I Put the “Show” in “Auto Show”

Tonight, I had a great time…even thought it seems the Angels are faltering in the playoffs, I still have faith. Tonight was a much needed break from the stress and frustration that I’ve been feeling over the past week or so.

 

Tonight I attended and ran amuck at the Orange County Auto Show.

 

Anyone who has ever gone to an auto show with me, especially the larger ones, has told me I am a blast to be with.

 

I’m loud, brash and speak my mind, even if it’s in front of people who are working for the car companies I’m bad-mouthing. The inner “Jet” really does come out.

 

Tonight, I had a great time thanks to an exhibition of tuner cars that were also on display, and nearly fell over laughing at them.

 

My favorite is a tie between some late 80’s model Honda Civic all tricked out and junk like some rice-powered wonder and a new Kia Spectra with a paint job from car hell while riding on some 23’’ rims. The stock rims on a Spectra are only 15’’, so you can imagine how out of place they looked.

 

I think one rim was larger than the whole car combined.

 

But yes, I spent an excellent night bad-mouthing the Bentley and Rolls-Royce booths., complaining that they make cars that you get someone to drive you in as opposed to you driving yourself. I accused them of creating a lazy culture in the world of driving.

I also called over a man working the Ferrari booth and reminded him that McLaren’s F1 team would still be on top of the FIA’s Formula 1 Constructor’s Championship if it weren’t for a stupid Ferrari engineer and this whole spying mix-up.

I hinted to a few Buick representatives that they needed to make cars that were less…bland. I out-right criticized every Mercedes-Benz I sat in, quickly saying “Rubbish! Absolute rubbish!” loudly as I exited each one.

I got a photo of me in a Corvette convertible that I’ll put up in my next post.

 

Yes, I am the”show” at every “auto show”.

 

When I go to the LA Auto Show this December, I’ll try and snag some video of me walking around blabbing my self-important opinions on cars.

Until then, drive well my friends.

 

Oh, and at the Scion booth, I told the lady working it that I owned a tC, and she gave me a sweet Scion beanie. So expect to see that on me quite a bit.

 

I also turn 19 years old this Sunday.

 

Wish me luck.

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Cheers,

Jared

And That’s How the AL West Was Won!

Yesterday was an experience I’ll never forget.

Yesterday the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim clinched a playoff spot and I got to take part in the clubhouse celebration.

I’ve never felt an energy like the one that was whipping through the clubhouse yesterday. Champagne sprayed everywhere, beer thrown around. I had a hard time dodging all the liquid, but I did for a good while. I watched as everyone in the division I worked in was slowly doused, and I ended up being the last one standing.

As I stood talking to one of my co-workers who was filming the celebration for a video he’ll be editing later, I let me guard down, and quickly from behind came two of our relief pitchers and they doused me to the bone, cheering as they did. My co-worker was next, and upon noticing the camera, the poured onto his head, unlike their flat out flinging/pouring assault on me.

To be in the same room with champions is quite an experience. But to be allowed to join in the celebration as a part of the team made it that much sweeter.

Next week the World Series starts, and it’s looking like we’re either going to be playing the Boston Red Sox or the New York Yankees. Let’s pray it’s the Yankees, since we’re the only team with a winning record against them in the Joe Torre era.

If we have to play Boston (God forbid, I can’t stand the sight of a “red sox” or that signature “B”, I usually chide someone for hoping on the 2004 bandwagon. Like I said to one of those Boston fans one day, “It was 86 years between World Series wins, and it’ll be 83 more.”), beg God that we have home field, as we just can’t seem to play all that well at Fenway.

The Cleveland Indians…well…yeah.

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Cheers,

Jared

And That’s How the West Will Be Won

Tonight is a night that could live on forever in my mind. Tonight is the night where I may have an unforgettable experience.

Tonight is the night that, with a win, the LA Angels of Anaheim can clinch and be the American League West Division Champions. Working for them, in my specific department, I’ll be immersed within the celebration if we win.

When it happens, I will be blogging about it. So prepare for a long one.

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Cheers,

Jared

Writing, Baseball and Monza

Well my friends it’s that time again where I come in and talk about things in the world I write about.

 

It’s been a long time since I blogged purely about writing, so now I’ll make it a short time.

 

Chapter 2 of “Invisible” went up about 24 hours ago, and it was nearly 2,500 short of my target word count. I figured it had been nearly a month and a half since the last update, and I didn’t want to make it two.

 

500 words per day was my original target, and I haven’t been able to reach that point. I could blame it on work, college and could go as far to say that since I’ve now been able to control my ADHD off of my medication, I have lost just enough focus to prevent me from writing.

 

Yes, I have ADHD, and yes, I use to take medication for it. I was allowed to stop at the beginning of August thanks to the progress I showed in several trails of not taking my medication for a week.

