Monthly Archives: March 2011

My Father’s Knife

My dad passed away when I was 18 months old, but this past year for Christmas I received something of his that my mom has kept the past 28 years. In a box of gifts she had mailed us there was a smaller box. On it was written”this was your dad’s”. I opened it up and in it was a pocketknife with 3 different blades. It definitely showed signs of aging, but the blades were still sharp. I didn’t have much use for a knife, but I thought it was cool that it was my dad’s, so I put it in the glovebox in my truck, not realizing how useful it would become in the next few months.

I didn’t end up using it to fend off theives (well not yet) and I didn’t use it to pick a lock (pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to do that anyway), but I have used it to keep my truck running. My truck is old and as it is with old trucks, it has its quirks. The gas gauge doesn’t work and many a days I get in to start the truck and it won’t turn over. For some reason the battery terminals get real dirty, real quick. One day, I decided to use the knife to really clean it off and voila! The truck turned on right away and ever since then when I have this problem, the knife comes out, the battery gets cleaned, and the truck starts up.

I know this is a simple story, but it’s cool that my father’s knife from 30 years ago has become such a useful tool in my current life.

The Los Angeles 5k

This past Saturday I ran my first 5k of the year, the Los Angeles 5k. So I have to run 4 more to meet my goal. Going into this race I didn’t have a time goal, but I did want to finish the race without having to stop running. Well, I finished the race, but I did not meet my goal and I blame the hills.

The course started off outside of Dodger Stadium near downtown LA and weaved its way through Elysian Park before finishing up back at the stadium. I expected the course to be hilly but was blindsided by the true hilliness of it! It seemed like half the course I was running uphill. I survived the hills, but somewhere between mile 2.5 and 3 I had to slow down to a walk to catch my breath. After my side-stich calmed down, I got back to running and finished in 36:08 which I was quite happy with.

My friend’s Phil and Reese (and 5,000 strangers) also ran the race, which was cool, and afterwards we went out for breakfast at this restaurant in Encino which served the most amazing pancakes and that definitely topped off the morning.

Up next is the Ventura Corporate Games 5k on April 6th!

The Bachelor

The latest season of The Bachelor just finished and what a wild ride it was. As a guy I’m not ashamed to admit I watch this show, it’s actually a fascinating look at people. There is real hurt, deception, love, happiness, and back-stabbing. I couldn’t help but get hooked.

(If you haven’t finished watching and don’t want spoiled don’t keep reading)

In the end it came down to Emily and Chantal. Brad had to choose between becoming a family man or living life with the fun girl. In the end he went with the family man choice in Emily. Throughout the entire show she was the sweet, southern belle, but she was insecure, guarded, and protective which is understandable given all the circumstances she’s lived through. Chantel was sent home from South Africa crying and broken and questioning all that had just happened. Now 3 months later when we see Brad and Emily for the first time since the engagement, real life has kicked in, the cameras have gone away, and that original excitement has worn off. While Chantel had said if you were willing to say yes to getting engaged, you should be willing to get married on the spot, this dream with Emily hadn’t worked out that way. She showed a different side than we all saw on the show. She was hard-headed, tough, fought back and stood her ground. There was no wedding date in the future.

So they brought back 3 Bachelor/Bachelorette couples that were still together. Of all these seaons, they could only find 3 that were still together, that says something. Anyway, they gave advice to Brad and Emily. It was just the 2 of them, start with a clean slate now that they could be together in public, let go of the past and all the awkwardness of watching the show and dealing with the weirdness that brought. Interestingly enough, that seemed to work. Emily was able to put on her engagement ring and despite the troubles they seemed to have been having they both seemed really happy. Brad in particular seemed determined to make it work. Chris Harrison, the 3 couples, and all of America (excluding a few jilted girls from the season) want them to work out, want them to get married and stay married, want them to be happy.

If you’ve never watched this show, tune in May 23rd when the Bachelorette kicks off, it’s a wild ride, but a real insight into the way people think, act, and live both good and bad.

My 10 favorite podcasts

(In no particular order)

1. Frank the Podcast

2. The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack

3. Media Junkyard

4. We’re Alive – A Zombie story (don’t laugh at me)

5. All TV with Jay and Jack

6. Stuff You Should Know

7. Hype

8. Mugglecast (okay, really no laughing this time)

9. The Geocaching Podcast

10. The Walking Dead TV Podcast

Are you related to Ansel Adams?

Ha, your name is awesome.

Oh, wow, your name is like that guys, um, um, he took pictures or something.

Did your parents realize this when they were naming you?

Are you related to Ansel Adams?

Everytime I go to a library, meet someone for the first time, visit the doctor, dentist, or optometrist, or fill my name in a form that someone will see I either get one of these questions or any of a hundred or so more asked to me all because my name is Adam Ansel.

Adam Ansel.

Not Ansel Adams.

See, they’re reversed. Someone with the last name Ansel isn’t related to someone with the last name Adams. And no, my parents had no clue who he was when they named me. I was named Adam because I was their firstborn. I first found out about him in seventh grade. But now that I live in California, where the man himself lived and took his famous pictures, I deal with this on a near daily basis.

I try to take it with humor and laugh like it’s the first time I’ve ever heard that and they’re the first person to ever ask me about it (because they certainly think they are).

With the popularity of Facebook I decided to see if there was anyone else out there who was in the same conundrum as I was and sure enough, there were two other Adam Ansel’s on Facebook. The three of us became friends and shared about all the times people think we must be the grandson of Ansel. But Ansel is my last name, it was his first name!

I’m not really complaining, because it is a good conversation starter and can break the ice, I decided I would share it with all of you, so you can share in the situation with me. But if someone who I know reads this and then still asks me if I’m related to Ansel Adams – watch out!