To Be Honest, I Feel A Little Out of Place

The culture shock that comes with this move is out of the world at times. Moving from Coeur d’Alene, ID to Scottsdale, AZ is not as seamless as I would have thought. Having lived so many places, I figured that the transition to this area would be the same as any other place I’ve lived. New people, new faces, new house, but same ole routine.

I was trying to think today about why this move is effecting me more than moves have in the past. First, it’s hard to be apart from the one you love. Raquel is staying up in CDA until the end of April to pack up the house and work out the CDA office, training her replacement. Congrats to her for getting the job she has been striving for! There are definitely some big professional changes on the horizon – all of which we are beyond excited for.

But, on the other side of the coin, moving from the culture of a small lake resort town in North Idaho to one of the largest metro areas in the country has proven to be more of a societal eye opener than anything else. It seems as if the urban sprawl in this area has simply become a land grab to illustrate riches. The further away you get out of town, the more you establish your place in society. I was sitting at lunch today with a group from work and they were talking about how much this city has changed in the last two decades. Stock statements as in “I remember when Sun City didn’t even exist” et al.

It’s tough driving around in your beat up old Ford truck when you see cars worth more than what you’ve made in your entire life come flying by you. I feel, in this situation, there are two things that can be done:

1.) Conform.

2.) Categorically reject what you see around you and use it to reinforce the way you look at life.

The first choice is obviously the easy route. We see it everyday in fashion trends, popular music, and popular celebrities. Societal hive mentality exists. In our constantly changing cultural landscape, there is one new thing after the other. To totally reveal my Thursday night television viewing habits, Heidi Klum delivers the best punch line: “One day you’re in, the next day you’re out.”

The second is harder because it involves actively rejecting several of the concepts thrown in our face daily through the mass media. It seems that there is not enough emphasis on simply being a good person these days. On making sure that the effects of your decisions impact other people in the same way that you would want to impact you. Not enough of a social conscious – or looking out for the person next to you. When it all comes down to it – isn’t that the most important concept?

P.S. – I heard the best term today. For those of you who haven’t been to Old Town Scottsdale, there is a lot of douchebaggery afoot. Ed Hardy and Affliction shirts as far as the eye can see. Steroid infused arms everywhere. In other words, the hours of 9 PM to 2 AM are prime peacock observing hours in Old Town. One of the guys I work with referred to several of the guys in Old Town as “$30k Millionaires” because they make a paltry salary, yet pour it all into their outward appearances (cars, clothes, accessories, etc.) And people wonder why the banks don’t give anyone credit these days.

Here’s To New Adventures

When the clock strikes midnight tonight, its chime will signal the end of my first full day in Scottsdale, AZ. For those of you who don’t know, the headquarters of the company I work for moved to Scottsdale recently – as did my job. I was excited, in a sense, to get out of Coeur d’Alene. While I love my friends, the townies, and the area, I felt as if there wasn’t much else for me there other than work. If it was a place that I had lived in ever since I was little, I could understand that the decision I made would have been a different. But, truth be told, I’ve lived in 7 different states so moving is not something that is terribly new to me. States have a 2 year shelf life before I have to move on. At least that seems to be how it is.

I had this grandiose plan when I left that I was going to compose two or three posts around the actual act of moving. But the moment I started up the truck and hit the highway, my ancestral trucker instincts* kicked in. I was Hell-bent for leather the entire trip down here. If I could have, I probably would have tried to drive all the way through to Scottsdale without stopping to rest. It’s one of those young and invincible sort of contests that I felt I needed to have with myself. But, due to weather and traffic conditions, I decided to stop in Provo, UT.

I’m not sure if there’s a city in the United States that has received a bigger “initial disapproval” from me. It could have been the fact that the hotel was 4 miles off the highway. Perhaps it was the gigantic Ty Detmer poster staring down at me in my room. Or it could have been the hotel clerk that didn’t understand the concept of a “Wake-Up Call”. The hotel room sucked – that was for sure. It was as if the Utah Correction Facilities master architect had designed a Super 8. Friday night was a blur of energy drink withdrawal and The History Channel’s “Gang Land”. By 5 AM, I was back on I-15 south.

For those of you that haven’t been to Provo, UT, it looks extraordinarily different in the daytime than it does at night. I don’t know that much about Provo or its surroundings, but it does look like a place that is worth exploring.

The drive down through central Utah was a little boring – very hilly in spots and surprisingly covered in snow. I say surprisingly, but there are probably those of you reading this who are thinking, “Uh…it snows there, idiot.” For me, when I know that my end result is the desert, I seem to make the rationalization that everything between my departure and arrival should gradually turn into desert.

