Above are two recent uploads by users.

Now, a few weeks on, I’ve had a bit of time to asses the challenges (I am running a second one in conjunction with Topanga Creek Bicycles – a bike shop I spend a fair bit of time at) and get an overall sense for if this idea has any legs.  And, against all odds, I can say with confidence that it does.  Don’t get me wrong, Rooted as an app is far from perfect, but it’s getting closer to where it needs to be – thanks to some of the great feedback I’ve already gotten.

I was talking with a Dun and Bradstreet employee the other day and one of the first things she said to me was, “Hey, this Rooted Challenge thing is actually working.  People walked to lunch today so they could add it to their Rooted.”  Damn, I thought.  That’s sweet.

Because I like to think about these things to exhaustion, here are a few reasons why I believe it’s working – and why I spent the time and effort to develop Rooted in the first place.

1.  People are social beings.  They want to interact, they want to see what their friends are doing and have their friends see what they are doing.  Rooted allows for this to happen – and in a positive way.

2.  All the behaviors in Rooted are positive (as just noted), so people feel good about doing them and sharing them.  Think about this – when you go out on a Saturday night and get really drunk it’s fun (duh, that’s why we do it).  Maybe you post a photo to facebook to share how much fun you are having.  But then you wake up Sunday and feel like shit, are mad at yourself, and say you’re never gonna do that again.  But you do (at least I do).

But the behaviors that users are keeping track of and sharing in Rooted are all positive.  You can feel good while you are doing them, and you can feel good after.  People like feeling good about themselves, so they continue to positive things.  It seems so simple – and it is.

3.  Rooted has created an environment where positive behavior is encouraged.  Think of Rooted like AA (ok, not exactly like AA, but let me make my point).  People need environments where they are comfortable, surrounded by like-minded people, and know they can be who they are at their core and be accepted.  For whatever reason, in our society, often times “being healthy” is frowned upon – though deep down most of us would like to be.  When people post photos of all the healthy things they are doing on most social networking sites, the reaction of others might be, “that weird healthy person is posting more bragy photos again…great.”  But in Rooted – that’s the point, everyone is doing it, and everyone thinks it’s awesome that you went for that hike.

4.  People like being recognized for doing good things.  Hell, I do.  No one likes doing a bunch of work and either not getting the credit for it, or even worse, having someone else get the credit for it.  I’m sure this happens to you (it definitely happens to me).  In Rooted, users’ positive behavior is recognized, appreciated by others, and immediately rewarded with points that will lead to more recognition and rewards.

5.  It’s a game (to an extent).  People like games, we know this.  And in Rooted, it’s no different.  Yes, ultimately it’s a way for people to keep track of the healthy things they are doing – but it’s gamified, which keeps people engaged.  Not to mention, if you do well, you are rewarded with an awesome experience of eating good food and drinking good beer and wine with other people like you.  So keep it up.

6.  The app itself is intuitive, aesthetically pleasing, easy to use, and simple.  Thanks to some smart developers and a great design team – VeryNice Co.

Sharing is caring – a few more uploads.

The opportunities for different communities, businesses, and groups of people to use something like this is very broad.  I am looking forward to the progression to see where it goes.

That’s my Friday morning brain dump.  If you are not participating in one of the current Rooted Challenges, I hope that you will participate in the next one.  I think you’ll like it.

-Casey

Dear diary….just kidding.  I’ve created a mobile app.  Joined the club, I suppose.  I think it is a unique offering in the app world – something that people will enjoy using for a number of reasons – and it’s something I’m passionate about.  In my mind, it’s a novel attempt at combining healthy lifestyle, social networking, and real-world socialization -  all through encouraging positive behaviors.

There are a number of apps that promote healthy lifestyle, for example Nike Fuel Band, Strava, Jawbone Up, etc.  But for me, someone who is naturally resistant to “social networking” in a traditional sense, what they are lacking is the ability to bring like-minded people together in a real-world setting.  I believe the desire / need for people to connect is core to our existence, and thus any app that “connects” people virtually, but fails to actually bring anyone together face to face to do things like talk, laugh, share food, share stories…falls short.

