Author: Kevin Carver

Taking a Local Day

How formulaic do our lives become? It’s both good and bad, I suppose. We take vacations from the norm, only to get sick of the vacation and return to our norm.

I heard this statistic the other night and I can’t get it out of my brain:

96% of all Americans spend, on average, their whole lives indoors.

Upon hearing this, I wanted to run outside and skip through a field of daisies; I don’t even like daisies. I wanted to dig a garden, walk to work, and ride a hot air balloon around the country with a monkey named Charlie.

I decided that I needed to prove this statistic wrong.

So the next day, I went on vacation in my own town.

Extraordinarily, I was free from work and school. After an invitation, I made my way down to Doma Coffee and partook in my first ever “cupping.” The perplexities of smelling, breathing, and tasting coffee for hours on end was unusually delightful. For the first time in my life, being a “sipper” actually came in handy.

I learned how to pick fragrances out of coffee like apples, leather, chocolate, and “corn flakes.” I got to know the Doma guys a little better too. We talked about current coffee markets, espresso machines, and good beer. It was great.

After overstaying my welcome, I traveled back downtown to The Long Ear, a local record store (yes kids, those still exist). I traded some CDs in hopes of stocking up store credit for the upcoming Record Store Day. While there, I searched through the vinyl bin and “smoozed” a bit with the staff.

I was reminded me of the hours I’d kill at Boo Boo Record’s in Grover Beach, CA (RIP), where I’d search endlessly through the used CD bin and sticker bucket. Oh the days of my youth…

After The Long Ear, I went back home, recorded some music, waited for my wife to get home and then did a little shopping at my work, Pilgrims Market.

As the day grew late, I reflected upon my day. It was unique and more than usual. There were two things that made it different:

*I made time for myself

*Every business I entered was locally owned

So take from that what you will. Do you feel that you need a break from the norm? Take a local day for yourself and discover what your town has to offer.

Stay out of Albertsons, keep away from Wal-Mart, and for God sakes avoid McDonalds. Corporations and franchises exist only to capitalize off of consumer’s fear of the unknown. It’s funny, but the more I stay out of these businesses, the more I seem to enjoy the area I live in.

Try supporting only local shops for an entire day; take a walk and get outside. Maybe, you wont even need a vacation after all.

My goal this spring and summer is to get outside more, shop locally, and continue to discover my town. Why else would I live here?

Jesus & The Heart

When I was in the fifth grade, I accepted Jesus into my heart. By doing this, I didn’t have to change anything about my lifestyle; I just had to make room for God. The people who “saved” me went on with their lives, and I was left to figure out the complexities of becoming born again.

Roughly 13 years after becoming a Christian, I wonder if I easily received God into my life but not His will for my life. The more I read the Bible the more I have doubts about this phrase of accepting Jesus into my heart. (more…)

Nobama, Nobush, Nocare

I just got done walking with a classmate towards my next class. We both have English 102 together and we’re in the midst of writing an argumentative essay.

I asked my friend what he was writing about and he said, “gun control.” I asked him for his thesis and he told me something along the lines that gun control is useless.

Whether or not you agree with his thesis is not the issue. The issue that spawned is that he started spouting off complaints about Obama. I walked along and listened but couldn’t help be slightly frustrated at this situation I found myself in once again. (more…)

In-Rainbow Trout Dinner

I usually don’t do food blogs but I made one heck of a dish a couple nights ago I thought I’d share it.

Basically, it’s a pan-fried rainbow trout with some sautéed mushrooms and a nice salad. So I’ve called it In-Rainbow Trout.

Despite the name, the mushrooms are actually what make the dish special.

Here’s what I do: (more…)

Boys in da Mt. Hood?

I’m taking a class this semester called Mountaineering. It’s probably the most intimidating thing I’ve done in a long while. We are supposed to climb Mt. Hood at the end of the semester. If you’re not familiar with Hood, it’s the 2nd most climbed mountain in the word and 2 people die on average per year.

I didn’t really know what mountaineering was until I joined this class. Honestly, I thought it would just be a mixture of backpacking and wilderness survival at a beginners pace. It’s proving to be a lot more than that. (more…)

Top 10 of oh’10

So before I dig in too deep, I thought I’d make a couple notes.

*Honestly, my favorite album of this year was The Avett Brothers-I and Love and You, technically a 2009 release. Unfortunately I didn’t hear it till early 2010 so it can’t be an official “best of.” I also really liked the last David Crowder Band album, Church Music, also a 2009 release. Both of these albums I listened to heavily in 2010, so I thought I’d give them a mention. If you haven’t heard I and Love and You yet then you are missing out on life.
*This was a great year for music, although a little strange. I found myself disappointed with bands I’ve been into for years such as Anberlin, Angels & Airwaves, Weezer, and The Rocket Summer. It wasn’t so much that these albums were “bad” as I just wanted something new or different. They just didn’t speak to me (or they lost their appeal after a week or two). At the same time, I happened to cling to the newest Jimmy Eat World and I Can Make a Mess albums (bands I listened to in high school) so I don’t really know.
*I’ve never cared for much of The Arcade Fire or for Band of Horses, not because of lack of talent but because I tend to stay away from “indie darlings” who seem to top every hipster list. I couldn’t help it this year. (I’m coming to terms with my indie hipster self I guess) Both albums were exquisite (and I don’t use that word very often). (more…)