The Writing's On The Wall

I remember back when I was an elementary student, I had a fascination with drawing airplanes.  I would draw PanAm Jumbo Jets.
At middle school age I started sketching faces off of pictures and painting with water colors.
In high school art was one of my best classes.  It was the only class where even if I had 20+ absences I still got an A.  High school is also where I learned (from friends) that spray paint was another medium.
Graffiti is something most people have done at least once or twice in their lives.  If you've ever wrote a "jeff wuz here" sort of thing or scratched something on a tree (i.e. jeff love marti) then you've created graffiti.
Growing up in the big city you couldn't help but get used to seeing it everywhere.  I lived in a Hispanic populated part of town so I saw lots of "cholo" type tags everywhere.
I was fascinated with how the art (if you want to call it that) was so spontaneous and public but it wasn't until I wrote my first tag that I felt the adrenaline rush that came with every stroke.

One night in '86 I decided to go into a neighborhood school to practice painting "throwups" (small, two-color paintings) of my name and other miscellaneous words.  I did this for about two weeks.
The prinicpal of the school started telling the students that if they knew who was doing the paintings to have him come in to talk to her.  At first I thought it was a sure setup so I sent one of my friends as decoy.  She was legit, she wanted to have murals done.  Long story short, she took me to hardware stores to buy paint and gave me all the walls on the back side of the school!
I visited the school in 2003 and saw that they had left the last mural I painted.  It was a mural with the word "Respect" in big letters.

Although I don't condone vandalism, I can say I understand why it is young people do graffiti.  Whenever I can, I try to use my experience to sway taggers from being vandals to being artists.

I'm forever greatful to that principal, and to my friends Eric-Spy, Calvin-UB, and others for "getting up" with me.

Have a spontaneous week!

Jeff

The Disc Jockey

When my eldest daughter was 15 she told me that she wanted to be a Dj.  At first I though- hmm...  knowing the environments a working Dj is exposed to, I wasn't too sure that was a good career choice.  In trying to find the positive in her statement, I was first flattered that I had made an impression enough that my daughter wanted to be like me.  I also thought, man if I started teaching her at this age she would be the best!
But the over-protective super dad took over and the lessons never happened.

I remember when I first wanted to learn how to Dj.  I was 15 and a friend of mine Paul B who lived across town in SF had some real Dj turntables-Technics 1200's.  Each day after school I would take a one hour bus ride to his house and we'd practice in his garage.  I'd bring a cassette and record each session so I could listen to the tape on my walkman on the way home.  Sometimes I'd leave so late he would just ask me to lock up when I left.  I did this as much as I could.

Being a Dj has brought me to incredible places and I've met some incredible people.  The first two followers of this blog are Dj friends of mine Scholar Brad and Erich Lazy E.

Believe it or not I still Dj at parties (very select however).  Last night I played some music for my grandmother's 90th birthday.  Being a professional Dj, I decided to stick to the theme and play 90's music!  It was a Hit!

Lastly, I heard recently that there was scientific evidence that proved listening to your favorite music triggers the same stimulants in your body chemistry that cocaine triggered.  It's no wonder why real Dj's are generally happy people!

One way to get high on life and not drugs!  In the words of my good friend Richard-Dj QBert "No body tricks, straight sound".

Jeff

Just Do It!

There are so many things to do in this world but not enough time to do them all.
From everything that I've tried to do or get involved in, there is one thing that I've gained each time; a greater appreciation for how awesome life really is!

Here is a variety of my 10 best experiences (in no particular order).
  -Working with a Pyrotechnics company to set off thousands of fireworks in Istanbul Turkey (2007) 
  -Djing with turntables while over a thousand people are dancing (1991)
  -Climbing onto a freeway billboard to spray paint my tag name in 6 foot letters (1988)
  -Night-time Scuba diving and finding a 6 foot Manta ray while looking for small fish. (2009)
  -Organizing one of the biggest block parties ever on Guam. (2005)
  -Promoting and Producing a concert with two of the most popular names in the Philippines. (2005)
  -Taking my young family on a vacation in California and driving from SF to LA in a minivan (2003)
  -Painting a mural on the entire side of a school (1987)
  -Traveling to a remote island in Philippines with a youth group to minister to other youth. (2002)
  -Strapped to an open door of a helicopter to shoot arial video for a TV commercial (2006)

I probalby could've created a list of 100 out-of-the-ordinary experiences but I didn't want this to go from blog to brag.
Try new things that may be good for you.  Life is a journey!
Also, feel free to share with me your best experiences!

Life - Almost half way there,

Jeff

Mountain Tops and Valleys

Life is a series of Mountain Tops and Valleys.
Are you on a Mountain Top right now or are you in a Valley?

