“Do you like Michael Jordan, Sarah?”

“Kind of.” She pauses. “I guess I liked him in Space Jam.”

I hang up the phone, frustrated.

Michael Jordan rules. He owns basketball. I know this might not come as news to most people, but I actually just found this out two weeks ago.

You see, I’ve never played, watched, or been interested in basketball whatsoever. I’m still not. Only Michael Jordan.

Two weeks ago, thanks to the magic of our favorite time-vortex (YouTube), I came across a video of Michael Jordan in action. I was pretty impressed. His highlight reel looked less like basketball, and more like the work of an extremely talented artist. After reading an article about his philosophy (losing, winning, dedication, passion for his calling) and feeling inspired, I downloaded a few documentaries about his life and basketball career.

“Nothing of value comes without being earned. That’s why great leaders are those who lead by example first. You can’t demand respect because of a title or a position and expect people to follow. That might work for a little while, but in the long run people respond to what they see.”

This guy is amazing. I have no idea why I didn’t watch him when he played. I mean, why the hell aren’t people still talking about this guy? He holds himself with dignity, even grace (and that’s something for a basketball player) on and off the court; not to mention his spirit in training himself and leading his team to six championships…

“It all started with an appetite to prove. Whether it was competing with my siblings or trying to get attention from my parents, I wanted to show what I could do, what I was capable of accomplishing. I wanted results, and I was driven to find out the best way to get them.”

PS. His Airness is the best documentary out of the ones that I watched. Very recommended. I’m going to order his book off amazon now…

I’m addicted to montages.

This one is of Kim and I on our $300 motorbike in Southern Vietnam, off-roading, crossing a river and checking out some waterfalls… just before we got arrested and detained for the better part of three days (story coming soon).

The dirt roads that we drove on for the first week of our trip were a little hairy at times. We crashed twice — once while trying to dodge a rogue cow and another time trying to slowly cross a wooden bridge. The funny part was that Kim actually got the crashes on video (she used to take a lot of videos while we drove — something about being bored because she couldn’t see around my big helmet).

I’m going to post the crash videos (they’re pretty hilarious) as soon as Kim emails them to me.

(UPDATE: The videos were on Kim’s laptop, which got stolen…)

Oh yeah, and that picture of Kim driving: She’s faking it. I didn’t let her actually drive the bike until much later on in the trip…

Josh, Liam and I went camping in the Cape Breton Highlands this past weekend.

Road trip. Music. Hiking. Camping. Photography. Moose.

Brilliant time.

(I should note about the photographs near the end of the video that look professional: it’s because they are. Josh took them, and he’s an amazing pro photographer. Check out his site: www.jwebb.ca)

I usually write about my myself, I know. Yes, I’m self-centered and no, I don’t care. I write about what I know best. That said, I refuse to contribute another “I got up, brushed my teeth, went to the store…” blog to the online world. Something’s gotta be at least interesting to me to write it out, and I have a short attention span.

Writing about my experiences and opinions accomplishes two things: One, it gives me an outlet to record my life; and two, it pushes me to take my life in a direction that is worth recording and sharing with other people.

In the past few years of personal growth, I feel that more anything, the one thing that changed my limiting beliefs and helped me break out of my boring lifestyle has been reading and watching the examples of other successful eccentrics and adventurers. People who are living life and not letting life “live” them. I love to read about how Neil Strauss went from being a college virgin to the worlds most famous pickup artist; how Tynan became the head of an online gambling ring in two years and made hundreds of thousands; and how Timothy Ferris trained for four weeks to become the Chinese Kickboxing National Champion (which is, by the way, a great example of turning the system on its head for one’s own benefit). The people that I read about inspire me to live outside everyday social norms and expectations and consequently have much more fun.

On that note, here’s a video of fun times with Kim and “Georgia” (my motorbike) in Thailand and Laos: