Wake Up

SHUT DOWN

2010-08-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

BLOG SHUT DOWN UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Expert Advice

2010-08-06T22:48:00.000-07:00

I once read in a blog about blogging that you should blog about a blog topic with which you are an expert. It told me that I should write as if I were explaining my expert opinion to someone who was familiar with my topic but not as knowledgeable as myself. I don't think I know anything about anything because I don't really have a solid topic to blog about!! Sad? Perhaps. Pathetic? Maybe more cosmetically on this page than in actuality. Changeable? I'm going with yes on this one. I can't blog about restaurants anymore because I don't go out! Some diet thing I'm on lately. I'll let you know how it works out in 50 years, whether I have cancer or diabetes or am as healthy as a clam; one that has not been caught and is still in the ocean of course.

One or the Other

2010-08-06T18:49:00.000-07:00

I chose the fork that in the road that led me to life. I chose the fork in the road that led me to death. I chose the fork in the road that led me to my dreams.
I chose the fork in the road that felt safe and easy.
I chose the fork in the road that made me the happiest. I chose the fork in the road that didn't have fear written all over it; fear was where it pointed to and I'll never know what was at the end of that path.
I know that on the path that I took, there was no fear, there was no suffering, there was no denial, there was no control, there was no sacrifice. I knew that path led to safety and most importantly I knew that path's ending; a consummation of fear and loathing.
The path that frightens us the most is the path with the largest obstacles, the sharpest turns, the least amount of visibility, and the steepest of hills and climbs.
Too bad each step along that path is a step that forces us to grow, to live, and to overcome. It forces us to reach a higher, better, happier, more fulfilling end. Too bad we don't take that path because it scares us. What if fear did not exist? What if the word was never invented? Would we then have to take feelings of fear and describe them as feelings of life? What if every time we were scared the only word we could think of was life. What if we realized we could transform that weakest part of life to the strongest and healthiest by overcoming and swallowing up weakness in the pursuit of excellence. A great many possibilities await us; we have only to choose; one step at a time; one choice at a time. so choose.

What the Bleep Do We Know

2010-07-31T21:00:00.001-07:00

I saw a DVD today that was intriguing, informative, pontificating, and novel, so far as my experience goes. It was about quantum physics and how the world has recently been discovered on a much smaller level. In essence, it connected science with spirituality, God, and divinity.
Something that struck me and has nagged at me the whole day, in a manner that I do not quite yet understand how to digest, is the simple fact that matter can be neither created nor destroyed. If you allow that to sink into your mind and heart and whole being, you will realize that everything that you see, hear, smell, touch, and taste is connected by energy. If energy is only distributed throughout the universe and throughout our world, then we are indeed incepted from the same mass of energy or being. We are all one; we all share life; life lived and life sustaining; we sustain each others energy; God sustains our energy; our being is part of Gods energy.
We are told that we are all sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father. I never understood real life, heart-beating, feet-moving, interacting implications of that doctrine. We are more than just brothers and sisters through covenants and commitments, we are brothers and sisters in a real blood, cell relationship. The universe, everything and everybody in it, is connected to each other through the dispersal of energy. If you are reading this blog, you might come to realize that no matter who you or where you come from, you and I are connected. The same energy that exists in my body exists in your body. We are literally one.
If you ever get the chance, rent this DVD from your local library. It will open up and expand your mind. It also will teach of the divinity of yourself and the greater possibilities that awaits each one of us, if we will but connect into the energy of life, which stems and courses through a Master Creator and Moulder.
May peace and Love engulf the energy you carry within you. May you spread and share that energy in love with those around you and remember that no man is an island.

Hate or Love It

2010-07-16T17:57:00.001-07:00

I saw a guy driving on the highway today, zooming in and out of people, his own personal racetrack at his fingertips. At one point, at a critical point in his travel itinerary, he tried getting over to another lane to get off his exit. As he started going he noticed a car right next to him so he had to swerve back into his lane. As he forced his path away from a collision he looked at the woman in the car next to him, sat straight up in his seat, and with his lips moving vivaciously, let the bird out of its cage for her and I to see.
I took action immediately. I quickly accelerated so as to be right behind this crazy car, honking horn loudly and indefinitely, like a bullhorn from a large ship. The man looked in his mirror and threw his hands up in a "what the hell are you doing?!" manner. He stepped on his brakes to force me to step on mine as I proceeded get in the lane the to the left so I could get next to him.
The fun part of this story is when my machismo wears out as traffic slows...for a stoplight. Uh-oh. We stop, right next to each other. I was worried he might get out of his car and continue his road rage on me. Luckily he just resorted to rolling down his window, hurling a torrent of explicative toward me. I hesitated then rolled down my window, hurling an equal force of torrential explicative toward him. This cursing back and forth lasted for about a minute as we waited for the light to turn. I don't remember what he said, or what I said. All I remember is the intense feeling of adrenaline pumping through my heart as we he turned onto his street from the main road we were just on and I let my own bird fly away.
I got home that evening, got a cold glass of water and sat down to watch t.v. I thought about my previous engagement with the enemy, my blood still pumping in and out of my heart at an alarming rate. I tried to settle down but my whole energy and mind was focused on that guy.
So many questions. Why is he such a jerk? Why can't he just be cool? Why couldn't he realize how much of a jerk he was after I honked at him? That one probably bothered me the most. The one about him still not feeling bad for what he had done after I honked and cursed at him. Not being able to figure it out, I turned on the telee and sat back in my recliner.

Laugh to Live

2010-07-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

If she would have given up five years ago she would be nowhere now. The laughter, the crying, the yelling and the clapping would be nothing more than a dream. If she would have listened to that particular voice in her head, she would have just walked away. We are all schizophrenic, listening to different voices in our heads, all telling us something different, all wanting something different from us. Luckily she listened to the voice that told her to not quit, to keep going, tell another joke, walk out on another stage and laugh another day. That voice was no less prophetic than the other ones, no less prophetic, but much more holy. That voice was the only one that urged her to follow her dreams, walk with her talents and her loves. She loved telling jokes and making people laugh, now more than ever.
Whatever happens she doesn’t care, at least she cares a lot less where the competition goes than where she finds happiness. She’ll always have clubs, bars, and special events to tell her jokes in. Five years ago though, she would never have imagined that she would care more about her jokes than she would about telling her jokes. That may sound a bit confusing, why would someone care so much about a joke if they can’t tell it. Well, the joke is in the creating and in the telling, you’re right. The joke isn’t in the size of the audience or the general social construction of a particular audience; the joke is in her heart, and if she can please first and foremost her soul then she will be able to please souls wherever she goes.

