Picnic...

"We need to do this more." - Us.

We live a mile from the Pacific Coast, and we find ourselves rarely taking advantage of it, especially during the winter months. Just like everyone else, we get wrapped in our lives and the stresses each day can bring. We talk about stress as if most of it is out of our control. I feel we get set on auto-pilot-mode, letting others dictate our decisions. The emotional toll that stress brings allows us to get lazy. It is easy to sit on the couch after a day at work to watch something mind-numbing, order some food from whatever food-delivery app has the best deal of the day, and pass out. Our laziness can be a vicious cycle.

I had a rare Saturday night off, and instead of going to a happy hour somewhere, getting tired, and crashing on the couch, Jamie and I decided to do a beach picnic. I raced home from work and kicked off my shoes - exchanging them for my flip flops - and we rolled down the hill to the beach in our comfortably converted VW Vanagon. There was almost no one on the beach, so we picked a spot to spread out and enjoyed the sunset. The summer breeze was coming in from the sea, and the sounds of the ocean crashing down on the sand played softly in the background as we dug into our dinner.

It is nice to put the phones down and have a conversation. I love technology as much as anyone; however, unplugging can help clear your head and get back to the scenery around us. Beauty is everywhere; you don't need a beach picnic to realize it - not to say that it doesn't help. There is always something beautiful around if we take a second to notice it. As the sun set and disappeared behind the Santa Monica mountains, I almost wanted to clap as if a band had just finished their encore.

We stayed on the beach for an extra few minutes to finish our drinks and snap a few photos; not a bad little Saturday night. We both committed to doing this more often. If I could, I would eat every meal on the beach. Take a second to see if you can find something worth pausing and admiring today.

It might just change your mood.

-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

Trash Woman...

"Fuck you. You'll get over it." - Woman who threw trash out of her car window at me.

Imagine if you will a land in the future. The year is 2019 and although humankind still has it short comings, a huge population of the species strives to leave the world better than they found it. We have the ability to reduce and recycle, smart devices make life more efficient, and modern science continues to take us to further exploration of space unknown. We can do incredible things if we wanted to, and some of use are. Why would you not want to be apart of the solution and contribute to that? There are still some of us that are still lost.

Last night it was raining. My incredible wife, Jamie, was gracious enough to come get me from work because I normally ride my bike. It is dangerous to ride your bike in the rain in Southern California. Rain never happens here so people kind of lose their minds when it does. I work in a heavily trafficked area so I usually opt to meet her a few blocks away at the supermarket so its easier for us to meet up and load my bike in the van. When I got there a woman in a blue minivan was parked a few spots away from where I was meeting Jamie in the supermarket parking lot. As I loaded my bike I noticed the woman, without care, open her car door and throw a crumpled, greasy, brown bag of fast food trash on the ground like it was nothing. Take it to the trash or recycling bin 10 feet away? No, throwing your garbage around the parking lot seems appropriate. I was stunned.

She and I made quick eye contact and I pointed at the trash with a puzzled look on my face so I decided to mouth, "I think you dropped something." Boy, she didn't like that. She responded with an excited, "Fuck you, you hippie! They clean the parking lot nightly, you'll fucking get over it!" I was stunned. She actually believed that throwing trash on the ground was the right thing to do because someone would clean up her mess for her. Folks, there are people on Earth, in the United States, that think this is appropriate behavior. What have we become.

Before I could get another word out my beautiful, yet scrappy, wife lost her damn mind. She doesn't like when people talk to me that way. Jamie replied to the woman with, "Are you fucking kidding me, bitch! Fuck you! Fucking get out of here." The woman sped off. She didn't make it far to the next traffic light. It was actually kind of funny, she talked this big game and told us she was going to kick our asses, then sped off just to have to wait at the stop light. It was instant Karma, she just sat at the light embarrassed. Jamie yelled inside our van, "Wow, you got really far, bitch! Fuck you!" I kept my eyes on the woman, and she did the same, while I walked over, picked up her greasy bag of trash, and put it into the recycling. She flipped me off from the traffic light.

All joking and funny banter aside. We have to do better. We cannot continue to act this way. I don't know what the solve is, but we have to hold each other accountable to a high standard. I hope wherever the woman in the blue van is she is thinking about our interaction and potentially will think about her actions, but sadly, probably not. She will more than like continue to go to Jack in the Box, get something off the value menu, and throw her trash in the streets, which is just an awful way to go through life.

-YourFriendMatt

Black Friday...

For the first time in almost a decade...I am off on Black Friday. Having spent my entire career in the mall, it feels incredible to work for an employer that values work-life balance. I was able to drink on Thanksgiving and enjoy time with family and friends last night without worrying about getting up at the ass-crack of dawn, or earlier, to help contribute to mindless American consumerism. The sky is blue, the sun is warm and I plan on going nowhere near a mall.