Things Have Happen

Life, by Jose.

It’s been quite a journey over the last 9 months. I’ve witness beautiful things, hiked the highest point in the US, and fell in Love.

I traveled for the first time out of the Country. I spent a week in Peru to help out with a nonprofit refuge orphanage. It was an experience I will never forget.

I landed a pretty well-paying job working for the CSU Fresno Music Building. I am in charge of the Concert Hall and Recital Hall. There are a lot of things to do in this position, but I’m trying to manage my time and not stress out about it.

Backpacking the Rae lake Loops was a preparation for my 5 day excursion to the top of Mount Whitney. What a heart fulfilling time. You really find peace with God. My spirit was touched and I will never forget those good times out there.

I have had 3 grandparents pass, it’s been hard for our entire family and we are doing well. Lot’s of prayer and mourning. We will never forget the good times well spent with the Grandparents.

I’m realizing a few eye openers with my Faith and God. I have always heard that God’s love is unconditional, but I’ve never really understood it. I have such a wonderful girlfriend who has been showing me. She cares so much about my soul and well-being. She cares like no other person I’ve ever known. I love her so much and I see the changes I need to become a better person. I’ve been blessed to have Alex in my life right now. Let the spiritual healing begin. Thank you Lord for the hard times, it will only get easier in time.

I pray I can keep learning through her compassion and honesty.

I will be spreading my thoughts on a regular basis on this blog.

God Bless!

What’s new in My Life.

Well, I’ll tell you being single is quite fun. I mean, I don’t go around dating different women, I’m just free for awhile. Yes, of course I miss affection and companionship, but that’s what my multi-personality disorder is for.

I have been accepted this summer to be a river guide for class III rivers on the Upper Kings River. I am only going up on weekends, but will be working my regular job until the school year ends. Then June looks pretty thin for work, so I’m planning a mini vacation, maybe a backpacking trip somewhere away from the city smog and noises.

But come July, I’ll be working Summer Arts, a job I haven’t had in 3 years. I know how it runs, and with a pay cut, my availablity will also be cut. I will still be guiding rivers on the weekend, and getting big tag lines around my arms and legs.  (For those who are wondering, yes I’ll be wearing my SPF sunblock)

I just finished Sound Designing a play for Clovis West High School, Noises Off. I had fun creating sound cues, and adding sound effects to a much easy show. As a sound designer I over produced the sound, but hey, the director had no problems with that. It’s a little different working for high schools. I’m used to lots of paper work and lots of communication with directors, but in this district, I have found it easier to present the stuff early on and get a yes or no, and then represent during tech and see what happens. So far the two show’s I’ve designed have been a success, let’s see about next year. On that note, I had built a sound effect of a person falling down some stairs, I didn’t realize the director wanted it to be live, so to make is sound a little more dramatic, I made a crash box out of ply wood. Then I filled it with garbaged and added pieces of wood. Rattle that thing around and drop it, and you got yourself a nice sounding roll down the stairs. It was a success, and I’m a jenius. (Yes the ‘J’ was intentional)

Now up to the river for a weekend of more training and lots of rapids.

I lost my powers

Who’s a fan of the NBC show ‘Heroes’? I use to be until it got all wierd and became a joke. It became a thinker show, and I just want results. Anywho, how did I lose my powers? It happened when I was chillin’ in a cafe in downtown Monterey last Wednesday listening to an open mic, I looked across to the next table and guess who was sitting there? Petrelli’s Father. I told him about my power. He was threaten of what I could do, so he posed for a picture, and while doing so, he shook my hand. If you know the show, then you know his power is taking other peoples powers. He took mine! So no more ultimate hopscotching power for me.

Long Distance Relationship

I’ve heard many people tell me, “Long distance relationship never work.” But how do you know if you don’t at least try. That is what I did, I gave it a go and I wouldn’t have asked for a better ride. It started in the summer of 2008, mid August or so. She was a rock climber and an adventurous hiker. I was instantly attracted to her. One thing I’ve learned with rock climbing is, if you can trust someone with your life belaying you on a rope, then they are a keeper. But the thing is she resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and at the time I was living in Salt Lake City, Utah. Then I probably made things a little worse by moving back to California. Now with a  separation of 6 states and a 2 hour difference in time, made things a little harder, for the both of us. With her job of late night hours and my job of working gigs at the Performing Art Center, it was hard to catch up on a regular basis, and that’s when emotions escalade and turn into depression. No one to my knowledge likes to feel alone and depressed, and the fact that we couldn’t see each other or talk to each other face to face made things sucky. So on a mature agreement, we called it quits. Am I sad? Well a little. Under the right circumstances this could have worked out. I am glad we at least gave it try and had a blast while it lasted. It is sort of crazy when you put your life in God’s hands and he just takes care of you. I was sad and this is his solution. I trust he has a plan for me and someday he’ll give me my Paige, but what a ride. Thank you Lord!

