Another Adventure on the Metro.

today the bus ride home was scary.

A strangely behaving man pulled a knife on the bus driver and stabbed her. Everyone flipped out into sheer panic.

I had no idea what was going on. I am thinking it is a terrorist attack and there is a bomb on the bus. The driver, after struggling pulls the bus to a stop forunately avoids numerous accidents. The bus stops and the doors fly open. I get off the bus as fast as i can like many others on the bus. A police man fortunately is right behind the bus on his motorcycle. We tell him the situation and he calls for backup.

in 30 seconds a fleet of cruisers storm the scene. The knifeman is tackeled to the ground by three cops, and his face is covered in blood.

I am pacing back in forth on the scene, really shaken up, and terrified at this point, not wanting to step foot on another bus again, but yet I am trying to figure out if i should walk or get back on the bus. I walk to the next bus stop thinking its going to be a long time before that lane of traffic clears up where the scene occured. I get back on the bus probably 10 blocks down, and console myself by telling myself over and over again this is a rare occurance it wont happen again.

i get off at argyle and hollywood and walk to my brother's work, and ride home with him.

If anything, this sort of drama really puts the reality of ths world into perspective, and it really makes me grieve.

Adventures Through Hollywood Part 1

I ride the bus to work. Because I cannot afford to drive at $140 a month for parking, and then the cost of commuting. (gas, and car wear and tear). It is usually an hour and a half to two hours to ride in. Probably the worst thing in the world is sitting on a bus with a bunch of strangers with nothing to do for two hours. So I have started utilizing that time to read, pray, and contemplate. When I started riding the bus, I thought it might be an opportunity for me to build some interesting friendships with people I would otherwise never come in contact with.

Today I was sitting on the bus, in a window seat, doing my usual morning read. At one of the Hollywood stops, a very attractive young lady gets on. I look at her, and uncertain if she looked, or noticed me looking at her (she was wearing sunglasses), I just sort of said to myself (PLEASE SIT NEXT TO ME, PLEASE SIT NEXT TO ME) I think I also looked down towards my knees and whispered those words.

And what does she do? She walks down the aisle, probably ganders around to see what sort of seating options are available, and then sits right down next to me. I look left, towards the window, and clench my fist, and say "YES!" in very giddy, yet conspicuous mannner. Then I think, "dang, now if i dont talk to her, I am going to have regrets." The Nate Deardorff Woman Anxiety sets in. Meanwhile, I am in the middle of my chapter, and its a really good chapter on Work, and God's purpose for it in John Piper's "Don't Waste Your Life" (a cheesy title yes, but with 2 hours of bus ride every day, I will take anything on my brother's shelf) This chapter is precisely what I needed to be reading this morning, given my frustrations at work, and trying to figure out if that is where I should be right now. (maybe another blog on that sometime soon). So this beautiful girl is sitting next to me, and I am nervous, and thinking It would be nice to talk to her, but Its not a big deal if i dont because I am busy reading and enlightening myself, and I can justify that trade-off without feeling like I missed too much opportunity. --I think God was just telling me to finish the chapter.

probably 2 minutes go by. I turn the page, and the chapter is over. Now I am thinking. "DANG IT! NOW I DO HAVE TO TALK TO HER OR I AM SERIOUSLY GOING TO REGRET IT!" Divine providence, it just might be.

So I clsoe my book. I also turn off itunes and close my computer.
And now the challenge comes in. I am sitting there thinking "How do i start a conversation, that isnt akward? ...what if she has no desire to talk, and just wants to get wherever she is going? What if she is a stuck-up hollywood girl that makes her boyfriend buy her everything, and again she has no desire to talk, and ignores me?"

After of about 2-3 minutes of questioning these things in my mind, I muster up the gumption to say something along the lines of "where are you headed?"

"huh?" -- her response. In a mild russian accent

caught off guard by her accent but yet turned on somewhat more, I follow up "Are you going into work?"

she looks at me and smiles: "yes"

I reply: "What do you do?"

"I am an accountant"

"nice, I am in marketing myself"

...

from there we carried on a conversation for the next 20 minutes or so, until I had to get off.

Her name is Katy, She is russian in nationality, but grew up in georgia, and now lives in Hollywood and works in culver city as an accounts payable manager
I didnt think to ask how often she rides the bus. And I did not want to creep her out, and give her the idea that I was hitting on her, so I didnt get any contact information.

But...Deep down I am hoping tomorrow and/or some other time this week we will meet up again. en route to wilshire from hollywood and vine, via the metro rapid 780; conversation will pick up where it left off, and I can get her number. Afterall, She knew the bus route pretty well...she probably frequents the bus.


Stay tuned.

some scatterbrained thoughts

So I had the privelage of hanging out again with some new friends. Jon Morales and this awesome girl who is very attractive, Evette. Last week we watched the first matrix movie and threw back a couple of new castles. This week Evette brought some Mexican beer I have never had before, and we threw a couple of those back and watched the matrix reloaded in HD. Good times.

