Saturday, October 31, 2009

the hero gets another year





Originally uploaded by jared

one day when i was in the third grade, my mom was out of town and my dad was left to the task of getting me ready and taking me to school. a rare and exciting adventure. we managed to make it out the door in a timely manner. as dad came up to the drop off spot, it was at that time he had the chance to really observe what i was wearing. third grade being about the time my spark in all things sports and soccer was initiated, i was wearing my brand new adidas bright red warm up jacket with classic white stripping my front and my name embroidered in the corner, in accompaniment to the jacket were dark maroon spandex and a cream t-shirt. in an inquiring tone, dad says, "Don't you think you are clashing a little bit?" In mid-leap out of the car, i stopped tilted my head and asked him what he meant by "clashing". Dad then proceeded to explain to me in a clear and concise manner what clashing meant. i nodded to show comprehension, then after a brief pause, i smiled and continued to bound onward to school still satisfied with my color combination.
it is there you see the difference between mom and dad. while mom would force me to change or explain the proper social standard (inwhich i am grateful as well), dad used the situation to teach a concept, after which i was left to continue making decisions on my own colorful path, both of us simply satisfied with the exchange of knowledge and efficiency of our relationship.

a man who acquires and maintains respect, love, trust and a sense of humor is special. dad is special and i am lucky.

happy birthday william walter tarbell


Friday, October 16, 2009

fine hinesight



as i look back. 

thursday: i ran, worked for 4 hours, went to the temple, went to a movie, bought stuff, made brownies with friends and went to bed late. and this is normal. 

i am not quite sure what i am going to do when i have to get a real job schedule. 

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

do it just

i am a solo runner and i make no apologies for it. i actually enjoy running. if i could run from place to place i would. i have ran around the world and over again. running keeps everything working right inside.

but there are times when it is simply better to run with others. i was lucky enough to get to run a relay with a couple of these great guys. the rest ran the distant, seperate but together. a each an accomplishment of their own. luckily, friendship doesn't end with races.

Denver Marathon 2009.

nice work Team AIR, winning the race against homelessness and addiction.
check out what they do: http://www.theairfoundation.org/

Harvest Farm ParticipantCrossing ParticipantCrossing ParticipantCrossing ParticipantHarvest Farm ParticipantCrossing ParticipantCrossing Participant


Post-Race Fun!!




a long ago poem



Dan the man from the moon

We went climbing
He cooked fish
I laid my head on his lap
We watched acl
I went home
I threw up
It could be love. 


sometimes it's good to post nice memories and silly writings. 

Thursday, October 1, 2009

failed hippie


i have a good friend clifford, who refers to me as a neo-hippie. upon hearing the title, i instantly took to it.  i have a deep desire to live in a hut in the middle of nature, i juice vegetables, i hate showering, i sew my own clothes, my deepest fear is that my kid will want to wear abercrombie their whole life, and i have lived in a van for a month. however, i love gadgets, large impressive construction sites, and cool whip.  so neo-hippie works well.
embracing the hippie version, i decided this was the year i was finally going to be able to grow a garden. i went to the nursery, bought everything the guy told me to and went home ready to plant. what i planned to be an efficient, nurturing process with mother nature, turned into the community after-school activity, as a multitude of neighborhood kids descended on me and my helpless saplings like locusts. with my broken spangelish and maria as my translator, myself and 8 neighborhood kids managed to stick all the little plants in the ground. (i stay "stick", because they went in but it was not "planting". it was more like strangle and plunge.)  then i sat and waited. then hail pounded down, the squirrels picked, the yard collected trash, my neighbors tree grew and my garden sunk deeper into its hole of failure every day. now as i come home each day i am forced to look at the graveyard that was once my future garden and curse.

however, one glorious  day i came home and saw it. one lone tomato hidden under a branch. (see picture above) i had to pick it before, either squirrel, flash flood, or noisy neighbor stole it. 

so you are probably asking what i am going to do with this pathetic looking piece of produce. you know what i am going to do, i am going to eat it. i am going to slice it up, sprinkle some salt and relish every last unripe bite. 

failure may not feel good, but doing something out of spite tastes sweet.