Heart of Darkness

2010-06-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

Going into the interminable jungle of life, a savage society awaits and watches your every step, breath, and utterance. Death wafts in from every direction, always weary of sickness and pain on each path trod and nervous with every call to deck that you might not return. A haze of darkness goes before us, follows behind us, and eventually becomes us. The heart is the gate to our soul and when it is plagued and harangued with continual darkness, it is only a matter of time before one final struggle and push by the darkness engulfs the soul, hopes, dreams, passions, the good along with the bad. It is all swallowed up in a black hole.
Going into Conrad's Congo is not so hard for me to imagine. Not only imagine, but actually walking in the jungle, drinking in the emptiness that surrounded life there. Conrad's Congo is not unlike daily life for some.
A suffusing comment I read takes in stride the universality of the life experience, despite surroundings, situations, etc. I can't find the reference exactly, but he says something along the lines of how work tests us, reveals to us what and who we really are, or at least what we may gain from hard work.
It's true. It is when we are tested in our finest and most delicate faculties to produce something that is desirable by another party, we come to realize what we are currently capable of, what we are potentially capable of, and what we are not capable of. And if we find we are not capable of something, we find that we are capable of turning what we are not capable of into something that we are.
There is potential among the heart of darkness. Largely, there is great knowledge and potential wisdom to churn in the heart of darkness into something desirable and necessary. Never be ungrateful for a moment to walk in Conrad's jungle, which is our jungle. Never for a moment shun the opportunity to walk into the darkest jungle of your heart, for it will see you wiser, albeit weaker in some faculties, to gain better worlds like it in different spheres.

Smile and Wave Boys, Smile and Wave

2010-06-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

This post is for all the people out there that don't get what they want. How many times a day do you wish you had something in your life, but it just isn't there? For me, it happens at least once a day, and about twice a week it is something really big that makes me depressed I don't have it. I know how old people with arthritis feel. I wake up every morning with a shooting pain down the left side of my lower body, every day hoping and praying that the pain will subside, stop, and eventually leave me forever. I feel moments, maybe minutes long worth, of freedom from the pain, but it inevitably comes back to literally bite me in the butt.
I guess pain is there to be my constant companion. She has already taught me a few things about life and now that I feel that the lessons are over, she can go. But she doesn't. She clings to me lint to cotton. We all have so much to learn from pain in our life, we just want to learn it and be done with it. Not so. That isn't the plan. I guess when I get older I will look back on my life and say, "sheesh, I am sooo glad that I went through that, I learned so much about life." Ha. But I am not older yet and I just say be gone.
Trust. Apparently trust comes with a price, and that price is some form of pain; whether it is physical or emotional, you have to pay the price. There is no skirting the contract, there is no hedging your bet. You have to pay what you have to pay and that is that.
I guess we can still feel pain in our life, but it does not have to bring us down. We can smile through it and endure. Yep. Smile and wave boys, smile and wave. That will be my motto: Smile and wave boys, smile and wave....

For love's Sake!

2010-06-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

Returning home from working out, I had an extra skip in my step, yet at the same time a small chip on my shoulder. My leg hurt so I was ready to just get home and take some medicine--mmmmmm...on my way home I spotted a girl walking towards me on the same path. In the mood I was in I usually wouldn't care to notice anyone walking my way, but I noticed and she noticeably noticed me, then noticed me noticing her, so we mutually noticed each other. It was like I was in middle school again, seeing the cute girl walking towards me, instantaneously not knowing what to do and not wanting to look away because she is so dang cute! I glanced up, she glanced down, she glanced up, I glanced down. When we were about ten feet away from each other I managed a half-attractive smile and said "hey..." She grinned ear to ear and said, "Hi, how are you doing?" As I was about to respond, "great!" the tennis class beginners decided they did not want love to have a chance, one of their balls ricocheting off of a racquet right into the side of my head. As I yelped softly, the girl I was guffawing at put her hands up in a catching posture as if a tennis ball would bowl me over. She asked, "Are you o.k.," to which I responded, "Huh?! Oh yeah, I'm great, thanks, have a good one." I walked away as quickly as I could to hide the redness that invaded the rest of my face. I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

Are You Happy?

2010-06-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

Yes!! No...wait, do you want me to answer that seriously or do you want me to give you you the socially perfunctory answer that everyone wants to hear because they don't really want to hear about your life because 99% of people 98% of the time only care and think about themselves? This was the beginning of a conversation I had with a dear friend last night, of which was returned the answer, 'of course I want the truth or I would not have asked.'

The truth is that, no, of course I am not happy. How many of us are happy in the truest sense of the word? I think very few of us are. I think very few of us let ourselves be happy and I think very many of us are stupid enough to keep our thoughts to ourselves and not find good advice and support from the people around us. My posts always end with some optimistic outlook on a bleak situation, exerting universal paradigms that we know happy people have themselves, hoping our paradigm will turn with time. The issue lies deeper than a change of mind, deeper than a universal truth, deeper than immediately accepting someone else's outlook on life to give life a pretense of fulfillment.

So many answers, I will not attempt to explicate our problems of unhappiness and find the cure-all for our problems in life. I might be a billionaire if I was able to do that. I think instead I will start from the bottom, from what I know: I know I am unhappy and I know I am unhappy because there are so many things that I desire to have in my life that are not in my life and I attribute the reason for those things not being there to my own laziness and fear. Good, now we are getting somewhere. We are seeing ourselves for what and who we are right now. Our problems lie in the times when all we see is what we could be, where we could be, and who we could be. I am going to see myself for who I am, accept myself as I am, and blog from there. I am just going to experiment in this step and try to be comfortable in the skin I live in now, not imaging myself being comfortable in a skin that I might eventually be in.

Natta Me

2010-05-25T22:51:00.001-07:00

Natta thing I can find
With which to fill my
Time; I scamper, scurry,
Surf, and stream, but not
A thing I do is getting
Me closer to my dream;
So much time is wasted, in
technological glory, but
I really just need to sit down,
and start writing my story.

Hubble Telescope

2010-05-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

Enthrall and enchant me,
Don't drop me as you walk away;
You got me from the first time
I saw you sitting there.
Angels, flowers, purest
Sunsets, there are no words that
begin to describe your beauty;
New inventions, new language,
New words in a million years
Never will touch your beauty,
It exists not in this world,
Not even in Heaven, but a
World yet undiscovered, yet
Uninterpreted, yet to be
Understood.

