America’s Pastime: Baseball

It’s that time of year again! Fresh cut grass – lined up chalk – venders yelling out “Peanuts, Cracker Jacks” – National Anthem – Planes flying over ballparks – Play Ball being yelled by the Ump.

Your team runs out on to the field and the stadium erupts! Can you feel the magic just piercing your heart? It’s the field, the players, the vendors, the lights, the kids laughing that just makes all the problems in the world go away for 2-3 hrs.

I still believe it is the purest game ever! I love it!

It’s a game of stats and strategies!!

Walt Whitman once said, “I see great things in baseball. It’s our game – the American game. It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism. Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set. Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.” AMEN!

My team has and will always be the San Diego Padres! Since I was the age of 5, I can remember so many memories from Jack Murphy Stadium, Qualcomm Stadium, and Petco Park. Even going to Dodger Stadium and the new Yankee Stadium in my lifetime have continued to increase my respect and love for the game!

The game teaches patience, hard work, strategy, intelligence, and so many other qualities applied to life!

Today MY San Diego Padres won a game in extra innings, 11 to be exact, Cameron Maybin hit a HR in the top of ninth and tied the ballgame. Then in Top of the 11th inning, he hit a single that scored Chase Headley. Padres won 5-3!

Venable, Bartlett, Hudson, Hawpe, Ludwick, Headley, Maybin, Hundley, Stauffer – Padres 2011 Opening Day Starters

I can’t wait one day to have a son and teach him how to play baseball which is the game of life!

The Human Experience

Have you ever wondered what your purpose is? Why are we here at this time on earth? Why were you born in a certain area?

I came upon a great documentary which was released back in 2008 about 2 brothers and 2 friends who go on search for the Human Experience. They do everything from living homeless for a week in NYC to visiting various countries helping disabled children, and a number of other great things. There purpose is to find out what different humans perceive as why they are here on this earth and who they are.

 

We have all questioned what we are doing here on this earth, who we are, and what our calling is in life. This is truly a great documentary that lights a fire inside to live everyday a little bit better, to give service to others out of love, and to truly search for the answers to the most important questions of realizing our potential on this earth.

Who am I? Who is Man? Why do we search for meaning?

The Return

It’s been a long time, I shouldn’t have left you with a dope rhyme to step too!

I’m sorry to my 4 followers! But these last few months have been crazy! Although there have been some major bumps in the road, I am starting to come back from those tough moments. God, family, friends, and faith have got me through and I don’t know where I would be without all those people in my life and the knowledge I have been given.

A few updates: Work with AND1 Live Streetball and we are starting to blow up again! I have a number of duties within the company and I’m stoked!

I do P.R. and Event Consulting for the team that did BYU’s New Spice video. There new YouTube series is working with Antoine Dodson (Hide yo kids, Hide yo wife dude).

Jimmer and the Fredettes aka BYU made it to the Sweet 16 which hadn’t been done since 1981 with Danny Ainge! Jimmer will make the NBA and will be a great sixth man I believe!

I’ve hit about 5 Padres Spring Training games here in Arizona and I LOVE IT!

Continuously on my mind is this lady who I had a crush on back before I graduated at BYU-Idaho. Eventually in my visits back to Rexburg, we finally connected through friends and Facebook! Oh 21st Century dating ahah! Anyways we talked a little last year throughout parts of the year, but for awhile I didnt think she was interested and we both got busy! The last time I went to Rexburg, we had been talking here and there a little more, and so I decided to surprise her again! This time it seems to be moving forward. We haven’t stopped talking the last month and she makes me feel alive! I am really so happy because she is the sweetest, cutest, adorable lady! I really want to do everything I can right, to see where this goes. Leaving Provo Sunday afternoon was tough, and I haven’t felt that way with someone in a long time. This time was different from others!

I feel more connected to who I am and I know what I want out of life! Seeing the recent tragedy of Japan’s earthquake and tsumani, my beloved and dearest Grandma Turner passing on, losing my job, a good friend of my dying in an ATV accident, hearing one of my best friends brother dying in a car accident, and just feeling the need to do better – have all giving me reason to raise my bar and become the son my Heavenly Father needs. I want to share that with someone special who will be there for me through these experiences and I can be there for her experiences. Highs, lows, happiness, and pain!