Southern Utah is a lot prettier than I imagined it to be. I fell in love when I saw the coral pink rock faces running parallel to the highway. I could only imagine what it must be like to stand on top of those ridges and have the ability to literally see as far as the eye can see. I am utterly fascinated with the way that the solitary nature of the desert can make one feel so secure.

Now if that isn’t a place that invites aimless meandering, I don’t know what does. Flagstaff, AZ reminds me a lot of a mini-Coeur d’Alene. Or at least the Arizona equivalent. The drive down I-17 into Phoenix was fairly quick – only one wreck to slow traffic. I’m not looking forward to making that drive again in a month with a 24-foot moving truck. Ugh. Let’s not get into all that.

Phoenix itself was a bit of a culture shock. Being in North Idaho for the last couple years has really made me sensitive to traffic. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve been in a true traffic jam. When I hit the AZ-101 Eastbound, traffic was stopped nearly bumper to bumper. For no real apparent reason. There was no wreck anywhere. And then, as if the flagman dropped the Green, all of the traffic floored it to 75 MPH. I’m definitely going to have to get used to the traffic again.

All I can say is thank God Raquel bought me that satellite radio before I left. The comedy station kept me entertained the whole way and I had the ability to listen to all of the basketball games. It was a long, long trek (nearly 1,400 miles). I made it fairly quickly because I only stopped to use the restroom and gas up. I should have taken a picture of the floor of my truck – it was littered with Amp and Red Bull cans.

So, as I said, I’m now an Arizonian. This is another state that will go on the list of “States I Never Thought I Would Live In”. So far that list is:

1.) Missouri

2.) Idaho

3.) Arizona

Stay tuned for more to come. Being away from Raquel makes me extremely lonely, so I’m sure I will spend a lot of time creating material for the website. Which, as you can see, has changed appearances again. I like the old format that I had, but it was a little too busy – didn’t focus enough on the content.

With that, I’m going to eat some dinner and watch the Amazing Race. Have a good night!

*I do not have any trucker ancestors.

Worst. Movie. Ever.

I can watch almost any movie at any time. It doesn't matter what genre it is, who's in it, when it was made, or anything else. I love movies for a lot of the same reasons I love books -- the lives of the characters are microscopic and temporary. Movies allow the same thing, just in a bite size piece. Artistic finger food. Also like books, the amount of time that movie crews devote to their craft warrants a look-see. But, as we all know, what we find can typically be crap. Just because you see a preview for it doesn't mean it s good. Just because you see a book in the "Featured" section at Barnes & Noble doesn't mean it's a masterpiece. It's merit is not justified by its existence.

All of that being said, I can conclusively say that I've found the WORST MOVIE EVER. Finally! After all these years of searching -- the recent Fame remake has shocked me in so many ways that I never have to look again. It's really a major milestone in American cinema, if you think about it. It is Absolute 0. Every film maker from here on out can sleep easily. As long as they use one iota of logic and show some originality in their film, it will be light years ahead of Fame. I feel bad (sort of) for bashing the movie so bad, but it is so stereotypical (in the worst way) and superficial that there is no possible way it could save itself from itself. There are plenty of bad movies that come out, don't get me wrong. But at least movies like Sex Drive, Crank, and Step Up don't hide behind their gimmick. They know they're crap. But at least they're good for something original (jokes, absurd action, and dancing, respectively).

I don't even know the names of any of the characters. Well, scratch that. The angry black kid is Malik. And there's a Jenny in there somewhere. In the beginning, this movie has ambitiously started 46 different story lines only to find itself an hour and a half in saying..."Oh shit..we're running out of film." Boom. Finish. Senior year. Forty six different story lines, zero resolution on any of them. Nameless emo kids graduate from Emo Kid High...just the same as the rest of the fodder in normal schools. If the movie's goal was to make an 11-year old girl somewhere smile, then it probably excelled to Oscarian heights.

While the quality of this Family Guy clip is crappy, it is the perfect 23 second reenactment of Fame.



In Raquel's words, "Out of all the talent in the whooollleeeeeee world, this is the cast they chose?!" They didn't even sing the damn song!!

End scene.

Look What Happened by Accident!!

I know I promised more content, but I got drunk instead. So...this is so my fault. I played the worst darts of my life tonight and now I'm resigned to Burger King, Amazing Race, and the Oscars. Get excited for the obligatory Oscar's post tomorrow. It should be good. Hopefully. If 'The Blindside' wins anything, my post will be entertaining. Trust me. For now, enjoy this irreverence.

More to come, but for now -- smile!

Sunday Night Irreverence

Gotta love it...

Great way to enter the work week!

On Chatroulette

Thank God for the internet allowing us to live in such a glorious age. Right? It depends upon who you are. But, nevertheless, the internet has become the hugest depository of mindless entertainment and humor ever assembled. If one has time that needs killing, the internet is the pale, bald headed hitman that double taps time in its sleep. For free.

