Hot Summer Nights

“Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’

Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.

Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’

Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’

It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

yes, I’m going to find the quiet peaceful corner of the coffee shop, where people are reading and working, and take my moaning crying baby and sit RIGHT their face.  Yep.  I’m sooooo considerate.

….

Someone new moved in on Avocado st, and their car alarm goes off at least once or twice a day. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. It’s the most annoying thing in the world! Do car alarms actually stop theft?! They just annoy the crap out of everyone because it goes off every time a freaking ant sneezes in Madagascar.

Romans 8 is probably one of the best chapters in the bible. It has everything; every verse is something you could preach a sermon on. You can just feel Paul getting emotionally worked up, and it’s contagious. But not only that, the message is so solid, so refreshing. When the going gets tough, you have to remember that God is in control and knows what He’s doing. Easier said than done sometimes. But when I’m discouraged reading Romans 8 picks me back up and reminds me that God loves me and everything happens for a reason, and nothing is in vain.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.  (Romans 8:28)

this push and pull is the force of a wave of time

I want to support brick and mortar, local businesses, but I just can’t when Amazon.com is selling something for $76  that I was going to buy at Target for almost $200.  With free 2 day shipping (since I bought an Amazon prime membership, I get most things for FREE 2 day shipping.  It’s been the best thing I ever bought, honestly.  It has saved me money.  Before I probably would have just bought the stupid thing at Target just so I could have it right now.  But with FREE 2 day shipping, I automatically go right to Amazon.com to find the stuff I was going to buy.)

I can’t help it!  I’m not going to spend an extra $100 out of pity for the stores, but I am watching a lot of stores go out of business and I don’t like that.  I don’t know.  I’m not an economist, so I can’t say what the answer is.  I mean, the fact that Borders went out of business kills me.  And I bought a lot of books from Borders.

I was watching videos on Vimeo.com today and found a very good one with some great photography.  The opening song was just so good and I’ve been listening to it all day. It’s very haunting.  The lyrics are great as well, and they really make me think; about what’s really important, about what everyone has left at the end of their lives. The first verse is especially powerful for some reason, and I can’t quite explain it.  It’s funny how a certain melody and the right words can strike a certain emotional chord in you.

Where’s the Seraphim?
Where’s the money that we made?
Where’s the open gate?
Where’s the fortune that we saved?

Heaven’s here for you and me
With every falling curl
Heaven’s here for you and me
we gained ourselves the world

Hit the Motorway
I can take it all at speed
I got everything
I got everything you need

Heaven’s here for me and you
scattered out with pearls
Heaven’s here for me and you
we gained ourselves the world

Where’s the warrior of light
with gates of solid gold?
Paranoia through the fight
with dreams that never fold
Heaven’s here for me and you…

Chris Bryan Films Phantom Reel from Chris Bryan on Vimeo.

“Somehow we all discover that surfing lessons often have a lot more to do with life than they do with surfing.  When you’re wondering about that step you’re about to take but haven’t yet, remember what Herbie said to me that day so long ago, “When in doubt, paddle out.”

Gerry Lopez is a legendary surfer, known as the King of Pipeline.  He wrote a book called Surf Is Where You Find It.  This quote was near the end of the chapter where he described paddling out to an unknown wave near his home that he’d been watching for a while.  He got the first barrel of his life the day he finally paddled out to surf it.

“When one door closes another door opens;
but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door,
that we do not see the ones which open for us.”
– Alexander Graham Bell

Do one thing every day that scares you.

I’m going to make this my motto.  Don’t worry; there’s a criteria here.  This does not mean doing stupid, harmful things, but rather things that you’re scared of for no reason, things that you know you should do but you can’t get out of your own way for.  It could be fear of what people might think of you, or feeling foolish, or being judged.  I tend to be a little nervous about getting what I want when I really want something.  When something really matters to me I suddenly get quite worried about bringing it into the open – I guess I’m worried about being judged. And if I get judged about something that means a lot to me, then it just hurts that much more.  But I need to get over that.  I need to go out there and get what I want, even if it means risking judgment.  And usually my fear is unfounded; it’s based on nothing but my own negative thoughts.  People are generally just thinking about themselves anyway, so I’ve got nothing to really worry about.  And I have to get one thing through my mind: not everyone is going to like you, or agree with you, or want to be your friend.  But that’s OK, and it doesn’t say anything about me as a person.  When you try to please everyone and make everyone like you, you fall into the trap of catering to others wants and needs rather than yourself.  This is something that I have always had difficulty with, but I’m hoping to change that.  I want to follow my dreams, even if it means going out on a limb a little bit.  What is life unless you take some risks?  You only live once, and I’ve taken to telling myself, “In 50 years, is it really going to matter if I am embarrassed or fail?  What’s going to be worse; having tried and failed, or never having tried at all?”

In other words…when I’m 90 years old in a rocking chair on my porch, am I really going to give two hoots what Joe Blow from Idaho thought?  NO.  I’ll say, in a warbly voice, “Screw that kook Joe Blow,” and shake my cane.

surfing virgin mary, encinitas ca

Recently some stealthy artists installed a mural of the Virgin Mary on a surfboard.  It has drawn many people to come and see it, and some have even placed flowers underneath.  However, the mural is in danger of being removed, as it is on city property.  I can see how “rules are rules” but I’d really love to see this stay.  It’s a very pretty and creative piece of art, and fits Encinitas so well.