Friday the 13th to Mars

Friday the 13th (one week ago from yesterday) for some is a very ominous day full of dread and bad luck. For the other less paranoid folk it is just another day. As for me, my wife, my brother, and a "friend of a friend", Friday the 13th defined "Provehito in altum". If you understood that, most likely you are Echelon. Put simply - we attended the taping for MTV Unplugged featuring 30 Seconds to Mars in good ol Harlem!

Echelon Family

 Now you know the "who", "what", "where" and "when". As for the "how"; we were not "caller 100" the "one thousandth customer!" nor did we find a golden ticket wrapped around a candy bar. We simply replied to a call out to the fans on facebook and sent in our mugshots. Jokes on casting as we actually participated in the performance and my singing voice is the kill. oh and not to forget the "why". "Why" is because we were the kings and queens of the selection. Also, we got to paint our faces with "war paint" as per email request and any chance to act a fool - we'll take it!

The email also requested we print out attached lyrics and learn them so the whole ride into Harlem we were reading and singing the songs in the car. We were determined, like soldiers on a search and destroy mission to get the songs down pat. It was pretty interesting at stop lights when people would look into our car at 4 face painted strangers in a strange land singing songs while reading off of lyric sheets. Only thing weirder is if we had ourselves an L490 singing bowl in the car.

Garage rehearsal

Upon arrival we caught Tomo on a little escape outside for some fresh air. We checked in and got our cool MTV bands and were led down into the bowels of the building right into the garage. I wondered if the MTV people thought "ok these guys look crazy - let's lead them out the back way and hope they don't come around to try and get in again". Fortunately we were in the right place as there was a group of other crazies (echelon) in the garage "rehearsing". By "rehearsing" I mean everyone was grouped around a radio playing the songs and queued  when to sing certain parts by the sophisticated method of someone holding up a piece of oak tag with lyrics written in sharpie. Not gonna lie it was kinda cool especially since Tomo stopped in a bit for some guidance on what exactly to do and expect at the taping to come.

Tomo from Earth

After the garage session and the vox populi was prepped, we were lead up to a staging area aka mini cafeteria aka the sweat lodge. It felt like 100 suns. We did a little bit of "rehearsing" in there as well while everyone took bathroom breaks in groups grade school style. Not too many people cared to go until it was announced that once taping began there would be no breaks and immediately there was a surge and "this is war" was written on everyone's face as they fought to get to the front of the pack.

When we were finally lead up to the studio there was one final rite of passage. This is the part when the casting director points at people and the final set pieces to the stage are put in place - Us! This is also the part when everyone was separated to give the proper crowd balance. It was a beautiful lie. I was too cool so I got to go in first...well 3rd but I still got to sit right up front...on the floor...by a candle stand that probably hid me from view from any cameras. The important thing though was I was up front lol. The set was tiny so everyone was pretty close (closer than you would be than front row of a regular concert), but being up front, I was closer to the edge.

I was sitting right next to that candle stand!

In fact I was so close I could touch Tomo's pedals and he had the distinct pleasure of enduring the hurricane that was my singing voice the entire evening. I actually reached toward him to demonstrate to my brother, who was a bit behind me, how close I was only to have Michael Clarke Duncan aka security guard menacingly shout "Don't touch him!" from behind the set. I had no alibi and just laughed.

Groupies

Aww yea I got the pick!

The performance itself was pure awesome. The energy was crazy - everyone was ready to attack. We've seen them live before and heard these songs but the acoustic versions they performed were amazing. Jared was a little sick and we thought that maybe he would sound a little off - wrong. It was the best we've heard the band. It was such an experience to literally perform with 30 Seconds to Mars and have the band react and guide us through the songs and enjoy some idle back and forth chatter between sets. They also messed around with other songs like The Cure's "pictures of you" to Eminem's/Rihanna's "love the way you lie", and even some "message in a bottle" by the Police!

The end was a real treat as the band brought out a choir to finish with U2's "Where the streets have no name". Joshua Tree was one of my all time favorite albums and I remember writing about it for a project in the 3rd or 4th grade. The cover of "where the streets have no name" definitely resonated with me and brought me back (as if I am an old man now). The whole performance was epic and it was a trip to really be a part of the show rather than just sit and watch. That night WE were part of the band. It was a night of sublime adrenaline - A night of the hunter.