Scoring MAD Rooted points at a New Orleans crawfish boil

This writing is an attempt to do a few of things – first and foremost, explain Rooted based on an understanding of its basic goals.  Without a framework of the stated goals, a user’s experience may be fogged.  It will also briefly explain how the first “challenge” will work.  And lastly, it’s an attempt for me to justify the little bit of skrilla I’ve put into the development of the thing.

The first Rooted Challenge will be run with Dun and Bradstreet Credibility, a damn near perfect partner.  They are a progressive company with a strong employee wellness program, and are also very active (no pun intended) in the LA tech scene.  Finding people to go out on a limb and support a nascent idea is not easy, so I am very happy that Alison, Catherine, and the whole Dun and Bradstreet crew is excited to participate.

Rooted “Live” selection screen

The way the challenge will work:

1.  Users enter into 30-day challenge in which a Rooted score is accumulated

2.  There will be a kick-off talk explaining the app and how the challenge works

3.  There will be 1-2 relevant educational sessions built into the 30 days, as well as a few group workouts

4.  Top Rooted scorers will come to an invite only tasting / wine pairing dinner with badass restaurant

The Goals of the Rooted Challenge

Simply put to:

1.  Encourage users to eat healthier foods and do more physical activity

2.  Bring people with shared values together in a real world environment

Two tactics for achieving these goals:

1.  Social encouragement (ok, pressure)

2.  Individual recognition / incentivization

To say I’m not the first person to see the power of social encouragement (group pressure and / or competition) to enforce positive (or negative) behaviors is an understatement.  Rooted allows users to keep track of their healthy meals and activities, name the dishes they create, take and share photos of their recipes and activities, and see the foods their friends create and activities they complete – all via Facebook or within the app itself.  The thought here is that if people see the great foods their friends create and the cool, healthy activities they complete, they themselves will be inspired to do similar.  In an ideal world this will happen because users are truly inspired by what their friends are doing.  But in the real world, I think many of these behaviors will be driven by people’s competitive nature.  Fine by me.

The leader board. I’m losing.

The need for strong social encouragement is the reason I’m running the first (or first few) Rooted challenges in pre-existing, tight knit communities (for example a work place, gym, etc).  The success of the app is dependent upon all participants using it, and I believe this is much more likely amongst a group of people that know each other well.  If a user does not have other people they care about involved in the “game,” their incentive to participate will be diminished.  Once Rooted gains some credibility, the hope is that challenges will be able to be run in more open formats.  It’s also possible that challenges will always be run within closed communities.  I don’t know.

The second major way Rooted incentivizes users also compliments the second goal of the app – offering top performers a unique, exclusive experience that will inevitably bring people with shared lifestyle values together to socialize.  At the end of 30 days, the users with the top Rooted scores will attend a special, invite only dinner.  For the first Rooted challenge, the dinner will be held at Allumette restaurant in Echo Park and wines will be poured by 7 Angels Cellars.  I could not be more excited that chef Miles Thompson has agreed to prepare a custom tasting menu for the first Rooted Challenge.  Miles is a huge rising star in the LA food scene.  He and I have a very similar approach to all things life, and his food values are certainly in line with Rooted values.

Moving forward, as Rooted expands and evolves, these dinners may take different forms with different groups of users – for example a BBQ or home cooked meal – potentially reserving a dinner like the one at Allumette for premier challenges.  But for a first “proof of concept” running, having a partner like Miles and Allumette is an ideal case scenario and will provide users with a premier experience.

Rooted Points

In order for Rooted to be successful, users must understand, and buy into, the points system.  The app is not a “fitness” app meant to track miles covered. Nor is it a diet app meant to track calories.  I believe that in many situations, the data these types of apps collect is of low value to users.

Some of my point-earning meals and activities

On the other hand, Rooted is a lifestyle app, and the points system we devised is meant to quantify lifestyle choices.  The points system is based on a number of assumptions.  We take a big picture approach, instead of getting into the minutia of calorie counting, we encourage users to mainly cook their own food versus eating out, and to choose ingredients that are seasonal, sustainably produced, locally sourced, organic, or even grown or hunted.  The more foods with these characteristics a meal contains, the more points that meal will score.  Users are also scored higher for eating and completing activities with friends  (to encourage socialization).

