I have known Matt Jenson, I think, since my junior high school days.  We grew up in the same town, we went to the same schools, we played in marching band together and went to church together.  He is a great guy, who I always enjoy hearing his contemplations and wonderings.  He is an avid reader, and unlreated, has a deadly hook shot on the basketball court.  Matt is an accomplished author, as well as a college professor of Theology.  Matt is many things, including, my friend.

Anywhere But the Suburbs
by Matt Jenson

There are occasional days when I heartily affirm with Randy Newman: ‘I love LA!’ More often, I hate it.

On Tuesday morning I flew back to Los Angeles, with its cars and concrete, its hurry and hustle and hassle. I had been in the Southeast for two weeks – with good friends in Nashville and Washington, DC, and a long, meandering drive in-between. When I opened my car door late on the night I arrived in Tennessee, I was taken aback by the sounds of crickets and frogs, instead of the trains from back in suburban Orange County. Everything in Tennessee was green. I rode a lawn mower for two hours just to cut my friend’s grass. He had that much grass.

It was even better as I wandered through the small towns of Kentucky and North Carolina. I’ve been reading Wendell Berry for a while, and like most of his readers, I want to live in Port William, Kentucky. Short of that, it seemed a nice idea to drive to unincorporated Henry County, to the town of Port Royal, on which Berry bases Port William. At dusk, I was driving along the river (‘Watch out for the deer’, they told me), basking in the warm light of the end of the day as it shone on abandoned barns and run-down farmhouses. Why can’t I live here?

I’ve begun to realize that I am reading Wendell Berry poorly. To me, his novels have been an escape – a thoughtful, literary escape, of course, a respectable one. Nostalgia for agrarian society is all the rage among us academic types. I am coming to realize, though, that Port William isn’t the romantic utopia that serves as my intellectual equivalent of comfort food. It is a home for a ‘membership’ (Berry’s word) who have to struggle to receive it in gratitude as their home. Port William is to its members as LA is to me.

This is how Port William’s own Hannah Coulter put it near the end of her life:

‘Most people now are looking for “a better place,” which means that a lot of them will end up in a worse one. I think this is what Nathan learned from his time in the army and the war. He saw a lot of places, and he came home. I think he gave up the idea that there is a better place somewhere else. There is no “better place” than this, not in this world. And it is by the place we’ve got, and our love for it and our keeping of it, that this world is joined to Heaven.

‘I think of Art Rowanberry, another one who went to the war and came home and never willingly left again, and I quote him to myself: “Something better! Everybody’s talking about something better. The important thing is to feel good and be proud of what you got, don’t matter if it ain’t nothing but a log pen.”’

Suburban Orange County is a lot more than a log pen; but if I’m honest, the one thing needful, the feeling good and being proud of what I’ve got in this home is one of the more difficult aspects of my life. My impulse is to change, and in this I find I am of a piece with the membership of Orange County. We don’t like something, so we change it, abandon it, throw it away – because the whole point is that we are supposed to be happy.

But what if the whole point is that we are supposed to be holy? (Gary Thomas makes this argument about marriage.) And what if being happy were bound up with being holy? Funny. I’ve been a Christian for thirty years, and I am still convinced that dissatisfaction is only ever to be lamented, that is a problem immediately and at all costs to be solved. The dissatisfying suburbs become thus a place for me to flee, nothing better than a log pen. What if the loving Father wanted to conform me to the image of his Son, to make my holy, by teaching me to love the suburbs?

Dave and Lisa Everitt have referred to Cambodia, where they are missionaries, as Paradise for as long as I can remember. I’ve been there. It’s beautiful in parts, but also filled with the poverty and pain flowing from the atrocities of its recent history. I’ll never forget Dave’s story of enjoying a swimming hole only to realize it was one of a string of perfectly round holes, courtesy of a flurry of bombs.

I don’t think it’d ever occur to me to call Phnom Penh ‘Paradise’. But to Dave and Lisa, it is just that. Not because they’re blind to the difficulty of living far from their loved ones and home culture, or because they have romanticized this corner of the developing world.

No, it is Paradise because it is what they have been given by God.

I suspect, too, that it is Paradise in faith and hope that what they have received from God cannot but be a paradise. And, I suspect that it has become a paradise over the years of loving, sustained attention they have given to it, as they have come to know and be known by the membership of Cambodia.

The difference is that my friends in Cambodia, and those in Port William, know themselves as bound to a place and, in muddled and inconstant ways, seek to live within the limits of where they have been given. Me, I keep thinking of greener grass – of anywhere but the suburbs. On this point, I think I am wrong. I disagree with myself. I repent. Flannery O’Connor was right: ‘Somewhere is better than anywhere.’

