Christmas is a Bajillion Times More Awesome Than Any Other Holiday

Just a week or so ago, I was putting up Christmas lights at my house with my Dad, and just in general loving life. It was a little bit chilly, but it feels great to be bundled up, and when I went inside, my Mom and sister had baked up warm cookies. We put the tree up and strung lights on it, and then put on some holiday music. Basically, my parent's house was about to violently burst with the amount of yuletide joy bottled up inside.

The best arrangement of Christmas lights. Ever.

There are just so many awesome things about Christmas, especially when you line it up against other holidays. For one, there's no prescribed meat that you have to eat. That's really my only bone to pick with Thanksgiving. Why couldn't the pioneers have eaten steak? Or BBQ'd up a pig? Also, Christmas is often accompanied with 2 or more weeks off of school. Tell me the last time you did that for me, President's Day.

This is not to rag on other holidays though. I love them all, especially the 4th of July, because I love America.

People live in Iceland? And there's one that sings?

So there's something about seeing an Icelandic guy singing falsetto and dancing around in a weird head dress thing that just hits the spot for me. Granted, I've only seen this once, but it really left a good impression. It happened last Friday. There, surrounded by guys likely named Elliston wearing black turtlenecks and accompanied by their skinny girlfriends, I beheld Jonsi. It was a pretty jawesome concert. It did also remind me though, that I've been in Utah for quite a while. That is, I'm not used to the young angst-filled crowds of aggressively individualistic hippy types like I used to be. Miss it.

So yeah, the thing was good and artsy. For one of the songs, they had this cool movie they played in the background of a wolf chasing a deer, and then the deer changed into a bird, and then the wolf changed into a hawk, and then the deer changed back into a deer, and the wolf changed back to his wolfy self, and then the deer decided to grow horns and just own the wolf... Were I the deer I probably would've busted out those horns earlier and saved myself the stress. Anyways, the visuals were pretty cool.

Also, Jonsi, the singer, decided to don a head dress for the encore. For an idea of what I'm talking about, check out this bundle of interesting below.

...Yup. I liked it.

So as a kid who already enjoys foreign movies and modern art (in small doses...) chalk this up for another step towards buying a black turtleneck.

Now you think, this is great, but Bryce, the bigger issue is, "what do you think about frozen brownies?"

They're absolutely fantastic. Though the first thing I hear when I suggest this is, "aren't they all hard?" Yes. Duh. Do you have a magic freezer that freezes things but keeps them soft? The solution is that you don't just chomp down on it as if it wasn't frozen. Anyways, I don't mean to be negative about this, but really just share my joy of something that I love with the rest of the world. Freeze some.

Would you marry him?

I sometimes tell people that I don't think I entertain anyone more than myself. I mean, every now and then I'll be doing something that maybe everyone else doesn't get, but I think it's hilarious (Lame? Maybe.). That makes me sound like a complete weirdo, so here's an example to make me look a little more normal.

When I'm hanging out with a group of girls and one of them mentions that they recently went on or will go on a first date, I'm always quick to jump in with this question— Well, do you think you could marry him?

Now some brief commentary. The first time I asked this, I thought everyone would just start laughing, and the girl I asked it would blush, or call me ridiculous or something. Because it does seem ridiculous, right? Right?

Anyways, back to that question. As something that causes me deep consternation, I have never once had some girl just laugh in my face. It's almost always the same response— a pensive look up, and then a sincere response. The responses have varied. Most have been "Maaaaybe" (perhaps you're not sure because you have no idea who this person is... I mean, I'm not Dr. Phil, but I'm just sayin') and I also get the occasional "yeah" or a laugh and "never!"

What? Who has decided after, or even before one date that they can marry that person? Are we that shallow? Or that crazy? Has society come to this? Have I myself thought that I could marry Penelope Cruz after seeing her smile on David Letterman? I think the answers are maybe a little more than we would want to know. (yes)

So that's just some food for thought. And as some dessert for thought, the LSAT is over. I don't care if I get a 121, I will not take that test again (though I might end my life if i saw that score...). Now I just get to wait three weeks for my score to come in. I mean, the football off-season is like 8 months, so three weeks can't be too bad.

An Autobiography for the Last 8 Months

I figure if I had anything to do with 15 minutes to do with my life, I'd want to hear about myself. So it's only natural that other people do too. Search no more—here it is.

