. Honestly I couldn’t give you a straight answer. If I told you I liked one over the other, that would be a lie, but on the other hand if I told you I liked them equally I would be lying as well. The best way to put it is this: If I were to rewind the clock to March of my senior year in high school and instead of getting into OSU I got into UA, this would have fit too. I feel at home here as much as I feel at home at OSU. Different people, different places, but still home.

Its no secret, the people you live with define the experience you have, especially when you live in a dorm. I was fortunate enough to be placed in a hall filled with some of the coolest, craziest motherfuckers I have ever met. Everyone was completely different, but we all got along famously. And we had some great times. Some stories will be told, some will not, and some can be read in the UA police blotter, and that is not a lie. I will miss everyone immensely; they easily made this year for me.

Taekwondo also played a huge part in my time here. In my time here I grew 2 belt ranks, became proficient with nunchucks (cool huh?), and went to the spring national tournament in the one and only Las Vegas, Nevada and took first place in my ring with my ‘chucks. My first tournament! First place! Absolutely unreal I tell you. Of course I made a few friends through taekwondo as well, one of them I will be competing against next year at nationals in the XMA ring, something I am very excited about, and one of them will be moving out to Oregon in a couple years to go to grad school at the University of Oregon. She also has plans to start a taekwondo school in the Portland area, and perhaps bring me on as an instructor, by that time I’m going to be a second degree blackbelt (dear god…). I am truly fortunate to have trained here, my two instructors Kenny and Jackie are both top notch, and really helped me improve. Again, everyone from taekwondo will be sorely missed.

It’s so quiet now. My last neighbor has checked out of his room, and the only people left are Cory and Andy who live at the other end of the hall. Its going to be very different when I get back to Oregon, everyone here has left such an impression on me in such a short time. I stupidly thought that in my time here I wouldn’t make any lifelong friends, every friendship would be what Chuck Palahniuk has dubbed “single-serving.” I can’t believe how wrong I was. Maybe I’m still accustomed to not making an impression on people and simply returning the favor by way of self-fulfilling prophecy, but I honestly can’t remember a time when I made so many close friends so fast. My head starts spinning when I think about it. Of course I’m going to have to come back and visit, I’d be an idiot not to. I only hope I can get back here soon.

I’m never sure how many people besides my immediate family follow my ramblings, but on the off chance that this blog is popular amongst my friends as well let me say this to all of you: despite your names not being explicitly mentioned in this entry, every one of you left an impression on me and taught me something. If all of you had been “single-serving,” I wouldn’t have bothered writing this. Thank you so much for everything you have given me, and I will be back soon. All of you, take care.


-DK

Superheroes

This is a letter to a friend.

“I am the typical underdeveloped protagonist, just about to discover his powers. I’m the innocent, young man with a couple traumatizing experiences. You are the jittery audience. You are watching my story, patiently waiting for the drama to unfold.

"Shazam. I am bit by a radioactive spider. I am exposed to XYZ-rays. I am bathed in a coat of chemical top-secret 03312. I am super!

"You watch apprehensively. Tension runs down your spine, radiating through yours shoulders, crawling down your arms, leaking into your hands. Your fingers gradually claw themselves into vice-like grips around the arm rests.

"I slowly look down at my trembling palms, immediately aware of immense power now surging through my veins. I clench my pink, steaming fists, shift my eyes towards the sky, and release an earth shattering cry. A set of brilliant wings unfold from my back, and with a single, thundering beat, carry me to the cosmos.

"You, now covered in a light blanket of salt and popcorn oil, take a generous gulp of Coca Cola. Escalating anxiety forces your stomach to the top of your body cavity. Your unblinking eyes stay fixed to the screen.

"Above a carpet of cotton clouds, I streak across the vast sky at breakneck speeds. The calm, cold air has a sharp edge and washes over me like waves of frozen needles. I’m bathed in a sea of frigid pricks as I continue to accelerate, splitting the supple, white floor beneath me. In a final surge of energy, I pull the wings in tight, blasting through the sound barrier and vaporizing every cloud in the sky.”

