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| Being Accepting of Challenges
Meet a happy loser and you’ve met a loser. – Harvey White, my grandfather
I grew up hearing that quote all the time, and I usually believed it. It probably helped develop my competitive nature because now I’m a person who doesn’t like to lose at ping pong, beach volleyball, or Scrabble. And if I were a cock, I’m sure I’d hate to fail at cock fighting. Lately though, I’ve been feeling like a loser. And I’m fine with that.
Yesterday Ben and I took the Buddy Burger challenge at the Burger Barn in Dunsmuir, California. The Burger Barn is owned by our new friends, the Raines, and it’s a cute little building that’s got the aesthetics of a barn, but none of the hay, animals, or poop smell. If you complete the Buddy Burger challenge, you get your picture on the wall. The prospect of our faces on a Polaroid next to the cash register was enough to entice Ben and me to take the challenge. You see, we’re both idiots.
This is the Buddy Burger challenge:
1 lb. of ground beef (in the form of four quarter pound burgers)
1 large basket of fries
2 medium drinks
The first burger tastes great. They use a special sauce on the bun and the fries are just right – a little crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The second burger is more of a struggle and by the time you hit the third burger, you can’t even remember why you ever liked the taste of beef. The French fries, so good at the beginning, begin to taste like those little white things that you use to pack a cardboard box.
It was at this point that I threw in the paper napkin and officially dropped out of the Buddy Burger challenge. I failed. But I feel great about it.
Here’s the thing about accomplishment: you can define it however you choose. For example, if I define accomplishment as completing the challenge, then I definitely failed. Miserably, in fact. I barely got halfway. But, if I redefine accomplishment as not puking on myself just to get my picture tacked next to the Burger Barn cash register, then I succeeded with flying colors. Of course, by my grandfather’s definition, I am now a loser.
This same issue came up a few weeks ago when Matt and I tried to summit the Middle Teton. We didn’t make it to the top and this frustrated Matt. In his mind we had failed. He defined success as making it to the top, but I defined success as getting a decent workout while taking in some beautiful scenery and NOT killing myself in the process. Close to the summit, we encountered a hairy section that was full of crumbling rocks and ice chutes that threatened to send me skidding off a cliff.
So if…
one side = maybe getting to the top but probably dying
and the other side = not getting to the top but also not dying
I’ll take “the other side” every time. Just like if…
one side = completing the Burger Buddy challenge but getting turned into foie gras when my liver explodes
and the other side = not finishing my pound of burger, but feeling like I can walk to the RV afterward without the aid of wheelchair
then I’ll put down my Buddy Burger in a heartbeat (and that heartbeat will be clean and unclotted, which is good).
So what this all comes down to is accepting challenges vs. being accepting of challenges. Here’s the difference: if you accept a challenge, then you’re committing yourself to a win/lose situation, where winning is inseparably tied to accomplishment. But if you are accepting of a challenge, then you’re just acknowledging that it’s there. You’re not taking a stand on it, you’re not dissing it, you’re not embracing it, you’re just letting it hang out. It’s the same way that we’re taught to be accepting of diversity, opposing viewpoints, and the loud woman that sits next to you on the bus and talks about her daughter who’s about your age.
If you learn to be accepting of challenges, rather than just accepting them, you’ll be a happier person, even if that makes you a loser.
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Suggested reading: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Persig
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I should mention that Ben completed the Burger Buddy challenge and confirmed what he already suspected: he’s the man.
Also in the Burger Barn: a picture taken in 1928 of a football player named Mike, who looked so much like me that I had to eat with my back to him. Look:
Matt profiled the Raines’ son, Jack, a senior at Dunsmuir High School. Jack’s an outstanding student who has been accepted at Purdue’s flight school, but he might be more interested in Air Force or Navy. He’s a pilot, a fly-rod builder, a filmmaker, and he’s got a good hook shot too.
The other guys and Sarah (Ben’s girlfriend) went to talk to Riva, a 101 year-old former English teacher who has published three books and qualifies as a bona fide local legend. They talked about her life, the town of Dunsmuir, English literature, and kids these days. All the guys came away very impressed with her story.
Special thanks to the Altos for being wonderful tour guides in Dunsmuir, to the Raines for feeding us and giving us a tour of Mr. Raines’ fly rod shop, and to the Foremans, who put us up in their home and treated us like family. People are way too nice to us. Thanks again to all of our new Dunsmuir friends.
Back in four.
