Author Archives: admin

familiarity

Getting rid of things is a task many of us striving for a new minimal way of life; removing, donating, purging. As a recovering pack-rat this is one of the hardest things I’ve tried to do for myself. There is still a hesitation when I look at my stacks of magazines I know I’ll never go back to read again. A hesitation before I remove the stack of t-shirts I haven’t worn in more months than I can remember but keep around ‘because I like them’. A hesitation with piles of things I am keeping ‘just in case’.

I have often wondered why.

Why isn’t it easy to remove this item. When I am honest with myself I know I’ll never use it. And even if I may think I will use it, when? In the next year? Doubtful.

However, I think I have figured out why I hesitate. I can even sum that up in one word….

Familiarity

I’m used to having this stuff around me. It, or something like it, have always been there. I am not going to place a value of good or bad on this, it just is what it is. I’m familiar with my stacks of things.

At the same time, I am tired of this being a familiarity. It is taking up too many cycles of my attention.

Time to become familiar with being a new way to live. Less junk to pay attention to = more attention for the things that matter. This is why I’m working on a version of minimalism that works for my life. I have better things to devote attention to. Time with my wife and son, time improving, time enjoying life. Now, I’ll still have things; but, only when they add value to what is truly important.

I am extremely fortunate

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My wife and son have been away for the past few days. They went on a trip to see some friends of ours. I have too much going on at work to be able to join them.

A few friends have asked if I am enjoying my bachelor time.

It’s ok, but it has given me time in the evening to reflect on life. Also, it confirmed something I have always known; I am extremely fortunate.

I am married to my best friend in the world, and I miss her a lot.
I am Dad to my best buddy in the world, and I miss him a lot.

Now, don’t get me wrong, quiet time is nice now and then. I think we all need quiet time on a regular basis. It is beneficial to have. But, I’m fortunate to be happily married. I’m fortunate to have an amazing boy who calls me Dad.

Life is good.

What did you remove today

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In my slow but relatively steady move towards a version of minimalism that fits my life, I have decided to remove at least one thing every day this month. Continuing to ‘clean things out‘. It may be a small goal, but it is reachable. It may be a short amount of time, but it is a commitment that will (hopefully) be easily accomplished.

It can be done.

To assist myself with this task I have set up a couple automated reminders.

A 7:00 AM reminder in my Google Calendar:

This starts my day with a reminder of the goal. It also put another thing in my inbox, forcing me to think about it, also forcing me to take action to I can delete that email.

A 8:30 PM reminder in my Google Calendar:

Accountability – it asks the question assuming the task is done, and has a link to where I have decided to log everything this month.

My Fargo.io ‘Getting Rid of Things’ log:

“Fargo is a simple idea outliner, notepad, todo list, project organizer.” Fargo is an interesting, fairly new site built by Dave Winer. (Yes, that Dave Winer, the same guy that wrote the 1st blogging software, and RSS, among others.) I find it perfect for this; web-based, uses Dropbox to store the file, simple.

In people’s own journeys to de-clutter and de-stress their lives, I’ve read a lot of different approaches; from having a packing party, to the approach I am working on this month. There was a great post on Becoming Minimalist today: 10 Decluttering Principles.

We will see where this road goes.

laundry and suffering

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The big man and I were cleaning his clothes out yesterday and once we removed everything he had outgrow, decided it would be good to wash all his t-shirts. He had so many in his drawer that it was overflowing (and a side effect of the overflow was wrinkles). He’s been very helpful with folding, but this time he decided to sit on the couch and whine a little when I said it was time to help.

I took that opportunity to talk to him about his reaction and suffering.

“You know, how you react to this task is only affecting you”

“I don’t want to fold”

“It’s not my favorite thing to do either, but, how I react to it directly relates to whether it is hard to get through, or easy. You see, if there is something I don’t particularly enjoy doing, I can make a choice; do I decide ‘this is horrible, I hate this’, or, ‘this isn’t my favorite thing to do, but I can get through it pretty quick so no big deal’. If I choose the first reaction, I suffer. However, if I choose the second, I don’t, and I also usually get through the task much quicker. Which do you think would be the better decision?”

“Saying it’s no big deal.”

“Yep. Do you know where I learned that?”

“Your Dad?”