Superheroes used to be omnipotent figures; people who were pure good who fought pure evil, always won, and had only one weakness. People looked up to them, children tied tablecloths to their necks and ran around the kitchen with their arms spread pretending to be them. They were always greeted by throngs of people, all wanting to shake the hand of the one they’ve only read about or seen on the television, so many settling for a mere glimpse of that person, the true hero. They are untouchable. They are demigods. They can do no wrong.

If you haven’t noticed, there aren’t too many of these around anymore.

Now, there are humble origins. Troubled pasts. The hero rises from the ashes to begin anew. Instead of heroes being in heroes from the day they were born, there are people who never wanted to be heroes, and people who don’t know what to do with the fact that they are heroes. These are ordinary people, put in extraordinary situations, and asked to use the talents given to them. They feel pain, they complain, they cry, they bleed. These people, in spite of their gifts, are still only human. Yet children still zoom around the house in make believe capes. Why is that?

We hold you in such high esteem because you are as you described yourself in the first passage. Your struggles, your pain, your highs, your lows—they inspire us. Sure, there are videos of better trickers out there, but they are untouchable. We see ourselves in you. You put a face to everything we are going through, which extends far beyond the realm of simply tricking. You are more than just a hero, above all else, you are still only human. And we love you for it. You wouldn’t be you if you weren’t.

Your superpower extends beyond simply having a way with words. As with so many superpowers, it has far deeper implications than the words on the page. The reason why the site is what it is today is not because of your literary gifts, or your tricking videos. It is because your story inspires us, and continues to inspire us. You show us what can be achieved when you listen to that voice in your head telling you to go for it and not look back. You show us that though the road to greatness is hard, it is achievable for anyone. You even show us that nice guys finish first from time to time. And the best part about it all: you have done all of this without having any idea it was happening. You were a hero all along, and had no idea. I would argue that we are not the ones sneaking into your image room, you are getting a peak into ours.

There is a common plot thread in all superhero stories. At some point, the hero decides to take hang up his cape and live a simpler life. Do you know why the hero always comes back?

Take care Kevin.


-DK

Vegas, Baby!!!

Hows it going everybody? Sorry about the dry spell, I haven't had time to write because I have been training my ass off for Taekwondo Nationals in Las Vegas, which were this last Friday and Saturday, March 13-14 The following blog is the account of my experiences there. Enjoy!

Thursday, 12 March 2009, 10:34 PM

Today I write from my room at the Sahara Hotel on the one and only sunset strip in Las Vegas. For those of you who don’t know, I will be competing on Saturday in the taekwondo national tournament here in Vegas, so as a result, my spring break started two days early.
The drive from Tuscon to Las Vegas is a little more than 400 miles. Now, if this were any normal drive, it could be done in 4-5 hours, depending on how heavy your foot is. However, this is not a normal drive: we had to drive through Phoenix.

Two summers ago I worked for a residential painting company. However, before they let me paint any houses, they had me going door to door hanging company flyers on people’s doorknobs. It was then during my 5 weeks of door hanging that I developed a theory about civil engineers: they are all evil. They designed roads that went straight up ridiculously steep hills just to spite me. Architects had it in for me too, they designed houses with front doors at the top of ridiculously long driveways and several hundred stairs. I realize now that the douchbags that designed the roads and intersections in Phoenix make the others look like alter boys. I have never seen a city with such a convoluted set of intersections and traffic lights (and I have been to Los Angeles). It seemed that everything was designed to make traffic move slowly. There was no way we could have won. As a result, a drive that should have taken 5 hours at the most took about 8.

Once we were out of Phoenix, the drive actually got pretty good. I already mentioned in another entry how much I enjoyed driving through the Arizona desert when I drove from San Diego to Tucson, and I think I enjoyed this more. After an extraordinarily long stretch of un curving flat road through Nowhere, AZ (I’m not joking, that is the name of a city here) the terrain got a lot more rocky. It was quite beautiful, and where the southern desert what characterized by cactus, the northwestern desert had a bunch of what I can only describe as spikey trees: Middle sized trees that lacked leaves but instead had these clumps of long green thorns at the end of the knarled branches.

