far...far...from my home

(an old photo of the Fornero ladies, and little Reese posing with their fresh purogies as part of an old tradition in my family)

Last night I spent the night with my family at my cousin Allissa's highschool graduation party. My cousin Shawny insisted that I be his beer pong partner and the problem was that we kept winning and that meant that I had to keep drinking, and drinking, and drinking. Needless to say it got to the point that I hit the fill line and had to turn on the blowers to purge the engine. I have always been a light weight, but coming back to Wisco and real beer emphasized the trend. I have 16 year old cousins that can drink more than me. Oh well, it doesn't bother me cause it is cheaper that way. My cousin's boyfriend Keith and his buddy brought out the homemade regulation beer pong table. I have to say that I was pretty impressed. Back when I was in highgschool we used to just drink beer. This thing was set up and had some real time invested in it. Maybe that is why these kids could shoot a ping pong ball like Kobe shoots a fade away. I have to say though that I had a great time and it really is a mind blow to see all of these kids growing up so fast. It is such a cliche' but it is the truth for me even more so because I am not around as much as I should be to participate in my families lives. I get to see them maybe twice a year and usually for just a weekend each time. However, even those short trips serve to keep me grounded and I wish I could come home more often. My everyday can really beat me down and turn me into a grumpy asshole, but just a simple trip home and some quality time with real midwestern folks is all I need to bring me back down to earth and reality. I have traveled all over this world and the folks from the midwest are still the most down to earth and hardworking people on the planet. Of course my objective opinion is probably somewhat biased but I don't care I still think that it is the truth. So in closing this post I want to say that everyone should take some time out and go home, whether it is a country away or right down the street, and also I would like to extend my congratulations to my cousin Allissa again. I am so very proud of the well rounded young person she has become and I do not worry much about her next year in college because she has a good head on her shoulders and our family work ethic in her backbone. I wish I could make it home for my cousin Kyle and Aubrey's graduation party next weekend, but such is life and I know that they realize that I wish I could be there. As well as everyone else in my family realizes that I wish that I could be around for the birthdays, graduations, and all of the things that I miss living so far... far... from my home.

blinking...

I think that since I have a tendency to blog when I have been drinking that I will now call the action, "blinking".  That is right.  Tonight some friends and myself and Christine went out on the town in SLC and had some good times at the "Keys on Main".  I have been drinking blue moons all night and now I am feeling like telling it like it is.  Zach and I were brainstorming on the VI concept tonight during our after party affairs and it is so fresh to hear the enthusiasm and readiness to take on a revolutionary and new idea.  The industry is ready for it and we are poised to blow this shit up this fall.  Our culmination project is coming up fast and we are all getting super stoked to launch the VI concept and organization this fall.  It is all so exciting to see the efforts of everyone's hearts and souls come together to make up this revolutionary concept.  I am so proud of our efforts and I am ready to take the idea to the next level.  We have all worked so hard the last two seasons and to see it all come together, and it is very gratifying and nerve racking at the same time.  We are ready to blow it up and we are getting ourselves set to do just that.  This winter's OR Tradeshow will prove to be the stage that we make our moves on.  I will not go into to much detail because we want to let our skiing speak for itself first.  You see, we learned something this season from our friends with the Levitation Project.  Promotion can only be backed up by delivery.  If you can not deliver, then you should not promote so much.  So the VI crew has kept it's mouth shut, relatively.  We would like to let the skiing speak for itself, and then promote to a level that is fitting to the product.  We believe that our freeheel skiing rivals that of anything that has been seen in the last two years and this fall you will be able to judge for yourself.  After that we will then begin our promotion to capitalize on our efforts accordingly.  Vertical Integration is all about making the products you are already seeing that much better.  We want to enhance the current TGP, PW, and Ydream movies that you are already watching and this is what we have been doing for the last two years.  We are making large waves behind the scenes.  So as I write away my buzz, I guess what I am trying to say is that VI is poised to blow up and we are simply waiting for the right opportunity to do so.  Our efforts over the last two seasons will start to air this fall and I will let you be the judge as to how we did.  We are all believers in the concept and everyone involved has embraced the idea.  We believe in collectively coming together and pooling resources and intelligence to achieve common goals.  And this is the beauty of the concept, it can be what ever you want it to be.  We are here to assist people in vertically integrating their talents in the snowsports industry.  If you are an aspiring skier and you wish to learn more about what it takes to be a pro then why not learn from those that are currently doing it.  If you are a skier and wish to get involved in photography or writing, then why not get in touch with VI and learn from writers and photographers in the industry that are already doing it.  We are a behind the scenes entity making front page moves that everyone should know about.  So be on the look out this fall for the concept that is revolutionizing the industry without having to say a word.  

Vertical Integration... get organized.          

Whoooo... I feel better now...