Fit Quest

 
A year ago I made a decision. I decided to go against who I believed I was and make a change as to who I would become. A year ago I put the bulk of my free time in geeking out. My days were filled with video games, movies, comic books, beer, and terrible food (delicious but deadly). Fifty wings, a bowl of chilli, a pound of shrimp, and beer to wash it all down was my staple meal at Hooters where you would find me at least once a week. Such a lifestyle led to my slow and eventual transformation into the stereotypical out of shape gaming geek.

I put so much time and effort in the nerd life I wondered what I could do if I put that same amount of time focusing on the opposite more active lifestyle. Motivation was key. Getting in shape purely to look good was too flimsy of a motivation for me so I needed something more to focus on. That solution came when my cousin suggested we do an event as a team. That event was the Tough Mudder. Training for such an event was definitely the perfect catalyst in ensuring I would train and continue to do so or risk failing to complete the Tough Mudder with my team (you can see our team videos here).

Now, a year later, I have completed 2 Tough Mudders(one 5 mile, one 12 mile)  and in 4 days will participate in my 3rd. A year ago I hated to run and would gas out at a measly half mile or less. Today I still hate to run (I have only run a handful of times since last year and in the past 3 months only a single time), but as evident from a one mile time trial a few days ago (7:40), I can now definitely run a mile or more unlike last year, and at a decent pace to boot. A year ago my first Tough Mudder was a good challenge. Today that original Tough Mudder would be a warm up. A year ago I was addicted to video games to the point where I would routinely spend 40+ hours playing weekly. Today I still love video games because we all know video games are the coolest thing in creation, however my 8+ hour game binges have dwindled to only a few hours (still a lot of game time I would say but I love it). A year ago I was a food addict and ate to my hearts content. Today I still am a food addict and I actually eat more food daily than I used to eat, but my food decisions have been vastly improved. I actually am eating every 2-3 hours for as long as I am awake and I enjoy the food I eat now just as much as the horrible food I ate in the past. A year ago I was 180 pounds of flub looking down the barrel of a shorter, fatter lifetime. Today I am a lean, mean, 160 pounds and will be as active 30 years from now as I am today.

I am happy to say I dodged a huge bullet by deciding to do a complete 180 physicaly despite lacking the knowledge of how to properly accomplish my goal. I avoided the trap of crash dieting, calorie counting, pill popping, and many other "known" methods to "lose weight". My focus was to become healthy and as a result I lost weight, built muscle, and burned fat. I learned as I went and am continually adding to the foundations I have built. That decision is also why I created this blog. My mentality has changed so much in a year I figured I would log my thoughts so that I could look back and see where my head was at during a given point in time. In the mean time I am helping those around me with their own "Fit Quest" and will continue to do so (in fact I am studying to get my NASM certification).

...one of my friends just brought up a good point about men who work out neglecting their legs. I definitely work legs but don't seem to take many pictures so here's some sexy leg action!

Linkin...I am your fatherrr...

This is going to be a long one...

January 28^th 2011 – The date I become a father! Alyssa (my wife) became a mother nine months ago, but January 28^th was my turn to transform into a “parent”. As they say, women are mothers when they become pregnant and men become fathers when their child is born. It’s going to be an exciting year.

 A week after the new year we would complete the final prep of our home for the new addition. Alyssa’s ankles no longer exist due to swelling and we were certain this baby would come early. Possibly the 2^nd week of January, but we were told that the 1^st born tend to come either on time or even later than the due date. We weren’t buying it so we would make sure to be completely ready by the 2^nd week of January just in case. By the end of the month it would be go time. I couldn’t believe on January 28^th my son would be born! I especially can’t believe it now mainly because he decided to come into this world 20 days early! 