Some of the deepest valleys in my life were times when I thought I couldn't afford payments anymore on the house and decided to sell.  I went so far as to put a For Sale sign in my yard.  I still live in that house today.
I also remember the valley of despair; it was a time when my wife and I (unmarried at the time) were separated.  I thought surely it was the end of the world.
Today's blog is not to bring you down or to make you feel sorry for me.  Instead I share this to encourage you to look upward when you find yourself in a valley.
My mountain tops have been times of great business income and memorable family trips to places like California, Hong Kong, and Manila.
My mountian tops have been times of being able to help others that were struggling with life issues and knowing I made a difference in their situation.
My mountain tops have been times of inspiring young people to seek out their talents and dreams and use them to their fullest.

I can go on and on about my mountain tops (and valleys for that matter) but today my blog is about You and not me.

Wherever you find yourself today, know that we are only human, we all make mistakes, and there is always hope.

A statistic I heard and has proven itself correct in my life is: "90% of the things we worry about never happen the way we think they will happen".  It is also written that - worrying doesn't add to your life.  I've learned to just deal with things realistically and let life come as it may.
I hope you find today's message useful!  TGIF.

Jeff

Teacher for Life

Although I own a business that deals with concert productions and corporate events, I also teach a couple of classes at a local private school.
The teaching job has been a labour of love for over 10 years now.  I teach advanced computer design, animation, and video editing.  I also teach Bible class.
Now when you think of Bible class, you think-open your bibles to Psalms and read, read, read.
Actually, my bible class is a very interactive, relevant class where we discuss current events and how they relate to scripture and my students are given a life lesson everyday.  You'll be surprised at how much young people really want to know about what God can do to improve their lives and situations.

Teaching at the private school also allows me to watch my kids grow.  We used to have two cars but we got rid of one long ago because we have more fun riding together to and from school.

I think there is one thing in life that far exceeds money as a measure of success and that is Time; time spent purposefully.  If you have an opportunity to spend time with your family (kids, siblings, mom and dad) then do so because time is precious.

Create lasting memories because that is really the only thing that the past is good for!

Have an extraordinary day!  Carpe diem.

Jeff

It's a small world

I was born and raised on the island of Guam.
Guam is about 32 miles long and about 12 miles wide with a population of about 170,000 people.
When I was 10 years old I moved to the mainland and my family stayed with my uncle who was in the Navy.  After experiencing living in different states, we settled down in San Francisco, California.
Fast forward to high school in SF:
While walking around the football field/track because I didn't bring my PE uniform, I met this girl named Marti who asked me if she could borrow the newspaper I was reading so she could check her horoscope.
She asked me where I was from and I said something like "Guam, you probably never heard of it" she replied something like "Guam? Really? I'm from Guam too!"
I couldn't believe it so I said "If you're from Guam, what village did you live in?" and she quickly replied "Dededo".  I couldn't believe it because "I lived in Dededo too!".  She couldn't believe it either so she further asked "What part of Dededo did you stay?" and I said "Latte Heights" and yes you guessed it-she lived there too!  In a city of 4 million people, two people from Guam decided not to dress for gym-thats how we met.
We didn't talk anymore for about a year, we just knew that there were only 3 of us from Guam in the entire 3000 student high school.  The third person by the way was a young gym teacher Mrs. Castro.
After about a year, Marti called me out of the blue and wanted to talk more.  The year was 1986.

What are the odds?

Through trials and tribulations we are still married today and tell that story every now and then when the opportunity arises.

I believe in Creation and I believe in God.  I also believe that God has a sense of humor and allows for these impossiblities to happen to keep our lives interesting.

Have an incredible day!  I know I will!

Jeff

The Day After 41

I really don't feel like I've gotten older, I still feel like I'm 29...really!
Although I hardly make comments of Facebook, last night I felt like replying to everyone who sent a birthday greeting.  There were quite a few, almost a hundred and there are still people sending wishes.  I just don't get how people can do that every day.  Ok, it wasn't that hard, it just took some time.
Anyways, more about me:
I have 5 kids, the eldest is in college, the next one is graduating high school this year, and the youngest is in the second grade.
My wife is my high school sweetheart and we have one of those incredible "small world" stories of how we met which I'll talk about in my next blog.
I write these at 6:15am every morning (maybe later on weekends though) and I am a morning person.
I am going to prepare a short devotion which I share every Tuesday with teachers.  Teaching-there is the first peice of the puzzle of my life.  More on that also later.  Bye for now, gotta prep that Tuesday devotional.

By the way, smile today.  If you don't need it, someone else might.

Jeff

This Is Me...

Hello World!
If you happen to stumble on this today you are in for a ride.  Today is my birthday depending on what side of the International Dateline you live in.
In the next 365 days I'm gonna share with you my life in hopes that it may affect yours for the better.  Im a 41 year old living like I'm still 29 and I'm living a very happy and balanced life.
Follow me if you; have a family of your own, will have a child soon, are a Dad or Mom, or just someone looking for an interesting true-life story to read about.

Have an awesome day, I'll try to do the same!  See you in 24 hours.

Jeff