New feature: Scooter Firsts

Scooter Firsts will be a re-occurring section on my blog similar to my "Song of the Week" posts. I should have started Scooter Firsts back when I first bought my C3 but the idea didnt come to me till yesterday riding home from work.

I've had many blog worthy "firsts" since I've got my bike, like the time I got my first Bee sting in the face, or the first time riding to work in the freezing fog with no gloves, or the first time a dumbass car passed me in my lane when I was in the middle of the lane, or the first time a van pulled out in front of me where I had to break hard.

Yesterday was a similar one to one of the above but this one literally made my heart skip a beat.

I was riding along Diaz Rd, its a two lane stretch, so sometimes I have cars behind me, in this case I knew there was a silver Toyota behind me. Then out of nowhere a Harley passed him without me seeing it then preceeded to pass me on my right. The noise scared the crap out of me, loud as hell. Also the fact that I didnt know a motorcycle was behind me I was caught off guard. After my heart started pumping again, I laughed out loud. I dont get scared often but this came out of nowhere. :)

What I've been saying this whole year...

Michael Phelps's Poor Sportsmanship

Michael Phelps's victory by .01 of a second was amazing. Here is the EXCLUSIVE UNSEEN camera angle of 2nd place, Milorad Cavic.

digg story

S.o.t.w. In the Sun by Joseph Arthur

"May God's love be with you, always" What an awesome statement! When I think about it, thats an awesome thing to say to someone. I think a lot of time in life we let life take over and frustrate us and push us down. I think about how comforting the statement "may God's love be with you" could be to someone who just lost someone, cause God's love is always with us, it never leaves us. No matter what comes my way, God's love is with me.

So, if God decides to take me at a young age and someone decides to make a slideshow for my funeral, this is the second song I would to play, to remind everyone that God's love is with them, always. (the first song would be "Let It Be" from the Across the Universe Soundtrack)

Lyrics:

I picture you in the sun wondering what went wrong
And falling down on your knees asking for sympathy
And being caught in between all you wish for and all you seen
And trying to find anything you can feel that you can believe in

May gods love be with you
Always
May gods love be with you

I know I would apologize if I could see your eyes
cause when you showed me myself I became someone else
But I was caught in between all you wish for and all you need
I picture you fast asleep
A nightmare comes
You cant keep awake

May gods love be with you
Always
May gods love be with you

cause if I find
If I find my own way
How much will I find
If I find
If I find my own way
How much will I find
You

I dont know anymore
What its for
Im not even sure
If there is anyone who is in the sun
Will you help me to understand
cause I been caught in between all I wish for and all I need
Maybe youre not even sure what its for
Any more than me

May gods love be with you
Always
May gods love be with you

IKEA cable lighting.

I've been a huge fan of IKEA's cable lighting ever since Ben, my roommate back in '98, bought bought a set for the living room. Ever since then I have had them in one room or another in my apartment/condo/house. Today I had planned a movie night with some friends and after learning that all of them couldnt make it for one reason or another, I decided to finally install the IKEA lighting in my bedroom.



It also inspired me to finally put nails in the wall and hang my frames I bought for some of my original underwater photography of my second favorite fish. I've had the frames for almost 3 years now and always I've just leaned them on my bedside tables. They look awesome now hanged and lit. The blue and green and orange colors jump right out of the photos. Not to sound conceded though, but my room looks bad ass now!









I actually had to remove this set from my room at my dads house because IKEA doesnt carry this exact set. The set I installed today were like $15/pair. The ones they have now are $59/pair, so I'll stick with the ones I got.

Aunt Kizzy'z Boyz

IMG_0237, originally uploaded by jonathanerichall.

My favorite coworker Margie highly recommended that I check out Aunt Kizzy'z Boyz when they came to the CRC for City of Temecula Summer Concerts in the Park. So last Thursday I joined Margie and her husband along with hundreds of other Temeculans in a great blues/rock concert. Aunt Kizzy's Boyz were awesome, they got the crowd movin' and dancin' and even made borderline unfamily friendly jokes which made me laugh real hard watching the organizer's cringe. I definitely recommend checking the boyz out any chance you get, great show.

http://www.auntkizzyzboyz.com/Welcome.html

S.O.T.W. - Typical by Tickle me Pink

I'll have to check out the rest of the cd, I like the change from melody to screaming voice. I dig it. Also, you rarely hear a song about a guy not wanting to get with a girl and not being gay.

Sandpaper'd at the beach

This weekend I drove up to Doheney State Beach to hang out with Margie from work and her family. (You can read more on Cazi's blog) Its a beautiful beach, except for one thing, the beach next to the campground is full of rocks!





Notice the thousands of rocks on the right, and the orange kayak on the left. So I was just sitting there, taking in the view, when a large wave came up and took the orange kayak away, the group that owned the kayak were not there and no one was there to grab the kayak. NOT THINKING FIRST IF THE SCENE WAS SAFE and being the nice guy that I am, I ran right after it hoping to grab it before it got too far out. The ocean wanted that kayak and was willing to fight! The waves knocked me back and forth, knocking me to my knees and dragging me across the rocks before finally grabbing hold of the kayak and safely returning it to the unsuspecting owners.

The word "Hero" was thrown around :) but heroes never call themselves heroes. Truthfully I didnt think about it, I just reacted, WHICH WAS DUMB. I better have a crap-load of Karma saved up somewhere. And to prove that no good deed goes unpunished, a picture is worth a 1000 words:

Passed the M1 skills test

Passed the M1 skils test, originally uploaded by jonathanerichall.

Today I passed the California DMV's M1 test with flying colors. Actually, flying colors minus 1 = fail, so pretty much anyone with a M1 passed with flying colors. I was nervous though, the course is much harder when the lady is staring at you and if you do one thing wrong its FAIL. I had practiced enough though, I did the slalom well and the circles well, I was mostly nervous on the straight aways, you had to stay within two lines, 1 foot apart, and i got squirrelly at the last straight away. Anywho, I can "legally" ride at night now (oh I wasnt supposed to before? whoops).

Wheres the closest biker bar, I need a drink! :)