Ok, so there has been a long sequence of non-blogging, which is kinda my style anyway but whatever. Anyway this is the latest mustache, you will notice that it is dramatically shorter in length since the last time, and I know what you're saying: "I feel screwed, don't you ever keep mustache updates hidden from me!" Well, ok I'm sorry. Actually the only thing that happened since it was long, black and curled up was it got shaved off completely. Yup, the owner actually had me shave off the mustache in honor of our 1st councilor in our singles ward bishopric. He hated it and so for his last day I shaved it as a surprise for him. So there you go, enjoy the dorky little photo shoot.
Finals are upon me and I'm halfway done....tomorrow = celebration time. This was a quick pic I snapped today on the freeway headed in to take finals....the title of the post is referring to the G ride that I'm rollin' in these days its an '86 buick park avenue. It rolls deep with purple leather interior, and spoked hubcap rims. Oh did I mention her name was Beula and I bought her for 1$. Can I hear the people sang..."let me ride..."?
Although this happened a couple of weeks ago, and the mustache has undergone yet another transformation since, I thought I would post the dramatic change never the less. This trim was a personal request submitted to the owner (Justin Brown) to trim, at least the center section, so that I could eat lunch and dinner without eating my own hair. The mustache had grown out of control and I was granted an inch and a half in the center to get it just above the bottom of my upper lip. While the trim was taking place I thought I would entertain Amy's flat-iron....so you will see in the pics that I am trying to flat-iron the mustache....it actually worked! lol!
"I am completely miserable San Diego!".... (bonus pts if you get the movie reference)
Trying to flat-iron that bad boy... ...Being very careful not to burn my nose....
The finished product! I look like a completely different person!
Shame on me for assuming that everyone knew the story behind my ridiculous mustache...I’ve told the story so many times, I just figured word had spread to the northern tribes of nowhere and the far corners of the earth already. I apologize for keeping you in the dark about what is going on.
The story begins around November, I’m approaching finals week at byu and things are going well. I can't recall what I was doing but I had a weekends worth of facial hair (for those who don't know me, that's a borderline beard) and I decided to shave everything except for the mustache. It was suppose to be a one day gag, but little did I know it would turn out to be much longer. You see something mysterious happened to me as I walked around the salt lake campus with my hairy upper lip.....people treated me like crap! No joke, I was instantly discriminated against. People looked at me and spoke to me differently. They couldn’t look me in the eye and when they did it was as if they’d just noticed a massive booger, dangling like a pinianta from my nostril, yet they didn't have the stones to tell me. "Does he know he looks like a pedophile with that thing...?" I could hear some of them thinking...."Does he actually think that looks good...?" Others would say, the silence was, quite literally, deafening. Not a single person asked me about it, not that I was looking for recognition, but it was more than obvious that people were confused and curious. Anyway, I actually become a bit insecure and self conscious as a result and noticed my own self esteem dwindle. I told myself that I must race home and shave this cursed thing immediately before my precious reputation was destroyed. Funny though, because in that very same instant I said to myself: "EFF that, I’m not going to let other people dictate my self esteem....I’m going to keep this mustache until I feel completely comfortable with all these odd looks." This process took about three weeks and by that time the mustache had become a major player in my day to day image. Now don't get me wrong, I still had people giving me the stink eye, but I had learned not to notice…kind of like those people appearing on American Idol that still have no clue that they suck. After a time, I actually started receiving a few compliments, mainly from other men, but hey, it was a nice change.
O.k, I'm rambling, moving on.
It had been close to a month and my girlfriend was getting anxious for me to shave. To tell you the truth, I was getting anxious too, until I got a great idea (inspired by two of Amy's friends in our ward). You see every Christmas our single’s ward has a huge party and one of the main events is an auction to raise money for a designated charity. Everyone in the ward is encouraged to contribute something...some members are pilots and own planes and auctioned complimentary flights via their private plane etc....other items included: Jazz tickets, cookies, dates, white water rafting trips etc…yeah, its lots of fun and a big deal. My problem was that I had not thought of anything to auction. DING! Yes, you are correct; my mustache went on the auction block. I brainstormed different ideas as to what would bring the best price and wrote up the deed. I decided to auction off the "exclusive rights" to my mustache, meaning: If you won, you quite literally owned my mustache, as if it were on your own face.....FOR ONE YEAR! I had to make it a long time because that would get my girlfriend Amy to bid like crazy being that she cant stand the sight of it and would have told me to shave it instantly upon winning the auction. However, there were plenty of others interested in having me keep it in various forms so the auction would turn into a bidding war. I'll be honest this was a bit nerve racking for me because I knew what would happen if this fell into the wrong hands....I mean whatever the winner wanted me to do with my mustache is what I’d have to do....example: morning text to me from the winner says...."Good morning Chris, would you be so kind as to shave half of the mustache....thanks." You get my point. So to cut a very long story short, Amy pooled her resources and gathered money from various members of the relief society....meanwhile, the same thing was happening in the elders quorum....the bidding started and Amy didn't stand a chance in hell....she was outbid at $501 dollars then the elders quorum continued to rub it in by outbidding THEMSELVES for another $75 (it was for charity after all). I raised five hundred and seventy five dollars for charity!! A real gem on the mantle of my proudest moments ever...the mustache was the second highest item sold at the auction and I’m confidant it would have gone for over $1,000 had Amy had that much. So there it is, down and dirty. The mustache grows more and more famous by the day. I’ve even achieved some sort of rock star status amongst the byu population....it's really quite bizarre.