Monday, 16 March 2009, 1:42 PM

On Friday, all of the high ranks competed in their traditional weapons, forms, and sparing. All of the XMA competitions took place that day as well. It was a real treat to watch the best in the ATA compete against each other. I think my favorite event was the blackbelt sparring. All of them are excellent fighters, and its always fun to watch fights when the fighters are excellent. Of course, the XMA competition was excellent as well, though I was much more impressed with XMA weapons than XMA open hand. Maybe I have unreasonable standards from watching all of the excellent tricksters on youtube, but with the exception of a pretty sweet, butterfly twist-kick, I wasn’t that impressed. XMA is not supposed to be about flips, but that doesn’t change the fact that they really look cool. One of the guys who I train with at UA competed in both XMA weapons and open hand, and did very well. Color belts don’t normally compete in XMA, so Simon took first by default; that said, he put together pretty sweet forms for both, especially his weapons form: he makes me want to learn bo staff Another girl, Heidi, also did both XMA events, did very well at both, and took home two gold medals.. The best part of the XMA, aside from watching my buddy kick ass, was I got to see Mike Mo himself do an XMA demo….talk about badass. FYI, hes also a really cool guy from what I’ve seen, very good with kids.

On Friday the rest of us competed in traditional forms, weapons, and sparring (or in my case one steps). Im not going to go into gruesome detail, but I took 5th in traditional forms. Meh, I didn’t care too much about them anyway. My baby was my weapons form. I worked that thing into the ground…..and it paid off big time: FIRST PLACE BABY!!!!!!! Unfortunately there was only one other girl in my ring competing in weapons, but I blew her out of the water! I then finished out my first tournament by taking second in my one steps. I took home a gold and silver medal!!! I must have worn both of those things around my neck for a good half hour as I walked around the tournament; I was so proud. I was grinning from ear to ear. Videos of my traditional form, weapons form, and onesteps will go up very soon.

Videos:
Weapons Freestyle
Traditional Form

Unfortunately, the day did not end well for all of us. One guy didn’t take home any medals (though he easily could) because he got flustered, and another girl didn’t take home any because her judges sucked. And then Heidi punched a girl so hard she dislocated her shoulder and had to be taken to a hospital, so she only took third in sparring. I think she is going to be out for a while, her shoulder is really messed up. The way she sees it though, getting injured at nationals is probably the best place to get injured, at least it wasn’t lame like getting injured in practice, hahaha.

Anyway, on Sunday the rest of the club left for Tucson, while Heidi, myself, and three of her friends drove to San Diego, which is where I write from now. Of course, we couldn’t leave without walking around the Las Vegas strip. I honestly couldn’t tell you what my favorite part of the strip was; part of the intrigue of Las Vegas is that every hotel has a different theme. All of them have really nice casinos and bars, but they all are completely different. But if you want to twist my arm and force me to choose a favorite, I would have to pick the Luxor. I think it was just a little too cool. Plus Criss Angel performs regularly there with Cirque du Soleil; cant do much better than that. We drove to San Diego after having drunk our fill of the Las Vegas strip, both literally and figuratively.

Its 3 in the morning and at some point we have to drive back to Tucson tomorrow after we hit the beach. Bed time!

Wednesday, 18 March 2009, 11:28 AM

I can think of no better way to wind down from a big tournament than by going to the beach and relaxing for an afternoon. Oceanside California on Monday afternoon was perfect: clear sky, warm sun, light breeze and good company. Everyone else wanted to build a sandcastle, but the best way I know to enjoy the beach is to put on some Jack Johnson and take a good long nap in the sun. We drove back to Tuscon immediately afterward because we needed to return the car.

The tournament in Vegas was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life. Not just because I walked away with a couple medals, but because it gave me a glimpse into a new world filled with new possibilities, and to be honest I really liked what I saw. When I started tricking, I knew it would remain part of my life so long as my joints cooperated; it wasn’t until I went to Vegas that I realized how big that part might be. I love everything about this, from training to competition, the camaraderie in and out of the ring, even the occasional shitty judge. The one thing I know for sure is that I want to teach taekwondo. Time will tell where this path takes me.


Take Care,
DK

A few words from the audiance.

