Window Shopping For Foam

This past weekend while I was at Disneyland, I noticed on Twitter that there was a increase in foamy tweets. I'm looking at all of you, Disney-specific fan sites. "Jake, what are you talking about?" you ask?

I'll show you.

 Some may call this loud, and in your face, but if you look really closely at what specifically is being advertised in the windows, it's done the best it can be done. Big Top Toys has louder style kids shirts and toys in the window. Hats balanced nicely along the left side of the street at Los Feliz. Same with paper goods and books in another window. 

The fact of the matter, folks, is that Disney is a business. Yes, Walt Disney Imagineering is the artists point of the company, and they have created an immensely wonderful land that is ideally the dreamy 1920/30's Los Angeles. Some try to compare it to the wonder of Main Street USA, but the fact is, it has it's own quaint, romantic charm that's totally a different heartbeat than the conceptually designed Midwest town. But...

Disney IS still a business, as stated above. There ARE number crunchers and marketing directors that's sole job is to sell their product inside the land WDI created. There's still a good story told here on Buena Vista Street. It's just doing what the outside world does so well, and sells their product through an age-old marketing technique called (shockingly enough) window shopping. 

Who-da-thunk, right? 

The thing is, most of these geeks that lament over it, are going to be walking out of the park late at night after marathon riding on Radiator Springs Racers, chatting about Tardises....Tardi? whatever that British Time Box show is, and they'll see a window of a hat, or a hoodie, or metal vintage sign, and say "I just remembered, I have to go get one of those for my never-ending collection of Disney stuff!" 

Then they go into Elias and Co., or Los Feliz..shoot, even Big Top Toys (scratch that. They'll buy that plush Oswald in there for sure.), and buy what they remembered they needed to buy in the first place.

And wham. Disney wins again, without them even realizing it. Funny part is, they don't recognize that this marketing technique worked, works, and will still work for anyone in the world. Putting your product in a window is not just great promotion, but also in a street sense like Main Street (Geeks, remember, the original park's done this for YEARS) and Buena Vista Street, because you'll see it in the morning, not want to carry things around all day, come back down the street, probably still see it, walk in, and buy it. 

This is what I don't get. Fans lament over and over again about how "it ruins theming" and is "in your face and forces buying things upon you". If you can't look at a window with items in it, say "thats cool." and walk past without buying it, then clearly their technique worked, and you just bought something because you saw it in the window and wanted it. 

I'm sure there's some imagineers that might be bummed about some of the historical items not being in the windows, and admittedly, they were really cool! But we can't lose sight of the fact that this is a corporation with multiple facets that need to have their hands in areas too. There's still a huge amount of small props that add to the beauty of this new street. Just because the windows now have merchandise in them doesn't mean it's the end of the world. 

Imagine Dragons in Class...

I usually don't post much about music or movie reviews, simply because there's so many of them out there. But since this now a daily (or almost daily) blog, I gotta find things to write about.

This band is definitely a new favorite. With a sound akin to Killers, this is a band that will soon be rocking stadiums as not just an opening act, but a headline. They've got an amazing sound, with really great indie rock ties. The album is available on iTunes for...last I checked when I bought it, around seven bucks. Or if you're cheap, I'm sure Spotify has it. But definitely check these guys out.

Alright, now I'm gonna get back to focusing on my creative writing class....

Happy Labor Day!

Hope everyone's having a fun Labor day getting in one of the final swims of the summer, or BBQ's with your family. It's another action packed day in the man cave with two college summaries and a government essay to write. Nothing really exciting today. But what I wanted to share today was a few blogs that if you're interested in Disney, then definitely check them out.

First up, my great friend Danielle has a terrific blog about past stories and experiences she had as a Cast Member at the Disneyland Resort. Some are humorous, others are sure to bring a tear to your eye. In fact, rumors have it that she's in talks with some people about a memoir book. She definitely deserves it, after all the networking and connections she makes with people. So if you want to check out her Tales of a Disneyland Cast Member, click....HERE

Second in the list is a phenomenal photography blog of Disneyland photography. Albert's a really great guy who happens to catch some really great angles and writes on them at his site. It's still relatively fresh to the interwebs, but I highly suggest checking out his photos HERE.


Also, if you'd like to follow them on twitter, their handles are here with direct links to their pages..

