Preferred Parking...

Preferred parking. For years people try to entice us with the offer of preferred parking. But is preferred parking that great? Not really. Preferred parking allows you to park closer to the venue. But is that a good thing. At then end of a concert or a game I don't want to be farthest away from the exit, I want to be closest to the exit. Nothing is worse than realizing that you have payed an extra 15 dollars to fight everyone who parked general admission to get out of the freaking parking lot.

From now on there should be a preferred "get me the hell out of this parking lot" parking. I don't care how they do it. Airlift my car out of the parking lot. Invest in the creation of some kind of escape pods for people who pay for the preferred parking. What about some kind of secret tunnel.

All I am saying is that preferred parking is a scam. The 5 minutes I save walking isn't worth the eternity it takes to get the hell out of The Verizon Amphitheater.

Birthdays...

So I was thinking recently...Has facebook ruined the act of wishing someone a happy birthday? Wishing someone a happy birthday was traditionally a sign that someone had invested the time and energy needed to remember your birthday, mark it on the calendar, go to a store and buy a card or even go online and find an e-card to send.

But facebook has ruined all that.

Wishing someone a happy birthday is only part of it value. Its real worth comes in knowing that someone has burned some calories in order to remember your birthday and send a message. Wishing someone a happy birthday shouldn't be too easy. I want to know that the person sending me a birthday message had put some time and energy into remembering my birthday. Facebook undermines that.

People no longer need to put their friend's birthdays on a calendar. People no longer need to remember their friend's birthday. Facebook is doing for birthdays what cell phones did for phone numbers. People don't need to remember either because technology will remember it for them. Facebook removes the value from someone wishing you a happy birthday. I honestly get a bigger kick out of someone sending me a happy birthday text three days late then someone writing a note on my wall. Why? Because I figure that the person who sent the text actually had to burn some calories in order to remember my birthday. With the facebook wall post I don't know if the person actually remembered my birthday or if they saw a reminder while they were stalking someone from high school.

Old People Can Be Cocky...

I was at Costco last week buying some items for work when I noticed something. I was the youngest person in the Costco by, oh I don't know, at least a prehistoric period. I didn't mind. The driving around the parking lot was complicated by little old ladies trying to look over the steering wheel. Cute little elderly couples shuffling their feet as they try, emphasis on the word try, to move swiftly through the aisles. But thats OK by me. It's nice to see older folks out and about. But then it dawned on me, what are people with one foot in the grave doing at a place that sells things in bulk?

When it comes right down to it is a mixture of cockiness and defiance. 'F*** you Grim Reaper - this 74 year old is planning on living long enough to finish these eight 5 gallon jugs of Clamato.' I was impressed and put off all at once. I kept thinking if I were this old there is no way I am buying anything in bulk. I know tomorrow isn't guaranteed to anyone, but come on, a seventy year old buying what amounts to a years worth of soup? Thats confidence!

Savoring Life...

So I have been reading a book called The Jesuit Guide To (Almost) Everything. It is written by Father James Martin, S.J. He has recently been in the media because he has rebuked Glenn Beck's claims that social justice has no place in religion. I have really enjoyed the book. I am a very slow reader and one who gets distracted/bored easily. So reading a 130ish pages in two days is a pretty good indicator that I have enjoyed the book.

However, there have been a handful of times when the book has, for some reason or another made me contemplate my own mortality. I would begin to get nervous at the idea of death. I worry about falling ill, or losing my memory, becoming a burden for others. Yet when I really sit down and think about it I think I fear something else. I fear not fully enjoying my life. One of the tenants of the book is this idea of reflecting on our day, or what Father Martin calls being contemplative in action. In short to be contemplative in action means be able to reflect upon all the aspects of your daily life, the good, the bad, the banal. Its about taking the time to appreciate the good and beautiful things in your life and being aware of the bad parts too. Its about taking the time to reflect on the people in your life and how you interact with them. Contemplating the things that made you happiest and peaceful, while at the same time taking the time to think about the areas in which you have failed and need to improve.

I've said before that life isn't always fun and that life is difficult. I still hold that to be true. But at the same time I am being reminded that just because life can be hard and busy doesn't mean that I can't or shouldn't take the time to enjoy it. I should take the time to think about my day and my life and all that it is. Because at the end of the day life is like a good meal. A good meal is something you sit with, something you savor and appreciate and it should be the same with the lives we lead. So after sitting with this for a few days I have decided that I should be more contemplative in action. To think about myself as a person, about my desires, my short comings and appreciating my reality. Now I realize that it wasn't so much death I feared, as much as it was letting my life go by without taking the time to enjoy it.

My Scene...

Someone asked me today what my scene is and I replied, "my scene is that I have no scene." And I dont mean that in the I am too cool to be part of a scene, I am just to lazy and introverted to have ever done anything to be part of a scene. Being part of a scene means burning calories. Scenes mean developing a look, following a lifestyle, going places and having to talk to people. That sounds like a lot of work. I wish I had the motivation to be part of scene but I just don't have the energy or commitment. I need to find a scene that I can do from my couch. Is watching HBO on a Sunday a scene?

Running to Get Home..

It's sold out!!! For the first time in history the L.A. Marathon is sold out and many people are thanking the newly developed LA Marathon route for the increased registration sales. In the past the route had been essentially a circle that began and ended by the Los Angeles Coliseum. This year planners developed the "Stadium to the Sea" concept, creating a route starting at Dodger Stadium that ends at the Santa Monica Pier and hits all kinds of landmarks along the way.
I loved the idea when I first heard it but I had one question. After running 26.2 miles, and I supposed to run another 26.2 miles to get back to my car? The answer is no. Apparently you are supposed to arrive and park at the Santa Monica pier and then you have to be shuttled over to Dodger Stadium. Participants are being asked to arrive an hour and a half early. That seems like a lot of work to run a race is that is so long that it allegedly killed the guy the race is named after.

But I guess this will serve as motivation to finish the race. You'll have to if you ever want to get back home! No quitting the L.A. Marathon this year, not if you ever want to see you car again. As matter of fact your car is pretty much a deposit on finishing the race this year. And think of the traffic trying to get out of that place. Maybe next year they will have a new slogan for the L.A. Marathon.
THE 2011 L.A. MARATHON: RACE YOU TO THE PARKING LOT

Its Going To Be A Busy April

April 1, new phone - hopefully the Nexus One gets to Verizon in time.

April 3 I am heading up to L.A. for Kevin and Bean's April Foolishness. It's going to be a heck of a lot of fun

featuring Aziz Ansari and Jeff Ross:

April 14, is Opening Day for the Los Angeles Dodgers

and I am planning my biggest work project all month long.