I've been practicing for the LSAT since February (which is the strangest-spelled month of them all. We say Feb-no R-uary and write febRuary. Anyways...). I've done around 35 practice tests so far (3 hours a piece), plus countless hours of drilling and attending class while neglecting classes, friends, and Sportscenter. Because of that, I have possibly one of the most intimate

knowledges of a very quiet section on the first floor of the Harold B. Lee Library that anyone in this school ever has, and I've come to despise anyone coming down there and making noise, such as breathing.

I also am growing in my paranoia about the test. I now wear a certain pair of shoes each time I take it, but take them off for the first three sections and put them on for the next two. I onlylisten to songs with the simplest of melodies before taking a test, like Dynamite by Taio Cruz, because i'm bound to have a song get stuck in my head and pray that it's not a distracting one (e.g.- Phantom of the Opera. Instead of thinking how arguments were flawed, I was trying to remember the words to "Masquerade." It was a terrible test.) I think I'm narrowing it down to wearing a certain pair of jeans, and possibly a specific shirt too. I'm also terrified that something traumatic will happen before the test, such as instantaneously going bald. I wouldn't even be mad at instantaneously being bald, I'd just be absolutely livid that it happened before my test.

In all though, prepping for the LSAT has been a great experience. Even though I could've easily learned a 3rd language with that effort, it's been an opportunity for me to exhibit my work ethic to, well, really, to just myself. It also proved that I have the ability to excel and improve in something genuinely difficult. Hopefully I can just do well on October 9th (October- a normally spelled month) when it comes down to it, so I can go to UW.

I coached a tee-ball team too, but that's already been documented.

School has started again. For my Spanish literature class, I decided to take a teacher who I knew was more difficult, but who I thought just taught a superior class, through insights and materials, than anyone else. Let me repeat that. I, of my own volition and will, chose a teacher who I knew would be harder than others.

I'm just kinda waiting to be translated to heaven right now for my shocking maturity...

Didn't happen. Anyways, that class, to no-one's surprise, is tough. My other classes—poetry, composition, business (smarminess), religion—are not too bad. But I'm always reminded how much I like my major.

In addition to that, I'm still working. It's for the Multicultural Office (of course I can be in there even though i'm white) writing for the Eagle's Eye. I have been promoted to Editor-in-total-awesomeness-and-chief recently though, which brings more responsibility and... well, no co-current pay increase. But I enjoy the extra responsibility and the opportunity to write Editor-in-Chief on my law school applications.

And dating! Yes! Dating! Well, like a game of baseball in the 14th inning, it actually can be exciting at times but mostly you just wish it was already over, and everyone, when they're being honest with themselves, wants to just leave the stadium, drive home, and sleep.

Wow. That baseball analogy was good. When I use that again in real life, act like you heard it for the first time. And laugh.

Speaking of laughter, I want to mention my car. It's a 94 Buick, and it's just not as mighty as it once was. I tried to drive up to a ski resort the other day, and it started misfiring and only going 10 m.p.h. until finally I pulled over and it started smoking like... well, an analogy is not coming to me, but it started smoking like a 94 Buick when it's done trying. I'll put "large hills" on things not to attempt with it.

If you're a fervent follower of this blog (I'm doubtful...), than you already know all my friends are married. So I decided with one year left at BYU, I'd just stay in the same complex and move upstairs, keepin' things simple. My new roommates turned out to be great, and we always hit the clubs on Friday nights and get hyphy. Kidding. But yeah, they're nice guys.

New ward too. I'm quickly, and unintentionally, establishing myself as the "funny guy." Apparently I'm already the "funny guy" to some. This comes with some pressure. I'm not the stand-up comedian kind of funny, so I think if people come with that expectation, it'll be hard to please them. It's more of a smoldering, sexy kind of funny, and that really doesn't come out until I know the person more. And anyways, personally, I'd prefer to be known as "that really smart guy," or "the guy that's just in general great to be around," or just "the Situation." Someday...

So anyways, I gave a talk in church, hit some funny notes, and sat down. I try to be funny to hide the fact that I'm so nervous that I'm shaking up at the podium. I had people telling me I'm funny the rest of the day. One guy even repeated some of the things that I had said, as if their hilarity had escaped me. Really, it's fine being the funny guy, but it's just so one-dimensional. Maybe if I work on it, "Renaissance man" will catch on.

GOODNESS. I think that took up at least 10 minutes of your time. It's late at night, I really had a lot on my mind and really, writing like this is kinda therapeutic. I don't have to think about a thesis and all that jazz, it just kinda comes. But yeah, here you go Elder (Brandon) Pedersen, this is the best response you'll ever get to writing "how's life?" on a Facebook wall. Ever. And stay away from the wax... Trust me, it hurts.

