Never stop dreaming.

Reach for the stars, so if you fall you land on a cloud. -Kanye West

[zanesimon]

Goodbye Tony

Anthony Bourdain died Friday morning, June 8th, 2018.  It has taken me three days to come up with the words I’ve wanted to say, because it has been really fucking hard to verbalize his impact on me. I could write pages upon pages on him, but it comes down to a few simple things.  He showed me the world.  He taught me to love food.  He encouraged me to try everything once.  He shaped the person I’ve become and will continue to shape my person in the future.  

I discovered Anthony Bourdain when I was an aimless 20 year old.  He showed me that I wanted to travel.  He changed the way I viewed the world.  He decimated how I thought about other cultures.  He showed me that even if we look, talk, and act different we all really want three simple things: good food, good friends, and good times.  Ultimately, people from Libya want the same thing as people from Texas to live life how they want to live life.

He showed me that everyone everywhere is proud of the food they make, and when they offer that food to you, they are opening up their world to you, and the dinner table is a great avenue to get to know someone.  I learned more from a decade of watching his episodes than I learned from any school or book.

I traveled the world with Tony.  Those adventures are over and that is really shitty.  If you didn't, I hope you do.  His approach to the world is something I want to expose my children too.  I’m lucky to have a wife that wants to travel as much as I do, and that wants to expose our children to different cultures as much as I do.  For me, that is a direct byproduct of watching Tony.

This coming weekend, I am going to try a new food, maybe something Vietnamese, because he loved Vietnam, and wash it down with a cold beer.  Then I am going to spend my life doing my best to travel the world with my family and experience other cultures.  That is how I am going to honor Mr Bourdain.  I hope he would approve.

[zanesimon]

#hopeishard

I know that all police are not bad. The majority of police officers are good people, trying to do an extremely difficult, often dangerous, job. The disconnect comes from the fact that the good officers protect the bad ones to a fault. There is no accountability for the officers that are committing heinous crimes. Don’t be naive, there are cops out there murdering people. I understand that deadly force can be necessary in very specific situations, but Alton Sterling was murdered in Baton Rouge. Philando Castile was murdered in Minneapolis. Eric Garner was murdered in New York. Daniel Shaver was murdered in Mesa, Arizona. Those are just the tip of the iceberg.

That being said, murdering police officers is not the answer. Violence is never the answer. No good has ever come from an increase in violence. The only path to an answer here lies in transparency, accountability, and open dialogue.

This is all connected to the ever present issue of race relations in our country. It is an issue that I do not feel completely comfortable discussing, because I am a white male that grew up in small towns and suburbs. I know not the feeling of being discriminated against or combating prejudice. I feel like race relations today are better than generations previous, but still far from perfect. The one thing I know for sure is that equality is not where it should be, and that holds true for race, gender, and sexual orientation. I steadfastly hold out hope that my daughter’s generation will be able to close the equality gap from where we are to where we should be.

Ultimately, a single opinion piece, written by me or anyone, won’t change the country. I just have the need to express myself, because anger, frustration, and a certain amount of guilt, has evolved into sadness. This stuff makes me really sad. This country is supposed to afford everyone living in its borders the same freedoms and inalienable rights, but we are continually reminded that large swaths of our citizens do not get those guarantees. This violence makes me sad. The violation of our constitutional rights makes me sad. The state of our nation makes me sad.

Hope for a better future is hard to find sometimes, but I still hold out for it.

[zanesimon]

My friends invited me to be on their hilarious podcast where we battle movies to find a winner. The movie talk, laughs, and foul language. Enjoy!

[zanesimon]

#lbj>mj

This isn’t hyperbole. This isn’t a knee jerk reaction to recent events. This is something I believe and have preached for years.

Lebron James is the greatest basketball player we have ever witnessed.

“Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, Shaq. Those guys are the greatest.” I get it. People of different ages, different generations, different eras have different opinions.

For most people, LBJ won’t ever compare to any of those names, let alone one particular name, Michael Jordan. He could never reach THAT kind of greatness.

