Breaking the grind, an event at a time

Horrible poster

2010-09-29T19:54:00.001-06:00

I'm a horrible poster. Oh well, I'm taking a website design class as part of my degree, so maybe playing around with my blog will give me an excuse to post more often.

2010-09-29T19:51:00.001-06:00

Do not try this at home unless you want an unusable hard drive.

Posting regularly again!

2010-05-13T22:00:00.002-06:00

I'm posting regularly again! That must mean school is out. Well, yes, it is. I just figured out my school schedule today, and if all goes well, I should be done summer of 2012. I will also be insane and completely devoid of friends, but hey, that's what school does to you right?

Portal is free!

2010-05-12T16:45:00.003-06:00

If there are any of you that read this that haven't played the puzzle game Portal, stop whatever you are doing, and go download it now. It's free to mac and pc users until the 24th of May. I'll make it easy, here's the link to steam to download their games client:

http://store.steampowered.com/

Just look for the "Install steam now" link. Once you've got Steam installed, search for Portal, and get playing!

Ke$ha opens for The Simpsons

2010-05-05T18:06:00.005-06:00

I loved this intro from last Sunday, I think this was the first time The Simpsons haven't used their theme song to open the show.

MOTAB stealing cover art from Huey Lewis & The News?

2009-04-05T09:48:00.003-06:00

I thought this was rather odd, have you seen the new cover for the latest MOTAB album? Looked strangely familiar to me...

Draper Temple!

2009-04-05T09:26:00.002-06:00

Heather and I took Heather's niece Gabby, and Heather's mom Trudy, through the Draper temple a few weeks ago when they were doing the open house. Here's a few pictures of us there. I didn't get any outside shots cause they still had the tent hallways and everything set up, and I wanted to wait till I could get a nice clean shot of us in front of the temple. We did get a chance to go through and do a session last week also, but I forgot my camera, and it was too windy up there for pictures anyway.

Check out an awesome podcast!

2009-03-26T21:12:00.002-06:00

So one of my best friends, Quinn Johnson, has a podcast for his comic book called Elders of the Runestone. It's an awesome cornucopia of goodness. You should totally check it out, even if you're not into comics, because in addition to comics, they also review books, music, movies, and video games. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you won't have to kiss 3 bucks goodbye, cause it's free. Check it out, just search for Awesome Things Podcast on iTunes, or check out his website at www.runestonecomic.com.

Gar 6 months!

2009-03-12T22:39:00.002-06:00

Holy poop on a stick it's been 6 months and I haven't done anything. Maybe that's because I've been busy with the most wonderful woman in the world, the most time consuming class in the world (Calculus), and attempting to keep a house clean and tidy (which isn't going so well most of the time, hurray for weekends!). It is spring break, and since I don't have class for 10 days starting now, I'm in ecstasy! So maybe I'll find some time to post wedding pictures and vacation pictures and get rid of that horrible entry of a car wreck (pun intended) that's on the front page. Here's hoping. Anyway, it's late, so I'm going to bed. Here's hoping this gets updated in the next week!

Deer!

2008-09-09T17:02:00.002-06:00

So Heather and I were on our way up to Idaho for her nephew's baptism, and we had a little encounter with a deer just after passing Tremonton. After the crash, Heather told me she was having a hard time breathing because of the gases from the airbags. I told her to open the door, which solved the problem. A couple of guys stopped and helped us move the car off the freeway, and we waited for the highway patrol and a tow truck to arrive. Here's some pictures.

2 in one month!

2008-07-28T22:00:00.006-06:00

Well this is some sort of record, 2 posts in one month! So wedding plans continue. We've decided on Jordan River at 10 AM, invitations are in process, and by in process I mean we are still putting our lists of people together :) Reception looks like it will be at my parents ward house at the pavilion outside, weather allowing, but that hasn't been finalized yet. So I did get a house in Salt Lake, I've been so busy with Heather I forgot to post about that. I've slowly been moving in from around the 4th of July, but I have everything moved over now. Here's some pics of the house.

Engaged!

2008-07-06T23:12:00.004-06:00

Yikes, I've had my hands full the last 2 months, and it's 11 PM, so I'm going to make this short and sweet. I'm engaged! Yes, that means the apocalypse is upon us, so make sure you have your food storage ready. I proposed to Heather on the 4th of July, if you want the full story, just talk to me. We are looking at October 11th, probably at Bountiful temple if it isn't too busy. Invitations will be sent hopefully in the next little while.

Goodbye school! (well, for the summer)

2008-04-30T13:50:00.003-06:00

Hurrah! So now that school is over, maybe I will pick up on my bog! Not making any promises though. Wow, so a lot has happened in the last few weeks. As I mentioned, today was my last final, I know I passed 2 of my classes, and I'm pretty confident about the 3rd. Finals suck. I studied for a straight week and took 2 days off work to prepare. No finals should be that bad, but I guess mixing Pre-Calc with Biology in the same semester was not a good idea.

The even more exciting news is that I've met a really awesome girl! We've been working at the same place for about the same amount of time but I never really got a chance to get to know her until we were assigned as sales coaches (I work in a call center selling checks & accessories to customers that call in). So we've been working close together for about 4 months, and dating for the last 3 weeks. Things are awesome, we already shared our first kiss after 2 dates, and now that school is over we will have a lot of time to spend together. We have the exact same sense of humor, I'm getting her into watching The Office, which she absolutely loves. She's really cute, and we get along really well. My parents already have us married, but we've both decided we need lots of dating time to get to know each other before that decision comes into play. She lives in Ogden (funny cause that's where my brother in law was living when he met my sister), so there is lots of late night commuting getting her home. Luckily the SRT-4 is still up and running and recently had a tire and rims upgrade, so it's a fun and comfortable ride.