Summit Life in Twists and Turns

2010-05-21T09:25:00.000-07:00

“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” So says Edmund Hillary, the first man to have reached the summit of Mt. Everest, 29,029 ft. into the heavens.
Last night I decided that I needed to get some more exercise in, after having a torn muscle that has plagued me for the past 2 months. So, yay, yes, I made it to the top. That is not what I want to talk about.
Turns marked the way up the trail. Each turn was a switchback, effectively changing the direction you are walking, yet ascending higher up the mountain with each turn. This makes the hike bearable, and doable, by just about anyone. Each new turn presented a new opportunity, a new possibility. Each new turn led to new and changing terrain, in fact, when you look closely at any mountain trail, it is easy to see that each new step provides a new opportunity and changing terrain.
At that moment, I decided that the word FAILURE does not exist in my vocabulary. For every failure rather is a turn in the road; presenting me with a new direction, a challenge to get back up, to go again, to finish what I started but perhaps from a different approach. To summit the mountains of my life, and ultimately THE mountain of my life, I have but to look to the summit, realize that my way may not be my destined way, the best way for me, and certainly not the only way. At the end, I will look down from the summit, I will look back on my life, and be able to say, "I conquered no such thing as life, but I conquered myself."

Geoff, Will, and John—Dreams and Opportunities

2010-05-18T17:42:00.000-07:00

Not too impressed? I hardly am. Names you’ve seen a hundred times and heard a thousand more; television, newspapers, your best friends, roll call during class, the list goes on. Guaranteed you know, or have personally met a guy who has one of these three names as their first name. Interesting that a man’s, or a woman’s, first name is not the name which brings them their glory, honor, and legacy. A first name wastes away as much as the word seed wastes away in name to grow into an oak, a fir, a maple. The name that lasts is the last name, it is the name that gives us honor, puts us on a pedestal of glory, and memorializes our legacy through all time and eternity.
Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton might be the names you are more familiar with that bring a flood of impressions, mostly those of respect and awe. Family names. Like Malcolm Gladwell spoke of in his book Outliers, successful people are largely successful due to the opportunities they were offered due to their family circumstances. If you are reading this, take stock into what your last name has offered you by way of opportunities. Hardly has the world seen a person dig themselves up from the dregs of society and find themselves on the pinnacle of greatness. There is almost always an opportunity involved.
So don’t worry if your last name isn’t Carnegie, Gates, Shakespeare, Chaucer, or Van Gogh. Worry only that you take the opportunity when it comes to you. It may only come once, quickly, forcefully, or fearfully. You will imprint your name on the books of history as you take that one opportunity that is given to all great people. We make our opportunities, we fight for them, we live for them, and they raise our spirits and our hopes. Never let opportunity pass you by. Instead grasp it and snatch it from the world that dreams are made of, our dreams, hopes, and ambitions.

Tao of Pooh

2010-05-06T16:14:00.000-07:00

Taoism is a thought culture that explicates the physical relation our mind, body, and spirit hold to the physical world. In the book, the Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff shows how Taoist Winnie the Pooh is. One of the metaphors he explicates is that of a boulder in a river to the peace of mind and conscious that comes as we become one with the problems challenges around us.
He writes of a large boulder that falls in the river. The water when it encounters the boulder is too weak to break the outside shell, let alone the core of the rock. Instead of the water trying to go through the rock, it flows around the rock.
When Winnie the Pooh encounters problems he doesn't go head on with them, he always himself to solve them by going with the flow so to speak. None of us are powerful or strong enough to break through boulders in our lives, but we can become aware enough to flow through and around our problems, turning our problems into opportunities of new and exciting growth and change. Remember Winnie the Pooh next time you have a major challenge in your life and see it as a way to discover a new path and a new opportunity.

Better Dayz

2010-05-04T19:11:00.000-07:00

Ain't it the life though? Shoot, standing here in my kitchen, cooking spaghetti, listening to Tupac's Better Dayz, watching the sun go down out my window, preparing for a night of karaoke on the town with good people I love. Ain't it the life? I don't remember any better dayz than the one I'm livin' in right now. Give me a torn muscle that hasn't healed in a month and a half, take away the sport that is one of very few things in life that gives me happiness, but give me a plate of spaghetti with shredded parmesan cheese on it, and I'm livin' the life; the good life. My crushed heel, my torn peroneus longus, my three cracked ribs, my pulled hamstrings and groin, sciatica down the left side of my body for months and years, potential carpal tunnel syndrome in my wrist from a hit I took at practice, it's all taught me what I love most about my life and what is most important in any person's life; people. But people are only masses of emotion, flesh, and blood without the relationship we can have with them. And just as I'm finishing up my thoughts, my spaghetti is done and I'm ready to eat.

Live the good life baby.

The Sun

2010-05-02T22:18:00.001-07:00

What in life is sown in death,
Can have but nothing but regret
The tears and pain of a billion
Worlds, wishing, wondering, what if.
Do not join the pool that wanders,
That floats amid dreary dread.
Live now, live full, live right
For when you die, you’re dead.

Suddenly

2010-05-02T18:43:00.000-07:00

Walking down the sidewalk, I looked down,
my eyes glazed, heel-toe, heel-toe,
then I heard you
call my name, I didn't look up
immediately, my glazed eyes
subverting my mind.
As the wind rushed past my
eardrums, my mind heard a
swoosh, then a faint whistle.
I looked up, away from my feet,
straight ahead at the horizon,
suddenly I turned, piercing the
source of your voice; now I
waited, waited for you to call
again; it didn't take but a
moment, it couldn't have lasted
longer, I wished it would never
stop. You were not there,
nothing was there, nothing but
a new, no a different horizon; the
same horizon I first looked ahead to,
the same, nothing there but sky.

Unconquered

2010-04-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

A debilitating case of tuberculosis of the bone saw Henley in pain for many years. His contemporaries saw him as an inspiration. Even those who did not get along with his views as editor of the National Observer, such as William Butler Yeats, praised him, "I disagreed with him about everything, but I admired him beyond words." Read Invictus with this in mind and see if you can not now feel more powerfully the truth behind the ink.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

That's What I've been trying to tell Ya'!!!