Case in point – Chatroulette. This site is the epitome of the irreverent nature of the internet. For those of you that haven’t been there yet, the main gist of the site is cam-to-cam chatting with complete strangers that could be doing literally anything. All you do is flick your webcam on and away you go. (Caution: the male anatomy is very present on this site…which makes me worried for the world.) The fact that this site exists shows that the vast majority of the world has nothing else better to do on a Sunday night. But, its existence also proves to me that the internet is our only direct pipeline to clinically insane people. Which is the beauty of it all, really.

The first cam that popped up on my screen was a group of 6 guys, dancing to some techno song. While fairly hilarious, I knew that there had to be something crazier out there. Then, the cycle started. Member after member, laying in their bed on their sides, staring into the camera. 100% middle aged men.

What in the high holy hell are these guys looking for on this site? It was created by a teenager. And is really dominated by teenagers. What could they possibly gain from this? I’m not going to delve into this theory too much – too disturbing.

The site is not for everybody – but for those of you that can stomach the more repulsive side of the site, it can provide some unpredictable and rather unforgettable hilarity. I would definitely say it’s worth a look-see just for the sheer morbid curiosity of it all.

Here is an amazing video on Chatroulette:

chat roulette from Casey Neistat on Vimeo.

On Why I Love (And Will Subsequently Miss) North Idaho

If there’s anything I’ve been trying to preach on here recently, it’s having the ability to roll with the punches. You have to do what you have to do. The good thing, at least, is that Raquel and I both have a ton of friends in the Phoenix area, so it will allow us to have a broader support system than we had when we moved to Liberty Lake three years ago. If we can make it through that, we can make it through anything.

What puts me in a melancholy mood, however, is how attached I’ve become to the Idaho panhandle. Idaho is one of those irrelevant states (i.e. those of you who read this and say “Idaho panhandle? What the hell?” You know who you are.) One of my favorite ways to pass time is to watch Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel because of all the serene, peaceful, and down right amazing things that exist in the world. I think that the point of our lives here on this planet is to get out and see as many of God’s creations as possible. This weekend – I was able to do so.

A couple weeks ago, II spent the weekend at a friend’s house up in Sandpoint, ID on Lake Pend Oreille and, frankly, it was hard to come back to Coeur d’Alene. Actually, it was hard to come back to the real world. Not necessarily Coeur d’Alene. I love this little town. But everything on that lake is just brilliant. When we woke up, we drank a cup of coffee in a sun room that looked out over the northern arm of the lake and the surrounding mountains.

That picture was taken with a cell phone, but you get the point. How great of a life would it be if you woke up every morning, sauntered sleepily out onto the deck, and, once you rubbed the sleep out of your eyes, you were greeted with this scene? 

On Google AdSense

So, recently I was reading some articles in regards to Google AdSense and figured...what the hell? I might as well give it a try. But, as you get deeper and deeper into the AdSense world and start learning about writing for SEO, it seems (as cliche as it is) that you can quickly move away from whatever the main topic of your blog may be and create a shell of a website designed to maximize the amount of clicks on a certain advertisement.

This morning, I was doing some research on how to optimize the money you might receive on Google AdSense and, to me, it did not necessarily seem worth it. The advice basically said to create a blog/site geared towards people who are not "internet savvy". Through this, you can make your articles sound like you know what you are talking about so that the naive (and, I'm assuming, elderly) people surfing the web can stumble across your website on a Google Search. Once your "Google Page Rank" is high enough, your website will actually show up on Google searches of a certain topic, thus increasing your revenue.

(By the way, this is insanely off topic, but why were there three Jurassic Park movies made? I'm watching third one now...awful.)

I feel like there has to be an acceptable medium between the two extremes -- namely, creating a site that is designed only to maximize clicks on ads or creating a site that expresses the ideas and emotions that you want. The latter obviously is not in the top of 5 of maximizing revenue, but I feel like you can do both by creating a site that people want to read. Yes, you have to leave your link all over the place on other blogs and be an active member in the online society to grow your readership, but the success that I have (or don't have, realisitically) with Google AdSense will strictly be derived from whether or not I create a product that someone wants to read.

My readership is small or non-existent at the moment, which is something I'm working on. However, I would love some comments from people who have used Google AdSense in the past with a similar tactic as the one I lined out above. Have you had success with it? What did you find helped you the most? Overall, was the "product" you were creating (blog, site, etc.) something that you were ultimately proud of as an author/creator?

Have a good day!

On Stress

My last post was January 25th – I’m already neglecting my duties as a responsible blogger. But I have an excuse! Really!