In other news, I also got approved for a home through the SLC Housing division for SLC employee's and their kids. So hopefully I will be moving out of my parents basement and dealing with my own place in a few months. At a 3% interest rate it's an awesome deal, and I'm lucky to have a dad that works for the city.

I think I'm going to start a separate gaming blog where I do game reviews, so keep your eyes peeled for that. We'll see how busy things get with all that is going on.

I feel really blessed by the Lord right now, the other day I had a flat tire, and it only slightly phased me, since it happened at the most opportune time. I wasn't going anywhere but home, and I successfully pulled off the road and got the spare on without getting hit by any cars. Plus I had several officers stop and offer to assist, as much as I hate the Po-Po when they pull me over for speeding, I respect them in a lot of other ways.

So that's it for now, have a great May!

Predictions for our day from back in 1900

2008-03-07T21:02:00.001-07:00

Predictions of the Year 2000
from The Ladies Home Journal of December 1900

The Ladies Home Journal from December 1900, which contained a fascinating article by John Elfreth Watkins, Jr. “What May Happen in the Next Hundred Years”.

Mr. Watkins wrote: “These prophecies will seem strange, almost impossible. Yet, they have come from the most learned and conservative minds in America. To the wisest and most careful men in our greatest institutions of science and learning I have gone, asking each in his turn to forecast for me what, in his opinion, will have been wrought in his own field of investigation before the dawn of 2001 - a century from now. These opinions I have carefully transcribed.”

During the Year 2000, we included Mr. Watkins research in our feature articles. We invite you to comment on these predictions, whether they have been realized in some way or how they can never be accomplished! In any event, we know you’ll enjoy these entries.

Prediction #1: There will probably be from 350,000,000 to 500,000,000 people in America and its possessions by the lapse of another century. Nicaragua will ask for admission to our Union after the completion of the great canal. Mexico will be next. Europe, seeking more territory to the south of us, will cause many of the South and Central American republics to be voted into the Union by their own people.”

Prediction #2: The American will be taller by from one to two inches. His increase of stature will result from better health, due to vast reforms in medicine, sanitation, food and athletics. He will live fifty years instead of thirty-five as at present – for he will reside in the suburbs. The city house will practically be no more. Building in blocks will be illegal. The trip from suburban home to office will require a few minutes only. A penny will pay the fare.

Prediction #3: Gymnastics will begin in the nursery, where toys and games will be designed to strengthen the muscles. Exercise will be compulsory in the schools. Every school, college and community will have a complete gymnasium. All cities will have public gymnasiums. A man or woman unable to walk ten miles at a stretch will be regarded as a weakling.

Prediction #4: There Will Be No Street Cars in Our Large Cities. All hurry traffic will be below or high above ground when brought within city limits. In most cities it will be confined to broad subways or tunnels, well lighted and well ventilated, or to high trestles with “moving-sidewalk” stairways leading to the top. These underground or overhead streets will teem with capacious automobile passenger coaches and freight with cushioned wheels. Subways or trestles will be reserved for express trains. Cities, therefore, will be free from all noises.

Prediction #5: Trains will run two miles a minute, normally; express trains one hundred and fifty miles an hour. To go from New York to San Francisco will take a day and a night by fast express. There will be cigar-shaped electric locomotives hauling long trains of cars. Cars will, like houses, be artificially cooled. Along the railroads there will be no smoke, no cinders, because coal will neither be carried nor burned. There will be no stops for water. Passengers will travel through hot or dusty country regions with windows down.

Prediction #6: Automobiles will be cheaper than horses are today. Farmers will own automobile hay-wagons, automobile truck-wagons, plows, harrows and hay-rakes. A one-pound motor in one of these vehicles will do the work of a pair of horses or more. Children will ride in automobile sleighs in winter. Automobiles will have been substituted for every horse vehicle now known. There will be, as already exist today, automobile hearses, automobile police patrols, automobile ambulances, automobile street sweepers. The horse in harness will be as scarce, if, indeed, not even scarcer, then as the yoked ox is today.

Prediction #7: There will be air-ships, but they will not successfully compete with surface cars and water vessels for passenger or freight traffic. They will be maintained as deadly war-vessels by all military nations. Some will transport men and goods. Others will be used by scientists making observations at great heights above the earth.

Prediction #8: Aerial War-Ships and Forts on Wheels. Giant guns will shoot twenty-five miles or more, and will hurl anywhere within such a radius shells exploding and destroying whole cities. Such guns will be armed by aid of compasses when used on land or sea, and telescopes when directed from great heights. Fleets of air-ships, hiding themselves with dense, smoky mists, thrown off by themselves as they move, will float over cities, fortifications, camps or fleets. They will surprise foes below by hurling upon them deadly thunderbolts. These aerial war-ships will necessitate bomb-proof forts, protected by great steel plates over their tops as well as at their sides. Huge forts on wheels will dash across open spaces at the speed of express trains of to-day. They will make what are now known as cavalry charges. Great automobile plows will dig deep entrenchments as fast as soldiers can occupy them. Rifles will use silent cartridges. Submarine boats submerged for days will be capable of wiping a whole navy off the face of the deep. Balloons and flying machines will carry telescopes of one-hundred-mile vision with camera attachments, photographing an enemy within that radius. These photographs as distinct and large as if taken from across the street, will be lowered to the commanding officer in charge of troops below.

