I Coulda Done Better But You Don't Mind

So here I am nearing the end of my "off track". I love Southern California, it's my home. It's hard for me to find something more enjoyable than laying around on the warm sand and paddling out on a good south swell for some frontside laybacks and backside hacks. I don't ever want to leave this place but I have to go back to the spud state soon to continue on with the so called pursuit of happiness (it's okay though, I actually like school).

Depending on who you ask this wasn't the most productive of "off tracks" for me. I didn't secure a solid, reliable job early on and earn just above minimum wage for five months strait to come out of this whole thing with somewhere around five grand to show for it. If you ask me, I did what was necessary to continue keeping the load off for just that much longer while still managing to not only get by with my sanity, but make a little bit of money along the way. And if you ask me, I did just fine. My lack of productivity was my productivity. The way I see it, I was preserving my faculties for the ensuing semester. The best way for me to stay fresh and clean for the heavy class load that lies ahead of me, is to stay as far away from the man as possible (all he does is drag you down anyways; right?). So, for the people out there that don't like the fact that I wasn't "responsible" according to the standard definition, you should re-evaluate the meaning. While I didn't have a "job", I still got the job done.

Those Silly Drugs Were No Match for Me

In addition to selling myself to medical research, here's what I did for money this summer...

Secured a two night stay at West Coast Clinical Trials for a clinical study of asthma medicine: $600.

"Donated" blood from a major artery in my left arm to Massimo Corporation: $200.

Taught surf lessons with Surfer Sam's surf school: Not much.

I checked back in with my friends at West Coast Clinical Trials and stayed there for 8 days. They paid me $5,100 to test a double dose of a drug called "Simponi" thats already on the market. That silly drug was no match for me. What bunch of suckers. ...that's most definitely the way they feel about us.

Save the Dolphins

I watched the documentary, "the Cove" tonight. This film documents the horrific treatment and killing of dolphins. I am rarely affected by activist movements the way I was by this one (not that I don't care about anything...I just don't care about anything that much). I have a particular love, however, for the ocean and dolphins. I grew up surfing in Southern California and one of my favorite things to experience is seeing a dolphin in the wild. They are truly amazing creatures and they are being slaughtered by a Japanese fishing company in Taiji, Japan (and all over the world) for no good reason. The saddest part of the whole thing is that there isn't really much that can be done. I feel that I at least have a small obligation to raise awareness even a little bit. There is currently a letter that you can sign online at http://bit.ly/coverltr that urges government leaders to ban the slaughtering of dolphins in Taiji. Who knows what will come of such a small contribution but it's the very least we can do. Thanks for reading. Oh yeah, you should watch the documentary and if you don't like it I'll give you a million dollars.

My Music

I mostly record my music for journalistic purposes so the recordings are pretty rough. I'm sure they'll get better as I record more. Hope you enjoy the tunes. I don't think you can comment on the player so if you want to comment on any of the songs just comment on this post! I love you all.

Bleuby The Bug

Public homage to this vehicle is long overdue! This was my '72 Superbeetle. A friend and I (Bret Everson) jointly acquired the bug around seven or eight years ago. It had been sitting in a neighbor of his' driveway in San Juan for a long time and we decided one day that we wanted it. It was orange and the interior was deteriorating when we first set out for it but that was no matter to us. After insulting the owner by offering him fifty bucks for it, we further insulted him--unbeknownst to him--by walking away with the charmer of a vehicle for a mere two hundred bucks.


We thought it was a steel. And it was. To make a long, cool story short; we had no idea what we were doing. We tore the car completely apart the first night. It sat, torn apart, for a year. We made little progress in a lot of time. All of the work that was done to it, however, was done by us. Interior, body work (sanded and bondo-ed the whole thing etc.), some engine work (exhaust, electrical upgrades, carburator, etc.), and more was all done by us. I eventually became the sole proprietor of Bleuby (as she was later named) and drove her proudly for a number of years.


Because I go to school in Rexburg, Idaho, the bug was simply unhappy (it is a California breed afterall). And I was unhappy to see the bug so unhappy. But more accurately, it just wasn't practical to have that car at this time in my life (mainly because I had nowhere to keep it and it really wasn't the best cold weather car) so I had no choice but to sell it. A sad day in my life indeed was the day that car was sold. This is the story of Bleuby the Bug.

Decision

This blog is basically pointless. I have some free time now and I will spend some time doing something mildly productive (other than my schoolwork). I like writing. And I like thinking. So I decided to write down thoughts and start my blog. I hope you enjoy reading it.