The Final Test

He tied his boat off and started to climb the cliffs. He knew that no one had lived to tell what was behind the clouds, but still he climbed...

Kim Jon's karate sensei, Master Chang, said that he must travel far to the clouded peek of the island of Faroe to face whatever sat at the top of the mountain to become a karate master. All his 26 years of living, he had always wanted to become a karate master and his chance finally arose so he happily took it. He ventured for several arduous years through cold mountains, desolate and dry deserts, and on the choppy seas with only a small ration of food to survive off of.

Throughout his entire journey, he meditated to mentally prepare him for what was to come. When he traveled on foot he tuned out the outside world to connect with his inner being. Not paying attention to his surroundings, he let his body guide him most of his journey. Even through the most contorted routes on his path, his body slide passed them with ease. This is the result of many years of training.

He traveled through by foot and animal through Asia and Europe to get to the shore of Norway, where his master said the island would be off the coast of. He stood there on the shore with his feet planted firmly in the sand as waves hit his shins hard but never moving him. A strong ocean breeze blew into him, rippling his shirt and  blowing his short, flowing black hair behind his head. Kim stared out toward the grey horizon in the direction of the island thinking about what may be there.

He remembered rumors he heard of what was hidden in the clouds. "There's a dragon up there." He remembered an old man saying at a bar, "A deadly dragon by the name of Ro Shenhi sits atop the island, minding his own business and anything that trespasses, he takes their life. No one has ever survived to tell their story." Then another man asked, "If no one has ever survived to tell their story then how do you know about it?" and the man simple replied, "I don't" and laughed followed by a sip of his sake.

"There aren't any dragons in Europe you old bat!" Kim remembered another man saying, "In Europe there are a lot of gods and titans and all that everywhere. That's probably what is at the top of that island. Your Sensei is trying to get you killed! I wouldn't do it if it were up to me."

Kim Jon didn't care what that man would or wouldn't have done. Kim knew this is what he wanted to do and he was too far ahead to turn back now. He did not even want to turn back. His light brown eyes burned bright and screamed determination.

He scavenged up and down the beach in search of a boat to get a cross the ocean to the island. He eventually found a man with a small wooden boat. He went up to him and asked, "Do you mind if I borrowed your boat to get to Faroe?"
"Faroe?!" The little pale man shrieked, "You want to row this little thing all the way out there? You'll never survive against the waves."
"Have faith little man." Kim replied calmly. "I will make it there perfectly fine. No need to worry at all"
Kim gave the man a jolly grin that made the man have faith in him. "All right, you can take the boat. I was going to chop it up anyways. It's useless."
Kim's grin turned into a smile when the man said yes then said, "Thank you mister" and took the boat. The little man watched as he slowly drifted away.

Once he was a good distance away from the shore he started meditating again. He sat on the wooden bench of the small boat with his feet folded, his body tall and erect, his chest out strong and his fist touching knuckle to knuckle in front of his chest. The boat rocked and swayed with each bump in the ocean but with all the movement, Kim's body stayed in place like a strong stone sitting at the bottom of a river.

Being so deep into his meditation, he was not able to row the boat so the slow current took him to the island. It took days but he finally reached the side of the island which was a step climb. He rose from his seat and looked directly up the mountain then started to climb. Foot by foot and hand by hand. He was anxious to see what was up there so he picked up the pace and flew up the mountain.

In no time he was up in the cloud and at the top. The cloud was so thick he could not even see 2 feet in front of himself. He stayed in his fighting stance and on guard for anything that might happen. He stood with his feet spread widely apart to give him a firm standing. He held out an open hand with his thumb pressed against the top of his palm and a clenched fist close to his body. He closed his eyes since they were useless to him. He depended on his ears to tell him where things were at.

He slowly inched forward toward the center of the plateau until he heard a shaky voice say, "Who are you?"
Kim stopped in his steps, put his feet together and bowed in respect then answered in a haste. "I am Kim Jon of China. I am the pupil of Master Chang and I am trying to being a karate master. I have come to challenge you to become master."
"I know what you have come for. After all, I am the one that sent you here. Rise my pupil."
Kim rose quickly in surprise. "Master?! I have to defeat you?" He asked with a bit of hesitation? He knew couldn't defeat him no matter how hard he tried. He was scared.
Master Chang just laughed at him. "Oh no my student. You've done enough to show me that you deserve to be a master. Not many people would make this journey all the way across the world just for a title. You have shown me that you really care about this and that is enough to be a master. You already had the mental and physical strength needed to become a master. The only thing left was the emotional strength. This was shown by following your dreams. You followed it no matter how difficult it was and that's all there was to it. You have the right to be called a true master."
Kim said, "Wow.... So All I had to do was come to this place? That wasn't so hard." A small grin came up. "So can we go home now? I'm starving. I haven't had a real meal in a long time!"
"Why yes of course! Let's go Master Jon. We'll get home in no time and you can eat all you want."