 

But no, I’m not going to pin the blame on anything but myself. I have not motivated myself enough to sit down and should be doing a better job. It took me a month to realize this, but now I’m back in a groove and have written at least 300 words tonight towards “Invisible’s” next chapter.

 

All it takes is that little voice in my mind saying, “Lazy! Get yourself in gear! Like, Ferrari gear!”

 

So here I am now 200 words away from my daily goal.

 

Progress on “Invisible” hath resumed.

 

 

Today was the first day in a long time where you didn’t sweat while outside. In case you don’t live in So Cal or live here and under a rock, since the beginning of last week, temperatures have pushed passed 100F. Monday was the peak, and it hit 107F on the mercury where I live. Downtown Los Angeles was near our mark on the mercury, which even temperatures over 95F are rare in summer. It’s now about 25F cooler during the day, and at night you can actually describe it as “chilly”.

 

Tomorrow I’m visiting one of the guys who got me out of my shell when it came to writing. I use to be very quiet about writing, but not after I took Creative Writing and had him as a professor. So a visit was in order anyhow.

 

The Angels are sticking it to baseball like never before. I’m saying we now have a 85% chance of reaching the post-season. So If we don’t, it’ll be a shocker.

 

The day after tomorrow is the beginning of Formula 1’s visit to Monza, Italy. It is the fastest track on the F1 circuit, with the cars peaking out around 235mph several times during the long straight-aways that dominate the course.

Here’s a video of Felipe Massa’s qualifying lap from last year’s race at Monza. Hopefully this will give you an idea of the speeds, technicality of the driving and the sheer g-force a driver goes through during this race.

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Cheers,

Jared

The Marathon of Happy

So now I just sit back and think of what to do next. New chapters always relieve the weight off of my shoulders, but then remind me just how far I am from the finish line. They say baseball season isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. Well, I think the same basic principle can be applied to writing. Problem is that the marathon is between you and the page, not your team and other teams.

 

By the way, how about Vladimir Guerrero winning the Home Run Derby! It’s kind of nice knowing I work for a team that now has a new Home Run Derby champ on their team. The American League once again defeated the National League in a 5-4 victory, making it now 10 straight All-Star Game wins for the AL.

 

That’s pretty sad.

 

So, now back to some junk chocked full of happy!

 

Invisible has really been developing nicely. Beta readers have been happy with it. Reader readers have been happy with it. So that usually means I’m happy with it.

 

This actually was the first chapter in a long time that when done writing it, I had a full load of confidence in regards to its quality. I think it might be the best chapter I’ve written so far in my writing career so far….if you’d like to call it a career.

 

While writing this new chapter, I finally broke through a writer’s haze I’ve been having. Yes, writer’s haze. It’s not quite writer’s block, but you can’t just sit down a let the ideas flow. The ideas come in a haze.

 

For me, it was a purple haze, all in my brain!

 

Just kidding.

 

Is anyone alive even reading this? Let me know you’re out there.

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Cheers,

Jared

Where am I? Hell if I know…

Today had “unproductive” written all over it. It’s a Monday, so that typically means it’s Procrastinationday for me.

 

You know it’s going to be one of those weeks when you wake up feeling refreshed yet you can’t seem to remember what day it is. I woke up feeling refreshed, and then spent 5 minutes trying to figure out what day it was. I came to the conclusion it was Thursday, but when I turned on SportsCenter, I was surprised to see highlights from stuff yesterday…which then made me realize, “Oh! It’s Monday!”

 

I think it was the fact that yesterday was a day game. That’s in regards to my job, which I work for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. I’m a coach’s video assistant. I’ve always loved baseball, so working for a MLB team was a dream. I edit DVD’s for players, assist them in the replay room and help scout upcoming team’s pitchers and batters so the players can know what to expect. I’m one of the few people in the world who can say “I love my job” and really mean it. I enjoy it so much that it doesn’t feel like a job, it feels like how recess did when I was a kid. Plus, the Angel’s are killing just about every team they play. 1^st place in the AL West, with 2^nd place a distant 8 games behind in the standings. That’s the second largest gap…the largest being Boston in the AL East, which theirs is like…I don’t know, 11 games or so?

 

Anyways, the reason a day game would throw me off is that we ave so few. Most games start at 7:05pm, with Saturday game starting at 6:05pm and day games starting at 12:35pm…but if FOX is broadcasting the game nationally, we start at 1:05pm. Have you ever watched a FOX’s Saturday Baseball? It’s the bare bones kind of broadcast. I mean, it’s cool and all that they don’t want to keep it flashy, but c’mon. I’d at least appreciate a replay every once in a while.

 

But I digress.

 

Wait, wasn’t this blog suppose to be about writing?

 

Man, unproductivity strikes again!

 

Is unproductivity even a word?

 

Probably not. Well, there you go. I got some productivity in today…I created a new word.

 

In anyone even reading my blog? I sometimes think I’m typing just to amuse myself. Probably am…

 

…there I go again…

 

Cheers,

 

Jared