This one goes out to the A-listers, the B-listers, the no-listers, the directors, producers, cameramen, sound technicians, stuntmen, and everyone else who makes their living off the silver screen. I’m here to let you in on a little secret: while pirating movies is a crime, the ones who do it aren’t your enemies. We are something else all together.

I have been a pirate for the last 5 years. It’s really nice; I never have to buy another DVD if I don’t want to. I still do anyway, it’s not like the process is perfect, quality is still lost during the compression, and I can’t stand a grainy picture while watching a movie I love. Still, when cash is short, it’s a good way to keep me entertained.

The heart of the matter is just that: money. Let me give you a peak into my world: I am a college student. I have already committed my first born child to the US government in exchange for tuition money. I work around 12 hours a week in addition to my classes, and make a little more than eight bucks an hour. I have no scholarships, no financial aid to speak of, save my parents, who are godsends to be sure. I have a meal plan which allows me to spend maybe ten bucks a day on food, and go to a school where buying a sandwich will take half of that. My situation is pretty typical amongst most college kids, sure, there are the lucky few who get bankrolled entirely by their folks, and good for them, but for a lot of us it’s the same story.

I pirate movies because I love movies. I love watching movies, and I don’t want a trivial little thing like money get in the way of that. It’s not personal, I don’t have some deep-seeded hatred for the film industry, and I’m not trying to cheat anyone out of a paycheck. I just want to watch movies, plain and simple.

People who pirate films for profit are garbage. That is stealing in the truest sense of the word, and its despicable. Those who do it could probably get a real job if they wanted to, but opted for the easy way out. They bring shame to the game, and give the rest of us a bad name. If you want to pick on someone, stick to them, and leave us honest pirates (yes, there is such a thing) out of it. They are your enemies; we on the other hand, are quite the opposite.

Webster defines an advertisement simply as “a public notice; especially: one published in the press or broadcast over the air.” As you are no doubt aware, in order to make the public aware of a product, you need to tell them about it. Companies put ads in newspapers, put up billboards, and invent catchy jingles, among other things; all in the name of spreading the word. They shell out serious cash on advertisements, and pray to god that someone takes interest. But advertising itself is not enough, as you know. For products that cost consumers a lot of money or time, you need something more. You need people. Third parties. For the big stuff, you need real people who have bought the product to sing its praises. And thus, the professional critic is born.

Your industry has taken the final idea to heart. To get people to go see a movie: you need to advertise, and then you need a third party who’s seen the final product in its entirety to go out and tell more people. So, you release screeners to critics before the movie is released (some of which end up on my hard drive) so they can watch it and give it their stamp of approval. This brings us back to pirates.

You spend millions of dollars advertising movies, all the while keeping your fingers crossed that enough people will like your movie and you will see a return on your investment. You let people see your movie free of charge so they can tell about it later. In a monetary sense, there is absolutely no difference between professional critics and pirates, there are simply a few more of us than there are of them.

Let me tell you how we work. We see an advertisement for a movie. We download and watch said movie. We then proceed to tell our friends and family about said movie, and the conversation usually goes one of three ways:

1) “OMG THAT MOVE WAS EFFING AMAZING!!! GO SEE THAT MOVIE RIGHT NOW!!”

2) “It was ok, I’d recommend it if you like (insert genre) movies or if you like (insert actor/actress)”

3) “Wow, I am so glad I didn’t pay money to go see that.”

If we like a movie, we put it on a pedestal. If we hate a movie, we tear it to pieces. If I am not mistaken, that is the job description for a professional movie critic, is it not?

But we are not professionals; we are your loyal customers. We are the people who bring popcorn and soda to a movie instead of a clipboard and pen. And herein lies the appeal of having our blessing: A positive movie review means more coming from your good friend X as opposed to a writer from Rolling Stone. We tell our friends, our friends tell their friends, etc.

You’re right, the same thing happens when someone reads a movie review, and to a much greater extent. Because we operate on a small scale, we reach people on a small scale. Still, it’s more money in your pocket if the movie is good, or another nail in your coffin if the movie blows.