We chose these characteristics to drive the points system under the assumption that if a user is preparing their own food and choosing ingredients that meet these criteria, dishes will be healthier than most alternatives that they might eat otherwise.  Pretty simple, but I think a safe assumption.  We hope to put people in touch with the foods they eat, and to make them more conscious of the dietary choices they make.  I believe this consciousness is most important when it comes to eating healthy, not necessarily counting calories.

Admittedly Rooted is an experiment.  I hope that after the first challenge with Dunn and Bradstreet Credibility, I will have collected some meaningful data that will help guide the progression of the app.

Me with the homegirl Catherine – when she wasn’t shoving a mic in someone’s face.

This Friday’s event was held in the penthouse of the Hotel Shangi La in Santa Monica – conveniently a 10-minute misty bike ride from where I live.  I showed up by myself not really knowing what to expect. As I said, it’s been a while since I’ve done the entrepreneur thing, and have never so much as dipped a toe in the roaring river that is the California tech scene.  Ironically, I am at times a tech cynic, prefer talking on the phone to texting, and talking face to face to talking on the phone.  I distinctly remember a conversation with a college neighbor and fellow cyclist / triathlete, who now is part of a successful digital design firm in Venice, where I tried to convince him that the internet was a passing phase on its way out.  Of course this was in jest, but I did my very best to make a case.  He still brings it up to this day.  But this is why I maintain optimism for Rooted as an app.  Hopefully the balance of app-i-ness and real world socialization that I’m striving for will appeal to both avid app users, and those who are simply looking to engage with other like minded, healthy people.  We’ll see.

The scene

I’m not a particularly social guy, but Friday night reminded me why that is often the case.  I don’t like small talk, and have a hard time bringing myself to make what can be unfulfilling conversation with people whom I have very little in common.  This is of course not always the case, but in many instances can be.  But my experience on Friday evening was the complete opposite.  I instantly remembered how stimulating it is to meet and converse with people of similar drive and passion, who are interested in social progression – whether through technology or otherwise.  Of course I was lucky to have Catherine and her Dun and Bradstreet Credibility co-workers on hand as anchors when I needed a break from said stimulating conversation – they were busy interviewing attendees.

Of the people I met that evening, the two that were particularly relevant to me where both also young guys who had recently launched their own mobile apps.  Myke Armstrong is a co-founder of the app called TapShare.  I’m not a big iPhone photo taker, but immediately (well less than24-hours later) saw the value in this app.  The following morning I sent Catherine an email asking if she could send me any photos from the event to go into this post – she said she would, once Myke shared them.  Coincidentally, what TapShare allows you to do is create a group photo album from a single event, ensuring you aren’t reliant upon others to send you photos you may want from a given outing, or so that you don’t have to hand someone your phone or camera every time you want to capture a moment and be guaranteed you’ll see the photo again.

The other app founder I met that was relevant to me was Jon, a founder of Where my Dogs At.  If you are having trouble determining what this app might do, you probably don’t own a dog.  I do, and am often looking for places where she can help me meet girls….I mean, where I can take here so she has a very fulfilling and active life.  I’ll be downloading the app and I’m sure using it on a regular basis.

Watch your back

The night was a good one, and I look forward to additional Silicon Beach LA events.  Thanks to the folks who put it on – it was a good time with good people.

There were only four of us on the ride, which started out at Topanga Creek Bicycles on a pretty brisk morning (certainly by So Cal standards), in Topanga.  There was no plan for the video (as I’m sure you can tell), but most importantly having the cameras out there and coming home and whipping this thing up served to spark creative inspiration in both myself and Danny.  Danny is a great photographer and a pretty creative guy, and I reckon I fall somewhere on that spectrum.

We’ve since started working on a modern mountain bike themed Epic Short (huh?  is that possible?) all set in our backyard.  It’s shaping up quite awesome, so hopefully we’ll have something to share in the next few weeks.  Expect it to be the first of some kind of series, I suppose.

