Weekends and Wallets

For those that don't know, I am a cabinet maker by day and do film/video by night and/or weekends. My point being that currently I am working for a really great guy named Robin.

Robin and I share a love for climbing and he took me to a "top secret" spot in Oregon and it was a blast. While he was climbing and 110% of my attention should have been on him and making sure I didn't drop him while he was 25-30 feet in the air, I decided to take this picture. Much to his dismay. I had a blast until it was my turn to climb and the rain started and didn't let up until we got all the way back in town. Still a fun trip.

Did I mention it was a "top secret" spot? Cause it might be the coolest place I have ever climbed in my entire life and I can't wait to go back.

On a completely different note, I recently found out that an extraordinarily handsome, funny, and talented friend of mine started a blog pertaining to his extraordinarily handsome and fashionable wallet and accessory company by the name of Rouge Empire.

Rogue Empire Blog HERE
Rouge Empire Etsy Account HERE

Below are some of the great items he has handcrafted and are for sale.

Necktie Billfolds

Necktie Key Fob

Topcoat or Necktie Flask

All images courtesy of Rouge Empire.

Yeah Yeah, I Know, Long Overdue

Well this has been quite the summer. So far I feel like so much has happened and it’s really only half way over. I have been so incredibly busy and really enjoying it. I won’t bore you all with the details of what has happened in the past two months that I have neglected this blog. No, that’s what pictures are for.

First and foremost, if you don’t already know I moved back to Oregon. I stayed at my old place in Springfield for about four weeks and recently have been kickin’ it at Ian, Jane, and Cody’s apartment in Eugene. I'm having a great time and want to say thank you to everyone for letting me use their floors and couches.

Shortly after I moved back to Oregon, I headed back down to the Bay Area and joined Kendra for a Mute Math concert. Mute Math just so happens to be one of our favorite bands and one of the most entertaining shows I’ve ever seen. For example, near the end of their show, the drummer ripped off one of his floor toms, ran and stage dived, had the crowd hold his drum and mic and proceeded to play a wicked solo on this single drum. I just so happened to be in the perfect spot for a picture and posted it up on Twitter. Shortly there after, the band saw what I had posted and ReTweeted my photo. Needless to say, I’m pretty sure I wet myself. Silly, I know.

A couple more weeks went by and Ian, Jane, Kendra, and I went on our annual Smith Rock climbing trip. If you haven’t been to Smith Rocks near Bend, Oregon, I highly suggest that you go. Even if you don’t rock climb. It’s absolutely mind numbing how gorgeous and utterly ginormous it is. Here are a few pics from the trip. All are pretty self explanatory... but for real, go there. Great hikes and it’s. just. freaking. HUGE!

[above: at the top of Smith Rocks, Bend, Oregon]
[above: Jane looking good on the wall]
[above: Ian tearing it up, as usual]
[above: Kendra smoking that route]
[above: And me... looking like a goon]

[above: Ian and me doing our manly duties]
[above: Cheese ball? Yes, I know]
[above: Oh weird... I'm acting like an idiot again]

One early weekend morning, my dear best friend, Zachary and I decided to strap a canoe to the top of Thug Passion and go
fishing. Apparently we are both terrible fishermen because we didn’t catch a damn thing. We did, however, have a great time and found out that there are some of the coolest camping spots on the lake we went to. In fact, the very next weekend was the two year anniversary for Kendra and I and we wanted to go camping, so I took her there.




The only problem with that was, we didn’t plan for the trip very well and after we got the tent all set up, started a fire, and cooked some hotdogs.... we found that we were incredibly bored and extremely thirsty. Yes, that’s right, we didn’t pack anything to drink. Idiots, I know. So after a short debate, we decided to pack up and come back into town where we made some food and watched some Ninja Warrior and Entourage. Not a bad way to end a six hour camping trip if you ask me.
[above: Kendra being bored]
[above: Jesse being bored]

Before Kendra had to go back to Berkeley we went to my good friend Gabe's birthday/graduation party where I found out that an old house mate/friend of mine named Aaron was getting married. I don’t normally like going to weddings that I don’t get invited to but Aaron personally invited me and he’s such a rad guy that I just couldn’t say no. That and I was lucky enough to car pool with Zachary’s family and listen to their daughter sing along with the new New Kids On The Block album. No really... I’m not kidding... she freaking loves it almost as much as her mom does. Probably one of the cutest kids in the world. So thank you Leia for being the entertainment for us all in the car that day.