For all of you unable to see the glorious mustache in person......here is an update: So far there have only been three requests called down from the governing mustache body (or in other words the man/men who own it). One; grow it baby....just grow it, two; color it red and white....for the Utah Vs. Alabama game, and finally three; color it jet black.....
Yes I've been growing a massive mustache and it's gross blah blah blah. I've heard it all so you can't hurt me with your criticisms...after all it's for charity. Anyway, just came across this video that honors me and thought I'd share it with ya'll. For those of you not in the "know" it is not kosher to have facial hair of any kind except for a mustache above the corners of the mouth.
And so it is...I've got one down and three to go. I need to have a pretty good test in order to get the grades I need to be admitted back to byu-provo next semester. I feel comfortable about my chances, but I am pretty stressed at the sheer amount of info I need to review...especially for my stats class.
I'm still not quite over it. Yeah, yeah, I know it was just a stupid football game, but seriously I hate losing to those drunken losers.
Oh well, next year. In the meantime I was shown this little video snippet of Adolf Hitlers reaction to the game and I found it to be humorous. (The video freezes at the beginning the trick is to drag the ball on the video play bar all the way to the end Or to push the small play button....NOT the one in the middle of the screen clip)
Over the years I have done some pretty sick things.....and by sick things I mean really, really, ridiculuously cool things. None however, even approach the same stratasphere as what I'll attempt this Saturday. Oddly enough the good Lord blessed me with the ability to run, but limited how far I could take it by also giving me a rare form of anemia (Iron deficiency in the blood....it prevents oxygen flow to starving muscles....its complicated) Anyway, because of that small detail, I never competed in anything longer than a 10k. Five years ago I started getting bored with just running and I thought I'd try my hand in triathlons. I was successful with that but soon decided to boycott the overly priced races in search of something else. Nothing sparked my interest so I took a break from competition for a year or so until an idea was tossed around to do a 110 mile bike race...cold turkey...no training whatsoever. The idea appealed to me on the level of: "I'm not sure my body is even physically capable of achieving that?" So naturally I was in. It turned out to be a neat experience, and due to the life lessons and fortitude I gained from the adventure, I decided to do more of that type of thing, that is, testing my body past the point in which I feel comfortable or capable. This Saturday I will be running a 50k (31 mi.) cross country race in Moab. I have run a combined 16 miles total in the past month, leading up to the race, (I recommend much more than that) and the farthest I have ever run in my life is 22 miles. I am not concerned about the distance, it is the terrain that is going to be the challenge. The course climbs 6,000 feet of vertical elevation and at one point in the course there is a 1,000 foot elevation gain in just over a miles distance. To make matters worse, I have been suffering from the flu and an upper respitory infection. Below is Some footage of one of the sections of the course we will run....just to give you an idea of what the race will be like. This should be absolutely gnarly!
So apparently today is write in your blog day, I will indulge. I have seriously had so many blog worthy experiences I'm ashamed that I have yet to find the gumption to post them up. So rather than thinking back and remembering all of them, I'll just say that school is sucking my will to live, stats is getting owned by my superior brain power, AND last but not least, you may refer to me as a Rulon's Burger Challenge Champion. Only ten of them in the world.....Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
That's right campers, just when you thought it was impossible for the Shaner to fit any more junk in that butt dictionary trunk of his... For those of you not familiar with the Shaner "butt dictionary," as I refer to it, let me explain. Its like this; you see I've been fortunate enough in my lifetime to be exposed to a wide variety of random experiences, events, and just straight up craziness, all of this gets stored in the shaner "bank of useless knowledge" (not to be confused with the shaner butt dictionary.) Now, when I don't know something and still want to either sound smart or give my best educated guess (usually the latter) I dip into what I call the butt dictionary for the answer. My butt dictionary first consults the shaner bank of useless knowledge and then comes up with a best educated guess based on everything I have experienced in life. Nice! Now with that being said, I stumbled upon a wealth of knowledge at the tip of my fingers; it's called CHA CHA. You send a text to 242-242 or cha cha with any question about anything you could possibly think of, and a real person looks up the answer from a huge compilation of data bases. It is free, meaning it is the same price as sending a text to anyone. It's fun and addicting and perfect for those moments when you cant quite think of something...just ask cha cha and VOALA! It's seriously good times and a must have for useless knowledge consumers like myself. Anyway, just thought I'd share what I've been up to down here in Arizona.
So the 4th of July was superb this year! I flew in a couple weeks early for a race and decided to stay and surprise my favorite cuteness with my presence on the 4th. We enjoyed lots of fun family time as well as the famous, traditional Oakley rodeo. I took a trip into AA calisters and picked up my very own black felt hat (which was custom steam fitted to my head.) Amy was cute and kept telling me that I looked hot so that made me feel good about being completely out of my element. It was also nice to have my Sister and her family as well as my little big bro. and parents there too. good times fo sho.
So its been awhile now but I need to post up these pics of my race a few weeks ago. Three years ago our ward tried out a little relay race spanning 180 miles or so from Logan, Ut to Park City and we had a lot of fun doing it and it has become a bit of a tradition ever since. 12 people make up a team and each team splits into two different groups- the first group handles the first six legs of the race and then hands off to the second group while they go recover and rest a bit in preparation to take over after group 2 finishes six more legs of the course. This continues all day, all night and much of the next day. This year was special because we decided to take a group of the most in shape people from our ward and make a team that cared about running it as fast as possible, our goal was to break the 24hr barrier (26 hours and change had been our previous best mark) I flew in to town for the race from Phoenix where I have been selling pest control, and we embarked on our quest. It turned out to be a great time, about half way through the race we realized that we were setting a very fast pace and if we could hold it, we would easily break the 24hr mark. After it was all said and done, we finished in a time of 22hrs 46min good enough for 15TH PLACE OVERALL! We are the sickness.