Danielle - @deemagicgurl

Albert - @corkscrewed02

Boom Went The Post

Look, there's just things that are cool to post, and not to post. Plain and simple. There's an art to generating creative posts to not just gain followers, but also keep them interested in the posts you post. It takes time to generate this art, as it's constantly ever-changing. But lets look at things NOT to tweet much about:

• Too much of a relationship. I've done this one, I won't lie. Not everyone cares that you and Honey Schmuckums just shared froyo for the 24th time since you've dated.
• Women: Your period and pregnancy issues. No one outside of Midol, Tampax and your husband or boyfriend want to know you're dealing with this on a public format. 
• Complaining. Now here's a fine line to balance. How does one say something is bad, without coming off as a sad sack of tears? Usually making the complaint light hearted and funny eases the posts tension about your issue of bad valet parking, or missing your favorite show because your kid dropped the remote in apple juice.
• Family/friend drama. So you and your bestie/Bro since Kappa Pi Gamma Beta split up the group for the 9th time? Old news. Now it's expected you'll reunite over drinks at the same bar for now the 10th time in probably record time, too. 
• Reviews. Everyone has their vlog of why they think the Na'vi should have been red instead of blue. But then we couldn't make stretched out smurf jokes. Instead, they'd just be laffy taffy bars with tails. Seriously though, Ebert and Roeper get paid to do what they do for a reason. Best to leave it to the guys that know what a Dolly Zoom is. 

It's cool to say that a movie or artist rocked. That you got into a relationship with your crush, even. But like everything, there's moderation and how you say things matter the most. 

I know I've pissed off a lot of people with things before. In fact, I know there's some that are foa-I mean fuming at me for posting this, and some other stuff. But when there's issues that people don't like, and a group thinks relatively unanimously of it, somebody's gotta say it. I'm gonna leave it at this. When you're confronted, it's not bullying when you tell someone how things are that everyone else privately has agreed upon. I know I would want to be told in a caring fashion that there's something I'd need to work on to be a better person. And if it was true, then I'd change. Because that's what makes people successful. That's how they can start handling their own stuff in the world. Otherwise they're going to fail and be miserable the rest of their lives. I know I wouldn't want that for myself. 

Friday's Gone Monday

Most of the time you'd think Fridays are the best day of the week. Especially with a three day weekend creeping up on your radar. Admittedly, my Friday started out really good. Work was easy going. Pranked some people by taping an air horn to the wall behind their office door. When they open the door, air horn goes off, papers fly, and then retaliation ensues. 

Not just the prank, but a end of the month party with free pizza and sodas made the day a lot of fun. Especially when we all sat down in the great room, and watched Hunger Games. 

But this is where it turns south for the afternoon. 

You see, I work with developmentally disabled adults. You may know it as autism, retardation, etc. So these clients I work with are typically and normally really good and mild mannered. After all, it's our job to keep them that way, and ensure that the best of interests is kept for them. 

A client in our room kept acting up, and we told this person not to keep acting up, otherwise everyone else was going to get a treat, and he/she wasn't. Well, their irritation grew (sometimes this just happens, no matter what we can do to help it.) and we tried to calm them down, and with no luck. Well, in the event of all this, the client ended up biting my bicep. 

I'm fine, no worries. But I had to take off and go get it checked out and start a round of Hep B shots. I end up waiting at workman's comp for a while, and I'm getting nervous, because I had somewhere else to be at 5:00pm, and it was eating away at my time. I had to still get ready and cleaned up from work, too!

So, doctor comes in, gives me the first round of Hep B shots, and then says "Oh yea, we're gonna test you for HIV, and other Hepatitis viruses. Go down the block to the blood bank." So now I have to wait for the rest of the paperwork to file through before I can leave. 

As I finally get the paperwork done, I walk to the blood bank down the street, wait again. File more papers. Wait, wait, wait....oh hey! They called me. I go back and wait again.

They stick this decent sized needle in my arm, and then add the vile to start drawing blood. Now, I'm not usually one to get super squeamish about this, but seeing the steady flow of blood lap over it's self as it rushes into the vile was really creepy to me. 

As they finished up, I rushed out of there, and then onto Target. I mean, I had to look presentable, and not just in some geek t-shirt. I still surprise myself though. I can make it out of Target in under $40. I ran in, found a plaid button up shirt on the discount rack, a white t-shirt to go under it, hair gel (because mine was a mess), and a pack of gum. $31.78 later, I ran into the bathroom of the store, and changed in the stall. As I walk to the sink to do my hair really quick, an older gentleman walks in and begins to wash his hands, and our conversation goes like this...

