Personal Photographer...

"You are really shitty at this." - Jamie.

I suck at taking great photos of my wife. The only reason I know this is because she has told me many times. She is fearless with her feedback and critiques. I need to work on lining things up the way she envisioned it, as well as my use of the rule of thirds. I also take forever to take a photo. We will have everything lined up, and I wait until I think I have found the perfect moment where she is smiling, or not, at the right time. I believe there is an art to the pause, but she seems to disagree. I honestly don't think I am that bad at it, but whenever I take a shot I think is tasteful, she reassures me I am awful at it, especially when it comes to taking great photos of her.

Recently we were out for a sunny Sunday lunch. We gassed up our old VW van, Big Red II, and took a drive south along the coast until we got hungry. Typically we like to stick to pub food and happy hours on our weekend days off together. Brews and pub food keeps the day easy. You know what you are getting. We get such little time together we like to keep it comfortable with a burger and fries. We found a brewery on the water. What else could you ask for? Craft brews and lunch overlooking the Pacific sounds incredible, so we grabbed a round of beers and found some seats on one of the brewery's outside patios. It's time to take in the sun.

After the alcohol hit the bloodstream, it was time to bust out the iPhones and start snapping photos. It's like clockwork. We suddenly find ourselves to be portrait photographers the instant we get a buzz. As if we were photographers all along, but were caged by our sober alternate personalities. "The sun is giving off some perfect lighting right now." Jamie said, "And don't take forever, just take the god damn picture." Classic me, always taking forever to take a photo. This is strike one. Jamie held up her beer and smiled. Like usual, I paused and then took the picture. Strike two. "Jesus, what the hell is wrong with you? You have to get better at this, I love you, but get your shit together." Jamie told me. I tried again and failed miserably, taking a blurry photo of the table as the phone fell out of my hand clanking down. Everyone looked over at us as Jamie turned to me and said, "You're a moron, you know that?" Strike three. I love my wife.

We continued about our day, got another round of beers, and forgot all about how I dropped her iPhone on the table causing a scene. We moved on, and I took another billion photos of her sitting in a chair holding her beer and grinning ear to ear while she moved her head around, tried different poses, and maneuvering facial features. My wife can be the shyest woman I know or the most photogenic person I have met. It all depends on the blood alcohol level, and at the perfect amount, she can strut a runway.

-YourFriendMatt

Grandmom...

"Why are you crying?" - Me.

Over the years we have put a lot of miles on our second-hand, black, '00 Eddie Bauer Edition, Ford Expedition. Grandmom, as we called her, has taken us across the country multiple times. She has gotten us up and down the mountains in Colorado and guided us through deserts in Nevada, Texas, and California. We have been through the Great Plains together. Grandmom has made it through more National Parks than I can remember, down alleyways she could barely fit through, been parallel parked in spaces that mathematically didn't make sense, all while hauling our small enclosed trailer. Grandmom has been packed with musical equipment, as well as accidentally passing through a close-set movie filming. Grandmom does what Grandmom wants. We were just there for the ride.

Since moving back to Santa Monica, the old girl has been sitting for over a year collecting parking tickets. It is unfair for us to keep her stationary. Grandmom is a road-dog. She needs to get back out there to explore. She needs to stretch her legs and adventure. She has done a lot for us, and now it is time to pass her on to the next adventurer who can get her back on the road. We will miss you old girl.

It was not an easy decision to put Grandmom up for sale. The mean streets of Santa Monica and the greed of the city have put us in the tough position of downsizing. Santa Monica and the greater LA area makes it impossible for anyone to park on any street, at any time. Grandmom was getting parking tickets weekly on our residential street. We were spending more on her just sitting there than we had in the past 5 years on repairs, gas, and traveling across the country.

We never thought we would get this upset over selling an inanimate object. I was actually quite happy to post her "for sale" ad on Craiglist. I was fueled by the hate of paying never-ending parking tickets, but once someone actually responded to make a cash offer, the sale of Grandmom became real. At first, I was glad to get rid of her, but when I cleaned her out for the last time coming across nicknacks that had been lodged under the seats from the different hotels we had stayed at, or various gas stations we filled up at, it hit me. This was the end of our time together. As we drove to drop her off to her next owner, I was fighting back the tears. An overwhelming wave of gratefulness and guilt washed over me. It didn't help that Jamie was sprawled across the foldable-bench-seating in the rear bawling, I mean really ugly crying. Full on moans and sadness poured out of her, she was inconsolable. And, so was I - on the inside.