Click on the image below to be taken to the Video

NYE MTB Ride

I don’t mind getting up early, and about a week or so ago, before we made the time switch, it didn’t faze me getting up a good two hours before the sun rose, jumping in my car and driving up the coast to Paso Robles to help my step dad crush a ton of petit verdot.  I had taken the day off work to go work, but instead of sitting at a desk, I’d be outdoors, in the sun, working with my hands.  This suits me well.  Petit verdot is one of Greg’s (owner and wine maker of Seven Angels Cellars) last grapes to crush for the 2012 harvest and he needed a hand.  Personally, I’d do just about anything to work a day in Paso amongst farmers and wine makers, so it was a no brainer.

I arrived into Paso and met Greg at Darkstar Cellars, just off the 46 west, where he does his wine making. It was about 9:30 am and already people were moving and shaking.  Greg was trying to seal up a barrel that had been under attack by some wood-boring beetles, and Brian Benson (acclaimed wine maker) was already tending to fruit he had at various stages of fermentation (he spent a good part of the day target shooting with a high powered rifle at long distances, so I don’t exactly feel bad about his morning start).

After the barrel was attended to, we jumped in the truck and headed to Joe’s Other Place, a cafe in old-town Templeton for a pretty hearty (second) breakfast (come on now, I was out the door before 6am, surely I needed a second breakfast).  If you want to feel like a cowboy, go for breakfast on Main Street in Templeton.  Trust me.  With full bellies we drove the winding back roads east of the 101 to pick up the petit verdot.  The fruit looked amazing – even ripeness, hand picked, no sun damage.  Greg couldn’t have asked for anything more even though he does not intend to make a stand-alone wine with the petit verdot.  Instead it’ll be used for blending and balancing other wines.  But the quality of this fruit, one that will be used in a secondary manner, is a testament to the quality of his contracts and the overall importance he places on his product.  We loaded up the truck and went back to Dark Star to get on with the day.

The rest of the afternoon was spent prepping for the crush (lot’s of fork lift driving), crushing and sorting (think I Love Lucy-style assembly line, but instead you are pulling stems and leaves from a flowing river of semi-crushed wine grapes), then cleaning up.  By the time the sorting table and de-stemming machine were all clean, the autumn sun was going down and the temperature in Paso was getting closer and closer to its frigid evening low.  I was wrecked from being on my feet all day and was ready for a shower, a meal, and long nap till morning.  We’d be back at the winery after dawn to punch down other varietals that were already undergoing primary fermentation.

The day was a success, and a learning experience for me on a number of levels.  I furthered my understanding of the wine making process, but also deepened my appreciation for the work that Greg does.  He makes countless trips up to Paso during harvest season, sometimes 2 or 3 times a week, then puts in long days once he’s up there.  This is exhausting.  Period.  After a drive and a drive home in about 24 hours I was spent – mentally and physically.  But quality work takes sacrifice, and Greg is surely willing to one for the other.  The 2009 and 2010 wines have been stellar.  With the way things are going and the work that is being put in, there is no reason this is going to change any time soon.  If you are interested in their wines, here is information about their wine club. 

The workout itself took place on Franklin hill in West LA.  Coincidentally, I used to live only a few blocks from there, and would run the hill during strength phases of my triathlon training, and often in preparation for LA Triathlon each year, whose run course has a pretty serious incline about a mile in.

Franklin hill takes about 45 seconds to a minute to get up, depending on where you start and/or finish….and how hard you run.  During that minute or so, you’ve got plenty of time to check in with your body and gauge how well things are going…or not.  Here are a few things I was reminded of, both during the reps and during recovery between each.

1.  It’s gonna hurt.  Get over it.  Seriously.  Forget about the few beers you drank last night because that’s neither here nor there.  Run steady; run hard.

2.  Relax your upper body and shoulders.  This is something runners are told constantly, but often forget, particularly once the body begins to fatigue, you’re fighting to keep going, and your form starts to crumble.