Or not, but lately I have not found much time in the schedule for blogging. Oh well, there is lots to update. I will be putting up some pics of my fun summer times with Amy, pics of some races I've recently run, and a few cool pics of my Hawaii trip that have recently surfaced. Thank you all for the love and stuff.
So here I am sitting on the floor of my room thinking to myself: "Man, I am really out of shape." Yes, I just got back from a run, and for those of you who don't know me; I used to be a superstar athlete, destined for great big things. I still enjoy racing casually and stuff, but I will never be as good as I once was. For the most part I've come to grips with the reality of it all, but there's still a big peace of me that really aches for what might have been. The phrase that gets me on with it all is: "there are more important things to life than running." Very true, so I focus my energy on doing those things much better. So here I am, in between leaving behind what I once was and always knew, and achieving some serious life changing career goals.
Anyway, I mainly just wanted to post so that my readers would be forced to listen to my new song of the day. Shawn Pander is his name and he has some seriously good stuff. I recommend the songs: Simplicity, Between you and my guitar, and Angel. Check him out sometime.
Sorry but I just learned, ok well not just, actually several hours ago; that yesterdays 110 degree weather and todays 111 were the two hottest May 19th and 20th's ever recorded in Phoenix. Um yeah like I was going to not get credit for withstanding such a monumental day in the heat?!! lol So in order to give myself full credit and props for being such a rock....nah an island, I had to add it to the blogage........----> Shaner takes a bow, waves to the crowd and disapears suddenly behind the big red curtain. Lub
Yup it's true, yesterday it was 110 degrees here in Phoenix, and it sucked something fierce. I'm not even going to lie to you, I was completely miserable. I know, I know what you're thinking: "is this the same Chris Shane with that sick twisted runner based pain oriented brain that revels in discomfort?" Yes it is, but this was aweful. Anyway, thanks to some extra motivation I ended up making some good money and getting through it......"And thats all I have to say about that...." I will say this though about Arizona summer nights; they are fantastic....being out by the pool with the warm night air is almost completley where its at.....I guess thats where the missing home starts to come into play, but whatever. Anyway, how about something else......Its payday today! Or maybe not? The pay periods are so messed up with this job that I never really know when I'm getting them. But anytime now.......I wonder what I should buy??? just kidding, actually this paycheck is pure savings.....unless I can find a sweet deal on a new or used life that doesn't involve being here in Phoenix for the summer. Wow, sorry for the jumbled blog today kids, my head is all over the place.....I'm going to blame Garth Brooks for that.
Ok, so two blog posts in one day......um yeah Im not bored today. =) But seriously, I just called my dear mother up to see how things were......ok lets be honest, to ask her if they were really moving. Yeah, in case you missed my sarcasm, I found out from my ex girlfriend that my parents were moving from Holladay to the middle of nowhere. (this is the point where you can feel free to think that is a bit messed up) Anyway, along with that news I also got the news that my sister Megan and her family just SOLD their house and will be moving out of state. Yeah, um hello I had no idea they were even thinking about it let alone had their house on the market. Along with that, my buddy Dale, who is one of my only friends here in Phoenix, is moving back to Salt Lake for the summer. In fact as you are reading this blog you might be thinking about moving or are in the process, feels a bit strange doesn't it? Well don't cause I'm pretty sure its me putting a hex on everyone I know? So in an effort to acquire more long term friends Ive decided that unless you are moving you cannot be my friend. lol great that pretty much gets everyone! I'm so trixy, guess you're all stuck with me for good. =)
Yes, so I finally figured out how to get a very functional music player to play while guest visit my blog......It a cool app that you can actually look up and add whatever you want. (some versions of songs are bad recordings so you should listen to them before you choose them) But yeah, I have it on random so every time you visit you will probably hear a different song, but if you wanna check out my little selection feel free to scroll down to the bottom and see what songs were on the Shaners brain two days ago when he made this musical function. Some songs are just songs I like but for the most part my brain has had a bit of a theme. Yup, I still miss you.