A Day by the Bay (Listen to What I Say)
This morning I woke up in the San Francisco apartment of Matt Stevenson, my old college buddy, and nobody was around. Matt and his two roommates were already at work – they had been gone for a couple hours probably – and nothing better accentuates the difference between what I am doing with my life and what they are doing with theirs. I am the man that sleeps on someone else’s sofa (or yeah, the guy on the couch) and they are the people who sleep in their own beds in their own apartments and go off to their own jobs. And supposedly these are paying jobs, a concept I’m unfamiliar with.
But the great thing about my “job” is that all my friends will read this blog, hear about the couches and the transience, and be jealous. Their envy is the gasoline in my tank, the little holes in my air hockey table, the water in my toilet bowl…
Across town, Ben and Matt were waking up in another friend’s place. This friend is named Kane Russell and Kane was such a good host that he serenaded the two boys to sleep playing his guitar, then slept on the floor while Ben and Matt crashed on his couch and his bed. I’ve said it before, but people are way too nice to us.
Wigs was out in Palo Alto, interviewing a Stanford group that does environmental consulting for corporations. Matt hung out on Haight-Ashbury for a while, interviewing (among others) a homeless man and two female gang members.
Ben, Matt, and I met Harry Denton, a good friend to my mom and dad, for lunch at Scala’s, an excellent restaurant on the first floor of the Sir Francis Drake hotel. Harry has been the life of every party for the last forty years and he’s still going strong. Thanks to Harry for his hospitality and for his solid advice on subjects ranging from sex to careers to marrying older women who have lots of money. He also suggested we go to Rio.
In the afternoon, Matt and Wigs interviewed Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of thefacebook.com. For those that don’t know, the facebook is an online community of college students and it’s the way many university freshmen make friends now. A typical college freshman now has about two hundred “friends” before they ever take their first class.
Question: Isn’t that like 197 more friends than you had after your last class?
Answer: : (
Question: hahahahahahaha
Ben spent some time with Adam (not me), a kid who lives in Oakland and works in a Mexican restaurant in Alamo. He’s earned enough money to put himself through college, and he’s a great dude (you’ll learn more about him when Ben writes his profile).
Thanks to Matt’s family for an excellent dinner. They’re taking great care of us in Alamo. It’s been a pleasure to spend time with Ben and Wigs’ family (they’ve both got connections out here. And by the way, Wigs’ mom actually introduces herself as “Wigs’ mom.”)
People are way too nice to us (I think I already mentioned that though).
Back in approximately four.
Answers to All Your Questions About La La Land
Yesterday was another sunny, hot, November day in Los Angeles. Since I have now been here for two days, I’m kind of an expert on the City of Angels and all its underboroughs (Beverly Hills, Hollywood, South Central, you name it).
So, since we’re stuck in traffic, moving at negative two miles an hour, I figured this would be a good time to field some questions…
Question: Speaking of traffic, is it true that there’s really a lot of it in L.A.?
No. That’s not true at all. It’s not like we’re trying to get out of the city right now, to head to San Diego, and we’re sitting in city-wide gridlock that’s paralyzing all of Southern California. It’s not like it takes three hours to move five miles here. It’s not like most of the drivers here would gladly cut off an ambulance if it meant hopping onto the Freeway ten seconds earlier. Nope. It’s not like that at all.
Question: Have you guys seen any celebrities?
Yes. In fact, we’ve been hanging out a lot with Bree Turner, who is Matt’s cousin and who has appeared in many motion pictures and television shows. (She’s also really, really nice – she’s a great host and we’re much indebted to her). We’ve met some of Bree’s friends, who are in the business as well, and Ben and Wigs saw Tom Selleck twice yesterday. Ben was excited to see Tom Selleck because people used to say that Mr. Selleck looks like Ben’s dad, which is weird because people used to say the same thing about Mr. Selleck and MY dad, which is EXTRA weird because my dad and Ben’s dad don’t really look alike.
Question: Did you, Ben, and Matt all get your hair cut in The Standard hotel, the same hotel that appeared in an episode of Sex & the City, the one with Vince Vaughn?
Obviously.
Question: Is there anyone in Los Angeles that’s not in the movie business?
Yes. The waiters and waitresses are, for the most part, not in the movie business. They would, however, give their right testicle or left ovary to get an acting job. That’s why they go to open auditions for Blossom: The Musical whenever they’re not waiting tables. Even the homeless kids we met on Venice Beach are aspiring actors or former models. It’s crazy. This is the one place we’ve come where we say, “We’re filming a documentary and writing a book,” and people actually roll their eyes and feel sorry for us because we’re clearly delusional.
