"Out With the Outro and In With the New..."

Danny Ainge on Davie's, BYU Honor Code, & NBA Life

2011-03-04T10:44:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed what Danny had to say. What a great ambassador for BYU and for the Church. He uses some life experiences, talks a little Joseph Smith, and even makes a couple scripture references on national radio. I have trouble doing that with my partner at work. Not the biggest Celtic fan, but can't help but cheer for Mr. Ainge.

Puppy Break

2011-02-28T15:58:00.000-08:00

Mel says thanks Karl!

Puppy bath...

Get Ready Ragnar

2011-02-28T15:30:00.000-08:00

I'm looking forward to continuing the tradition of Ragnar Relay participation this year. I can't believe that it was three years ago where we all agreed that it would be one and done. Southern California is in little over a month. Napa Valley will be this fall. Spending So Cal with a new team this year, but will be back to tradition in Napa. It never fails to impress and, well, stress.

Look into it! You won't regret it!

Pismo Beach Perfection

2009-11-07T19:22:00.000-08:00

What do you get when you combine a sandy beach, as if all beaches weren't sandy, the strange phenomena known as desert sand dunes, hot babes, and 400cc's of white knuckled earth shaking power??? You get Pismo Beach, located on the central California coastline, on a Halloween weekend like no other. Located a few hours north of our dear Los Angeles was where I spent my Halloween weekend this year. The drive was pleasant and visually stimulating, the conversation just as uplifting. Camping on the beach has it's many rewards, the primary being sunbathing in the tent, wait...what??, and watching newcomers struggle in the sand in front of the crashing waves. With a total of 12 quads and 2 dirt bikes hours were spent dissecting the dunes, every single razor back we could find. Eating was just as fun and the company made the weekend oh so sweet. I give it a 10/10 and strongly urge any and all to make a trip.

Thank you Loma Linda

2009-06-15T00:24:00.000-07:00

The day finally came and some fantastic friends and family were there to share it with me. Thanks to everyone for your support, love, and patience. I'm looking forward to telling you all about it, if you are tired of hearing my voice check out what a great job Andrea Filio did of documenting the joyous occasion.

Film Review - The Visitor

2009-06-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

If someone would have told me before seeing this film that it was a film about conviction, a film about love, a film about politics, or even a film about how easily life can change I wouldn’t have believed them. The Visitor accomplishes such a feat by following an aging widower for a short period of time, a period of time that undoubtedly changed the course of his life. There seemed to be nothing remarkable about this man’s life, his home, his job, or his friends. His life seemed very ordinary, and apart from a desire to learn to play the piano it didn’t seem like things were going to change anytime soon.

Walter Vale, the main character in the film didn’t seem very pleased with his life or the direction it was headed. To say that there are a lot of people with that same level of apathy with their lives would be an understatement. The film seemed very real and applicable from the beginning. Many people find themselves alone, bored with their lives, bored with work and don’t have anything that could resemble a social life. Walter wasn’t making any changes anytime soon and he seemed okay with that, so one can imagine his frustration when he was forced into the city to return to an apartment flooded with memories to do work he despised. Little did he know what awaited him and his life. Changes and the unanticipated can be fierce and greatly unexpected; perhaps that is why they can have such a strong positive or negative effect.

Tarek and Zainab are a couple in love, I can’t think of another way to describe their relationship. The two are artists, masters of their individual crafts and that only confirms to me of their ability to feel, to care, and ultimately to love. In the film the couple has been given this great opportunity to be in a land where their talents are appreciated and America has given them the ability to live together in peace and happiness. By the time Tarek and Zainab are introduced in the film Walter Vale has already found the two illegally renting his city apartment, the two are forced to the streets. This encounter begins a cascade of events that includes Tarek and Zainab returning to stay at the apartment with Walter and the development of relationships between Walter and the couple on a very personal basis.

