The Life of Ryan...

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Take me out to the Ball Game...

1 comments Posted by Ryan James at 10:18 PM

The sun in your eyes. The smell of freshly cut grass. A cold drink in one hand and a hot-dog in the other. All the while your sitting right behind the third base plate yelling absurd profanity. Ahhh baseball... my favorite sport. I love everything there is about it and I'm so glad to be back to watch it all I want!

Monday, August 3, 2009

A South Pacific Nomad...

2 comments Posted by Ryan James at 3:08 PM

Bula! Bonjour! G'day! How are ya?

I'm back! What an AMAZING summer its been. There is just way too much to write about and I'm really trying to avoid Carpel Tunnel.

Let me put it this way, I just went to Tahiti, Fiji & New Zealand... and got paid for it! Not only did I get a decent pay check, but I embarked on a trip where I became a member of a village and got to delve into their culture, I swam with sharks and kissed a beautiful sea turtle and I surfed with Palo, the Tahitian champion for the past three years.

Thats really just the tip of the iceberg. I sailed around New Zealand and Fiji, high-fived a dolphin, ate fruit, met Tane Mahuta ( a 2000 year old Kauri tree in New Zealand ), scuba dived, hiked Moorea Island, swam with sting rays, ate fruit, got Giardia, partook of a Kava ceremony, fought off sharks, missed Michael Jacksons funeral, chilled with Wilson on Cast Away island, ate more fruit, opened a coconut with my bare hands and a rock, lost my phone, lost my sunglasses, gained weight, lost weight, gained it back, got buried in sand by twelve fijian kids, saw a nude beach, said hi to people on nude beach, played rugby and got sunburned. Did I mention I got paid for all this?

All of this while dragging along ten kids! Not too bad. Thanks WV!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Into the Wild

1 comments Posted by Ryan James at 1:05 PM

For those of you who haven't heard yet. I quit my job at the Olive Garden and am now hired by a company based out of Jackson Hole called Wilderness Ventures. www.wildernessventures.com. It is probably going to go down as one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The company takes high school kids on domestic and international trips and takes them to some of the coolest places on earth. Luckily enough, me and another co-leader will be taking sixteen kids to the South Pacific for over a month! Tahiti, Fiji and New Zealand to be exact. We will be surfing, sailing, scuba diving, attempting to teach Fijian kids English and retaining some life-long memories. My adventure begins next Sunday but in the meantime I've been learning to survive in the wild. I may even get my own discovery channel show and teach that British guy a thing or two. I must go now, into the wild. Into the wild blue yonder. Now if I could only grow a beard...

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Midnight Drive and Techno...

0 comments Posted by Ryan James at 4:49 PM

I drove back to Logan from Idaho Falls last night. I decided to leave at midnight for some reason. Who knows why? You gotta love late-night drives though. When its dark, you don't have much to look at so you just... think. Then you think some more. Then your mind goes from here to there and you start to sort out your life and the next thing you know your evaluating yourself. Maybe it's never happened to you but that's usually how my thought process works.

The best thing about this is from Pocatello to Logan there was absolutely no radio stations coming in... except for one. A station in Salt Lake was playing nothing but Techno. Repetitive measures that never stop all the while some high-pitched voice is singing nonsense in the background. At first I was pissed. Then after about twenty minutes I started to feel somewhat in a trance. It wasn't until then that I realized Techno music opens up channels in your brain that only Techno could do!

It was like the loose wires in my brain had found each-other after all these years and I could think clearly. It probably had nothing to do with the music playing but I'd like to think otherwise. I'm sorry Techno. Im sorry I doubted you. I still wont listen to you but in case I need you at one in the morning, I'll know where to find you.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Moved on...

2 comments Posted by Ryan James at 2:47 AM

So I moved out of my house of two years over to a house a block away! I really wanted a change of scenery, you know? The weather and scenery is so much nicer where I'm at now. I reside in a house named, "The Apple Pie House." Its been great! The roommates are great, the view is seriously superb. It's just a nice place to start over and move on. What more could I ask for? I sure am glad I didn't wait until the last minute to get a place though and end up still there. I recently walked over to The Cube to check to see if I had mail or anything and to my surprise, the house smelled of cigarette smoke and nauseating spices. My mouth watered... Good thing I left.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Done with school... for now.

