Joshua Tree

We have again left civilization. We are again starving little boys. The past two weeks were spent under the care of our surrogate parents; Dave and Marcia, Steven and Nancy. These parents caused me to regress in age. I fell into their outstanding care, and if I had stayed in Southern California any longer, I would have turned into a 22 year old infant. I would loaf around their houses, waiting for my meals to be cooked and my butt to be wiped. A grown-toddler Brett. NOW THAT is a vacation.

BUT, comfort and luxuries are not what this trip is about.

What is this trip about? Camping? Finding Myself? Finding a career? Finding booze and another pair of surrogate parents? Time will tell.

In more pressing matters, I'm currently chilling next to my compadre, Zach, in Joshua Tree National Park. It's dark, but the park has a special aura surrounding it. It is a cool place. We plan to wake up early tomorrow and get some of that special.

REMINDER-my phone is dead until further notice.

Thanks again to Brett's wonderful parents, Steve and Nancy Wingis

Bye Bye Brett's Phone

Cell phone I hardly knew ye. You were strong and reliable, but even you could not survive 20 minutes in a saltwater bath. I was an idiot, and I took you surfing with me. I'm sorry....

If anyone needs to reach me, call Zach's phone.

360-608-2304

We are leaving Brett's house in Del Mar for Joshua Tree National Park. Our time here was nothing short of amazing, and its hard to leave this place for the cold sleeping surface of a Park's floor. A HUGE thanks to Nancy and Steven Wingis! I ate so well the past two weeks, I've gained four pounds. The trip must continue in order for me to loose weight.

Rancho Relaxo

We are still at Brett's house in beautiful Del Mar.

We can't leave anywhere. We are like leaches, once we find a home that supports us, we sink our teeth in and suck out all the delicious beer.

Terror at the Del Mar Beach

Here are the two things I encountered today.



First, the shark fin. I was out in the ocean about 30 feet from the shore, when I saw an ominous dark thing in the water. I told myself I was imagining things, but took steps to tuck my feet onto my surfboard and ready my arms as to punch a shark and avoid being eaten alive. I continued surfing and had some good, ignorant fun.

Later, while Zach and I where chilling on the shore, we saw two fins in the water. The fins were roughly as far out as I was surfing. Relief swept through my body as I kissed the sand that my feet were comfortably standing on. However, after further inspection, the fins turned out to be dolphin fins. Nice, friendly dolphins. But, Brett's dad told us that earlier this summer a man was eaten alive by a shark about a half mile from where we were swimming. I'm convinced the shadow I saw was that very same man-eating shark.

Second, I got stung by a stingray. I was lucky because it only nicked the side of my ring toe. I was standing in waist deep water, took a step, and felt a painful sting shoot up my toes. I immediately thought I had been stung by a jellyfish. I hobbled to the shore, and Zach proceeded to tell me I could go into shock. Unlike when I normally get hurt, the pain in my foot started to spread and got very intense. My toe started to swell. I decided it was best to walk towards the life-guard station. It was a long walk, and I almost passed out because of the pain. I started to panic, wondering if my fellow beach-goers would know what to do if this strange man suddenly passed out on the beach.

I made it to the lifegaurd station, and the dude told me I had been nicked by a stingray. He said that I was lucky it didn't slice my whole foot, because people say the pain is unbearable. I was still hurting pretty bad, so when I arrived at Brett's house, I soaked my foot in hot water and vinegar.

I'm a bad ass, because I was stung by a stingray.

Del Mar Heights

We are going to the beach tomorrow....for the whole day. The hard life of a vagabond continues.

Zach and I constantly theorize about potential careers and prospective happiness. I want a successful, challenging career that makes some skrilla but allows me some time to enjoy life. Know what I should get into?

P.S.
I think I got a job working for the news department of a radio station in Santa Fe. It's volunteer work, but it will give me some much needed experience in journalism. I get to work on my own stories and I might be on the radio. I think my disk-jockey name could be something like 'Brett, the Holy-Moly-from-Oly, Cihon'. Pretty neat.

Leaving Moorpark

This trip is not hard. People pay all sorts of money to do what Zach and I did while we were staying at my Uncle's house. All KINDS of money for our lives. We ran the gamut of what people love to do on their vacations. We went wine tasting, surfing, ate wonderful meals every night. It was sad to leave. BUT, like I say, fish and guests stink after eight days.