I Belong to the West Coast

I can remember when I stopped plotting to transfer to UCSB my freshman year here at BYU. It was at Thanksgiving. The fact that everyone here was Mormon wasn't freaking me out quite as much as when I had arrived, and also, everyone I knew from Utah invited me to go eat Thanksgiving dinner with them and their family. Really nice, I think. So anyways, that outpouring of brotherly love preempted a sudden flight to California.

Now that I'm back from my mission, I really like BYU. The girls here are clean, it's the means by which the greatest football team ever can exist, and my friends aren't drunk and puking. Like ever. But every time I go back to the West Coast, It just feels right. Most recently, this happened in both Portland and Seattle, but it's true for all of it. Well, let me qualify that. SoCal isn't really my thing. I have nothing against beaches and sunshine. In fact, I really like them, but I just am smitten with the hippy-esque, tattooed, multiple pierced, granola, far-left people from SF on north. I'm also a big fan of the grassy hills and forests. It's just a nice thing to have.

So yeah, going to Grad School is nice that way. I can (to some extent) control where I end up. I don't really know for sure where that'll happen, when I'm honest with myself, but I hope it works out like I want it to.

Rad/Super un-rad

So, in life recently things have been boiling down to two different categories for me- Rad, and super un-rad.

Let me break it down.

RAD

- UW. Purple has never been part of my color wheel, but it might be in a couple months here. I was able to run over to the Law School over there, and man, it's nice. I was also able to check out the campus too, and while I was laying down in the quad between six stately buildings, on a cloudless day with the sun lazily dripping in through the leaves of the shady tree i was laying under, i thought, "If God doesn't want me to go here, He really dropped the ball today."

Gates Hall, or, the law school.

The whole campus looks how I'd always imagine a campus would look like. Not that I dislike BYU's immaculate stretch of cemented property, but UW had those classic buildings with ornate facades, long shady paths across green, slightly over-grown lawns, awe-inspiring views and the water just a block from campus. As well as a super nice-looking law school.

RAD

- BYU football starts up soon. Besides giving my life deep significance, it also means that each Saturday for the next few months I'll have something that directs unparalleled joy into my life. The only potential downside to this is the possibility that they could lose a game, which often leads to an invasive sense of ennui for the following week.

RAD

- Portland. Rip City is really looking great. First time I've really been there, and I just like that whole area. I've decided I love greenery and trees with the occasional mountain (Pacific Northwest anyone?) and Portland is just that. Also, word is that it doesn't rain quite as much as it does in Seattle, which I'm sure loses it's novelty after three weeks of downpour.

SUPER UN-RAD

- Moving. So around 2:30 Friday morning, when I was trying to put the closet door back together for the third time and it just fell apart right when I thought I had it, I may or may not have wanted to sit down on the floor and sob for 20 seconds before falling into a deep sleep and forget about waking up for an 8 a.m. flight. That I instead simply muttered something about how dumb closet doors are and fell asleep in my bed shows the mettle i'm made of. Really though, the whole process kinda stunk and took forever, and was possibly exacerbated by an idyll visit to In-N-Out about midway through it. I made it though.

SUPER UN-RAD

- KFC. I just can't stand it. I know I eat greasy, unhealthy and potentially life-threatening foods on a regular basis (and even revel in the fact) but I just despise that jolly colonel and his greasy bags chuck full of fried who-knows-what.

SUPER UN-RAD

- All my friends are married. To look on the bright side, I'm getting really good at two things; being the focus of attention of two people when I go visit one of my buddies and their respective wife, and finding, with ever-increasing wit and hilarity, ways to respond to the question, "Well, when is it your turn Bryce?" But on the other side, there's a moment after my friends are eternally sealed to their better half and they're joking around with the broskis, when I think- It just won't be the same. And it's true. So even though I keep losing about two friends a year, the prospect of instantaneously gaining 5 or 6 friends again when i get married (someday) is pretty exciting.

A couple of un-hitched guys looking at the guy who just got hitched.

And a brief aside- 1- I love going to these weddings. They're way fun and I think it's great to support my friends. 2- Dan, you're still my friend even if you aren't married. I'm just generalizing here.