And to be blatantly honest, we do not have an incredible impact on your gross income. As I mentioned earlier, the compression process is far from perfect, and if we are eager to see a movie, we will go to the theater and see it legally, instead of downloading a grainy cam version. Sometimes we do get our hands on screeners, which we of course watch, tell about, and give to those interested. By way of an example, I was able to get my hands on a screener copy of The Dark Knight before the movie left the theater. It was a very good file, and I of course gave it to four or five of my friends for their viewing pleasure. Of course, if I got it, it must mean that many others like me must have it too, and they must have distributed it accordingly. But that didn’t change the fact that The Dark Knight grossed well over $400 million in the box office. My heart bleeds for the taco you did not get to buy.

If our actions do end up taking a legitimate bite out of someone’s paycheck, it must mean that the film in question didn’t make a lot of money. This must mean one of two things: First, maybe the movie in question didn’t get picked up by many theaters. Maybe it wasn’t a very large production, maybe it was an independent film from a small studio, or maybe it was a good movie with a very narrow range of appeal. The second option is much more cut and dry: the movie didn’t make a lot of money because it was crap.

To the former: Though I will not apologize for my ways, it was not my intent to make your life more difficult. If it’s any consolation, small films like yours are much easier to find in theaters and on DVD than they are on the internet. For me personally, I don’t download smaller films for exactly this reason.

To the latter: The solution to your problem is quite simple: Don’t make bad movies. If an average consumer knows a bad movie when they see one, shouldn’t professionals such as yourselves? I have no sympathy for you. Some movies shouldn’t have made it past the screenplay, and it’s your own damn fault if you decided to pour big money into a project you knew deep down wasn’t going to end well.

It is time for you to move away from your vehement hatred of us and accept the simple truth: we are not going to disappear. You can fuss, you can pout, you can even arrest and fine some of us; when there is only an infinitesimal chance of official repercussion, we don’t worry about getting caught. No genie is going to pop out of a magic lamp and roll back the clock to the days before Napster, Kazaa, and Bittorrent. It is time for you do adapt to your new surroundings. We are only your enemies because you have made us your enemies, not the other way around. The benefits of our friendship are numerous, and it will be readily given if you but ask for it. The ball is in your court now.

Quick Update

I just put the finishing touches on my ssahng jeol bahng form. My god, this thing is epic.

Arizona Road Trip

It occurred to me that because of a camera malfunction, the typed account of my 7 day automotive cruse through the western states I posted on dogentricks is the only account of the story I have. So, I decided to consolidate it here for a couple reasons. First, if i ever loose interest in dogentricks (unlikely) I wont loose the story; and second, there are the more nosy members of my family who are demanding a play-by-play of my entire road trip, and this is for them. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 1: The Adventure
Today i am in Portland. In 36 hours I will be in San Francisco. Two days after that I'll be in Los Angeles. Three days after that I'll be in San Diego. Three Days after that I will be in Tempe, Arizona. And two days after Tempe, I will arrive at University of Arizona in Tuscon. a grand total of over 1500 miles.

I havent a single friend or acquaintance in Tuscon, not one. And as strange as it sounds, i wouldnt have it any other way. There has been one other time in my life where i had to completely start over and make new friends, and that was when i moved from San Francisco to Portland in 8th grade. Back then i was scared: what if they didnt like me? what if I didnt like them? what if they think Im fat? What if i cant stand the weather? back then i was incredibly insecure and not exactly outgoing, and starting from square one in my mind was nothing short of cruel and unusual punishment.

Things are different now. "Its not fear that grips him now, only a heightened seance of things." I know now what an opportunity this is. this is an opportunity for life experience, a chance to meet new and interesting people, travel in a different part of the country, and try new things. Some of you may be thinking "whats the big deal?" Unfortunately, there is only one way i can explain this, and only one way for you to truly understand.

Opportunity. You can either take advantage of one, or miss one. Taking advantage risks it all, its going all in when the hand could go either way. Afterward, youre either grinning like a fool or kicking yourself, but your life is forever changed either way. Missing an opportunity is safe, its folding your hand before the betting starts. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and nothing changes. For most opportunities, you have one shot, but i am fortunate enough to have two. Back in 8th grade i was so wrapped up in fear and insecurities that i couldn't see what an opportunity it was. I couldn't make any real friends because I wanted so badly to go back to the way things were. I had my shot and missed.