Prediction #9: Photographs will be telegraphed from any distance. If there be a battle in China a hundred years hence snapshots of its most striking events will be published in the newspapers an hour later. Even to-day photographs are being telegraphed over short distances. Photographs will reproduce all of Nature’s colors.

Prediction #10: Man will See Around the World. Persons and things of all kinds will be brought within focus of cameras connected electrically with screens at opposite ends of circuits, thousands of miles at a span. American audiences in their theatres will view upon huge curtains before them the coronations of kings in Europe or the progress of battles in the Orient. The instrument bringing these distant scenes to the very doors of people will be connected with a giant telephone apparatus transmitting each incidental sound in its appropriate place. Thus the guns of a distant battle will be heard to boom when seen to blaze, and thus the lips of a remote actor or singer will be heard to utter words or music when seen to move.

Prediction #11: No Mosquitoes nor Flies. Insect screens will be unnecessary. Mosquitoes, house-flies and roaches will have been practically exterminated. Boards of health will have destroyed all mosquito haunts and breeding-grounds, drained all stagnant pools, filled in all swamp-lands, and chemically treated all still-water streams. The extermination of the horse and its stable will reduce the house-fly.

Prediction #12: Peas as Large as Beets. Peas and beans will be as large as beets are to-day. Sugar cane will produce twice as much sugar as the sugar beet now does. Cane will once more be the chief source of our sugar supply. The milkweed will have been developed into a rubber plant. Cheap native rubber will be harvested by machinery all over this country. Plants will be made proof against disease microbes just as readily as man is to-day against smallpox. The soil will be kept enriched by plants which take their nutrition from the air and give fertility to the earth.

Prediction #13: Strawberries as Large as Apples will be eaten by our great-great-grandchildren for their Christmas dinners a hundred years hence. Raspberries and blackberries will be as large. One will suffice for the fruit course of each person. Strawberries and cranberries will be grown upon tall bushes. Cranberries, gooseberries and currants will be as large as oranges. One cantaloupe will supply an entire family. Melons, cherries, grapes, plums, apples, pears, peaches and all berries will be seedless. Figs will be cultivated over the entire United States.

Prediction #14: Black, Blue and Green Roses. Roses will be as large as cabbage heads. Violets will grow to the size of orchids. A pansy will be as large in diameter as a sunflower. A century ago the pansy measured but half an inch across its face. There will be black, blue and green roses. It will be possible to grow any flower in any color and to transfer the perfume of a scented flower to another which is odorless. Then may the pansy be given the perfume of the violet.

Prediction #15: No Foods will be Exposed. Storekeepers who expose food to air breathed out by patrons or to the atmosphere of the busy streets will be arrested with those who sell stale or adulterated produce. Liquid-air refrigerators will keep great quantities of food fresh for long intervals.

Prediction #16: There will be No C, X or Q in our every-day alphabet. They will be abandoned because unnecessary. Spelling by sound will have been adopted, first by the newspapers. English will be a language of condensed words expressing condensed ideas, and will be more extensively spoken than any other. Russian will rank second.

Prediction #17: How Children will be Taught. A university education will be free to every man and woman. Several great national universities will have been established. Children will study a simple English grammar adapted to simplified English, and not copied after the Latin. Time will be saved by grouping like studies. Poor students will be given free board, free clothing and free books if ambitious and actually unable to meet their school and college expenses. Medical inspectors regularly visiting the public schools will furnish poor children free eyeglasses, free dentistry and free medical attention of every kind. The very poor will, when necessary, get free rides to and from school and free lunches between sessions. In vacation time poor children will be taken on trips to various parts of the world. Etiquette and housekeeping will be important studies in the public schools.

Prediction #18: Telephones Around the World. Wireless telephone and telegraph circuits will span the world. A husband in the middle of the Atlantic will be able to converse with his wife sitting in her boudoir in Chicago. We will be able to telephone to China quite as readily as we now talk from New York to Brooklyn. By an automatic signal they will connect with any circuit in their locality without the intervention of a “hello girl”.

Prediction #19: Grand Opera will be telephoned to private homes, and will sound as harmonious as though enjoyed from a theatre box. Automatic instruments reproducing original airs exactly will bring the best music to the families of the untalented. Great musicians gathered in one enclosure in New York will, by manipulating electric keys, produce at the same time music from instruments arranged in theatres or halls in San Francisco or New Orleans, for instance. Thus will great bands and orchestras give long-distance concerts. In great cities there will be public opera-houses whose singers and musicians are paid from funds endowed by philanthropists and by the government. The piano will be capable of changing its tone from cheerful to sad. Many devises will add to the emotional effect of music.

Prediction #20: Coal will not be used for heating or cooking. It will be scarce, but not entirely exhausted. The earth’s hard coal will last until the year 2050 or 2100; its soft-coal mines until 2200 or 2300. Meanwhile both kinds of coal will have become more and more expensive. Man will have found electricity manufactured by waterpower to be much cheaper. Every river or creek with any suitable fall will be equipped with water-motors, turning dynamos, making electricity. Along the seacoast will be numerous reservoirs continually filled by waves and tides washing in. Out of these the water will be constantly falling over revolving wheels. All of our restless waters, fresh and salt, will thus be harnessed to do the work which Niagara is doing today: making electricity for heat, light and fuel.

Prediction #21: Hot and Cold Air from Spigots. Hot or cold air will be turned on from spigots to regulate the temperature of a house as we now turn on hot or cold water from spigots to regulate the temperature of the bath. Central plants will supply this cool air and heat to city houses in the same way as now our gas or electricity is furnished. Rising early to build the furnace fire will be a task of the olden times. Homes will have no chimneys, because no smoke will be created within their walls.