The Fat is the Best Part

Having worked as a writer since January, and being a student who considers his strong suit to be writing, much fuss has been made over editing out "fat." I'll illustrate my position on this with a largely irrelevant analogy. Fat in writing is like fat in meat. When I was a child, I generally despised this fat because Americans don't know how to cook fat (although whatever my mother cooked was great). Or maybe its just that fat is just not appropriate for American meals. Whatever. When I went to Argentina, I discovered that fat was God's gift to those who truly loved meat. It's slightly crunchy almost, and full of flavor. You end up wanting a bit on each bite, and in your dreams steaks dance across your subconscious.

I've also found it is the same in writing. There are those things that just cannot abide fat, or perhaps just can't include it because of the preferences of those eating it. Journalism, I think, would fall into this category. It's all about opening up the reader's mouth and turning on a fire hose. Same deal with academic papers. Really though, that would be like having fat on a tomato. Just something you don't want to be eating in the first place. But anyways, with literature I really do enjoy that bit of fat. When the prose is just something lyrical and beautiful (and well done), sometimes it seems that the novel is merely the catalyst of bringing together that kind of writing, instead of the other way around. So openly, I’ll admit I love literature that is a bit indulgent. I love the prepositions. I love the occasional passive sentence. I love the half-page descriptions of sunsets draining the sky of color, the feeling of the wind whispering to you, the churning of a train’s wheels on smooth steel tracks, and whatever else I haven’t experienced again on the pages of a book.

Just as long as an Argentine cooks it.

T-ball = Fiery competition.

You could pass someone on the street, and not even realize that they are the greatest T-ball coach to grace this earth.

Thats what i tell myself, because i would expect if it were not true, throngs of admirers would be suffocating me with plaques, keys to the city and trophies that you have to lift with both hands. I feel that i was that much of a success as a T-ball coach.

It was also the funnest thing ever. It was a bunch of 5 year olds (only a couple of them are pictured here, but they're some of my favorites.) who were learning how to play. I was in charge of teaching them how to bat, specifically, but we all kinda did everything. They would say the funniest things, including calling me "teacher," or saying, "you're my favorite coach in town. I LIKE you." (girl, emma, farthest to the left) or, "coach, my hand is sweaty."

Now that T-ball is through, summer has been a lot of work and a lot of LSAT. The LSAT is like a mighty bronco, that... nevermind. It's tough, but it doesn't seem unbeatable.

In between doing all that, i've done some cool stuff this summer. Like bike riding, hiking, learning how to play tennis, watching fireworks, seeing a destruction derby, and some other stuff that's not coming to my mind right now. Anyways, it really has been a while, and i thought i needed to jump back on the horse, even if it's a little thing.

Never intimidated, getting goals accomplished

My article got published. This is good, because as I was looking at it, I haven't really done anything to put on an application for a while. After 5 or 6 years, being captain and MVP of the water polo team just doesn't seem to really have the clout it used to. Also, on the online addition of the article, it drew quite a response. There is one kid though, by the alias of Steve, who is hell-bent on discrediting it. I am a little on edge every time I meet a new steve now in life. Or perhaps it's a friend- et tu, blake? Anyways, it was a kick in the pants to see it be published.

Also, to bolster that hypothetical application, I started to become more great hearted and noble. That is, I signed up to tutor a 12 year old kid how to read. He can already read, it's just that he's behind the level he should be at, so I go to this senior center twice a week to help him out. Thankfully, there's a routine and materials so I kinda feel like I know what I'm doing. It's funny, but even though I started out doing it just so I could throw something on a resume, I'm enjoying it a lot. I think about how I can help him out when I'm not even there. Usually, I'm conceiving ways I can get him to do a particular thing better. My latest struggle was getting him to sit up straight when he writes, because his penmanship struggles. I would try telling him to do it, but that wasn't really working, so then I decided to have him throw a pencil onto a notebook on the other side of the table. He sat upright and did it so it landed pretty close. Then I made him assume his usual writing position with his face in the crook of his elbow and throw it again. I was extremely pleased to see that he missed it pretty bad, because if it landed right on the notebook, I would've looked pretty foolish. Probably would've swatted it out of mid-air or something drastic like that. Today I wanted him to work on P's, so I told him that and made him write sentences like "Pippen powered up the photon pan." Subtle, I know.

As an intriguing side-note, the other day he said he 'had' to text his amiga back (generally I allow no cell-phone usage unless it's his mom) because she had just broken up with her boyfriend (he's 12, in 7th grade). I thought, "wow, this will probably be hilarious to figure more about, perhaps even worthy of my blog." (it was!) So, with all the sincerity I could muster, I inquired, "well, how long have they been going out?" "Like, 8 dates. She's crushed." "Ooooh, I can imagine." But he helped me imagine. "They were really serious, she was going to go on a skiing vacation with his family, but he just sent her a letter in the mail saying that he never wanted to see her again!"