We spent our last day in Moorpark at Reagan's Presidential Library. There, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was on display. The Proclamation spends 363 days in the dark, stored away in the National Archives. The Proclamationonly spends 48 hours a year in the daylight. It just so happened that the 48 hours it spent in the light this year were at Reagan's Presidential Library, which we just so happened to be staying near.

I get emotional in patriotic situations. A summer ago, I nearly cried while watching a replay of America's Miracle on Ice. It was weird. Also, before I cry, my mouth does this bizarre twitch motion, like a pre-cry warning. At Reagan's Library, my mouth twitched three times, the whole experience was too patriotic to handle, and I nearly bawled. First, seeing the actual Proclamation, one of the most historical documents in all of the U.S's history. There were two black men posing as Buffalo Soldiers guarding the document, standing stoically at full attention. It took all my might not to hug them and ask them if they want to hold my hand while we cry and look at Lincoln's wonderful Proclamation together.

Crying while seeing the Emancipation Proclamation is to be expected. However, I did not expect to choke up while I strolled the halls of Regan's Library. The Library is essentially a museum that outlines all of Regan's life. The man was gnarly! He made me want to be the President and marry a movie star all in this lifetime-just like he did.

Here is one abridged story:
He got shot. He almost died. But, right before he was being operated on by the doctor, Regan
quibbed to his doctors, "Your all Republicans, right?" One doctor responded, "Today, we are all Republicans." My mouth twitched.

I almost bawled at the Berlin Wall. I love Soviet History. AND, I got to tour through Air Force 1. I'm a nerdy history major after all.

We left Moorpark and drove through the haze that is L.A. We are now staying at Case de Brett. It is awesome, more on this later.

Southern California Creamin'-Part 1

O.K., You got some catching up to do.

Zach and I arrived to my Uncle's house in Moorpark, C.A. on Sunday evening. After a chill out session the night we arrived, we were ready to jump into gear Monday afternoon. We went for a hike behind my Uncle's house. The rattlesnake population is growing here because of the drought that it currently taking place in Southern California. There has already been twice as many sitings as there usually are at this point in the year. During our hike we were like two scared little girls, nervously tiptoeing around the fields. We got to a point where there was high grass, and we heard the rattle of a rattlesnake, which sounds like a broken water pipe. The sound was pretty far off, but I wanted to see a rattler in the wild, so I started throwing rocks towards the sound-nothing happened. We decided it was too treacherous to continue and turned back towards the house. However, we did manage to find these rattler eggs in an old pipe. I offered Zach ten bucks to stick his hand in the pipe and get sum, but he chickened out. Scared little girl....

On Tuesday we cruised up to Ventura and went surfing. Both Zach and I have been surfing once before, with an instructor, and we were ready to check out the bodacious waves of California. We rented wet suits and two boards that were roughly the size and weight of two small canoes. Maneuvering a board the size of a boat is no fun, especially in the breakneck surf conditions we discovered on the beach.

A four foot wave does not look like much from the shore. In fact, it's rather pleasant, almost comforting. But, when I was laying down on my ship of a board, staring at a cresting wave about eight feet ahead of me, I knew for sure my life was over. I was dead. As many of you know, I'm a wonderful swimmer who is extremely confident in my abilities, but this fact did not matter in the hurricane like surf that consumes So Cal. I ultimately mastered a procedure that enabled me to survive these four foot behemoths. I would spot the wave coming towards me,The Fear would cause me to grip my board in an inhuman fashion, I'd then clench my asshole tight as a vice grip, and brace for impact. After the wave hit me like jo' momma, I got thrown around in the surf, took comfort in the fact that I would die on a sunny day in California, and then somehow manage to get back to the surface just in time to start the whole harrowing situation over. Surfing kicks ass.

Wednesday, my Aunt Marcia took us to the Santa Ynez vineyards that were featured in the movie Sidways for wine tasting. I was a broken shell of a man from the previous day's surfing, and the wine eased my wounds. The Santa Ynez valley is extremely gorgeous, but I was mostly too wined out to notice. We went to four different tasting sessions, tasting about 2 tablespoons of six different wines at each session. I hadn't held much hope for me becoming a wine connoisseur, but I learned more than a thing or two throughout the whole process. The teachings at the tasting sessions taught how to look at, smell , and taste wine-the tasting being my favorite part. My Aunt is quite the funny lady, and I enjoyed spending some quality time with her, hearing scandalous stories about my Uncle sipping on some fine wine.