Man: Goin' somewhere spiffy?

Me: Yea, it's been a crazy day, and I didn't have time to go back cross town to my house to change. 

Man: heehee, I understand son. I've been there myself a few times before. 

Me: Oh yea? 

Man: Yes sir. Back in the day, I was always running late. Ended up doing the exact same thing you're doing right now. 

Me: Well, it must be a dude thing then, huh? 

Man: Sure is. So's buying flowers to make up for possibly being late. Don't keep her waiting too long, son.

Me: Speechless.

How did this dude know? Must have been wisdom with age. But I picked up some flowers, and went on my way for the evening...

Paper, Books, and Websites. Life of a College Student

The first week always hits the hardest. With four classes, a full time job, and then whenever I can go out (like tomorrow night), I'm busy. It's been crazy this week, and it's only going to get more insane.

It's nothing but syllabi and theses. 

The Girl.

I've posted this a long time a go, but I want to resurface this, and see what you guys think. Still haven't found the girl in this dream of mine, but she's out there somewhere.

I miss the beach. I want to feel the cold pacific surround me as I get barreled.
I want that sticky feeling of dried saltwater, and my hair all a mess because I left my hat at home.
I want the smell of a great seafood place right off the beach, tempting me with it's salty, buttery aromas.

But, then, there's the girl.

The one riding the waves alongs side me.
The one running her fingers through my mop of what I call a hairstyle.
The one who's holding my hand, playing with my fingers as we walk up to that great seafood restaurant...all the while, me thinking, "why did she pick me, of all guys?"
The one girl who takes me 45 minutes to kiss her goodnight because we're talking too much..
..and then spending another three hours talking on the phone, until she falls alseep on the other end of the line.
This, is when I realize, life could not get any better.

Crazy Day

Yea, today's been crazy! Work, drive to class, have class with a good friend in there, drive back to town, have lunch at Chick Fil A (hold your complaints, I wanted chicken, and not from the Colonel!), 5 minute meet up with someone, drive to Barnes and Noble, picked two books (The 500 by Matthew Quirk, and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) I chose to read for my class, drive back, finish work, now for an afternoon of homework, then onto open house at the high school for our foreign exchange student. Back home for homework, and sleep.

I love this life. I'm never stopping, always going, always smiling and having fun. This is what makes me happy is constantly moving. Like the tide of the ocean, it's always going in one direction or another.

I had some other ideas to post about some stuff, but it's not worth the time or confrontation from people I'd get for it. I'll just leave it at this: Hypocritical natures often are jaded by their own realities and fail to see how things really work, and who people really can be.

Dazed and Amazed - The Turn Around Weekend

This past weekend was insane. Work was taking forever on Friday, but mainly because I had amazingly awesome plans that I was waiting to follow through with. My family decided to get their annual passes again at Disney (I've had mine since July), and I was going with some good high school friends as well.

I mean, I made a entire playlist of songs for the night. It was gonna be amazing. But I really don't have much else to say right now, mainly because it's monday, and I don't want to type up some grand story. So here's photos, and I'll finish with some other stuff at the end.

 We're here! :)

The twin met up with us! 

Huh...what's in the envelop...

Yea...he got a surprise.

Mama soaking in the new Land. 

Throwback Thursday: Three Parks in a Day

Throwback Thursday, for those that don't really know (and if you don't, get out from under that rock you live in, and jump into the internet pop culture), is a weekly photo/memory trip for people to post something from the past to share with the friends on the futuristic social networking across the globe. Because really, how great is it that you can now share your baby photo with your friends in Paris? 

Like I blogged yesterday, I'm going to try to blog daily. So for Throwback Thursday, this one's a memory about earlier this summer. 

I had just broken up with my girlfriend, and I needed a distraction. So I take a vacation down south to hang out with my bro Austen (@blueskyhigh91) . We spend a few days going to Disney, and the US Open of Surfing, but the craziest day was when we hit three different theme parks in a day. 

We woke up in his apartment, thinking we'd drive down to Carlsbad to check out LegoLand. It's a quaint park, just really designed for the twelve and under crowd. So we get out on the road, and blast the killers, crack jokes, talk about girls and his (now girlfriend) crush Danielle (@Deemagicgurl on twitter). Talk about the breakup I had, and what I was going to do about it, and we finally make it down to LegoLand. 