2010-04-08T21:23:00.000-07:00

The scriptures repeatedly say that miracles are the result of faith. They repeatedly say that God works in our lives through the gift of faith. I have been trying to live my life predictively, asking God if it is right before I even take the first step. That's not how it works! I have known this forever but I am only just starting to realize this. God is no fortune teller, he is our guide. He waits until we choose a path and lets us know before we proceed too far down that path whether it is the right way or not; he has never led us astray. It is our lack of faith to take the first step that has led us astray. Thank you God. Thank you for letting me live my life and learn to live by faith.

Yeah, Exactly

2010-04-05T21:54:00.000-07:00

Don't take life too seriously; you'll never get out of it alive.
-Elbert Hubbard

Kingdom of Heaven

2010-04-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

The Kingdom of Heaven is within each of us. When Jesus preached repentance and the kingdom, he preached the best within us. He preached our divinity. He preached our potential. He preached our destiny.

Castles

2010-03-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

As the stock broker walked up to his house, as he had done a thousand times before, he noticed the next door neighbor's little boy playing outside in his dilapidated sand box. His mother had just been diagnosed with cancer and his dad had been working fifteen hour days, seven days a week just to pay the bills.
"Hey there Akeem!" the Broker said to the child, trying to break the monotony of the day with a moment of human contact. He didn't have any kids of his own yet and he liked Akeem's enthusiasm for all things life.
"Oh HI!" the little boy blurted out, with a quick glance at the Broker, then back to his dilapidated sand pit.
"Now what have you got going on there?"
"Oh, nothing much, I'm just finishing up my castle..."
The Broker looked at the "castle" as he would look at a young child's drawing of a zebra, or an elephant. The drawing looking more like a conglomerate mass of ink and lines than a discernible object. The only thing he could muster was "oh."
"Oh don't worry...," putting the finishing touches on four towers of sand, each in one corner of the dilapidated sandbox, "These are just the columns to hold the castle up! Look... see the castle?!" As he stopped his work and pointed straight up into the sky above his head, he smiled with admiration and awe. The Broker followed his pointing finger up to a blue sky, interrupted intermittently with clouds making their debut, like credits at the end of the movie, moving into and out of the frame of the sky.
"Huhh..." the Broker remarked, obviously not seeing any kind of castle. The boy was just a child, giving him the distinct advantage to know when people, especially adults, were being insincere.
"You don't see it?! Look! It's huge! It has a giant gate, and four big towers, its walls are made of big stones cut into squares, and see how white it is?" The Broker then became more confused as the child was looking up, wondering how, if there had been a castle up there, he could see its structural details when he was directly underneath it. He let the thought pass.
"Oh, you mean the clouds...yeah...oh, yeah, I could see how that one might be shaped like a castle...yeah, that's really neat."
The boy was just a boy but his childhood revealed the Broker's true sentiments yet again.
"You don't see it, huh? That's all right. It's my castle anyways. Maybe I'm the only one who can see it, but it's cool. You should build yourself a castle. You can build any kind of castle you want, because the sky is really big and there is plenty of room up there for all of our castles."
"Oh, ok...yeah, I'll think about...I'll start drawing up the plans for it tonight and start building it this weekend when I have some free time."
"Ok, but you should just start now, it's really easy."
"Thanks, I'll do that!" the Broker said as he turned aside and walked away. He entered his house thinking about Akeem, a little boy so enthusiastically bent on finishing the four columns in a dilapidated sand pit for his castle in the sky. He walked into his office and stood there, drinking in the antique classics his ritzy job was able to afford him. As he scanned the shelves, admiring his collection, one book in particular caught his eye. It was one of his old anthologies he used in college, this one was the Norton Anthology of American Literature. He had a couple of pieces of paper marking some of his favorite passages: Emerson, Poe, Dickinson, and...Thoreau. He opened up to Thoreau and scanned the page. His eyes immediately flew to the bottom of the page where he spied the word "castle" He read the part he had underlined as an undergraduate at Harvard.
“Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
He closed the book and sat down in his plush, leather chair. He closed his eyes and let himself drink in the air around him. His thoughts turned from the NASDAQ to his notebook. He hadn't written anything in it for years; maybe a couple of quotes here and there, but never anything more than a sentence or two. As he opened his eyes and looked around the room for his notebook, he said out loud to himself, "Perhaps it's about time I start writing that book I've always wanted to." At that moment, his wife happened to be walking by the door to his office and said, "What was that sweetheart?"
"Oh nothing babe...dinner almost ready?"
"Yep...I'll come get you when its ready."
As she walked away, he smiled to himself. He spotted his notebook, took it off the shelf, and picked up a pen from his desk. Still standing with the notebook in his hands, he wrote the first lines of his book.
“Dedicated to Akeem. Keep building your castle and never let it fall from the sky.”

You ask, Now What?

2010-03-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

Cavett Robert said

"Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed."

Start: Walk into the BYU bookstore. Take the staircase leading to the basement floor where the school supplies are.
See "Planners" on a sign down aisle 2 and turn into the aisle.
Perfect.
Three days later, Latin class, head resting on folded arms while the rest of the class goes over the translations suppose to do for homework.
Go back four days. Have already failed two tests. Academic standing for next lacrosse season looking bleak. Got to do something. Repeat first step.

Your resolutions are only as good as your word to yourself. If you can't be true to yourself, you will never be true to your commitments. Your dreams will vanish along with your self-respect, and your life will be a canvas with ugly strokes and bleak colors.

Don't repeat the first step. Make perfect the last step before the rest of your happy life, not the rest of your cyclical debased life.

Falling High

2010-02-20T23:55:00.000-08:00

I opened up the cage today
to let the butterfly out.
It fluttered and flitted from
dark to light, translucent
spectacles of whites, azures,
rose, black; freedom of flight
finds it flying towards the light.
It soars, glides, and feels the open
air for a bit. Suddenly nature turns
against the butterfly. Translucent turns
from gilded wings to leaden feet.
It crashes to the earth below
feeling nothing more than the
freedom given and taken.
They say the Lord giveth and he
taketh away; I say the Lord
has given and allows us our day.
Nothing can predict, no
heart can tell, no mind can see
what pain the free air would befell.
But comforting most of all, is no
regret and no disdain. Love grown stronger,
a heart stretched and a lesson learned.
Now and forever, the butterfly will live
to soar, it knows no limitations, it can not predict
it can not tell, no mind can see, what the future will
bring and the past befell. Only experience will bring
the fruit of life, the nectar the butterfly
sips as he regains his regal
reign on earth and beauty within.
Bring on the tour, new air, and
new territory, new lessons, new loves
but all compounded in one, all
a help returning to our kingdom,
all our blessing to be able to say
I've never failed, but damn how I've learned.