Prediction #22: Store Purchases by Tube. Pneumatic tubes, instead of store wagons, will deliver packages and bundles. These tubes will collect, deliver and transport mail over certain distances, perhaps for hundreds of miles. They will at first connect with the private houses of the wealthy; then with all homes. Great business establishments will extend them to stations, similar to our branch post-offices of today, whence fast automobile vehicles will distribute purchases from house to house.

Prediction #23: Ready-cooked meals will be bought from establishments similar to our bakeries of today. They will purchase materials in tremendous wholesale quantities and sell the cooked foods at a price much lower than the cost of individual cooking. Food will be served hot or cold to private houses in pneumatic tubes or automobile wagons. The meal being over, the dishes used will be packed and returned to the cooking establishments where they will be washed. Such wholesale cookery will be done in electric laboratories rather than in kitchens. These laboratories will be equipped with electric stoves, and all sorts of electric devices, such as coffee-grinders, egg-beaters, stirrers, shakers, parers, meat-choppers, meat-saws, potato-mashers, lemon-squeezers, dish-washers, dish-dryers and the like. All such utensils will be washed in chemicals fatal to disease microbes. Having one’s own cook and purchasing one’s own food will be an extravagance.

Prediction #24: Vegetables Grown by Electricity. Winter will be turned into summer and night into day by the farmer. In cold weather he will place heat-conducting electric wires under the soil of his garden and thus warm his growing plants. He will also grow large gardens under glass. At night his vegetables will be bathed in powerful electric light, serving, like sunlight, to hasten their growth. Electric currents applied to the soil will make valuable plants grow larger and faster, and will kill troublesome weeds. Rays of colored light will hasten the growth of many plants. Electricity applied to garden seeds will make them sprout and develop unusually early.

Prediction #25: Oranges will grow in Philadelphia. Fast-flying refrigerators on land and sea will bring delicious fruits from the tropics and southern temperate zone within a few days. The farmers of South America, South Africa, Australia and the South Sea Islands, whose seasons are directly opposite to ours, will thus supply us in winter with fresh summer foods, which cannot be grown here. Scientist will have discovered how to raise here many fruits now confined to much hotter or colder climates. Delicious oranges will be grown in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Cantaloupes and other summer fruits will be of such a hardy nature that they can be stored through the winter as potatoes are now.

Prediction #26: Strawberries as large as apples will be eaten by our great great grandchildren for their Christmas dinners a hundred years hence. Raspberries and blackberries will be as large. One will suffice for the fruit course of each person. Strawberries and cranberries will be grown upon tall bushes. Cranberries, gooseberries and currants will be as large as oranges. One cantaloupe will supply an entire family. Melons, cherries, grapes, plums, apples, pears, peaches and all berries will be seedless. Figs will be cultivated over the entire United States.

Prediction #27: Few drugs will be swallowed or taken into the stomach unless needed for the direct treatment of that organ itself. Drugs needed by the lungs, for instance, will be applied directly to those organs through the skin and flesh. They will be carried with the electric current applied without pain to the outside skin of the body. Microscopes will lay bare the vital organs, through the living flesh, of men and animals. The living body will to all medical purposes be transparent. Not only will it be possible for a physician to actually see a living, throbbing heart inside the chest, but he will be able to magnify and photograph any part of it. This work will be done with rays of invisible light.

Prediction #28: There will be no wild animals except in menageries. Rats and mice will have been exterminated. The horse will have become practically extinct. A few of high breed will be kept by the rich for racing, hunting and exercise. The automobile will have driven out the horse. Cattle and sheep will have no horns. They will be unable to run faster than the fattened hog of today. A century ago the wild hog could outrun a horse. Food animals will be bred to expend practically all of their life energy in producing meat, milk, wool and other by-products. Horns, bones, muscles and lungs will have been neglected.

Prediction #29: To England in Two Days. Fast electric ships, crossing the ocean at more than a mile a minute, will go from New York to Liverpool in two days. The bodies of these ships will be built above the waves. They will be supported upon runners, somewhat like those of the sleigh. These runners will be very buoyant. Upon their under sides will be apertures expelling jets of air. In this way a film of air will be kept between them and the water’s surface. This film, together with the small surface of the runners, will reduce friction against the waves to the smallest possible degree. Propellers turned by electricity will screw themselves through both the water beneath and the air above. Ships with cabins artificially cooled will be entirely fireproof. In storm they will dive below the water and there await fair weather.

2 months later...

2008-01-07T22:54:00.000-07:00

So yeah, that blogging habit is getting away from me. Anywho, Christmas has come and gone, I'm enjoying some sweet Seinheiser headphones I got for Christmas, and...ugh, time for school again. Then again, at least 2 of my classes will be enjoyable and starting next semester all the classes I take should be going towards my computer engineering major, so whoopee! It's killer though, Mon, Wed, and Fri I'm up at 5:40 am (or the butt crack of dawn as my sister would say), then I go to class at 7, work at 8:30 am till 7 pm, then class again at 8 pm till 9. Luckily, no school on Tues or Thursday, so I can sleep in till 7 those mornings. Ugh. By the way Olsen, since I know you are occasionally reading my blog, your calculator is in good hands, and will get lots of use this semester.

Finished the Book of Mormon, again!