It's a lot of fun, and we check a few rides out, enjoy the shows and such, and spent the longest time at the MiniLand section, observing the models of towns, and then wanting to visit the actual cities such as New York, and San Francisco. Then, my grandmother calls and offers to get us into Knott's Berry Farm (they were already over there). We accept, and head out. This was only 2:00pm, and we were going to make it up to Knotts. 

A side note, but I don't get how people complain about driving in LA/OC. The traffic can admittedly be bad, but really, it's not as terrible as it's hyped up to be. 

Back on track...we get to knotts, and get into the park, and decide to ride one of the few woodie coasters in California. Does anyone know of a good chiropractor, because Ghostrider is set on breaking your back. We have a good time, and ride a few other rides. Oh, and I got Austen onto Xcelerator. That was entertaining. He was freaked out in line. We're talking, shaking hands, sweaty palms, the works. We get on, and the air hisses out of the brakes. We're rocketed down the track and he's screaming and yelling, and about halfway DOWN the tower, he starts laughing and enjoying the ride. We get off the ride and he ends up liking it. After Xcelerator, him and I try to go for what we didn't think would happen. We leave to go see the fireworks at Disneyland, and go for three parks in a day. We make it to the parking structure, race to the trams, and run into the park a mere 10 minutes before Magical! starts for the evening. After that, we ride a few rides, get a coffee and head back to the apartment for the night. 

Next time, we're going to try to add Universal Studios and California adventure to this crazy mix, but this was definitely a helpful fix for me after the breakup, and a really great memory I had from this past summer with my bro. 

Blog a day, keeps writers block at bay.

I'm going to try to blog at minimum once a day. This is going to be my story. I'm doing it to be able to look back and see where I was in my life and what stories I had to talk about.

So far today's been alright. Work was a good time. Ended up taking the clients to Burger King and getting an ice cream cone. I've been hooked on How I Met Your Mother lately. I can't get enough of that show. It's hilariously written, and the characters are easily connectable and relatable.

Now I'm at my iMac getting ready to work on a project or two. I've got The Hangover playing in the background. Haven't seen that in...oh, nine months or so. But it's good to be back to laughing at stupid humor, for the pure sake of entertainment. I'm not condoning taking your friends to Vegas for a bachelor party, buying drugs from a gas station, or marrying a hooker named Jade. But given that it's a fictional story that's so out of this world, it's still funny to laugh at.

Rest of the night's going to be pretty quiet. Waiting for the weekend to finally get here. Going to Disneyland friday night, not sure about Saturday's plans, and Church on Sunday. 

Private Malone

The only light in my room is the glowing 21 inches of my iMac in the room right now. iTunes is on shuffle, and I've gone from Cheap Trick, to Taylor Swift, to Digital Daggers, to some Disney BackGround Music from the parks, and now, to a song I haven't heard in a long time.

I know, I know, it's country. But growing up in Bakersfield, you gotta meet everyone at some point, right? Anyway, this song somehow always had a way of playing late at night when I'd lay in bed listening to the Late night Show with Blair Garner, and it was always a song that got me to dream about the story it tells. And I really don't know why I'm even posting this, because I have ZERO point to make with it, but it's bringing back memories of my childhood. Back when I could hear a song, and just see the story come to life through the lyrics.  And that's actually one of the great things about country music. It's not just a love song thrown together with a catchy beat. There's actual stories to be told about life. This one just happened to be a big part of my late night childhood radio listening, and wondering what Private Malone did in the war. Where he went, how he died in battle. What if he wrote love letters back to his Mrs. Malone? We're never going to know, but it's great to wonder, isn't it?

The Wonderful World of Walt

I try not to post my own personal blue sky ideas much, mainly for personal reasons, but this one I want to see what people think of.

What would happen if, for Disney California Adventure's 20th Anniversary, and Walt's 120th birthday year (2021), Disney makes a show honoring the man who created the Mouse, and the park, and even after, inspired everything we have today?

It's not a great photoshop job, but I'm still working on how to really make things look more and more professional. However, this gets the point across, I hope. This is a rough draft idea, and can definitely use tweaks here and there to polish it, but I think it's an idea that could be really grand.