Regain

2010-01-19T01:38:00.000-08:00

You say I have to be the one to lift?
You say you don't know, you say you can't
imagine, colors of blue, red, yellow, what
adventure each will bring. You admit yourself
you don't know much about vitality, what it
takes for the heart to keep bleeding. Thomas
Edison found 9,999 ways not to make a lightbulb;
I'm on about 1,348 ways not to be happy. What
more could I ask for but but blacks, blues,
and chartreuse? Couldn't. Can't. It doesn't get
better than this. Anyone thinking otherwise is
missing out on the great joy of failure. My goal
is striving, seeking, finding. My end is joy,
nothing more than nothing less of elevated soul,
complete procurement of pain martyred.

Bear All

2010-01-11T22:51:00.001-08:00

Humanity's redemption lie in the honesty behind its motives, its aspirations, its mistakes, its successes, and its failures. When humanity is honest with itself it will break though the barrier that separates man from man and from God; the true source of our progression. If we intend on sharing our lives with others, we must intend on bearing all; what we have learned as a consequence of our sojourn here on earth, in this life, in this world.

Our moving forward and upward must be the consequence of us maturing on a spiritual level that allows us to be honest with what we have learned, especially honest with what we have yet to learn.

I have so much yet to experience, so much belief to turn to knowledge, and so much knowledge to turn to wisdom. I do not regret any experience in my life for the value of learning I place on all experiences. I believe the perfection we seek in God and towards a happier life is intrinsically staked out in the lessons we encounter in life; each lesson exposing an eternal principle for what it is, exposing our desire to learn, love, grow, and forgive to move on.

Catch-22

2009-12-29T21:58:00.000-08:00

Wow. I am simply amazed by Joseph Heller's talent in writing such an honest, perversely humorous, and morosely depressing book. The theme in the book is simply amazing; his use of elevated language in such a degradative setting spews out the stark contradictions and irony's in this short experience we call life. So the main point of Catch-22 is that the main character wants to stop flying missions during World War II; now here is the kick in the ass that many of us will recognize somehow, if not consciously, in our own lives-- if he goes to his commander claiming insanity as a reason for him to be grounded, the commander knows immediately he is not crazy because only a rational person would recognize that flying the missions is crazy--i.e. only a crazy person would fly the missions and they do not know that they are crazy.

This kind of blows my mind. Trying to think of some catch-22's in my life leaves me certainly in want, I don't fly a bomber plane and I am not surrounded by salacious girls and subversive situations. How about this for a virulent catch-22: humility. I want to be humble and come off to others as being so, yet when I try to be humble, recognizing my humility, I immediately lose all credence to my humility and plunge right back into the forefront of being prideful. Therefore, the more I TRY to enact humility, the more I oppositely impose pride. Life's a bitch ain't it?!

What are some of your Catch-22's?

Embrace Yourself, We Are Divine

2009-12-20T22:42:00.000-08:00

The true source of our suffering has been our timidity. We have been afraid to think...Let us dare to read, think, speak and write...
-John Adams

Amen.

I WANT TO GO HOME!!!

2009-12-19T16:38:00.000-08:00

This sucks. 10 to 25 inches of snow has blanketed the Metro Area with some areas receiving up to 30 inches. This storm is the biggest December storm on record and is the only December storm in the top ten currently coming in at number seven surpassing the Blizzard of '66. I hate snow and I am sick of being in Provo. The only redeeming quality of Provo, UT is the people that I love that are here...guess what...they all went home for the holidays!! I thought the following quote was very apt for the occasion.

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine. ~Anthony J. D'Angelo

Life is a journey, not a destination. Enjoy and savor every moment you have to live and love.

Sir Paine, Thomas, Man of Wisdom

2009-12-17T12:04:00.000-08:00

"These are the times that try men's souls."

Where have the years gone? What has happened to me? So many opportunities have presented themselves and I have let them pass by; as a river's water carries it downstream it never will see that bend in the river again, that sand, silt, and those rocks, forever lost to the vast ocean to which our opportunities inevitably flow. I've let go of so much so often; I've let love slip through my fingers, I've let my dreams become nothing more than fantasies. Where am I headed? To what end do I set myself up for? Why so many wasted years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds? WHY?

The times that try men's souls are the times that whisper him to give up, give in, and give away. There is no nobler vocation than the pursuit of Happyness. There is no holier and higher calling than being a Man or Woman.

Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.

If I die in pursuing my dreams, than God bless me. If we should lose our lives in pursuing our principles and hopes, we couldn't be happier. It's a scary thought, but my conscience, heart, and soul are nudging me; telling me it is time to go; telling me it is time to live. If I perish on the precipice of hope, than I perish to Heaven's highest virtue.

Shel, Steve, and Jesse

2009-12-10T17:25:00.000-08:00

LISTEN TO THE MUSTN'TS

Listen to the MUSTN'TS,
Listen to the DON'TS
Listen to the SHOULDN'TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me --
Anything can happen,
ANYTHING can be.

--Shel Silverstein

You mustn't take risks
Don't try anything that you know you won't succeed in
You shouldn't dream dreams that are only fantasies.
It's impossible to be the writer you dream about
It's impossible to find someone you love and who loves you back
It's impossible to change the world
It's impossible to change yourself
You'll never have happiness
You'll never have wealth
You'll never have eternal joy

Listen close to me.....
Anything can happen,
Anything can be.

Please tell me your dreams that everyone has told you are impossible and with all my heart and soul I tell you right now that I believe in each of you, individually and personally.

Where We Go

2009-12-04T17:50:00.000-08:00

Often I think of tasks, chores, goals, works, actions, innumerable things to do before I get to where I wanted to go. Sometimes I wonder how I will ever get there. How did you get there?

Often I think of how much work successful writers and people in general put into their profession. How much work did you have to put in to get there?

Often I think of the sacrifices I will have to make to reach my destination, many sacrifices that I still need to make. How much have you sacrificed to get there?

Often I think of opportunities that lie ahead of me that if taken will prove fruitful and vivacious. What opportunities are you waiting for to get there?

Often I think of characteristics that I lack yet believe I can acquire. What characteristics have you acquired to get there?

Often I think of the grand end of me, me the potential that translates into fulfillment. What is your potential in getting there?

