Coincidence?

Yesterday my 'rents came for a visit and they really wanted to go to Filoli. I acquiesced despite it being way hot outside and non-stop gardens not quite being my thing. The odd thing is when we got there and started walking around we walk into the door of the main house and I see a familiar face.
This face I hadn't seen in over a year and was odd to see. My friend Katy from college just happened to be exploring the place at the same time we were. It was really weird though because she lives in Oregon now and graduated school a few months ago. Not to mention I don't think many people have heard of Filoli.
I was really taken aback at first and wasn't sure what to say but we had a few minutes to reminisce. I was so lost that I almost forgot to get contact info so we could stay in touch (I actually did forget the first time but we bumped into each other like 3 times there that day).
Anyways it was a really weird coincidence that really made my day. Oh and Filoli is sorta cool.

All the BBoys in the house!

I don't know how it happened but last night I ended up going to a breakdancing class with 2 guys from work. It was soooo intense. Every muscle in my body aches today, muscles I didn't even know were there. I also sucked at doing the moves, I was the slow learner out of the three of us. My body has always learned slower than my mind. But if I'm healed up by next week I sure to go back.

Note: This is Monday 7:30PM at http://www.danceattackstudios.com/

My failed friend experiment...

Last night I had a good long talk with one of my best friends from school Kristen. I hadn't talked to her in a while so it was good to catch up and have awesome meandering conversations about God/computers/craziness like we used to. It also reminded me of a few years ago how stupid I was....
[Story mode]
Once upon a time in the fair land of SLO was a foolish young man. He had just started a relationship with a girl at the time and spent a lot of time with her. In fact since she took up so much of his free time he had trouble keeping up with his other friends. Now from previous relationships this young man knew the tragedy it was to friends when he was in a relationship and ignored them. He vowed to not let it happen again. But how could he maintain so many friendships with so little time? He wrote in his journal, "All I feel is socializing with no goal is pointless. There should be a social hierarchy for who to talk to about problems. If person A can't answer questions move to person B." He decided all of his friends should have an assigned purpose. He started contemplating who would be what. Once he divied up the duties of each friend by talents and abilities he had so many extra friends left over he just had to let them go. Really, does anyone need more than five friends?
[/Story mode]
The point of this story is I totally had some good friends and thought I was being some sort of social revolutionary by firing my friends. Of course friendships fade and you see the value in the friends that you've left behind. I swear I was an idiot for doing such a thing but luckily I realized the foolishness and luckily my friends forgave me for my stupidity. I was able to salvage and repair the relationship with Kristen and I'm thankful to still know her. She keeps me out of trouble and always has encouragement for me whenever I talk to her.

Its too hot!

I had every window, every door, etc. open last night and I still couldn't sleep because it was too hot! I need to move north where the weather is decent and never gets above 80 degrees!

I'm really bad at keeping in touch!

I was thinking this evening about how incredibly bad I am at keeping in touch with people. Some friends are coming down from Washington next week that I haven't talked to in 6 months which is really a shame. Last month I tried to call up some friends from my old job who I just didn't call for a year and all their numbers have changed which is really sad. One of them spent a week last year with me on a road trip and I didn't even call him after that trip at all. I've lost so many friends to apathy. Friendship is like a plant, if you don't water it it dies and if you don't take good care of it it never grows.
When I graduated college I didn't want it to be like when I graduated high school. After high school I only kept in touch with 2 people. Only 1 do I now talk to.
Now that I've finished college there are a good 10 - 20 people I'd like to keep in touch with. But how does one do it? If I called one person per day I'd barely talk to everyone once a month.
The problem of course comes down to my dislike of communicating if it isn't face to face.
I'll have to detail my crazy 3 friend life experiment in some other post but suffice it to say I've never really been great at this long distance friendship thing.

Det Sjunde Inseglet

I watched The Seventh Seal the other night and really dug it. For a crazy slow paced Swedish movie from 1957 it has a lot to offer.
I met Death today. We are playing chess.
On the surface are the visuals: Death playing chess with a man (trivia fact: This is where Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey got its ideas), medieval scenery with more sincerity than a renaissance faire and of course the striking contrasting black and white cinematography (Death is a sight to behold).
Beneath the surface lies where this film strikes me the most. The inevitability of death. The meaninglessness of life and death. The simplicity of pleasure (its strawberries and cream I tell you!). But it is also about one man's journey of spiritual discovery, beginning with his desire to believe in God and that he is there but ultimately doesn't feel His presence. He stuggles with a desire to feel God's presence to reassure him life is meaningful.
Faith is a torment. It is like loving someone who is out there in the darkness but never appears, no matter how loudly you call.
I relate to his suffering and his relation to men:
I want to confess as best I can, but my heart is void. The void is a mirror. I see my face and feel loathing and horror. My indifference to men has shut me out. I live now in a world of ghosts, a prisoner in my dreams.
Ultimately he is unwilling to believe in reality where Death is tangible, but God and the goodness He is, is not. The turning point is the compassion of Jof and his family, the bowl of strawberries and milk. It will be a sign to me, and a great sufficiency. They show him the reality of compassion long since lost on him (he spent most of his life in the futility of the Crusades).
If you have a chance to watch this movie, DO IT!

Colorado

I was in Colorado last week for Melon 2005, aka FWWTRN marrying (F)WOFWWTRN.
It was 5 days of pleasure and non-stop bliss.
My first impression of Colorado was a bit negative. Denver does not at all feel like what I expected Colorado to be. It was hot and smoggy. There were no trees and most importantly there were no mountains to be seen.
But with friends everything gets better. Kudos to the Hampton Inn for the nicest staff imaginable at a hotel along with late night pool activities. Not to mention there was Lipgloss, this cool dance night we went to and danced (and sweated) the night away. And who can forget late night Korean kareoke, many props to any place that has almost every Stryper hit stocked.
Boulder on the other hand was what I imagined Colorado to be and I instantly loved it. Small town, edging along mountains, plenty of trees and a cute downtown. The highlight of the town for me is the Boulder Dushanbe Tea House with its multitude of foreign and exotic teas, great food and gorgeous architecture. Of course nothing was more exciting than the day of the wedding at the world famous Boulderado. It was a succinct simple ceremony that got the point across and remained beautiful. I am so happy for the new couple and I'm looking forward to hangin out with them in SF when they finish Hunnymoonin.
Many thanks to Katy for accompaniment and car service!
Also, I'm feeling a bit undercultered as everyone else seems to be able to speak a foreign language except for me. I think I should take up french... it can't be much harder to learn than C++ can it?
Bon Tempes!