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Corona del Mar sunset

The sunset was pink. The color dipped into the gradients of the clouds and spread across layers of atmosphere, like icing on a child’s birthday cake. But the camera phone did not translate it so. It captured a thin line of singular light. The phone saw it differently from I. And any attempts to color correct or replace, simply widened the misinterpretation of beauty. To record such a moment was taking a trinket from a great fanfare or parade. For what kind of optics can capture reality in the true wide screen of awe and respect. Carrot juice has become my new Venti Latte. It is really strange. I thought I would be hooked on lattes for the rest of my life. Going back and forth from tea to the dairy side of the spectrum. But I drank some carrot juice a month ago and actually felt different. I think my body craves something in the juice.

The main thing that was turning me off about lattes was the feeling it left on my teeth. I was feeling like I was obsessive about how often I was brushing my teeth. And I did experience the caffeine withdrawal headache a couple times and drank a latte. But I haven’t had one for over a week. And the last headache wasn’t even that bad. But this carrot juice is great, it tastes so smooth and it is technically cheaper than a latte. So I’m going to stick with this and continue to drink green teas on the side.

A great deal of energy I usually use for writing has been diverted into creating new music. I am going to the studio on Wednesday to record a new song, and I’m extremely excited about that. Going to the studio is always an energizing time, and when I have something prepared the time just flies.

-Tyler

Be careful when trying to be extra unique: You may end up like this.

QUESTION: Are you unique? ANSWER: no

When I first had to deal with this question I can admit I got a little bit defensive. Ok, let’s be real. I got VERY defensive. Being unique is one of those things that feels like, “One of the POINTS of the whole thing.” Uniqueness is touching on meaning of life stuff. I was just reading some websites that were talking about DNA and stuff like that and that makes me want to brush my teeth again. Speaking of brushing teeth, how come it is so hard to find a firm toothbrush anymore? I used to be able to buy firm toothbrushes at Rite-Aid and places like that but nowadays I only see medium and soft toothbrushes for sale. Dentists sometime say that some people brush too hard and damage their enamel, so they don’t recommend firm toothbrushes. That makes about as much sense as an ATM. I don’t care if you don’t know how to brush your teeth, but don’t ruin it for the rest of us by suing companies or complaining about it.

Yeah, so the reason why you are not unique is because of a few reasons.

1: You have hobbies. If you have hobbies then that means there is stuff that you enjoy and tons of people do the same thing. So having hobbies makes you more of a joiner than anything else.

2: You have friends. Everybody has friends. And if you don’t have friends then you probably talk to yourself and that means you are your own friend.

3: You have unique taste. Wow. I bet when people start forming huge lines for ‘fried’ rice and they trade their gold bullion for clean water, your thoughts on the best type of sauerkraut is really going to set you apart.

4: You are smart. China is pumping out smart people faster than you can say ‘kielbasa’ so try again.

5: You drive a cool car. This one is tricky. The reason why I say it is tricky is because you can get a lot of attention by driving a cool car. Sometimes you can drive a car that is so cool that you feel like the only person on the road. But the problem is that the CAR is unique. Not you.

Now at first glance this may seem like a ‘negative’ article. But in fact it is not. Not being unique is a real blessing. And not trying to be unique is a boon that has a value greater than a mountain’s weight in extra credit.

Once a person doesn’t care about uniqueness, he or she can free up energy to do other things. In writing for example, I am putting the finishing touches on a science fiction short story. Now instead of trying to make a totally unique story or idea. I said to myself, “I want to write a story that puts an interesting twist on the theme of the good of the many vs. the good of the one.” And along with that goal, I wanted to include some technology and ethical issues that may face scientists and doctors in the near future. And overall, I feel very proud of how this short story is turning out.

But a few months ago I was working on the very same story and I kept getting roadblocks, because I wanted to tell, “A new story.” There is so much contrivance that happens either consciously or subconsciously when trying to create something new or unique. It’s all about just creating, and deal with the consequence after you polish your idea a little bit. If you end up stepping on someone’s toes with copyright or patent issues, then go back to the drawing board and start from scratch. Some of the best inventions are actually old inventions that are applied and modified to solve different problems.