Are our dreams frivolous? Are they unrealistic? Are they too big or too far away for us?

I'll be damned if you tell me they are because I just don't believe you.

Love's Last Meet

2009-11-29T21:06:00.000-08:00

I dream't about you last night
Where we'd go and what we'd do
I dream't about you last night
Wish I'd woken up with you

I dream't about us last night
Holding hands and walking 'long
I dream't about us last night
The world's perfect love song

I dreamed a nightmare, horrible and dark
I never found you, never heard our song
I dreamed a nightmare, frightening and deep
You never came, the world stood me up
Conspiring against me it took you

I've never seen or heard so beautiful
As you I saw and dream't
I dream't about you last night
Held perfect in my arms

I dream't about us last night
Your kisses magic charms
I dream so much I often find
That without you, I lose all peace of mind

Please, Hold me Tight and look into my Eyes
ask me that question, barring truth's demise
Now, forever, infinite it abides
My love for you coul'n't be as real
If only you were as real as my love

I'd with my kiss, your lips our true love seal
But not now, I haven't you as yet
I'll dream and dream and dream, of you
Always I will dream
I'll wait forever, your soft touch to redeem
Worth all life, the best a man can dream.

I dream't about you last night
You took my soul away
I dream't about us last night
I'd gladly give it any day.

Now I lay my head to sleep
Hoping one more time to meet
you in the deep.

If I never woke again with just you in my mind
I would live forever, your love all conquered time.

Live It Up

2009-11-24T22:00:00.000-08:00

This is untitled, from a lecture, by Dr. Steven Walker (with an excerpt from Tennyson's Ulysses), English Professor, Brigham Young University.

"The long day wanes, the slow moon climbs,
The deep moans round with many voices.
Come, my friends, 'tis not too late
To seek a newer world."

If Jess Walker were here with us, my father, arguably the finest father in the history of the western world, whom I used to wheedle into coming to class to tell us what life was about, he would say: "Go for it."

When Dad turned forty he said "Life begins at forty." When he turned fifty, he said life begins at fifty. He said it at sixty, and seventy, and eighty, and would have said it at ninety if he hadn't died a couple of years short of that.

He loved to quote the Savior saying "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." That's what Dad would say, did say so often I can hear it still echoing through these academic corridors:

"Live.
Live it up.
Live right here, right now.
There is only you.
You are a unique event.

There will never be another Steve Walker,
and if you don't live his life now,
it will never get lived.
No matter how infinite your celestial kingdoms,
no matter how eternal your eternal lives,
you will never have more life
than you have now.

It's now or never.
Live it up, folks.
Live it up."

"Though we are not now that strength
Which in time past moved earth and heaven,
That which we are, we are:
One equal temper of heroic fates,
Made weak by time and fate
But strong in will to strive, to seek,
To find, and not to yield."

Man, I wish I could find it within me to live to my fullest. I am trying day by day to drink from the fountain of life that is passion and vision. We have such a short time, let's not waste it on frivolous things, meaningless activities. Rather, indulge in loving relationships, let yourself love, and let yourself be loved, indulge most of all in the passions that you have discovered within your soul. Take every moment of living as a precious sip from that well of life which inevitably dries up when the time is past.

Somein', Somein'

2009-11-21T10:04:00.000-08:00

I am going to start changing things around a bit. I have been reading some other people's blogs and more often than not, I am inspired, motivated, lifted, and most especially, in awe. To read other's thoughts and views on life puts me in a different driver's seat, viewing my life through other's lenses gives me a sense of how life can be lived.

I can't remember who said it, but I have tried to make it a priority maxim in my daily interactions, paraphrasing it, it ends up somewhere along the lines of, "Every man or woman I meet is my better in some way. In that, every new person I meet brings a new lesson to my life." It is amazing what we can learn from other people if we open our eyes, ears, and hearts to the beauty of every human soul we come in contact with.

For a closer, I saw a James Dean poster that read, "Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today." If you look at your life, wishing you could change certain things about yourself, overcome fear and timidity, and have your dreams become reality, think about what James said. Think about it when you go to your next interview, when you talk to the next guy or girl you see for the first time as your heart races and your knees buckle, when you are told that you don't have the talent, skills, or abilities to accomplish your goals, and most importantly, when you fail, fail, fail, and fail again, Think about it.

Been on Vacation

2009-08-27T13:26:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody, I know I've been away for a awhile, but it was well needed, trust you me. Aubry you are right. I am going to try to write more, I have a feeling though that my blog might morph into something completely unrelated to food.

Actually speaking about food and excersise, maybe I will share with everybody how I lost 10 pounds of fat in a month while gaining muscle at the same time. It wasn't easy but holy crap it is worth it. That is why I might stop eating at restaurants and getting their big signature dishes. I'm not sure though, but I have been missing writing, even if I'm not too good at it, I do love it.

FIVE GUYS FINALLY!!

2009-04-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

O.k. ladies and gentleman, let me start out with a disclaimer: Am not responsible for extremely, better than In-n-Out, burgers and fries! This should actually be Five Guys disclaimer. I love this place. Starting back east it became a fast food sensation quickly and easily. You cannot beat a fresh made burger with any toppings that you want. You certainly cannot beat the fry guy taking his big fry spoon and literally pouring the fries into a brown paper bag. The bag is literally fulled to the brim with fries. Not just any fries either. These are fresh cut, thick, and the juiciest of fries.

Just be careful what time you hit the place. If you plan on taking it for all it is worth, because it is a steal, make sure that you hit it at the right time. During lunc time there is a very long line. I would say that after about 2 is perfect. When I had to wait in line I waited about 20 minutes. It moves quickly and the hustle and bustle of the place provies some excellent interaction and observation. Be ready to feel like you are in New York, as the food is amazing and the people are coming.

Cafe Rio for Real

2009-03-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

Mexican food at its best; not totally authentic. Actually, I like authentic Mexican food very much; I lived in California for two years and I had it all the time. Cafe Rio is the American version with the Mexican foundation. The burrito and the salad are the two things that the locals go there to partake of. I love the burrito assembly line. This restaurant is extremely effective. Even when there are 20-30 people in line, you get through in very quick and efficient manner, which is generally not seen in popular and high-traffic restaurants. They've got it down.

The salad that I had included black beans, pork barbacoa, and a tangy green salad dressing which puts the Rio above the local copycats. It filled me up for the rest of the night and there was definitely oppurtunity to take that thing home and finish it later. For the price of a burrito you are getting a huge meal or two, one to eat the next morning for lunch.

