Happiness Is...

...what you make of it. Everyone wants to be happy, but I don't think many know how to get to become happy. Or genuinely happy. There's those small moments of life where you have glimpses of happiness, but then fall back into the rut of sadness.

I've been battling a lot this past year, and as much as I would love to dive into the cold hard details of it all and spew it forth onto the internet for anyone to read, it's not worth it. Plus, for the 118 of you that have read this site so far, it's more of a corner of the vast room of other things online to consume your time with, so I'll be brief.

I don't feel like I'm a bad guy. I've gotten decent grades in school, I get my work done, and I just do what I do. Go see a movie, frequent Disneyland, etc.

Yet, I get from a fair amount of people that I'm 'not who I'm supposed to be', or 'you could have been so much better', or 'you won't make it to do this'. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of the lack of support. The genuine lack of support and care where people are actually excited about my engagement, and not just on the bandwagon because they're afraid they'll lose me if they stand their ground on not agreeing with it (people are thinking I'm too young to get married). Fine, don't agree with it. But invest none the less. It helps, it really does when you ask a question about what someone's doing, and then ask why they're doing ___ that way. Maybe it's just me, but that's where you really show you care. Not just ask "how are you" only to auto-reply with "oh okay" and carry on. No, take time to dive into someone's life. Ask "how are you" and then say "oh awesome, how is that going?" It makes a difference.

Breaking it down, this isn't just about how I've been feeling. It's about people in general. I've been sitting back and watching, and it seems like people just don't care as much as they used to. The world was cold, but it's gotten colder. Why not take a note from that thing called global warming, and instead of us as a world melting the ice caps, why not we melt the cold hearts of people around us? It's a really cliche thing to say, but it's true. Pay it forward. Invest in lives, and show that you care.

So that's all I've got right now. I just got off work, I'm tired and I need sleep.

Shooting my Evolving Hobby

I know, I know. Everyone is a photographer nowadays. With prices of DSLR's lowering, and the quality rising, anyone can take decent shots. So many people have their 'professional photography' pages and try to make a quick buck by snapping family photos for Christmas cards, cheap graduation shots, or baby photos...the list goes on.

I'm guilty of shamelessly promoting my photos as well. All of us are. But I'm not here to sell them, or ask for you to lie to me and say my shots are great when some of them are crap. I'm using this as a platform to get any (and when I mean any, I really mean it.) critique. Tell me if you don't like a shot, or think a different angle or lighting style could be better. A person is bad if they aren't willing to grow and accept the critique of their work. So tell me if you like it, hate it or think something could be better if ____ was done.

This is a hobby that I just want to grow and be better at. It's a love of mine to capture something that I think is cool, and unique. I try to find different angles or lighting that others miss. May not always get the most original shots, but it's always a work in progress.

So, here's a handful of shots to get started, I'll post more over time.

Sunset Over Tomorrowland 

Lanterns in Adventureland

A Look down Buena Vista Street

Willy's Butte and the Radiator Springs Rockwork

BrickLand: The Lego/Disney Product Merger

As a fan of both Lego and Disney, I love that both companies have teamed up to make certain film sets. They actually have quite the list of products together: Pirates of the Caribbean, Toy Story, Prince of Persia, The Lone Ranger, Cars, and more. Yet, why should it stop at just the recent films that have come out?

Lego is a company with a product that beats out any competitor. There's a reason Lego has fan site after fan site of people building their own (and often time amazing) sets to carry out their favorite films' adventures. I mean, have you seen the custom Breaking Bad set that's going for sale at a hefty $250? Why can't Disney get a contract set up with Lego to bring the Disney Magic Sets (running title for this post)?

Imagine building smaller sets (y'know, the $12-$25 range) of princess scenes from Little Mermaid (kiss the girl scene, anyone?), Aladdin (how about the Prince Ali entrance, or a Whole New World set?), and maybe even a bigger one of Maleficent fighting Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty! These are just a few of the classics that could happen. I haven't even mentioned a ballroom scene from Beauty and The Beast....


But, why stop at the films? There's amazingly wonderful, and definitely iconic buildings from Disney Parks that could be built into the Lego Architect line, as-is. Who's up for having a Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, or of course, Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella's Castle as a model on your desk at work? Next to The Sears Tower and Sydney Opera house, of course.

This really isn't too much of a far cry from happen, I don't think. Obviously business deals like this have to go through several hoops of approving it from both sides, agreeing on designs, prices, who gets how much of the return money, etc. But really, I believe that this would be a great sale for both companies, given not only their great product record in the past, but also the outstanding quality each has to offer for the other, and for their consumers. Here's hoping it happens.  

The Adventures Begin

Well, let's see what happens with this. This is my corner of the internet. It won't be too big. But I hope you enjoy it. This place is a spot for my musings, photography, and ideas on things. Concerts, theme parks, ideas and all of that. But I can promise you that it'll at least be somewhat awesome. If it isn't, then just go back to stalking your friends from high school and promise someone to 'go get lunch sometime', even though you know you won't. Oh look, first picture on the site!