Question: Hey, I’ve always wanted to know: Is it Ro-DAY-oh drive or Ro-DEE-oh Drive?
I’m pretty sure it’s Ro-DAY-oh.
Question: Did you get plastic surgery while you were in Los Angeles?
Yes. I had my lips blown up, my crow feet spackled, my nose sharpened, and my jaw enhanced. I also have breasts now.
Question: Is there anything that Los Angelans get really defensive about?
Yes. Smog. They won’t admit that it’s there. They call it fog, mist, clouds, or “God giving the city a big hug”, but never smog. Okay, when we went to Venice Beach, Bree said it was fog and she was right, but the rest of the time, it’s definitely smog. It’s like if you went to your buddy’s apartment and he had a big gorilla on a chain in the corner of the room, and he acted like it wasn’t there and then you asked him about it and he said it was just his dog. And then you asked him a few minutes later what was up with the gorilla, and he said it wasn’t a gorilla – it was his hamster.
Question: What’s better? The Coffee Bean or Starbucks?
I actually had a couple iced coffees from The Coffee Bean and really liked them, and Matt seemed to enjoy his mocha lattes (yes, that’s his drink). But I don’t think The Coffee Bean can compete with Starbucks when it comes to putting massive amounts of ecstasy in their coffee.
Question: What did you guys do yesterday?
Good question. Matt and I went to lunch with Bree at the Cheesecake Factory (thanks, Bree) and met her manager friend who gave us some advice on how to make our documentary better.
Wigs and Ben had lunch with Ben’s uncle, Mark, at Nate and Al’s on Beverly Boulevard and then went shopping for facial cleanser, which is where they bumped into Tom Selleck.
Matt and Bree hiked up to the HOLLYWOOD sign and took in a sunset.
We all went to the apartment of Matt’s Aunt, Shelley, who gave us a great meal and introduced us to some interesting young Americans. We interviewed Ashley, a model/actress from the Bay Area, Michael, a screenwriter who has managed to recover from a brain tumor, and Sasha, who immigrated from Moldova when he was seven, goes to Brandeis, and is in L.A. getting credit for working with several film studios.
See – I told you everyone’s in the movie business.
Back in four.
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| Discussing Our Trip to Dunsmuir
The day began in the parking lot outside Gotham Building Tavern, where we had our fundraiser the previous night. It was early, but we had to get going. Now, I am a guy who doesn’t like change. I get really sad when I leave people and places that make me happy. So far this trip I have had to alter this mindset because people and places filter through our transient lives on a daily basis. Needless to say, I was sad to leave Portland, a city I had become accustomed to, a city where I had made friends, a city where I had many great memories.
We drove south on I5 arriving late in the morning at KLCC, which is Eugene’s NPR station. Every Sunday Adam’s Uncle Brian hosts a radio show covering various issues that of late has included Hepatitis C, meth, and natural disasters. On this Sunday, they were discussing The Young Americans Project, a topic that we have become too accustomed to talking about. The fact that we have explained our project 45,089 times has become a point of comedy. We each have our own distinct version and we often like to joke around with each other about it. For example, Wigs likes to say, “We are on the road exploring the hopes, dreams, and ambitions of young Americans.” In other words, we are on the road exploring the hopes, hopes, and hopes of people our age. I apparently use my girl/phone voice even though I may be talking to a 6’11” football player. Ben likes to spice it up with comments that may or may not make our project look good: A couple of weeks ago he told a reporter, “We are like a boy band without the music.” Adam likes to make it pretty obvious that he doesn’t want to explain our project.
Over time, we have begun to take a page out of each other’s book, and by the end of the trip we will probably be telling the same story. When asked about our trip, we may respond softly in unison, “It’s funny you ask because we hate talking about it, but while we’re on the topic we are driving, moving, and traveling across the U.S. to document our contemporaries, like kids our age, in our generation. Oh, and we like to do puppet shows.”
Anyway, Wigs and Adam talked on air with Brian and his co-host Claude for about an hour. They did a great job and it was cool to hear people calling in and asking questions. By the way, if you are reading this blog and happen to own a radio company, then you should call Wigs because he has an amazing radio voice.
We, being Adam, Ben, Wigs, our new groupie Sarah (Ben’s girlfriend) and I left Eugene for California. I drove, everybody else fell asleep, it rained, rained harder, got dark. 5 hours, 3 passes, 49 mountains, 4 accidents, 5.6 billion raindrops later, we arrived in Dunsmuir, California, where my mother went to high school. It is a pretty, old Northern Californian town of two thousand people tucked in a steep valley in the shadows of Mount Shasta. We drove up the gravel driveway to the Foreman’s home. In the last year, Len and Cindy Foreman moved to Dunsmuir when Len became principal of the high school and superintendent of the county. He became friends with Carl and Harriet Alto who were very involved in the local community. My Aunt Shelly still keeps in touch with her old teacher Harriet, who along with her husband helped set up our visit there.