More to be said in the future blogs and days!

I (don’t know where they come from) deas…

Ideas come all the time! Success or failure are the outcomes with no gray area. Sometimes I get an idea at mid-day and sometimes I get an idea at midnight. I’ll take walks with my iPod to generate ideas on how to make ideas successful. Sometimes I will go to Barnes and Noble and read magazines or just observe people. There is no wrong or right answer to how we generate ideas, but there is always a beginning point to the generation of that idea. Was it from a prior success or a prior failure?

We can generate divergent or convergent ideas- see http://business.in.com/interview/rotman/maximizing-the-effects-of-knowledge-diversity/21812/1 – Divergent is the generation of a mass number of ideas or possibilities whereas convergent is a single-high quality output or right answer. I think there is a combination of both divergent and convergent with our society today. We think of all the possibilites of an idea, which can stem into other ideas, and once we move forward with an idea we end up settling on one or two main points.

Lately, it seems my mind is starting to open to more ideas about so many subjects in life. Music, business, religion, relationships, social networking, science, philosophy, etc. Information now is widely available every where we go! Tonight I did a little contemplating without anything but classical music. I generated ideas through those simple means as well!

I like learning about new things lately and I hope some of these ideas I’m trying to make successful will bring on new perspectives and open my mind up to a whole new world.

My New Adventure and Goal: Step By Step

As many of you know now, I am going to audition one more time for So You Think You Can Dance. I will also be raising money for Dizzy Feet Foundation, a non-profit for less privileged kids who can earn scholarships for dance classes, school, and academy. I am really excited to also be filming a mini-documentary on dancers throughout America, which we will film on the trip!

Please see the blog at http://stepxstepdance.wordpress.com/ – and donate however much you can!

Sneaking into a List Only Party @ Sundance in 2006

I figured after my last post, I would share something a little more crazy and positive. Since I have some friends in Utah as well as friends who are from California and volunteer at Sundance Film Festival every year. A few years back I had quite the experience in Park City, Utah. I had never been to Sundance and at the time I was that person who was always starstruck by celebrities. So I traveled down to Utah for the night and met up with some friends from Provo. We just wanted to go up and see if we could meet any cool celebrities or check out a fun concert. Little did I know that this night would provide me with a world of opportunities the next summer.

As we left the concert, which I believe was Brazilian Girls (lame), we started to walk up the street towards some of the clubs in Park City. As we were walking by what would be known as Harry O’s, there were like 8-10 girls getting out of a limo and walking up to a line for this club! So I decided to break away from my friends and see if I could sneak in to this place. The security guard had this list with this group on it, checked them in, and then here I come. He says, “Are you with this group?” I said, “Of course!” So he sent me in and they gave me this special necklace that lit up! LEGIT! As I walked through the club and went straight for the dancefloor to show some skills. I got the crowd going! I knew if I was to meet anyone it would be to get the party rolling!

I got to the main room and saw there was a familiar artist playing. Some chick that was a one hit wonder on the radio the year before. Then they announced that Ben Folds was coming on next. I thought man this is DOPE! I had just got into Ben Folds and was all excited! They started playing some music after the chick was done, and I started rocking the dance floor. Then they played, “Motownphilly” by Boyz 2 Men and I jumped on stage and started just dancing around. Security then came and snagged me, but didn’t kick me off. I met a few older people after that and joked around a little. I watched Ben Folds play for a bit then my friends called to say they were thinking about heading out! As I walked out the door, I stopped and talked to a lady running the red carpet pictures. She told me she worked for a PR company called BNC in West Hollywood. I mentioned to her I was a PR student looking for an internship the next summer. She told me to email her my resume and she would help try to get in the door.