But what if he already has?

Lebron James has already played in more finals than Jordan, 7. He’s won three of them. That’s half as many as Jordan. If you count the rings, than Lebron is going to lose every time.

Let’s consider circumstance though. Jordan had half of fame type help with Pippen and Rodman. He was also being coached by Phil Jackson, maybe the greatest. It’s not not the rest of those rosters were chumps, either: BJ Armstrong, John Paxson, Horace Grant, Steve Kerr, Luc Longley, Toni Kukoc.

James’ first finals trip was in 07. Can you name one other player on that squad? Here was their starting five, Lebron, Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden, Sasha Pavlovic, and Larry Hughes. The fact that that team made it to the finals is unreal. Jump ahead to the Miami years. He had a fellow hall of famer in Dwyane Wade, who was essentially broken, and a borderline hall of famer in Chris Bosh. Yet, that team still went to four straight finals and won two of them.

Then, he went back home to Cleveland. That team got to his fifth straight final and lost, but they didn’t have their other two best players, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. Now, that same team, almost exactly the same, just beat the same Golden State Warriors team. The argument could be made that if Cleveland would have been whole last year, they could have won then. That would make LBJ 4-3 in finals. But I’m not talking hypotheticals.

Even the most ardent LBJ hater has to admit that we’ve never seen a player with the physical capabilities of James. He is 6’8” and 250 pounds. He can run, jump, shoot, pass, and block(epically). He is rarely injured and has staked more minutes on than any other player. Don’t forget he has gone to six straight finals. That means he has played from October to late June for the last six years. He hasn’t missed the playoffs since 2005. That means he’s played until at least May for over a decade. That’s not counting the olympics in 2004, 2008, 2012. Don’t forget, Lebron didn’t take a 2 year “retirement” in the prime of his career. Jordan may be the greatest winner of all time, but he couldn’t do the things James can do.

As it stands, Lebron is 3 rings away from Jordan. It’s really hard to win championships, and if he doesn’t win one more I wouldn’t be surprised. I WILL be surprised if he doesn’t make it to at least one more finals. The Eastern Conference is weak. This Cleveland team is relatively young and locked up for at least a few seasons. Let’s say he wins one more with this team. That would make him 4 of 8. Are you going to tell me that is that much less impressive than Jordan?

Let’s say he wins one more in Cleveland then bounces around picking up rings as a role/bench player. Shaq did it in ‘06 with Miami. Jason Kidd did it in ,10 with Dallas. If James can win two more doing that. He’ll get 6 in no less than 10 finals trips. He’ll be tied with Jordan while actually getting to more finals. Jordan won every finals he was in, but he didn’t get to the finals every year he was in the league. Jordan was in the league for 14 seasons altogether and went to six finals. LBJ has been in the league for 13 seasons and has been to seven already. That is staggering. He is over 50% for finals appearances to years played.

I loved watching Michael Jordan. I grew up being astonished by him. I will never deny the amazing things he did. He changed basketball, made it global. But I think the time has come to change his title. Michael Jordan was the greatest to play the game until Lebron James came along.

PS: If Lebron played when Bill Russell played, he would have dominated the league even more than Russell did, so squash that argument.

[zanesimon]

#6monthsold

My daughter is six months old today, June 5th.  She loves to laugh.  She loves “talking.”  She loves experiencing new things.  She marvels at everything.  She learns things so quickly; it’s amazing. She reaches for everything she wants.  

Being six months old is particularly amazing for her mother and I, because there was a time when we didn't think she'd make six days, much less six months. It was a tough for us to get to six weeks. Now, she's six months and thriving. She’s growing so fast.  We went from thinking she may not make it to six months, to not knowing where those six months went.

Parents want a lot for their kids.  They want them to be successful: lawyers, doctors, athletes, musicians.  They want them to be the best at what they do.  None of that is bad.  None of it is wrong.  These are good aspirations to have.