12-21-12 Theory

As "Dooms Day" approaches, I think I'm starting to get paranoid about it because as of recently, I've been having dreams about a zombie apocalypse.

Coincidence? I think not! There has been a huge rumor going around the globe saying, "The end is coming in 2012" but nobody knows how our days are going to end. Is the sun going to explode? Death by a huge meteor? I think we're going to die by a deadly disease that causes all of us to turn into zombies and those who survive the disease will be hunted by those that was infected? How did I reach this conclusion you ask? My dreams tell me.

In three nights I had four different dreams about zombies. The thing is though, all four dreams seemed to flow in perfect order. My first dream was started off with me waking up in bed with a decaying zombie with hollow white eyes over me, looking at me. I freaked out (Who wouldn't?) and jumped out of bed. Throughout the rest of my dream, I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, looking for a place to hide. I ran into some people I knew and we teamed up. At the end of my dream, the group that was formed, including myself, was walking and a hoard of zombies came running around the corner of a street... Then I woke up drenched in sweat.

My second and third dream were pretty much the same. The group and I finally found a hiding spot but weren't safe for long. Soon enough the zombies found us and we had to run for our lives. The only difference between the second and third dream was there were less people in the group but I was never caught... Until the fourth dream.

In my fourth dream I woke up in my bed but this time everything was quiet and seemed to be in a twilight. I went downstairs to see my mom in the living room and my front door wide open. I sat on my steps that connected the two floors and looked outside the door into the darkness. All of a sudden I saw a zombie dog run in a go after my mom so I ran over to help her. I pushed the dog off but in the process it bit into my wrist and I felt time slow down.. Then I woke up.

That was the last of my zombie dreams for a while. There was a lot of things going on in my dream that can be interpreted into a deeper meaning like whenever the zombies would just randomly appear out of nowhere. I think that means I should be ready for anything at any time. The Zombies would come out from the darkness or from around the corner and I would have to be ready to react in any type of way for my safety and the safety of others.

Another interpretation I can make is when the dog bit me. When the dog bit me, that was the end of all my zombie dreams. I think it means that if this 12-21-12 doomsday is real then I wouldn't be one of the survivors. This is just the superstition in me talking. Being that I've had these dreams, it made my superstitions worse. Until that day comes, I will try my best to prepare for the worst.