Thursday (January 6^th) – I finally complete building the crib. The crib would be the final piece of furniture to be set in our baby’s room. I joke to Alyssa that I can’t finish the crib yet because when the crib is complete our son will know it and decide to come out. She laughs. She insists. The crib is built. That evening, Alyssa started to get random cramps (on again off again cramps since a week ago which is why she started her maternity leave on Thursday). Braxton Hicks contractions they were called. Her body would begin the process of prepping for child birth. On another note Alyssa’s mother Ellen gave us an early 1 year anniversary present (married February 4^th, 2010) and insisted we open it. It was a hand held HD video camera. I would assume for use when our son would be born.

Friday (January 7^th) – Snow. I head into work fully expecting to be shut down due to inclement weather. We were told to expect 3-6 inches starting at noon and accumulations of 1 inch every hour thereafter. Surprise, the snow came early and there were no plows to be seen on the way to work. Dangerous driving – you can ask the curb I ran over as I turned onto the highway. Good thing by the afternoon the snow stopped and roads were getting cleared. It was time to head on home and take care of a cramping wife but not before stopping at whole foods for dinner and various foodstuffs as we may be getting more snow Saturday preventing a supply trip over the weekend.

I get home about seven or eight and I yell to the cabby “Yo homes, smell you later!”…sorry I couldn’t help myself. I did get home at around seven or eight. Just in time to prepare some dinner and relax with Alyssa by watching the Ironman 2010 World Championship. It was pretty awesome and provided some distraction between bouts of cramps Alyssa had started feeling since Thursday night. They seemed to be more frequent now and I scrambled the jets so to speak. I issued a complete schedule change for Saturday to allow me to leave work at any point in the event Alyssa needed to go to the hospital. Probably not but I rather be safe than sorry. Alyssa insisted it was unnecessary.

I told my mother the situation and she insisted on calling the doctor and taking Alyssa to the hospital. “My mom is so funny – she thinks you’re going to have the baby like today” I laughed to Alyssa as we both exchanged smirks. If your cramps continue tomorrow maybe we’ll call the doctor and see what’s what.

Soon after, my brother arrived with a “friend of a friend” named Gursh. Tonight was a training night for the Tough Mudder we would be a part of this coming April (donate on my behalf to the Wounded Warrior Project by clicking the link! Or register as spectators and take photos of us on event day!...I know, shameless plug). Anyway, my brother made his way to the basement for some weight training and Gursh found his way to the gym to do some cardio training by way of Insanity.

I decide to pop back to the living room and check on Alyssa and find that her cramps are now every 6 minutes on the dot! Hmm maybe these aren’t cramps after all. Alyssa thinks otherwise as she says “If these are contractions then I’m a happy camper – They hurt but it’s not that bad”. Then they got that bad. The cramps started to completely double her over and prevent her from speaking until they passed. Ok, time to call the doctor."No what if it's nothing, I don't want the doctor to get up for no reason". I ignored her.

We called her doctor and in the middle of the conversation she throws the phone on the floor and points at it. I pick up the phone - “Hey doc she’s down to having these cramps every 4 minutes and she can’t talk when she has them”. We were told to head to the hospital. I take the baby bag just in case. Alyssa heads to the bathroom and fixes her hair. I head to the kitchen and prepare a shake to bring with us. Gursh is now with us as his workout is complete and can’t seem to believe what we are doing and the pace at which we are doing it.

I tell Gursh to relax and go warm up the car. He runs out the door and is back in a flash. Best, butler, ever. I tell my brother downstairs to lock up when he’s done working out and tell him we’re headed over to the hospital. He runs up the stairs with excitement repeating “really?!” I tell him to relax finish his workout and I’ll let him know what is up when we get to the hospital.

We were finally on our way and all I remember pulling out of the driveway was Gursh standing in our doorway watching us depart looking as if he was going into labor. The car ride was pretty calm and in fact we both were laughing. I was laughing as Alyssa was pulling a Jekyll & Hyde going from pained breathing exercises to giving very calm directions. She was laughing because she realized why I was laughing. I didn’t know the way to the hospital and GPS was not working so we were left with driving over by sight. It Worked. Then I go the wrong way into the emergency room entrance as we weren’t very familiar with the hospital. Apparently it would have been a good idea to take a hospital tour before the final month of pregnancy to acquaint yourself.