2007-11-11T22:34:00.000-07:00

So I finished the Book of Mormon for the umpteenth time this last week. It's been a while since I've done that, but I'm committed to doing better. It was really cool reading through the story in Ether of the Jaredites, I think it's a story that gets looked over a lot and read a lot less often since it's towards the end of the book. It's also pretty depressing, *SPOILER ALERT* everybody dies. Although it is a great reminder of why it's important to stay close to the Lord and the gospel. I just deleted all of the George Carlin skits off my computer today, as funny as the man is, he is also incredibly crude, and doesn't help increase the spiritual capacity of the man who listens too it. In fact he could be described as one of the deceiving and false Christs that are brought up in the scriptures. Next step, get the inappropriate rap music off my hard drive, ugh, that's going to be a hard one...

Blind Date

2007-11-11T22:23:00.000-07:00

So after 3 months of absence, I'm back, hopefully in a more regular fashion than I have been. So I went on a blind date Saturday, (insert lame joke about date being actually blind here). I had never met the girl or even seen a picture of her before, I got set up through a friend/supervisor at work. This is only the second blind date I've ever been on, and the only one where I was picking her up by myself. First impressions? Cute and nerdy, just what i'm looking for :) So I we proceeded to go to Applebee's for dinner where we me up with my friend who had set us up. We then went back to her house and played a card game that was basically phase 10 with face cards. After leaving my friends house, we spent at least an hour or 2 talking in my car outside her house just getting to know each other better. All in all it was pretty fun, there was no instant fireworks or anything, but she seemed up for a second date, so she said to call her later in the week and see what her schedule was like. We'll see how that goes. All in all an enjoyable night with good food and people.

My celeb look alikes

2007-08-26T23:16:00.000-06:00

2 and 1/2 months

2007-08-26T20:54:00.000-06:00

So I'm horrible at blogging, like I didn't know that already. Crazy thing is not much has changed, and yet things will be changing very soon. After attending a movie Friday night, I sat down with one of my good friends and we talked for about 3 hours about this new job opportunity he has found. After pondering and considering my sanity, I have decided to change jobs and give it a whirl. So after 3 and a half years of service to Harland (now HarlandClarke), I am putting in my 2 weeks notice tomorrow. I am excited, scared, relieved, and worried, but I guess that goes with any kind of life change. The job will be working for Prosper, a financial consulting company based here in good ol' Utah. I will be qualifying debt ridden people to see if they are able to qualify to speak to a financial coach and get their finances back in order. After hearing that my friend has doubled my salary in the last 2 month while doing half the work I have done, won numerous prizes that they apparently give away on a regular basis, and helped people by getting them out of debt in the process, I have decided this is the right decision for me. On top of all of this, you have no set schedule, you can come in as little or as much as you want to, and you stilll get paid by the hour (so obviously you still need to go in, but there's no worrying about scheduling vacation time, time off for emergencies, when you can pee, how long your lunch can be, etc.). They have apparently learned what more businesses need to learn, if you treat your employee's well, they will treat you well. We will also be able to carpool, which will save more money. Also, he actually has fun at his job, instead of going home wishing he was somewhere else, doing something else. He is on the best team in the call center (of course, everyone says that about their team right?), and will be able to get me on the same team. I'll keep you updated as things progress (hopefully).

Reading update

2007-06-08T00:19:00.000-06:00

So I've finished 2 Dean Koontz books in the past 2 weeks since my last post. I read Mr Murder, a sci-fi mystery type tale where a man discovers that he's been cloned and his clone has been bred as a contract killer, who eventually seeks out his origins. I really enjoyed it, as I always do with Dean Koontz books. The main characters family is just awesome, and his kids say the darndest things. The second book I read was The Husband. I enjoyed this one even more than Mr Murder, even though it follows the typical we have kidnapped your wife and want X amount of dollars for you to get her back. It puts a fresh spin on this formula though as the man is a gardener of no importance, and needs to figure out where in the heck he is going to get the money to buy his wife's release. I've checked out 2 more Dean Koontz books from the library for the next couple weeks, and I'm sure I'll be reading those fervently.

Kiss and Run

2007-05-27T19:20:00.000-06:00

So in my quest to read more books, I recently read Kiss and Run by Elina Furman. This book was suggested to me by a great friend, to help me understand why girls have commitment issues. First of all, the multiple uses of the word quasi stood out to me, as this is a word my friend who suggested the book to me uses quite often. It basically breaks women with commitment issues down into 7 different catagories:

The Nitpicker - The girl looking for the literally perfect guy, meets every qualification and then some to a T, down to the very last detail.

The Serial Dater - Gets a buzz from quickly jumping from one relationship to another, sometimes multiple relationships at the same time.

The Tinker Bell - Dates inappropriate or unavailable men so they don't have to commit.

The Free Spirit - Can't commit because she's more committed to some other pursuit.

The Damsel in Distress - Guys suck, they're all jerks, I won't deal with them.

The Player - Gets a thrill not from jumping from one relationship to the next, but from jumping from one bed to the next.

The Long Distance Runner - Commits half heartedly into a relationship for an extended period of time before breaking it off, and then jumping into another long term relationship.

Eek, maybe I should just post on my online profile that I want a woman who loves me, whom I find attractive, has at least 2 similar interests, and doesn't have commitment issues, beyond that, there isn't much more I should be looking for...

Books

2007-05-13T23:04:00.000-06:00

So I've been playing a lot less video games over the past few months (excluding my Nintendo DS, I'm a Sudoku addict). I thought maybe it was just because of school, but I'm starting to think that they just aren't captivating me the way they used to when I was a child. I mean, my favorite Final Fantasy game was II (IV in Japan), and that was at least 15 Final Fantasy's ago if you count the different series on various platforms. I have however been watching a lot more movies, mostly due to the fact that I have a Blockbuster online membership. I've been feeling a gap lately though, and one of my good friends (who is a bookaholic), has recently perked my interest again in reading. Now, I haven't steadily read any books for enjoyment since high school, so I'm thinking I'm gonna get back into the game of reading. We'll see how that goes...

