Archive for the ‘being lost’ Category
A Good Day at the Tea Shop…
The smell and taste of Matcha green tea filled my body. I didn’t know a table size of tea at the local tea house was a damn kettle size. I played it off by continuously drinking one cup after another.
There were many people in the tea house, most of them were hippie-like, eccentric young adults doing something on their macs. My night started well, I was making plenty of head-way with my photography website. I was able to make it have the look and feel of a simple design. I just have to spend a couple more hours with it to get it to the level that is presentable.
There were plenty of people coming and going, many talking about boyfriends or guys who acted weird. Some other ladies just talked about whatever, I wasn’t really paying attention to their conversation—it might have been too boring or I was in the flow of improving my website.
I had roughly an hour before I was going to get kicked out of the tea house and my laptop battery only had 9% or about 15 minutes left before I was force to drink all of the tea in the kettle. So I saw an extension cord near a young Asian woman, with her pretty mac that was nicely decorated with an array of colors that I couldn’t make out the design of. I asked her if I could plug in my cord (just thinking about that statement makes me laugh with the sexual innuendo). My cord wasn’t long enough so I had to move to the table right next to her (see, there it goes again).
Instantly, there was chatter.
Tags: being lost, green tea, happiness
Day 1 - Road Trip, East Coast: Part 2 of 2: Detroit
Link to the photos: Here
Once I finished talking to the man near the river, I was ready for some more exploration. I continued to drive through the no-one-in-sight places of downtown. I got lucky when I managed to make it to the nicer part of the river side. It was more welcoming to me leaving the car, with my camera and extra lense on hand, and my flip video. There were people fishing, walking along the nicely paved walkway, and others, like myself, relaxing and enjoying the cool breeze and sunshine that couldn’t been more than 80 degrees.
I was able to take a couple of photos of the people who were fishing and also the people chilling in the shade. My trip was getting better and I wanted to soak in all that I went through and still marvel in the fact that I came to a city that was getting a bad rap for being poor and all. I stayed at the waterfront for 30 or so minutes.
I decided it was time to drive through downtown. I noticed that it was clean with many bars in the area, and of course casinos. Just by the look of it, I was looking forward to coming back downtown for the night life.
Tags: Detroit, road trip, self discovery
The Trip to the East Coast: Detroit to New York…Solo Road Trip…All I Want to do is Get Lost…
I have been thinking about this for some time. Everything made sense, when I sat down and decided what I wanted to do for a 4-5 day stretch. I could chill in Houston and be totally rested, travel to California that I have done so many times, I could visit friends who I haven’t talked to in awhile, or I could get lost.
My girlfriend nudged me to go on a trip with her friend’s husband. I didn’t want to do that. This trip was more than a look-good-on-the-beach away from my girlfriend type of vacation. She is going on her own trip, and I wanted to do something for myself.
It took me a couple of days to think about it. I was still not sure if I could do it. The start destination was set, but the end wasn’t. I questioned myself so many times, I was like, “Do I really want to do this? Why do I want to waste money right now? What will I learn about myself? The distance is too too far.”, everything went through my head and of course, like any reasonable adult I almost pulled the plug.
The last time I got lost was nearly 2 years ago. I decided to go to Japan on my own for 2 weeks. Once I bought the plane ticket, things started to happen. It was quite magical the way events happened. I bought the first ticket and still have to buy the return flight ticket, still apprehensive on going.
Tags: being lost, Detroit, east coast, New York, road trip, self discovery
My Writing Teacher Lied to Me!
It’s true…
It all started almost a year ago, this was the time I was in between jobs and had 5 or so weeks off. I did some reading, tons of exercising, and writing here and there. I knew I was preparing myself to become a writer, before I made my declaration at the end of last year. For sure though, I knew I wanted to write fiction. I thought fiction would allow me to dream and become as creative as possible. So I signed up for a 5-week leisure learning fiction writing class.
“I want you guys to remember, that you are writers. Okay. Now repeat after me, I’M A WRITER, I’M A WRITER, I’M A WRITER…”, the writer teacher, who has written one novel said.
I believed everything she said to me: I felt strong, I felt I could write anything (well when I was in that room with 10 or so other people). Everyone came from different backgrounds, but as I looked around the room and noticed the confidence from the other people, who was also saying this bullshit of a mantra - I knew my life was going to be different from this point on!
Ironically speaking, I was listening to Stephen King’s audio book, which he explained the art of writing, during the time of my class. So, it was as if I was getting conflicting information from 2 published authors, one more famous and has written on the subject more than the other. I, being reasonable with myself, listened to both lessons.
Tags: books, fiction writing, Stephen King, writer
What I See, Story 2 - Bus Transporation
This is a new series of post I will do on Friday that is called, What I See. During the week I will take photos of various events around me. I will provide a story behind the photo. This is essentially giving my readers a glimpse into my writing, the way I think, and also about my life. It wouldn’t be fair to only talk about writing, I have to be willing to show yall my pieces, too. Let me know what you think.
It’s hard getting up early in the morning. To be exact, around 4:30. Well more like 4:50 after all the snoozing is needed to convince myself to at least write. After I write I have to drag my ass into the shower, then probably make breakfast or get it on the way to work. I run, run, run to the bus stop, this is done because I have terrible time-management skills.
The bus, that object with 4 wheels, that is transportation to annoying and nice people. That grotesque-never-been-washed hand rail and those uncomfortable seats I have to force my not-flat-ass into every single morning. For the most part, I run to the bus stop because I’m either making sure I didn’t forget anything and making sure I set my a/c past 90 degrees (apartment is an oven when I get back). If I didn’t decide to use the bus I could either jog at a decent pace (30-35 minutes) or ride my road bike (15 minutes). I can’t eat on the bus or drink (I wouldn’t want to drink a thing on a bus that is constantly stopping and jerking my body forward), but I can listen to a podcast with total concentration, I can read a couple of pages of a novel or blog post via iphone, or observing others.