Walter finds himself surrounded by new colors, new sounds, new people, and new feelings. Walter embraces the change and friendships are born. It is a very emotional connection that is forged by Walter’s ability to accept something different, something foreign. The ability or virtue to completely change one’s inner self in order to make room for something better or something sweeter is a great attribute. Walter’s position in life was comfortable; it was of a certain dynamic that could be anticipated. Walter opened his heart, he was reminded how to love, how to connect and it changed him for the better.

Sometimes in order to fully comprehend how much we love some one or some thing we have to lose it. Tarek’s presence in the film, in Zenaib’s life, and in Walter’s life changed after his arrest an eventual deportation. Tarek’s mother and Walter displayed the love they had for Tarek. Tarek’s mother stood by Walter’s side has he did all that was in his power legally and politically to return Tarek’s freedom. The two held each other, they cried together, and forged a very beautiful relationship. The love Tarek’s mother had for her son was so great that she forfeited her citizenship to return and be at her son’s side. Walter was left to look back on his experience and celebrate his newly formed relationships by taking his newly acquired talent of drumming and displaying it for many to see.

It is hard to agree with sending such an influential soul that is Tarek’s out of a country that could use his sweet spirit. It was an issue that Walter was not ready to face. Walter had no idea that his time as a visitor in Tarek’s, Zeniab’s, and Mouna’s life would be so short yet so influential. Maybe it’s time for more people to look for inspiration in places where they would never thing to look. Maybe it’s time for many to take a visit, embrace some change, learn to love, and do everything possible to ensure that change becomes a part of everyday life. It was a simple act of service that Walter made in allowing the couple to stay and it was that act of service that ultimately changed Walter’s life.

Bring It

2009-01-21T01:01:00.000-08:00

Bring it is right!

Barrack Obama wasn't the only one making a change today and beginning something that some say impossible. I, Zachary S. Edwards, for the next three months will dedicate myself six days a week and an hour a day to something that many say could never be done. My hand was placed on the most recent copy of ESPN the magazine and I took an oath. An oath to fitness, an oath to a healthy lifestyle, an oath to exercise induced vomit. I have begun the path that is the P90X workout. It is time to stand up, dust myself off, get "bring it" tattooed to my forehead, and shed the dreaded 20 pounds that Santa Claus brought me for Christmas. It is all about "muscle confusion" people and my friend Tony Horton has decided to personally train me in my garage for an hour a day! What a deal. I am so glad that our newly inaugurated President Obama and I will have this bond. A newly formed bond to fully commit ourselves, to put our lives in God's hands, to much like the father of our country George Washington did to set an example of courage, leadership, strength, and patriotism. Thanks to P90X and God bless the United States of America. To all my white brethren, let us remember that because we are "white we must embrace what is right"!! Good night!

Thanks Shauna!

Family Matters

2008-06-14T23:57:00.000-07:00

Avery Jean, she really loves her uncle...

Color & Corbata

2008-06-14T22:35:00.000-07:00

By no means am I the most colorful one in this group. Quite the opposite... by far the the most emotionless individual in the entire room. Maybe the Rock Band connected to the PlayStation 3 connected to the 50" High Def struck me as the most interesting thing in the room. My priorities are just a bit out of whack.
For years changing my clothes after church has been one of the hardest things. It has become weekly ritual not to change, loosen the tie, roll up the sleeves, and spend my night wrinkling a recently pressed shirt. I blame it on comfort. It by no means is a testimonial of my level of spirituality. I personally do not believe that staying in your clothes determines how closely you follow the law of keeping the law of the Sabbath. The comfort of a shirt and tie has been difficult to describe at times. The comfort has always treated me well. Has it backfired? Found in a place were every one's true colors shine I am left gray scale, dull, and lifeless. Should I blame it on the over-sized Van Heusen, Spanish purchased tie (shameless plug), and worn slacks? Let's be positive, I am with color, the influence color that has left me mute and others without pigment as we see in the doctored photograph isn't in the picture at all. The color comes from behind the camera, and who would have guessed that I have no idea what it was. Not the picture taker, too obvious. Who knows? I'm sorry I ever doubted you shirt and tie, I look forward to many more unrelaxed, pajama less Sundays.

