One Lucky Guy

Simple......Complex......huh?

Friday, May 1, 2009

The Followthrough

In golf they say that your followthrough doesn't matter, that it is everything that you do before you hit the ball that matters. Life is a little bit different.


In life there really isn't a followthrough, there isn't really a before and after. In golf the idea is to hit the ball, everything that comes after that is just a result. In life, you live out your result. It doesn't just stop, there isn't a conclusion, just whatever comes next. 

I used to be in pretty good shape. When I moved from Santa Barbara to here I weighed 185. I remember thinking then that I had a long way to go to get where I wanted; I look back on that now and wish that I could be so lucky as to have such aspirations. 

I look at where I was and the goals that I had for myself, and see that I kind of gave up. I came up with other goals, realized that I wasn't in a bad place, and moved on. I didn't follow through though, and I fell down a lot further than I wanted to.

I find myself now heartily determined to claw myself back to where I was, and further. 

So in life we may not have goals as clear as hitting a golf ball, but we do have waypoints. Goals that are met and then simultaneously re-established. Well I have set a few for myself and I am determined to be well on my way. 

comments (0)

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Angels lose an Angel, Gain a Halo

Nick Adenhart pitched the game of his life last night. He had only been in four major league games prior to this one, with one start to his credit. At the end of his first full game last season, his ERA was over 9. Not really what one would hope for in a potential major leaguer. 

He worked all summer on his game. He watched some of the greats, watched his heroes. Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens... he studied them and he practiced. He was determined to live up to his potential, he was determined to be more than he had proved himself to be. 

Before last night's game he found himself the #7 man in the Angels starting rotation. He was the number 7 man, but due to the top three guys being on the disabled list, he found himself starting the third game of the season. It was time for him to redeem himself. 

He pitched 6 scoreless innings before leaving to a standing ovation. He literally pitched the game of his career. As soon as the game was over sports writers were saying that he had made his bones, he had found his place in the major leagues, shown what he was made of. 4 hours after that he was killed by a drunk driver. A drunk already driving on a suspended license since 05'. It's a waste. 

I haven't been blogging lately, I have wanted to, but it seems that there has always been something else that has been in the way. There is always something that is more important. Only... there isn't. 

Reading the comments of everyone around the Majors today, there was an echoed sentiment. Life is short, baseball is a game, and it is a lot more than a game. It is a family, it is a community, and it is a passion. More than anything it is a symbol. 

It is something that these guys do because they love, it is something that they pour their heart and their soul into. I feel that my life is really similar to that. I don't have some glamorous job, I don't do something that is admired and envied by millions, but I have that same passion. I have that same drive, and it something that I need to cherish in the same light.

Nick Adenhart isn't the same as a best friend, but the feeling of knowing that he passed before his time is the same as losing one. I have been in that situation already, and I know how it feels. This isn't as close to home, but you still have that feeling of loss, of disappointment, of waste. 

I don't want my life to be that same waste, I don't want to live life with that same potential for waste. 

So here is another blog entry, I promise to have more of these, and more frequently. After all, I spend the whole day thinking up stuff, if I don't write that down, that is wasteful. Right?

comments (0)

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Top Chef - The Disappointment

Hosea? Really?


I am not going to say that he didn't deserve it, the guy can obviously cook otherwise he wouldn't have won, but I don't like it. 

True, Stefan was a jackass for most of the show, he was cocky, arrogant, and displayed unsportsmanlike conduct on a number of occasions. But... he also showed he was superior to basically everyone else on the show. He won more challenges, showed more adaptability, more skill, and more patience. He was the only guy to never get rattled, to never lose his cool. And he didn't win. Why?

Top Chef has had this happen before. Ilan Hall won season two and he shouldn't have, he wasn't the best there that season. Like Hosea, he merely put it all together on the last day better than anybody else. That is like giving the Cy Young award to someone who pitched one no hitter, but had a season ERA of 11. It is like picking a league MVP by who scored the most points in one single game, not who was the best for a season. He got lucky, plain and simple. 

It is a bummer... but I can't wait for the next season already. Doesn't matter that I am bothered by the finally... I can't let one show ruin a whole season of goodness. That would be WAY too ironic I think...........

comments (0)

Up-N-ATOM!.... Up and At Them!

Being a car guy, I have priorities. Certain traits that I appreciate and look for in a car. There are things that matter, and things that don't matter so much.


I got to ride in an Ariel Atom on Sunday. That car is the absolute embodiment of minimalism in an automotive form. Every single part of the car is dedicated to performance, and there are basically 0 features related to anything but that. 

