Okay, so I recently gave a short little life story to our new students in LA-Term through the use of a few photos I had. The illustrated biography went over pretty well and it was fun to put together and create a powerpoint in such a way that portrayed my life in just a few pictures. My boss wanted it to center around something factual, something fun, something dark, and something interesting. I scrapped that idea and just kinda mixed ’em all up, trying to include all four of those ideas somewhere into it. Anywho, here’s that story in a nutshell…
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and still call it home even though I have absolutely no actual family currently living there. It’s where I like to be during the holidays and spend time with friends on long weekends and well, it’s just a hella tight spot. Here’s a shot of the bridge and city from one of my favorite viewpoints and spots in the Marin Headlands.
The next one is a picture from an Easter Break I believe during my freshman year at APU–even though during my presentation I told people it was during high school…oops. Here’s what I kind of consider my immediate family, b/c after my parents’ divorce, I lived with my mom, Glee, and my older brother, Jason, for the most part. They’re good people.
While this next pic was also taken (er…made) while I was in college, I have been a Warriors fan my entire life (and pretty much just an overall Bay Area sports fan…besides the Raiders that is). Here’s me dunking on some Phoenix Suns…
So I guess this next one is the “something dark” section, even though I look pretty dang awesome in it. In high school I was actually…well…I “withdrew” from my high school freshman year and if you want more info on that, feel free to contact me and I’ll give you a few more details. As for now, just enjoy my amazing drumming skills and my red (not pink!) mohawk while I play away in Left For Dead–my punk/metal band. Hella gnar gnar off the rad rad.
Along with drums, I love music in general. I love playing, writing, listening and even recording music. During high school and college I actually ran a recording studio out of my bedroom. We even had a MySpace page…so official. Here’s a pic of me playing some Millville most likely…
After high school I found myself at Azusa Pacific University (APU) somehow. I did the whole Alpha Leader thing and the whole RA thing and well…somehow found myself in Boston by my sophomore year. Here’s a pic of me and my boys dressed to kill…
So in Boston, besides taking over the known world, I collaborated with a few new friends of mine and created a band that went on a world tour, won three Emmy’s, destroyed Tokyo twice and…uh…was convicted of twelve murders. It was a crazy time out there in Beantown…
Then the summer after my semester in Boston (2006), I stayed to help out with a camp that was run out of the house I was living in. Definitely good times. How good exactly? Good enough that I actually went back and was a counselor the following summer as well, right after my junior year in college.
Those summers really cemented my love of nature and hiking in general and since then I haven’t gone more than 6 months without going on some sort of backpacking trip.Here’s a pic of my brothers, Austin (the little one) and Jason (the not as little one) and our pa on Half Dome last summer…
Along with backpacking and Yosemite, my love of photography and photoshop started around then (college/high school) too. Here are a few examples:
Here’s a snap from a burnt down building on Alcatraz…
The next one is just a gorgeous flower I found in St. Louis. Love it…
Here’s another pic from last summer’s trip to Half Dome…
After my senior season at APU, I left the states for a couple months and hung out in Vietnam for a bit. Definitely a challenging time, but worth every second of stress and preparation. Plus, I saw the most beautiful place in the world during out debrief week at the end…completely stress-free!!!
While I’m not the most politically-minded person in the world, I got inspired and I thought I’d make this civil rights poster right after the last election…
After another inspired moment, I stuck Lebron James in a Dubs uni…he loved it…
This shot of Wrigley Field represents where my mom lives and also just how spread out my family is right now and well, pretty much my whole life. I got siblings in Texas, Honduras, South Carolina and Pennsylvania, my dad’s in North Carolina and my mom’s in Illinois. Weird…trust me, I know. Anywho, I like this photo a lot…
So because my family is so spread out, I ended it with my home away from home; a few of my closest friends and I hanging out in Vegas last summer…good times…
Who lives in Honduras??
Also, what trail do you hike when you do half dome? I think Kyo and I are going in March. Since I’ve never done it, I don’t know which one’s the super awesometastic-est.
i like.
Wait, what!? YOU??? HIKING??? Okay…I’m done. Here’s a decent (very simple) map of the route up to Half Dome. You start in Yosemite Valley and enter the trail at Happy Isles, then can take the John Muir trail to the right or the Mist Trail to the left. (The JMT is longer, and full of switchbacks, but it’s less steep and easier on the ol’ knee bones and the Mist Trail is just granite rocks that go pretty much straight up the waterfalls. Pretty epic.) Anywho, once you make it to Little Yosemite Valley (where the two trails reconnect), you’re probably about halfway there. From there it’s pretty much one trail up to the top. Good luck! Definitely lemme know when you’re going tho! Love to hear about it! I’M SO EXCITED!!!
WOW! You are so very talented, and I am so very proud of you. Pictures are just perfect. Ah, Wrigley field, Boston, Yosemite, San Francisco, St. Louis, BayMarin, these are all places we share such vast memories. But they remind me of all the friends we have there CorRi, the Dass family, Jorge, our church family, the Boston folk and family, the APU family, the homeschooling adventures, the camping trips we made (the ones I often planned and you had to endure when you were a youngin, but then the glorious ones you and Jason created; and how about the great graduation from high school trip we made in Yosemite, with brothers and sisters and nephews. Ah, good times! Thanks for the memories!
this is nice benbo! except you have the sheesh family in the bay. AND lebron looks real nice in a warriors uni. you should send him that pic. (:
Sweet. That’s pretty much exactly what I gathered from various websites, but I figured I’d ask you for your take on it. :o)