Trip to Rio

*Beep Beep*
Just outside my small, one floor house in a small town by the name of Plainfield, New Jersey, was a yellow taxi beeping it's horn to signal it's arrival to carry me to Newark Airport to catch a flight to Rio de Janeiro, the best city in the world... In my opinion.
I was all packed and ready to spend one week in the livest city during their livest times; Carnaval. I had three bags waiting eagerly by the front door, wanting me to hurry up and load them in the trunk of the taxi so we can set out on our journey.
I raised my wrist and gave a quick glance at my digital watch. It read: Friday, February 19, 2016, 6:49 A.M. I only had two hours and 41 minutes to catch my flight. I walked to my front door and turned around to check my small house once more before leaving. Everything was perfectly neat and organized. I glanced to the left and looked into the living room to see two wide, brown sofas that could seat 3 comfortable propped opposite to each other with a brown coffee table with a complex stitched rug below it between the two sofas. Passed the table was a TV stand with an old 48" tube television sitting on top. Above the TV was a family portrait portraying my father, my mother, my sister, and I all smiling happily, dressed in our Sunday's best.
I looked to my right to see my dining room glowing in the morning sun. With a panoramic window, all the light from outside shone into the dinning room and reflected off of the plastic table covering and onto the walls. The long, rectangular table could seat two chairs on each side and one on each end. The two chairs on each side had a cloth covering to match the wallpaper and the chairs on the end had arms, unlike the other seats which exuded elegance and brought the whole room together.
Seeing that my house was in order. I opened the door and grabbed two of my three bags. I spotted the taxi in my drive way and gave the driver a quick head nod that showed him that I had more bags inside. He quickly stepped out his minivan and awkwardly walked to my house. He quickly got the other bag and walked to the trunk of the vehicle, forgetting to close the door behind him so I set down my two bags and walked back to my front door, closed it and locked it.
By the time I got back to the vehicle, the driver had already fit all my bags in the trunk and was already waiting for my in the car. I sat in the passenger seat and couldn't help but comment on how speedy he was with what he did and he replied, "Dank you" in a broken English with a slight Spanish accent.
I told him I was going to Newark airport and he gave a soft nod since he was very focused on the road. I told him how I was going to Brazil for a week and from there we sparked idle chit chat. I learned he had recently came to America from Peru about 7 years ago and ever since then he's been working with his family as a taxi driver. In no time we were on Interstate 78 and close to Newark Airport.
He dropped me off at Terminal B and helped bring my bags inside and said a final good-bye and a, "I hope you have a safe travel". I glanced at my watch again and it read: Friday, February 19, 2016, 7:33 A.M. I had plenty of time.
The airport was close to empty with the exception of about 75 people which was a small amount compared the the large number of people it could really hold. I walked to the front desk and waited behind 5 people. When it was my turn to go up, a jolly woman spoke clearly, "next please". I stepped up with my bags rolling closely behind me and when I looked up, her bright blues eyes met my glowing brown eyes. She asked for my information so I gave her everything she asked for. Soon enough she sent me on my way to my gate with my boarding pass. I left my bags with the lady to put on the plane's cargo deck. My destination was gate 25. When I got there, I had a hour and 25 minutes left before my plane would take off for it's approximately 12 hour flight to Rio. In that hour I waited, I texted some of my family and friends telling them to take care over the next week and played a few games of Temple Run.
When the time passed and it was time to board, my cabin was the first one called. I grabbed my carry on bag and headed for the plane. I gave another woman at a desk my ticket that I recently received to board the plane. I headed to the back of the plane; the economy section, where there were three columns of seating. The two columns on the end had two seats and the middle column could seat three. I went to my row, row 56, put my bag in the overhead storage compartment and sat in the middle seat in the middle column. I was one of the first people on board and I started to wonder would I would seat next to during the flight; I hoped it would be some company I would enjoy. As people came on board and the seats next to me were not being filled I started to think I would have no company, which I could deal with. I could have some time to myself.
Five minutes before take off, the seats still were not taken. I decided to pull out my iPod and a notepad and pen to write a story or two while listening to music. Doing so made the 12 hours fly by and in what seemed like 45 minutes, the plan was landing.

When the plane landed I gather my bags and stepped outside to be devastated. I stepped out into a downpour of rain. The raindrops fell hard onto the ground and on the tall palm trees planted across the street from the airport. I quickly called for a taxi with the wave of a hand and he pulled up in front of me and helped put my bags in the back. I told the drive I was going to Olinda Rio Hotel but he had trouble understanding me so I pulled out my notepad and wrote down the address which he finally understood.

We drove in the rain for what seemed like hours and the only thing I could think about was how all my plans got ruined. I was hoping on going to the beach to tan, meet ladies, and go in the ocean. I wanted to party Carnaval style but I didn't plan on going if it continued to rain. I also wanted to go to the Corcovado Mountain to check out the Chris the Redeemer Statue but I had no intention on hiking those stairs in the rain. My week was ruined if it continued to rain.

I finally arrived at my hotel, checked in, and headed to my hotel room. I settle down and checked out the room: There was a living room, a bed room, a big bathroom and a patio that lead to a deck that gave a view of the ocean. In the living room, there was a sofa and a love sea that was around a coffee table with a glass top that had a few coasters and a handbook that said "Your Hotel Experience". There was also a flat screen TV that looked like it was about 32", sitting on a medium size stand that stopped up to about my waist. Passed the living room was a wide, sliding clear door that lead to the deck. I pulled back the door and stepped onto the deck to see what would be a beautiful sight on a nice, sunny day. In this depressing downpour I saw the ocean rippling with grey waters that met with the grey horizon the sky made in the distance. Before that, palm trees swayed and rocked back in forth in the wind. Below the deck was a main street with few cars passing by due to the rainy weather.

I went back inside and closed the door behind me. I went into the next room, which was the bedroom. In the middle of the room was a California King size bed; a bed not made for a single person to sleep in alone. To the right of the bed was a wide window that showed the grey skies which I couldn't bare to look at anymore. To the right of the bed was the bathroom. Inside was a shower, a bathtub, and a Jacuzzi. I couldn't help but imagine how many ladies I would've brought back during the week to come party in the Jacuzzi with me. I let the thought go out of my head the same time I let a sigh out. I went back to the living room to spot a minibar with drinks in a cabinet above-head. I took out a shot glass and a bottle of White Rum Imported from Jamaica. I filled up the glass to the top and raise my glass high. "To a fun vacation!" I said with sarcasm to myself then took the shot to the head.