We went surfing again on Thursday. It was even more treacherous than before. We got in one of those turf fights over waves like the incident that was featured in the movie 'Point Break'. Zach is now in traction. .. just joking.

More coming soon now that I got the internet.

WEAK Updates

Sorry for the lack of updates.

The internet has been out at my dwelling in L.A. Check back later tonight for a full recap of everything Zach and I have done, from surfing in Ventura to Wine Tasting in Santa Ynez.

All thriller no filler here at Brett's Blog.

Skate or Die

We drove down highway 101 towards L.A. Zach and I stopped in Santa Barbra and I took a jaunt at the local skatepark, where I met pro-skateboarder Sammy Baptista. I fulfilled my dream, for sure.

We lounged all night, drinking wine and hotubbing at my uncle's house in Moorepark, CA.

Bye S.F., Hello L.A.

Zach and I left our cozy pad in S.F. It was sad to go, and I hope we come across all those ladies again. We are speculating that if life doesn't work out in New York, we could always come back to the gold coast of San Francisco.

We toured down highway 1 on our way to L.A. Big Sur is insanely beautiful, mind blowing, and dangerous. Right from the turquoise blue ocean juts some of the gnarliest mountains of California. Big Sur's wilderness' is unsurpassed in Southern California, where the land is being increasingly quelled by rich developments. It still remains undeveloped and pristine.

Some of the best writers in the world have spent time in Big Sur, with the area inspiring them to write noteworthy pieces. I wanted to stay longer, so I could finish my epic opening novel, as I burst on to the literary scene. But all the camp sites were booked, so we blew right on through.

We slept on the beach outside of San Louis Obispo.

401(k) is a o.k.

I love all of this financial turmoil. It is some of the most interesting stuff in the world. Here is a recap for today.

1. Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11.

2. Merrill Lynch was bought out by Bank of America for about $25 dollars a share.

3. A.I.G. is in trouble. The governor of New York is talking about some weird state oriented bailout.

4. There wasn't a federal buyout of Lehman unlike earlier in the year.

5. The European markets tanked. They fell 4 to 5 percent, as opposed to the U.S's 3.

6. CHINA cut interests rates, which means it's fighting inflation and it fears a recession.

It's amazing. The reason I'm interested in this financial turmoil stems from what happened with Bear Stearns. I like to picture some of the smartest financial minds of the country staying up all hours of the night, not eating or sleeping. They realize that a LARGE portion of their riches are lost, but they must find some sort of bail out system, so the whole market doesn't crumble. They are not altruistic, but when was the last time you tried to work through a problem that effects the value of most people's retirement plan. These big CEOs worry about their money, yes, but all our money (if you have invested in the market, mostly our parents) is affected by their decisions.

http://www.norris.blogs.nytimes.com/

San Francisco Officially Minted

T.C.B Baby. I woke up early and took the bus downtown. I talked to some people at the San Francisco Chronicle, trying to get hints on how to work in print journalism. It was rather unproductive, because I'm not ready to quit this roadtrip, and since I wasn't specifically looking for a job there, wasn't much they could say. However, I got a lot of phone numbers-useful if I ever decide to move to S.F.

With that finished, I walked to the old San Francisco Mint building. I had a rare coin that was minted there, and I wanted to see the place. The Mint was in shambles, I was disappointed the city let the building go.

After the Mint I toured the Freida Kahlo exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. One could say I'm a casual admirer of Surrealist art- it's a sick favorite genre. The exhibit is the most extensive Surrealist collection I have ever seen, with Kahlo just the tip of the iceberg. There is Man Ray, Duchamp, Breton and all those funky dudes. At the exhibit, there is a picture of Leon Trotsky, Diego Rivera, and Andre Breton that I dug hard. I kept thinking about those three minds getting together in Mexico, having sangria and cooking up ideas. Pretty cool dudes.

After I met Zach at the Beanbag Cafe. We got some drinks made a rendez-vous with our friends Sheila and Emily. All our San Francisco buddies went to a folk show, so Zach and I decided to get jiggy with it. The show and after party were chill doggy.

I'm going to miss all my San Francisco friends.


P.S.-Zach might have a thing for a little birdy down here, so it will be interesting to see how that goes.

Ghettos and Glenfiddich

It's our third day in San Francisco, and we dig it.

