nathan jara

say that again, my hearing aid wasn’t on

The other day, as I came into the house, I grabbed the mail as usual. As I leafed passed the junk mail, I found a letter with my name on it. I then glanced to the top left of the envelope and found the AARP logo. Confusion was my first reaction. Then a glance back to the recipient address to double check it was for me and not my roommate :P Opening the letter found that, yes, indeed, they sent me my very own AARP membership application and card. Now, this wouldn’t have surprised me if this was the year 2040 or so. However, it is 2010, and I’m 24 years old! I can say I’m just a bit surprised that a little more research wasn’t performed to ensure I was eligible for the program in less than 26 years from now. Just think how much money these organizations would all save on postage! Now obviously there’s no harm done. I don’t plan on filling it out, but I think it warrants a little chuckle at least. I guess it’s nice to know I’m getting a heads up!

major bummer

Yesterday, the fourth and final major of the professional golf year came to an end, but not without a bang. This year’s PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin was probably the most exciting major of the whole year. With only an hour left in the tournament, there were at least 6 players still within contention to win. Martin Kaymer of Germany ended up lifting the Wanamaker trophy and taking hold of “glory’s last shot,” but unfortunately the bigger story of the final day was the disappointing ending to Dustin Johnson’s day, which is recapped here. While I most definitely wish it would’ve turned out better for Johnson, as I would’ve been rooting for him in the playoff, I can’t say I don’t agree with the ruling. Golf’s rules are clear. You can’t ground your club in a bunker. Period. The fact that the crowd had trampled, danced, and more or less destroyed the bunker he landed in makes it tough though. I mean, I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same thing if I was on the 18th whole of the PGA Championship with a one stroke lead. But, then again, rules are rules. And as this article on Fanhouse states, that’s one thing that separates golf from every other sport. There’s no official staring into a video camera watching over and over to see if a toe is out of bounds, or a player lead with his helmet, made a distinct throwing or kicking motion, or deserves a red card or not; there’s just the rules, plain and clear. And Johson respected them ultimately. He’ll be back.

one sexy machine

Over this weekend I showed my car some love by doing a nice wash and summer time wax. But in between the wash and wax, I tried something new by using a clay kit. Meguiar’s Smooth Surface clay kit comes with two clay bars, detailing spray, micro-fiber towel, and a sample bottle of cleaner wax. The clay kit is used by first making sure your car is squeaky clean, then spraying the included detailer over a section of your car. Next take the kneadable clay bar and rub the bar over the sprayed area, once smooth, wipe dry with the towel. Repeating this process section by section over the whole car picks up and rubs away all the contaminants (dirt, tar, debris, general yuckiness) that get stuck to the car body. The result is well, amazing. The stuff leaves your car as smooth as glass. I followed up the clay bar with a new coat of cleaner wax to seal in all that glassy goodness. Take a peek below and you’ll see why I think it was worth it. :)

let’s eat healthier for goodness sake

Several months ago, I posted about a documentary I watched called FOOD, Inc. If you saw the post, I’m sure you realized the impact the film had on me and the light it shed on the status of the ways our food is prepared here in the good old U.S. of A. If you’ve seen the documentary, I think you’d agree that it’s no surprise to hear of the many health problems that plague our nation, especially in our youth. One organization connected with the film is Slow Food USA. This organization is overseeing a program to better the lunch programs in school cafeterias across the country in order to provide fresher and healthier food for kids. If you’re interested in helping out the cause, you can contact your representative through their website or just get some more info. They provide a simple form for you to send an email and also provide a pre-written message in case you’re not sure what to say. Check it out and take part!

my third annual bridgestone invitational

This past weekend, I attended for the third year in a row the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. The PGA Tour event takes place at Firestone Country Club every year. This year, Hunter Mahan was awarded the cup with his twelve under par championship performance. I walked the course during the Saturday round of competition. The tournament was a great time once again this year. It’s so cool to go and see the pros in person. Every time I get the chance to see a live event, I’m continually impressed with how easy these guys make it look. Driving the ball, irons, chipping and putting look so effortless, then I go out on the course and find a different result :P Just seeing the golf course is fun too. The fairways and greens are so well manicured and maintained providing a beautiful backdrop to the golfing. Now I know that there aren’t too many people that get excited about watching golf, but I really think that if you haven’t been to a golf tournament in person, you’d enjoy it more than you think.