We walked out of the cold, driving rain into the warm hospitality of the group assembled, which included the Foremans, the Altos, and the Raines (Sandy, Chris, and Jack, whom I profiled the next day). We had an incredible feast and chatted about Dunsmuir, its history, and our trip. Once again, we couldn’t believe how people with such slight connections to us could treat us so well. Thanks to everyone in Dunsmuir, you all are amazing!
Silicon Valley, Road Trips, and Selling Out
We awoke to the wonderful hospitality of my family in Alamo. Wigs, Ben, and Adam left our temporary home base and ventured west into San Francisco. At the University School, Wigs interviewed Ben Casnocha, a young entrepreneur who is a world-renowned blogger. Politics Online voted him one of the top-25 most influential people in the realm of politics on the Internet. Ben has also designed an online solution for citizens to interact with their local governments. Meanwhile, Adam and Griz surprised our good friend Kane while he was teaching at the Towne School in Pacific Heights.
In the afternoon, we all met up in Milpitas, CA at the Maxtor Corporation, which has kindly given us 26 external storage drives to back up our film and pictures. We updated them about our progress and finally met the people that had helped support our project. We especially want to thank Ann Lee who has believed in our project ever since she received a cold call several months back.
We left the Maxtor Corporation and traversed Silicon Valley to the Apple Corporation. While we were in Portland, we met a wonderful man named Chris Riley, who works for Apple and splits his time between Oregon and the Bay Area. At Apple, we met with Chris and some of his co-workers. We all had a very intriguing conversation about our project and Apple and showed them a clip from the documentary.
The day’s saturation within Silicon Valley brought me back to a debate we have been having since day one: About whether we should just jump in a car with a note pad and see what happens a la Jack Kerouac or whether we should get sponsored, maintain a website, and shoot a documentary. How would Mr. Kerouac travel the country today? Not that we are trying to relive On the Road, but it is something that we have thought about a lot.
We have chosen the sponsorship/technology approach, largely because we needed funding and this new technology is a part of the four of us, a part of our generation. As a young man in Madison, WI pointedly said, “I need to be stimulated.” Although he was partly referring to the fact that he needed to get his cocaine, he was also alluding to the fact that people our age get bored easily and need various mediums through which to learn. Some people like to check the web daily, some may want to sit in a café and read a book, while others may just want popcorn, a couch, and a film. We hope to appeal to all of these people.
Maybe we have sold out, maybe we have not. We believe the road is the same no matter how you travel on it. It is about soaking up the experiences you encounter. It is about opening up your heart and your mind to anything new. The times have changed, and we have attempted to adapt to these changes.
Venice Beach: A Haven of Homelessness and Drugs
Apparently, Los Angeles has really good sushi. So after working all morning, my cousin Bree took us to one of the best joints in town. It was here that I first recognized that everything in LA costs money, especially parking. It was a small restaurant that was part of a small strip mall and had a small parking lot. And this tiny parking lot had two parking attendants and valet parking that probably cost $39. California is an expensive place to live.
After lunch, Adam and I went to Venice Beach. As we drove towards the ocean, the beating sun gave way to thick fog that was rolling in from the ocean. Bree dropped us off on the strip, which had become a surreal milieu of mist, beach, and palm trees. For whatever reason, we looked at each other and chose to head to the left. It is funny looking back on these moments and wondering what would have happened if we went north instead. But we chose south and strolled down the trip looking for some intriguing subjects.
I first noticed a couple holding hands walking towards us in a group. The couple wasn’t interesting in talking, but their friend was. He didn’t have much to say other than his aspirations to smoke weed, which was quite endemic of the area. At the end of every interview for the documentary, we ask the subject to look into the camera and say whatever they want to America. This young man summed up his thoughts with the drug slogan “420” as his friend conveniently blew smoke across his face. Next, we met a 22-year-old girl who was an aspiring actress turned interior designer. She had come to LA when she was 18, but found a boyfriend (who she is still with) and lost her aspirations.
