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So these days I'm either spending my time eating, in the gym, jamming on my sisters guitar (broke 2 strings on mine and I'm just too lazy to re-string the entire thing...) or running obscene distances with my brother Roy. This past Saturday we ran to 49er headquarters, then continued on to Lick Mill creek, up alongside the levy all the way to River Mark plaza. Which is around 3.5 miles from our house here in Sunnyvale. We did some crazy Rocky sprints before turning around to come back and by the time we got home I was in complete duress. The best part is that we push ourselves this hard so we won't feel so bad a couple hours later while we tear into 2 dozen Atomic Wings from the World Famous... Cluck U!!!! Anyone who knows me even a little bit would know that Chicken Wings happen to be one of my All-Time favorite foods. The only problem with Wings is that you need ice cold beer to wash all that spiciness down and after a full football season. Well... let's just say the pants don't fit as good as they did before the season started. But fucking "A" are Cluck-U wings worth it!!!! Afterwards we crossed the street and took a tour of Santa Clara University. It's such a beautiful campus and my little brother lit up while we walked around checking out all the scenery. 
I missed my chance to go to college but told him that he could go to any school he wanted to if he applied himself. With every new day I'm trying more and more to seize these opportunities that are presented to us throughout our lives. Sometimes just getting out of bed is tough enough... so how hard is it going to be to really make a dent in all these different aspects of my life that I want/need to change?!? What I do know is that it is possible and as long as I stay focused I'll eventually get there. I have to want to do it for me...
It's around 10:30am on a beautiful sunny but cold day here in the bay. I've been here for a little over a month now but it doesn't really feel that long. A lot has changed since I've been here and I plan on a lot more change as the days go on. As most of my friends and family know... I came back home temporarily to spend time with my sister Alice and help in any way I can while she continues her fight against cancer. And just for the record, this Blog isn't going to be a central point of every detail of how my sister is doing. My family created a website for her that explains everything in detail. It also has a cool page where you can leave her a message if you want. The address is http://www.araizanation.com if you have time to check it out. My time here has already proved invaluable and every moment we all spend together laughing, dancing, cooking, et cetera is priceless to me.
This is going to be an outlet I'll be referring back to once I really start getting into the recording of my next record. My first record "The Story of Za" was autobiographical with only a little fiction mixed in. It covered a time of my life where I did a lot of crazy things and went through a lot of different changes. Back in 2002 I decided to move to Arizona after losing pretty much everything due to my consistency in making bad decisions. Those choices left me broken, mournful, pessimistic and doubtful to say the least. But they also left me determined to prove myself to everyone that I wasn't a no talent bum with a drinking problem.
Skip to 2007 and once again I have found myself in an uphill battle to prove myself. But this time around my motivation and drive is coming from somewhere different all together. Today I am a 30 year old man (who I'll admit... still acts like a complete adolescent jackass) carrying the same dreams I did 10 years ago. Music is my life in every aspect from creation to consumption and I believe this will never change. What I do know is that the music I'll be creating for my next record is going to be 100% authentic. And the only thing that means is that I'm going to do what I do best. I'm done trying to be things or people I'm not. I have such an amazing team in my corner working with me on this record and I think they see my strengths more then I do. So even though it's been tough and will continue to push my buttons. I'm going to give my opinion and then shut the fuck up because I DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING when it comes to my music. I've accepted the fact that I'll never be able to do it all like my ultimate muse Prince. I'll leave the genius to him and just stick to the easy shit.
Looks like it's that time to go but before I do. I wanna say what's up to my little brother Roy. He turned 17 this past December and has been a Godsend to my overall health and sanity. When I first arrived here back in the beginning of December I was in pretty bad shape both mentally and physically. I was depressed a lot, smoking consistently and drinking way too much. One month later a lot has changed... still have a very long way to go but with his help I'm def. on the right track.
"My fingers hurt."
"What was that?"
"My fingers hurt!"
"Well, now your back is going to hurt too because you just scored landscaping duty!"
So these days I'm either spending my time eating, in the gym, jamming on my sisters guitar (broke 2 strings on mine and I'm just too lazy to re-string the entire thing...) or running obscene distances with my brother Roy. This past Saturday we ran to 49er headquarters, then continued on to Lick Mill creek, up alongside the levy all the way to River Mark plaza. Which is around 3.5 miles from our house here in Sunnyvale. We did some crazy Rocky sprints before turning around to come back and by the time we got home I was in complete duress. The best part is that we push ourselves this hard so we won't feel so bad a couple hours later while we tear into 2 dozen Atomic Wings from the World Famous... Cluck U!!!! Anyone who knows me even a little bit would know that Chicken Wings happen to be one of my All-Time favorite foods. The only problem with Wings is that you need ice cold beer to wash all that spiciness down and after a full football season. Well... let's just say the pants don't fit as good as they did before the season started. But fucking "A" are Cluck-U wings worth it!!!! Afterwards we crossed the street and took a tour of Santa Clara University. It's such a beautiful campus and my little brother lit up while we walked around checking out all the scenery. 
I missed my chance to go to college but told him that he could go to any school he wanted to if he applied himself. With every new day I'm trying more and more to seize these opportunities that are presented to us throughout our lives. Sometimes just getting out of bed is tough enough... so how hard is it going to be to really make a dent in all these different aspects of my life that I want/need to change?!? What I do know is that it is possible and as long as I stay focused I'll eventually get there. I have to want to do it for me...