We spent all of day two walking the city. We got stuck in a sketchy part of the city, somewhere around Filmore street. The people took one look at Zach and me and saw a bunch of college boobs with deep pockets. We were lucky we got out of there alive. We had a couple of drinks at the Beanbag cafe to celebrate making it out alive, and then we danced the night away.

Today I skated throughout the city. There is a new San Francisco skatepark, and it is the bomb- diggity. The park is a grindline park, so it's a little big for my taste. But, I got my transition skills on anyway. I ended the night watching Seinfeld.

Wall of Hot Guys

We are staying at my friend Lara's house in San Fransico. We spent the day lying around. It's nice to touch some carpet again.

Lara lives with 3 other chicks. There house is your typical femmy college house. However, I did find an interesting nugget on the wall of their bathroom. They have a 'wall of hot guys'. It's mostly just cut outs of fashion magazines.-BUT- right in the middle of the wall, there is a great picture of my friend Zack (different dude than my roadtrip friend). All the girls think he is quite hunky.

The picture captures Zack at his best. Stud Muffen.

California Coast

We left some real kooks behind in Oregon and turned for the California coast.

The drive through the Redwoods is fantastic. I spent the whole time imagining what it was like for the Native Americans, trying to tame that wild land. Another thought- before there were showers did people just constantly stink? Did they get used to the smelling all the time?

We landed in Arcata California and I managed to ditch Zach and skate for a bit. The skatepark had a shroom head kind of vibe, so I left. I met Zach at a local coffee shop that was having an Open Mic night. We spent the night drinking beer and listening to talented local singers.

We slept in the car- pretty roughouse because I had gas.

Zach Stole My Blog

Zach created his own blog- www.zachhhwritings.blogspot.com .

Real original Zach....

Crater Lake

I woke up at 7:30 am. Gnarly.

We drove to Crater Lake. The lake is insane. I've never been one to say, "It was beyond words", but this lake is. We descended the mile into the crater to the edge of the lake. All you can see from the lake's edge is the lake and the volcanic dome that encases it. Asides from that, you just see sky. It's like a lonely little planet of your own, but you are completly content with your little planet and its lake. Gnarly.

We spent the remainder of the day dicking around at Starbucks in Medford, trying to get the internet to work.

Ohhh!!!!

I got stung by a bee. Twice.

I also drank water from the lake. I'm afraid Im going to die of diarrhea any day now.

The Start

I picked up my partner in crime, Zach, and we were on our way. We immediately launched into a political discussion. Zach is a bleeding heart liberal. College educated all the way. He is a smart, charming, dude who stands by his beliefs. But, sometimes I think he is just spouting off the rhetoric he learned through school.

We stopped at a street fair in Eugene, Oregon. It was a big, hippie scene. It reeked of BO, incense and Casey's room. I always feel out of place at those kind of fairs, like I'm to square. The fair was all about being green. The fair hires a worker to pick through the trash, sorting out all of the biodegradable objects and putting them in the compost. I doubt we will see that green awareness when we are in the south.

The north entrance of Crater Lake is closed, so we camped about 20 miles east of the Lake.

Leaving is Hard

I miss my girlfriend, cat, family, and house. I'm in the car with stinky Zach.

Writing Samples

Sorry I haven't uploaded any writing samples (other than the hastily written piece on the DNC). I am trying to work out how to link pdf's to my blog.

There is more to come.

The Road Trip

Now that college is done, I'm ready to start a new chapter in my life. Coupled with my desire to be a journalist, I also love to travel. I lived in France for a year and traveled Europe extensively. However, I barely know my own country- the wonderful America. I've never been east of Indiana, or anywhere in the south.

So, after deep soul searching, I decided a road trip is in order. My college bud, Zach Hagen, is my partner in crime.We are planning to drive across the country, to New York, in a kind of U-like manner. Just two dudes; driving, talking, writing, and trouble making across the U.S. We have a couple months, a couple dollars and a couple of ideas.

Our first stop is Crater Lake, Oregon. More from the road soon.

Last College House :(

As I mentioned, I spent the entire weekend cleaning out my house. It feels nice to get out of there, but sad as well. I will miss long hours lounging on that filthy couch and debating nothing with my filthy friends.

A special thanks to Liv, Molly, and Steph for their help in cleaning the house, even though they didn't live there.

And a very special thanks to that couch, for all the memories.

Updates

Sorry for the delay, I've spent the last 36 hours moving out of my house in Seattle.