Century for Marie.

Some people say their heroes are magical or have super powers. My hero has the power of passion and unconditional love. I’m talking about my Pops. On Valentines Day, this past Saturday, my Pops and I rode our bicycles 102 miles in honor of my older sister Marie, who past away May 5^th, 2008, of blood cancer. “Team Marie” was the team my Pops trained with for 14 weeks, and raised over $3,000 for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. I did partial training while in Utah, (snowboarding) and didn’t get on my bike until I moved back to California. But I knew I would finish as long as I had the spirit and strength of my sister pushing me along the way. (Thanks Marie!)

There has been no greater feeling of accomplishing a physical beat down of the body than the one I had this past Saturday. I crossed the finished line with my Pops, and loved every hundred miles of riding next to him (except for the downhill parts). I felt the hard work my Pops put into this, and the many lives he has touch throughout his training. I am proud and honored to say that this 49 year old man is my hero! I want to be just like him when I grow up.

My step dad, Jose, not to long ago in September also rode a century in honor of Marie. The race was in Hawaii, and I wish I could have been by his side too.

We all miss you Marie, and we’ll keep you in our spirit as everyday goes by.

 

 

What’s a happening?

I once produced a radio commercial that started out like this, “A new year, a new you…” Well, I’m here to say, that I’ve started a new me. My closes friends already know that I’ve recently moved from Salt Lake City, Utah back to California. While living in SLC I learned so much about myself, and the potential I have to offer to the world.

It was a very difficult decision for me to move back to the one place I dreaded, Fresno! It isn’t really developed and it’s scary just walking downtown. When comparing it to SLC, I lived in downtown, and I had no problem of ever being scared walking the streets late at night, and the transportation system was as simple as can be. I could literally get from one place to the other with a combination of the Trax and bus system. I don’t live in Fresno, but a small town just east of it, Clovis. The bus system sucks, and doesn’t go through many main streets. I can’t even get to my work on a bus. But if I decide to take a bus, it only cost me $1 dollar, SLC it was $2.50 for a 3 hour period. Maybe you’re thinking, “Why did you move back if you hated CA so much?”

Well I moved back because I ran out of mullah (money). I moved to SLC not really knowing what I was going to do, I applied to a few full time jobs, but all I got was nibbles and no interviews. I thought of being a teacher, but the credential program took 2 years, and I didn’t have the money to go back to full time school. So I worked in professional theatre and REI. You would think a professional theatre, that should be pretty good pay, right? Nope! I was getting paid $7.50 an hour. That was the cap. Then I worked for a Tony Award Winning summer theatre company! The contract was 3 and half months, paid me just enough to get by. REI paid me more an hour than the theatres, but I wasn’t getting many hours. So if you looked at my budget for the year, I brought in little money, but with bills, I was actually losing money. That finally caught up to me, and now I’m completly broke. My buddy had a job lined up for me if I moved back to the Fresno area. So I packed up and moved back.

The Performing Arts Center in the Clovis Unified School District is a $22 million dollar facility. It has a concert hall and black box theatre. It’s amazing! I am a sound engineer and sound designer for the PAC. It should help boost up my resume and give me more practice on designing/creating art in a theatre atmosphere.

I’m taking this move as an opportunity to make some changes in my life and hopefully leave a mark on some people. Because to be honest with you I don’t plan on staying here that long. Just enough time to get out of debt. Some good things I’ve noticed already is I love living pretty close to my family, and seeing my college buddies adds more life into my weekly schedules.

So, A new year, A new me? We’ll see!

What Now?

Well I went on a few hikes over the last time I’ve blogged. A couple with a really cool friend Bill. Don’t judge a smoker by his habits, this dude held up with the hike. We once did Angel’s Landing at Zion National Park, and the following week we did Cedar Breaks. I’ve been trying to get my rock climbing strength back so when I depart back to SLC, I can keep up with my fellow climbers. I bought a used rope for 50 bucks, and now all I have to buy is quick-draws. Lead climbing is scary! Another hike I’ve done recently was a small water hike called The Kanarraville Falls. It was pretty gnarl. I went on a hike with two buddies in the Festival, Becky Merold and Amber Scott. Approaching the first waterfall we saw a log placed along the side of the fall with a gerry rigged metal ladder and ropes on the side of the rock. It was pretty scary climbing up to the top of that fall. But further down the stream we came to a natural water slide. The algae made it slippery for my booty to slid down to the pool of cold water. As we came to the 2nd water fall the log/ladder was so slippery I couldn’t get up. I slipped and put a good slice in my right knee. My mom has a saying, “It’s not a good summer unless you have scares to prove it.” I guess I’m having a gnarly summer. I would  have put pictures up, but when I went to take my camera out, I found the LCD screen broken.