Hurricane Sandy Experience

"Hey mom. My teachers were telling the class we were suppose to have a really bad storm this weekend, what's  that all about?" I asked my mom as I spotted my mom in her office, working on her computer, after I walked into my house not too long before.

"Yeah. The news said Hurricane Sandy is suppose to come to the east coast and a few middle states to cause a lot of damage" My mom replied as she continued working on her computer, not even turning to acknowledge me. Hearing my voice was enough acknowledgment to her.

"When is suppose to come?" I asked.

"Watch the news more and you'd know."

"Why do I need the news if I have an amazing mom that can tell me things like this?" I said with a smile.

She chuckled and replied, "They said it's suppose to come this weekend; some time around Saturday through Monday."

"Oh okay. We got a few days to prepare. Do you think it's going to be worse than Hurricane Irene from last year?"

"Oh yeah; of course." she replied with a nod.

"Hm" I grunted, "Time to board up the windows then" I joked as I walked away to my room. In my room I though to myself, "Every one is saying the storm is going to be one of the worst storms in history but is that really true? They said the same thing about Irene and that hurricane wasn't so bad. I'll just have to wait and see."

When The weekend rolled around I was rather disappointed to see that nothing had happened except grey skies. I complain to my mom how the storm was late and she simply replied, "Watch when it does come" and stay silent to everything else I said.

The Plainfield school administration decide to close school for the hurricane and when Monday came and nothing happened I was highly disappointed. It wasn't until 5 pm that the I started seeing the storm coming. The first thing to go was my back fence. hours later, around 9:30, my lights went out. I would have thought that my block would have been the first block to lose power but in fact, we were one of the last blocks to go out. I wasn't too surprised when my lights went out though; I was expecting it.

The next day, my mom, sister, and I drove around town to see the damage the hurricane. We say trees that fell on power lines, trees on houses, trees blocking roads, and blown transformers. I didn't expect things to become this bad but they were.

By the time we got home, it was dark and there was nothing fun to day so I could only eat and read for entertainment. I ate and read for hours on hours because I couldn't fall asleep. I don't know what it is about black outs and me sleeping but they never seem to want to cooperate; I just can't fall asleep and stay asleep without power in my house.

My family and I only had to deal with not having power until Wednesday. My mom heard word that my grandma had power. As soon as my mom asked if we could spend the time there until our house got back power and she said yes, we gathered our essentials and bolted out of our cold imprisonment as fast as we could. We weren't the only ones that spent some time at my grandma's house though. Along with us, my uncle and his wife slept in the house too since their house didn't have power. It was a mad house with all of us 10, people and one baby but I enjoyed every minute being around my family.

Everyday my mom went back to the house to check if we had power and it wasn't until Saturday that it came back on. We stayed one more night and left on the next day.

For the whole next week I had absolutely nothing to do. Comcast was down so I wasn't able to get on the internet or watch T.V., my phone signal was barely working, and I couldn't contact any of my friends to hang out. Only thing I could do was sleep, play Temple run, and look out the window as cars drove by.

This hurricane made me experience a lot that I haven't really experienced before. Not having power for so long, losing my phone service, and seeing how bad mother nature can really get.This mad me appreciate things a bit me. I realized that this companies that provide us with entertainment like the phone companies, cable companies, etc, has done a lot for not only their customers but for many others affected. I learned that I should appreciate what I have and who I have in my life. I have a great home with great items that many people don't and I have a great family that many people yearn for.

“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.”

~Alex Supertramp

This quote said by Alex Supertramp is so true. People get so annoyed with the everyday life and yet they never try to do anything about it. The people just continue to live their life of security because they are afraid of what is out there for them to behold. Alex says, "So many people... will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind...". To me, this means, they have been brought up being so protected by society that they don't want an adventure. Alex then said, "reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure." To me, he is saying that all men and woman have a desire to be adventurous but it is masked and shrouded by the need to have a "regular" life which makes the person end up viewing the life of adventure, through the peepholes of the masks, as "weird" and "unneeded". I think Alex says it is dangerous because not having adventure in your life takes away from your ingenuity and creativity, leaving you as a "normal" and nobody likes a "normal"...

"The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun." I try to live this quote as best I can because it is absolutely true. It is a fact that when you experience new things, time seems to be moving slower and you are living longer compared to doing the same thing old thing over and over. This is so because the brain processes the new experience which give it that slow pace, giving you time to enjoy the moment while you process it. If you are constantly experiencing new events then you are constantly processing new things. If you are constantly processing new things then life moves slower. If life moves slower, the more you enjoy it.

