NINE

Carolina Dreaming

Hawaii is really nice--magical--I would say, but in the spring, there's no place like Wilmington. Warm sunshine on a cold day. Strong winds, vibrant flowers, and waves. Fish start biting, beer flows like wine, and friends are eager for ridiculous adventures. I miss it. So here's one for all the boys back home... (I've got a feelin Davis might like this one especially)
For some reason this song really gets at something in me, all the damn driving I've done over the years, chasing girlfriends and waves up and down the east coast. In a way I guess I'm still kinda just ramblin myself, sometimes I think maybe I've gotten too used to it.

EIGHT

SEVEN

YANGYANG

I thought about going to South Korea to teach english and hide from the nothingness. I was trying to find out if there's any sea spray, or swells there, so I googled the word "yangyang," and these pictures came up. They remind me of the "Nevermind" album cover... from some strangeo alternate place... in any case it looks interesting there, but I don't think its for me.

IZ

Just a hero of mine

SIX

FIVE

FOUR

THREE

FEATHER

Two

ONE

Trying to find a job

Still trying to find a job out here in HI--finding it quite challenging--but check out this one I just found on craigslist! Looks promising!

Laborer needed--

"This is a temporary job that will require alot of dirty, oily greasy bust ass work!
if you cant stand to get dirty or work hard then dont apply and waste our time!!!
work is 8 hours a day and involves cleaning dirty, oily greasey places,
Chipping scraping and painting,
this is an all manuel labor job, 8 hours a day and busting ass!

Location: Honolulu
Compensation: $8-$10 per hour
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests."

Sounds sick right?

Stoke

I saw a funny clip about Stoke on a scientists website and it made me happy. I haven't been able to be around here on the internal web much because I am currently consumed by nothingness, but here's a funny clip to hold you over.

Nice Curves!

My new uke... haven't named her yet, but she's as pretty as they get...

My attempt at a Rant on health care reform...

alright so the health bill passed.... what does this mean to me, and what does this mean to you? I've been hearin a lot of rhetoric lately about the character of right and wrong... about whether or not the side i choose is the right side... I'm getting really angry over the hypocrisy, over the concerns and fears of this new and "terrible America." proponents of the bill have stated that it will insure over 30 million people currently not covered, let me write that again, 30,000,000... that's almost the entire population of California, 6 million of which are children, totalling about the entire population of Tennessee, the seventeenth most populated state... we have a whole state's worth of children uninsured!!!!!!!! i understand the fears of people who don't want to have their "Cadillac plans" taken away, but at what cost are we willing to hold on? is your 5 dollar copay worth more than your morals? and this talk about, "who's gonna pay for this? the taxpayers that's who, i tell ya!" I'm gonna come back to that cause it makes me soooo livid... but this baloney about "well were gonna give the govt. control of the entire health care industry and they cant do anything right, they re gonna ruin it!" let me remind you for 49 cents, about the amount of pennies i can find in the crack of my car seat, i can send a letter from new jersey to Alaska...3,500 miles away! man uncle Sam's really robbing pockets on that one, what else does the govt. run... oh yeah the most technically advanced and mightiest military known to mankind... really, really....

now I'm not on a soapbox and I'm certainly not judging anyone here , but this notion that we don't want to forgo our tax dollars to pay for the uninsured, it bothers me, i a bad way, i don't care if the argument is that they don't deserve it because they don't work hard enough... they are lazy, they're freeloaders.... regardless, it is still a bad argument. I am not a Christian, at least not at the moment, but i believe so strongly in the christian ideals, the morality, and i believe that to do right is to do right, there is nothing that surpasses this, i will always help those who are helpless, regardless if they deserve it or not, would Jesus have passed a man dying of thirst?, regardless of they're problems, no, and I'm not expecting people to live up to Jesus standards of morality, but i say, you know what is right, DO NOT IGNORE IT! 76% of the population of America belong to the christian faith, a faith that is built on the love your fellow man and guess what, you don't get to pick and choose. now don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect in any scope of the word, and i have my share of problems and wrong doings but i still want to do the right thing and, i would gladly give 50 dollars out of every paycheck to a person in need, they spend it on booze, i offer the other cheek... besides, i would probably spend it on booze or tacos anyway, and money is not important compared to the problems of those who suffer, i mean are we so greedy as to let 6,000,000 children go on uninsured to avoid a 3% tax hike, if that is what it means to be American then we have fallen too far from the ideals regardless of how "angry" the tea party is...