I only want a few things for our daughter.  I want her to always be like how she is now, at six months old.  I want her to laugh.  I want her to be able to say what’s on her mind.  I want her to learn.  I want her to be amazed.  I want her to reach, never stop reaching, for what she wants.  I just really want her to be happy, because she makes us happier than anything we could have ever imagined.

I hope she never forgets how much her mommy and daddy love her.  We love you Luci.  Mommy and daddy will always love you with every fiber of our being.

#dadlife www.zanesimon.com

[zanesimon]

#golf #whyweplay

The sun is just coming up over the treeline.  The smell of fresh cut grass hits your nostrils.  The world is quiet save a few birds, and the distant hum of lawn mowers.  There is still a bit of dew on the grass that flicks up onto your shoes as you walk through it.  You stretch and and take deep breaths.  

You watch your friends execute nearly perfect swings pushing the ball  hundreds of yards down the fairway.  Your turn at the tee arrives and you stick the little piece of wood that holds your ball into the ground.  You delicately put your ball on it.  You look down the fairway, visualizing where you want the ball to go.  You take a couple practice swings.  They feel good.  You position over the ball, knees bent, feet under your shoulders, and head down.  You pull back the club and bring it down with every ounce of your being.  

You top the ball and it bounces right in front of you and rolls onto the red tees.  Your group, made up of three of your buddies, explode into laughter.  They encourage you to take a mulligan.  They tell you, “We’re playing from the blues not the reds.”  They prod you with, “Nice, shot, Tiger.”

This is how golf is for the majority of us that play.  You going to hit the ball 90 times in four hours and 70 of your those hits are going to resemble that first one.  You’re going to swing at the ball another 10 or 15 times, but if you don’t hit it those don’t count.  You’re going to get frustrated beyond all belief.  You might be the kind of person that throws a club, or wraps it around a tree.  You might be the kind of person that curses and yells.  Or if you’re like me, you just open another beer and let that wash the frustration away.   

I know the idea of golf can confuse people.  I hear things like, “It’s boring.  Why would I want to chase a little white ball around all day?”  Or, “If you get so mad, what’s the point?”  Well, there’s a few reasons.

The first is that you get to be outside.  Typically, you golf in the early morning, so the weather is perfect and the world is still asleep.  It’s a great time to be up.  Plus, it’s perfectly normal to enjoy some adult beverages.  There is nothing better than being outside, having a brew, and hanging out with your boys, or girls, or wife, or kids.

That takes me to the next great thing, hanging out with people you enjoy being around.  Whether you go with your buddies or your family, it’s just great to be around your people.  You get to collectively enjoy a day outside, expending energy, laughing, and engaging in friendly competition.

I think there is also one very important subliminal thing that keeps players playing, and that is that it is the only sport where you can do what the pros do.  You can have one shot that even a pro golfer would be like, “Whoa.”  A regular person won’t throw a TD pass in the NFL, slam dunk a basketball in an NBA game, race a car at Daytona, or hit a homerun in a ball park.  But anyone on a golf course can hit a hole in one on a par 3 or make a chip shot from 30 yards out.  And ultimately, that is why you keep playing.  Because in those 100+ swings you take, you are bound to have one awesome shot.  All it takes is one awesome shot to get you to hit the links the next weekend.

So, I encourage everyone to get out, swing some clubs, goof around with your buddies, and have a good time being outside for a few hours.

#sports

[zanesimon]

#nevergrowup

My 3 month old daughter has been sleeping in her crib, 5-6 hours a night with very little fussing, for the last week. It’s quite the change from the nights when we could barely get her to sleep one hour. Then, we got her to sleep two hours a night, not consecutively. Now, she’s sleeping almost the entire night, like a champ.

I’m proud and sad at the same time.

I’m proud, because it means she is growing. It’s mean my wife and I are doing a good job parenting. We’re enabling her to become her own person and become independent. It shows us that she is willing to explore her limits, because she knows we’ll be there to make it better. Right now, it’s sleeping in a crib, but later it’s walking, school, driving, work and adulthood. I know that’s the condensed version, but that’s the path we’re heading down.