Handing over her title and signing over our liability of Grandmom was tough. My ears were hot, and my throat had swollen shut. It took everything in me not to cry. I patted her on the hood on last time and quietly whispered my thank yous to her for all she had done for us. She had essentially protected my family like it was her own. She had made sure we always got to our destination safely. I am glad we spent the last few years together, and I hope I treated you as well as you treated us.

Take care of your new owners like you took care of us, and I look forward to seeing you soon in auto-heaven.

Thank you, Grandmom.

-YourFriendMatt

Sunday Thoughts...

"Life is weird." - Us.

Our lives have taken us to places we never thought we would go. Jamie and I have done what we wanted for the last 6 years. Travel? check. Visit virtually every state? Check. Buy a VW Vanagon customize it, and travel the backroads of America at 40MPH hoping we don't break down or fall off the side of a Colorado mountain that doesn't have a guardrail? Check. I like to believe we have a slight extra dash of "outlier" in our recipe than others. It's not that often that people just pick up and go, follow their gut feelings, go through a ton of life experiences together, and continue to make the best of every situation. We are very lucky. We have always had the support of our families and friends, but when you are a nation away from everything you know and the comforts they bring, it's a completely different ball game.

As I sit this morning, with my coffee and a blank page, I started to reflect on how special and weird life can be. Watch any Gary V clip and he will eventually tell (yell at) his audience that there is a one in a quadrillion (I just made that word up I think) chance of being born. Which, if that is true, I haven't done the research, that is pretty freaking weird. Which begs the age-old question of, why? Why am I here? Why are you here? And, more importantly, does anything really matter? Yes, I am reflecting on WHY this morning, such a millennial.

I came across this photo in my camera roll this morning and forgot I took it. I thought it looked cool and then reflected on when I took it. We were traveling around in some California mountain town and stopped at a local brewery. Go figure. It had been a while since we had seen snow so we wanted to capture every moment. There was a mound of snow close to us so I nestled my phone in it, set the timer, ran back and bam, this photo is the results. That day was incredible. It was cold, the heater in the Van was barely working, we had to buy extra gloves, and roadside Mexican blankets to stay warm, but we made it to our destination and were able to fit a brewery in also. What else is life about if it's not about adventuring through it and finding small moments to make it all worthwhile?

Every moment is special if you let it be. I know I sound like a total hippie, but I do believe it. Everything we do can teach us or can be transformed into something unique and special. Take a second today to check out your surroundings, be grateful, take ten good breaths and try to see something from a different perspective. I think you'll find out that life is weird. Let me know what you come up with.

I hope this made sense. If not, whatever. These are my Sunday thoughts.

-YourFriendMatt

Sunday Thoughts...

“Well, I got nothing. Might as well just write whatever is on your mind.” - Me.

There are some days when I sit down at my Mac and start to write, but nothing comes out. I try to look back through my iPhone Camera Roll to see if there is anything interesting that I took a photo of during the week, or stand outside drinking coffee reflecting on my life and nothing really comes to mind. From there, I usually go into a quick realization of how boring my life is and how no one cares to read what I have to say. However, I did not start writing to become a writer, or famous, or any of the other glory that comes with writing if you choose to take it that route. I just committed to writing, being creative, challenging my writing styles/formatting, and attempting to be bold enough to put something out. So, with that is mind, here are some Sunday thoughts.

What Matters:

Nothing really matters. I sometimes have to remember that unless an experience is going to change my life and make an impact years down the road, it doesn't matter. And even then, most of us will adapt and change to whatever that impact was. I do not want to come off careless or a care-free hippie, but nothing really matters, especially the day-to-day stuff. All the details at work, what were wearing, who's commenting and liking our posts, what we have for lunch, and all the other shit, doesn't matter. I feel like if we all stopped worrying about every little detail, comment, or what everyone else thinks, we would all be in a more stress-free and happy existence. When you find yourself getting upset at something, think about all the incredible aspects of your life and how awesome you are. I think you'll find out that whatever it was getting you wound up, doesn't matter.