Saturday (January 8^th) – We make it up to "labor and delivery" at midnight and settle in. A nurse came by to examine Alyssa and see what her “cramps” were. “You are 2 cm dilated – you’re in labor”.  Alyssa’s face said it all. It was go time. As the nurse readies various monitors Alyssa asks me to call her mother and let her know. Ellen (her mother) is over the moon and is ready to jump in the car and rush over. I tell her to hold off as it may be awhile before pushing starts. “What did my mom say?” she asked as the nurse was prepping the area. I answered “She’s pregnant?!”. The look on the nurse’s face said it all. I laughed.

In the next 3 hours Alyssa went from 2cm to just about full 10cm water breaking along the way. She didn’t take anything to increase contractions or have her water breached which I later learned was what normally occurs. I would assume babies “normally” come on time as well. Alyssa did however opt for the epidural. It was amazing to see her go from almost complete pain blackouts to not even realizing she was having contractions.

By the push time Ellen and my father had arrived. My brothers were ready to head over hours before as well but we told them to sit tight as dilation could take 10-12 hours. I’m sure it was killing my mother to be on shift at another hospital until 7am which prevented her from rushing over.

The doctor arrived with a nurse and began the final prep.  My dad was shooed away and everyone took positions. Alyssa was center stage, the doctor in front of her, the nurse held one leg, and I held the other. Ellen was posted back against the wall holding the camera. I thought Ellen may push herself through that wall. This was completely not what I expected. I wasn’t in scrubs, there were no giant operating lights overhead, and there wasn’t a team of nurses to assist. It was the doctor, the nurse, myself, a wide-eyed paparazzi named Ellen and the star of the show Alyssa.

It was just like the car ride. Alyssa would push during contractions until she was purple in the face and in between would proceed with normal calm conversation ordering her mother to take good pictures. In fact when the doctor told me “look, you can see his head” Alyssa asked me to take a picture. I declined. Was this girl crazy?! Not to go against the theme of “sooner rather than later”, our son decides to make his grand entrance after only 15 minutes of pushing. Linkin Gray Dimaya was born at 6:55 A.M, 20 days early, weighing in at 5.7 lbs and 19.25 inches in length. (insert Inception noise)

Alyssa used to wonder why mothers on various TV shows would hold their baby right after birth as “they have all this goo on them – gross”. She knows why now. Speaking of gross this is from the girl who said “Wait, Mike quick take a picture of the placenta!” I love my wife. As soon as Linkin was laid on her chest she embraced him and her face puckered completely like she ate the most sour crybaby candy of her life. I’m pretty sure I was pretty amazed myself as my father told me while he waited outside he could hear me repeat “oh my god, oh my god” right before he heard Linkin’s first cry.

I still can’t believe I had Alyssa’s foot on my chest and I was pushing her leg against her. Whatever happened to holding hands and going “hoo hoo hee”? I also found myself contracting my core and holding my breath as she pushed. It was pretty funny. I asked her how long before she would start with all the biased amazement of every little thing Linkin related. She lasted 10 seconds as he immediately put his finger in his mouth after being given to her and she said “Oh my god, he’s so smart – self soother!”

So now I am officially a father. I can’t wait to run through life with him and Alyssa watching him grow while I take all the credit for all his accomplishments. Can’t wait to teach him how to play Xbox, how to draw superheroes, that comics are cool, how to manipulate body temperature to shed fat, what to eat to maximize nutrients and hit target caloric intake, that those seeds from chia pets are good for you, how to enjoy a great book, great movie, great music, great food, how to conjugate and decline in Latin, about the bonds of family and that blood is not a requisite for family, how to love and let yourself be loved, and that he will find all the answers I don’t have.

I used to be asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” and my answers were paleontologist (1^st grade!), mutant, programmer, artist, hero, fighter, marine, top gun, and scientist. Now I finally know the answer. The answer was simple. All I wanted to be, all I’ve been waiting to do was be a husband, a father – her husband and his father. It feels like I’ve been in a coma for 27 years and have now just woken up.

By the way – congratulations if you made it to the end of this post!