“Great guess, but actually, it was <I point my eyes up and to the left, towards our Buddha that sits in the front room>”

“From Buddha. <as he smiles>”

“Yep. That is one of the most basic, yet, most important teachings. It is also why I sit every night. So the mind I have when I sit, can be the mind I have when I work on a task that I don’t particularly care for.”

“<he smiles some more> OK”

And you know, we got through folding that laundry basket full of his t-shirts pretty quickly.

Dad’s dream car

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Got a text from Mom with nothing but a picture, and the word ‘Wow!’ yesterday:

My Dad has been talking about getting a Porsche for as long as I can remember, so I asked if we’d see that in the driveway. Mom replied “Yup, Dad is purchasing it right now. OMG.”

Cracked me up. Glad he finally went and did it.

A couple hours later, I received another text with a picture:

Look at that. I really need to go visit soon!

Comic Con 2013

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We are back from Comic Con and rested up! What a great time we had. Here are a few highlights:

Thursday

Our drive down to San Diego. Overall, we made pretty good time and we were excited to be on our way down there.

Then we RAN to the Nintendo Lounge so a very special little boy would get to see what he had been waiting for.

Then we walked over to the Vikings area so Ian and I could go raid a village with shield maidens by our side! SKOL!!!!!

Then walked over to the Sega Arcade to play more games before heading to the hotel to rest up for a few days of adventure.

Link to my gallery of Thursday pics on Google+

Friday

Dawn has this amazing ability to function on little to no sleep, and when Comic Con comes around, she is always on a mission! This years mission was The Walking Dead panel. She was in line for Hall H by 4AM. (Yes, Hall H is officially that ridiculous at this point.) Ian and I met up with her early in the morning as well to get our badges and make sure we were there for the panel too.

‘The World’s End’ panel with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright. The movie looks hilarious, cannot wait to see it.

‘The Walking Dead’ panel!!!! Along with hearing from the majority of the cast, we saw scenes from the next season. Bring on the zombies!

Next up, ‘Vikings’ panel!!! The cast were great to see in person, and seemed to have great chemistry with one another. They showed footage from Season 2 and I think my jaw stayed open for a few minutes afterwards. Huge huge huge season to look forward to! After the panel, we raced outside to try and meet them as they left, and we were in luck! We met Katheryn Winnick (Lagertha), Travis Fimmel (Ragnar), and Clive Standen (Rollo)!

One of the highlights of my Comic Con experience this year was meeting Katheryn Winnick. Not only did I get a picture with her, but I was also able to tell her thank you for portraying such a strong female character on the show. She seemed truly appreciative of the comment. (We need more of this!)

Dawn and I both got our picture with Travis Fimmel. A friend of mine commented that he and I could be brothers; I’ll take it! haha.

And finally, I was lucky enough to also meet Clive Standen! He really seemed like he was having a great time at Con meeting the massive amounts of fans that came out to support their work and the show.

I recorded the cast introduction:

and the entire panel (without footage, since that isn’t legal):

Link to my gallery of Friday pics on Google+

Saturday

Dawn went off to a few TV show panels, while Ian and I headed over to the Nintendo lounge. He loves it there!

The happy guy playing the new Mario game for about the 400th time. haha.

The big man with his friend Prill from Nintendo. She is very nice and remembers him at every event!

Even the photographer working for Nintendo commented that this was the best picture he’d seen all weekend! I have to agree, our little Viking rocks.

Then we went out to the exhibit hall again for a while. Had to get a picture of this; Minecraft + Lego + Ian = awesome.

Great costume from Popcap promoting their new Plants vs Zombies 2 game.

Dawn and I waiting in line for Hall H again. Tried to get in for the Thor panel. Unfortunately, we didn’t get in.

Amazing special effects makeup on display!

And finally, an extremely impressive Lego ‘The Hobbit’ display.

Link to my gallery of Saturday pics on Google+

Sunday

Walked around the exhibit hall and saw more great cosplay!

Killed a couple of zombies at The Walking Dead booth.

Then we met up with a couple of Ian’s buddies.