We then came upon a group of kids hanging together, drinking, and smoking. A large, friendly guy, aged around 22, approached us and said, “Hey, can I show you a card trick.” We obviously agreed and were quite impressed with his coy skill. The card trick turned into an impromptu interview. For the past three years, he had been homeless on Venice Beach and absolutely loved every minute of the freedom he had found there. His father had died and his mother addicted to crack, so it appeared as though he came there to escape it all. To stimulate himself and forget about his problems, he likes to drink, smoke weed, and do some LSD every now and then.
Near the end of the interview, we asked him where we thought he would be in ten years. He calmly responded, “I’ll be dead.” Our quizzical looks prompted him to continue, “Yeah, I’m dying of Leukemia and a doctor told me that I will be dead in four years.” Taken aback, I asked him whether he was taking any treatment. Once again unperturbed, he responded, “There isn’t really any point. Plus, I don’t have any money or health insurance.” To the average person, our friend appears to have an extremely tough life: His father is dead, his mother is addicted to crack, he is dying of cancer, and he is homeless and without any material possessions or “the little green papers” to acquire them. But he didn’t want anything, especially any sympathy because he was living life and he was happy—probably more jovial then most people I know that have everything. Whether it was the drugs he was on, the alcohol, or the community he found, he felt liberated in Venice Beach.
While we were talking to him, the group that he was hanging with was approached by police officers and eventually fined for drinking in public. As we sat there amazed at this man’s story, we noticed a nearby girl that was a part of this crowd. Now 20-years-old, she had migrated to Venice Beach from Kentucky two years ago. She was also stunningly pretty and had originally come there to be a model, but was turned off when she was asked to do some compromising things. She had several similarities to our previous interview: First, she was living on the streets and split her time between two homes: the beach and an underground tunnel a couple of blocks inland. Second, she spoke of her love for the area and the liberty it afforded her. And, like our large male friend, she was sickened by tuberculosis. But she was getting treatment from a local medical center that provided free healthcare, and she spoke about how great California was to its homeless. Unfortunately, the interview ended prematurely when her boyfriend pulled her away, yelling at us to stay away from his girl. Once again, we stood their scratching our
heads—astonished at everything we had just observed.
Soon after, a sage-like man, who had been observing everything, approached us. He talked about how most of these kids lacked any parental upbringing and they sought community here on Venice Beach. Like many people we spoke with in California, he asked me for money and, like any time I am asked for money, I gave it to him. Moving on, we received a live concert from a roller skating guitar player, who was apparently a legend of the area. The sky had grown darker, the fog thicker as moisture began to perspire on our cameras.
We then approached a bunch of skateboarders nearby who regularly gathered among the cement obstacles of Venice Beach. Some had gone to college, others not. We interviewed one animated guy who was particularly loquacious. Like many of the people we conversed with in LA, he was interested in becoming an actor. He said, “I mean. I know what I need to do. All I need to get is my head shots and then I’ll be fine.” If it was that easy, then we wondered why he wasn’t already a Hollywood star. He also educated Adam and I about the omnipotence of gangs in South Central, the Bloods and Crypts rivalry, the significance of territory and colors, and about the cycle of violence.
As we left the area, I was confused. Although I was inspired by how happy these kids were with nothing, I was saddened by their lack of ambition. Venice Beach seemed to be a retreat for people with dreams, but an inability to achieve them. Moreover, it was a haven for drugs, especially marijuana, and everyone seemed to be there to buy, sell, or smoke it. We probably talked to 20 different people and I think that every single one referred to weed. I had trouble figuring out whether it was the drugs that ruined their lives or whether it was the drugs that were a vehicle to escape their ruined lives. Maybe it was the people we talked to, maybe it was the gray fog, but I left the area saddened.
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| Last week we had the chance to meet with some of the marketing and creative people at Apple. Apple’s made a huge comeback in the last five to seven years – and in my mind – has played a pretty large role in pushing the creative revolution with their digital technology.
In the meeting itself, we were introduced to the guy who wrote the famous ‘Think Different’ ad campaign. Had he not been identified by the other Apple people, we would have had no idea – he’s just that type of guy. Since what he wrote is more of a manifesto to creativity and original entrepreneurship than an ad campaign, I’m going to copy it below. It’s pretty inspiring:
Here’s to the crazy ones. ?The misfits.?The rebels.?The troublemakers.?The round pegs in the square holes.?The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules.?And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,?disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.?About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.?Because they change things.??They invent. They imagine. They heal.?They explore. They create. They inspire.?They push the human race forward.?Maybe they have to be crazy.?How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art??Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written??Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels??We make tools for these kinds of people.??While some see them as the crazy ones,?we see genius.?Because the people who are crazy enough to think?they can change the world, are the ones who do
Before the meeting, Ben and I had found the wrong Apple lobby and were waiting around the sign-in desk. Out of nowhere, Steve Jobs walked down the stairs and right up to me. He extended his hand and said,
‘Hey Wigs, I’ve been following your travels around the country – great project!’ He then turned to Ben and said, ‘Hey big jock dude, why don’t you lose 100 pounds to look more like Wigs?’