coronal mass ejections and massive ejections that are stinky

Tonight’s one of those nights when I’m clearly, or rather unclearly, reminded of what living in Pittsburgh means for star gazing; it doesn’t happen. The clouds and city lights are blocking my view from the night sky tonight, most unfortunately, as I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the latest coronal mass ejection hitting earth. Coronal mass ejections, which are huge eruptions on the sun’s surface, get thrown into space and eventually can come in contact with earth, producing auroras. NASA has reported that this event in particular is one of the largest in a while. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to catch the next one. In the mean time, maybe I’ll have better luck catching these ejections, but then again, they seem to be kind of poopy today too ;)

well played Louis

While being stuck in the house over this past weekend wouldn’t have been my number one choice for spending my days off, it did grant me the opportunity to watch the 2010 British Open at Saint Andrews. Being one of my favorite tournaments to watch, it was great to be able to catch finest golfers of today battling it out on the grounds where golf was born hundreds of years ago. I’d love to play the course someday. I’m sure it would tear me apart, but I’d enjoy every minute. Tight fairways rolling onto tighter greens. Pot bunkers so big you could live in them. And wind ripping across the grass so hard it’d knock you and your golf ball into the fescue. There was plenty of wind at this year’s Open. The Royal & Ancient had to suspend play for over an hour on Friday’s round because of the wind. Yes, they had to stop golfing because it was too windy. At the British Open! Crazy. Mr. Louis Oosthuizen, who nobody knew of until this past weekend, didn’t seem to let the wind bother him. He ran away with the Claret Jug on Sunday and didn’t look back. It’s cool to see the little guy win every now and then.

people in every direction

Last night I attended the 2010 Dave Matthews Band concert at PNC Park. Seeing as the band has become my ultimate favorite over the years, it’s no surprise I thoroughly enjoyed the show :) The band never disappoints it’s fans, and being my fourth show over the past 5 years, this show certainly didn’t err from the norm. Just about filling up the entire ballpark, Pittsburgh was rockin’ on Saturday night.

an Independence Day not to forget

Over this past weekend, I was blessed to have the opportunity to visit for the first time, our nation’s capital, Washington D.C.. Thanks to a handful of my best friends, I was able to experience something I’ve been wanting to do for many years.

My weekend began on Saturday, July 3rd, with my first stop in Arlington National Cemetery. This was such an overwhelming place. I’ve always known that there would be many, many tomb stones, but I didn’t believe there were as many as I actually saw. It  seemed that no matter which direction you turned, the stones looked to go on forever. Walking through the cemetery I tried to put myself in the shoes of the family members who come to visit their fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. On several occasions I saw families doing just that. I also made the walk around to section 60 of the cemetery which is now the eternal earthly home of the men and women that have given the ultimate price in Iraq and the Middle East. It was very strange to walk by these stones with dates as recent as June 2010. It boggled my mind to think about it.

Another impressive stop within Arlington was the visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This memorial was constructed in honor of all the servicemen who gave their lives and have never been identified. The tomb is guarded 24 hours a day 7 days a week by a U.S. Infantry soldier. In the tradition of the 21 Gun Salute, the soldier takes 21 steps, holds for 21 seconds, and returns in the same manner back and forth in front of the tomb. During the summer months, the guard is relieved of his duty every half hour, every hour during winter months. While visiting the tomb, I was able to experience this changing of the guard. The ceremony was impressive, regal, humbling; it can only be seen rather than described.

After my visit to Arlington, we took the metro further into D.C. and visited the Thomas Jefferson Library at the Library of Congress. This sight was one I was very surprised to see. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was certainly very impressed when we walked into the main hall of the Library. The interior was very ornately decorated with gold flourishing details, marble floors, stairs, and sculptures. The architecture reminded me most of an Italian Renaissance style. Frescos and paintings also adorned the walls and ceilings. In what seemed to me to be the heart of the library, was the Reading Room. This room, which is only accessible with special permission, was a large circular room with desks oriented in multiple rows going around the circular room. The Reading Room was also exquisitely decorated and produced a very intellectual and respect demanding persona. This room was very much one of my favorite stops in the Library. Across the street from the Library I visited the U.S. Senate building. It was neat to see the place where our elected officials have been meeting to make the decisions that affect us all. And as one who enjoys architecture, the U.S. Senate is another beautifully architected building, also emitting the Roman/Italian style.