Spiderman on David Letterman

2007-05-12T17:12:00.000-06:00

Ah Dave, so many crazy, meaningless antics...

Jimmy Kimmel Live Scrabble Champs

2007-05-11T00:13:00.000-06:00

This one's for you Jennie :)

It's Over!

2007-05-03T23:50:00.000-06:00

So, I had a talk with a certain someone the other night, and we are just going to go back to being just friends now, with no possibility of moving past that. I've kinda just been hoping she'd make a decision in one direction or the other, so at least I can put my mind at ease on that topic. I've also prepared myself for a no for the past few weeks, as we haven't really seen each other much, ans she wasn't really making time to try and see me. I think it's good, there's a lot of things I was wanting that just weren't happening, and probably weren't going to happen. I've done this with one friend, although that was much more of a mutual "this isn't going to work" than my most recent relationship. Hopefully the fact that the kiss never happened, and that it never really felt like we were doing more than hanging out as friends, will make it easier to transition back to how it was. I think it's for the best. Now, it's back to the dating rat race!

TWENTY NINE LINES TO MAKE YOU SMILE

2007-05-03T23:49:00.000-06:00

I hate forwarding emails, so I'll post this to my blog instead!

1.. My husband and I divorced over religious differences. He thought he was God and I didn't.
2.. I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.
3.. Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them.
4.. I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.
5.. Don't take life too seriously; No one gets out alive.
6.. You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me.
7.. Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
8.. Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.
9.. I'm not a complete idiot -- Some parts are just missing.
10.. Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.
11. NyQuil, the stuffy, sneezy, why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning medicine.
12.. God must love stupid people; He made so many.
13.. The gene pool could use a little chlorine.
14.. Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.
15.. Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?
16.. Being "over the hill" is much better than being under it!
17.. Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew up.
18.. Procrastinate Now!
19. I Have a Degree in Liberal Arts; Do You Want Fries With That?
20.. A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
21.. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.
22.. Stupidity is not a handicap. Park elsewhere!
23.. They call it PMS because Mad Cow Disease was already taken.
24.. He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless DEAD.
25.. A picture is worth a thousand words, but it uses up three thousand times the memory.
26.. Ham and eggs. A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.
27.. The trouble with life is there's no background music.
28.. The original point and click inter face was a Smith & Wesson.
29.. I smile because I don't know what the hell is going on.

Songs that remind you of people... (part 2)

2007-04-19T22:24:00.000-06:00

This song, every verse, is EXACTLY how I'm feeling:

MARC ANTHONY - I NEED TO KNOW

They say around the way
You've asked for me
There's even talk about
You wanting me
I must admit thats what
I want to hear
But that's just talk
Until you take me there

Chorus:

If it's true don't leave me
All alone out here
Wondering if you're ever
Gonna take me there
Tell me what you're feeling
cause I need to know
Girl you gotta let me know
Which way to go
cause I need to know
I need to know
Tell me baby girl
cause I need to know
I need to know
I need to know
Tell me baby girl
cause I need to know

My every thought
Is of this being true
Its getting harder
Not to think of your
Girl I'm exactly
Where I want to be
The only things
I need you here with me

Embarrasing Moments...

2007-04-19T22:17:00.000-06:00

Don't you just love em? So I was on my way out of class the other night when my foot got caught on the leg of a chair and sent me sprawling towards the ground. Luckily I caught myself on the rows of desks to either side of me, but my knees hit pretty hard. I had jeans on, so the damage wasn't too bad, but I have a little bit of swelling on my left knee which took most of the brunt of the attack. Nobody laughed, I think they were either being really polite or were actually concerned for my well being. Either way, gotta love embarrassing moments.

Michael needs...

2007-04-09T22:19:00.000-06:00

Following Jennie's blog, here's my list of Michael's needs from Google, some of the results I excluded due to content, I'll let you do your own Google search if you wanna see what I mean:

Michael needs mum - Yeah it's true, I love my mom.

Michael needs help...now - Yes, lots of help, both of the relationship and the heavenly kind, both of which I receive, so thanks to Jennie for the first, and God for the second :)

Michael needs you - Depends on who, but if you read this blog (considering that's like 2 people), then it's probably true, I need you.

Michael needs to be whipped until he's blue - Hey I'm not perfect, but until I'm blue? That's a little excessive don't you think?

Michael needs photographs of both sides of the animal - It's true, I'm a 3 dimensional learner.

Karma doesn't exist

2007-04-07T19:42:00.000-06:00

Wow, who would have thought right? I have this awesome philosophy of religion teacher that proved to me the other night that Karma is a bunch of hooey. Let me explain:

If someone does something bad to someone, they deserved it! If they deserved it, you can' t hold the person responsible who dished out the justice responsible for their crime. If you can't hold that person responsible, you can't hold anyone responsible for anything they do wrong. I mean, we don't put the person who pulls the switch on the electric chair in jail, do we?

There's some other proof, but this is the strongest argument, and I like it!