Back to the grind after that lengthy drunken rant on the stresses of modern life and death.  Gotta love the reflections, and if you don't... then you should try.  It's good for you.  I had to go back to work though on Monday still.  Felt good to tie one on and shake a little rust off though.  It had been a long time since I had taken the opportunity to do so.  The walls still need to be covered with rocks and the bags still gotta make it to their destinations on time.  Lord knows none would happen without me.  I've got responsibilities to take care you know (sarcasm coming through?).  Anyway, the new TGP projects are starting to  come around now and I have been informed that the HarmLess Season 1 television show is up and running on RSN or will be soon or something of that nature.  The HarmLess DVD will be out this fall and will be a compilation of HarmLess Season 1 and Season 2 television shows that will be on RSN.  Season 2 show will begin airing in January of this winter.  The Vertical Integration crew will be involved in a couple of segments including Utah segments in all three projects and a segment on the Austria trip in the Season 2 show and the DVD release.  I will also be in the Alaska segments we shot for last year and this winter.  It is exciting to start seeing everything coming together.  Two seasons of hard work are coming together and I can't really wait to see the final products.  Should be good for the crew too.  It has been two seasons for them too without a ton of exposure to help with selling cause most of them had little showing in Open Windows which has run for two seasons now.  This release should help them out though with getting their exposure numbers up.  The VI project has only really been steaming ahead the last two winters and this will be the culmination of the organizations efforts to this point.  It is kind of nerve racking.  With fingers crossed we move forward.   

reflections...

I have probably drank too much Early Times tonight to express myself without embarrassment, but I have had too much Early Times to care.  I was drinking in my kitchen with the loves of my life tonight and now I am feeling very nostalgic and reflective.  There have been many occurances good and tragic that have led me to this point of my life and I have pledged to myself that I would never forget them and never ever take anything this life has to offer for granted, but more and more as I let credit card debt and life in general beat me down I lose track of the things that are of upmost importance to me.  It seems I have to try harder and harder to keep perspective in my life.  The everyday of life seems to get to me more and more and I seem to be losing my ability to stay above it all.  Traffic, money, debt, and the realities of life are affecting me more and more, and I am struggling to "keep my tips pointed downhill".  I think that reflections like this are a treasure that should be taken in for what they are worth to keep one's mind on the right track.  I have so much love in my heart for the people and the passions of my life that I want to spend all of my time making sure that it is given the proper appreciation.  However, I know that no matter how hard I try I cannot tell everyone how much they mean to me and how much I would miss them if I was gone.  You see, I have always felt in my heart that I would die young and I feel so much responsibility to tell those that I love that I do so.  Then I come to the conclusions that no matter how much I try it will never be sufficient.  It pains me so much to think of the people that would be left to cope with my own passing, but I hope that they all know that I do love them so much and I have done all of the irresponsible things I do in their names.  I believe in living as much life as I can in my short time here that the people that remember me will do things that never thought they could because of me.  Because it is the people that graced me with the presence their short lives that have inspired me to do things I never imagined.  So many have inspired my path thus far, and I can never thank them in this life for it.  Perhaps one day I will get that chance, but for now all I can do is tell those that are still with me that I live my life in a reflection of their love.  I look back at all of the epics of my time and I am so thankful for them.  I feel like I have had more luck than most in my life, but I also feel like I have appreciated everything more than most.  Today I was in a local mall watching the masses move about making material statements of individualism, and it made me wonder if anyone else takes the time to look around at all of the madness of american life and come to the same realizations that I do.  None of that bullshit really matters.  Buy one get one half off is the not the end of the rainbow.  There is so much more to this existence that is so beautiful and worthy of lengthly reflection and appreciation.  So I guess that as I harness my whisky buzz and love of mellonchally music that maybe someone else is taking a step back and taking stock in their lives to come to similar conclusions that life is so short and so magnificent that the things that make my hair grey are not as important as once thought.  I once told my father that life is all about trade offs, and he took it to heart.  In reflection it may have been more prophetic than I originally thought because the more time I spend chasing the dreams and aspirations of my own life the more I realize how much I am missing in the lives of those I love most.  So I feel a responsibility to make sure to that I express my gratitude to those that keep me in their prayers.  There are many of them and I don't think I will ever be able to thank them enough, but I am doing my best.  So to all of you that have willed my safety to this point, I thank you and I love you.  Lord knows I have tested the limits of human existence more than most and am still living to speak of the glory of it all.  The older I get the more I realize the selfishness and irresponsibility of my lifestyle, but still I pursue these endeavors with more vigor then ever and I am not regretful but thankful for the opportunity and courage to do so.  Many people tell me that they envy my life's situation and I often doubt that they would face the dangers that I do on a daily basis throughout a winter season and still pursue it the way that I have.  Maybe I am a fool, but maybe I am an inspiration to someone and that one person is enough for me to justify the risks that I take day to day.  I love this life, and I love everyone that has inspired it and made it possible.  Everything in my life has led me to this point and therefore I have no regrets.  I want to lead my life not in fear of death, but in realization that death is the only thing in this life that is unavoidable.  So I had better make the most of this existence.  Everyone has a different definition of what that means but I think what is important is that no matter what that definition is one should pursue it with reckless abandon.  No one ever wished for more money or material on their death bed.  I want to be able to appreciate my life in every moment.  After all it is this moment, only this moment that is real and we should embrace it and try to live it to it's fullest extent.  The past and the future are only memories and aspirations.  The moment is the only reality and that is not something that I want to waste.  I could go on for decades on this subject, but I think that instead I will take some time right now the take in the feelings I am embracing and sharing at this moment because after all, soon they will only be memories.