JUNE RUNNING

This month I took the first two weeks off and once I returned to the pavement I only ran three days a week instead of the normal four. The legs were telling me to take a little bit of a break so I listened. I kind of enjoyed the cross training on the bike and in the pool in replacing the running but nothing compares to lacing up your running shoes:

Total Miles Run - 34.89 (according to mapmyrun)
Days of Running - 8
Longest Run - 5.46 miles
Approx. calories burned - 4,615

Year to Date Miles: 625.35

QUOTABLE

So I was going through some old notes I made about a variety of topics and came across this quote from Don Golden.

“When you are no longer able to help the needy are you still a church?”

TRANSFORMERS 2

Horrible.

My friend Tim summed it up best after the film was over – “Michael Bay makes films like that because he knows he can. And to think this guy made ‘The Rock’ which was a pretty good movie.” (See LA Times - Article)

The first Transformers wasn’t bad at all. Fairly entertaining through out and that’s because it was new and exciting. Without that “new and exciting” feeling the second version of the series was really bad. Megan Fox can’t act. The storyline is pretty much non-existent. The editing must have been done by a some freshman at film school still learning their craft. Put those three elements together for a 2 ½ hour film and you get one really horrible movie.

If you like special effects this movie might just be for you because all the scenes with the Transformers looks pretty good but that doesn’t save this movie at all.

FOOD, INC.

So you like food do you? Good. After seeing this movie (well, documentary) your enjoyment of your next meal might be a little tempered. Especially if the meal involves corn, beans or some sort of meat product. Of course those are three pretty big staples of a persons meal.

Just a few stats from the film that were the most fascinating to me:

* The No. 1 buyer of beef in the U.S. – McDonalds
* Did you know that the average food product travels about 1,500 miles to get to your grocery store?
* Chickens are “plumped up” so much before being killed that the chicken’s legs can’t support the extra weight
* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 76 million Americans are sickened, 325,000 are hospitalized and 5,000 die each year from foodborne illnesses

The flick isn’t so much about a “shock and awe” factor that slaughter house might bring but rather an straight forward informational piece about who is driving the multi-billion dollar food industry. And the big companies (i.e. Tysons, McDonalds, etc.) won’t go on camera to comment. Silence in this situation usually equals a level of guilt. While you try to reserve complete judgment on these certain companies, it is really hard not to. The mountains of evidence leads me to believe that there is some serious “shady business tactics” going on here.

Eye opening film that will get a lot of questions going around your head.

GRANDPARENTS & MARRIAGE

Proverbs 12:15 - The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

Here's some wise advice from a couple who has 67+ years of marriage experience. One of these two people (not revealing which one), once told me if I wanted to be married for as long as they have been I better going. It was a fun moment. I’m just hoping to live as long as they have been married. The church I grew-up in did a recent little clip as apart of their series on marriage. (Video)

“THOSE” GYM GUYS …

… To the guy who walked by me two times in a manner of five and had a very heavy scent of cologne on, please save your cologne for your next night on the town. A trip to a sweaty, smelly gym is not the place for guy to smell like is going to a $100/plate dinner.

… To the guy who looked like he was cycling really hard without a breaking a sweat for 20 minutes next to me but gave a really big yawn once he got off the bike, please push yourself harder next time. Not just look like you are pushing yourself hard.

… To the guy who asked if I needed any help as I laid out my mat prior to doing some sit-ups – because I apparently looked lost or something – no I am doing just fine. It’s call exercising.

EXERCISE

Lately, I am trying some news things with my exercise regime. With a few targets in mind:

- Build quad muscles
- Work on core muscles more
- Keep Heart Rate around 75% when exercising
- Rest the legs

So I have actually cut back on my running. In fact from May 31-June 14 I didn’t run one single mile. Not one! Those days weren’t as mind numbing as I thought they might be because I found some new replacement exercises. Now I am spending more time on the bike and more quality time in the swimming pool. Plus I am finding new strength exercises. Since trying some new things, I have found one very prevalent – soreness in areas I haven’t experienced in a while.

All this new stuff is designed for one thing – be a better (and faster) runner. After all doesn’t all exercising come down to that for me? My legs have been screaming at me for less impact exercises and more swimming/biking makes them happier! Here’s to hoping all this new exercising helps.

Keeping my fingers crossed that these new exercise pay off in the long run (sorry no pun intended).

CIRCA 1997

Every now and then you come across things from your past that just make you shake your head and laugh like crazy. And these moments only happen once every few months. Seeing this picture was one of those moments.