KIDDING…….. Steve Jobs didn’t really say anything to us in the lobby of Apple. As he walked by us on his way home for the day, the only thing we exchanged was a mutual head nod. Ben described this moment best as ‘Wigs shitting the bed’. If I’d had the presence of mind to say anything to him, it would have been something like this, ‘Hey man, great speech at the Stanford Graduation. I read it at the perfect time as I was deciding whether to take the semester off of college to be a part of a project with some friends or go back to school. I agree with you that the random magic of life is something that shouldn’t be limited to the confines of one predetermined path – and that making sure there are dots to connect later in your life is maybe even more important than knowing why you’re creating those dots in the first place. Thanks for being so honest about your perspective changing personal health experiences, it helped make sense of my own experiences and ambitions. Oh, and what do you think our generation should be named? Alright man, thanks for stopping and talking to me. I’ve got to bounce or else I’m going to get beaten by that armed security guard approaching over my left shoulder.’
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Kale, Matt’s cousin, took us to the USC/CAL football game over at Berkeley. It’s a huge rivalry, so getting the chance to partake was interesting. We ditched Harvey for the day in place of a tan minivan – which gave us the under the radar soccer mom look rather than the overt we’re filming a documentary about our generation look. The mobility let us get all the way to the SAE fraternity house near the stadium, where the kind brothers let us park for $60.
After a few hours of hanging out on frat row, we walked into the stadium and into the Cal student section. Being outsiders, we sort of thought this would be a good place to get the vibe of a school on a big game day –especially since the last USC loss was at the hands of Cal at the Berkeley Stadium.
We were wrong.
Matt Leinert, Reggie Bush, and the rest of USC spent most of the first half dominating the Cal defense and opening up a 21-3 halftime lead. By the start of the third, the entire Cal student section spent more time yelling at their own quarterback then they did cheering on the team. We agreed that he probably didn’t deserve a lot of the heckling, but when compared for an entire game against a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback like Matt Leinert from USC – it’s hard to be average without looking bad.
Having no ties to either team combined with the lack of sleep from the night before, Adam, Ben and I left the game at the start of the fourth and returned to our minivan in the parking lot of the SAE fraternity. Thanks to the street hustling SAE pledges in charge of parking, the minivan was situated at the back of the lot with about twenty cars in front of the exit. Exhausted, we crawled inside the minivan and slept Harvey style until the parking lot cleared.
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On Sunday, while the guys traveled down the famously beautiful Pacific Coast Highway, I stayed behind in Mountain View for an interview with Blake Ross, the co-creator of Mozilla Firefox. The open-sourced internet browser he created has been downloaded over 100 million times and is posing the first legitimate threat to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. At 21, I think he’ll become one of the more notable figures in our generation.
SIDENOTE: Open-sourced means that all the coding(what makes it work) for the browser has the potential to be viewed and improved by programmers anywhere in the world with internet access. Conceptually, it’s brilliant. By creating an online meritocracy, the most valuable programmers rise to the top and receive peer acclaim. In return, the Mozilla project gets an entire online community focused on making it’s browser efficient and ‘pop-up’ free. Essentially, it’s like having 50,000 highly talented employees – for free. The origins of the ‘source code’ Blake began working on came from Netscape, which released their code to the online world when Microsoft started winning what were referred to as the ‘browser wars’ in 1998. Right around that time, Blake started networking in online chat rooms with other programmers about forming a more simplified internet browser that would make it easy for ‘even his grandparents’ to surf the web. After seven years of hard work, he released Firefox to nearly a million downloads in the first day. Since then he’s sort of become the Lebron James of the internet.
Question: Wigs, is that another one of your outrageous claims you make all the time?
Answer: No, it’s not. Blake is compared to Bill Gates all the time the same way Lebron is compared to Michael Jordan.
If you’re interested in Mozilla, you can read more about the open-source movement or download Firefox here
It was planned that Blake and I would meet at 1 pm at the Performing Arts Center downtown before his 2:15 meeting. Being me I waited until 12:58 to test the video camera I’d be using for the interview, so I realized it was malfunctioning about a minute before Blake arrived. The next few minutes went by very slowly as I thought about the options. Harvey, the guys, and the other camera were already making their way down the coast – so I needed to find an alternative or cancel the interview.