Happiness - The Process:

I think it might be easy to say, "if it makes you happy then do it." What if making you happy is doing something crazy like going on a killing spree, robbing a bank, or putting others in danger. I don't want to be around that "happy" person. But, the theme of happiness has been on my mind. We live a world where people are trying to escape any emotion, there is essentially a drug for everything. I feel like unless we are willing to accept all of them emotions, even the ones that hurt, we can't really enjoy happiness. Earlier this week my friend said he took a Xanax, a drug designed to help with anxiety/depression/panic, to help curb some of the stresses going on in his life. He does not normally take the drug, but wanted to see if it would help. He said he felt no emotions while on Xanax, and quickly followed that statement up with, "I can see why people get addicted to it, you just don't feel anything. You just exist." Holy shit. We live in a time where being completely out of it is the way to be, just existing. What if the entire planet decided to take a Xanax. Would anything get done? Would anyone create anything? What if some of the greatest creators, leaders, and innovators our world has ever known all took a Xanax when they got stressed, upset, or felt panic?

There is absolutely a need for the medication for those who need them. Depression and anxiety are real. I am not discrediting that or that these medications help those who need them. Happiness and how you get to happiness has just been on my mind. I am a lucky guy and I try to keep my outlook positive, even when I experience some depression or anxiety. I think it is important for all of us to experience not just happiness, but other emotions that we go through.

I like these topics - I might continue to think about it and share more later.

Feel free to share your thoughts below.

This is my brain-dump for the week, let me know if it made any sense at all.

-YourFriendMatt

VEGAN: One Year Later...

This time last year I embarked upon a 30-day health challenge for the month of February with my wife Jamie. We decided to try a vegan lifestyle for 30 days to see how it affected our health, sleep, and all other aspects of our lives. To help set us up for success, I did some research and tried to find as many meal-alternative options as possible before starting. I mean, who really knows how to cook seitan or tofu? What do you season it with? Can you grill it? On January 31st of last year we ate all the cheese and bacon we could and on February 1st we went cold turkey (pun intended) vegan.

The first couple days were pretty hysterical. We were lost. Trying to switch everything out that we knew about cooking or snacking for meat-free alternatives were proving to be hard. We lived on juice, salads, and frozen veggie burgers. We had no idea what we were doing, but I knew we were not going to survive living on salads and shitty frozen veggie burgers. Besides that we were hungry, better yet, "hangry" and we were getting on each others nerves. I needed help quick.

Luckily, the internet exists and there are plenty of resources available to anyone looking for help trying vegan. There were tons of questions that Jamie and I both had about potentially losing weight, not getting the right amount of protein or vitamins, or what else we could eat...or better yet would want to eat. You can only live on salads for so long before your body wants some new flavor. Within a few seconds of researching I found a ton of books, apps, and blogs packed with helpful information, stats, and RECIPES!

We made it through the month and completed the challenge, but instead of going back to meat I just decided to stay the course. I guess I'm vegan now? I had some great recipes under my belt, we adventured into new and uncharted territory in the kitchen and it was fun to learn about how food can have a bigger impact than we think. The more I read and researched, the more I found about what we eat and it’s bigger global impact. The days of getting fresh food that helps your body are over. We are living in a state of dead foods, empty calories, and health problems. Just look around. But, that's not even that bad, it's the bigger global impact that a meat-based diet has on the globe through transport and factory farming. Go start researching for yourself. We no longer live in an era where you go to your local, farm raised, butcher for organic, whole foods. We purchase foods that are designed to take us out.

I am not here to preach, or push an agenda, and I will leave my last comments there, but if you have any questions about potentially trying a vegan challenge...or if you want to debate...please feel free to email me. I can tell you that the last year for me has been eye-opening and the impacts on my personal health have been incredible, and I have the data that proves it. I am not saying extreme dieting is the end all be all, but I do believe we need to take a look at not just what we are shoveling in our faces, but the bigger impact on how those foods got to us in the first place. Plant-based for me is tree-fold: the impact on the globe, the impact on animals, and the impact on my health.

If you want to keep the conversation going, want info about the apps and such we use, or want to call me a Hippie please email me at Matt@YourFriendMatt.com.

-YourFriendMatt