Don’t confuse “relax your upper body” with “be a slug.”  You still need to maintain a taught core while allowing your arms to move freely to help drive you up the hill.  There are very few instances in sport where you do not need to engage your core, so learn how to do so while allowing the rest of your body to move efficiently and freely.

3.  Everything movement you make should help you get up the hill faster…or at least not slow you down.  Think about your posture – a slight forward lean.  Think about your foot strike – quick and on your forefoot.  Think about your stride length – it will be slightly shorter than if you are running on flat ground or down a decline.  Think about driving with your knee and using your arms to generate power.  Keep everything moving forward and backward – any energy that is not moving you forward, ie side-to-side, is slowing you down.

Running fast and / or far requires efficiency, and running uphill even more so as gravity is a much bigger factor. Be light, efficient, and powerful.

4.  Think about running in the middle of the road if you are doing repeats on the street…and have the option to safely.  A city road is not flat, and even the subtle curvature from the center of the road to the gutter is enough to cause uneven stress and fatigue on your body.  Also keep this curvature in mind as you are going downhill.  Try to run on as “regular” of a surface as possible.

5.  Recovery counts.  If you are doing reps on a set interval like we were Friday, getting down the hill between reps can have a big impact on subsequent reps in the workout.

Running downhill is hard on your body, particularly your quads.  Get down the hill as quickly as you can without causing additional or unnecessary fatigue.  There is a point of optimization between getting down the hill quickly, and not causing additional fatigue, so work to find it.  Also, be conscious of what parts of your body are fatiguing and work to alleviate them on the downhill.  You can walk backwards or skip to help distribute the stress to different muscle groups.

6.  Change your surface on the downhill, if possible, and look for something soft.  Again, moving downhill puts additional stress on your body as the force of gravity increases the effective load your muscles bear.  Asphalt is softer than concrete, and grass is softer than asphalt. If you can walk on a soft surface, it’ll help dissipate some of the load.

7.  Manage your effort.  Forty-five seconds to a minute of sprinting is long.  Try to build your intensity into each rep and leave more in the tank than you think you may need for the last couple.  It’s very rare in this sort of workout that you hear someone say “I left too much in the tank.”  Learning to manage your effort isn’t easy, but the better you get, the more effective of an athlete you become.

8.  Get good running shoes.  They make a difference.

Fall and winter squash

It’s rare these days that when I’m traveling for work I take an extra day or two for personal time in any given location.  Trips are often fast and furious, and by the time they are over, I usually want to be home, in my seaside sanctuary, sleeping in my bed, and having control of my own life.  But in the last 2 or so months I’ve made 3 trips to Europe, each of which has left me feeling somewhat sold short as I’ve hardly any time to confirm to myself that I was in fact in a new, exciting place by taking in the foreign sights and sounds.

Borough market

With this last trip to London for the Leader’s in Performance conference, held on the grounds of Stamford Brdige, just west of London, where Chelsea FC plays their home games, I decided to tack on a few extra days.  The conference was great and the speakers were world class, but when it was all said and done, all I could think about was making my way over to Borough Market, London’s premier outdoor farmer’s market, to see what the fall harvest would bestow upon chefs and shoppers.  And to make the situation even more enjoyable, not only would I have a full Saturday to spend perusing the market (and the adjacent Tate Modern), I would have a kitchen to cook that evening and another mouth to feed.

By the time I walked into the market on Saturday morning I was tired and somewhat travel weary.  But all it took was a few steps along the market’s perimeter and immediately a smile came across my face (or at least I felt like smiling…expressing emotion externally is not my forte), and I was immediately pulled in by the sights of fresh foods and the sounds of a bustling atmosphere.  Like any good market goer, I decided I’d make a first pass through to survey the offerings before deciding on what to buy.  I had no idea what I was going to cook, and figured I would determine a menu as I walked from stall to stall.  I was immediately pulled in by Applebee’s (not that Applebee’s) fish shop and cafe and did a survey of their daily catch.  It was decided that sardines would be a key player in dinner.