Blake arrived as I was on the phone getting directory assistance to the nearest camera shop. It must have been obvious that this was the case.
‘Camera troubles?’ I remember him saying.
I explained the situation and he offered a ride to Wolff Camera Shop in Mountain View. Within twenty minutes I had found a small camera with a nice ten day return policy and we began the interview in the corner of the camera shop. It was guerilla documentary filmmaking at it’s finest. We positioned Blake in front of a series of picture frames complete with the fake overly-happy family pictures used to help sell those frames. As I was setting up the camera, Blake took the chance to create stories for his new ‘family’ that would serve as the backdrop for his interview. It was funny.
During the interview, there were shoppers who would walk by and look quizzically at the interview going on in the middle of the store, but they were not distractions, they just added to the environment - and the story. The interview turned out to be great, as Blake honestly shared his thoughts about Firefox, himself, his community, and America. Having already accomplished something impressive at a young age, it seemed easier for him to be honest about his feelings on himself and the people in his world. It was refreshing.
ABOVE and BELOW:: This is me interviewing Blake Ross, co-creator of Mozilla Firefox. We are in the corner of the Wolff Camera Shop in Mountain View.
After the interview we talked for a few minutes about our respective projects and the future. It was interesting to realize that despite his background and personal success, he’s not that different from many of the people we’ve interviewed. At 21, he’s asking the same questions, experiencing similar life situations, and trying to strike the right balance between work and play that most of us are on a daily basis. Who knows, maybe even Lebron James is similar.
At 2:13, Blake left and I walked across the street to the Togo’s for a bite to eat. Midway through a turkey avocado sandwich, I found myself in a conversation with a young couple (Pache and Chanel). Pache, was from San Sebastian, Spain and his girlfriend Chanel was from Latin America. They gave me a lift to a good hitchhiking spot, so 12 hours and one Greyhound bus ride later I made it to LA to meet up with the guys. I guess missing the ride along the coast on the PCH gives me a reason to make it back to California in the near future.
Another good day in America.
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I woke up around 7 am, making it my earliest morning since Acadia, Maine. The only difference was that I had to wake up early to wade through the LA morning traffic on the way from Beverly Hills to Santa Monica for a 9 am interview. Although it’s only about twelve miles, the traffic makes sure it takes a full hour.
Trading the traffic for an early morning interview turned out to be a good move. I met with Jason Peterson on the top of the sand bluffs overlooking the Santa Monica beaches. Jason recently graduated from the USC film school and is the youngest filmmaker (at 19) to submit and be accepted at the Sundance Film Festival for his movie ‘The Beat’, so interviewing him with the Pacific Ocean and view down the Santa Monica beach seemed fitting.
Now 24, Jason is an emerging player in the independent film world and appears to have the visionary gift of knowing how influential factors (internet, digital revolution, China/India) will affect the future of the industry. His ultimate goal is become part of a studio that can leverage their resources with his ideas, but for now he’s content attending Pepperdine Law school in his free time so he can ‘legally’ be in the position of movie producer. That being said, he’s already produced five movies.
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After the interview I met up with Jessie Draper, an old friend in her senior year at UCLA, for a late breakfast on the outskirts of Beverly Hills. We caught up for a while then talked about our mutual interest in movie production, growing up, and dating in America. (Asking questions all the time for the project has made it hard for me to talk about ‘normal’ things.)
The previous night I had gone out in Santa Monica with my friend Austin who plays in The Hatch, where I met his friend Matty. Coincidentally, her (Matty’s) older ‘sister’ in the sorority was Jessie Draper – who I was eating breakfast with the next day. To take this small world notion further, I had found Jessie using the facebook.com search capability - a utility I had at my disposal thanks to Mark Zuckerberg, who I interviewed last week for TYAP.
Was this an odd coincidence? 99% of the time I would answer yes, but life on the road has forced me to check my own premises and have faith in the random nature of life. There are a lot of times where I just can’t seem to understand how a chain of events leads me to a certain moment, situation, or thought – which I guess is a good thing for me. As I reminded myself in the first blog, when you over plan anything you squander the opportunity to let the real magic happen. I think that’s been a good lesson to learn while traveling across America.
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While Adam and Ben met up with their friends Vik and Justin, Matt and I drove down to Coronado to interview my friend Dave Dauphinais. For the most part, we’ve been against interviewing friends for this project – but Dave was too good to pass up. Beyond the fact he’s a great guy with a good collegiate coming of age story, he’s currently a student in the Special Warfare division of the Navy and is in training to become a SEAL. He’s chiseled, focused, and living out the dream he developed as a six-year old.
