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.

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.

Realizations and Discoveries

First of all, I apologize to those of you whom I told that I would try to keep this up to date. I have a plethora of excuses, none of them any good.

On this adventure that I am on, I kind of feel like I am putting myself to the test, finding out what I am made of. So, I guess I will make a list of the things I am finding out about myself. 

I am lazy. I know this one was fairly apparent from the git-go but I mean, seriously. I let dirty dishes stack up until I am out of both plates and bowls (and effectively let my options for food dwindle to snack bars and chips). Ridiculous.

People watching is my new favorite pastime. The people in the bay area are way more interesting than Redding!

I can actually save money. Weird. In direct contrast to the laziness factor, being "out on my own" has actually brought out the best in me in this part of my life. I hope that I can save enough to get out to New York!

I am not a great cook. See post below.

Why I Need A Girlfriend:

This post is for those of you who thought that I wouldn't be able to cook for myself when I moved out. Well, I showed you? Read on.

So it was around 11:15 when inspiration struck. I decided that some bacon sounded really good. I stumbled into the kitchen, flipped on the lights, and grabbed some bacon from the freezer. I popped it in the microwave to defrost and while I was waiting the wheels began to turn. I saw my bag of tortillas and flippantly thought bout all of the things bacon could do in a tortilla. And so, the bacondilla© was born.

And now, you can clog your very own arteries with my step-by-step instructions.

Step one:

Throw some bacon in a pan, on high heat (turn down slightly when sizzling becomes so fierce that you fear for you life). Continue flipping until the perfect level of charredness is achieved. There should be a nice pool of grease in the bottom of the pan. When finished, leave pan on low and remove bacon. DO NOT REMOVE GREASE.

Step two:

Lay out a tortilla with two Kraft Singles and lay your charred bacon over, then lay two more slices of cheese on top. Finally, add the second tortilla on top.

Step three: 

Put your bacondilla into the pan and crank the heat up. Flip after 20 seconds or so, and repeat on opposite side. Remove from pan onto plate.

Step four: 

Let stand for at least 2 or 3 minutes. That bacon grease is still hot smarty pants.

Step five:

Devour.

So Long

Three words I spoke as I walked out the front door to leave Redding behind:

"So Long Redding"

As I climbed into my car, I thought more about these words.

So long have I awaited this day

So long have I enjoyed the friends here

So long have teachers, mentors, friends, and family members prepared me for this day

So long have I imagined living elsewhere

So long have I been here...

So long Redding.

At it Again

So it has been a while since I've gotten to paint and I've finally gotten back at it. This thanks in part to being commissioned to do two pieces. Commission work is awesome because I get to paint, knowing that it will pay for itself. 

Anyhow, the first one is kind of a painting of my last blog, check it out if you have yet to read it.

Its called: So Distant

The second one was a lot harder to get started but it really came together as I kept going.

Along For The Ride

In other news, I am moving on Sunday. I am so excited. For those of you who don't know, I'll be living and working in inner-city Oakland with World Impact.

It is an exciting season of life in which I am finally realizing a call and following. Plus, I get to leave Redding and experience something new.

When It Begins

So, today we got up at 4:50. We being Joe, my Mom, and Mike... oh, and me (although, I can't positively say that I was technically awake). Anyhow, we hopped in the van and started off down I-5. Oh yeah, I'm going to Hawaii for a week. 

The point of me tell ing you this is that I witnessed something that my lifestyle doesn't generally allow me to... sunrise. At first I looked eastward and saw a glow coming up... it was pink and orange. It was distant. I began to think about it. I could almost feel the curve of the earth and imagine Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York. I could envision the city. The hustle and bustle, the pretentious business people waiting for their assistants to bring them their Grande Soy Ristretto Lattes. It was a connecting moment. I looked to the east and dreamt of the future and all it held. I had a sense of bigness. The world was big at that moment.

Flash forward 14 minutes. I looked back to the east and had a sense of smallness. As the massive ball of fire (our sun) came into view, a small barn stood next to a slightly less small silo and intruded into the view. If only I had photographed the moment. You would know what I meant.

I guess this 15 minute span of moments kind of represents my view of beauty. I see beauty in bigness. The world of people. An interconnected group of capitalists, peons, liberals, conservatives, moms, and grandparents. That is beauty. But also, I find beauty in the simplicity of the man who owns the barn and the silo. The man who complains about the noise of traffic while savoring the oatmeal his wife of 47 years made for him... just like every morning.

What a Blessing.