Sidewalk Chalk Drawings

This guy does amazing drawings on sidewalks

Chain Letter

Chain letters have a long tradition of annyoing the hell out of people. I don't mean to keep up that tradition, but I have an idea for a chain letter. the only thing I don't like about my idea is that I'll never get to see the fruits of this awesome idea (be there any).

anyhow, here's the idea, (it's stated in the letter so I'm just gonna post that)

Dear whoever,

Even though I don't like the term chain-letter, I guess this is one. Not in the sense that if you don't mail it on to fifty billion people a chandelier will fall on your head. More in the sense that when you get this, it'd be really nice of you to add your own bit and then send it on to someone else.

The whole point of this letter is to spread stories, and to bring back letter writing. If you don't feel like sending this to someone else, give it to a friend who might have something to add.

Anyhow, here's what you do. Put down your name and the place you live, and then write a little thing about something beautiful you saw today, or yesterday, or ten years ago, or something beautiful you want to see, just something beautiful. And by beautiful I mean something you find beautiful.

I'll start us off

Patrick

Clear Creek, Northern California.

The snow tonight was really beautiful. I mean, snow in and of itself is nothing too remarkable for me, but this snow was really nice. I got out of a test and I was walking towards my car, and the snow was just so nice and light. It was sort of perfect. It was falling just fast enough to not seem static, and just slow enough that you could stand and watch one flake for a while. It was so nice I had the urge to grab some of my friends and drag them out to see it.

Letters #1

I don't know how often I'll do this, or if I'll even do it more than once, but for some reason I feel like posting letters (or excerpts thereof) on here. For about 3 months in spring/summer of 2005 I wrote a huge ammount of letters, to just about everyone I could think of.
here is an excerpt from one of them.

BEGINING

I think letters are a bit underrated. The art of correspondence has been lost to the closer connectivity of email. Letters do feel so much more personal, it's such a great feeling looking in your mailbox and seeing that you got a letter from an old friend, or a new one. Those sorts of letters fill your heart with joy, because you feel remembered. That person PAID to send you mail, they cared enough to write a three page, one page, 20 page letter to you, and to pay to send it. So I feel like writing a letter to my friends, make them feel special like that.

For all that what I am doing right now isn't a lot to write about, I have dreams, and goals, and memories to share with you, to tell you about. But first off I need to tell you what I'm up too (that is how it usually goes eh?)

Running is so fun. That is why i'm ecstatic about the beginning of track season. Though our team does not yet have a coach we started training Monday. We ran 2 miles Monday, 2 miles Tuesday, I ran 5 and a half miles Wednesday, and 2 miles yesterday, and 2-3 miles today. That sounds like a lot, but its not to me, because the joy I derive from running is quite present. The pain I sometimes get makes me feel more alive. After a good hard run you feel EVERYTHING and that's good. I feel muscles I did not know I had, and that makes me truly comprehend the fact that I am ALIVE.

Also I'd like to tell you the story about one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen. (there's no flattery involved or anything.)

I was on a bus in Mexico, on the Yucatan peninsula. This area is Mayan country. I forget what my sister and I were going off to see (we have a trip together every year, this last years trip was to Mexico). We had gotten into a habit of sitting in the front right side seat of the bus so we could see out the front window and see all this beautiful green land, and all of these beautiful brown people. On this particular bus there was a young woman with either her mother or her grandmother. To most she would seem rather ordinary. But her eyes, they were a deep beautiful blue. to see this beautiful Mayan girl, with a rather round face with these strikingly blue eyes made me feel quite enamored. But at first, and even shortly after I did not fully comprehend the beauty of this girl. Until I looked at many girls, many boys, many men, many women, and saw how few had these blue Spanish eyes did I realize that I had seen something that in all of my travels I may never again encounter. But not only did this girl have eyes of sapphire, she could sing. To entertain themselves she and her mother/grandmother sand songs, folk songs. The mesh of voices, old and ragged, yet still beautiful, and young and pure, was enough to make the bus ride much less monotonous than any other I have ever been on.

I have so many vivid memories like that. Of different places different people. I can occasionally remember whole conversations. But it's so amazing to me what sticks with me. I hadn't thought so highly of this Mayan/Spanish girl when I saw her, but in retrospect she was amazing. That's how it is with so many things though. You don't realize what you have until it is gone. With friends I only miss those who are no longer with us, or in this town. That means I don't appreciate my other friends as much. I suppose this is really just a way to show my appreciation, to tell you of things which, though I have told them to others, mean a lot to me.

Love, Patrick

END

The Snow is NOT Just Fine With Me!

Normaly I'm the first person to be happy about more snow falling. when it comes to snow "bring it on" is my motto, but this is just too much. We had a nice 3 week (give or take a week) false spring. I was ready for it to get nice so i could go out running and biking again, and then it snowed. this was nice because I got a good day in boarding at Lake Tahoe, but after that wonderful day of snowboarding (and night of makig snow angels in my boxers) I was done with snow. I know that the minute I get used to the snow it'll stop. if we had had a good winter i would be ecstatic about this new snowfall, but because we've had a shitty winter, I'm just ready for spring.
so despite my usual attitude, and my normal motto, for this half of march, the snow is not just fine with me.