Photo links: Walt and World of Color

The show starts with the soft pier background music. Everyone's all standing along the waterfront, chatting with a coffee or a beer from the Garden across the way, and suddenly the lights lower. The music quiets.

As people hush their conversations, and start to cheer, you hear a train slowly chugging into the station, with small white fountains bobbing in a line as the train nears the stop along the station. As the quiet dapper music plays, you see a young walt step out of a passenger car, looks to Mickey and say "Well Mickey, you ready for your big break?" As he says this, the music picks up into a song about following your dreams, with a very classic, but upbeat style, with white fountains dancing. Relatively close to the program style used in the entrance of the current show. Dancers rotating in circles, with a few line of chasers towards the back. 

As the intro ends, the clips begin. 

the entire show brings in popular clips from the dawn of Walt and Mickey. With a newly configured spirit (yes, at this point Little Squirt would come back, but with Walt Narrative)

Starting still in "black" and white fountains, Walt's voice and spirit come around on the platform, talking about how we need to make a new dream with Mickey. He's basically talking to Mickey as a director, telling Mickey what to do, and mentoring him.  

Walt

"What we need, Mickey, is you saving Minnie. You captain the Steamboat, and save the girl, ok?" 

Mickey

"aha, you got it, boss!" 

We then venture through Steamboat Willie. As the boat sails across screen, water gags hit the cues with the film on screen, very akin to how The Just Add Water concerts are now with Maestro Goofy. 

"well boss, how'd that take go?" 

Walt

"Great job! Now let's make you a friend. How about a duck?"

As he says this, donald is drawn on screen. 

Mickey

"ha, boss, I sure could use a pal!" 

Walt

Alright, now, lets take a stand, and play with the band. 

The Band concert's then kicks up. This is when color starts to appear in the show. Up until now, it's all in white fountains. 

Donald's hijinks are displayed through the fountains as blue, Mickey's in red, and they battle back and forth. 

This progress from the band concert to the next cartoon, with Fantasia and the darker part of the show

Walt

"Well Mickey, people love you. Want to try your luck with my magic?" 

Mickey

"you trust me? Golly, that'd sure be swell, boss!"

As the says this, Fantasia's Sorcerer's Apprentice appears, with orange dancing fountains as broomsticks, and as more fountains add water,  waves of water with blue lasers rising up fill the area, and Walt cuts it short. 

"whoa, whoa, whoa there little buddy. Gotta practice more! Lets try this. You take a break, and we're going to make some new characters appear. Someday, you're going to direct all of this."

From here, the show starts a montage of characters. Alice In Wonderland, Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, etc. As it gets around to the films made in the 60's, Walt calls in Mickey. 

"Mickey, I can't do this much longer. I'm passing all of this on to you."

Mickey

"But, but...boss! I can't do this, I need you! They need you!"

Walt

"Mickey, you're going to do wonderful things, my friend. Go, and keep the magic....alive"

"B...b-boss? Mr. Walt?"

You hear a quiet, raspy sigh, and with that, Mickey stands up, walks across the water screens and picks up the paint brush Walt uses to create the characters on screen. 

"Alright guys, let's make magic!"

now Mickey conducts the show, and from here he helps create his friends. From Jungle book to Pete's Dragon, to Little Mermaid, Lion King,  Toy Story, Hunchback of Notre Dame, etc. This is when the show "blows up" with Mickey coming up with the characters we've grown up with, only to end the show with the final song, And Mickey saying "well boss, We've made it. Look at what you've done for all of us. Lets make some more magic!" and it ends. 

This is the first time I'm thinking this through, and it can easily be rewritten, and rewritten, and again, rewritten to work. But I think the basic concept here, with a show about Walt and Mickey coming together to make what we've grown up with can be very powerful, and done very well. Something I hope could become a great story to show someday. 

What do you think? 

Pirates of the Car(brick)ibbean

Bored tonight, made a small model of the entrance island to Pirates at Disneyland. Could make it more detailed, but this was done in about 15 minutes time. Any suggestions on something else I should make soon? 

"I'm In Hillbilly Hell"

Those words in the title come from Disney/Pixar's Cars. It's a popular scene when Lightning McQueen is trying to convince Minnie and Van to assist him to get out of Radiator Springs, because he's 'in hillbilly hell'. Disney really has pretty much any movie to relate to any moment in your life. Right now, I feel a bit light Lightning McQueen: stuck in some small town with "no way out". The difference is, my small town isn't quaint and awesome like Radiator Springs. Unfortunately, this is the real world, and it sucks.