Tags: photo journalism, transportation
Video: Inspiration is Found Anywhere…
I received this video from a friend sometime last week. I didn’t think much of it, but kept watching. It reminded me of Joe Versus the Volcano. I have been inspired by many things, and now there isn’t much that inspires me. I’m more of a self-inspired person that wants to always improve and do more in life.
Yesterday, for some odd reason, I felt sorry for myself. Yep, I couldn’t believe it either. It might have been because there are things I want to do and want everything now. I can’t seem to be patient. I start thinking about my past and where I came from and have come to the conclusion that feeling frighten to do something that is different and not even knowing the direction is totally fine. Almost instantly, I started something that I have left aside for sometime. My mind is racing and I see what else I want to do and will do it.
I’ll have a post tomorrow. I just have to edit the shit out of it. I’m taking my editing game more serious and see it is something that I have to get used to.
May ‘09 Vacation to California (part 2 of 3)
I haven’t been on a real vacation ever since I went to Japan, which is roughly 2 years ago. I was looking forward to this one because I was going with my girlfriend. We went on a trip last summer to Minnesota, but we didn’t spend much time with each other because she was running around doing activities with her cousins.
This vacation has been a couple of months in the making. I know my girlfriend needed it and I just wanted to unplug from the ‘9-5’ and relax for more than a weekend. So we picked California, particularly Oakland for a night, and then off to the Mountains (about 2.5 hours away). The drive through Northern California was satisfying, probably because I wasn’t driving, I was also soaking up all of the fresh and breezy air. Oh yeah, we went to California because my girlfriend’s friend husband was celebrating his 30th birthday.
As we were driving, all I was thinking of was looking over the balcony from the beach house and drinking as much as possible. I didn’t care about the scenery. I wanted to chill, eat, drink, have sex, and that’s about it. But, as I was day dreaming I started paying attention to the road. We drove over the Bay Bridge, which consisted of dirty, nasty, gray water. We went through this one ritzy town, where the locals looked like they enjoyed there quiet, but happenin habitat. We kept traveling on highway 80 or 580 to finally take a detour to the mountain side. The land was clear and flat, as if it was used for farming, as there were cows everywhere to eat, shit, and to look at the cars, trucks, and RV’s pass by. I didn’t know how much longer we had to get to our destination, but I stopped day dreaming and paid attention to the scenery. It was like something from a movie; the elevation kept rising and noticed their were deeps, turns, and mountain passes on both sides of the curvy road. It seemed there were at least 200 turns to get to our destination, I so badly wanted to take over in the driver seat to experience something I have only seen in movies or the television screen. But I stopped acting like I was the best driver ever in the world and enjoyed my time in the passenger seat.
Tags: california, new place, surprise, vacation
Everybody is Lost…
Everybody is lost. Everyone. No one is left out of this discussion. From the 6 year old who is developing his character, but is held down by his/her parents rules to the 60 or 70 year old who isn’t done living and wants to do something different in their lives. Everyone, every single person is lost. It is important to have goals, dreams, and deadlines for our lives, but why do we have to be so rigid with life? For the most part our lives are determined by other people, our decisions to do for ourselves, and the pure luck of going outside and doing with a non-determined mind (letting the wind blow us in the direction she wants us to go).
Every since I got out of school I have been trying to figure out what makes me move, who I wanted to be like, where I wanted to live and so on and so on. I bought business courses, read tons of books, tried skiing, traveled to Japan, and did things I thought I was interested in. I talked to friends, I looked at all the people I came across in my life to see if they knew the answers and way to live life. It seemed that this over-achiever in college had everything figured out, but they were busting their asses off at a job that they would soon lose a year or 2 later. Only to find out they didn’t want to do the job they put their heart and soul into.
When it comes to what we want out of life, it is the change. The change to continue to do what we feel and think is the right way to “our” happiness. Why do we worry about having everything figured out? That question is one that is in constant motion. We have to be willing to listen to our voice inside and no when the bullshit is creeping in. Because as our lives change, our thoughts and self worth change. Once that happens we are lost again.
Tags: excitement, journey, lost, scary
What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?
A couple of years back when one of my younger brother’s and I used to go out hitting on chicks at the bars/clubs we came up with conversation starters so we could get to know the girls a little better for the short period of time. I never used this question, but heard my brother use it a couple of times. The girls would laugh and they would talk about their problems at work and what their real dreams were. My brother had his already memorized, so he had no problem trying to impress the girl and also letting the woman know that he was doing something with his life. I still think of that very question now. I know what I want to do and am taking steps to make it a full time reality, but now I think about it for other people.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
When we were kids we were asked this question multiple times. From our parents, relatives, teachers, and whoever else who was atleast 15 years older than us. As I sit in my cube I see and hear people who are not doing what they want to do. People complaining about the best time of the work day is lunch and when they go home, when it is monday wanting it to already be friday, thinking of ideas so they can do those full-time, and simply not wanting to be there in the office because it is the ‘same ol’ same ol’‘. So now it is the beginning of another not-much-different-work-week; a week that starts off shitty (monday), gets better through ‘hump day’ (wednesday), and the best day of the week (friday). But during the week is what drains the life out of our souls and all we want to do is get home to sleep, drink some beer, watch some crappy tv, and think about what we really want to do.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
- @YEAdamMcFarland The full screen editor are badass, I get plenty done, but there shouldn't be a reason for so many choices. 12:37:20 PM November 13, 2009