Alex exemplified this by Giving up his "regular" life after college to go on an adventure. He was one of the few people that was unhappy with their life in society and decided to actually do something about it and instead of finding his peace of mind in a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, he finds it in a life of adventure. He went out into the world and traveled as far as he could. He went to Mexico, California, South Dakota, and many other places to experience new events and see a new sun rise everywhere he went.

My life has definitely adapted to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism. I find safety in living life like a "regular" and think it would be absurd to stray away from this life because I would not know what to do with myself. I wouldn't know how to survive. If Alex heard me say this he would probably question me, asking questions like: "Are you really happy with your life?", "Could you be happier in a different life?", or "Have you really ever thought about escaping that life?". I believe he would ask me these type of questions to see if I really was all for the life of a "regular". I believe he would tell me to just follow my heart and to do what makes me happy. Alex isn't a bossy guy so he wouldn't push for me to follow his type of lifestyle. I'm sure he would believe in my to make the right decision...

"Bitch Bad"

"Bitch bad.
Woman good.
Lady better.
They misunderstood"

I thought women hated being called the B-word?
If that is the case then why do so many women enjoy it if the word "Bad" is in front of it?

Poems for Alex

The Snow Man

One must have a mind of winter 

To regard the frost and the boughs 

Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time 

To behold the junipers shagged with ice, 

The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think 

Of any misery in the sound of the wind, 

In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land 

Full of the same wind 

That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow, 

And, nothing himself, beholds 

Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

 – Wallace Stevens

As I scavenge for poems, my paths cross with this one and my mind instantly thinks of my good friend, Alex Supertramp. He crossed my mind because he would tell me how much he wanted to deal with the cold and rough Alaskan wild and this poem pretty much describes that environment in such a serene way with the connection a person need to make to one's self to survive and enjoy it all.

Stevens says, "One must have a mind of winter... and have been cold a long time". This reminded me of Alex because I noticed he tends to be a little "cold". He never really gets too attached to the people he is around and ends up leaving not too long after meeting them. That's what he did with me... Right when I was getting fond of that kid.

Steven also says, "...and not think of any misery in the sound of the wind" which can also relate to Alex. He was a pretty mellow guy; he never really seemed worried about anything, like he had everything under control. He just seemed to not have any worries.

Lastly, Stevens says, "...For the listener, who listens in the snow, and, nothing himself, beholds, nothing that is not there and the nothing that is". This means to me that a person must be humble to enjoy the simple things in life. Alex was always humble. He worked hard but did not brag about it when people complimented him about it. I Believe he will do well in Alaska.

REBEL

Rebel is Great

Rebel is fun

I want to be a rebel

Image of a Man

Shadow of a God

Rebel fascist

fascist fascist

Rebel questions

not follow

Iron fist

Do we need that

Rebel Rebel

Rebel is Great.

 – Anon

This was another poem I found which reminded me of Alex. This is about being a rebel. Most people may not call Alex a rebel but I think he is; he goes by his own rules, sets his own path, and ignore all authorities. This poem reminds me of him because Alex is a great kid ("Rebel is Great"), he knows how to have fun ("Rebel is fun"), He is somewhat a perfectionist the way he hates flaws in others and in himself ("Shadow of a God"), and he sets his own path ("Rebel questions not follow")

Alex was a rebel that found his was in the Alaskan wild where he met his inner self... May he rest peacefully...

Walking From South to South

"I'm leaving. I won't be back for a while... Or maybe never...". That was the last thing I told my family through a text right before turning off my phone and boarding the plane to Santa Cruz, Argentina, South America.

On the plane I thought about my quest: What was I trying to prove? Is this a smart decision? I came close to a point of regret but I've come too far to regret anything. I was at the point of no return. Where would I return to? That life of stress I'm trying to escape from? Hell no.

A light came on overhead followed by a flight attendant saying, "Please buckle your seat beats as we prepare to touch down in Santa Cruz, Argentina Airport". The next thing I knew I was collecting my only bag and stepping out of the airport into a new life. I didn't know where to start. I didn't have a map, a phone, a GPS, iPod. Only things I had were the things in my bag. I wanted to pack light so it wouldn't be too much work to walk around (because that's what I would be doing most of the time) so I only packed 3 outfits (Along with the outfit I already have on makes 4), A sleeping bag, a handy-dandy Swiss army knife, a few hundred dollars, and a watch my dad gave me a while back to give me the time. I wanted to ask one of the many buzzing bodies zipping passed me, left and right, for directions but what good would that do? I was a person that spoke English, stranded in a Spanish speaking country. So I said, "To hell with this!" and walked in any direction I please.