Next, it was off to the SpongeBob panel. During a sing-along, one of the people from Nickelodeon approached me and asked if I would be captain for Team Patrick. I had no idea what this meant, but of course I said yes. Later found out what it meant – getting up in front of the entire ballroom with Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick Star) and Tom Kenny (SpongeBob) to dance!! What the heck,,, when in Rome, right?!! Ian wouldn’t come up with me, but his buddy Corbin did and we made a great team. About half way through I look over and Dawn is in tears she’s laughing so hard! Ian said I was really goofy. Mission accomplished. After I asked Bill Fagerbakke to take a picture and later realized (when I actually looked at the picture on the phone) that Tom Kenny photo-bombed us!! How many chances do you get to say you were taking a picture with Patrick and SpongeBob photo-bombed you????!!!! After the panel we even got to talk to them again for more pictures and they signed shirts for us. Definitely another major highlight of Comic Con this year. (We have video of the dancing, will post it as soon as we can)

Next, it was back out to the exhibit hall. We even got to sit on the Star Trek Bridge.

Finally done, and extremely tired….

Link to my gallery of Sunday pics on Google+

That afternoon you dye your 9 yr old’s hair green

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Yesterday afternoon Dawn and I had fun dyeing the big man’s hair. She’s been asking him for a while and he finally decided it would be fun.

Heading to the store to pick up some Manic Panic

Applying the awesome

Looks green to me!

We also dyed momma's hair (not green though)

He looks awesome

Had a great time and I think he looks really cool.

Strength training

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Now that the soccer season has ended, I’ve been able to train with a bit more regularity. One thing I’ve been considering is bringing back my training log. I enjoyed keeping it, updating it, and having it as a good way to keep myself accountable.

Watch this space.

Just another day

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Reverend Kusala posted this on his Facebook wall today and I thought it was perfect. Today I’m officially 39 years young. It’s funny, Dawn and I were talking about ‘getting older’ last night and we agree it just doesn’t seem real. Even though we are each that age, there are times we admit we still feel like kids.

And you know what, in a way, I intend to keep it that way. It isn’t to say we don’t want to be responsible adults, but to me it is more about trying to live in the present moment. Age really is just another classification we force upon ourselves and others, with very little meaning. The present moment is what is important; whether we are working at our jobs, coaching a soccer team, sitting in meditation, lifting a 500lb deadlift, or just taking a nice stroll along the beach. Being present.

So that is what I’ve been reflecting on today, between my back to back meetings at work; not worried about being 39, 59, or even 99, just being.

I hope you enjoyed this, now a message from me in a former life:

A few updates.

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I haven’t written in a while, don’t seem to find the time so here is a list of things that I’ve been up to.

The Dude, the Reverend, and the Zen Master.

Yes, in my humble opinion this is a more appropriate title for the amazing talk given, but I may be slightly biased.

I’ll just quickly go through a few of the many wonderful things that happened that evening, in no particular order:

Meeting friends

Meeting Shepard Fairey

I also met and shook hands with Moby, but no picture.

Singing a ’round’ of row, row, row your boat with Jeff, Bernie, Danny, and the entire audience. No words!

And above all else, watching the good reverend interview two good people. I think that is what I was the most excited about, because I know how much of a Lebowski fan my friend Danny is and how you could tell he was having an amazing time up there with them. That will always bring a smile to my face.

Luckily, they recorded it! Have a look here:

An Evening with Jeff Bridges and Bernie Glassman from ALOUDla on Vimeo.

Cabezon Dinosaurs

Dawn, Ian, and I have fun visiting roadside Americana

view our album here

LA Fit Expo

Ian and I attend the LA Fit Expo most years and this time, Dawn joined us which was a real treat. Watching the Strongman competitors is always the best part, and this year they did not disappoint. Motivation!

view our album here (with videos)

Iron Lotus

Had a great time posting to Iron Lotus with a lot of good people I consider my friend. Five Buddhists keeping up training logs and their thoughts on strength training and the Dharma is something I feel was pretty special and unique. The site had a good run but we all came to the agreement that it was time to close up shop. Who knows, maybe it will have another incarnation as something else one of these years, always good to leave options open.

I may get my own training log going again soon. Training hasn’t been as consistent as I would prefer, but that is OK.

Soccer

And last, but surely not least; lots and lots of things to do for soccer. I’m currently Spring Coordinator for our AYSO region, U10 Division Coordinator, web content coordinator, and of course, Coach. It’s somewhat like having a second job, but also a lot of fun. Our team is doing well so far this season.

and that’s most of it. I’ll try to write more when time allows.