I bet the wedding was nice but information was relayed to us incorrectly and what we thought was a seven o’clock wedding, was actually a five o’clock wedding. By the time we got there, the reception was nearly over and people had already started leaving. Not a huge deal, because we still got to see a ton of people and Aaron and his new wife Jessica looked amazing.

A few things to finish up here:

• I’m currently working with some of the greatest guys anyone could ask for and really enjoying it.

• I decided to shave my head. I haven’t done it since the 8th grade and I have to say, it’s absolutely wonderful.

• Been going to the lake with my parents on their boat and today Gracie decided to come.

Things are great and they are soon to be even better. On the 13th of August, I’m heading down to Berkeley with a truck and trailer and bringing Kendra back to the beautiful North West. She’s excited, I’m excited, and needless to say, her family is very excited.

Like I said, this summer is only half way over and I can't wait to see what happens next. Things are good and I'm really enjoying it.

No need for Bromance

As of late, I’ve been having serious friend and family withdraws. There’s just something about having those friends of yours that you can call up, have come over to your place and do absolutely nothing. You can even just sit and watch television, and I don’t even like watching tv. But having that companionship of someone that you’ve known for years and years sitting there in the same room is comforting.

You know you’ve reached that point with someone when, as silly and cliche as it sounds, you are finishing each others sentences and thoughts. Even when you see 450 pound woman rolling along on her motorized scooter, you know exactly what the other person is thinking and you don’t even have to say it.

I’ve been trying to keep myself occupied with the things that I used to do at home such as working out, rock climbing, bike riding, and yes, even video games. But all of these things are the things that I used to do with my friends and family. So it’s just been a constant reminder of the fun times that I have had with those people in my life.

I would also like to make something very clear. Kendra and I have tons of fun together here, but that tends to be only on the weekends because she is exhausted from work and I usually work the afternoon shift and don’t get home till 10pm.

I think I just need some “bro time”. For those of you who have never experienced bro time, due to the fact that you are:

a) A female, or
b) A loser with no friends.

You should probably do your best and log in some serious bro time. Some fine examples of bro time include:

• Running and jumping up to touch stuff
  
• Laughing when old people trip
  
• Pumping iron
  
• Urinating while standing up
  
• Eating steak
  

Things that are not considered bro time and are actually prohibited from bro time:

• Knitting and quilt making
  
• The sharing of personal grooming of any kind
  
• Hanging out in a dressing room in a department store
  

The point that I am trying to make here is that I miss my friends and family. As cool as it is being in a new place and getting absolutely raped by bills constantly while working a minimum wage job, I truly miss being comfortable.

I understand that things are going to get better, sooner than later I hope. So if you feel so inclined, make a trip here and gimme that very needed bro hug and lets do something manly like throw a ball, chop some wood, or even climb something.

(Pictured, man made wall underneath an overpass. Perfect for bouldering)

Dirty Martinis = Hair Tonic

What a week. My apologies for not having an update for everyone right away. With having guests this weekend, working, an interview on Monday, and our shower not working, I was a little busy.

This weekend, one of Kendra’s long time friends came into town on his way to Hawaii from the Washington D.C. Keelan and his friend Andrew were so much fun to hang out with. I unfortunately had to work all day Saturday and missed their trip into the city where they saw some crazy dancers down by the cable car stop near the bay. Don't worry, she was mindful enough to bring the Flip Cam and got some really great shots of the dancers going to town.

As soon as I was off of work I raced home and met them at Zachary’s Chicago Style Pizza. I think I have mentioned this restaurant before but it’s really worth a second noting. We ordered a couple of their thin crust pizzas and we were all very pleased. The only problem with this joint is that you seriously have to have some patience. On average, it takes nearly an hour to get seated let alone the extra time you need to order and have your pizza cooked. Needless to say, we had plenty of good conversation and with that many people crammed into a small building drinking beer, there is always something going on around you.

Later I called my friend Roger over and we proceeded to enjoy some adult beverages and more fantastic conversation. Kendra had mentioned before that she hadn't ever had a dirty martini before and really wanted one. Keelan being the jack of all trades he is, whipped her up one and she found out shortly after her first few sips that just because it comes in a martini glass doesn’t mean it can’t grow hair on your chest.

After sending Keelan and Andrew off early Sunday morning we had the whole day to ourselves and decided to do some research of our own about local climbing areas. When I first moved down here, Kendra and I made the mistake of asking the manager of the local Marmot store if there were any good climbing spots near by. He proceeded to ask where we were from and after I told him Oregon, he then replied, “Oh, Oregon... We’ll nothing around here that you would like.”

