Strange Happenings

Today I woke up to the sound of my phone buzzing. As soon as I had the clarity of mind to do so, I reached over to find the button that would turn the alarm off. 

Problem.

I hadn't set an alarm. There was a sudden sinking feeling in my stomach when I made the assumption that it was work calling and that I had overlooked a morning shift on my schedule. As my heart started beating faster and I began to form in my mind what conversation I was about to have with a pissed off shift supervisor, I saw that it was my Grandma calling me. 

Phew.

To be fair, it was almost 9 o'clock but why would she be calling me so early. Again with my assumptions, I thought that this must be bad news. I groggily asked, "hello?" She answered in a panicked voice "Cameron? Are you alright?"

I would give you a line-by-line replay of the conversation but, let's face it, I'm too lazy to write it, and you are too lazy to read it. The long and short of it was that my Grandmother had received a call from someone who claimed to be me. He said he was in Reno and had been in an accident in a rental car and needed $2400 because he hadn't paid the insurance.

Crazy!

I had heard about this on Dateline but it is downright weird that they tried it on my family. Thank goodness us Bachmans aint suckers. My Grandma called my Dad, who had also heard about this type of thing and calmed her down. Her motherly instincts intact, she called me and I think we both got scared half to death (Me because I thought I was going to be fired, and her because she thought I was stranded in Reno). 

Strange Happenings.

There Is Just Something About...

March Madness.

65 teams have elevated themselves to the top level. Once they make it that far they then compete in a winner-take-all tournament where the winner goes on to fight again and the loser goes home with a bad taste in their mouth.

It is so fascinating to me, every team has an equal opportunity at the title. Wether a team is seeded 1 or 16, they start each game with 0 points. 

You can ask Luke, I have been watching a TON of basketball the last three days (My bracket is currently winning in our pool). I have now come to some sort of epiphany. The NCAA tournament kind of represents a lie in the minds of Americans. Don't get me wrong, it is an amazing couple of weeks of basketball and constantly inspiring. The thing of it is, the whole premise of the tournament is that there is one path to success, there is no other way.

This is something that, for me, means a lot. Right now, most of my peers are awaiting letters from schools and applying for scholarships. I guess that is what I SHOULD be doing according to the culture. If I want to be "successful" I go to a four year school and get a degree in something useful. Here's the problem: I don't feel the need to make a bunch of money. 

If I can have I job that I love and afford the basics, what else do I need. 

We'll see what happens, with my life and the Big Dance. (Go Memphis!)

Grocery Shopping

The Future and What It Holds

When I first moved down to Oakland, I made it clear that one of my intentions was to dream, plan, and investigate what the future had for me.

So here I am.

After getting to know a few people in the city, I have reached a conclusion. The word occupation is an ugly, yet accurate, word. It is incredibly true that many folks are occupied. They go to work, do something that they don't necessarily hate, but definitely don't love. 

I don't want to be occupied at any stage of life. 

I want to live.

Whatever I end up doing, I want to enjoy it, love it, and do it with a passion. So,"Nice work, Cameron. You have spent a month and a half figuring out your future and all you know is that you don't want to hate what you are doing? Bravo."

So what?

I need to explore some options.

Bartending. I know that a lot of people have objection to me choosing this, but I think that it is something that would be redeemable and valuable to my list of life experiences. I don't think that it would get boring, and I definitely have a desire to do something that is people oriented. (Sorry Datawise)

Baking. Wait a second... did Cameron just write Baking? Yep, while I am here with World Impact I am asking Hendrik to teach me to bake bread. I figure that, at the least, it is a cool skill to have going forward. I also think that a bakery could be a place to work when I am seeking a new place of employment (wherever I end up). Interesting people and food in the same place, you can't tell me that's not heaven.

Entrepreneur-ing. Ever since, I don't know, 7th grade or so, I have dreamt of opening a coffee shop. Having already worked in a couple, I have some pretty neat ideas for a shop but I won't share those on the internet since I know all of you are just dying to steal my ideas! It would be fun to be self-employed and have unlimited creative license in my place of employment. Even so, I have no illusions about how challenging it would be. I once heard that some 70% of small businesses fail within their first three years.

Art. So, there is a reason I am leaving this one for last. I don't really think I am good enough to make art a way to support myself, nor do I think that I will be in the future. But hey, I am in the dreaming stage and I have plenty of folks cheering me on here. I love to imagine a big white walled room with hardwood floors dedicated to my art... in the middle of New York City. 

Dreams.

Soundtrack

One thing about being separated from all of the people that I used to hang out with is that my sphere of influence and, inversely, the circle that influences me is completely different. So, in order to bring you guys back home up to speed on what's hip in my world. Here are some songs that are keeping me going in Oakland.

In This City- Iglu and Hartly

Geraldine- Glasvegas

Microphone- Coconut Records

Paul Revere- The Beastie Boys

Dancing Choose- TV on the Radio

Welcome To The Occupation- Cold Wars Kids

Don't worry, I'm not one of those guys that thinks that I have a "superior" taste in music. But these are some songs and artists that I think you would enjoy! So... enjoy!

Finally

So, as long as I have been here in Oakland, there has been one thing eluding me. I haven't been painting. Call it lack of inspiration, motivation, or just plain laziness, I just haven't been able to put paint on canvas like I did in Redding.

I think I figured out what my problem was. For a while my furnace wasn't working, so I have been experiencing cold for sure. I was trying to paint warm colors, but just wasn't finding it... So, I made a late night trip to Michael's and picked up some warm "cafe" colors. This is what I painted: 

All Dressed Up, With Nowhere To Go

 I am glad that I was finally able to get something. Note: the copper color is actually metallic, but I couldn't get a picture to show it.

Later.

What I Miss.

So, almost three weeks is all that has passed since I left Redding and already in almost every conversation I have had with folks from back home there has been this common question: "So do you miss Redding yet?" 

First of all, you speak of it like it is inevitable that I will eventually miss Redding.

I don't.

But here is a short list of things I miss FROM Redding.

I miss poker.

I miss the patio and Sunday nights.

I miss my Grandparents.

A lot.

I miss someone else buying all of the cranberry juice that I consume.

I miss all of the friends that I left behind.

However, I am NOT homesick. It is awesome here. The weather is typical Bay Area weather, and I love it. I love working in the resource center and I love that God is moving here. 

P.S. If you thought that my parents are missing on the list above, they have both visited me in the last week, so I guess they don't count or something.