There were a few destinations that I wanted to go to while I was in the south but my main goal was to walk from the bottom of South America to the top of South America, visit as many places and meet as many different people as I can, and just be stress-free.

I walked and walked and walked. I walked with a thumb up to every car that drove passed me. Surprisingly enough, I got a ride from almost half the people that passed me. People down here are way more generous than then the people "up there". Even though they couldn't take me far, I still appreciated the ride and the conversation. Even though we didn't understand each other's language, we still knew what each other was talking about. Crazy, huh? I asked most of the people how to get to Rio de Janeiro and it was like we had to play charades to try and understand what each other was trying to say; it was a fun experience. Eventually, I got the directions and I was on my way.

Weeks later I got to my dream city, Rio de Janeiro. The sun was shining, a slight breeze was blowing, the people were buzzing, and the birds were singing. Rio was the place to be. Beautiful women. Beautiful Food. Beautiful beaches. I didn't know where to start. Maybe I'll start at the Corcovado Mountain & Christ The Redeemer Statue. I climbed the hill up to the statue and basked in it's glory and beauty. To my left, I saw a couple kneeling down, say prays to the statue. To my right, I saw 2 little boys kicking around a little beat up ball. On the ledge, I saw a man playing a guitar and singing. He was not playing for money. He was playing simply just to play. In Rio, I noticed the simplicity of life; how not everything had to be apart of a bigger scheme.

Rio became my second home but after staying there a couple months, it was time to move on. I went up north to Venezuela. There's a mountain over there by the name of Angel falls and I've heard it was beautiful.

I've also heard it was the highest waterfall in the world. I wanted to go to try and climb it without any gear. I walked and hitched hiked all the way to the way to the waterfall. When I got there, I was a bit stunned of how high it actually was. The mountain towered over me and seemed liked it was stretching passed the ozone layer. The roar of the falls echoed for yards and the sound of the insects and birds mixed with the falls roar to create the most beautiful song of nature.
I circled the mountains. Looking for a place to approach it and begin my ascension. When i found the easiest way up, I began immediately at the next day's sunrise.
After hours of climbing I finally reached the top and I went over to the edge to see how far I've come.

Good thing I was wasn't afraid of heights.

I sat on top of the falls for hours thinking: I wonder what life would be like back at home? Does anybody miss me? How hard would it be to go back? Do I really want to go back to that hellish and stressful life? I walked to the ledge and looked down. "Is there anything left for me to do in this life?" I leaned forward, over the cliff. The hours it took to ascend took only seconds to descend but it felt like hours. on the way down I thought: what was I trying to prove? Is this a smart decision? I came close to a point of regret but I've come too far to regret anything. I was passed the point of no return. Right before impact with the ground below, I closed my eyes and took in a final breath and at that moment, My soul departed and I went to a better place.

Back at the top of Angel's Fall, there was a note that I left on a piece of wood that had words carved out by a knife. the note read: "Life is complete".

Accidental Murder?

Accidents happen, right? But is there really such a thing as an accidental murder?

The couple of Pipín Ferreras, a cuban man, and Audrey Mestre, a french woman, a pair of record setting free divers, seemed to be the perfect fit for each other. They spent time with each other. They loved and respected each other. They encouraged each other. They competed against each other. What more is there to ask for? With so much love in the relationship they had, why is it that Audrey ended up dead and that Pipín is to blame? 

It all began when a woman by the name of Tanya Streeter set a new record by diving 525 feet deep, almost 100 feet deeper than Audrey's record. This cause Audrey's retaliation. But she was scared. Pipín's record was only 6 ½ feet away. She didn't have the guts to break his record so she said she would try to reach somewhere in the middle even though she knew she could do better, Audrey and Pipín both knew she could do better so Pipín encouraged his wife to go beyond his record. Maybe 538 ft deep? Or even 544 ½ ft. How about 551 ft? Scratch that, 558 ft. He even pushed her to go down to 597 ft deep. She told him she would not go that deep but only to 561 ft, 36 ft less than what he wanted.

Something about the day of the dive was off. The sky boomed with thunder and lightning, the waters were choppy, and most of their crew and safety hands were not there. Only 15 boats full a spectators and reporters, a few of their crew, Pipín, and Audrey was there. Before the dive the crew prayed to Changó, the Santería god of storms, and by mid afternoon, the sky was clear. Pipín prepared His wife for the dive since the shortage of crew members. While checking the are in the tank that would bring the sled back to the top, he only opened it to see if there was air in it and when he heard the hiss of the air he closed it back up. He never checked to see if it was at the right pressure; a huge mistake.

