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Los Angeles is the ultimate 'make lemonade out of lemons' city. Anyone that has spent any time here can immediately diagnose the unruly smog situation, the gridlocked freeways, the vast array of weirdos, and the city's susceptibility to major disaster at any moment as plenty of reason to stay far far away. It is interesting though to hear the response of Angelenos when presented with these so-called problems. The smog during the summer months can easily be confused for that pesky June gloom. The traffic is a great opportunity to re-connect with old friends or listen to your entire iPod Library…weekly. All of those crazy people only add to the culture of diversity which LA prides itself on. No doubt this is a unique place.

The potential for a highly destructive lethal earthquake is a little bit harder to comb over though. There is no telling when it is going to strike or how bad it will be. It seems like every time a disaster takes place somewhere in the world the whispers of the "BIG ONE" start to infiltrate conversations from Chino to Chatsworth.

Last week I was sitting in my living room around one in the morning with Beth, Jarrod, and Blaine when it struck! No, it wasn't the BIG ONE but it was still pretty exhilarating. It lasted only a moment and registered an apparently mild 4.5 on the Richter scale, but what if it had been the one that sent California into the Pacific? Blaine and I decided to play it cool (paralyzed with fear) on the couch. Jarrod and Beth ran straight to the doorway like they had been trained in emergency earthquake response or something. The rumble stopped shortly thereafter but the four of us spent the next hour or so dissecting what had taken place.

It was my first encounter with an earthquake since moving to Los Angeles two years ago. I guess it is some form of rite of passage that we all have to experience just to make sure we can hack it in this crazy city. Hopefully I passed.

The day after the quake, my good friend Hank reminded me of a time in history when an earthquake did something remarkable. The scriptures say that directly following the death of Jesus there was an earthquake that caused tombs to open and the dead were raised to life. (Check out Matthew 27 if you don't believe me) That is a pretty intense bit of info right? It seems like things that happened in the Bible could never actually happen today, especially when it has to do with things that are dead coming to life. Creepy!

What I've been realizing is that, in a way, this has actually happened in my life. I think moving to LA shook me back to life. I wouldn't say that I was dead before I came out here but there was a direction that my life was heading that I didn't like. There isn't a worse feeling in the world than looking at who you are and who you are becoming and realizing that the person you see makes you sick. Once that was the case, I knew I needed to move quickly in order to save my soul from dying.

The last two years has been challenging, inspiring, and very fulfilling. I have never felt so alive. It's confusing to me how I ended up in LA and why God continues to open doors for me to experience new things, but as long as it keeps happening I am going to keep walking through. The scary part is I know there is so much more to come. I feel like I am standing on the fault line, just waiting for the big one to come.

Some of you may or may not remember a blog I wrote sometime back about my feelings toward the Olympics. (I deleted it so I can't post a link)

For those of you who didn't get a chance to read that beautiful piece of literature...the basic gist is that I hate the Olympics.

I know...I know...How can I hate an event that unites the nations of the world through competitive sports??

It's actually pretty easy.

Here are the Top 3 Reasons:
1. No one actually cares about the sports or the athletes
2. It's dreadfully boring (i.e. 6 hour opening ceremony)
3. Winning a medal doesn't really mean anything anymore

Today I came across another reason why the Olympics are a waste of time...



That's right...This is the official logo for the 2012 Summer Games in London.

Isn't it horrendous?

I don't understand why in the age of Photoshop and Mac this is the best we can do. The sad part about this is that someone got paid a lot of money to do what ZaneTarr could do with some fingerpaints.

The other thing that is quite disturbing about this is that soon to be former-Prime Minister Tony Blair had this to say about the logo:

"When people see the new brand, we want them to be inspired to make a positive change in their life."

WHAT?!?

I can't remember the last time a logo inspired my life to change...but it seems to be a pretty lofty goal.

The unveiling of the new London logo inspired me to take a look back at some of the other "great" moments in Olympic logo history and my findings were quite intruiging.


Most Disturbing Logo:

1960 Summer Games in Rome

I'm not sure what this has to do with anything but I doubt it did much for uniting the world in global athleticism. This is just gross.


Most Provocative Logo:

1912 Summer Games in Stockholm

I realize that the Olympics started out with a little bit of nudity but this is a little awkward. I don't know what is going on with the Swedish flag and I don't want to know!


The "What's Happening??" Category:

1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid

What is this? Does anyone know? There is no reference to the Olympics anywhere. For all we know there was an Adidas convention in Lake Placid in 1980.


1972 Summer Games in Munich

I saw the movie. It doesn't really explain what this is though. I think this was created by a Spirograph.


1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley

Squaw Valley? This is a city in California? Has anyone ever been there? Has anyone ever heard of it? Does anyone know what this logo is supposed to be? Notify me if so.


Logos with Creepy Legs:


1992 Summer Games in Barcelona

This may be the one exception to my distaste for the Olympics solely because of the Dream Team. Not even Bird, Magic, and MJ could save this logo though.


2000 Summer Games in Sydney

Is this supposed to be a boomerang? If so, I applaud this logo. If not, then that is just one crazy looking leg!


2008 Summer Games in Beijing

I would like to see this little guy take on Jackie Joyner Kersee or Carl Lewis in a 100m Dash. Nothing says athleticism like some wobbly disjointed legs. Also, I wanted to point out that this is a stick figure.


2010 Winter Games in Vancouver

I didn't even know that these games were going to be in Vancouver. I wonder if Chazz Michael Michaels would approve??


Best & Worst:

Summer Games Best:

1968 Mexico City

It's simple. It's got all you need to know. It fits with the decade. I like it.


Winter Games Best:

1988 Calgary

Very Canada...It's got the color and the maple leaf. Plus, there is no reference to Dudley Do-Right or hockey.


Summer Games Worst:

1976 Montreal

This could have qualified for the "What's Happening??" category but is just too lame. Keeping it simple is one of the keys to a good logo but this has crossed over to utterly bland. Are the Olympic rings falling? soaring? I can't tell in 2D. I do appreciate the "M" in hiding but let's face it, it will never be as clever as "MB" hidden in the old Brewers Logo.


Winter Games Worst:

1932 Lake Placid

The thing that gets me about this logo is the inaccuracy of North America on the globe behind the random ski jumper guy. This looks like the map that you used to free hand in geography class. You do an okay job at creating the USA but then you get to Mexico and Canada and it is a total crap shoot. Don't you think they could have found someone who wouldn't make Canada look like America's flat-top?


* If you didn't click on the Carl Lewis link here is your second chance...This clip represents all of my thoughts and feelings about the Olympics...ENJOY!  Nuff Said!

So as some of you may know, on October 13th I proposed to the lovely Elizabeth Anne Rook...and she said YES!!

It is definitely a risk to pop the question on a day like Friday the 13th but I wasn't afraid! Thankfully Jason and Freddy stayed at home this year and everything went according to plan.

However, this was not your average proposal. This was a full scale operation. With the fuel of Chipotle and In-N-Out Burger behind us, my dear friend Hank the Tank and I were able to dream up this monumental occasion. Together we sketched out the details of the brainchild that became known as...Operation: BLACKCAT.

The rundown of OBC went something like this...
Hank and I convinced Beth that we had the opportunity to attend a restaurant opening in Marina del Rey on Friday the 13th. This new restaurant was called "Black Cat" and apparently Michael J. Fox was going to be in attendance! You can imagine her excitement.
Beth proceeded to invite our friend Dana, who was in on the whole operation. Once the day came the girls got all dressed up and headed out to "Black Cat". As Dana was driving she convinced Beth that the only way she knew how to get to Marina del Rey was to go through the LAX. On their way "through the aiport", Dana stopped at Terminal 4 and gave Beth the necessary instructions and kicked her out of her car. From there Beth boarded a plane to San Francisco.

During this whole process, I was on the road with Hank, Beth's sister Kate, our best friends Jarrod and Taryn Shappell, as well as Chris and Michelle Tidwell.

Upon our arrival we got to scout out the city and check into our hotel (Thank You Paul Keeler!!). From there Hank was off to the airport to pick up Beth and escort her to Pier 14, the site of the proposal.

My partner in crime was able to get Beth and take her all the way from the airport to the Embarcadero without saying a word (which if you know Hank, is no small feat!). From there he walked her up to the enterance of the Pier and set her on her way to me.

I was standing at the end of the pier awaiting my soon to be fiance'. At this point it was quite dark and I could only see her small silhouette approaching. My heart was beating rather rapidly at this point. It seemed to take forever for her to finally reach me. I was thinking either the pier just got a lot longer or Beth is just an incredibly slow walker.

Once she stood before me I gave my little speech that seems like a blur now. I got down on one knee and asked the most important question in my life. She said, "yes" and I gave her a blingin' ring. After we had a short moment to be mushy, Jarrod, Taryn, and Kate made their way down the pier and surprised Beth! There were a lot of screams, tears, and laughter as the 5 of us celebrated.



As we made our way from the pier, the Tidwells appeared and surprised Beth. There were more explosions of emotion and everyone was having a blast.



From there we made our way to E&O Trading Co., a great restaurant near Union Square in downtown SF. There the suprises kept rolling in... Upon our arrival, Mary, Beth's best friend from college, and her boyfriend Rob were there. Again, the trend of emotions continued. We finally got settled and began eating when Drue, another one of Beth's good friends from college, and her boyfriend Aaron showed up.



The 12 of us celebrated, partied, laughed and had a blast. Operation: Black Cat was a success! I have a bride-to-be now and I couldn't be happier. I just want to say thanks to everyone who was involved. You were all amazing!



Keep your ears open for wedding plans...now we have a whole new operation to cook up!