Ok, ok I know everybody wants to see pics and videos of my amazing trip to the island of Kauai but I don't have any ready to upload at the moment so you're all gonna have to wait. Also, I can think of about 5 or 6 blog worthy events so I've decided to do instalments of my trip. With that being said, the title of this blog is perfect in the sense that this was the first real blog worthy thing that happened on the trip. But I should probably back up just a bit and tell you how I ended up in Hawaii to begin with. It started months ago, I was informed of the plan to gather some peeps and hit the island of Hawaii. I really wanted to be there and in my mind I was hoping the funds would come together, however, a series of unfortunate events landed me broke and in Phoenix, Arizona selling pest control and trying to make the most of an otherwise bad situation. So as time went by I had completely forgotten about the trip. Ironically, because I had forgotten about the trip and had started focussing all of my energy on making sales I earned plenty of money to afford the trip. Although I got to the island a couple of days after most, I still enjoyed 5 near perfect days with 20 of some of my best friends. Ok, so this brings me back to the title of the blog; you see my buddy Dale picked me up from the airport and we started talking about all the things the group had already done. He mentioned that there were some people who were all about the meticulously planned events, and others who were there to just chill at the beach. So instantly the Shaner brain starts developing a stance, nay, a philosophy about what he should or shouldn't do while in Kauai. An epiphony occured, and I thought of this: "well, since you have never been to this place and you have zero expectations....the answer to the question of: do you wanna go ________ should always be YES......" I mean why not, seriously, you are in Hawaii on an island you have never explored, basically everything you could possibly do would be absolutely fantastic and great, so why even bother your brain with making a decision.....just choose yes to the first thing presented. I'll give you an example: "Chris, do you wanna come with us to get pina coladas?" "Yes." "Shaner, are you down for some dinner?" "Yes." "Chris, do you wanna go play vollyball on the beach?" "Yes." Do you see how great this is! lol now the best part of that first day is that I actually accompanied three different groups to the same resteraunt three different times to get food/pina coladas. By the end of the night all of the servers in the resterant knew my name and exactly what I ordered. LOL awesome is what I say to that! However, If I had placed some random expectation that we were going to do something more "entertaining" that night maybe I would have felt like I had "wasted" my evening doing essentially the same exact thing three times. Do you get my flow? Having zero expectations and just taking the vacation as it came ended up making for good times. Anyway I guess the deepness of this philosophy lies in the subtleness of the fact that sometimes in life we make things more difficult and stressful because we place unfair or unnecessary expectations on something, rather than just relax, enjoy, feel, and truly be present in the moment that we are in. I can tell you that my trip to Kauai was absolutely the most soothing, calming, and enjoyable vactation I've ever had, and I attribute that, in part, to my mindset of "the answer is yes." Feel free to adopt any of this, however I must warn you not to verbally disclose your involvement with this philosophy wheras there seems to be a high correlation between back massage requests and the verbal disclosure of the "yes" practice.
So yesterday was payday and I decided to take Friday and Saturday off to reward myself and buy some much needed supplies from the store. I'll start with the last thing I did and work backwards:
It's now a little after nine o'clock at night and I'm totally exhausted. I've been home from my trip to Mexico for a little over 2 hours.....oh yeah, I went to Mexico today for lunch. I was craving authentic mexican tacos and the ocean so I snatched the car and made the 2.5 hr jaunt down to Puente Pinasco (Rocky Point). It was great times, I got the idea after my 5k race this morning.....oh yeah I ran a 5k. It was a race put on by the local YSA regional comittee and I found out about it last sunday at church. I guess that takes me to the point in the story where I tell you about how I ended up touring a few uncharted routes, including the hardest loop (a killer half mile hill) twice......oops. It turned out to be a good workout though, trying to catch the 20 or so people who only did one loop like they were suppose to and ended up way in front of me. Lol! I managed to catch all but one and felt completely ok with being the official "first loser". I was virtually running on zero energy due to a serious Tony Hawk video game challenge that my buddy Tyler threw down on me. Yes, I'm a huge nerd I know this, but I also happen to be extremely competitive and even though I am terrible at this game and never played it before, I couldn't let Tyler just walk all over me. Anyway by the time 6 a.m. rolled around I had him waving the white flag and retreating to bed. Maybe we were extra wired from payday or something.....I know I was stoked to recieve my bigest 2 week paycheck since I was doing loans 5 years ago. So all in all things were pretty fast paced this week, still rough at times but that seems to be popular lately. In addition, please pardon the complete randomness; I just added a new movie to my collection: A Knights Tale....it's one of my favorite recent comedies and I think the message of "changing your stars" is completely appropriate for me right now. That is the whole reason I'm here. I know that this will make me a better man, and that I will be able to accomplish my life goals after just a few more short weeks......or long ones but hey, glass half full mentality never hurt right?
It's the start of week three in Phoenix, business has been really good luckily or I'd be going insane. I have had a lot of time on my hands to be at the pool and read of all things. I've also been playing my guitar a bit more too which has been kinda nice. The title of the blog actually is a new song Ive been working on, it reflects a lot of obvious emotions, but its mainly about keeping life from coming undone when you're faced with challenges. I am sure that life in Arizona will eventually be closer to normal, but for now it just feels like a big huge trail of my faith. It will be ok, I know this....I've always known this since life just finds a way of messing with me and then getting good again. I have been very grateful however for prayer, Sportscenter, and the NBA playoffs which have pretty much sustained me through the last couple lonely weeks.
Seriously, I have been dealing with this for a couple of days now and still can't get it right. I have always been the type of person that, if I feel strongly about something or feel prompted to do something, I do it. However, lately it seems like I am unable to do that. I wish I could explain my feelings but I don't think I can.....Lame blog, but lets just discuss thoughts.....a penny for your thoughts?