Ok, I really don’t have a good one – saying that one is too “under stress” to do anything is probably the worse cop out in the history of cop outs. Shouldn’t stress be something that we can easily deflect? I mean, think about it. We have so much stuff surrounding us in our daily life that we should be able to take our minds off what is bothering us (for instance, substance abuse).

Yet, every night when I get off of work, I find myself too mentally fried to do anything at all. I basically become a permanent fixture on my couch and flip on my beautiful television. I’ve gained weight. I’ve lost a ton of sleep. I’ve drank a little more than I probably should be. But I sure have watched a shit load of college basketball. I already have my bracket filled out and, dammit, I’m going to win.

Here’s hoping that, for better or worse, the cause of my stress will come to an end next week so that I can start worrying about something else. Is it all really just an endless cycle of worries? Maybe I should start working out. Endorphins, and the like.

When worried, I can never make a solid decision on anything.

On Dart League

So last fall, Raquel and I joined a local dart league at Willie’s – our favorite little haunt in CDA. It was kind of a nerve racking decision because we were going to devote 10 straight Sundays to playing 17 games of darts with some of Idaho’s finest. And I mean no disrespect by that – you just know who you are. We had always played darts recreationally while we were in Missouri, but we had never really thought of going pro until one of our coworkers approached Raquel about the idea.

The first day of dart league last fall was at a bar called Paddy’s and it was kind of a nerve wracking situation – just think bad blind date in a bar with NASCAR murals on the wall. I met my two partners – Rick and Vick – and, with a cursory glance to the others in the group, I honestly thought that this was a bad decision. I felt like we had nothing in common – the age gap was roughly 15 or so years between us all, a lot of them were married, had kids, had real world problems. Above all else, they were fucking great dart players.  So not only did I feel like I was going to be dead weight on my team, I had this nauseating fear that I was going to follow up my atrocious play by being the “silent-silent” partner that sits in the corner. (As an aside, for those of you who may not know me, when I get in uncomfortable group situations, I tend to clam up and migrate to the fringes of the group.)

As it turns out, when you get a group of people together who like to drink, you tend to find a lot of things in common with each other very quickly. That first night of darts went very well – I think I played well, but, regardless, I made friends with those around me.

This brings me to the point of all this – I think it’s a rare thing in today’s society for people to open themselves up to different groups of people. It may sound a little trite, but we have found ourselves in an age where we truly are defined by the things we own and our outward appearance. Everything we come in contact with is judged within a first, momentary glance. Just think – in the era of DVR and TiVO, we no longer have to sit through commercials or boring parts of television shows or the news in general. We can skip and jump to the bits and pieces of information that we want, right now. So when we see something in the real world that we dislike or does not fit our normal perception, we “fast forward” to the next thing – which, I’m not going to lie, I did when I first met a lot of the people in the dart league.

But, lo and behold, I look forward to Sunday night more than any other night of the week not only for the sheer enjoyment of playing darts, but to see everybody. I feel like dart league is a make-shift therapy group where you have a group of real world, middle to lower middle class, blue collar folk gathering to throw darts, drink some beer, talk a little shit to each other, and just forget about the normal everyday grind. You never know where you’ll find a group of people that helps you escape – so don’t just fast forward to the next thing each time you run into something uncomfortable (cheese ball moral, yes – but it’s true and understated).

Corporate America is now all of America

Granted, I don’t watch enough news television as it stands, so I’m not sure just how much coverage the recent Supreme Court ruling has received. However, the fact that it’s not absolutely everywhere makes me believe that people are not taking it as seriously as they should. For those of you reading this who may not know what happened, the Supreme Court over turned the previous ruling that corporations could not back or fund candidates for the presidency. Now the most powerful candidate is going to be the one who can campaign to the most powerful companies in the nation – as opposed to campaigning to the people they are supposed to represent. It’s going to become, Wal-Mart presents the President of the United States of America!

I think what’s far scarier is the influence that foreign corporations have in our marketplace and how their agendas can be furthered through backing a specific candidate. Does this mean that companies can come together and front their own candidate? Is that really out of the realm of possibility? We saw in the Obama election that fundraising really help put him over the top against McCain. It allowed Obama to do things that McCain could not. With this in mind, you would think that if one company (say, Microsoft – not inflammatory, just example) wanted to put a candidate on the ticket – doesn’t said corporation’s deep pockets give their candidate an unfair advantage over traditional candidates?

I’m going to keep this short because I think that this can be extrapolated all the way to the apocalypse if we wanted to (and I’m sure several news outlets probably are). But, I’m going to stop off with two links. One is to a well written article on AlterNet.org and the second is a song that speaks very well to the situation.

When it comes to homework for the readers, I challenge someone to come up with a positive spin on this ruling. I’m grasping at straws trying to find them – and am completely open to any other opinions.