Alas, I was naive to write off this assignment as more busy work. I had scoffed at social media primarily because political season on Facebook makes me cringe at the wasted energy of stubborn, polarizing people trying to convert, belittle, and enrage other equally stubborn, polarizing people. I always thought that you (the reader with nothing better to do) cared about my opinion of Kobe's achilles tear as much as I cared about what you had for lunch today (#nobodycares). As the semester wore on, however, I became more fond of sharing my thoughts. Tweeting, updating statuses, pinning, instagramming and blogging make me feel like someone's listening to me. That last bit makes me sound a little pathetic and lonely (#thetruthhurts), but my self-deprecating nature had me convinced that I didn't have anything interesting to say. That was until I took a trip to Central California with my girlfriend in January 2013.
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| A beautiful day in San Simeon visiting Elephant Seals |
While telling my dad all about my amazing weekend, I remarked how easy it would be to take another little road trip—how so much effort gets wasted merely talking about going somewhere. He sympathized with this observation, noting that "overcoming inertia" is often the only barrier that keeps us shackled to the drudgery of everyday life. That phrase struck a chord in me and shed light on the scarcity of these moments in my life. For all the hours I have wasted away streaming Netflix and Hulu during my study breaks and weekends at school, I could have been creating memories.
Therein lies the importance of what I have to say: stop wasting time talking about doing something and GO DO IT! I thought it might be interesting to catalogue my efforts to practice what I preach by rebooting and repurposing my Writing-340 blog to include the things that get me out of bed and out of the house. Chief among these are my interests in food, hiking, music, and health.
If I were an institution of some sort, my Mission Statement might sound something like this: The whimsical urge to make a drive home on the freeway into a spontaneous road trip. Hiking in the mountains and asking yourself why you don't get out more often. The enrichment of understanding the human body. The satisfaction from feeding hungry friends. These are some of the things that give my life purpose, and hopefully I can post something here that lights a fire in someone else.
If none of this sounds appealing to you, I thought this blog could also serve as a vehicle for something my friends and family have merely dreamed about for years. My dad is...well...he's special. While he is one of my closest friends, he also provides an endless source of entertainment for those around him. Between the cameras, memory chips, and video tapes scattered throughout my house, I have a plethora of material that will help acquaint you with my endearing father. As a parting gift, here's the old man himself after 10 seconds on a "death machine" (elliptical):
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| Ronald on the Elliptical |
Thank you for reading, and I'll try to keep you enlightened and/or entertained as best I can.
-Graham