One can only truly understand the pain of missing such an opportunity if they had missed one themselves. I hope none of you are in this position.

Fate has granted me a second chance. Im not making the same mistake twice.

I write again from San Francisco!

Take care,
-DK


Chapter 2: Homecoming
Made it to San Francisco in one piece. I woke up at 4 in the morning and drove from Medford (which is right at the Oregon border) to San Fran in about 5 hours, a little more than a 300 mile drive.

Its good to be back here in the bay area. I grew up out here, and this is the first time I’ve really been back in 8 years. Its my first time driving in the bay area too, definitely different than driving in Portland, everyone down here has a lead foot and there are a ton more of them, haha.

The highlight of this trip so far has been to go and visit my childhood home and my childhood friends. The first thing I noticed was everything seemed to be a whole lot smaller than I remember. The houses, which I thought were huge at the time, are actually pretty average size. The grass field that I played on, which at the time was thought to be enormous, cant host a decent game of soccer.

The people got bigger though. I ran into my childhood friend Johnathan and his folks at his house, and spent a good 6 hours talking about our lives and reminiscing about the good ol’ days of our youth. I hadn’t seen the guy in 8 years, we had a lot to talk about. The funny thing is he hasn’t changed at all, his voice dropped, he got taller, put on a ton more muscle (jealous), and cut his hair. But he acts, talks, and looks exactly the same. It was a really good time.

Im gonna be in SF for the rest of today, then I drive to LA to stay with my other friend John for a day. Talk to you then!

Take care,
-DK


Chapter 3: Family
I didn’t make it to LA just yet, I decided to spend two nights and a full day in Bakersfield with some cousins. I am so glad I did.

I mentioned a while back that this last summer I worked in a produce warehouse. I may have said that the produce warehouse was a family business; my mom’s cousins own the company. As it turns out, my cousins, who are on my father’s side of the family, are also in the produce business. Greg, the father, owns several orchards, and by sheer coincidence sells his fruit to the produce business on my mom’s side. Weird huh?

Greg and Susan have 3 kids: Cary, the oldest sister (13), Evan, the middle brother (11), and Hannah, the youngest sister (8). Normally I don’t usually get along with kids that young, but I don’t know what it is about those three, but it was a lot of fun playing and messing around with them. I taught them a card game and showed them some tricking videos on youtube (they all had a good laugh when I showed them my contribution to the Dogen Rizzice sampler ), and they showed me a couple fun games played with a small foam soccer ball. I know a few of you are rolling your eyes, but it’s actually a lot more fun than it sounds, hahaha. There isn’t a TV in their house, so they get pretty creative! I also tried buffalo meat for the first time……all I can say is if I had a choice I would never go back to beef again. Buffalo is AMAZING!!!! So juicy, so tender, so lean, so good, mmmm……. I even got to give my brain a good workout and helped Greg out with a chemistry problem (Citric acid helps plants absorb essential metals, and he was wondering how much he needed in order maximize metal absorption. I couldn’t quite figure it out, but I will….now that my brain is ticking, hahaha). After dinner we watched half of my favorite movie, The Count of Monte Cristo. We could only watch half because the kids needed to go to bed, winter break is over.

Visiting with my cousins has shown me two things: It has given me another reason to want to live in California, and it has reaffirmed why I want to have kids of my own some day (but hopefully not for at least another 10 years, ) I am for sure dropping by on my way back north in June.

Im going to Venice Beach tomorrow! Some of you skaters may recognize the name, but for those who don’t, Venice Beach is where skateboarding as we know it today started and got popular. The friend who I am staying with, John, is an avid skateboarder, so naturally, that’s where he lives . Talk to you then!

Take care,
-DK


Chapter 4: Friends, Part 1
There are close to four million people in the Los Angeles city limits. I want to tell you about two of them.

John is 21 years old. The last three have been spent living and working in and around LA, doing a variety of jobs and living in a variety of places: from his current one bedroom apartment to a converted school bus with graffiti all over it. I’ve known John for close to 6 years at this point. He’s the kind of friend a friend would like to have: fun to talk to, optimistic, and passionate about what he likes to do. John lives to skateboard. He skates most every day (weather isn’t a factor in LA). An idea of mine is to do a joint skate-trick sampler, with him hitting rails and jumping kickers, and me tricking. Hopefully it works out. If it happens, look for it in the summer. But I digress.