0 comments Posted by Ryan James at 12:21 AM

So I realized that I need to be one of those bloggers that can write little tid-bits here and there about things going on in my life rather than just waiting for something BIG to happen and write a novel about it. SO! First order of business... I just had my last final test today and my summer has officially begun! Thank you, thank you... no need to cheer. So now I will try to find an alternate mode of public transportation to my place of work since my car is MIA, or POW or KIA. Yes, I believe thats first order of business. More short stories to come soon. Stay tuned, tell your friends and take luck. GOODBYE!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

I went to Mexico... No big deal.

1 comments Posted by Ryan James at 3:34 PM

To get away from this years craziness, I went on a Mexican Riviera cruise with 200 of my fellow Utah State Students. It all started when there was an invite back in November to go on a Cruise for spring break for a week for only $350. Hmmm... I thought to myself, OKAY! So for the past four months I have waited patiently. For I had never been on a cruise or to Mexico! Yayyy two for the price of one! Look at me spending my money wisely during these dark financial times. So we drove to L.A and boarded our ship Saturday morning and we were off! The ship was huge and there was plenty to do. We were at sea for about two days and It took some getting used to being on the water that long. I mean, I'm a pretty tough man, but I felt like I was drunk the first 24 hours. I was offered Dramamine and other vicarious drugs to ease my pain but NO! I refuse! Pirates and Columbus didnt have the luxury of ear-drum, balancing drugs! Why should I?! I am a pirate and an explorer for a week! Argggg!!!

We pulled into our first port, Cabo San Lucas, on monday. We only had about 8 hours to be on land so we found a water taxi, and grabbed some snorkel gear, all for $10. The day was spent on lovers beach, snorkeling, and cliff jumping. The fish there were beautiful, but i've seen better in my travels. I got bored of looking at sea critters so I decided to go on the north side of the beach to tackle some waves. They were practically yelling at me and mocking me so I had to man up and fight them. Now when I say "fight" a wave, I mean wait for the swell to form then dive right into at and punch anything that gets in my way. So I go a few rounds with some waves when the ocean decides to send in its top fighter, " El diablo" as I like to call him. So the wave swells up, big and mightier then the rest. I hesitate for only a millisecond. I must defend my country, I must fight back. The scene all of a sudden slows down like a an epic battle scene. Two Titans run at each other, each with their muscles glistening in the sun. I see the evil in the face of my oppenent but I keep my composure. The wave has reached its peak, 12 massive feet it rises into the air. I leap from the sand soaring toward the wave. My arms pulled back and my face roaring like a lion! Wham!!! We collide with thunderous sound! I'm immediately surrounded by water and I thrash to make the wave feel everything I got. Without warning I'm slammed into the ocean bed. Ouch, I think to myself. That one hurt. I arise from the water yelling profanity, for "El diablo" cheated and brought his homies to take me down! No fair "El diablo" NO FAIR! Long story short, I found out by the cruise doctor I dislocated my rib. I'm fine though.

So that was our day in Cabo, next day MAZATLAN! The city was very cool and we spent half the day in the flea markets. Then the other half relaxing on the beach. I was still sore from the previous day. Nothing too exciting happened there but we did eat some delicious tacos and my spanglish improved.

The day after we arrived in Puerto Vallarta. This was my favorite place by far. The city was lush and in the heart of a beautiful mexican forrest. We also had all day to spend there so we made the best of it. We spent the first half doing an excursion where we went 20 miles south of the city and went zip-lining over the canopy and repelled off waterfalls. It was stunning, the other half was spent in more flea markets and walking on the pier. A great day! The rest of the ship time was on sea back to the states. It was such a cool experience and one I'll never forget. By now my family is jealous that I've travelled more then most of them combined. All I can say is... get used to it! Love ya!