I knew I had to post an entry after reading the writer's block prompt on the main page. "What would your dream job be and will you ever fulfill it?". In case you folks who are reading this don't already know, I have and will be living it up this winter season out in the Rockies. I did not realize how much I missed the ice cold air whipping through my hair while I was gliding down the slopes until I moved back to Chapel Hill a couple years back. I missed the mountain life so much that I even dedicated my two weekend days off from my full time job to drive three hours up to the mountains to continue to teach skiing. My heart was always in the mountains. Something about the fresher, cleaner air and the freedom of being up on some peak somewhere taking in some fantastic panorama.

Skiing is in the blood and it runs furiously through my veins. Prior to last years ski season I had a chance to sit down with a very close friend, perhaps potentially more than just a friend... but we will touch on that a later time, and had a heart to heart. We talked about what we wanted to do with our lives and what direction we wanted to blaze the new trails. I confessed to him that I wanted to move to Colorado after a few years of being back in Chapel Hill. Just long enough to enjoy the town I grew up in after finishing school but not long enough to root myself there and never want to leave. I'm still young and there are places I want to go and things I want to accomplish.

Colorado has always been on my mind since high school. I wanted to go to school out there but ended up staying in the state because it was cheaper tuition. My friend turned to me and he pointed out that the time that I wanted to leave the state by was creeping up on me. I remember looking at him and thinking, "He's absolutely right. If I'm going to follow my heart I need to take action now." He then asked me, "Have you ever been skiing out west?". I had not. I hadn't even visited the state  for that matter. I just had always had the yearning to go out there. It was then we decided that we were going to take a trip out west together. With our conversation fresh on my mind I went right to planning. Over the course of this past ski season I managed to get my Level I Professional Ski Instructing certificate and save up money to take this 2 week skiing trip out west. Skiing out west?! I could not believe what I was actually going to do it after all this time.

A week had not even passed after I came back from my first western skiing escapades in Taos, New Mexico that I started applying for ski schools in Colorado. I was determined to make the big change and do what it is that truly made me happy. A month past and I had not heard anything. I had hoped that with a Professional Ski Instructor membership and certification under my belt I would have landed something quickly. I will not forget the feeling I had when I got that email from Winter Park Ski Resort, Colorado or the day I had the phone interview with them. Being offered the job that I have been dreaming of for so long was the best feeling. I had finally caught my break. If there is one piece of advice that I can give to any of you reading this right now it is this; If there is something that you have a passion for, don't make excuses about how it's impossible to accomplish. Don't shoot down your dreams and don't push aside your goals. Go for it and see where the path takes you. You don't look back later in your life wondering why you didn't take the chance. You want to look back at what you had done and be proud of what you did.

A quote that I always bear in mind goes like this:
"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming 'Wow ! What a Ride!'" - Hunter S. Thompson

Had it not been for that night with my friend and our trip out west, I would probably be rooting myself here. Thank you B for convincing me to do what it is that my heart desired... now if only you could see that I share the feelings you have and follow me out west.

Live your life and live your dreams. I certainly am going to try. You just never know where it will take you.

I was reading the latest National Geographic that came out and there was a particularly interesting article. It was titled "Shading the Earth". In efforts to help lessen the impacts and slow down global warming, researches have come up with this "Plan B" for cooling the Earth. Weening ourselves from the massive use of fossil fuels will be too little too late at the rate we are going, so the "Plan B" is to launch these disks of sulfate into the stratosphere between the Sun and the Earth creating a "shade" for us. Now I'm adding a link to this article so that you all can read it for yourselves without me having to regurgitating all the article's information out back at you. Now I understand that we need to cool down the Earth and that there are already evidence that sulfur has cooling effects on the planet. Think about what the temperature decrease is when a massive volcano erruptions blasts all that ashe into the atmosphere. However, I think that sending out these disks into space is bogus. Playing God and controlling the weather can have some serious consequences. Do you think this is a good or bad idea?



Shading the Earth article at National Geographic.com

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/big-idea/01/shading-earth

Major dilemma in the world of the Asian Invasion. I mean shit that you only see in freakin' movies and on TV. Laugh all you want those of you who reserved the right to say, "I told you so." For those who don't have a clue as to what the hell I'm talking about, I'll give you a very brief run down on the situation. You all know how I've been working at A Southern Season for almost a year now and have been enjoying it thus far. For about 90% of the time that I've been here I've managed to develop an attachment to a co-worker of mine within the same department. Now I know you all are thinking why I haven't done anything about it and the response I have for you is that it's complicated. I mean he's the assistant manager of the department complicated. So I've managed to keep my feelings to myself and brush off the hints that indicate that he is interested too. It was only yesterday that I was hit with validation that he has and still shares the same feelings that I do. Now, how do we go about it? Do we risk our jobs just so that we can be together or do we just sweep all of our feelings for each other under the rug, try to forget about it and move on? Last night I spent an hour on the computer looking at other possible employment opportunities around the area thinking that would be an easy solution. Ultimately, I think we should sit down and talk face to face. There's just too much going through my head right now. I'm more than a little emotionally strained right now that it's seems hard for me to think straight. Not to mention making a decision on anything. What is the cost of being happy? It's been so long since I found someone that made me as happy as he does and yet it seems so damn near impossible to try and work it out. Is it worth the risk....

 So I was reading an article just now while on my lunch break at work and I felt the need to mention it in my post today. The article was reporting on how the Halloween costumes for girls have become racier. It never really occured to me but now that I actually think back to my last visit to Patry City and Halloween costume websites online, young girls costumes have become sluttier. I don't  mean teeny boppers that are trying to idolize pop culture, but I mean 6 and 7 year olds. There are cosutmes out there that are revealing midriffs, shorts skirts with fishnets and corsets. What kind of image are we trying to send our kids with these raunchy outfits? An even better question, what kind of parent would pay such an outrageous amount of money for a costume that is barely going to cover their child up? I mean honestly people! There are many dangers out in the world for our children and we want to throw our kids into it strutting their stuff before they are even fully developed? It's healthy for a child to gain confidence in their self image, but doing it to this sort of extent, for lack of a better explanation, fuck them up. They will later on develop a eatting disorder, depression or what have you cause they will be so wrapped up in their self image. We don't need to be doing that to our kids. Racy, slutty, risque outfits should be reserved for adults and not premitted for kids that are not even 10 years old. That's just asking for trouble.

Today was by far the hottest day of the summer. At least that is what it felt like. Hot, hazy and humid. It's days like today when I miss the mountains the most. The cool evening breezes and the mountain air. It's not nearly as humid back in the mountains. This is the first summer back in Chapel Hill since I finished school up at ASU. The past two summers have been spent in the mountains and they were the best times of my life. There is just so much to do with the parkway nearby. So many places to hike and explore. I miss the rushing water of the waterfalls that I used to rock hop around. Today it hit me hard just how much I missed all of it. I guess it's the part of me that feels like my youth is slowly slipping away. Where did it all go? I glanced back at the poster sized picture frame I have clad with pictures from my years in college and longed to have those days back. Coming back to CH made me really miss the Woodspeeps the most. I missed you all being away from home... but coming back here made me miss you all even more. Now that we are all grown up and really going our separate ways, I terribly miss the days we used to just goof off and be silly. Just being around the girls feels like a jump back into time... or perhaps stopping time altogether. It's funny I say this, I feel the most homesick being right here in town than I ever felt being away at school. And on top of that, I miss the second home that I came to love and adore in the last 5 years.