So I am here, my new home, which feels nothing like home but whatever. I was welcomed into town by a brisk 97 degree heatwave sending my body into a super funk. I seriously thought I was ready for some summertime....but I forgot how nice it is to sort of ease into the whole summer thing....but to go from snowing to near 100 degree temps is just a bit nutty. Oh well, I'm still happy about the insta-tan I recieved today on the golf course and the option of laying out at the pool at 9 o'clock at night with the outside temperature chillin at 80 degrees or so. I'm tottally exhausted and have no Idea why I am writing on this silly blog, but I'm happy about my first day of sales today which was a success. I can already tell that I am going to have some quality stories from this silly little experience so I'll spare you the boring details but stay tuned. Now, its time for me to curl up on the little space reserved for me on the couch in the living room of my buddies house....the enemy has taken me prisoner =)
......What? What does that even mean? I don't know, kind of an idea that has been floating around my brain for the past few hours. Might be why it's almost Six O'Clock in the morning and I haven't slept a wink yet. For some weird reason it feels like I've been put in this situation, strange enough as it may seem, to re-do or have a; "do over," as I used to put it as I was little, at life. When I look back on how things have gone for me over the past few years, I'm struck by how much I have let LIFE dictate ME. Rather than the other way around, which is odd for me, because I'm the type of person who likes things done a certain way usually. Maybe It has something to do with my upbringing, and maybe its a security defense mechanism that I somehow put into place without realizing it. Either way, I feel like everything comes to us in life as an experience, some good and others....well, not so good. But they turn out to be for our own good, if we allow them to. Well I have and I haven't. There are obviously some things in life that I haven't quite figured out yet, and maybe now is my time to face those things again head on with no thing or no one to bail to if it becomes miserable. Kinda like that mom who will not let her son or daughter get up from that piano until they have painstakingly battled through their A.D.D and practiced for those two hours. Sometimes the boy or girl develops a sense of resentment toward that parent, yet we all know what usually happens in the end; thats right, the child learns how to play, and enjoy playing, that thing which he had once despised. The child becomes a master at the thing in which, just years or sometimes even months previous, was no good at. I have been that child, I have fought and rebelled long enough. The piano that I was given was kinda crappy, and at times I have felt like others have stolen my music, or have written confusing notes that I purposely wouldn't understand.....but deep down inside I have always wanted to play. Maybe not having that parental unit there prodding me and forcing me to sit and play has given me a back door out of practicing? Or maybe I just didn't listen and ran away from them? Either way, the only person in charge now is me.
Wow, I don't know what I just said....I don't think Im even going to go back and read it out of fear that I might regret it and delete it. I felt it, its out and whatever. Ps. I miss you
So, I get an email yesterday informing me that my dream job.....yes the one I applied for, interview with, and eventually didn't get.....Is now accepting applications again. I had pretty much made up my mind that I was off to Phoenix Arizona to sell pest control in a couple of weeks but with this popping up I may just stay. Crazy how things work though, I'm not going to get my hopes up, even though I am perfect in every way for this job, because I can't control what others decide to do. So with that said, I'm either off to Phoenix, or I'm a happy camper making good money designing, promoting and hosting running events(and if there is one thing I know in life its running). I'm not very good at life, but it always gives me a shot.....and I can respect that.
So here I am unable to fall asleep.....whats new, icing my newly acquired injuries from basketball tonight, and generally just reflecting on life. Somehow in all that thinking, the thought crossed my mind: "I haven't blogged in a looooong time, I feel like I'm neglecting my readers." Then another thought came into my mind: "what readers?" lol seriously, I am not sure I have a viewership at all so I really feel no pressure to keep pumping out the hits.....yes I did just pat myself on the back about my Air Guitar post. =) what?! Either way, here I am typing up a little sumpin sumpin for those who might have felt neglected. So if you're out there, you are loved.
O.k, something happened today that got me thinking, and the end result is a new blog segment that I shall call: "What Is Out," or in other words; what is definitely NOT "in." This great idea came to me, as do many great ideas, while I was on the Jon, which is actually kind of ironic come to think of it. You see, while I was out running errands for the boss, I was overcome by a tremendous feeling... a feeling that if I didn't get to a bathroom soon I would urinate in my pants. Needless to say I found a gas station and there did my business. While this transaction was taking place I couldn't help but notice the unusual struggle the man in the stall next to me was having "dropping his kids off at the pool." I mean it wasn't anything crazy, but by the sounds of the labored breathing, one might assume that the man had just run a race of some sort. So with the risk that I have already given too much info. I will just leave at this: heavy, audible, labored breaths while poohing in a public stall is most definitely OUT!
O.k, so the picture pretty much says it all. Steve Prefontaine and I understand each other, and I plan to race him in heaven. Until then however, I must settle for crazy little things here on earth. Example: I have not been on a road bike or any other bike for that matter since last August and I haven't done any running since about the same time, Yet I find myself excited to hurl myself into a 100 mile bike race this Saturday in and through Zions National Park. I had plenty of notice to get moderately prepared for the race, but still found a way to forget about it until just this week. Along with riding an absurd amount of miles in the bike saddle, we will be doing it with practically no sleep. My friend has a banquet Friday night and we won't be able to leave until around 11:30 pm ish. We figure a three and a half to four hour drive and that gives us two hours of sleep before the start of the race at 5:00 a.m. Yeah it's ridiculous for sure, but once again I'm actually excited for the unique physical and mental challenges it will surely present. So this is where you get a peak at how the Shaner's twisted little runner mind works; there are shorter races along the same coarse that we could do, but I honestly don't think that it would be worth the trip to just do something average. If I am going to drive down there, I want to do the entire thing. I don't want to take the easiest possible thing that I KNOW I could finish.....I would much rather throw myself into something that I'm not quite sure I can do. That is what is exciting for me about it. So wish me luck, and maybe some prayers too =) (the drive home should be gnarly with how tired we will be)
There is a phenomena that has swept the world and effected, dare I say, every single person on this planet. Lets face it, at some moment in time we have all found ourselves rockin' in the free world on our air guitars......in fact, as I speak there is somebody makin' his or her air guitar cry. Now there is no set rhyme or reason to how it is done, but there are just a couple of unwritten laws associated with a TRUE air guitar. In order to be in proper form, one must act as if he is litterally holding a guitar made of air, sometimes when air is scarce or the need arrises a leg or other inanimate object is used, which is all good. (this shows passion and I salute you) Next, and this is VITAL, you must have the nastiest look you can muster on your face.....because after all, you are playing a nasty, filthy, disgustingly sick guitar riff. What must you do to achieve this you ask? Well I'm glad you asked; simply imagine that you just tasted something rotten, or extremely sour......nice, now you've got it! Now I don't want to overwhelm you with technique, so I'll keep it simple for now, but if you find yourself listening to a tasty morsel of rock n' roll goodness, just break yourself off a little air guitar, and don't forget to bend your knees and arch your back.......I'd hate to have you pull something.
