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By Kyle, July 15, 2009 8:41 pm

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If it weren’t for the line of trees, the golf ball would have gone straight into Pico Blvd. Yes, that’s right, this evening I went par-3 golfing at the risk of those drivers on their evening commute home on the adjacent Pico Blvd. Yes, I shot horrifically, yet it was simply wonderful to walk through the summer evening air here and feel the warm breeze off the Pacific a mere 5 miles away.

Simply this long walk (punctuated by errant 8-irons, duffed 9-irons, and heated putts) allowed me to truly be grateful to live in a city where you can actually get in some nature in the city (although I’m sure my readers from the Pacific NW, and the Atlantic NE will take issue at my definition of the word “nature”).

What’s sad is that this golf course (certainly not the above pictured one) is a 10 minute drive from my house and provides another reason to tenaciously stay at my current residence despite any roommates that may decide to abandon the neighborhood in search of greener pastures in Westwood, Brentwood, and San Bernardino. Perhaps this is just the impetus I need to get out-of-doors more often.

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By Kyle, July 6, 2009 5:55 am

Little Pink Houses – John Cougar Mellencamp

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Saturday was the 4th of July, and two buddies and I headed up to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena for a bit of tailgating / football / fireworks. The weather was a perfect 75 degrees with a slight breeze across the golf course fairway on which the Rose Bowl Parking Staff decided to park us on.

A few soul-affirming/challenging realizations that I had during the whole experience:

1. I still pretty much suck at football, and most other sports for that matter.

2. Fireworks still have the power to amaze and dazzle even a 26 year old.

3. My brain is going as well. I don’t even know how old I am. (I’m actually 27!!!)

4. I miss golf. Walking the fairways in between the rows of cars made me start thinking about the last time I got to play (I don’t think I’ve yet played in 2009). Unfortunately, the idea of starting work back up again today doesn’t do much for my enthusiasm toward getting up early for a round.

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By Kyle, June 30, 2009 4:19 pm

A few weeks ago, I was asked by one of my blog readers why on earth I “tweet” (a verb referring to the stream of consciousness micro-blogging on upstart social network Twitter). Truth be told, I didn’t have a great reason, other than it was the newest technology fad (this was pre-Iranian election solidarity-tweeting). And yet yesterday, Twitter literally allowed me to not spend $50 I had otherwise planned on spending!

Here it goes. Last night I returned from vacation in Costa Rica, and was scheduled to arrive at LAX at 12:30….A.M! I didn’t want to burden anyone with the responsibility of picking me up that late (it would have been about 1:30am after going through customs, etc…), and so I had simply planned on taking a taxi home. Yet as our plane descended into LAX, I had a thought…how about a low-pressure, non-invasive, mass shout out to everyone I know in LA! And best yet, no one would get woken up over it!

As the plane touched down, I whipped out my cell-phone, which mind you, doesn’t even have a data plan, and sent a simple text message to my Twitter account that went exactly like this:

Just landed at LAX! If anyone wants to give me a lift home, text or call by 1am or so. If not, no worries….I’ll cab it. See ya soon!

Now’s where it get’s cool! That simple message instantly updated my Facebook page as well, which during any given minute, is being used by 10-30 of my actual friends and acquaintances here in L.A. Seriously, within about 90 seconds (and while still taxiing) I received a phone call from my buddy Alex, who volunteered to pick me up from the airport! Thanks Alex! And thanks Twitter!

(As a post script, I should also mention that I subsequently had to turn down two more offers for a late night pickup from people who saw my post)..

Anyway, enough geeking out for now on technology. Here are my Costa Rica pics! Enjoy!

Trip to Costa Rica! from Kyle Hunsberger on Vimeo.

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By Kyle, June 24, 2008 10:27 am

In the background plays a track entitled S.P.A.T., which I’m sure is an acronym for something (although goodness knows what). It’s an instrumental track by the artist Badly Drawn Boy, who I first saw at Largo a few years back. His music is surprisingly coherent and accessible, and provides a fantastic background music that is both introspective and highly melodic! For anyone who saw the wedding video I put together for my sister Jenna, one of his songs was featured during that slide-show.

Anyway, Saturday night, I was bike riding in Venice and randomly ran into the bass player from Me and the Enemies, the band I was in two years ago. He and I hadn’t seen each other since that time, so we agreed it would be cool to go biking at some point. So last night, I drove down to his place in Venice, loaded up his bike, and we drove to the top of Mulholland Highway, a winding road in the hills north of Malibu. The view was stunning, and the air was cool and crisp, and so with great expectation, we parked the car, unloaded our bikes and got set to go. Unfortunately, no sooner had we unloaded than we realized that my friend had a 100% flat tire, and without a new tube or even an air pump, we were fresh out of luck. So needless to say, we had a nice drive through the Malibu hills that evening which we supplemented with a short hike in one of the state parks just north of one of the beaches, and ended the evening with some amazing New York style thin pizza from a little pizza shop right on the PCH.

Anyway, it was still fun nonetheless, but next time, I hope to do just a little more peddling.