I never thought of a windshield and being not performance related, but I guess race cars don't have those. Heater? Nope. Radio? Yeah right. Doors? Adjustable seats? Roof? No, nada, no way. 

What it does have is power, and oh dear lord it has that. I have never been in anything that accelerates so fast. I have gotten to ride in Ferraris, Bentleys, Tara's Dad's Z06... and I thought that those were pretty fast. I know now that those were fast in their own way, but not in comparison to this. Rocket sleds are maybe fast in comparison to this. 

And it isn't just fast, it has grip. I mean like those tires must have claws that hold onto the road grip. I was flying into a corner, helpless in the passenger seat, looking at a big yellow sign saying that the suggested speed for the corner is 35mph. We are going over 100. He isn't slowing down, in fact, he is accelerating. Hard. 

Your mind can't really adapt to that. You think that you know what the limits are, what a car can do and can't do. But those thoughts are all wrong for a car like this, the rules are different, really different. 

I thought that the ride was going to be an awesome experience, but I didn't realize that it was going to be such a learning experience. It changed the way that I look at a lot of things. 

Overall, the cost for what you get for a car like that is comparatively low. There isn't anything that can perform like that for under $200K, maybe more. But there are obvious sacrifices. The roof, heater, A/C, radio, windshield... you don't get those. But what you do get is a great deal as long as you want something fast, and don't care about the rest. 

The lesson that it teaches is about focus, about having one specific goal and reaching that goal at any cost. 

I like being focused, I like being dedicated, and this car is exactly that, in spades. 

After that, driving the Tahoe feels just like driving the Tram at Disneyland. 

You stay classy everyone...TTFN.

comments (0)

I could have done something yesterday, but I really didn't feel like I had a whole lot to put out there. I get the blogging every day thing, but if that daily contribution only equals a full sentence, I would rather put it off and wait until I can really deliver quality. Substance. More rambling.


So I installed the new memory in the lappy right now, went pretty smooth. Had to go and get a new small screwdriver set at Sears, so any time that I have to buy new tools for a job, that job is worth doing. 

Anyway, got everything in, it is light years faster now, but it had a strange anomaly, everything in Safari is in French now. French Google, French Blogger.... what the hell? I mean I understand French so it isn't that big of a deal, it is just strange that it basically came out of nowhere. There is random, and then there is FRENCH RANDOM. 

Anyway, off to wash my truck which is filthy and have lunch somewhere yet to be decided. 

You stay classy... planet earth. 

comments (0)

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Lucky Me

Tara writes in her blog every day, doesn't seem like that big of a chore, but I can't always remember to take the trash out on Mondays so who am I to say what is easy to keep up or not.


I am not going to try the 365 thing, more like a 300 thing, maybe a 250. I promise more content though, more bang for your buck. Go big or go home right? 

I decided to title my blog "One Lucky Guy" because I can't help but look at myself that way. I am pretty darn lucky. 

I needed to find a job, I got hired at the first one that I interviewed for. Yeah, I am good at interviews, but I can't ignore the low probability of that happening, especially considering the current job market. Now Tara will say that it isn't just luck, that I have dealt with a lot of shitty luck to accompany my positive outlook, that it is almost unfounded considering some of the circumstances. 

I get laid off a lot, I find jobs that are supposed to kick ass which then proceed to only kick my ass. I find stuff I am really good at but the pay is terrible, I find things that I enjoy that I can't afford to do. But... I landed where I am, on my two feet with the potential of making real money for a change rather than the imaginary money or pretend money or just the promise of money. 

My luck isn't just about work, I get to spend life with the best person in the whole world. Not everyone would agree with me, she is high maintenance, moody, difficult, stubborn, and perfect for me. She isn't perfect for everyone, which is fine with me, since she only belongs to me. I never really thought that I would have someone like that, someone that complimented me, someone that didn't demand sacrifices or compromises or acceptance at every turn. It is effortless, I simply feel how I always wanted to feel and I magically receive everything that I wanted in return, it isn't a bad deal. 

I give back what I can. I don't complain about picking up dog poop, I take out the trash when I remember, I give her scratches to make her fall asleep every  night even if that means staying awake no matter how tired I am, and I genuinely don't care about any sacrifices that I have to make in order to make her smile. 

Now I just need to find a way to be thinner... baby steps I guess. 

Lets see if I do this again tomorrow, that is a baby step too.


comments (0)

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)