The following day, Sunday, July 4th, we first spent a few hours at the Natural History Museum within the Smithsonian Institute. Dinosaurs, octopus, giant squid, whales, dolphins, sharks, rhinocerous and elephants galore. After leaving the Smithsonian, we came outside on the sidewalk along Constitution Avenue to find the tail end of the Washington D.C. Fourth of July parade. None of us had really planned on watching the parade, but it definitely seemed to stop us in our tracks that day. Just seeing the bands come by playing patriotic tunes, kids and adults alike in Uncle Sam hats and red, white, and blue, and everyone being joyful in the hot July sun, seemed to make the parade become something we all had to be a part of on this Independence Day.

Further down the street, I made sure to stop at the National Gallery of Art. I very much enjoyed the art gallery and was excited to see many oil paintings, drawings, and photographs, include paintings by Matisse, Picasso, Degas, and Leonardo DaVinci. On my next trip to D.C., I would like to visit the many other art galleries in the area along with more of the Smithsonian museums.

A long trek through the mall and around the Tidal Basin brought us to my first major memorial stop, the Thomas Jefferson memorial. This memorial is definitely one of my favorites. The openness and simplicity of the structure gives it a very comfortable feeling, one that I thought was most inviting compared to the other memorials. I think this was evident in the way that many of the visitors that were there take time to sit on the marble floor of the memorial and just take in their surroundings. The larger than life size statue of Thomas Jefferson stands prominent in the center of the circular memorial surrounded by four of Jefferson’s most significant writings. This memorial certainly explains and projects the respect and honor due to a man that without his work and dedication, our great nation may not exist as we know it today.

With the sun beginning to set, we decided to take our place in the National Mall to prepare for the Independence Day fireworks. We found a spot and camped out listening to the sounds of the Navy Concert Band playing American tunes. Thinking back, this experience was one that I’ll never forget. As we sat and talked, the crowd of thousands continued to gather around us under the Washington Monument. It truly was awesome to see so many Americans gather together in this historic place to celebrate the Fourth of July. Kids playing soccer, people throwing frisbee, friends playing volleyball, and families just talking, chatting, and laughing together in every direction. The scene made me think how those that came before me really did do everything they did so that I could have this. That is a very awesome thought.

As the sun finally fell below the horizon, the lights and colors lit up the sky. We sat and watched the fireworks shimmer over the Reflecting Pool. The show ended with a grand fireworks finale. Afterward, we walked through the streets of D.C. with thousands of our closest friends back to the metro, stopping along the way to take a peek at the White House.

On Monday, July 5th, we made our final trip on the metro back into town to visit the rest of the memorials. We first visited the World War II Memorial. This grand memorial gives honor to all soldiers of the second world war by noting those who served in both the Atlantic and Pacific campaigns. The first of my two favorite features of this memorial was the relief sculptures along the outside walls of the space depicting scenes from various WWII battles. The second was the wall of stars. This arced wall situated at the center of the memorial housed over 4,000 stars. Each one of these stars honors 100 American soldiers who died in the war. This fact leaves one speechless.

Next I visited the Korean War memorial. My favorite aspect of this memorial was the wall which lines the side of the monument. On this wall were ghost-like etchings depicting men, women, and scenes during the time of the war. We stopped at the famous Lincoln Memorial next at the end of the Reflecting Pool. As I grew to know from seeing the other buildings and memorials around the capital, the massive scale of the Lincoln Memorial was no different. A grand statue of Honest Abe placed in the center of the memorial depicts the 16th President of the United States sitting humbly in a mighty chair. On the walls to either side of him are etched his two inaugural addresses. My final stop was the Vietnam Memorial. This simple memorial is definitely most powerful. The stone wall constructed in the shape of a ‘v’ is inscribed with the names of the thousands of casualties from the Vietnam conflict. Walking past these thousands of names demanded my reflection upon what these people did for our country.

My first trip to Washington D.C. is one that I’ll never forget. I learned a lot and gained a refreshed respect and love for my country. And I have to thank Ashely, Steve, Sam, Turbo, Aunt Carol and Uncle Carl for an awesome weekend :) You can find more pictures from my weekend in my online album.