Why Do I Remember That?

2007-09-09T17:19:00.000-07:00

Listening to friends reminisce about their childhood always brings a smile to my face. Experiences that lead people to where they are today are like pages in a book where if remain unread confusion and distraction fill the reader's mind. Knowing such details about a persons childhood or adolescence sometimes helps bridge that gap of mistrust and provides room for friendships to blossom, love to grow, and relationships to solidify. As i listened to the "remember when" and "oh and that one time" statements, I noticed a trend. While one remembered specific details and steps to the story, the other only remembered bits and pieces and vice versa. It makes me wonder, why? Why do I remember that? Or out of all the fantastic and unbelievable memories, why that one? How can one person discard a simple occurrence after a matter of seconds, and another store that same occurrence in the foreground of their memory bank forever?

I would love to quote a very influential TV sitcom that we had all grown to love, hate, or simply add to our list of shows we had to surf through to get to the "good stuff."

"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose." From the television show The Wonder Years... oh yes I just did.

There is a lot of truth in that statement. Let's break it down, through the life of Mr. Edwards. Now if this doesn't help bridge the gap that exists between your and my relationship, all hope is lost.

First, holding on to things that I love. There are the apparent memories, Christmas at Grandpa & Grandma's, Playing with my folks at the park (when I was an only child of course), running around naked as a child with my first puppy Ziggy (not much has changed), my first little sister and subsequent sisters, the first time I felt true love, the divine love I felt walking the streets of Venezuela, and the list goes on. Perhaps there are those memories that may not be so apparent, those that help us hold onto to love even tighter. The memory of a loving parent disappointed by an act or a decision not to act by a child. This side of things dips into the realm of divine love. Those painful memories, hard experiences, stinging occurrences that pushed us into a corner so tight that the only direction we could look was up and realize all that mattered was the Love of a Heaven Father toward His child. A good friend carries a fanny pack on motorcycle rides for easy access to water, cell phone, money, etc... What memories of love are we keeping in our fanny pack for easy access in times of thirst, emergency, and trouble...? Holding on to things we love helps us love others, find love, and after enough time start to imagine the greatness of His love.

Second, holding on to the things that I am. Flashes of elementary school, teachers, friends, and even enemies. A good friend decided to vomit up his sausage one day when we had breakfast for lunch, a life changing experience... if you're allergic to sausage don't eat it, I will never forget. A 5th grade teacher that got me to get up to sing for a school play, the Mother of my girlfriend at the time gave me a great compliment. From that point on I have had more luck getting Mothers to fall in love with me than I have had with their daughters. I could go on for days... I suppose that is what a journal is for. From times with just Mom and me at home to right now sitting in a cold station waiting for someone to get sick, the times in our lives that make us who we are must be cherished. I can't remember the last time I just sat and remembered... it feels great.

And third, the things we never want to lose. Is that what it's all about? Do we subconsciously tuck memories away because we know, no matter what happens, that those are things we never want to lose. I understand all things will be brought to our recollection after our death, so let's just talk about here in this life. Let me forget about the time I heard a loud bang when I was 5, or the smell of that one girl, or why I remember and always will how to say every state in alphabetical order. How can those help me hold on to love or learn who I am. Let's focus on the memories that we really don't want to lose, but... wait..., that loud bang I heard was one of the only memories I have of living in Colorado, and the smell of that one girl brings back memories of laughter, peace, fun, and the teacher who taught me about the states... she was my favorite. I will never want to lose those memories.

Why don't I lose this memory? Why can't I lose this memory? How does holding on to this experience bring happiness into my life? Maybe these are the questions we should be asking ourselves. "Don't live in the past" sure, you can say that. "Live in the now" yeah, why not? But hey, I'm bringing this stuff along for the ride. Someone up there is stuffing this information in my brain for a reason, and I better use it. I better enjoy it. I better appreciate it and I most definitely better hold on to it. What do you remember that at first glace could be disregarded as "just something I remember, don't know why" and turns out to be something you don't want to lose? I have found some, maybe you can too.