....Or whatever, but seriously if I could think of my very most favoritest thing to do in arctic sub arctic temperatures it would have to be; ripping a motor out of a car and putting another one back in it.......um yeah not really.....so, this is a car that I bought from a friend and needed some work, I decided that I would do all the work on it myself and drive the car around.....usually not a big deal to do an engine swap in a Honda, but with the temperatures around the "effing cold" mark and dipping into the "sucking my will to live" region its become a bit of a grind. I still have quite a bit more work to do and with the fun weekend I have planned for myself I honestly don't know how I am going to finish it but whatever. I have taken some crappy phone pics to document the initial removal of the old engine.....I'll be sure to post a few more as I make progress and definitely a victory pic upon completion.
Oh.....and I broke my nose! Lol yeah I know kind of a random double subject blog entry thingy. Honestly I'm going to let you in on a little bit of The Shaner madness ready? K, so I just got home from an incredibly enjoyable evening and I was thinking...."gosh I should write about this...." then I start thinking; "that would be WAY too much to blog about and I should probably get some sleep." Then I think, well maybe I should tell my fellow readers/listeners that I have started a brand spanking new "song of the day" section to my blog (which will end up being a song of the every other day or so section)lol but the problem with that is that I also broke my nose playing basketball on Monday night, and I was going to make that my next blog....but if I do that one after this one the whole chronological blogness would just be totally funked up and the blog gods would be sure to punish me in the form of bloggers block....SO i went with the double topic post. I hope you enjoy the new song its just a one of a few Imogen Heap/Frou Frou songs I've been really enjoying lately.
So for all of you wondering what exactly a "yurt" is its basically a tee pee resembling, upside down funnel looking snow hut. There is one that Parks and Rec. rents out during the winter months and it's only accessible via a 4.5 mile cross country ski trek up Millcreek canyon. Last night we had 9 adventurers and it was great! Besides, underestimating how cold my hands would get on the trek up and passing out in the snow for a few minutes....the ski up was amazing. It was dark out and I didn't use a light cause I was enjoying the moon reflecting off the snow....it provided a very cool, almost magical vibe as I ascended. I haven't cross country skied since I was a cub scout and it took me a second to get used to the motion, but once I did it was gravy. The group started up at different times, group one left for the top in the early afternoon to get the stove burning, and group two started at 9pm. Depending on your pace up the mountain, it takes anywhere from an hour to three hours to get to the yurt and its not a very physically demanding climb. (unless you pass out from getting too cold and you decide that the only way to keep your bony little fingers from freezing solid in the paper thin gloves you're wearing is to sprint up the mountain at full throttle =) Once up there the conditions were more than comfortable; there is wood provided, a wood burning stove, propane tanks with lanterns and some pots and pans to cook with, not to mention bunks to sleep on. It was good times to just hang out with good friends and enjoy nature. I wish you could have been there, then it would have been perfect. =)
O.k so this is an attempt to blog about something I am very strangely opinionated on without talking about all the emotional stuff that's happening in my life at the present. With that being said; New Years is quite possibly the lamest holiday ever! I say that because it never ever fails to fall short of the hype year in and year out....and seriously the one year that I was going to party like it was 1999 I was on my mission and fast asleep!....Prince will never forgive me for that.... =( Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying that New Years isn't a great time to make goals and re-focus on ones life, its great for that, I'm just saying that it is suppose to be this larger than life celebration/party time and it NEVER is (for me anyway). It could be that I don't drink, never have never will, however, I've had some great times and been to some really fun parties where nobody was drinking at all, so I'm gonna disqualify that reason. I think New Years is just a classic American example of making something out to be SO much more than it really is that when the smart people get together and realize that it really is just another day we don't enjoy it as much. Or what about this for a crazy thought; New Years suffers from severe Holiday Envy Syndrome? Yeah you know, with Christmas being every one's favorite holiday and all, and after all it is just a week previous??? Poor New Years is just fighting for a little attention......so sad <----said in you saddest tone ever- yes you know you've got that voice.....anyway, it's just a good thing that New Years hasn't learned that its my birthday just 2 days before....that might put him over the edge to pure madness so lets try and keep that on the DL okay?! =)
So every year around this time it seems I find myself in an interesting situation. In years past; I have been found painting office space until 4am Christmas morning, (in CA.)getting x-rays in the hospital, collapsed and passed out (literally) on my sisters floor, and living in a remote desolate place in Mexico, just to name a few. This year has definatley had its share of uniqueness however, there is one thing that is strangely great and different about it....well maybe a couple of things. First: I have basically been celebrating my birthday since the 26th of dec. (birthday is on the 30th) The reason why this is unique and different is because I usually don't make a big deal of it and it kinda just gets meshed into Christmas. I have been cheating and opening birthday presents up before my birthday this year (but not on Christmas) and for some wierd reason, it feels like I'm making my birthday stand out a little bit more than normal which I kinda like. Second: its been a REALLY long time since I was given something for my birthday that I would say was the "perfect" gift, and I got it this year! It wasn't so much WHAT the gift was (in terms of flare and monetary value), as much as it was HOW it was given, and what it meant to me. I am a sucker for thoughtful gifts, even if they don't carry any monetary value- correction.....especially if the they don't. I don't know, it makes you feel loved, it makes you feel understood, validated, and genuinely thought of. It also made me realize how much I used to do things like that for others, but haven't for a while, and how I would like to do that again. Anyway, kind of a lame blog today but I just wanted to get some stuff down that I had on the brain. So happy birth week to me and all that good stuff!