I’m sad, because I know there is a time, fast approaching, that I won’t be able to hold her. I won’t be able to cure all of her pains with a bottle and a kiss on the forehead. She’s going to have to fall and get hurt. She’s going to have to learn the hard way at some point. I won’t be able to fix everything. I’m just not ready for that. I don’t think I’ll ever be.

Sometimes, I watch at her as she stares at the ceiling fan with a fascination unmatched by any adult watching anything. I know her entire world is our small apartment. The front door is a portal into a big, scary place that she can’t handle without me. I really don’t ever want her to go out into that world. I want her to continue to exist in our apartment, hanging out with her best friend, the ceiling fan. We named him Robert. Sometimes, I never want her to grow up.

I know that thought process is unrealistic. She is going to go out into that big, scary world. Then, my job becomes guiding her in that world. I’ll do my best to make her feel better when she is feeling bad. I’m going to try and heal her when she’s hurt. I’m going to be the best father I can be. Fortunately, I have the best mother and wife to help me.

Ironically, my daughter and I are in the same boat. I’m going to have to learn and grow as she learns and grows. I could chose not to learn and grow, but that is going to make things difficult. I could resist change and fight her on everything, and I probably will at some point. But if I can like things she likes and do things she wants to do, I think that’ll make it easier. I know, she’s going to love some terrible music at some point, that I’m going to have to listen to, incessantly. But if I can learn to enjoy it, maybe I’ll be able to get here to listen to some Jack Johnson.

I know that all I really want is for her to always want to talk to me. I want her to know she can tell me anything. I’m terrified that at some point she won’t tell me something. Of all the things I mentioned, that is my biggest fear. That will make me feel like a failure.

It seems that being a parent is a bit of a paradox. You want your child to thrive and grow and learn to be independent. It’s a sign of good parenting. But on the other hand, you want them to stay little. You always want to be able to pick them up, soothe them, be their hero, and protect them. Parents can’t have it both ways, but they can do their best to enjoy it as it goes.

It’s eleven PM. I’m about to put her in the crib. If things continue the way they’ve been going, she’ll sleep until about 15 minutes before my 5 AM alarm goes off. I’ll sleep less than she will, because I still wake up every time she cries or fusses in her sleep. I still have to check her breathing when I get up to use the bathroom. I still have to be there to pick her up and soothe her when a bad dream wakes us up.

For now, I get to be her hero. For now, this apartment is her whole world. For now, I’m going to enjoy it.

www.zanesimon.com #dadlife

[zanesimon]

#grandcanyon

It’s just a big hole in the ground.

People say it.  

I said it when I was younger.  

I visited the Grand Canyon for the first time, in 1999, when I was 13.  My family was visiting Arizona before ultimately moving to Phoenix, from Texas.  We went to Montezuma's Castle, Usery Park, Apache Lake, and the Grand Canyon.  I was a cynical, snotty teenage.  I thought I was smarter than everyone else, and that I had seen it all, in my 13 long years on this Earth.  I wasn’t impressed by anything we saw, especially the Canyon.  I ended up being more interested in taking the cliche, “I‘m falling!” picture and finding a vending machine to get myself a Coke.

I would eventually end up going back to the Grand Canyon.  I was 21 and had been living on my own in Arizona for three years.  My parents and brothers had moved back to Texas three years earlier. I worked 60 hours a week at a pizza place paying rent for my roommate and myself, because he lost his job one month into our 12 month lease.  I was a writer that didn’t write.  I didn’t know what I was doing with my life.  I knew I was drinking too much, and felt like I was wasting my mind.  I was alone, lost, a little scared, tired, and burnt out.  I drove up to the Canyon on a whim one Sunday morning.  It was a rare Sunday off of work at the time.  I woke up at just after dawn and said, “I’m getting out of the Valley.”  It’s a four hour drive from Mesa, Arizona to the Grand Canyon.  I’m not keen on taking breaks during road trips, unless needed, and I am a bit of a speeder.  So, I got there in 3 and a half hours.

It doesn’t look real.  