For the last question of the interview, we asked him to look straight into the camera and say whatever he wanted to America. Here’s what he said:
Based on the experiences that I've had, there is absolutely nothing holding us back. Wherever you come from and no matter what you look like, as long as your doing something that makes you happy - you are a successful person. At the same time, there is no excuse for wasting talent. To the youth of America, I'd say - don't waste your talents.'
As he finished, I realized I’d learned more about the ‘real’ Dave in one hour than I had in the past four years of our friendship. He spoke candidly about his motivations, his major life decisions, and his take on the college experience we shared. But more than anything else, he was inspiring. It made me think about what it would be like if I sat down all my friends and asked these questions, but more so, it made me thankful I’d again broken the no-friend rule for the project.
Jessie Draper
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| Steinbeck and another Coastal Drive
Last night I hung out with my good ol’ childhood buddy Jason. We recounted tales of memorable basketball games, lake exploration, weeklong snow days and everything else that the kid in every man holds dear. It’s great to be back in touch with Jason because we had slowly drifted apart since he left to go to a different high school. A good friendship lost and regained is a blessing. Jason is living in San Jose with his girlfriend Annie. Her parents have a nice place way up on a high hill in San Francisco. They let me crash on the couch and the next morning I woke up to a panoramic view of San Francisco. After breakfast and saying goodbye, I drove out to Alamo to meet up with the guys at Matt’s grandfather’s house. Thank you to the Turner/Russell family for their gracious and warm hospitality.
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We left Alamo around mid-day destination: Salinas. I was excited. Salinas is one of the places in America that I checked off early in the project.’ John Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors and Salinas and neighboring Monterey are his hometown stomping grounds that he forever immortalized. His vivid imagery is taken directly from the features of this place. When we reached downtown Salinas, I asked the first guy I saw if he liked Steinbeck. The guy was from Salinas and told me, “Not really. I don’t enjoy Steinbeck’s ‘doom and gloom’ style or his symbolism. The house he grew up in is two blocks down though.”
Just after arriving, we were met by a nice lady named Shelly, who was a friend of a friend of a friend. Shelly took us to he took us to the National Steinbeck Center. The Center is divided into two parts. One half is on Steinbeck, his life, and his works. The other half is on the agriculture of Salinas Valley. Both were interesting, but I spent the majority of time on the Steinbeck side. However, if Steinbeck himself were at the museum, I probably wouldn’t have seen him. There is little doubt in my mind which side Steinbeck would have visited.
In 1962 Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature. As a result, he was inevitably highly criticized this way and that. Unfortunately, after 1962, he wrote no more fiction.
The criticism didn’t stop Steinbeck entirely from writing. Travels With Charley is one of his most adored works. It’s about Steinbeck and his poodle Charley’s adventures across American during the Civil Rights era. They traveled in a converted truck named Rocinante (after Don Quixote’s horse). Travels, along with a couple of others books, was great inspiration for doing this project. The last exhibit on the Steinbeck side was a Dartmouth green painted Rocinante. I stood in awe. It wasn’t a replica, it was the actual truck. Steinbeck drove, slept and ate in this. I asked a fellow onlooker what he thought the truck was made of. I asked, just so I could reach over the protective glass and touch Rocinante without drawing attention to myself. I then walked around the back and peered in. The bed Steinbeck used was a fold down table, the same kind we have in Harvey.
Before leaving, I bought a paperback version of Steinbeck’s: America and American’s. I am excited to see what the man has to say.
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We left Salinas and drove down Coastal Route 1. It was breathtaking. Everyone should do it once, if they can. It reminded me of our first drive to Acadia, except with barbed wire and steep cliffs.
Harvey and Rocinante should hang out sometime.
good joss
Brevity
You know when you go to the ice cream shop and you're not sure what type of ice cream to get and you ask for a little spoon to take a taste. Well, that's kind of like us with the places we've been. We're only getting a tiny spoonful, but still a good taste. Sometimes though, when no one is looking, we help ourselves to a couple of extra spoonfuls.
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This journal entry is about November 9th in Davis, California. That day, Adam and I sat at the Davis Arboretum in front of our computers and did work from early to late. It wasn't a completely eventful day, but it was productive nonetheless. Arboretums are enchanting places that smell good. Every city should have one. As for Wigs and Matt, they drove to inner city Sacramento and did some street interviews. After the first couple of people declined interviews, soon they found welcoming people all with stories to tell. They got some good footage.
More next time.
good joss
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