I wasn’t really sure how to take that but I’m assuming that he meant in a way to show praise for all the amazing climbing spots in Oregon and there isn’t much in comparison here in the bay area. At least, that's what I'm going to pretend that he meant. With that rather discouraging comment we decided to finally do our own research and we found that there are at least 7 spots to do outdoor climbing all with in 15 mile radius of our apartment and some only one mile away. By far, the coolest one we found was Indian Rock up in the north eastern part of Berkeley. It’s up in the suburban hills and at the top of nearly every climbing route there is an outstanding view of the whole bay area.

When we got back to the apartment we were reminded that we had a small “get together” planned with all of our new neighbors. I was actually a little nervous that it was going to be really boring and we would have nothing in common. When we walked in to apartment #3 I realized, given how small these units are, that you can have a party of about 5 or 6 and it’s going to be a hoppin party. We actually had fun and realized that the only thing we had in common with our neighbors was that we lived in the same building. You might think that would be a boring and arduous set of conversations but with all the history that this building has and how outside each of our windows something crazy is always happening, there was plenty to talk about.

When Monday rolled around, I started to get a little uneasy and nervous for my interview. Then I realized how absolutely outstanding I am at selling myself to anyone or anything. The place I interviewed for is called On24 and they are a webcasting and virtual event solutions company. Basically if you think of all the money it would take for a company that’s putting out a new product to throw a huge convention with thousands of attendees to put on demonstrations of it’s products and or services, On24 provides an alternative where you can have all your potential buyers visit a webcast, webinar, or a virtual show of your product. (examples of virtual shows pictured above and below) Pretty cool idea, especially in a time of economic crisis, companies are looking for so many ways to save money and having virtual trade shows is one way that can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on how big your turn out would be.

The position that I interviewed for is basically a back end/behind the scenes job. Making sure that the webcast or virtual show is going as planned. It would only be a part time job but it pays really well and will be worth it if I get the position.

At the end of my interview, my interviewer said, flat out, that he liked me and how “forthcoming” I was. It was a real confidence boost to hear that, so naturally I had a fantastic rest of the day. Things are looking good, I hope to hear back from him very soon.

As for the loan money for school... well let’s just say that’s up in the air and we’re still working on it. If I haven’t said it before I would like to say it now, a big thank you to Ann and Tammy for helping me on all this confusing and crazy loan business. You ladies rock for sure.

I’ll keep everyone posted a little more regularly on what’s going on... hopefully. For now, I’m going to go see the musical Wicked with my friend Roger. I’ve heard it’s amazing and Roger has seen it twelve hundred times already and still wants to go more. That’s gotta say something in itself.

Images courtesy of On24

Wayward Identity

It seems, as of late, I have been misplacing my personal items. Most recently, my drivers license. In the process of photo copying and faxing my identification, it has seems to have vanished. Best part about this situation is that I actually never had a chance to photo copy or fax it to the people who need it. I’m sure it’ll turn up. Or at least I hope so, because I’m almost certain that I do not qualify for residency in California yet, to get an ID.

Perhaps, for some strange karmic reason, someone will send it back to Oregon, to the address that’s on the license and my boys there will let me know... or keep it and sell it for $50 bucks to some underaged, Pete Wentz look alike.

Lately, the weather here has been outstanding, mid 60’s to mid 70’s. I really don’t have any complaints other than for some reason, my body thinks, “Hey, it’s nice outside. Perhaps now is a good time for me to make Jesse sneeze all the time and make him want to scratch his eyes out.” Right now, my body is in a full fledged allergy season mode. Which I find very strange, seeing as how there isn’t a single leaf on any of the trees and not one god damned flower in bloom.

Yesterday I didn’t have to work until 4:30 PM so I decided to go check out the local indoor climbing gym. Berkeley Iron Works is an outstanding facility and if i was a million billionaire, I would probably have a membership there. Maybe I haven’t completely adjusted to the fact that everything here in California costs more than it should. Regardless, I went climbing by myself and had so much fun. Unfortunately, my forearms and hands are so sore today, that I was having a hard time lifting my RedBull without trembling.

Last and certainly not least, I miss my family. I could use a hug from my dad, some encouraging words from my mom, a healthy pat on the bum from my brother, and a solid eye roll from my little sister.Photo taken by Kolby Schnelli Photography. (Check out Kolby's Flickr Photo Stream HERE)