Dune - A mystery science theatre movie waiting to happen

2007-04-04T13:43:00.000-06:00

Sigh. So I watched the movie Dune Monday night with my brother. Made in 1984, I heard only heard about the movie because of one of my favorite comedians, Dane Cook (I hate it when the movie Dune is in my drink). I figured it's gotta be entertaining. Well it was entertaining, entertaining to make fun of! Now yes I realize it's 24 years old but Star Wars (Ep IV-VI, we won't speak of the other Star Wars episodes here) is older and a much better movie. Now the special effects were great, especially for the 80's, and the story was okay, but it has mystery science theater written all over it. My brother and I made our own mystery science theater comments through the whole movie, which was the only way to make it bearable. Even Patrick Stewart wasn't able to save this movie. I think I'll go watch The Last Starfighter about 5 times to try and get this movie out of my head now.

Songs that remind you of people...

2007-04-04T01:29:00.000-06:00

I really need to post more often, I usually forget I have a blog until one of my friends (thanks Sam) reminds me that I haven't posted for a long time and they are dying to read something new. So on my way home tonight, I was listening to the song Auf Achse by Franz Ferdinand, the chorus of which goes:

You see her, you can't touch her
You hear her, you can't hold her
You want her, you can't have her
You want to, but she won't let you

Kinda parallels how I'm feeling right now. I was also listening to "She's got issues" by the Offspring:

And I know she's afraid to commit
But it's only our second date...
Oh man she's got issues
And I'm gonna pay
She says she's the victim
But she takes it all out on me

Now to be fair, she's really not taking anything out on me, but it's hella stressful. Also, it's hard to stay committed and fall in love with someone, if you're not sure why they aren't feeling the same way back after 3 months of dating. She says she's "trying something different" in her relationship with me, which both excites and scares the shizznet out of me.

But I digress. So your goal this week, is while listening to your music, give some thought to the people in your life that may match the music's lyrics.

Love update

2007-03-04T16:33:00.000-07:00

So it's been several weeks as usual since my last entry, but it's sunday and I've got some free time so here's an update. So Valentine's night I didn't end up being able to hang out with Anna, so instead we ended up hanging out the next night instead. At the end of the night, I went in for the kiss, but she buried her head in my chest and said she didn't feel ready to kiss yet, and that she was too shy. Through future conversations, I've found out that the last few relationships she's been in everything seems to be going fine and moving toward marriage, but then she prays about it and recieves a pretty distinct no. She said she's not quire ready to recieve another no if that is what she's going to recieve about us, and she needs time to prepare herself for that. Of course I have the patience to wait for her, but now I'm afraid of waiting for a long time only to get a no from her. For the time being though, we're still holding hands, snuggling during movies, and going on walks together. I'm mostly okay with this at the moment, but the urgency to move things forward keeps tugging at the back of my mind. You have to think about marriage when you are dating someone, no matter what stage of the relationship you are currently in. I hate to refer to the old saying, but it pertains. Women, can't live with them, can't live without them. Good thing is that Anna's said she couldn't date anyone for more than a year before either marrying them or breaking up, so at least I'll have an answer by Christmas :)

Awwwww love.....

2007-02-12T18:39:00.000-07:00

Sweet sweet love. Yes, I'm in love! She and I held hands for the first time on our 2 hour walk Saturday night, and she was lingering at the door last night, she even asked if I needed anything, but I wasn't sure if it was a kissing sign or not. So I just said, "Just my hug". Oh well, I've commited myself to planting that first kiss on Valentines day. Gah! The pressure!

Finding a Wii...

2006-12-31T00:34:00.000-07:00

So I went on a Wii hunt Thursday afternoon. Went to 4 Walmarts, 1 Best Buy, 1 Game Crazy, 2 Kmarts. No Wii's. Reports say 3 million of these things have shipped, apparently they haven't sent enough to the Salt Lake City area. I did find 1 copy of Zelda:Twilight Princess out of all those stores, so I decided to buy it, who knows when another one of those will come in. Rumor has it there will be a big shipment coming in on New Years Eve/Day around midnight at Walmart, so I'll be going by Monday morning to see if I can get one. It got me thinking about how dumb the game industry is. In no other industry does a product like this sell out so quickly, they really need to have some sort of government mandate stating that they need to ship a certain quanity of items to a store to help cut down on people being disappointed. There are still so many people out there that want a Wii, but don't want to have to wait in line for 8 hours to 10 days just to get one. Insane.

Bringing Xbox back

2006-12-31T00:23:00.000-07:00

So there's this hillarious of parody of Justin Timberlake's song, sexy back, called bringing XBOX back. It's probably funnier for the gaming minded, but you should still check it out:

http://on10.net/Blogs/laura/im-bringing-xbox-back/

Top 10 Girls List

2006-12-15T18:01:00.000-07:00

At Jennie's request, I cleaned up the images :)

1. Sandra Bullock - I've been in love with her since I first saw her in the Net, don't know what it is, maybe it's the the blonde girl personality she displays as an actress behind that beautiful brunette hair, can't really say for sure. I made this picture myself, about 10 years ago, am I showing my age yet? She sure isn't :)

2. Andrea Corr - Not only do I love this band (the Corrs), but I love this girl. Her sweet honest personality really shows through both in her performances and backstage with her family. On top of that, what a voice!

3. Jennifer Garner - Ahh Alias, how you've sucked my life away from me in such a sweet way. Although I thought Elektra could have used a lot more action, it was still a fun movie, and JG is soooo hot as Elektra.

4. Jewel - Funny how your tastes change with age, I used to actually dislike her when I was younger, but know I don't see how I could live without her amazingly unique voice and soft childlike personality.

5. Kylie Minogue - I fell in love with this girl while on my mission, she's not so huge in the US, but she's as popular and well know in the UK and Austriallia as Madonna is in the US. Great dance songs, provacative dancing, all under a sweet innocense. People who have met her have said she's the nicest person, and she always makes time to sign autographs for her fans.

