The Beach Is Nice

Hi everyone...
So I got up really early this morning, quickly got ready for my long day ahead. Travel day...heading to LA to get to work on Monday. Instead of spending one half day in Baltimore, which inevitably would have been spent making sure that everything was ready to go, and maybe worse, spent trying to get work done...I decided to get here early. I drove a quick 40 miles from the airport (the flight was uneventful, thankfully, although I hit my head...oh well, it's thick) to Diamond Bar, CA. My friend Dan lives there with his fiance, in a beautiful home. The most amazing thing about the area is the prodominance of Asians, and specifically Chinese. It seems that every sign for miles around has a Chinese translation attached to it. I should clarify, the store signs, not the street signs or other traffic signs (like some areas do in Spanish). I knew that there were lots of Asians, but I thought it was awesome how there were entire shopping centerS (notice the S, that's why its capitalized) that were entirely Asian stores and restuarants. The great thing is that this commercial community extends to a social community. From what Dan told me there were many events going on related to Chinese and other Asian cultures in the area. I'd have to say that I was impressed with the affluence of it all too. Most ethnic enclaves (Asian and otherwise) are generally in very urban settings that do not exude success. Diamond Bar and the areas around it exude success, some of it an excess of success, other area more modest middle class success, but success nonetheless.

From there, a quick drive south put me just south of Redondo Beach, on the Pacific Coast Highway. So it wasn't much of a highway here, and nor could I see the Pacific Coast...but I went north, as my goal was to take a roundabout way back to LAX that would allow me to see the Ocean. Strip malls and burger joints passed me on the leff and right, just a regular part of the American landscape. Going north, and turning left as often as possible (that would be West, and that's where the ocean is!), put me near the water, and the endless stretch of moving water. The sun was on the downturn, inching closer to the horizon, but blissfully resisting to go too quickly. Beautiful homes on the right, sometimes buildings, sometimes sand on the left...all right on top of each other, clearly not worried about personal space. Homes turn into hot spots of clothing, bars, food, and the young, middle aged, and old all mill about inside and out. Moving north, ducking into alleys, and stopping to enjoy the view, I make make my way towards the airport. Sooner rather than later, I arrive, and realize, I've still got time...and hence Tanner Coffeehouse is where I sit, on Culver Blvd...just NORTH of the airport, because the Beach is nice, and I wanted to see some more!

The Bears Lose and an "I should write that down"

Hi everyone...hope this post finds everyone in the best of health, mentally and physically. Yes, the Bears lost, so the mental health needs to be looked after! So I chose not to call any of the people who were seriously watching the game...because they probably would have gotten annoyed by my "Hey, we've got a good team for next year" attitude. So, now it's time to focus on the Illini...the Bulls aren't playing too well...and the Cubs don't ramp up for a bit...

Okay...so in talking to a friend, I came upon a thought..."Stress management is just a matter of perspective." Yes, I know it's quite a simplification...but in thinking about it, I think there's some truth to it. Stressors in our life are often about our state of being, and in general, most of those that I know (including me) have a good state of being. Its not likely that everything will change based on one thing, and our lives will be tremendously impacted by any one thing. I've been through a single thing turning life upside down...and that was stressful. If I hadn't forced myself to step back and survey the whole scene though, I probably would have been more of a mess than I was. So my point is, it might be helpful to try to step away from a stressor for a moment, and assess it's impact in the larger scope. That might help to gain a different frame of mind, and aid one in reducing the impact of the stressor.

Go Figure

So over the past week, I've been working on sticking to my goals that I wrote about belong, and of course, the most interesting one to everyone is the not drinking. It's interesting to me too, because I really see it in action. I don't notice not buying stuff, because it's not like I do that every day. In the past week, though, I've gone out to watch the Illini game, gone to a Happy Hour with lots of friends, and gone out for a night on the town with Shital, Saumil, Ravi, and Reena. A full night of fun, and not one drop of alcohol for me. It wasn't a stretch or anything, though I did think that it would be nice to have a beer when I saw some of the commercials on TV...haha...interesting, now I notice the commercials. I look through pictures of fun tailgating of friends, and watched a movie that had a drunken night out...and a twinge of want went through me. I resisted though, a small victory for me over my desire, and a small victory for the path of working towards happiness.

So my money conciousness helped...going out to dinner became less expensive because of the $20 or so easily saved by not having a beer or sangria...Tapas were more affordable! We found a really nice restuarant (Amada's), and a great waitress (Emily)...hopefully it's somewhere we can go back to!

Saw a neat show last night, called SonicVision...a beautiful array of computerized artwork set to music by Moby. Imagine going on a ride through a fractal image infused with fluid, and lots of non mathmatical imagination, kick in some music, and you're on the right track to figuring out what it's about....

its tax time...next week is the advanced training for the Baltimore CASH (Creating Assets, Savings, and Hope) campaign. I'm looking forward to it. It gives me a chance to ground myself, as I see folks coming in with W2's that amount to 3 months of my salary, and realize that these people need help in many ones. One of the ways that I can pitch in is to help them not waste money on expensive quick cash loans for their tax returns. The folks at the tax prep services, and have a right to charge for it...but it's freakin expensive! Fees upwards of 20% for a loan that essentially risk free to the giver, if you've prepared the tax return right. That's higher interest than most everything around, even credit cards are 25% a year, not percentages in the thousands, as 20% for a few days amounts to. Unfortunately, people view their tax returns as "extra" money, not their own...so they don't seek to maximize it all the time, they get what they get, and are happy. For me, it's okay to do that, I'm not feeding anyone else's mouth...but with kids, and rent to pay for a place that's too smal...well like I said, there's lots of help needed, and I can do my part...well at least something, my "part" is probably bigger than this...