I think it boils down to fear... fear of the unknown, fear that he's gonna get it before me, fear of change... let me be the first to say, Everything will be alright, something I've learned over sometime lately, is that change is a constant, and while it is scary, it is OK, it can be a very good thing, as long as we use it productively and with an open heart and mind... easier said than done, trust me i know, but still necessary, nothing good can come without change

so i ask that we please surrender some greed, some fear, ans some ego and give an ear to the voice of morality and reason and don't worry, we can always change this again, we have that power, and we don't need to pretend that its being taken from us every time our political agenda is threatened... elections are regular in this country, remember....

sorry about that rant...

also how about that picture of orca, he's a damn cool cat, and he was born in a guitar amp hahahahaha

c.b.

ORCA

WATER MEN ADVENTURE

"Hobie Surf" with Brian Herron and Jaime Hunter from Ryan McInnis on Vimeo.

NEVER SURF A TSUNAMI

NEVER SURF A TSUNAMI from Brian Herron on Vimeo.

MY GRANDMOM LIVES AT THE BOTTOM OF A HUGE MOUNTAIN

My grandmom lives at the bottom of a huge mountain. Well, it's not so huge now, but when I was a kid I thought it was one of the biggest mountains in the world, complete with mists, and rocks, and ancient indian spirits. I still remember hiking up that mountain with my Mom and Dad, big sister, and little brother. We didn't always go together, or at the same time, but sometimes we did, and when that happened, as we would enter the forest at the bottom of the trail, just for a moment, a quiet wonder would come over us all.

Grandmom with my new niece, "Bella," on the left, and my little cousin, "Marley," on the right.

When I was a kid, going up to my Grandparents house was always such an adventure, there's so much to do and to explore there. There's a huge soccer field, and an old style playground with big kid swings, and slides, and monkey bars, which all used to fascinate me. There's a great pool, where I learned to swim. Come to think of it, I probably owe my entire surfing experience to that pool, I can still hear my Grandmom saying to my mom, "that boys a fish, Joanne."

There's this little clubhouse kine house outside that my Mom and aunts call the "doll house." I have always stayed away from this place as I suspect that this was where they would conspire together as kids, devising up devious plans to tease my uncles.

Grandmom and Grandpa on the boardwalk in what's, I believe, Atlantic City. As you can see my Grandpa was one sharp cat, this is where I get my stocky frame, and unreal good looks.

And then there's the house... built by my Grandparents, the house is perhaps the warmest, happiest place I have ever known. To this day, though my grandfather has passed on now, I still always feel a sense of peace come over me when I'm in that house, you can just feel all the love they put into it, it surrounds you as you walk in and without a doubt, catch a strong whiff of some amazing food my grandmom always has cooking on the stove. And in-spite of all the warmth and love I feel when I go in that house, in-spite of the way all my worries just pop and disappear when I walk through the door of the lanai, the one thing I will always cherish about that place is the innocent sense of wonder it has instilled in my heart, and the way that wonder has led me to all the good things in my life.

And of course there is my Grandmother. A true matriarch, she is a leader, a queen in hiding. Walking across the green outdoor carpeting of the lanai, and opening the door to the kitchen is always--everytime--like opening a birthday present. Turn the doorknob, and boom, love just smacks you in the face, and there she is, my grandmom sitting at the table, or pulling some fresh muffins out of the oven, with a huge smile on her face, saying, " well hey there Bri!"

Check out the bronze on those two!

And hearing all that you might think, well that is how all Grandmothers are, they are all loving and caring and excited to see you when you come for a visit, and thats true, but my Grandmother is different. She is different I say, because behind all that love, and that smile, and those muffins is a woman who knows the mysteries of the universe. Of course she would never tell you her secrets... if you were to go to her and ask, "Mrs. Dunn, what is the stuff that dreams are made of?" She would only reply, "well I'm not sure about that hun, maybe peanutbutter?" But the look in her eye would tell you that she does indeed have that knowledge, only she can't share it... because it is that very knowledge which she uses to protect us.

My grandmother is a guardian. She stands at the head of a very large family, a family I am so very proud to be a part of. A family that has seem many many good years filled with laughter, smiles, and wonder. But also a family that has seen many hardships, and throughout all of it, through the good and the bad, my Grandmom has been there for us all with a smile and a kiss, and maybe a bran muffin, or a warm cup of split pea soup to make sure that we are ok. What would we ever do without her. What would the world ever do without her... what would the universe ever do without her.

Thanks Grandmom, oh and,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Like her Mother before her, my Mom likes to bake muffins. Check out these birthday muffins she made for my Grandmom.

I want that.

Happy birthday Grandma... we all love you.