When she went under and reached her depth, she pulled the pin to inflate the bag to bring her back to the top but it didn't inflate; a common error that happens. But was this occurrence an accident? Audrey was stuck at 561 ft below the sea for more than 2 minutes, with more than 200 pound of pressure on her body. To help the lift, the bottom safety diver, Pascal Bernabe  inserted his mouth piece tnto the lift bag to add air nad the sled began to ascend... But not high enough. Pascal offer her his mouth piece so she could breathe in air but she wouldn't accept it for some reason. Maybe because she thought people would render her dive a failure if she took a breath. She would've accepted it from Pipín. But he wasn't there.

After 3 minutes and 50 seconds, Audrey lost consciousness and drifted away from the sled. Pascal grabbed her limp body as he ascended. Pipín threw on a suit and dove in, meeting up with Pascal at some point to take his wife to the surface. 8 minutes and 38 seconds after her last breath, they surfaced. She was rushed to the hospital after been giving fail attempts at CPR. By then it was already too late.

There are rumors and questions going around. Where is the video of her dive, taken by the camera attached to the sled? Why were there so few safety divers? Why wasn't Audrey wearing a self-inflating wet suit? Why wasn't there a harness-and-pulley system that could've cranked her up from above the surface? Why weren't there any doctors or intubation tubes on site? Why is this the first death in this sport? What about Berttoni's and Fernandez's death? How does a man who doesn't even wear a seat belt in his car end up in charge of safety for the world's deepest dive?

All these questions circulated around the time of her death. I believe that this was an accident. Why would a man kill he was madly in love with since day one? There were some points that could've been changed so Audrey would still be alive. Pipín could've the air pressure. The complete crew and replacements should've been around so nothing went wrong and a crew of medic could've been there just in case something did go wrong.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion. I've stated mine based on the evidence I've collected. From what you have read in this article, you can compose your own opinion. you have the puzzle piece, connect them to see what kind of opinion you can create...

Getting Away From it All

There are some people in this world that face stress on occasions. Those people have it easy. From time to time, they face a problem or a series of problems that deals to be too much for them to handle and they get stressed for a short while. Other than those times, their life is fine.
Then there are others in this world that face stress every single day. Hunger, poverty, violence, etc. The people can do nothing about any of it so they just learned to accept it all as their life. Compared to everyone else that faces it on occasions, their life is hell.

No one deserves to be stressed but everybody goes through it a few times before they die. When it comes around, you just want to leave your life and Get Away From it All.
Where would you go?
Where could you go?
Most people just escape to the depths of their mind and toward their inner thoughts because that's the only place they can go. That's where I go whenever I'm stressed.

But If I had a choice to go somewhere when stress becomes too much, I would go to South America.

Why South America?
Why not South America? Brazil is there!
I would just love to go to South America. I would love the climate, the environment, the culture, the people; EVERYTHING!

• I love warm weather.
• I find nature, untouched by man, to be beautiful.
• Most of South America has a care-free, 'I just want to live for the moment' attitude, and have a very lively aura (especially in Brazil). I need that in my life.
• I have a thing for Hispanic and Portuguese women so South America is heaven on earth for me!

I would begin my stress free journey by taking a flight down to Cape Horn, an ugly, cold place, all the way at the bottom of the continent. I would only pack a few things like: 3 outfits (Along with the outfit I already have on makes 4), A sleeping bag, a handy-dandy Swiss army knife, a few hundred dollars, and a watch my dad gave me to give me the time. When I get there I would see if I could get a rifle somewhere for hunting (when my money runs out) just like Alex Supertramp from the book "Into the Wild".

When I have all my material, I would start walking...
...
...
Just walking. Walking where ever the wind blew me.

I would walk from the bottom of South America to the top of South America and see as many places I can, Meet as many people I can, and live as much as I can. When I've done all that I could have possible done, then I would return back to my boring, regular, stressful life.

But before I go back, there are a few places that I would like the visit on my journey.
First I want to go see Easter Island, which Is just off the coast of Chile. I want to see the island because I've heard it's a wonderful place with many wonders. I just want to admire the ancient head on the island.

Another place I want to go is to the Iguazu Falls, right between Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil.

I mean... Just look at it; bask in it's beauty. Anybody would just love to come here. When on my journey, I would probably just camp out around this area for days, just admiring all it's beauty.

One of the most important stops on my trip will be the beautiful and vibrant Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

All my life I've been dreaming to go there and I would take any chance or opportunity to get there. This city has a very lively charm to it and I would feel so happy in the town.