6. Michelle Branch - Her voice captured me the first time I heard it, she's an got a oustanding voice, amazing music, and she's a dirty talker behind all the facade. Her Maxim photo shoot shows just how hot this girl is.

7. Shania Twain - Besides being one of the few country artists I actually enjoy, she's incredibly beautiful, and a really nice person. Down to earth country girll, what more can I say?

8. Sarah Michelle Gellar - Ahh Buffy, any girl who can kill vampires and look doing it gets an A in my book.

9. Angelina Jolie - She gives 1/3 of her salary to 3rd world countries and charity, plus she's Laura Croft, enough said.

10. Beyonce - Love her music, and every white male needs some brown sugar once and a while :)

God is watching us...

2006-12-15T00:42:00.000-07:00

So funny thing just happened about 30 mins ago. I just got done hanging out at a friends birthday party. On my way home, I was trying to think up an excuse for calling one of the girls at the party up to see if she wanted to go to the LDS conference center this Sunday for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas performance. The next thing I knew, a deer came outta nowhere and came within a hair's breath of hitting my car. I had found my excuse. I called her up and warned her and her sister that the deer was wandering on the road, and that they should be careful. I then added in a sly way that I was going to the performance on Sunday and that I wanted to know if she would go with me, and she replied with a yes. Strange how things work out like that huh? I should speak about this experience in church on Sunday, ha ha ha. It was a nice wake up call though, God really is watching over us.

2006-12-13T23:55:00.000-07:00

So here's those promised nature shots, this first one is from England, right outside Warwick castle I believe.
Second, an awesome sunset in England, which is rare, cause you don't get to see the sun very much.
Third, followed by another great sunset.
Fourth, this is while hiking in Provo, I came across this great shot.
The fifth one is in Utah, on the hike up by Wasatch Dr and 9400 S, one of my favorite hikes, check out that snowfall!

ME!

2006-11-29T23:05:00.000-07:00

So this is me outside the SLC Temple. I'm actually perched on the upper level of the conference center, I'm really not 200 feet tall. I chose this picture cause I look good, and it's a beautiful shot. My camera is really old and really big, but it's digital, and shoots at 4.2 megapixels, so it's pretty nice. I'll be posting another entry with some of my outdoor hiking shots that i'm really proud of, including some stuff from England.

My music

2006-11-29T22:15:00.000-07:00

Ahh music, what a glorious thing. So this post is dedicated entirely to all of the music artists I love, this is no means in order of favorite to least favorite. It's more of a almost A-Z of music you'd hear me listening to on a daily basis, it's a long list, so be patient. I own all or at least most of the albums by all these artists. I love everything, dance, techno, rap, oldies, blues, classical, jazz, rock, metal, punk, country as long as it's not overly twangy. I'm very much a mainstream music person, I don't listen to a whole lot of independent artists unless it involves live performances. I love the free SLC jazz festival that we've has for the past few years, and hope that's a trend that continues. Anywho, here's the long list!

U2
The Beatles
Jewel
Smashing Pumpkins
The Corrs
The Killers
Panic At The Disco
Alanis Morisette
Barenaked Ladies
Beyonce
Mariah Carey
Billy Joel
Black Eyed Peas
Blink 182
Britney Spears
Kelly Clarkson
Carrie Underwood
Christina Aguilera
Coldplay
Collective Soul
Gwen Stefani
No Doubt
The Crystal Method
The Cure
Daft Punk
Dannie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Dave Matthews Band
Depeche Mode
Disturbed
Dixie Chicks
Enya
Evanescence
Fleetwood Mac
Foo Fighters
Frank Sinatra
Franz Ferdinand
Gloria Estefan
The Goo Goo Dolls
Good Charlotte
Gorillaz
Green Day
Hall & Oates
Huey Lewis & The News
Ian Van Dahl
Janet Jackson
Michael Jackson
Jennifer Lopez
John Mayer
John Mellencamp
Jojo
Journey
KC & The Sunshine Band
Kool and the Gang
KT Tunstall
Zepplin
Limp Bizkit
Linkin Park
Madonna
Metallica
Michelle Branch
Nelly
Nelly Furtado
Nickel Creek
Nickelback
Norah Jones
The Offspring
Paula Abdul
Phil Collins
Pink Floyd
The Police
Sting
The Prodigy
Puddle of Mudd
Queen
REM
Rammstein
Ray Charles
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Robert Miles
Rod Stewart
Sam Cardon
Sarah McLachlan
Shania Twain
Sheryl Crow
SR-71
Stone Temple Pilots
System of a Down
t.A.T.u.
Tears For Fears
They Might Be Giants
Third Eye Blind
Usher
Van Halen
Vanessa Carlton
The Wallflowers
Weezer
Weird Al Yankovic
The White Stripes
Whitney Houston
Zwan
ZZ Top
Will Smith
Beastie Boys
50 Cent
Dr Dre
Eminem
Snoop Dogg
Ludacris
D12

My First Post!

2006-11-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

Woot! So my friend Jennie (note the correct spelling Jennie) has inspired me to start a blog. I'm a horrible journal writer (I did faithfully keep a full 2 year LDS misson journal, but that's about it for consistancy), but I'm on the internet all the time, so hopefully this will keep me motivated to write down some of my goings on and thoughts. This also will hopefully not be my last entry :). BTW, I love :) faces, so I apologize if you're annoyed by them. I even have them all highlighted in my scriptures (at least the ones I've found).