Where It's At.

I must apologize for my inactivity here. I just haven't been in the writing mood.

Here is a list:

Where It's At...

... Strolling through San Francisco on a sunny day in flip-flops.

... "In This City" by Iglu and Hartly.

... A cup of 100% Kona Coffee.

... People smiling back, walking down the street.

... A leisurely cycling ride through Jack London Square.

... Laying down in a park and thinking.

... Knowing that life just gets better.

A Change of Pace

Since the outset, the purpose of this blog has been to entertain and update those of you who care enough to read. Even so, opportunity and necessity have arisen to do something out of the ordinary: give my thoughts on a product.

Now, I know I am not the most affluent consumer, but today I had to take action. My earbuds that I have used for the better part of two years were beginning to do that thing where unless you hold them just right, one or the other earbud stops working. 

Being familiar (and satisfied) with the SONY $29 price-point earbuds, I decided to go for the Sony Ear Buds (MDREX36V/BLK). Now these are comfortable and the sound is clear and deep....

Who Cares?

The reason I found it necessary to tell everyone about them is that they came in the best packaging for an electronic that I have ever seen! Even while at the checkout it seemed that these earbuds were in that impossible plastic shell that, I'm convinced, would be one of a few items to survive a nuclear holocaust, no less the pointiest of objects at my disposal. I knew that frustration awaited.

But wait!

There was a small band of tape around the top of the package. All I had to do was unwrap it and the earbuds and extra earpieces came out neatly.

KUDOS Sony!

Now I have wasted all of the time I had saved telling you.

After 2 1/2 months...

It's time to re-evaluate my feelings toward my hometown. 

This last Friday I took a day back at home to see family. It was hectic, but rejuvenating. I realized just how good I had it in Redding. When I arrived Thursday night at my house, my first thought was, "Holy Cow! This is one of those rich-kid houses." That night, I felt like I was sinking into the mattress. Amazing. I didn't have to roll onto my arm just to avoid the pressure of the springs! It was also nice to have free parking and enjoy the slow pace of the town (even if I wasn't quite matching that pace). 

So do I miss it? Im not sure. Life would definitely be more comfortable there... but I am enjoying life here. Specifically, I am enjoying feeling like I am in control of my life. I work a lot. I eat a lot of ramen. But I love cashing a check and knowing that I do my own grocery shopping and whatnot. 

The great thing about my life, this fall I can go wherever I want. If I'm going to community college, I can go anywhere in California that has a Starbucks and a college. Pretty Cool.

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.