It is a very fun place to go and poeple watch. I have not figured it out yet but popular places like the Rio draw all sorts of cats from all sorts of crowds. Specifically, places like these draw the trendy and 'cool' of the local populace. My buddy made a remark that could not be truer in an area where the sun has trouble shining a majority of the day during the winter. "Somebody should tell that girl that being blonde and going tanning does not make you hot." It's true. Provo has an interesting mix of people from all over the country, particularly from Utah, Idaho, and California. The trendy girls from Utah love their blonde hair and their brownish orange tans. I think this is their way of feeling like they live near the beach, which is clearly the coolest place to live by, even when the ocean is about ten hours away. I love this town and in fact I love blonde girls, especially the ones that are natural (for the most part...is any girl really truly blonde these days?) I am sorry but I just can not resist. I have to comment on what I call a Utah mom. A Utah mom is a mother, usually of at least two, perhaps as many as four, that is generally in her thirties and dresses and carries herself like she is still in college. It is hilarious. I mention it especially in Utah, because where I am from, the women who want to dress and feel young do so in the fashion of the day, not in the college fashion. Sorry, I could not resist.

Anyways, if you want to get a feel for the culture of Provo, go to Cafe Rio where the cool, trendy, and just plain, like myself. There is definitely some great people watching oppurtunities to go along with a great meal!

What's the capital of Thailand?

2009-03-09T09:55:00.000-07:00

Is this a restaurant or a hair cuttery? When I used to get my hair cut ( I generally do it myself these days) I would go to Joe's Hair Cuts back in Northern Virginia or the new 6$ hair cuts here in Provo. Most places I got my hair cut in were these skinny little spaces in a strip mall type business. So when I walked into Bangkok Grill in Orem I was half expecting to get a meal with my haircut. The space is rather small yet it is very cozy. As small a restaurant as it is, you will have plenty room to fit a small to medium size party and be far enough away from the other tables that you still have your privacy. It is a small family owned restaurant and the owner and his family are ready to make your experience as pleasing as possible.

The food isn't half bad either. To be honest, I can not judge the authenticity of the food there because I am not a Thai connoisseur nor did I order an authentic Thai dish. I guess it could have been authentic, like I just said I wouldn't know the difference either way. I got fried rice with Asian sausage and beef. It wa good. I would not call it extraordinary as it tasted like many a fried rice I have gotten at many an Asian restaurant. The food came out quickly though and in a very nice sized portion.

Just make sure that you bring a canteen with you filled to the brim like you would if you were crossing the Sahara desert. They are very slow in filling up your water and you have to stare the waitress down if you are thirsty. It was a pleasant experience and a place that I might go again if I were craving a taste of Thailand.

Training Day or Training Table

2009-02-17T16:37:00.000-08:00

If any of you have ever seen the movie Training Day starring Denzel Washington...shame on you. That movie is rated R and for good reason. No, I kid. I have seen and I think that it is a great movie of one man's struggle to survive in a world amid corruption, violence, and immorality. That sounds familiar. For you Provoites out there, isn't that essentially what we will head out into when we leave Happy Valley? Enough of my preaching about movies, I'm here to preach about food. I do love my food. However, we all know it can be a jungle out there, so when you go to Training Table, watch your back.

Training Table is a little joint that offers you whatever you might be feeling that day, so long as is a burger, a sandwich, or any other American staple food like salad or soup. They have a fun little method of ordering food that makes you feel like you are ordering out when really you are just ordering in. Confusing I know, I am still trying to figure them out. You think that the cooks and cashiers could use a little break every now and then, instead they are stuffed back there forced to fight the smoke and atrophy from not being able to move about. Sorry, I got so carried away I forgot to tell you what the method is; they have phones and you order your food through a phone and then they buzz you when your food is ready. Novel or stupid. Everyboy needs to feel like they are in some future, super high efficient world every now and then. I guess it's a nice break from the regular world of waiting for your food standing up instead of sitting down.

As my buddy was calling in his order, he asked for a commonly referred to sauce for fries known in these parts as fry sauce. Another orginial name, I love Provo and its originality. So he asks for fry sauce and the girl says, "Uhm, no, we don't have fry sauce." Confused, he retorts, "What do you mean; I thought you guys have that special dipping sauce...,"

"Oh, you mean our Training Table Original Signature Dipping Sauce...?!"

"Uhhh, sure...," he states dumbfoundedly.

Who the heck cares what your stupid name for it is, you know what the guy is talking about! Don't you just love it when the waitress taking your order makes you sound like your request is something that only an ignoramus moron would ask?. Like I'm suppose to know what Apple and Calvados Sorbet is? I don't think so, French waiter dude.

In any case the burgers are delightful and you receive a hearty portion of fries to go along with your meal. There were not many people there during lunch time which made for a nice atmosphere to be able to have a conversation without wiping off the condensation on your neck from the lady's breath from behind you. It is a good choice although the price is a little steep; just be prepared for anything. It is remember...the Training Table (that's meant to be lame for you geniuses out there).

Jason's Deli: What you know about that?

2009-02-16T21:14:00.000-08:00

“Hey buddy, what can I get for ya’s.” This phrase is of course spoken to you in a thick and rough New York Queens accent. Well, that isn’t what you hear when you go to Jason’s Deli but you almost expect to. They have a great sign out front that is plain but clearly states what the establishment is and who owns it; it is a deli and Jason owns it…oh. Well, that is original Jason, did you outsource naming your restaurant to an advertising or marketing company? I mean, honestly, you couldn't have come up with something a little more original than that? You walk along the street in Paris and they have names like pastry shop, bread shop, or dessert shop, and you just took one of those and threw your name in front of it. I'm just teasing you Jason of Jason's Deli; actually I think you get the reaction that you wanted from a name like that. Namely, one of homespun comfort and welcomness.

When you walk in, especially at lunch time, you are met by a line of families and friends who have all come to get a great sandwich and enjoy the experience while they are there. Have you ever walked into a sandwich place and stood in an awkward line that is wide open to the rest of the joint and you fidget around trying to figure how to stand, where to look at, and what to think? Well, I have been there many times and it can be unsettling. Jason however has made the line separate from the restaurant and has placed some photographs of the trendiest places in Europe which give you and those around you some good topics for conversation. Not to mention you can check out the cute girl in front of you by pretending you are admiring the beautiful presence of the arc de triomphe; she is none the smarter. It is a great place to take a date, because of its inviting aura and laid back layout. Do be careful, because of its trendiness you will see trendy people there; especially the guy wearing the rhinestone sunglasses inside and the too-cool for school college kids gracing the world with their presence. In Jason’s deli, everybody becomes family and everybody in a sense can be trendy just for eating there! Awesome Bro!