D Wade/ Charles Barkley & T Mobile

2007-05-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

I still find myself smiling at the Charles Barkley/Dwayne Wade T-moblie commercials. I thought I might rank the three that I have seen. I wish I could relate to Dwayne's desire to get into Chuck's 5, I have Cingular, we yet have adapted the new "Who's in your 5?" slogan. I'm searching for some deeper meaning behind it, but honestly I think they are just trying to sell.

#3. This is actually the one I just recently saw. Maybe it's the fact that I'm not the biggest golfing fan. Is it just me or is Charles getting so fat he has trouble speaking. I mean he hasn't always been the most articulate speaker, but it has definitely gotten worse. Oh and the pink doesn't help. Finally, you would think if D Wade (last years finals MVP) could win the championship for his team single handily, under the harshest of conditions, he could sink a put with nothing but a cell phone ring to break his concentration.

#2. The classic "...is this your dad?" This was brilliant writing. You can never go wrong with that type of joke. I do wonder, why is it a skinny blond who recognizes the two. I do realize that Wade's #3 jersey is one of the highest selling jerseys, and he was on a beautiful people list I believe. But still... I don't know a girl that would recognize D Wade in a restaurant like that, and Barkley even less. If someone can prove me wrong please do.

#1. "Sexay..." It was a little unnatural, but funny. Chuck's dunk that they watch was spectacular, he was impressive. But the gigantic self portrait of Charles in is living room is what sold me. Seeing that proved that they were actually in his house, on his sofa, watching his tv... that's dedication. How do we feel about gigantic self portraits in our homes?

My 1st Post

2007-05-10T12:19:00.000-07:00

We transport many different people in my line of work. We transport the old, young, sick, not so sick, psychotic (I mean crazy), comatose, and the list goes on. On occasion we have instances that one cannot afford forget. It gets you thinking in a wide range of ways. It makes you appreciate, laugh, cry, and sometimes just flat out angry.
"Don't let the turkeys get you down...," she said to me as my head was down focusing on the paperwork I was rapidly completing. She struggled to catch her breath as she spoke. One of many struggles that seemed to have worn this fragile old women so that it was apparent on her face. "What was that?" I replied. "Turkeys are not the smartest creatures on the planet." she said. "When the rain falls they raise their head curious to what it is falling from the sky. Their curiosity and stupidity so great that it results in their eventual death. As the rain pours it flows onto their raised heads and down their throat into their lungs. " She then continued to explain how unintelligent these birds must be to cause their own death by a simple raise of the head. "Don't let those idiotic type of people get you down in your life, what they say, what they do, etc.," she said. I haven't been able to forget that. How negatively do those type of people affect our lives? Do we let them in so far that they make our lives miserable? Watch out for those turkeys I suppose...
On a brighter note... what is the percentage of people that can really whale on a harmonica? I can only think of a few musicians, my grandpa, and a man that was in the back of the ambulance for about 20 minutes. We found him in a local ER needing to be transported to a local psychiatric facility. Our first contact with the man was rather pleasant, he didn't plan on causing problems and was looking forward to the trip. To his dismay, as we loaded him up, I didn't have any Sex Pistols on my iPod to play for him. He brushed it off and proceeded to pull out his harmonica, "who needs a radio?" he must have been thinking (thanks Lloyd). The next 10 minutes of driving was accompanied with an amazing show of harmonic excellence. Weather or not he had 'all the chickens in the barn," or not he could play a mean harmonica. Sadly enough the show had to end and we needed to send him off. A good man, well behaved, mostly crazy, and a great musician... why shouldn't he play the harmonica. As we said good bye he pulled his fake teeth and apologized that his dentures impeded his playing ability. It's just fine sir. I think we all have an idea of that one person who strangely enough knows how to play the harmonica, and this is mine.