Where’s my Paige?

A few people actually know what the title means. All I ask for is a chance and respect, as I respect her. This might sound like a wanted add, but I’ll tell you living in this Theatre environment has taught me a few things about how I want to live my life, and who I would want to be part of it. I’ve met so many cool people within the Theatre world. Out of those few cool people, I’ve been attracted to some. Now, I’m a decent guy, who has only had 2 relationships, that lasted 7 years combined; one right after the other. Since then, I’ve been on occasion dates, but nothing serious, because emotionally I wasn’t ready.

Who am I? I’m just a simple guy, who is trying to find out what he wants to do with the rest of his life and hopefully find someone who would want to share it with me. Theatre is cool, but it is long hours, and busy schedule that last forever. I love it, but I couldn’t do it for the rest of my life. It wouldn’t be fair for a spouse to deal with my long hours and I couldn’t go very long without seeing my children. I would love to teach. Mold the minds of the youth! Get them ready for the world. How do I start that? When can I start that? Someone must want the same thing as me, right?

So in a way it’s real simple, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I exercise, and I believe God is holding on to someone for me, but in the meantime, I have to go through struggles and tribulations to test my faith and to have a pure relationship with someone that is based on good morals and a passion for God. So I ask again, where is my Paige? Well, she is just around the corner; as part of my walk with Christ, and I’m grateful God has given me someone to look forward to. No sneak peaks, but just lots heartbreak before I get there.

I just want to to back to Salt Lake City and live away from the blob of rumors and nonsense that piles up in a Summerstock Theatre.

Moonlight Hike

Last night was a full moon. Is there any better time to go on a hike at night when the entire trail is lit with moon shine. I had decided to go on this hike by myself, but when I had mentioned it to a bunch of people I work with, they thought it was a good idea, so I invited them to come along. It was Patrick, Amber Scott, Jessie, and Bradley. The location was Cedar Breaks, just 21 miles from Cedar City; the little town I’m working in for the Utah Shakespearean Festival. We loaded my truck around 12:45 am and headed up the hill to the National Park. On the drive we passed by 2 deers in the middle of the road, and an entire flock of them just right outside the main entrance. We parked at the visitor center and hit the main trail to The Perspective View. Along the way there were bats flying over us, we knew this by their clicking and quick silhouette’s flying overhead. It was a mile out, and we only used our flash lights for a couple small patches where the trees blocked the moonlight. The view was gorgeous. I don’t have a picture of it because the capture time on my camera couldn’t pick up any light, let alone a nice picture of what I saw. We stared at the giant hole of Cedar Breaks for about 20 minutes, and had our own personal time reflecting on life. After we were finished we had to hike back up the hill and make it back to my truck. Time was about 2:45 am by the time we made it back to the apartments. I had mentioned hiking to Angels Landing the next time the moon is Full. Let’s see how many people will actually do it with me.

TV rots the Brain.

There is a hand full of people who have listened to the Ska Band I was in during my high school career. We were called ThreeXr, or 3XR, which stood for Three Times the Refreshment. Well, we had a ska song that was titled ‘TV rots the Brain’. Lyrically it was about watching TV and being a bum, and instead of being useless you should get up and live for Christ. (Oh yeah our ska band was a Christian Ska Band) But I was analyzing how much do I use the TV. I say ‘using’ because sometimes I don’t watch television, I watch my netflix movies, or play video games, but I need the TV to do so. I clocked in about 4 hours a day (mostly watching 24 on DVD). Averaging 24 hours a week. That’s insane!!! One entire day wasted in a vegetated state. So I’ve come up with a plan to help me stay away from the tube.

What incentive to we get for watching TV? We usually pay for cable, and in exchange we get commercials to buy products we usually don’t need. When watching late night television around 2am I love to see the Dating commercials for Live Links or some other calling service. It’s funny!!! A good friend of mine Jen Reyes and I joke about some of the cheesy lines given on those commercials. “I’m glad you called, I’m feeling the chemistry.” That’s just one line, many more. Well my point is we don’t get anything for watching TV. Absolutely nothing. Well I’m starting a reward program for TV. Reading in exchange for television viewing. I’m not sure how the rules will be, but this is just an idea for myself. It’s calculated like this in simple terms. 50 pages of reading equals 30 minutes of TV time. (anything goes for tv time, video games, TV show, or 30 minutes of a movie). 100 pages of reading equals a full length DVD. Hopefully I’ll be able to read more, be adaptive to words and have the knowledge of whatever it is I want to learn about.

I’m also going to start a reward program for exercising. But that involves money. Still working on the formula, but all I know is it will give me an incentive to work out.