Well the night ended there and I met a few actors and actresses, but nobody really famous! It was a big risk and a fun time. Seeing Ben Folds play was awesome. Later on in April, I was able to contact the lady from BNC and I ended up getting an interview with them. Then in May 2006, I got an internship with BNC PR out of West Hollywood. The experiences I had that summer as well as other experiences from that time forth were shaped only because I took the risk of sneaking into that party at Sundance. I got to live 10 minutes from Venice Beach. I went to a Justin Timberlake show for free and met Will.I.Am. I was about 20 feet from Justin Timberlake at a cd release party! I worked an awesome internship! I was on an MTV Talent Show. I hit some clubs in LA! There is so much that happened by these experiences and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

 

Dating…Blehhh

Change the words to this song to Miss by Natasha Bedingfield – Soulmate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbITxYgtlAY

In my quest to find a love, a relationship, the woman who makes me feel alive and I do the same for, I’m just wondering WHAT THE HECK! I’m almost 28 now and its been about 2 years since anything close to a girlfriend. Yes, I go crazy at times and there have been random hookups in search of finding someone I can connect with. I have never been a player, I never want to hurt anyone, I always try to make the most of any experience. I don’t really have a list, yet there are certain things that attract me and that I really need in a relationship. I’m not going to settle, and when I ask a lady out I want to have a chance.

I honestly have so much to offer and am willing to learn more about relationships. Everything in my life except for a few things is in order. I almost have my MBA, I am in great shape, I love dancing, I am passionate, I am funny, I love to learn new things, I love my religion and am doing everything I can to get back to the holy temple.Yes I know that is a HUGE need and want for LDS ladies, well you know what I’m working really hard and its the number one priority in my life right now!

Sometimes I just want a chance at a lady I take a chance on asking out. I’ve done match.com/ ldslinkup/ ldsplanet and nothing has even come from that. I’ve given myself the goal to go on one date per week, and talking to someone I would like to know better. There have been ladies I have asked out here in Arizona and other places I’ve resided, who have just given me the runaround. I’m this really cool guy at parties and they have fun with me, but when it comes to going out the tables turn! If ladies really knew the real Clayton, they would see how easy I am to talk too, how I love to have deep conversations, and that I’m not all about being crazy at a party! I feel very balanced in my life!

Chivalry is not dead and I truly believe in being a gentleman! I’m not one of those people that just hate the opposite sex and we ALL have a friend that complains all the time about not dating. I don’t complain very much about it, because I’m act and not be acted upon type of person, but sometimes I just really question myself. Is it me? Is it her? What do I need to do better in my life? Am I just the friend or the nice guy? Who knows exactly what the final answer is, but I will keep trying until I find her!

Theres no reason to blame todays world for dating, relationships, and so forth. We are, at the end of the day, the ones who choose our own destiny. It helps to be able to get these feelings out and try to understand myself a little more. If you have any words of wisdom cool! More to come on this dating ishhhhhhhhh

Work Ethic: Can we git suma dat?! Purt 1

Click this picture of Rocky and see an awesome compilation of Rocky moments!

Danny Carpenter - http://blog.urbansurvivaltools.com/ – called me up yesterday and needed some motivational words for the days events. As I searched the Internet for some inspirational words, Carp asked me to search a quote by Mark Twain about getting going and we came upon this quote: “Fortune knocks at every man’s door once in a life, but in a good many cases the man is in the neighbouring saloon and does not hear her.” And this: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, then starting on the first one.” Both EPIC quotes by our good man Mark Twain! The first one hit Carp pretty dang hard over the phone and the second struck accord with me!

The last few months have dealt some interesting cards for this individual! Losing my grandmother, which had been a little unexpected, and coming back to Phoenix from Thanksgiving and her funeral service, I went to work on Monday and got laid off at University of Phoenix. Yeah it was a very emotional week but I’ve got so much support from the heavens, family, and friends. I take every experience as a challenge to grow and learn something positive. Work ethic is something that has come to mind as I have had a lot of time to think.