You know, my blog is kinda funny. I really don't think I have anyone who reads it anymore, so when I write, I feel as though I'm in a play reciting my lines, yet nobody is in the audience. However, with that being said, here I am typing yet another blog for my silent audience. I Just got home from the new Will Smith movie; I Am Legend, it was good but the whole time my mind kept wondering. (you will laugh once you see the movie because it is seriously dark and jumpy -how could your mind wonder?) Yeah well, meet Christopher Walker Shane <--- thats me! Anyway, I kept thinking about the last movie I saw with Will Smith in it; The Pursuit Of Happiness.....a great feel good movie of a man who has the world at his fingertips, loses everything, then years later, is given a shot at greatness and he captures it! It has been a very introspective time for me in my life this year and I feel as though I just need the chance at greatness and I will capture it! I have prayed hard for a confirmation from the Lord that my life will be a success and I have received the answer that it will as long as I get back into school this coming year. I am registering for two classes at SLCC this spring, then transfer to the U or the Y in the fall and I will have my bachelors degree by Dec. of 2009. I will take a look at the coaching jobs available and consider my marital status and either take a job right away or start my masters program. Its exciting! It feels really good to me and I will do very well and enjoy my work. What doesn't feel so good is the loneliness of it all. I want so badly to share my adventures with someone special. I long for it, I really do. When I think of the Pursuit Of Happiness though, I also think of Will Smith doing it alone, because his wife left him. His will never changed, and the sculpted, polished person that was inside him never gave up hope. Wow, there is so much on my mind tonight! I can't say much more than my heart aches for something that has passed me by. I feel tremendously alone on one hand, yet, incredibly supported on the other. My faith in my Redeemer is strong, and I may need him more than every hour, but I really do feel that with his strength I can accomplish all things and capture greatness. Oh and this song has been in my head all day for what its worth-
Yes indeed Im alone again And here comes emptiness crashing in Its either love or hate I cant find in between Cause Ive been with witches And I have been with a queen
It wouldnt have worked out any way So now its just another lonely day Further along we just may But for now its just another lonely day
Wish there was something I could say or do I can resist anything But temptation from you But Id rather walk alone Than chase you around Id rather fall myself Than let you drag me down
It wouldnt have worked out any way And now its just another lonely day Further along we just may But for now its just another lonely day
Yesterday seems like a life ago Cause the one I love Today I hardly know You I held so close in my heart oh dear Grow further from me With every fallen tear
It wouldnt have worked out any way So now its just another lonely day Further along we just may But for now its just another lonely day
So I had another near death experience driving home from work yesterday. Rex, my car, decided to catch a patch of black ice on the freeway and fishtale out of control at 65 mph! I haven't been so terrified in my whole life. If I hit the brakes I roll my car and die, if I lose control and hit the retaining wall on the inside of the freeway I probably bounce off and back into traffic and die. (it was almost rush hour so there were lots of cars heading home) My only prayer was to ride it out, adjusting the wheel back and forth hoping to bring Rex straight... I have seen accidents involving Crx's before and they are not good. No airbags, very lightweight, and low to the ground makes for a very dangerous situation at high speeds. Anyway, I'm glad I'm not dead, that would have really ruined my week. I do give myself an A on steering Rex for 400 meters without spinning out though. Moral? Life is short, I still must have a purpose around here, and hey things could always be worse.....you could be DEED!
Yeah so I just got back from sweat night, and I was answering a couple of emails etc.... then I started getting sad about some stuff and I decided that maybe I could write a blog about my bowling adventures last night to take my mind off of it (I bowled 6 strikes in a row! a personal record) but honestly I'm just too full of emotions to even fake it. The thing is' I've been more pleased with life in the past few months than any time I can remember, lots has been going well, and I feel so truly blessed in so many different aspects. At the same time, I struggle still with little things that are also mixed in the Shaner life- like my family drama, aka; my brother struggling, my Dad disappearing from existence, and my sister who was recently diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I also just became single again, which I am pretending doesn't hurt at all 5 days before Christmas and stuff. So anyway, despite my superficial attempt to brag about my bowling greatness, my real feelings have once again rendered me a cripple. Its a strange feeling to be so happy and pleased with life, yet be tremendously sad about parts of it. Pretty heavy stuff here I know, this is why blogging for me can be dangerous.
OK, so I don't know how I should start this blog exactly??? Should I start by talking about what sledfest is...or should I talk about how excited I got last night when I found a sled online that matched my exact design that I had planned to build.??
I guess I'll start by explaining what Sledfest is. The summer after I graduated from High School my best friend Mike passed away. He was long boarding with a couple of our close friends and accidentally started down a hill that was WAY too steep. He wasn't wearing a helmet and when he bailed off he hit is head. He was in a comma for two days and eventually passed away from the hematoma and swelling in his brain. Anyway, his last words uttered to my two friends that day before he wrecked were: "guys lets make some memories." We took it to heart and really came together and bonded as friends that summer. So, in Mikes honor, two friends and I started a tradition to bring the clan together and remember what it means to love each other and make great memories. We decided that every Christmas eve at midnight we would tear up a mountain slope somewhere and bring in the holiday. We started humbly on the mountain hill behind my moms house in Elk Ridge (payson).... and have gradually upgraded the quality of our hill ever since. Today we actually sneak on to a ski resort (dear valley), where we have a great 5 minute run that has become epic!