I created and mailed 3 new compliations to my friend Josh this week.  As usual, I used some photography from my trips for the artwork.  Another usual for me, is naming the disc from a lyric on that particular disc.  Click on an image for a larger view and the ability to scroll.

The World Cup just ended this weekend.  I am sad.  But my body is rejoicing as that means no more 4:30 am games to wake up for, and the ability to sleep in on Saturday as well.

1994 hosted in USA
The first year that I remember the World Cup.  USA was hosting, and therefore there was TV coverage.  Although, all of the games were not on tv, only a select few.  I remember specifically the game on July 4th.  USA was playing Brazil in the knockout stage.  The USA was wearing these garish blue uniforms with stars all over them, and red shorts.  I believe it was a Sunday and after church, found my seat in my parents room and watched the TV.  It was a 1-0 loss.  I don’t remember much else from that year’s event.  Robbie went to a game in Pasadena (with Lane?), saw Camaroon play.  He bought me a souvenir shirt.  I kept that shirt, and believe I still even have it in storage.

1998 Hosted in France
This world cup was the first time I had watched more than just USA games.  I had graduated from Westmont only a month before, and had been home for only a couple of weeks.  We lived in Green Valley, and I had turned Robbie’s room into my living room.  I had a couch in there, my stereo, my television, and my blue recliner.  A summer earlier, I had been in France and seen a lot of the hype and build up to this event.  Being fresh out of school, I did not have a job quite yet.  This was going to be the summer I immersed myself into the tournament.

The first games of the day were around 6 or 7 am if I recall.  This is very early in the day for a recent college student.  I remember dragging myself out of bed daily, down the hall, and sitting in the recliner with a blanket as I listened to Dave Revsine do the pregame show.  Still to this day, anytime I hear this guy’s voice, I think back to that wonderful summer.

So continuing, I would wake up early, watch the game while half falling asleep, and I would stay in that chair drifting between sleep and awake to watch all the games of the day.  I don’t think I quite watched (or sat there for) every game of the tournament, but I think I came close.  Though, I can’t tell you much about that tournament orther than blue recliner and an announcer, but it was my first full dive into the World Cup.  I will cherish it forever.

2002 Hosted by Japan and Korea
I will consider this the Lost World Cup.  I do not have much reccollection of this tournament.   I know I watched some of it.  I just don’t remember where and when and with whom.

It was the summer after I began officially dating Lisa.  I was working at Tierra.net. Had I moved into 4s Ranch yet?  Or was I still living at home?  Hmmm

2006 Hosted by Germany
This was a really fun year of watching the World Cup.  Other than the summer of 98, probably my favorite one yet!  I was living in RB with Juan and Mike.  I was working at Emerald.

During the day at work, I would have a window open on my computer to TVU.  This is a program that plays tv from around the world.  I would listen to the audio, and as soon as I heard some excitement, I would alt+tab to that window and watch live streaming television of the game.  It was awesome.

Then, for the month long tournament, every weekend Juan, Lisa and Myself would spend the night at the Oceanside beachhouse.  We would wake up early for games, and then nap and hang out at the beach all weekend.  It was like a weekly holiday.  I loved it!  Having beach weekends all month, in the summer, with world class soccer, with 2 of my best friends will always be one of my favorite all time memories of the world cup.

This was also the first time there was a World Cup when HD TV existed.  Fortunately for us, the beach house had an HD tv. I remember the final was played on a Sunday, and Tom and Sue also came out.

2010 Hosted by South Africa
Another fun World Cup.  I nearly watched every game.  But the schedule caught up with me.  The first game of the day was at 4:30 in the morning, followed by 7:00 am game, and then a 11:30 am game.  Some days, I would wake up for the first game, bright and early.  I would shower and get ready for work during halftime.  And then when the game ended, I would go to work so I could be there by 6:30.

I would then try to avoid scores all day, as my work no longer allowed the use of TVU.  When I would go home, I would then watch the 2 games I missed, on Tivo.  But being so tired from the early game, it would always be a struggle to keep my eyes open.  Although, I did.  And then I would go to bed at 8pm if I could.

On the weekends, I would go over to Juan and Lisa’s condo, and watch the first two games.  Then at 9:30 am, would go nap by their relaxing pool.  Then would watch the 11:30 am game after that.

For the finals, we had a little gathering at my parents house to watch the Dutch play against Spain.  Everyone was sort pulling for the Dutch, except Juan and Lala.  Dressed in orange, we had a fun time, and Spain won in extra time.

I look forward to 4 years from now, when the time zone will be a little bit closer.  Brazil 2014.  Where will I be then?  For every World Cup I have watched, I have lived in a different house.  What will change in the next 4 years?