John’s story is different from mine. Instead of completing college, he decided to take a chance and go try and make it in LA. He had a business idea: sell high quality blank Canadian maple skateboard decks made in china for dirt cheap to locally owned skate shops and make out like a bandit. He had a product that was as good as the competition for half of what the competition was selling them for. And the place to begin such a business is the home of skateboarding: Venice, California. It should have worked, but nothing ever goes to plan. The business did not take off, and John spent a lot of time and effort into something that completely and utterly flopped. And since then, he’s bounced from shit-job to shit-job, never really finding his niche and never really advancing. He doesn’t seem to mind though.

John has a chalk board in his apartment. There are three things written on it: the name of a kick-ass website that will allow you to make your own ringtones for free, the name of a girl he was gonna look up on myspace, and the following quote: “Everything is going to be alright in the end. If it’s not alright, it’s not the end.” It has been three years since I saw John last, and as we were walking along the boardwalk enjoying our low budget dinner I noticed a lot of changes. John has always been a very patient, understanding person, but it is more than that now. He’s got a sort of serenity, a kind of zen wisdom about him now if you will. It’s the kind of thing you can only attain after having truly lived life in its entirety, the good and the bad. In the three years John has been away from Oregon, he has experienced the pains of hunger and cold, the despair of utter failure and rejection, and the highs of true happiness. In the three years John has lived in LA, he has grown wise.

And with his new found wisdom, John has decided to move back to Portland and finish school. He’s not too thrilled about living with his parents again, but he says he’ll manage so he can get his degree. John now truly knows the value of an education. Two more months and he is moving out of his tiny one room apartment on Venice Boulevard and road tripping back north. He says once he gets his degree though, he is coming back to LA, because according to him, SoCal is so far cooler than the pacific northwest in every way. To be honest, I’m beginning to agree……Every day I spend in California I find another reason to come back. “You can check out any time you like, but you can’t ever leave,” I suppose.

Today, I go visit my actor friend Cody in Hollywood for a day or so. I should have quite a few things to write about in the next couple days. Until then.

Take Care,
-DK


Chapter 5: Friends, Part 2
Unfortunately, I am beginning to be pressed for time, and am not able to spend as much time with everyone as Id hoped. Their schedules also conflict with mine, as you will see. Anyway, its time to tell you about my second stop in LA!

Cody lives in his Hollywood apartment with his best friend Ray, who has known Cody since high school. Its actually right across from the studio where the shoot Heroes, one of my favorite shows (no, didn’t see any of the stars.) Both of them want to break into the movie bizz, which is awesome, but there doing it different ways. Cody is an actor, Ray on the other hand works the production side. He actually worked on Transformers 2, which finished filming earlier this year, and HATES Michael Bay with a passion. Apparently, Bay is one of the biggest douchebags in Hollywood, but the reason everyone puts up with him is because his movies always rake in a chunk. Anyway, Ray got paid minimum wage and was on call 24 hours a day 6 days a week for a good 6 months, and is taking a well deserved break before he starts his next job on next Monday. Cody does a lot of extra work in movies, advertisements and television shows. Hes got a real talent for standup comedy, freestyle rap, and acting, but hey, gotta start somewhere right? The first time I saw Cody was on an episode of Entorage; I nearly shit myself.

Anyway, the first day I was there Cody was shooting a pepsi commercial and was working till late. So I hung out with Ray all day. Of course, I was given the grand tour of Hollywood boulevard, and saw all of the famous movie theaters (walked by Frank Sinatra’s star on the street, which was cool). The most depressing part of downtown Hollywood were the great number of The Church of Scientology buildings in the downtown area, according to Ray they bought up a lot of the old buildings and converted them to Scientology buildings. UGH!!!! Don’t get me started. The tour ended with a trip to Moe’s Drive in, made famous by the movie American Graffiti . The black and white milkshakes are DANK!

