In The Ends

"We only want to be free. And as funny as it sounds it's all we want. To not have our egos bound with the rays of suns. Because man should be free as falling rain. To find what he loves even if it's pain" - The Growlers

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Monterey, Carmel, and Johnny Hatfield

I was back on the road two weekends ago to experience the beauty of the mid-coast of California and relax in Monterey and Carmel. When Mike Ness sang about driving up the coast on highway 1, he was right. The majestic beauty of the Pacific ocean under palm trees and the California sun provide a time to look inward and analyze one's life.

The Tarzan in me burst out again on this trip, and I ventured deep into the jungle with nothing on but a loincloth. The result was a bad case of poison ivy, two trips to the ER, and a string of itchy nights.


We also stopped at the second highest priced gas station in the country where a regular tank of gas was more than $4.50 a gallon. Brutal.





































Then last weekend Johnny Hatfield came out to visit. It was his second trip to LA. We saw a Led Zeppelin cover band called Led Zepagain, saw The Black Keys at the Wiltern, ate at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, and John tried sushi for the first time. Thanks for coming, bro- good times. Enjoy the rest of senior year.







Sunday, March 16, 2008

The Return of Dirty Bird

Dirty Bird returned to the scene this past weekend in Newport Beach to run with Grimaldi and I. After deciding to join the Navy, doing a stint in boot camp, and moving to San Diego, Dirty has a lot going for him at the moment. He is stationed in San Diego for all of 2007, and will then be traveling around the world working on plane engines throughout 2008. He has plans to go back to school, see the world, and retire by the age of 44. But even with these new life changes, trust me, Dirty is still Dirty. I'm glad he's back in the mix; it's good to have a buddy back. More to come...

Saturday, March 08, 2008

LA Marathon

I crossed off a big bullet on the list of life last weekend by running in the LA Marathon. I knew I would do a marathon eventually so I figured, why not check it off now? I trained for six months, doing most of my running on the coast between Santa Monica and Malibu. I decided not to train with a running group because I felt I was motivated enough to train on my own, and I wasn't thrilled about the idea of waking up at 7am every Saturday to run.

Running the marathon was probably the hardest thing I have ever done and was a truly amazing experience. Even my thick skin gave way and I got a little emotional at various points on the course as I listened to my favorite music and laid my heart out on the line. I could not have run any faster or tried any harder than I did.

I finished in 4 hours, 27 minutes, and 16 seconds.

And now I am in marathon retirement, and it's on to the next challenge.