I can hardly wait!

Click on the links below for are some amazing pictures from a really fun World Cup.

4.  2010 World Cup comes to a close

3.  Halfway in – 2010 World Cup

2.  Opening weekend – 2010 World Cup

1.  Preparing for the World Cup

A great and clever video.  However it is long, so grab some popcorn, and let it buffer.

I think Nike would be my dream company to work for.  I have mentioned this before, but their marketing campaigns are always so clever, and so…perfect.

They have once again succeeded.  Their recent ads for the world-cup sent chills throughout my entire body.  As Seth Meyers tweeted:

Though, one downside is the use of Ronaldhino will be more than he actually plays this summer, since he was left off of the Brazilian Team.  Plus, one other detail, is that he no longer worthy of the number 10 on the Brazil squad, and hasn’t been the 10 in some time.

A disjointed recap of my weekend in Santa Barbara, in a nut-shell, with a few pictures, which I randomly decided to put just at the bottom.  Keep in mind that these pictures were all taken with my old crappy cell-phone:

I had a class on Friday (adobe illustrator) that starts really early, and because of this gets out early in the afternoon.  I always feel like I have missed an opportunity if I don’t take advantage of the earlier release, and beat traffic heading out of town.

I thought about going to one of my 2 favorite stand-by destinations, Las Vegas or Santa Barbara, and packed a bag on Thursday night, just in case I had the courage for a long drive on Friday.

Friday came, and I hit the road.  Four hours later I was in beautiful Santa Barbara.  I love this town.  It is very relaxed, easy going, the people are mostly really nice, and it has sweet views, and fabulous restaurants and bars.  Other than its political slant, seedy underbelly, and oil rigs, what’s not to love?  And best of all, some of my best friends still live there.  It is always a blessing to go to Santa Barbara, and always wonderful to be with my friends.

I had a lot of fun, but as usual, could have used more sleep and more time there.  I wish my trips to SB could be longer, as I never get enough or any time with some of my friends there.  But every trip is cherished.

I got up there, and was super tired.  So I went to East beach and napped (or tried to) for an hour.  I love doing that at East Beach because you have an option of watching people play volleyball (they have like 30 nets setup, and last week had the pro tour there) and also, the beach has an incline about 20 yards from the water.  So if you lie there, its really comfortable, and not really “flat” on your back.

I then went downtown, to Borders/Barnes and Noble, and bought the highly recommended book, Predictably Irrational, in case i found myself lying on the beach again this weekend.  I have many fond memories of this Borders.  I can’t imagine however, it surviving much longer.

Following that I met Ryan who had been golfing, at the golf course for a drink.  Ryan, Chase, and their friends whom Ryan had just golfed with, for a drink at the bar that lines the course while watching people play the 10th hole.  Ryan is an easy going guy that I met towards the end of college.  We love to laugh, talk sports, and play golf together.  I had the privlege of being in his wedding, and will always have a special place in my heart for him.

Went home (to the Throops’), showered and changed, and then went downtown for dinner to a steak house.  We went to Holdren’s and there was an hour wait.  Ryan name-dropped the owners name, and we went to sit at the bar for appetizers and wine.  About 5 minutes later, we miraculously had a table.  Great work Ryan!  Boy was this meal yummy, large and filling.   Cajun-fried calimari, bacon-wrapped shrimp, fried jalepenos, twice-stuffed baked potato and a 24 oz. bone-in ribeye.  As we were leaving there, some random foreigners was asking Chase, and then me, if we’d buy them tequila.  I told them we were going down the street to Joe’s for a drink, and if they  showed up there id get them some,.

At Joe’s for a drink, eventually the foreigners arrived and the four of us had a tequila shot (4 patron shots–$40).  Met some people that worked for someone I knew back in college (Maury Hayashida), and one of them knew my sister and had lived on the same floor as her.

At about 11:30 we left Joe’s to go home to bed.  I didn’t sleep great, and woke up tired.

Ryan was going outta town (to see his mom/family), around 7am.  So when I got up around 9am,  Chase and I went to a breakfast place that I had never known of.  This place was right on the beach therefore it was breathtaking, and the food was delicious.

Following breakfast, I packed up my things from the Throop’s and went over to be with Kevin and the Sturm’s (sounds like a singing quartet).  Kevin and I sat around on his recently swept, awesomely self-made patio and talked about life and business and the challenges and joy’s of both.  Kevin was my college roommate for 2 years, and we ran college cross country with each other and have had years of shared experiences, the highs and the lows.

Kevin had some great, fortuitous news that the Wold’s were driving down from the Bay area, to take their children to Disneyland, and were gonna stop by for a couple hours for lunch.  What an added bonus to my trip!.  Although David is a phd, chemical engineer, and a country music loving fan, we will always be close.  I value his insight, his levels of sensitivity, and his deep loyalty.  We had homemade margaritas and sandwiches.  I loved having time with everyone.