-Tyler

Gym Socks and Jordans

I walk to the gym. That way I get a little warmup and it is an excuse to get some tea. Too bad the tea is in the opposite direction of the gym, but I don’t mind. Once at the gym I finally got my fingerprints scanned and entered the locker room. After putting my bag away and getting my work-out towel, I proceeded to exercise. Since I worked out yesterday I didn’t go overboard. I just did some stair climber and situps and more situps and back exercises. Then I decided to do some dumb-bell stuff to beef up my arms for the party tonight. (awww-yeah!) It was a short workout but I got greasy sweaty anyway. So I took a shower. But when I got back to my locker after taking a shower I was putting on my fresh clothes that I packed, but I was missing something. I was searching and searching and I said, “Aww man!” And this dude who was next to me asked, “Are you missing something?” And I looked around more and finally said, “Yeah, I forgot to pack extra socks!”

Then the man made a comment like, “That’s a bummer.” I sighed and searched the other pockets in my bag and found no socks. Giving up I decided that I would just wear my sweaty socks home, since I was going to take another shower later anyway. But then the man said, “Do you want to wear some of my extra socks? They’re nice and clean.” I was frightened. I did not know this man and neither did I want our conversation to enter such forbidden territory. Wearing ski boots rentals is dangerous enough, but wearing another man’s gym socks is like having him ask me, “Hi, do you want athlete’s foot? Because if you do…here’s some socks!”

So as you can probably guess, I respectfully declined to wear that man’s gym socks. TOO WEIRD. I know he was just probably trying to be nice and help a bro out. But seriously, the socks were all yellow and nasty. I can’t remember the last time I wore a yellow sock. And I’m not talking about Gold Toe socks that have the yellow part near the front. These socks were yellow near the heel and looked like they were a petri dish for colonies of life-forms.

But I thought he was a cool dude so I shook his hand and introduced myself.

-Tyler

Squirrelgator in San Francisco with his new owner

It has been a long adventure for the pen and ink drawing of “Squirrelgator” to travel to its destination. The drawing of Squirrelgator is a larger piece of art that was based on the concept art of “Squirrelgator” for an upcoming project. Squirrelgator is a fierce forest creature that is part squirrel and part alligator. His favorite foods are acorns and people. Squirrelgator has 25 hit points. The canvas size is 20 inches by 24 inches. It was originally created in Orange County, California and needed to get to its new home in San Francisco. The problem was transport. I didn’t want to damage the piece but I also wanted to bring it with me as I traveled to San Francisco so that way it would get there in time for Mr. Henry Yuan’s house warming party. It would have taken too long to ship the painting. So I took it on the airplane. One thing my father said was, “Security is not going to let you take a scary monster like, Squirrelgator on the airplane. You won’t even make it past the TSA!”

Squirrelgator on the plane

I thought to myself, “Why would anyone be afraid of a Squirrelgator? He only has 25 hit points!” My main concern was that the staples connecting the canvas to the frame would set off the metal detectors. Another concern was that if I put the painting through the conveyor-belt detector, that it would get dirty and damaged by the rubber and greasy technology. When it finally was my turn to go through security I talked briefly with a TSA agent and told her about Squirrelgator and she said that Squirrelgator definitely needed to be scanned, but that she would provide him with a protective piece of Tupperware-like container that would make sure he didn’t get dirty. The painting went through security and then while I was putting on my boots another female TSA agent started laughing. I looked at her and took my piece of art and then she said, “Is that a Squirrelgator?” And I said, “Yes, this is indeed a Squirrelgator.” And she said, “Oh that’s cute.”

Squirrelgator after construction

Once on the plane I wanted to sit with the piece in order to make sure it stayed safe. But the flight attendant told me that I needed to put it in the overhead bin. So I reluctantly put Squirrelgator in the bin and a gentleman was nice enough to stuff his jacket underneath the canvas to give it some extra padding and protective cushioning in the stow away area. I also had a jacket so I took it off and did the same thing. I was very worried about Squirrelgator during the flight and a girl slammed something into the overhead bin at one point and I thought, “Oh, there we go. She just ruined it.” So the entire flight was excruciating because I wanted to know if the painting had gotten ripped or torn. But to my surprise, when I opened the bin, Squirrelgator was undamaged. So I got picked up and the new owner of Squirrelgator and myself found the perfect place for him to stay on the wall and he definitely was a hit at the party. It was a long and perilous journey, but it was well worth it.

-Tyler