Hollywood, CA

If a man can be star struck by a city, then I'm sure this is the place. I took my bike out for a ride on the streets and let my mind wander a bit. It seems that all the stars from the sky landed here in the city and there's nothing up above but smog. Don't get me wrong, I love it here, but it is quite...quaint. That truly is the best word to describe it for me, because if you look it up, by all definitions, that is how it appeals to and interests me. Every antique and refurbished part of this city is wondrous. The demographics are eclectic at best with one block fading from 10,000 homes to 10,000,000 homes depending on the block. It's ghetto on one side and ginormous on the other. It really brought me back to the days in Chicago or even Pittsburgh with the endless sidewalks and people that never sleep. I loved climbing the hills with palm trees swaying and the Hollywood sign fading in the twilight of the mini-mountain overlooking the star-filled city. I rode past Paramount Studios with its mountain logo on the water tower and its white painted studio number 5 and 6 looking down at me. I couldn't help but think of all the movies I've seen with that same logo and all the entertainment being made there to show off in the summers of the future. As I made my way up to the famous Blvd. with the same name, I let the sidewalk carve its dead names into my tires. Names like Nat "King" Cole, Bette Davis, and Gene Kelly. There were some that were a little more recent like George Clooney, Jim Henson, and Britney Spears. Each of them engraved in the stars of this land. When I thought about all this place represents, I couldn't help but smile. I love a good story, and I love storytelling, I am a creative writing minor after all, and I've loved movies since I can remember, but the trick to a good story is to help a person appreciate their reality better, to not take it for granted. I love my life, and I reckon Hollywood's made me appreciate it a little better now. Not just for the movies; tonight it was the story I'm making. Tonight, my wife cooked chicken for us for the first time, and now we're going to sit down and read scriptures together. I love her with all my heart, and I don't think there's any movie nor story that could be more beautiful and lovely than the one I'm living. I am so grateful for that.

Belief in Success

I listened to this song as I wrote this, you can listen as you read if you want. Just copy and paste.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0kGAz6HYM8

Don’t let school get in the way of learning. Allow yourself to be the person you always wanted to be. Gather those things which will change your life. Keep yourself surrounded with success, innovation, and creativity. Allow yourself to be a collector of greatness, and then let it all out through the lens of your perspective. That is what makes you unique in your approach to the world. Be ready for negativity, but don’t give into it. Be positive in all you do. Don’t let setbacks be the downfall of your creativity. What you have is good. It’s better than good, because it’s yours. You have the ability to change the world. You only have to let them see through you all the greatness you have gathered in the course of your life. Intelligence, creativity, and insight are what make the difference between the average person and one who stands out to lead. Leaders can falter, but they always seek the betterment of those they lead. They teach. They learn. They are always growing. As we approach the future with faith, it will open up to us.

The future has happiness waiting, but now is the time for gaining it. We lead, we learn, we teach, we create, we grow, we become, in order that others may be happy along with ourselves. This is our purpose. Not temporal pleasure, but rather an everlasting joy that spans generations. The light of truth should shine from you in a way that none may deny the expanse of your greatness. For the betterment of humanity, we grow.

Hold onto success with an iron grip, never letting slack the guiding rail that leads to our glorious end. Never sleep or breathe unless it is for your betterment. Give into the uncomfortable inclinations of life which push you into a greater self. Don’t think you’re truly living until you want to achieve happiness as much as you want to breathe, until your whole being leads you toward eternity with a smile. Only then will you walk in faith, in confidence, in truth. Death waits for all of us, eternity smiles down on us, looking forward to our coming. What we do with our mind, with our actions, with our heart; that will determine our relationship with our destiny. We have to do what we have to do, no matter the consequences. We don’t stay alive to live, we live to be alive. Each day has an adventure, we have reasons all around us to live to the fullest, and agency can give us the desire to accomplish that fullness. The reason it matters to gain all of this? Because it’s now, because it’s here. Be present, be whole. Laugh. Create. Be happy. This is how I strive to become every day.

Beautiful

Some people go their whole life not knowing what love is. I've known my fair share of it, but never quite as truly as this. At the risk of being slightly sappy, but also completely honest, I say in the great words of Buddy the elf, "I'm in Love! I'm in Love! And I don't care who knows it!" Rachel Renae Johnson has absolutely transformed my world from one of greatness to superlative splendor beyond my wildest dreams. Don't get me wrong, love is a messy thing, with vicissitudes on every corner, living minute to minute crying and laughing, dancing and dying, yet it is more than worth it. It is something that bards and poets have been spouting on about for centuries, the stuff that drives men to war and women to surmount obstacles in their way. Love is generally the driving force of humanity and is complete in its ability to perfectly reflect the one supreme Godlike emotion. It brightens every color and gives light to every shadow. I do not exceed my boundaries by vivifying the various verbiage of this valorous veneration, for that is what love does. To truly know what love is, one must experience it, and those that have know that it is something that cannot be learned from research; believe me, I know. It breeches all vainglory and puts out all selfishness. Sometimes it hits you at second sight, and in that moment, only a fool would avoid capitulation to its enticements. Shakespeare said, "For stony limits cannot hold love out,And what love can do, that dares love attempt." It truly makes all things possible and brings wings to a man's heart. I know I may be perceived a mushy twit for such writings as these, yet this is my feeling, and my life right now. I have searched long and hard, and I have finally found that person willing and sweet enough to reciprocate my love. I love this girl, I truly do. The whole world should know, for they only dream of grasping a portion of what I've found. I'm a blessed and lucky man, and I'm only grateful for it.