After they left, I was pooped so my afternoon was spent half falling asleep, half playing wii with Brody, Kevin’s 5 year old son.

That evening, we went out to dinner where I got the chance to celebrate Kevin’s wife, Chrystal’s birthday.   Following dinner, we returned the two children home, had a baby-sitter arrive, and then went downtown to see the movie, Iron Man 2.  We were about an hour early to the movie, so we walked around downtown and into some of the shops.  One of the stores we walked through, I just recently reviewed on yelp, called Random.  This store name completely fits, as everything in it is RANDOM!  From old doorways and hinges, to neat ceramic olive plates, this store has it all covered.  Iron fencing, leather chairs, old signs, knickknacks.  One of the coolest stores to just walk through and look at things.

We went to the movie at the Arlington Theater.  This theater was built in 1931 and seats over 2,000 people.  It has an old style marquee, and an old ticket booth that leads down a large foye into the building.  I would occasionally attend church in this building back in college, and it hosts film festivals, concerts and movies now.

The movie got out around 12:15 and went back to bed at the Sturm’s.  They had put their 2 year-old (Mianna) in Brody’s room and I had the bed in the Mia’s room. Well, apparently Mia had been causing a stir since 4am.  So at about 7:30 or 8, Kevin woke me saying he had to kick me out of the room–cause they needed for her try her own crib/room.

With Chrystal back in bed, Brody me and Kevin were now up, and off to breakfast at a lil bagel place.

Then around 9:45 am, I started my drive home.  The overall trip in my car was about 440 miles, with about 125 songs played, not to mention the few I kept hitting repeat on.  The drive home was relatively easy, taking me barely over 3 hours.  I didn’t take a lot of pictures on the trip, but the ones I included in here were mainly the ones I had tweeted.

I love my friends.  I love Santa Barbara.

(click on an image for a larger view)

I added new songs to my home page under “Songs On Repeat.” I’ve been really digging these songs lately, and continuously hitting back on my ipod or car or itunes (too bad you can’t hit repeat on Pandora). I hope you enjoy them too. And in case you weren’t aware, there is a little “play” button next to the song on the home page where you can listen to the song.

If you recall, the last time I did this, my site was basically hijacked by China.  Ok, that’s a little dramatic, but I started getting so many downloads of the songs, that my hosting company had to warn me.  I am going to try a new naming convention this time, we’ll see how it goes.

Rome
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Remix Collection)
Neighbours with Devendra Banhart

The band Phoenix is extremely hot and trendy right now.  Deservedly.  Their latest album is the best album, at the very least, from the last 2 years.  Because of this, many other artists wanted to remix their songs.  So Phoenix provided the layers, and these other bands went at it.

One of my favorites from this is the track called Rome.  It is very chilling moody song.  One night I kept it on repeat and listened to it over and over for over 4 hours.

The cover starts at the bridge of the original, and doesn’t really leave.  The bridge has such emotion behind it, it excels on it’s own.  Below is a video of the actual band playing the song, to compare.

Always and forevermore
I call to say I’m on the way
2000 years remain in a trash can
Let burn the cigarette somewhere
Ashes till it falls , falls, falls

VCR
XX
The XX

I have been discovering and as Joey would say, inventing a lot of new bands and new music recently.  I have found them from television shows, the inter-webs, or in this song’s case, friends (Thanks Annette!).

Even though the guru disagrees, I think this song falls under the category of “lazy rock.”  It is very melodic and easy to listen and groove to.

It also has a very cool sentiment.  It is a song that talks about having a lover who is your best friend, that you can talk to about anything at all.  In this song’s case, they both feel that they will be together forever, cause they “just know.”

I wanna find myself by the sea
In anothers company
By the sea
I wanna go out to the pier
I’m gonna dive and have no fear
Cos you, you just know
You just do

Hampden Parks
Freestyle Friday’s
e-dubble

This song and artist was one of those completely random discoveries for me.  I even passed it along to a friend who wrote about it on their blog, and the artist went and commented on it!

It is a mash-up of the theme song from the TV show “Parks and Recreation” by an artist named e-dubble.  This artist, does freestyle raps and provides the audio for free on his website.  So far I like his style.  This song is very catchy and one day at work recently, found myself listening to it on repeat for about 60 straight times.

speak when necessary
no i’ve never been a loud mouth…
im a business man
and a buisness, man
obstacles made me who I am…
yes you know the name
young english, black paisley…
who they be, who they be, who they be, who they be,
well they be us

-Keri Smith

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