Anyway, Ray is way into classic movies, so upon hearing that I’ve never seen Casablanca, he poured me a glass of red wine and we put it in. Go see Casablanca! Don’t be turned off by the fact that its black and white, it’s a really great movie. Afterwards, we watched something a bit more contemporary, Rounders, and then got inspired to play hold-em poker, which I am awful at. Cody came back, showed me some pretty crazy things to do with a tampered cigarette lighter, hung out a bit, and called it a night. The next day, we watched a couple episodes of MacGyver (A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. show, hahaha), and drove up to Griffith observatory, made famous by the movie Rebel Without a Cause staring James Dean, and then ate at my first In-n-Out burger, mmmmmmm . That night, I left for San Diego, which is where I write from now.

Anyway, Im exhausted. I’ll tell you guys about San Diego tomorrow, after I finish unpacking in TUSCON!!!!! Its been a great trip, but im ready for it to be over and for school to start. Until then, best wishes always.

Take Care,
-DK


Chapter 6: Only the Beginning

Whew! Made it….turns out im early. I pulled onto the UA campus around 3 in the afternoon. I walk into my dorm (the door was wide open), only to have an RA very rudely tell me I couldn’t move into my room until tomorrow. So im writing from a motel down the street.

Hanging out with Paul and Zack in San Diego was fun, but unfortunately very short lived. Zack had a fraternity thing to do, and Paul was going on a church retreat this weekend. So two nights ago, when I arrived, I played TFT (BOOOOOOO WoW) with them until the wee hours of the morning, went to bed, woke up and shadowed Paul around to his classes, and then played a super kick-ass game of ultimate frisbee with both of them and a few of their friends. After the game, both Paul and Zack left, and I was left to my own devices.

So today, I drove from San Diego to Tuscon on interstate 8, which was a little more than a 400 mile trip. As odd as it sounds, this was probably the most favorite leg of my trip. It could conceivably be a bit odd for some of you who have driven I-8, there isn’t much there. However, for a guy that values time to think and beautiful scenery, this drive took the cake. The drive starts out in the city, and as it turns east the hills begin. Due east of San Diego are some nicer suburbs up in the hills, nice houses to look at. And then, very abruptly, the houses stop, and all that’s there are hills and rugged little shrubs. The funny thing is the color of the hills don’t change in the absence of houses, so it kinda sneaks up on you. As you cross into the Mojave desert the wind really gets going over the mountains, and my poor Honda was swerving all over the place. As you come over the other side, the vegetation disappears and you are left with these very beautiful sandstone formations. As you come out of the hills, the road gets completely flat, and the shrubs return. That pattern continues for the rest of California: shrubs, hills, sandstone, then more shrubs. Right at the Arizona boarder there are some incredible dunes, which people were taking advantage of with dirt bikes and quads, I got really jealous. I also passed within spitting distance of the boarder fence, it’s a pretty big, intimidating thing with a ton of razor wire on the top.

There is one major difference between the Mojave and the Arizona deserts: cacti. You know that stereotypical cactus plant you see in westerns? The tall, green ones with big, thick arms and thorns? They are EVERYWHERE in Arizona, and they are huge!! The other difference is that at least in the Mojave, there are people who irrigate and farm, in Arizona there is NOTHING FOR MILES!!!!!! (except cacti) Which made me think: what could conceivably be out here? I figured it would make a great place for a maximum security prison.
See also: nuclear test site.
See also: place to stash a few dead bodies.
See also: top secret underground government research lab.
See also: air base. Actually, have you guys all seen the movie “Top Gun?” You better all say yes. Anyway, the real Top Gun school at the Miramar Marine Base is right outside of San Diego, really close to where Paul and Zack live. I will be going back to get pictures and watch F-15s take off this spring .

Well, my road trip has officially ended, but the adventure is just beginning . School starts on Tuesday. I cant wait! Not only do I get to jump start my poor brain, but I get to resume training. I gained 10 lbs. over winter break (like I always do, hahaha) due to my mom’s home cooking, but its time for that to go. And speaking of “time go go….” Its time to shave this ridiculous beard, hahaha. I look like a middle aged irish sailor.

New faces, new places, new stories. Wouldn’t have it any other way. Until then

Take care,
-DK