Snowboarding/fallling

Here comes another firsties blog: Snowboarding!

Let's not jump straight to it though. First there was the "craigslisting" that I got to do. Another firstie, and that couldn't have gone any better either. It didn't take long finding the deal for a snowboard set (everything I needed included minus the boots and plus some snowboarding-appropriate clothing) for $325. Jake, the guy selling, was the chill surfer dude I expected. Tall, cut, tanned, and roughly bearded.

After about a 15 minute wait, Jake rolled into the Sports Chalet parking lot in a blue hatchback with a can of Monster in hand. Everything about him shouted sports junkie. I tested on the clothes, took a look at all the gear, and the deal ended up settling at $275 (or $274 if you deduct the dollar I found in the jacket pocket). It was nearly perfect except that everything ran a little bit large but still wearable. The snowboard was a free-ride 155cm Vision board, with bindings pre-installed. We shook hands, swapped  stuff, and drove off. It was a new and exciting experience.

The next day, I woke up at 6 AM and we headed towards Mount High. The conversations were hilarious and the view was beautiful. In no time we were there and up on the ski lifts. Being too prideful and not wanting to spend extra money, I tumbled my way down the slope. After that I picked things up rather quickly, and the falls became less and less frequent. The oversized board made things a slightly harder to control and maneuver. The few times I pulled off switch riding and did "crazy" spins, reinvigorated me to keep going and get back up no matter how hard a fall was. And those falls were definitely hard. I went home with my fair share of bruises and sore muscles.

Coaxed by my more experienced friend, we hit the advanced slope and that didn't turn out so good for me. It was rather embarrassing falling right back down after a recovery and awkwardly hopping the ramps. As I near the end, I thought it was over...until I saw the final slope. About twice as steep as anything yet. It was an adventure getting down it. A trek down the mountainside of Mount Everest itself.

It was the perfect day. From start to finish, my snowboarding trip was an absolute blast, and my friends and I are planning to go again real soon.

...and a Happy New Year!

It has been a week since the New Year has come. Did you resolve to get better grades this new semester? Study, study, study. Maybe lose a pound here and there or pack on some density? Don't miss a single day of your workout schedule. Or perhaps it's something a little more personal like mine Whatever your resolution(s) may be, I'm just here to encourage you to fight on, as I've been trying to do so myself.

I personally have never had a New Year's resolution, but this year I've finally been hit with a reason important enough to give it a go. We all know of the infamous three-week period until everyone's resolutions go downhill. Once this timeframe expires, the jam-packed Bally's and 24HR Fitness empty. People reactivate their Facebook account or maybe buy another pack of Turkish blend Camels. It's become such a common occurrence that it simply serves as another excuse for people to drop their resolutions year after year.

The lack of extended success has been one of the factors that pushed me away from creating New Year resolutions too in fear of wasted effort...until now. I mean, there is the point of all this hopeless yearning if it'll end with me, let's say, on my leather couch, ice cream carton of my favorite Mint Chocolatey Chip in one hand and an Xbox controller in the other. If I'm going to give this a go, then it's going to be a solid, no-backing-out go. No excuses. No leeway. I've resolved not only to keep from giving up on my resolution but to achieve it with rocketing streams of glorious colors and have resolved upon that in an "Inception" of resolutions.



We have survived yet another "End of the world" experience, as the Mayans predicted, in turn with the closing of 2012, a long and wonderful year. Now let's make something of this grand year of '13 and improve, better, change, transform, revolutionize, etc. (whichever fits you best) ourselves before the next one arrives. Who knows? I've heard the Incas predicted prehistoric behemoths were coming back in an unrighteous fury to take mankind down to the fossilized depths of Dino-hell.

"Fight the good fight..." (2 Tim 6:12)

You-owe-me! Mentality

Are any of us entitled to an entitlement mentality as epitomized in the “99% demonstration” (with this I am referring to the tension surrounding the concentration of wealth, not the economic turmoil blame in the Occupy Movement). To that I reply with a resounding NO! Our country is a capitalist nation, built on capitalist endeavors. Further more it was laissez-faire. And now we call upon the government to restrict what capitalism was meant to create? The idea of an individual starting a business and rising into wealth was the “American dream,” yet once it has been achieved so profoundly, it suddenly becomes a problem.

“That is so unfair,” shouts the 99%, but ask yourself why and where are they justified in crying injustice. Behind-the-scene corporate deals, shipping jobs to China, exploitation of employees: breaching into moral wrongs? Yes. Unfair? Absolutely not. Their empires, their rules. Anything under what they built up, is subject to them. It seems snobby to take this stand doesn’t it? But putting yourself into someone else’s shoes always does the trick. 

Imagine having a love for all things electronic and opening a small store selling T.V.’s, MP3 players, cameras, and the such. This store happens to do well so you expand it. You put countless hours in, and the money keeps pouring back out. You make the your stocks public and make it available for franchise. Its success booms exponentially. Your hard work and the risks you took to start this business really did pay out and quite a lot. Until... one day you get a letter from the government demanding you to cut down a branch of your company and to limit your profit. Your blood, sweat, and tear soon becomes that of the government. It’d be a crime to you, the 1%, wouldn’t it. 

Now I wouldn’t go as far as taking the “Gospel of Wealth” view (“survival of the fittest” in economy”) and say the the 99% are a bunch of no good, lazy bums that deserve to be there. From the 99% comes the 1% after all. But please cease the socialist complaints and be a capitalist.

Civil War Mania!

I've received a heavy dosage of the Civil War as of late with AP U.S. History and even outside with the release of Steven Spielberg's Lincoln which was a surprisingly well executed and entertaining film. That is a whole different topic however. Having gone through three chapter on the Civil War (and that only includes those that directly pertained to it), my knowledge on this era has significantly expanded. It is the theme of patriotism and war-time enthusiasm seen in this time period that I'd like to note though. And furthermore the lack thereof that I have, from my knowledge, perceived in the United States today.  At the upstart of the Civil War, there was such a excess of volunteers that many were turned away. Of course the zeal eventually died down as the war dragged on bloodily, but none of that can be seen anymore, at least by me. Where has the patriotism gone? The fervent love for our country displayed through an active demonstration of suffrage and wartime zeal has disappeared. From a nativist view, perhaps the large streams of immigrants have diluted the true American who have retained their nationalistic efforts. This country is not really the immigrants' own, and their appreciation and gratitude for its refuge from whatever political oppression or impoverished status has quickly vaporized from sight. However, this seems to not be the case at all. Statistics have rather shown that a growing percentage of minorities that are eligible voters has increased while the amount of eligible white voters has steadily decreased. Maybe society's overall personal detachment has created a breed of indifferent drones, ungrateful of their rare rights and privileges to add their own voice to the affairs of their nations. So what's done it? In the cheesiest manner possible I must say that I cannot come up with this answer except for myself. The answer lies within each and every citizen of the United States, each and every one of you. There is no single answer. There still are passionate nationalists and wartime profiteers always have existed so it feels wrong to group and bundle a people based on their time period. "So my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country."