MatthewDillon.Com

Not the actor or the character, just the bear.

1. Put your music on shuffle and start it playing. The first song title is the answer to the first question
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
Yeah 3X (Chris Brown) – That’s a typical answer…

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Hold It Against Me (Britney Spears) – LOLZ!

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Don’t Turn Around (Ace of Base) – Hmm… this could be taken a couple ways LOL

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Crazy (Seal) – Dunno if it’s my purpose, but it’s my life!

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Forgiven (Alanis Morissette) – Good motto

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
S.O.S. (Erasure) – LOL! It’s kinda true, I often think “Someone save me!”

WHAT IS 2+2?
Don’t Say No (Erasure) – Don’t say no to a 4-way?

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIENDS?
Evacuate The Dancefloor (Cascada) – Cause they some dancin’ bitches!

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Video (India.Arie) – Interesting… not sure how to interpret that one

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Chains of Love (Erasure) – hmmm… S&M?

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Mad (Ne-Yo) – LOLZ, probably often true…

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Dead and Gone (T.I.) – I know they miss me!

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Hot Stuff (Craig David) – LOL!

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Wide Open Spaces (Dixie Chicks) – Suitable, I think

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Lost Without U (Robin Thicke) – Hmm…

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Paparazzi (Lady Gaga) – LOL!!! Most of my friends are photographers!

WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Girl From The Gutter (Kina) – I end up homeless?

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Sweet Freedom (Shawn Christopher) – Interesting…

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Wonder (Natalie Merchant) – Dunno how to interpret this one either…

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
You’re A God (Vertical Horizon) – hehehe Given my religious views…

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Always (Erasure) – I’m a crybaby crying all the time?

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Missing (Everything But The Girl) – I guess not!

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Don’t You Wanna Stay (Jason Aldean) – Again, I guess not! LOL

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (Erasure) … a man after midnight…

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
You Gotta Be (Des’ree) I’m not who I should be yet…

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Live Like We’re Dying (Kris Allen)

I have had chronic, persistent tinnitus since childhood. For as long as I can remember, I’ve gone though life with a constant high tone ringing in my head. Most of the time it’s just in the background, and my brain more or less filters it out. I also live a noisy life in LA. There is a constant drone of traffic, I’m surrounded by computers, I sleep with a fan. I’m rarely in quiet, let alone silent, surroundings.

Recently, I’ve started exploring the Mojave National Preserve. Kelso Dunes, Hole In The Wall Canyon, cinder cones, and the remains of a small lava tube.

Lava Tube

A large collapse and some handy stairs allow access to the lava tube.

Lava Tube

After climbing over the rubble, and crawling through a low ceiling area, you enter the larger cavern.

For the first time in recent memory, I found myself in almost total silence. Except it wasn’t silent for me. In the absence of the constant drone of modern life, the ringing in my ears seemed to become deafening.

Mojave National Preserve Lave Tube

Three “skylights”, openings where the ceiling has collapsed, allows beams of sunshine into the lava tube.

Mojave National Preserve Lave Tube - Fire Spinning

I thought what better place to do a firespin, than a place formed from lava

That first trip to Mojave was amazing for me. I explored new (to me) wonders, watched the moon rise while sitting in the middle of sand dunes, and most memorable, sat alone in a tunnel formed of molten lava in a time when Southern California was active volcano country, over 10,000 years ago. And yet, amongst all that wonder, my strongest memory remains… what does silence sound like?

Mojave National Preserve Lave Tube - Double Light Beams

In the late afternoon, the sun briefly returns to the lave tube and streams through the skylights.

More images of my trips to Mojave National Preserve can be found at my Flickr page.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruggybear/sets/72157628244150481/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruggybear/sets/72157628559049455/

Busy Bee

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Flowers and Bees

My furkids in their (infrequent) quiet state.

Dodger and Blue

Dodger and Blue

My Baby Girl Blue

I spent a lovely morning with flickr friends exploring Descanso Gardens. It is always lovely in the spring as things are coming into bloom, and was made even more so on this morning as everything was still covered in raindrops from one of SoCal’s infrequent rains.

Descanso Gardens

Descanso Gardens

Descanso Gardens

Descanso Gardens

Descanso Gardens

Introducing:  Blue!
This is Blue, a 3 month old black lab rescue. Her older “brother” Dodger isn’t completely sure of her yet, but they are quickly becoming friends!

Dodger and Blue

My furkids, learning to get along :)