Along with good times, great friends and memories, Sledfest has turned into a full on competition. It is simply not good enough to JUST sled...... now it is about who can sled the fastest, or in other words arrive at the bottom first. This has spawned a whole new realm of thinking and planning. My friends and I spend months preparing for our adventure. We are always trying to construct a sled that is faster and better than everyone Else's. This year I decided to design my own ULTIMATE sled. I have had an idea in my head of a design that I feel would be the most insane sled EVER constructed. The goal here is maximum speed, maximum steering, minimal drag, and maximum durability. In my search for an already made sled to validate my design theory, I found the "Hammerhead Sled" a $300 sled that is quite literally my EXACT design.....and the sexiest thing I've ever seen. I can't remember being more excited about something in my whole life! I literally stayed up all night last night searching for schematics on how to build the thing. My version will not be quite as sexy but I'm hoping for pure functionality. I will for sure be documenting this years festivities.....hopefully we can get a couple more good storms to assure for maximum snow coverage on our little run! My friends and I sat around and discussed just HOW fun we thought Sledfest was.....we concluded that it is quite possibly the most entertaining and satisfying leisure activity in the history of mankind so with that being said we decided to create "extreme sledding" and do it not just once, but as many times as possible during the snow season. The distinction was then made; Sledfest would be the annual tradition, with only those who knew Mike in attendance, and extreme sledding would be the activity that we invited ALL who were game to participate in.
O.k, so I heard about this controversial video about a Utah cop who tasers a guy over a speeding ticket and I just had to check it out. This is my post on FOX13 blog so if it seems directed at stupid peoples comments that is because it is. Enjoy!:
The real problem here is the SYSTEM. People think about it, nothing would have happened here had the officer not asked the man to step out of the car. Which was obviously a "sneaky" attempt to arrest the man for refusing to sign the ticket. There has to be a better way than getting a man out of his car and arresting him? I mean you already have all of his info., you already know he is not a wanted criminal due to the check you just ran in your cop car. Am I saying let the man be stubborn and not sign something he is required by law to sign? NO, I am saying that the law should be changed to not require the man to sign it. He should receive another citation for that non compliance along with his original speeding ticket in the mail....or something, thus eliminating the potential encounter which could follow from being required to get the man out of his car, and arrest him.
ALSO, lets get this one thing straight: the officer was not obligated to arrest the man on his own with no backup! He had every right to radio in for another trooper to come to his aid. Now there might not have been any available officers nearby deeming that action impractical, but still the officer made a decision based on the information that he had regarding the perpetrator, found him to not be a threat, and proceeded alone. There might not have been injustice here, but there sure as heck was an avoidable situation EVEN BEFORE the man was asked to get out of the car. Because lets be honest here if the man was SO worried about getting a ticket (which caused him to refuse to do what he was asked) do you seriously think that he new he was going to be arrested when the officer asked him to get out of the car??!! Of course not....or he would have refused that too.
N.O .......But seriously I don't think I learned those two in kindergarten when we were going over the alphabet, at least not put together. (I was probably at a BYU football game or something that day) So I'm sick, not deathly ill, but sicker than I've been in a while. Any normal human being would probably not spend 5 or 6 hours swinging a shovel and a pick-ax digging out a hole, or wake up extra early on a Saturday...NOT eat breakfast, and play in a volleyball tournament for 6 hours. Long story short with the use of a simple; no thanks, or even an; "I'm not feeling so hot maybe I shouldn't" I would not feel so throttled. I guess I've always had a problem putting off the things that I want to do for the things that I should do. Now this probably wouldn't be a big deal if I wasn't so passionate about so many different things, but that's simply not the case. My other major weakness is that I am a fixer.....a serious helper kinda guy, so If I'm ever asked to help someone out.....my first instinct is to respond with.......a three letter word and not the two letter variety which in many cases is what I probably should do. Anyway, I was just thinking about this today as I sat on my parents couch; tired, hungry, sick and feeling a bit over exerted.<------I needed spell check to fix that one. =) ........Oh yeah and both the Cougars and Utes won big games today and now its FULLY on for next weekend. Wow! Gonna be good timez
Yes, incredible isn't? Oh yeah AND it's seven o'clock in the morning. At the danger of publicly embarrassing myself by expressing my thoughts and feelings, which I already wear on my sleeve and throw them out there for any and all to read, I decided to start a blog. To be honest, I can't tell you why, I just woke up this morning with three thoughts; one: I want to start running again, two: the Lord loves me, and three: I should start a blog. Lol, yeah no kidding! I've been sick lately so getting outside in the cold right now is not really an option, and so here I am, with mixed emotions, typing away.
So whats the big thought for today Chris?........Hmmm, honestly, I'm not sure. Maybe the title of this blog says it all. For anybody that knows me, you also know that me and mornings are not friends.....not at all. You know that I've struggled recently with making money, and that I desperately want to save enough to get back into school in the spring to finish up my bachelors degree. I've been really trying to be a good person, above anything else, to make people feel better about themselves after they leave my presence than before. I have been feeling closer to the Lord than ever.....yet still struggle with things that seem to come easier to some. With all this to consider, I'm up, and ready to take life on another day. I will not give up, I will not believe those who may doubt me, I will simply put my faith in God and my best foot forward and move along the beaten path. I may stumble and fall at times but I will move forward and continue to be happy no matter where life leads me. Because if there is one thing I've learned in life, its that you can never tell exactly whats going to happen next. Life runs fast but I'd like to think that I can run just a little faster, with the support of my good friends and family, I'll cross that finish line.