It really looks like a painting.  It's so pristine and vast.  I just couldn't believe I was seeing so much of something, completely uninterrupted.  It literally goes to the horizon and beyond the edge of your peripheral vision.  I looked down and everything on the canyon floor looked tiny, almost like a diorama.  I was looking a million years into the past.  I could see all the layers of rock.  I tried to comprehend how old all of it was, but it blew my mind.  I tried to compare how long it took nature to form this magnificent view to my lifespan, but it was like comparing centuries to seconds.  It’s a surreal beauty that is as jarring as it is inspiring.  As I absorbed the vista I watched some dark clouds roll in from the north.  The clouds advanced over the canyon.  The thunderheads were pouring rain into the canyon below and I could see the ground change color in a line as it approached the south rim.  I could see lightning bolt punishing the bottom of the canyon with strike after strike.  It was an unreal sight watching a thunderstorm, in all of its fury and power, sweep over the canyon.  The park employees ushered people into buildings and cars for fear of someone being struck by lightning.  I decided I saw what I needed to see.  I got into my truck and drove home.

Years later, I would return to the Canyon with the girl who would become my wife.  This time we stayed the night up there.  It was our first trip together.  It’s fun to show it to someone that hasn’t seen it before.  We walked all along the south rim, seeing the canyon from every angle.  We saw some elk roaming the footpaths.  We took some fun pictures.  We got scolded by a ranger for standing too close to the edge.  We went to the grocery store in Grand Canyon Village and ate at the pizza place in the food court.  We got to see the canyon in the evening and the morning.  In fact this picture was taken there.

We both wish we would have taken more time to just enjoy the view.  We plan on taking our new daughter as soon as we think she's up for the trip.  

If you go to the Grand Canyon and it’s just a “big hole in the ground” to you, that’s fine.  I’m not mad, and you technically aren’t wrong.  But I suggest that you wait until you need to see something great.  Go see the canyon when you feel like there is nothing worth seeing, you won’t be disappointed.  It'll revitalize your soul.  It really is an amazing place and a testament to the wonder and beauty of this planet we live on and the state I live in.

ZaneSimon

www.zanesimon.com

#travel

[zanesimon]

Thoughts After Seeing My Daughter

I never knew I could love something so much, so quickly. When I look at my little girl it raises equal amounts of love, anxiety, fear, and responsibility. I love her unconditionally. I’m anxious to watch her grow and help her in all the ways I can. I’m scared...terrified, of anything happening to her. I feel responsible to provide her with the best life possible. I also didn’t realize how much more I could love someone after my daughter was born. But watching my wife care for my daughter is one of the most magical things I have ever seen. She is nothing short of a goddess in the way she cares for our child. Watching her be a mom is truly awe-inspiring and cements her in the place she already possessed in my heart. It may not be healthy, but my happiness is directly linked to their happiness. I cannot rest easy or be satisfied until I know my wife and daughter are as happy as I can make them. I never want to watch them go through any pain, but I know it will happen, and I hope I can be part of the remedy when it does happen. My heart is in the hands of these two women in the best way, and I’m happy to give them that control. I long to see them smile and to feel their love. I miss them when I’m away even if it’s for a few minutes. I love you Debi and Luci, with all my heart and every bit of my being.

[zanesimon]

I can always be better

It's funny how a girl,

that is my whole world,

doesn't even know what she means to me at all,

Maybe that's my own fault,

I love you,

Debi Blaylock.

[zanesimon]

I'm going to be happy anywhere as long as I'm with you.  Plus, California has Disneyland, the ocean, and the original In N Out.

[heathens-and-kings]

[debilouwho]

This is me.

[zanesimon]

Me

[zanesimon]

Hello. I'm creepin' on your page. Miss you lots. Love, your weird girl

That's not really a question....keep creepin'.

[zanesimon]

Best day in a long time.

[zanesimon]

21 DAYS!!

[zanesimon]

26 Days!!

[acciobrandon]

[zanesimon]

  #33days #thiswillbemetryingtokeepup