Question:
Whats worth driving 3 hours on Friday night with a headache, missing out on the best Police cover band this side of the Mississippi, and not spending the weekend with your girlfriend?

Answer: First day of the 2007-2008 snowboarding season!

Lynn and I drove up last night (well actually, she drove while I pretended to be awake;), arrived at our rented condo around 12:30, stayed up until 2:30 playing with our snowboarding gear, only to wake up at 9:30 ready to hit the slopes! After a quick breakfast on vegan pancakes with sliced pears we hit the slopes

a chicken soup outlook

How many of you have lost a friend? I've lost a few in my life, not to death I'm glad to say but for more avoidable reasons which for one thing or another were...well, unavoidable. It's never easy and each time I'm left with an empty feeling that kind of gnaws away at my sides like a curious rat nibbling at a hunk of leftover cheese. Each time, I'm always at a loss, thinking what I could have done about it or how things could have been different. I try to be an optimist and in this situation, I've managed to find a real (but albeit small) white lining to losing a friend...the hope that when, or if, your paths cross again you will be a better person that you were today. That tomorrow you will be a better person that you were yesterday. The friend I lost called me "chicken soup man" - a play on the popular collections of short stories and because I make soup like comments, which may not solve problems, nor bring riches, but are heart warming stories that might make you feel better. I suppose this entry in itself could be called a chicken soup outlook and might be ridiculed by some as idealist or emotional. Maybe so, but when time's are tough and you're looking for something to pikc you up, a bowl of soup might go a long way. You know what? I'm hungry, hungry for some chicken soup.

Weekend in Santa Monica

Spent the weekend down in Santa Monica visiting my old friends and former roommates -Colin, Dan, and Andy. Great to see them and spent the weekend, biking, surfing, beaching bumming, playing volleyball, grilling, partying and finally....cleaning! (a requirement of the grilling and partying ;)

Unforunately the weekend wasn't without its share of mishaps - while surfing, we left our bookbags containing baseball gloves, wallets, and cameras (gulp!) next to our cooler and beach towels. We couldn't have been more than 30 yards from the beach...Well, stupid us because when we came back, all our stuff was gone. Other than the obvious lesson learned here (don't leave your stuff unattended at the beach) I think i realized that all the stuff we have and tend to covote is just that...stuff. And the really important things like friends, memories, and experiences are things that luckily for us can never be taken away.

The weekend still went well and all three of those guys chipped in, loaned me $ to spend the rest of the weekend, paid for food, beer, etc and never asked for a dime - selfless. I'm happy to say that I had a great weekend, I have great friends whom I am quite sure I will remain in contact with for the rest of my life. That feeling alone is pretty special and I feel very lucky this morning as I wake up from my couch and prepare to head back to SF, renewed with motivation to go to work, put in the hours, and make some $ - money which will be used not to replace my camera or wallet, but to ensure that these random weekends, trips and experience will continue to flow my way

Birthday Lessons

As my birthday draws near, I like to think of what the past year has taught me. What have I learned? How can I make my life better, happier, and ultimately more meaningful? Some of the lessons below are one's I've had to relearn and some of new for me. Most of this may seem obvious but are harder to follow than to say. Even the most important things, can be lost among the trials and tribulations that sweep across our daily skies. If you take the time to read this, take a moment, reflect, and really think about how one (or more) of these lessons can apply to you...

Be honest. honest with yourself and with others.
Do the right thing, even if it hurts you or is the hard thing to do.
Remember that the only thing you truly have control over in this life is yourself.
Your words, your actions, all are controllable and all have significant meaning.
You can't please everyone all the time.
People will hurt you. It's inevitable, but you can't stop trusting people or caring. If you do that then you've really lost.
Keep your friends involved in your life, when life gets beats you up it's these people that will pick you up.

As always, thanks for taking a little part of your day to read this and "listen" to me. Take care,
~ Dave

My Home in Livemore

Check it out, my first movie!

a different sort of day

So here's how today was supposed to go - wake up. go surfing. head into San Francisco to go to TWO parties (apparently it's Bastille day, I'm not French but hey any excuse to party right?) then be driven home sometime in the late hours of the night/wee hours of the morning to pass out in my bed.

Here's how today went - woke up. went to the bank (twice.) Searched outside for the cat (he's an indoor feline) for an hour, only to find him sleeping under the bed. began working in the backyard, pruning our dwarf fruit tree, raking up branches, planting some petunias, dug up a new flower bed. Headed to the library to get a book. barbequed chicken, corn on the cob, and veggies. Writing in my blog.

So my question is when did I all of a sudden grow up and start to be a "house man"? I swear it wasn't always like this. I used to party, I swear. But you know the worst part - I LIKED gardening. I had a blast today, got some sun, listened to some good music and hung out with my roommates. All in all a heck of a good day. So tomorrow, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to go surfing...I think.

just a thought

I'm upset. My sister's home of several years was broken into by some vandals who stole nothing valuable to anyone other than my sister and her housemate BJ. The worst part was that they took my sister's safe which contained titles, birth certificates, morgage information, and other pieces of paper worth nothing to anyone else. Congratulations vandals, you risked going to prison for...maybe $300 dollers worth of jewelry and some paper. Nice job. Anyways, I'm happy to say that a neighbor saw their truck (black) and perhaps they'll get caught. They should. Caught and beaten.

So why do people steal? Some say from it's okay to steal from large corporations because these multi-billion dollar buisnesses have so much, they'de never notice. Other people say that slacking on the job is the same as stealing from those who write your paycheck. Regardless of what you believe, it should be noted that stealing is...well wrong, no matter how you slice it. But it's the same wrong as earning a good pay check and not giving something back to charity. The same wrong as loafing off of your friend's good fortune and not insisting (ever) to pay the bill when he takes it. The same as begrudging your roommates for eating "your food." Perhaps if we all changed are attitudes in some small way, something (I dont' know what) great would happen. You know, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts type of thing..just a thought.

the first of many..

Hey Friends, Family,
Acquintances, Teammates and whomever else stumbles across this blog; thanks for coming!

So this is my first blog, the first of many I hope. I'm not sure what one writes in these, probably a combintation of stories about my days, travels, emotions, and thoughts. In addition I hope this can serve to keep me in contact with all of you whom I dont' have the pleasure of seeing on a regular basis but who have helped to shape my characer and influence my life. So don't be shy, make comments, let me know what you're doing, good or bad it doesn't matter - just stay in touch!

A brief update on my current living status:
Just moved back to Livermore, CA (thats about 40 minutes east of SF) to start my first true post-college job at the lab. I had the pleasure of coming out here via Canada, traveling 5500 miles in two weeks with my friend Janet and coming out knowing a few people (from a seemingly former life), and for the most part alone. I expect to make friends quickly, and have started things well. My two roommates are Jon and Laura, both young professionals whom enjoy good food, a fine wine, and surfing! They're quite active, inviting me to see the Yankees play in SF the first day I was here and then taking me and Janet surfing on the second day! The yankees lost the game, but surfing is amazing and I can't wait to keep improving my skills on the waves. Laura contributed both a desk and a bed to my room, which has turned out quite nice. Probably the best decorated room/office I've ever owned with my first queen sized bed, tv, and floor to ceiling mirrors! I even have a window which always contains a seemingly everend boquet of blooming pink flowers from an outdoor shrub, in three words - Life is Good =)

Wish you all could be here to share this with me, until we meet again this will have to suffice. My best to you all and be sure to keep checking back regularly!

~ Dave