Sardines.  I’ve had a craving

Fresh greens

Sausage

The market was all it was cracked up to be – plain and simple.  It was crowded on a Saturday afternoon, but somehow I find navigating my way through crowds to be more calming that stress-causing.  It’s as if I’m able to take all the energy and frustration of the people elbowing their way up to vendors and through narrow passages and invert it into something else.  I love the feeling of anonymity, I can move amongst a crowd at my own pace, being particularly present and perceptive, and all the while feeling like I’m getting the best of everyone by fully digesting and appreciating the situation.  I love the energy and the role I play in it all.  I ultimately ended up walking away with ingredients for a comprehensive dinner and feeling as if I had the full market experience.

My favorite part of Borough Market is all the exotic and game meats.  You can find anything from ostrich to boar to fowl.  But I decided to keep it fairly mainstream as I’ve got a few hunting trips coming up over the next few months, and plan to be securing my own game birds and mammals.

Fowl

Mushrooms

As for the menu I created:

Sardines with fresh dill and mint

Mushroom medley with beef and ale sausage, and an ale, balsamic, and licorice sauce

Cumin pork tenderloin with a persimmon and pork back topping

Fish eating a fish

I was not in an ideal recipe-capturing environment, so did not document the dishes themselves.  But stay tuned as over the next week or so I plan to recreate them here on the Rooted blog.

The other day while scrolling through friends’ photos that appeared on my Facebook timeline, I came across something that first caught my eye, and second made me think.  It was a photograph of an unnamed friend and his newly-wedded wife, in an unnamed European city, in front of an unnamed historic monument (is that anonymous enough?).  The caption read, “Honeymoon, day 1.”

At first I thought to myself, “Ah, rad, unnamed friend is now married and having fun with his wife on their honeymoon.”  Then I thought to myself, “Holy fucking shitballs, bro, if there is ever a time in your life that you do not need to be updating your Facebook status, it is on your honeymoon.  We’re totally happy for you and all, but damn.”

Here’ my brief disclosure.  If you were to draw a spectrum of engagement by social media users with “most people’s grandpa’s” on one side, and “you’ve average 14 year old girl” on the other – I would fall much closer to most peoples’ grandpa.  Despite being a part of the initial demographic of (large scale) social media users, a site like Facebook held little appeal to me for a long time.  I was in my freshman year at UCLA when Facebook was launched, and I think our campus was the second or third to gain access to the site…yet I couldn’t find a compelling reason at the time to join.  I figured I had lived 19 years of my life thus far without it, and was quite happy.  When I wanted to talk to someone, I would pick up the phone and call them – and this seemed to work alright.  It wasn’t until after I graduated and I began being sent requests to join Facebook from my mom (yeah, my mom – if you befriend her she will comment all up on your status) that I ended up creating an account.

I’ve accepted it – social media is an integral part of our society and is not going anywhere (nor is Facebook, IMO, despite what their current valuation may suggest).  It is a great way to share important information quickly and does allow us to connect with people that we might have otherwise ultimately lost contact with.  I use it near daily and my current work depends upon it heavily. But that being said, with current levels of connectedness, where are the boundaries, and what are the personal cost of ignoring them?

I am not the first person to suggest that social media and mobile technology is changing the way we behave, changing the way we interact with others, significantly shifting where we focus our attention (wreaking havoc on our ability to focus at all?), and ultimately impacting the way our society functions – for better and for worse.  There is some serious value in it all – I LOVE seeing photos of my nephews on occasions like their first day of school, and appreciate photos posted by friends doing badass activities, and interesting bits of culture and news that come across my timeline.  It can be a great tool to gather people and to affect social sentiment.  The list goes on.  But it’s not all good – and it’s not all necessary.  (note:  I am in the midst of developing a Rooted app, so am singlehandedly contributing to the propagation of electronic dependence – though hopefully with some beneficial societal impact).

I don’t know specifically what drives our desire to share information online – is it that we are ultimately social beings that want to be accepted as part of a community?  Is it an insecurity that leaves us seeking validation from others?  Is it boredom without a better alternative to occupy our time?  It’s probably all of these things, plus a host of others.