You know the funny thing about looking at this picture is that I came remember so much from the events that surrounded this picture. The day of (watching baseball), the next day (golf) and even the day after that (tennis tournament). I even remember watching a movie with everyone in this picture after leaving the prom. A guess memory loss isn't a problem for this event.

MOSAIC VOLUNTEER STAFF

Last week I “officially” joined a very special community when I joined Mosaic Volunteer Staff.

What does that mean you might be asking. To put it in very simple terms, I have the opportunity (no, take that back) blessing to move forward as a leader in this beautiful community.

During the last week of my internship in 2006, I remember saying to our internship director that I want to move back to L.A. and be apart of volunteer staff at Mosaic and volunteer on Skid Row. That’s it. I’ll find a simple job somewhere and really focus on those two things. Life is interesting when wishes become passions and passions eventually become reality.

Currently I am doing a lot of things with the ServeLA team. Mosaic allows you to dream. And dream BIG. They definitely encourage dreaming at the highest levels and, for me, this ministry is a great place to dream. And, maybe most importantly, engage in my passion to care for the homeless and reach the city of L.A. one person at a time. Will I get frustrated? Sure. Will I get excited? Most definitely.

Dreaming Big and Living Passionately …

CUSTOMER SERVICE

So I was floating around MSN website and they put together their third annual survey for the companies that provide the Best and Worst customer service:

Best Companies for Customer Service:
10) Southwest Airline
9) Costco
8) Apple
7) Whole Foods
6) Publix Grocery
5) Nordstrom
4) Amazon
3) Netflix
2) Trader Joes
1) USAA

Worst Companies for Customer Service:
10) AOL
9) Comcast
8) Sprint/Nextel
7) Capital One
6) Time Warner Cable
5) HSBC
4) Qwest
3) Abercrombie & Fitch
2) Bank of America
1) Citigroup

I have only had direct contact with two of the companies (Publix Grocery & Trader Joes) and I must say that I was impressed with both. Both are some of the most clean shopping environments I have ever been in. In addition, I don’t think I have ever heard anything bad about any of the companies on the top 10 best companies list. On the flip side, however, I don’t recall ever hearing anything good about the worst 10 companies either. In fact, some of my friends have had some pretty good horror stories about Bank of America and Sprint/Nextel.

BE PASSIONATE

The other evening I had the pleasure of participating in a gathering of about 25 Caltech students. The group had no name, no title and no real backing from the college community. But each of person in the room had a passion for something and a place to share that.

During the two-hour gathering we were instructed to do one thing or the other. On this particular evening we were educated and participated in spoken word. For most part it was a very enjoyable. Yet, I couldn’t really figure out what was the purpose of the gather. (Of course, with that being said, not everything really needs a purpose does it? But I digress.) Why did this unnamed group meet and exists? Then as the group leader was ending the evening he said something that struck me and really made total sense to why this group met on a weekly basis during the school year.

“We just wanted to provide a place were people can share their passions. Not necessarily share and talk about what we are good at but what we are passionate about.”

Never thought about the two being vastly different but if you really mull over it, being good and passionate about something don’t always intertwine.

For example, I am good at keeping courtside computer stats at a basketball game but I’m not passionate about it. I don’t think about how I can get better on an everyday basis or wake-up in the night thinking about a silly mistake I made.

To continue, I have a passion to help homeless people. I want to educate myself more about the issue by reading, interacting and working with the issue. Furthermore I want to invest (and by invest I mean donate without expecting anything in return) my tithe in those efforts. On most days, many of my thoughts are apart serving the homeless.

But for whatever reason the thought of people good at something doesn’t always equal passion. And the reserve is true as well. You may have a passion for something but be horrible at it. Yet that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pursue it.

Does this make any sense to anybody else out there? Maybe I’m over blowing this. But the thought of creating an environment and space for people to share their passions is just really awesome. Because how often are we allowed and empowered to display our passions?

ANGELS & DEMONS

As a movie “Angels and Demons” was better than the book. Usually the movie isn’t as good as a book but this time I thought the screen version was better. The movie certainly changes some of the main elements from the book but the core story certainly remains the same. The movie flowed really well through out and it was one of the quickest two-plus hours I have ever spent in a theater. I was waiting for certain elements to surface through out the movie but they never did and not once did that take away from the overall movie experience.

It would seem that Ron Howard learned a little bit from his “Da Vinci Code” movie which followed the book exactly. Not following the book seemed to help “Angels and Demons.” I really like Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon and he really does a good job Overall I give this movie three-stars.

My critics are hammering this movie but I liked it a lot. Very enjoyable and that's what I paid my $11 for.

The biggest thing going against “Angels and Demons” was that “Da Vinci Code” came first (movie and book). The two are different even though the central character is the same. It is easy to compare the two but they are different. Yet, in comparing the two, the better movie is “Angels and Demons” but “Da Vinci Code” is a much better book.

BITTERNESS IS NOT AN ILLNESS

This story got me really fired up the other day. Seriously, are people out there in the medical world really trying to call bitterness an illness? Please someone tell me this is a bad joke.

Bitterness is a choice. It is an emotion. Same has happiness, sadness, kindness or joy to name a few. You are not born bitter. You choose to be bitter in the same way you choose to be other emotions.

This question came to mind – what is the opposite of bitterness? It’s sweetness. So if bitterness is an illness then does that make sweetness is the cure? If a bitter individual spent countless hours in the same room with a person who is considered sweet, will that make them better? Probably a little bit but not completely change. Each person has their own choice of what they want to be.

One of the most brilliant quotes I have ever come across really speaks to this specific topic:

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, gift, or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.

-Charles Swindoll

Once again, bitterness is a choice. You may have some sort of crappy circumstance going on around. Maybe you lost your job. Maybe you are really, really sick. Maybe your significant other wants nothing to do with any longer. Maybe you just failed at a task you really did your best to prepare for. Whatever it is, you can choose to sit and sulk OR you can choose to suck it up and move forward as successfully as possible. You know, believe in the best of possibilities as you move forward.

The next moment, the next day can always be better than the past if you want it to be. If you want to be bitter and let your apathy grow that’s all your choice. Your not ill. Please make the choice to believe in the best and anything but bitterness will emanate from your character.

WHO'S ROUTINE!?!

Years ago someone told me that I like routine and I was like, “really, routine? No way!”

However, I think there might be some truth this whole routine thing. Here’s a sampling of a few categories that might prove I enjoy routine.

FOOD – I find myself going to the grocery store buying almost the exact same thing every time. I tell myself that I will try something different this time but as I browse the various aisles, nothing really exciting comes to my attention that I need to purchase. My dinners are almost always the same and I am just fine with that. And I eat the breakfast for dinner every Wednesday night (Egg Sandwich, 2 Ego Waffles – a nice guilty pleasure).

EXERCISE – This is a bad one. I do not like exercise outside the morning hours. When I wake-up the first I want to do is exercise. I have tried to go through period of afternoon or evening exercise but don’t like it. If I am running the roads are most empty in the morning and the same thing is true if I go to the gym to ride a stationary bike or something. Less people = more efficient exercise.

READING – I read at all times of day but I enjoy reading when I can devote at least 30 minutes to it. I can’t read for 10 minutes then do something else for a few minutes then get back into reading. Just can’t do it. I’ve tried.

DEAL SHOPPER – Finding the best deal before I buy just about anything is more of way of life then routine. Coupon shopping is the way to go. I almost always Google for coupons before going to a specific store. One of the best parts of living in Pasadena – the $.99 store. Seriously, I had my big doubts before I started checking out what they had and you can really get some good deals. However, there are some really bad things to watch out for!

So with all that being said, I don’t mind trying new thing at all. In fact, I like new things. Maybe, it could be argued that once I find something new I like it just becomes apart of the routine? Who knows? Does it really matter? Maybe everyone has at least a little “routine” in them!

TOP 10 - HARD SPORT TASKS

I’ve tried a lot of different sporting type things. I have failed so many more times than I have succeeded. The other day I was prompted to a conversation about the hardest tasks in sports. Interesting topic since there are a lot of thing that has physically hard to do. There are some that are just physically harder than others. The professional athletes make many things look a lot easier than they really are.

So, with that being said, here are the top 10 things I have tried in athletics that are the hardest:

1) Complete a Marathon
2) Consistently Hit a Golf Ball Successfully
3) Hit a baseball
4) Play Tennis Competitively
5) Sink a Three-Pointer from the NBA Line
6) Ice Skate
7) Pass a volleyball off the serve
8) Place Kick Field Goals (laces out, please)
9) Hurdle (gym class experiment)
10) Play Lacrosse (backyard experiment)

A few years ago USA Today did a complete cover story on their 10 hardest things to do in sports:

10. Skiing downhill at 80-90 mph
9. Stopping a soccer penalty kick
8. Riding in the Tour de France
7. Running a marathon
6. Landing a quad in figure skating
5. Returning a 130 mph tennis serve
4. Hitting a golf ball long and straight
3. Pole vaulting at heights of 15-feet plus
2. Driving a race car at megaspeeds around a track and not getting hurt
1. Hitting a baseball thrown at 90+ mph