Feel the Burn

Saturday morning I woke and was determined to get out on my road bike. I get up early every day, so a major sleep-in is about 6:30. When I first got up there was no wind at all. As the morning progressed, the wind really picked up. Well, I took off riding, determined to get a good hour in before the day got into gear. There is a HUGE difference from riding the stationary bike to being out on the road! My legs were feeling the ache, but it was the cold wind that really had my lungs feeling the burn. A couple times while waiting at stoplights I swear I was experiencing "ice cream headaches" the wind was so cold! I kept thinking how stupid I am going to look passing out while standing there.  I managed to have a long hard ride and made it home completely conscious. Trying to walk downstairs was pretty funny, though. I just wish we could have nice enough weather so I could be out every day.

Shaped from Experience

You know, we're where we're at today from the experiences of youth. Though we can't continue to blame others for our choices today, they have made impacts on us. 

I was one of the "smart" kids in elementary school, though you would never know by the grades I got. I went to Hyde Jr. High in 6th grade to be in an accelerated learning program. I was small, real small, in 6th grade. The school seemed HUGE when I arrived. I was lucky enough to have my brother Carl and our friend William in 7th grade so we all would go to school together. I had wood shop with Mr. Tegley, a giant of a man, and, who I considered a real jerk. I'm sure I would be too if I had to be around junior high aged kids every day! He would freak out at the smallest things and I lived in complete terror of him. His hall pass was a giant rock with writing on it. One day I had to go to the office for something, so I grabbed the rock, struggling with it the whole way up to the office. After taking care of whatever business I had, I picked up the rock, again struggling to hold it, and set back to shop class when coming around a corner a girl bumped into me causing me to drop the rock only to see it shatter into a number of pieces! I stood there in a blind panic, my whole 11 years of life flashing and swirling before me! Do I just run home? Should I cry and throw up (that's what I wanted to do)? I picked up all the pieces of the broken pass, holding them in my stretched out shirt, and slunk back to class. Tegley was speaking to some students and I just stood there, waiting for him to see me with the shattered rock, then pound me into the ground with his enormous fist, like a nail into a board. The funny thing was he looks at me, as I stammer some inaudible wording of some one running into me, and just chuckles about "These things happen" and turns back to the other students! I don't know how I didn't soil myself with relief, but it was also so confusing; how could he get so angry at the dumbest things, yet breaking his precious rock meant nothing? 

I remember the end of Christmas break sitting in my parents room at around 5:00 PM, just when it's getting dark, and thinking there is no way in heaven or hell that I could go back to that class. My dad had to give me the pep talk to motivate me to actually go back to school. 

All this said, it was a learning experience back in 1977 to be persistent and move on, regardless of what you think and feel can happen to you.

It's New All Over Again!

The other day I was looking for a CD and came across some Pink Floyd that I hadn't listened to in a long time, specifically San Tropez from Meddle. I quickly picked up my guitar and was able to play along. But from there I listened to Animals and Wish You Were Here. It brought back a lot of memories of the care-free days of youth, sitting around during the summer listening to music and playing the drums. That reminds me of how we used to play croquette in the front yard of the LaHerrans house while they had the stereo blaring so we could hear it out front. The joys of the record player.

But I digress. You know, my brothers and I got pretty hardcore into the progressive rock scene, listening to Pink Floyd, Genesis (before Phil Collins took over), and I got really into Yes' Yessongs for a couple years. My older brother Carl enjoyed some of the psychedelic  Pink Floyd, where I thought a lot of it sounded like noise. Meddle and on were what I enjoyed. My sophomore year of high school is when I had my Yes thing going on. I recall spring break of 1982 I was supposed to go with 2 of my brothers and our dad to Disneyland. The day of the trip I woke with a sore throat and opted out. Of course I was ridiculed by my brother, Carl, but it proved to be a smart move because I had the worst strep throat bout of my life! The whole week I laid around listening to all three records (yes, it was 3 records!) of Yessongs. So anytime I hear Yes, I think of that wonderful week. 

The whole jist of this is that hearing it again, it all sounded  great and made me realize how awesome David Gilmour really is at guitar. Seeing him from a recent concert that my brother has, made me happy that certain rock icons are also smart; he has very short gray hair, well what's left of it. Peter Frampton chose to do the same. Dignity sometimes is a good thing.

