Seeing as Toronto has been cold and crummy the past couple weeks, I'm going to take one last trip down memory lane and revisit my family's nice warm Christmas trip to Huntington Beach, California. It's one of my favorite places to be any time of year, no exceptions, so keeping my mind out there should get me through the biting cold that is Toronto winter.
The days I found most memorable are the days I took pictures of, though it may just be that I remember them best because I have pictures of them. Regardless, since those are the days that I can illustrate, those are the days I'm going to detail. The fact that I have pictures at all comes as a surprise, I'm tend to forget about immortalizing moments on camera. But enough rambling, it's Christmas all over again, I'm excited.
The first interesting (Every day in California is interesting, but the first MORE interesting day) was when the men of the household all went out for a gentlemanly sail a little ways south of Huntington. My sister's boyfriend Tom has spent the last couple years fixing up an old sailboat with a friend of his, and he was kind enough to bring my dad, brother and I out on the water with him. We went out expecting a little turbulence since it had been rainy for the last few days, instead we got dead calm. There wasn't even enough wind to fill the sail so we just drifted most of the time. Looks like the wind was taking a break over the holidays too, can't blame it.
Dad steering
Dustin at the main (only) mast
Seals sleeping on the buoy
Captain Brownbeard
Then we went to Universal Studios on my recommendation. I thought I remembered a lot of great rides and whatnot, plus I had heard there was a new Harry Potter section of the amusement park. As it turns out, that's all at the Universal Studios in Orlando. Tough one. We still managed to enjoy ourselves with all the 3D rides they had here, almost as good as the real thing.
All pictures from the Jurassic Park ride
Finally came Christmas. A day enjoying each others company and a night of the same plus feasting. To top it all off, a photographer friend of Milou's took a nice family photo of our very own "Family Tree":
Family tree, with gift Tom
Happy Belated Holidays,
Cheers,
Ben Jammin
PS: For those of you who didn't believe my Halloween costume was me, I've posted it to the left. The same friend of Milou's took that picture as well. Notice the same backdrop and same color tint. Believe it!
Since over the last month or so, I've been fairly inconsistent (non-existent) in my blogging, I shall recount my holidays one story at a time. I know it's no longer the holidays, but everyone likes to make memories last.
Upon my return to Calgary for the holidays, the first thing I saw was snow (it engulfed everything, I'd be surprised if it wasn't the first thing I noticed). So I immediately began planning my activities. Actually, I suppose I should say my activity (singular), because the only thing i wanted to do was build a snow sculpture to rival those of the last two years. Quick refresher for those of you who haven't met my artistic side. I only seem to get creative in the winter, so I don't blame you for being surprised:
February 2008:
During reading week at St. Joe's, my residence during my second year at U of A, myself and handful of other residents decided to recreate a picture hanging on the wall in the common room. In case you can't tell from the picture, those are monkeys displaying the proverb "See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil" as well as the Joe's special addition "Do no evil". I headed the operation, but it would not have gotten done without the help of several St. Joe's Rangers. Cheers Boys
December 2009:
Last Christmas I decided on a solo project. I was in the Christmas mood, so Santa seemed like the obvious choice. It took about a week and constantly brushing off new falling snow, but I got it done and it doesn't look half bad if I do say so myself. Unfortunately the pictures weren't very clear, it was a cloudy day and I had to leave the next morning back to Toronto, but I do have more. If you want to see them let me know, I'm always ready to show off.
December 2010:
I wanted this year's masterpiece to eclipse the previous couple short lived works of art. See how many pictures it take you before my intentions become known:
Camille and I heading towards the build site
Getting started
Laying the foundations
home made sculpting tools
Block art
Sketching
Halfway done
I even dug out the inside
The sleigh was all ready for us to sit inside before.....
This happened
Unfortunately, while at home I didn't have a residence full of engineers to help me out with the structural integrity. The problem with having my own design and following it to a tee, is that packed snow is heavy, something I didn't factor into my blueprint. Thanks to gravity, heavy things fall. Thanks to gravity, heavy things are hard to pick up and put back into place. I suppose this year was not meant to be, but I'll learn from my mistakes, and there's always next year.
P.S. In case anyone is wondering why there were two big blocks, the smaller one was supposed to be a reindeer.
People tell me what I do isn't a job, because it's something I love to do. Well I have another job now, and it might not be my passion, like beach volleyball, but it seems to make the everything run a little better. Sure, I'm busy from 9AM-8PM every weekday, but it's almost like a breath of fresh air.
Firstly, it's not something I'm unfamiliar with. I work at Canuckstuff in Scarborough, mostly filling mail orders, packing boxes with volleyball gear. Seeing as I've played the sport for the entirety of my life, plus the fact that the original Canuck Sports Stuff was owned and operated in my house when I was a kid, I know the products. When walk in customers come in, I have no problem giving descriptions of shoes or kneepads etc, because I've tried and tested almost any volleyball brand or equipment you can think of.
Second, my days are no longer wasted. I don't spend my days on the couch in front of the tv anymore, I'm up and doing something all day long. I'm not really sure about the science behind these kinds of things, but I'm actually less tired with the full workload. Somehow it's more draining to channel surf than to be on my feet all day picking items, or stocking shelves. It may also have something to do with the fact that the busy day helps me sleep better during the night. My sleep schedule is now fairly consistent, which it wasn't before. I go to bed around 11PM, wake up at 7AM. Eight hours of solid snoozing, and the constant tiredness I used to experience all of last year is now hardly an issue.
Thirdly, and importantly, it gives me a chance to give back to a couple of my sponsors. Canuckstuff and Overkill help me out, so I'm more than happy to help them out as well. Sponsors are pretty hard to come by for a developing athlete, and this way I get the chance to demonstrate outright my appreciation and dedication to contribute what I can to those who have given me their support.
Finally, I'm making money. And that is never a bad thing. Enough said
So to all those who called me lucky because I never had a real job, I'll tell you this much. I have a real job now, combine that with my other "job" and its well over the average 9-5 grind. But I wouldn't say I'm any less lucky. If anything having a real job that complements my beach volleyball schedule so well makes me even luckier.
Now I'll end this off with a little video that's relevant in title alone, but I think is hilarious:
Finally came Christmas. A day enjoying each others company and a night of the same plus feasting. To top it all off, a photographer friend of Milou's took a nice family photo of our very own "Family Tree":