My problems of this place, and desire to leave don't stem from a bad home life, or anything like that. It stems from the fact that this place is beyond what I don't want in life. I know this for fact, now that I've had a chance to sit down by myself in some quiet time and reflect on my life. This place has some issues, and I won't go into detail for each one, but here's a list:
- It's small. There's literally nothing to do outside a movie, Dewars, or Boomers/Camelot on a friday night. If you're lucky, you can do all three in the same night. (this is where people unfortunately "get creative" and find ways to "have fun". Youtube "redneck party tricks" and you'll see what I mean)
- Politics. Yea, this is everywhere, but when your town gets contracts to get higher quality dining experiences, and because of a "kit fox" they halt the entire project prettymuch permanently, there's a problem.
- Good Ol' Boy. This is rampant in Bakersfield. It very much appears that unless you're "in" with the cliques of this town, you're "out" on everything. The star linebacker from Bakersfield High of the 70's  is still as arrogant as he was the day he made the game saving tackle.
- Air Quality. Yes, I know LA has its share of problems with this too, BUT they have the marine layers to wash it out more often than the armpit of the vally does.

There's more than that, but that's the bigger topics on the list. This isn't even scratching the list of my own personal issues. There's too many bad memories that I want to leave in the past, and start fresh in a bigger and more productive place. Orange County and Los Angeles are places that, albeit have their own problems as well, still have a larger base of people, and a base of people that I can find, and be creative and live the life I truely want with. I want to be able to drive 30 minutes to the beach and surf, go to work, get off work, meet with friends for dinner, laugh and have quality conversations outside of "oh, did you hear what Jimmy did over at Pismo last week on his quad?", then go back to my apartment, put on some music, and work on a project for work. Maybe have my girlfriend come over the next morning and I make her breakfast. Oh, and I want a window that I can look out and not see a field of dirt.

As for the people, I want away from the stupid, idiodic drama. I know that this again, is something that happens everywhere, but when you're in a town this small, and everyone knows everyone, word travels fast. For example. I broke up with my girlfriend a few weeks ago. And to stop with the PR answer to everyone, and being honest here (I know I might get heat for this, but screw it, I don't care) she wasn't what I ended up wanting. Things were changing and I wasn't happy. I was giving up my dreams to make hers happen, and I didn't even realize at the time that it was gonna suck for me long term. That, and there were times that I just felt like it was a manipulation trip. Quick bat of the eyes, that slight plead to the tone of voice, and it's a sucker trap for a guy like me. I know it, others know it, but no one will admit it but me.

Back on track...

when I broke up with her, I changed my relationship status really late at night when very little of my friends were on, didn't tell many publicly about it. But people I didn't even have on my friends list started calling me out of the blue asking if I was ok and what happened (of course that question comes up..). And as much as I appreciate about 90% of the calls/texts/messages, there's still those people that I just don't want to know my stuff, because it turns to gossip and then the story twists to we broke up because of some stupid reason, instead of the real reason. Not only this, but last night I was supposed to go get dinner with a old friend of mine from high school. She's dating a good friend of mine from high school (we all hung out a lot in high school, so I know both of them really well). I figured it was fine, because she's faithful to him, and I'm beyond NOT interested in her. Especially now that I vow not to really look into dating anyone from here anymore (yes, ladies in SoCal, I'm single). Anyway, I get a text from her boyfriend saying it was unecessary to pay for dinner if all I was going to do was apologize. I had no idea what he was talking about, because I just wanted to catch up and chat about how our lives have been lately. It's been a good year since I've seen anyone from high school, so I'd figure dinner and chatting would be good. Not the case.

She apparently lied to him, and even with screenshooting the conversation (via text) I had with her, he got mad at me, told me not to talk to her or him, and blamed me for "sounding interested in her". Really? We're still playing this game, guys? Trust me, I wouldn't go after another guy's girl, even if she was Minka Kelly or Olivia Wilde.

I'm just tired of this town and how petty and just....high school it can be. I want to find a more mature group of friends that I can really trust and confide with. I want a life where I can work hard at what I love, and not just a job that pays me to be there for them. I want to be able to find great local places and not just fast food or the Basque house in town. There's too much in this world to see and do, and I don't want to miss out on any of it being here.