The NFL Playoffs are here and as I was listening to sports radio this morning it got me thinking about the work ethic of football players! There is NO other sport as aggressive and rigorous as the NFL! To play 18+ games in a season for 60 minutes in helmet, cleats, and pads going back and forth exerting all your body strength, its making me tired right now! The off-season work outs these guys go through to prepare for the season is considered borderline INSANE! Think about the matchup of one Darren Sproles, San Diego Chargers Running Back, who’s height is 5-6″ and weighs 190lbs running towards Oakland Raiders Defensive End, Richard Seymour who is 6-6″ and weighs 310lbs. THATS CRAZY! These players, no matter if you like them or not, play for 60 minutes with blood, sweat, and tears! The kind of work ethic you have to put yourself through as an NFL Player must be very challenging and I’d imagine would be very strict.

Here’s a great article by Sign On San Diego about former SD Charger, Antonio Cromartie’s off-season workout: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/jul/12/1s12chargers01169/

You may take a nap now after reading that article! So what does this all mean? Well where do you work? From home, at an office, or do you travel? Whats your routine? What kind of work ethic do you have? For me its very difficult to stay on a strict work ethic routine. I find myself, when trying to do school work or lock down sponsors for an event, in ADD mode looking at stuff on the Internet like Facebook or watching NetFlix, so I have to really lock down my composure and write my goals down. Keeping a white dry erase board in front of me or writing my to do’s and goals on a sheet of paper can help me accomplish the things I need to accomplish. Getting adequate exercise is another story!

We’ll revisit more of this later. set goals. work hard. play harder. be motivated. crush it.

visit my friends blog: http://justifiedbythescriptures.wordpress.com/

Also another friend of mine: Michael Easterling will be doing some good blogging soon about a very charitable event in his future

 

Clayton C-Bass Ashcraft – BYAHHHHHH!

Two Things That Express Who I Am – Other than Dance

So there are two things that really inspire me outside of dance and allow me to express more of my emotions and moods. No one would ever gather from knowing me that I really love one and the other I think some people could gather that I like to do it.

1. Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I find that I can escape any type of stress or impatience by driving til I see something creative. Stop! Grab the Camera! Ipod and headphones tuned in! Then shoot! Like I said, its my escape! I’m not that good, but I hope to do more.

2. Songwriting. I have been songwriting ever since high school. I have always been so fond of music since I was a kid. This is because being the baby in the family with brothers and sisters well older than me, gave me a great ear for all kinds of music. Specifically the Jacksons, Bobby Brown, Madonna, Temptations, Stevie Wonder and more. In high school I listened to a lot of pop music and tried to just write songs about the girl I always wanted but could never get. As I grew older my songs became more about what I was feeling, my passion for dancing, heartbreaks, and loves of my life. I kept at it and found in college when I wrote most of my songs. Those songs that came to me were usually between 12am and 5am, what the heck! haha really?! It just so happens thats when I can flow really good!

You can check out some of my music myspace.com/cbassmusic and you can click here to listen to my first ever recorded song- Back On Your Word- I still write to this day and it allows me to get out the feelings, moods, emotions I am feeling or experiences I can see from family, friends, or total strangers. Songwriting is yours, so dont ever think since you dont have that hit song its nothing special. Because thats YOUR HISTORY!

DO WHAT YOU LOVE AND MAKE IT YOURS…NO ONE ELSES!

Clayton C-Bass Ashcraft

Check out my buddies AH-MAZE-ING Photography at

http://www.brianthomasclay.com/

Why I Dance

Michael Jackson once said, “And my goal in life is to give to the world what I was lucky to receive; the ecstasy of divine union through my music and my dance.”

For me that hits right to my heart of why I dance. Ever since I was a kid, I can remember feeling the music come through me like a lightening bolt and shaking every nerve to move! The true artist inspirations have given me that light to share to others I come into contact with. It started as a kid, grew on me in high school, ever expanded in college, and now has become a part of who I am and what I seek to become. I can honestly write so much more about why I dance, but the truth is: I dance to be Clayton, I dance to bring happiness into this world, I dance to let go, I dance to love, I dance to share, and I dance to inspire.

What makes you feel the same way?

IF YOU CAN PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW AND/OR THE LINK UNDERNEATH IT AND VOTE FOR MY “JAM” VIDEO. THANK YOU

http://www.topblip.com/bracket/view_bracket/?season_id=12&match_id=184