The sandwich selection is great and the meat is fresh. They make sure that you get your food in a timely manner and it is nice that you can sit down while you are waiting. Of course the television in the corner showing ESPN and last night’s All-Star game is a definite plus. The price is great as well. If you have a few minutes to spare to wait in line and you are looking for a hearty, fun, and light experience all in one, check this place out. If you see Jason let me know; and complement him on his great deli.

Valentine's Day with Wendy's: No, not sisters, the Restaurant

2009-02-15T17:26:00.000-08:00

Wendy's has the classic look that throws you back to the early 90's yet still helps you remember you are in a new millennium. Why the new millennium feel? The fact that they have kept up with the other fast food burger places in regards to the size of the sandwich and the classic burger taste. That is the great thing about burgers. You can rarely go wrong in cooking it; the problems arise when you try to dress it up with different condiments.; which Wendy;s does very poorly.

I am disappointed in Wendy’s management and the way that they have disgraced what used to be America’s number one dollar menu. I use to get the Jr. Bacon with a biggie fries and biggie drink like those things were going out of style. Now I get a Jr. Bacon and there is a small piece of lettuce, a patty the size of a few quarters put together, and a strip of bacon somewhere in the abyss. It’s a horrible thing they have done; and what about my biggie fries and drink? They've taken those off the dollar menu all together! If you haven’t already noticed, I feel like Wendy’s has personally slighted me. Putting aside the personal attacks from their food designers, shame on them for such a horrible presentation. Their burgers look like a bunch of ingredients fell on the ground and they quickly snatched them up and threw them back on in between two pieces of bread, barely accomplishing the task.

Wendy’s is classic and will always have reserved for it a special place in my cholesterol laden heart. However, Wendy’s offered a little bit of humor with the meal. As I was driving away, I looked inside to see all the young and in love, poor college kids eating a cheap yet meaningful meal together; instead, I saw about three or four couples (not in a romantic sense, but a numerical count) of guys sitting down to a much different kind of meal; clearly the kind of meal that you eat with your buddies when you do not have a special someone to share it with. I just thought it was funny because I was fully expecting a restaurant filled with young love when instead it was your typical testosterone filled, money deprived, impatient for cooking a real meal, college aged guys burger joint. In recommendation, this goes out to all of you who are looking for a taste of nostalgia in these hard-pressed times of economic uncertainty and pinched wallets.

Get Over It and Get Out of It

2009-02-14T08:37:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been to a restaurant that just opened, being drawn in by its gaudy decorations and bright lights like that of a Vegas casino, hoping to hit it big on price and taste? If you answered yes to that question you can probably guess the follow-up question: did you get what you paid for, or in terms of a Vegas experience, did you come out on top? If you have ever been to a restaurant and experienced this, then unpack your bags ladies and gentleman because the house is much harder to beat in Vegas than it is in Provo; on most occasions.

Just last week, I suggested to some of my friends that we go check out a restaurant in local Provo that had recently opened. At first sight the restaurant gives off a vibrant explosion of reds, whites, and greens in a large banner that advertises a buffet line from three different countries! Three different countries?! Well shoot, they must have something I like there! To be honest, my initial reaction to seeing the restaurant was one of skepticism and just plain indifference. There used to be a restaurant at that same location, I cannot recall what it was, but it obviously did not have what it takes to cut it in this town of semi-bright lights and bowling extravaganzas.

In any case the restaurant is located next to the dollar movie theater in Provo, across the street from Albertsons for the locals. As you walk up to the restaurant you are greeted by a soft facade of tan with a larger than necessary banner that is just enough to appreciate the new opening and not send you on your way. As you enter the restaurant, you are greeted by a large glass window that has water cascading down it and sticker fish. No, sticker fish are not the fish with nasty spikes on its back that stab you as you try to unhook it from your line, they are the laminated paper fish that you can stick on just about any surface. To your left is a large desk where the cash register is.

As you are waiting to be seated, you can anticipate a great meal with big fun as you see families and couples there seemingly enjoying their meal. We walk in and we are seated at a nice, clean bench for four. That is a plus…the restaurant is fairly clean. Then we went for the goods. Oh that we hadn’t.

We were met by nothing more than your classic cheap, all-pleasing Asian buffet line that serves your classic All-American meal. You’ve got your fried and white rice, your different varieties of chicken, and some egg-rolls. On the American and Italian side, I think they had pizza, onion rings, fries, and whatnot. One thing that surprised me was that they had dimsung. Wow! Dimsung!? That was a pleasant surprise and I heartily walked over, grabbed a couple of pieces and went back to my chair.

I would like to throw in a disclaimer ladies and gentleman, that I am not a professional food critic or a professional restaurant critic. I am just an average guy who has had the opportunity to experience a lot of different foods and restaurants and I will share my completely unprofessional, amateur culinary opinion.

Regarding the dimsung, let me qualify my knowledge here in explaining that I have been to some great dimsung restaurants in L.A. My friend is Chinese and when we went for a roadtrip to his house in L.A., his father treated us to dimsung right out of China. The waiters, the waitresses, and the hosts did not speak English, to us anyways; and 95% of the people there were Asian. So, I have had good dimsung and greatly enjoyed it; except in this case. It is hard to explain in words the difference between this buffet dimsung and the restaurant dimsung, but maybe I can use a metaphor that you all might understand. If you have ever had the dollar pizza-in-the box that you can get at the grocery store and then bit into a classic homemade pizza, you can tell the difference and it is noticeable!

That about sums up our experience. I ended up paying about fifteen dollars with tip and a soda. I walked out of the restaurant feeling like I had been taken by the house. My good-ole buddy the stomach wasn't agreeing with the food. I would not recommend this restaurant to any of my friends or to any families with small children as they had the television on that was showing an R-rated movie made for television, yet never the less violent. If you like to eat a lot of food and can take the sub-par taste of the food, then go for it. If you do not believe me, check it out for yourself; just bring some pepto-bismol and the amount of money that it would cost to get a great meal at a local Brazilian spit grill (Tucanos).

2009-02-13T21:47:00.000-08:00