All the beautiful woman around.

All the lovely food

The crystal clear ocean.

I would just love every inch of that town. Not to mention the Corcovado Mountain & Christ The Redeemer Statue in the city. I would love to go there and visit one of the 7 wonders of the world.

Another place I would like to go before I leave is another wonder of the world, Machu Picchu, in Peru.

When I arrive here, I would go crazy and try to explore every room I can. I would try to find any kind of treasure (Which I doubt is there anymore).

When I'm done with Machu Picchu, I would walk through the rain forest to get to my final destination in Venezuela, The Angel Falls.

This is the tallest waterfall in the world. I would love to go up top and just Look down at everything. This would be my last destination because after going through a long, arduous journey, getting to the top of this and looking down at everything would make me feel like I've accomplished my task and I've lived my life the best I could. Looking down at everything would make me feel like I'm on top of the world and nothing could bring me down. It would be good for my confidence (and plus I would have a great story to tell when I get back home).

I would want to probably cherish this time in my life for all my life and my mind probably wouldn't be able to memorize all these moments. to help record, I would get a camera and take pictures of everything that happens and with modern technology, I would be able to give it a caption so I would know what I was doing  in each picture.

I know I would get homesick sooner or later; I just hope it would be more later than sooner. I would want to enjoy myself and just forget about my old life so I could pick up a new life. I would probably be in South America for years. Walking from one side of the continent to the other side is not short nor is it an easy task. I wouldn't mind being there for that long though (I'm sure everyone else back at home would mind though). After I've done everything and have gone everywhere on my list, I would return home to see all my friends and family I went ghost on.

It would be hard to adjust back to the normal life but I'm sure I would be able to do it. If not, I know there is always a place for me back in the south...

Blogs I Found Interesting

I'm still somewhat new to blogging so I'm just now getting the hang of finding other blogs. It took a lot of help from my good friend Google.

While looking on Google, I found some blogs that connect with my interest. For example; I'm a HUGE fan of track and field so I look for anything I can find about track. A blog I found related to track was http://masterstrack.com/. Right off the bat, I found some interesting articles. There was one about an old man, somewhere up in the 100s, who killed himself right in front of a church because "He missed being a track athlete..." Some pretty serious stuff...

Another blog I found really neat was this blog about baking. I love baked good and do a little bit of baking myself (It's only natural, my last name is Baker after all). I can probably get a few tips and recipes off this blog. http://binomialbaker.blogspot.com/

One last Blog I followed is about a singer by the name The Weeknd. I followed his blog because I Like his music and I would like to follow whatever news him and his music label, OVOXO, has to put out. When I went on the blog, I noticed he's on tour. He recently had a concert in Camden, New Jersey on Sept 18th which I didn't know about. The next time I will probably get a chance to see his performance is when he goes to NY in October. http://the-weeknd-xo.com/

Think Different

In this one minute Apple 1997 ad, narrated by Richard Dreyfuss, it presents some iconic figures from the 20th century such as Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon, Muhammad Ali, and Mahatma Gandhi just to name some, to symbolize the effect of thinking different. The people in this video were different and went against what was the daily life in their times. They thought differently and that made them reach the point they're at now. If they didn't do what they thought of doing, they would not be in the position they ended up in and some aspects of the world would not be alive today.

Dreyfuss talked about "thinking different" in the ad. He labeled the people that think different with words like "The misfits", "The trouble makers", and "The rebels" which implied that the perception of the people that think different from the rest of the world are crazy to be doing what they are doing. He also said "They're not fond of rules" and "They have no respect for the status quo" meaning you have to break rules and go against what's regular to be different.

People that think different stand out; the people in this video thought different and they obviously stood out. Some people may not agree with what they did or like them but they still end up giving them their attention. It's hard to ignore people that stand out. The ones that stand out move the world in a forward direction. Take Steve Jobs for example; he moved the world forward and is continuing to move the world forward with his revolutionary idea of the iPhone. Without people that stand out and think different, the world would be stuck in the primitive years.

Everybody says they want to stand out, including myself. Everyone has the potential to stand out but people are afraid to shine. I try my best to expose my light to the world and help the whole world shine a bit brighter but I am also shy of shining. I think different but I am too shy and scared of being judge for being different that I lock my light in a box in my attic so nobody can see. Standing in a crowd is so popular now-a-days that nobody really ever wants to stand out. I'm sure there will be a time when I do get the chance to take my light out of the box and show the world how bright I can shine and maybe I too can be like the people in the video...