But I believe there is a time and a place for all of it, and more and more it seems this “time and place” is becoming “any time and every place.”  Still, determining what is necessary requires a basic level of consciousness of when and how social media is enhancing our lives, or when it may be invading them in an unnecessary way, detracting from our ability to be present and live in the moment for the sake of what we are actively engaged in – nothing more, nothing less.

I’ve never been married (but plan to be so at least a few times – that way I’ll get good at it), so can’t speak from experience, but like to imagine that on my honeymoon there will be one person that matters, the woman I have committed my life to.  Sorry friends, but you will not see photos and status updates from my honeymoon.  If there is one thing I will not be thinking about it is updating my status, allowing me to focus my mind for long enough to enjoy one of the few (actually, many) times in my life that my attention should be on one person and one single situation – nothing more.  Maybe Mystery Future Wife and I will go drink a bunch of espressos at a sidewalk café and watch people stroll by (they’ll be snapping photos and posting them to Instagram, for sure).  Or we’ll drink a few too many glasses of wine, go back to the hotel room overlooking of some body of water, turn the lights down low and have crazy conversation.  Whatever it may be, I’ll be present and engaged.  My friends and family will still love me after I get back (unless I’ve made the completely wrong choice in wife, of course) – and the stories I’ll have to tell (with the bits of information I decide to include) will be just as compelling.

This honeymoon example just happened to get me thinking (and saying things like “holy fucking shitballs,” an expression I really need to start using more often.  But you can imagine so many others that we see in our every day lives.

I’ve got no suggestions, no rules for what is appropriate and what is not – this is absolutely not my place to say.  But I do challenge you to try to spend some more time each day with just you, your mind, or the people that are immediately around you in that moment.  I’m sure social media experts and life coaches have compiled lists of rules about when to use social media and when not to.  At the end of the day you’ve got to do what works for you, but my fear is that our “connectedness” is at times making us less connected with the people that matter than we are even aware. Think more.  Enjoy more for the sake of enjoying.  It’s quite nice once you begin to remember how to.

The carney stage – I’m not sure what this stage was actually called, but it was awesome.

A day or so before I headed out to London Nick called me up and told me that he and Oriana, and maybe a few other people, would be going up to Outside Lands music festival in San Francisco.  This was distressing as I had already resigned to not going weeks before, but as I was getting back into town on Thursday afternoon and they were driving up first thing Friday morning, it now became feasible.  All I had to do was buy a ticket (I found one, thanks to an awesome Craigslist bowling alley rendezvous) and jump in the car.

The drive…

Rooted road snacks

I knew it would be a bit ambitious, but I’m an ambitious person.  I also knew that the trip would not go smoothly at times, that we didn’t really have places sorted out to crash, that I would be super jet-lagged and probably sleep in the car on more than one occasion, and that 3-day music festivals generally tend to be a cluster, so I’d have to roll with it all.  All of these things turned out to be the case, but when all was said and done on Sunday evening when I finally made it home (after having to book and pay for an alternate flight back, then wait for a few additional hours of delays), there was no doubt in my mind that the trip was completely worth it.

There is no price you can put things like packing the car full of buddies and driving up the I-5, or getting the opportunity to hear Sean Hayes perform Alabama Chicken live (which HE DIDN’T DO!), or reconnecting with friends you haven’t seen in half a decade, or running into random people you had never expected to see in a million years, or drinking Jameson from a bottle that someone buried inside the festival grounds the week prior only to unearth unbeknownst to festival security guards.  On the surface a music festival, with drunken revelry, copious drug use, and general excess may not be so ROOTED, but the essence of spontaneity with the risk of slight discomfort – all for the sake of music and expression – is completely ROOTED.  I am a firm believer that you should put yourself in slightly uncomfortable, uncertain situations from time to time, and this weekend checked that box more than once.

As for the acts, there were a few that stood out to me.  Rather than rewrite their bios, I’ll just make a few notes about what it is I liked about them (note that I’m completely biased towards folksy-country artists with soul).