Stories from Long Ago

Over the years as I have helped get my daughters to bed they have made the request "Tell us a story from when you were a little boy", with which I was always happy to do. My brothers mock me because I remember everything from our childhood; names, places, etc. There are a couple classic stories that they wanted to hear over and over, so here they are-

We (my brothers, friends and I) would ride our bikes to Safeway grocery store about a mile away from our house,  and once there one of us always had to stand outside to "Guard the bikes" so they wouldn't get ripped off. Well, I was about 7 years old, and extremely short, and it was my turn to watch the bikes. So there I am, just standing there minding my own business, when a kid probably 12 years old walks out of the store, takes a huge wad of gum out of his mouth, shoves it in my hair, and just kept on walking, never breaking stride! I stood there, dumbfounded. I recall the agony of my mom cutting my hair to remove the gum.

The other story they loved to hear often was the story of "Rubberhead". I attended Fremont Older Elementary School in Cupertino, CA. and as luck would have it, the school was pretty much across the street from our house, well, the back entry was. There was probably an acre of dirt with a tar path down the middle of it, then the grass field and school. I was in 3rd grade and on my way home from school with everyone else. I was throwing rocks high into the air to see them land, creating the puffs of dust when they hit. Well, I chucked a rock as high and hard as I could and as I started seeing it's trajectory, I knew there was going to be a problem. David Darknell, a 6th grader, was walking way ahead of me. I didn't yell or warn him, I just winced and waited for impact. The rock hit his head and bounced a good 30 feet off of it! He turned around to see me standing there looking really guilty. He ran at me, I didn't move. He grabbed the back of my neck, squoze it hard, and made some unintelligible comments. But once again, my being extremely short and small played a role, because he kind of just shoved me and went on his way. But from then on, he was always known as Rubberhead. 

So there are two stories that have shaped my character and built me to the person I am. I will share more another time.

Artworks

I haven't done much in the way of art over the last 4 years because I have been in school and also serving in my church. A couple months ago I decided I would try a portrait of a woman I work with. I used watercolor pencils and oil paints. It was very hard to get back into the time commitment  of painting, but there's nothing like getting into the zone when you do.

I titled this piece Amanda, Fairy of Death. She was excited to receive it, which always makes me happy when people appreciate the work. Even the framer was excited to see something other than a landscape. Let me know what you think.

The Family

A Brief Overview

Maybe I will start with a couple items. I have been married to Teresa for almost 20 years. It seems so weird that it has been that long. We met when we were 15 at a church dance. I had noticed her a couple times at previous dances but at this particular dance she showed up with permed hair. Oh baby! When the song Time by Alan Parsons came on, I asked her to dance. We loved and hated each other for the next few years, then I served a mission to New Zealand for 2 years. She decided to return from school (at BYU) to see what would happen when I got home. Well, she was more than I could ever have asked for, and I still don't know what she was thinking when she said Yes to a marriage proposal!

We have 4 beautiful daughters and 2 cats. 

I graduated with a BFA in Illustration in 1997 and received my MBA in June of 2007. The EMBA program was one of the most intense times of my whole life. But, it was awesome and I now have a better job because of it. I work for sculptor Gary Lee Price in Springville,UT. I was the patina artist for too many years, ruing my wrists, shoulders, knees, etc. Hence the return to school. I now am the Marketing Manager. There never is a dull moment at the foundry, for foundry's truly are  weird-o magnets---myself included.

I am originally from Cupertino, CA and have been in Utah for 17 years. I miss the ocean and surfing. 

We have lots of music here at the house. I started playing the drums in 1981 and also took guitar lessons from the guitar king, Scott Miller. Thought I am most likely a let-down to him, I enjoy playing. I am trying to learn the tenor sax right now, too. My daughter Chelsea plays the sax and piano. Chantel plays the piano when she wants to, Abby plays the piano and does percussion at school. Madalyn is playing the piano, too. We all play our IPods!

I enjoy running and biking and look forward to warmer weather so I can start biking to work.

Well, that should be enough for now. One last thing, I love to laugh. Nothing makes me happier than tho make others crack up as well. So, hopefully I will be able to share some funniness, too. I will attach some photos.

It's One Small Step...

Well, here it is, my first comments going out to the vast universe of the web. After reading Jason Russell's postings for so long and seeing that Mike Leishman has a blog, too, I figured, What the heck? So, my ramblings on different subjects from politics, art, music, family, work, and anything else that I may need to get out of my head will find there way here. I hope they are worth your time and I would appreciate hearing your comments.