I am realizing that I am really young. All my friends are in the late 20's and some even in their early 30's. It sucks too because I meet a great girl and I find out she is at least 4 years older than me. Man Evette, is awesome...she had the great idea next week to make us burritos, while we watch Matrix Revolutions. A man cannot argue with an attractive women who is offering to cook him food, and Mexican food for that matter. That was an easy yes. Too bad she is 28. Maybe I should just balls up and ask her to hang out some more. I think I am terrified of a "no" because of the age gap, and that might be awkward. Maybe she and other women are just waiting. Hundreds of guys at CA (christian assembly, the church I attend) are not asking girls out...there are tons of girls waiting, but no guys will man up and ask them out. Maybe I need to set an example. There is a picnic this sunday. I am going to have to get some numbers and make it happen.

Wow. I am psyched it is the weekend. This was my first full week of work. I am getting used to it. It is easy work that comes pretty natural to me. A lot of spreadsheets, inputting numbers and formulas. Also I get to meet with some network reps. This week I got to meet with a rep from BET. and Direct TV. Apparantly Direct TV has exclusive rights to the "NFL sunday ticket" meaning they are the only service that provides coverage of every football game. Intersting selling point for them.

I am also getting used to riding the bus to work. Initially I hated it because it takes so much time out of my day. I started reading on the bus this week. I started reading my bible. Maybe God opened this door so that I would wake up early, and be really bored with 1.5 hours of free time, and that would motivate me to read my bible more. It is working so far.

The CEO of the company came for a meeting this week. He is a cool guy. Really down-to-earth. He told us we dont really have a dress code...just wear whatever i feel is appropriate. I might have to try wearing a banana hammock to work sometime and make a good case for how I feel that it is appropriate. If Matt, the CEO saw that. He would probably laugh. But then He would tell me to put some clothes on. With the liberal dress code, I have taken it upon myself to wear jeans to work. so far its been fine.

I also found out today that the asian girl on the otherside of my cube is a Chrisian. I look forward to hanging out with her and having some good conversation.

I need to call the eye doctor tomorrow. My contacts are good for one more week.
I should also call the dentist, and get a checkup. It has been at least 6 months.

I look forward to using my benefits. and I look forward to my first paycheck next week. It will be the biggest one of my life so far, and it will probably go straight to bills. Yes!


Some facts about me and my CA experiennce:

-I eat sushi at least once a week (especially since there are about 6 sushi places within one block of where I work).

-I eat mexican food at least once a week: New favorite mexican place: Poquito Mas: awesome fish tacos. endless chips with amazing selections of salsa.

-Surprisingly, I have not had any coldstone since I have been here. It is a big surprise because there is one within walking distance of my house. (berg if you are reading this, we will have to take a walk down there when you come visit)

-Swork Coffee is my new favorite coffee shop. It supplied me with free internet. Without it, I would not have a job today.

- I finally got up on a surfboard on Memorial Day at Newport Beach.

- my current select beer is new castle, or killians; Captain Morgan and Gingerale is my current select cocktail.

- I go to a karaoke bar in Manhattan Beach on Thursday nights.

-Church is right across the street. I enjoy being able to leave 5 minutes before service starts.

- I work on the 17th floor of a highrise corporate tower on Wilshire BLVD, right across from UCLA, and Drive through Hollywood and Beverly Hills everyday. Supringly, Hollywood is a dump. I would hate to live there.

-I havent seen any celebrities yet. Maybe I have, I just didnt know they were celebrities.

-From my travels up to Northern CA, I could easily see myself moving up there when I get sick of it down here.

time for bed.

end.

Through more deserts to new mountains.

So I am sitting in a small town called El Dorado CA right now. I guess it isnt small in terms of Land Size, but population-wise, the trees and probably the animals certainly outnumber the people here.

I have spent the last 9 hours of my life in the car, en route to this cozy place tucked up in the deep pines of Northern CA. We should have arrived 3 hours ealier, but google maps threw me for a loop when it told me to take the 49, without specifying the direction. So we got of the 16 east, and went south on the 49 (when we should have gone north) about 30 miles out of the way. After about 2.5 hours of frustration, and 130 miles later (driving back and forth about 4 times), I can now safely say that I know the region of state road 49 from El Dorado south, to San Andreas, thanks to the ambiguity of Google Maps.

What really bugs me is my slow wit. I didnt think to look at the map in my back seat for about 2 hours. Anyway...we are here, and I was able to relax away my frustrations with a hot tub session under the stars, at my friend's uncle's house. The coolest thing happened here too. What looked to me like a deer came right up to the hot tub and looked right at us. There were no lights on, so it probably couldnt see us to well...but it looked right at us and peeked its head over the tub. Very frightening, but very cool.

I have always wanted to take a trip up to Northern CA, but I have never had a reason to, until yesterday. I was visitinng with a family friend who was suppose to go to a wedding up here, but her ride bailed on her. In typical, Nate Deardorff, Heroic Fashion, I came to the rescue. And decided to take a road trip, see some more of this new Pacific Coast state I call home, and Crash a wedding, which I know nothing about, nor do I know anyone there, except for this family friend. I really like it up here. It reminds me a little of New England, with lots of hills, and pine trees all over. You can actually see the stars which I really miss in Southern CA.

One other thing that Really surprises me is how much of CA is desert. Pretty much all 300 miles of the 5 we took to get up here was nnothing but desert plains. I nice blend of the desert west, mixed with the flat fields of the midwest. very surprising, Indeed.

CA is sweet if you go to the right parts, but I was very suprised with how bland and boring the scenery is going north on the 5 to sacramento.

anyway...it is late, I am rambling. Bed time.