Sean Hayes

Sean Hayes is a singer-song writer born in New York that grew up in North Carolina.  His music is soulful and his lyrics are thoughtful, but he doesn’t take himself too seriously.  Speaking of not taking himself too seriously, one of his more popular songs is called Alabama Chicken and has some heavy soul to it, as well as farm yard references.  The song Fucked me Right Up is almost comical in its juxtaposition of a sweetly melodic love tune (well, break up tune), and the harsh words of the title.  Sean rocked a (classy) pimp suit, played on a smaller stage and had a medium sized crowd – which meant I could stretch my legs and doze on the hillside in the partial afternoon sun (the festival did get warm for about 5 minutes).

Sean Hayes killin it

Alabama Shakes

Not coincidentally, Alabama Shakes considers themselves “roots rock.”  How could I not include a brief bit about them?  You’ve probably heard the Alabama Shakes song “Hold On.”  It rocks.  The band Alabama Shakes is relatively young, only having been around since about 2009, but they have enjoyed a fairly quick ascent – and for good reason, too.  The vocals from lead singer Brittany Howard are absolutely powerful.  I have a weird thing where I really only get behind bands that exhibit some sort of true passion, and this she does without a doubt.  Her emotion comes through her music so strong that you can’t help but get down.

There were so many other great bands that performed the festival – Foo Fighters put on the best show without a doubt (Dave Grohl is probably the best musician of a generation), Norah Jones was beautiful to listen to, and Metallica melted faces (despite whether or not San Francisco residents really wanted their faces melted).  All in all the festival was a great time, and even though I was deathly tired at times and almost choked a United Airlines customer service agent through the phone on Sunday morning when I found out my flight reservation had been cancelled, I’d do it again in a kick drum heart beat.

London Love You – viewing the games in the park

British pride is different pride

It was great to be on the ground in London, watching the coverage of the 2012 Olympic games with a GB national slant, and (when no Americans were in the hunt) rooting for a home town team.  There is something different about the Brits and their team GB pride compared to what I’ve experienced my entire life watching sports from an American perspective – and I can’t quite put my finger on it.

It may be due to the fact that British expectations were all over the map leading into these Olympic games.  On the surface, I think many Brits were expressing their signature British snark and utter lack of enthusiasm, while all the while deep down they wanted to have something to celebrate when all was said and done.  In the lack luster first week, the snark became snarkier – but as the medal tally ticked up through the second week of competition, the city illuminated (literally, many of the prominent buildings around London displayed light shows.  But figuratively, there was an energy to the air).  I can’t tell you the number of times this week I’ve heard terms like, “that’s a good lad” as a British competitor held off, or overtook, another charging into the finish line (watching Mo Farah’s INCREDIBLE finish to the 10k at a local pub was about as good as it got).  City parks with big screens were packed with viewers until the screens went black and chaperones encouraged folks to go home (or more likely, to the bar), and pubs were overflowing with happy hour-ers in post work garb sipping and shouting.

British Pride

The level of knowledge about individual athletes – regardless of sport -  also seemed deeper than what I’m used to at home.  It didn’t matter if it was Jess Ennis, GB’s unofficial face of the games, Mo Farah, or Sir Chris Hoy – the Brits knew their team and knew every bit about them.  And the ongoing celebration seemed more emotional.  Maybe it’s that in the states we have gotten beyond a certain point of expectation, where victory is not only assumed, it is almost requisite.  We’ve seemingly grown complacent, and we are caught up in so many other activities that we don’t pay the same type of attention to our athletes competing abroad.

Whether or not this is a reflection on American sentiment across the board, it is a little unfortunate.  I will say that I have yet to fully experience a home games in the States, and maybe when I get the opportunity to, the attitude will be similar to what I experienced in GB.  And for anyone who makes the argument that the Olympics are a poor economic decision, I am fairly certain that the inspirational performances Brits saw out of their countrymen will inspire a new generation of Olympic athletes, and encourage a large segment of the general population to get off the couch and get active – at least in the short term.  And this you can not put a price on.  No matter what, it was a hell of an experience getting to be in the epicenter of the games for 2012, even if the beer is kinda flat and kinda warm.