WOOOOW! She was going on vacation with them? They went on dates outside of school? And what an outrageous break-up! . Had I even hit puberty by then? Does my kid I'm tutoring realize he has put himself in the friend zone and never stands a chance now?

I was talking it over later with AJ, and we decided that it's that stupid disney channel showing its teeth. My children will never watch that channel as long as I draw breath (If they ever claim they're bored, I'll just throw in "Greatest moments of BYU football history" and help give them a righteous upbringing). Because kids nowadays grow up watching 10 year olds on TV having 'relationships' and dramatic breakups, they think they must need them too. Also, cell phones for 12 year olds. So many things wrong with that in my mind. I was telling the kid I tutor that I don't want to give my future, attractive and brilliant children cell phones until they're 16. To which he looked at me with all the depth of expression his soul could muster, and warned me- They'll be losers! Oh well. Just as the prophets warned future generations of persecution, when my children find this, let them know- you'll be losers.

Another thing, besides trying to get good grades, that I did for resume building was intern at a law firm. Also, I wanted to see more about law before suffocating in debt trying to get a degree. It, too, turned out to be way interesting to me. The guy who I 'worked' for ('twas naught but an unpaid internship) turned out to be this really chill 31 year old, and every time I'd go into the office we would just sit and talk for a half hour or so about law or BYU football. And he also gave me some significant stuff to do so that I'd get a good feel for it. He even took me over to his house to eat dinner with him and his family. Anyways, I was a bit sad that I wouldn't be doing that next semester.

As for my love life, well, BYU only has the Las Vegas bowl and then it will be another lonely 8 months until it starts up again. I was there to see a righteous victory over Utah though. The Utes made a huge comeback in the 4th quarter to force overtime, but were further plagued by the fact by the fact that they hadn't really made it into the inzone and had kicked about 30 field goals. So it came to a 3rd down for the Lord's university, and Hall threw a bullet to George, who shook off defenders to run alone into the inzone. I was on the second row and was able to jump on the field and join in the celebrating pretty quick.

The Magnus Corpus

I wrote this recently, we'll see if it ever gets published... I think it might be the best thing i've written.

On May 22nd, 1856, after expressing to Senator Charles Sumner that he thoroughly disapproved of his recent address, Senator Preston Brooks took hold of his thick cane and began to mercilessly beat Mr. Sumner about the head until his cane broke and Mr. Sumner lay unconscious. Doubtless, since that time the number of cane beatings in the U.S. Senate has sharply declined, but it seems that some of the vocal leaders of Conservatism are clamoring for a return to such behavior. These men and women, who work to polarize all who will listen to them, are undermining the respectability of conservative reasoning at a time when the underrepresented right is rising up to combat a number of liberal agenda items. If real change is to occur, the canes need to be put away, and the zero-sum thinking needs to give way to discussion and understanding.

As mentioned, it is not scholars and intellectuals leading the masses in this grassroots movement. Although their ideas are carefully penned and widely disseminated, they are largely ignored. Instead, the majority of conservative America has been swept away by the more conspicuous voices of the right; that is, the pundits who jockey for popularity by taking ever more divisive and inflammatory stances. They have disastrously boiled an entire ideology down to nothing more than catchy slogans, attacks, and derisive commentary, which are then parroted by those who listen to them. So it is that “the news” of yesteryear has been replaced by a face, red with anger, shrieking about the injustice and illegality of the latest ploy of the amoral left. The goals of these critics are not open debate and an exchange of ideas. Rather, their purpose is to establish t hat only their ideas can be accepted by a rational mind and that those who think otherwise should be ridiculed.

Regrettably, recent news has shown that this petty behavior is not only confined to the Rush Limbaughs, Glenn Becks and Sean Hannitys of this world. During a recent address in front of a joint session of congress, President Obama had a professional lawmaker scream at him during his speech, saying, “That’s a lie!” and, “Not true!” among other unprecedented interjections. As if it was not shameful enough to scream during a speech, congressional protocol was also breached w hen laughter met President Obama's discourse and a congressman mocking his assertions made scornful signs to hold up for all to see. Thankfully, he didn’t take a cane to work that day.

Yet when these actions are considered, it is apparent that they are no more than an echo of their constituents. The media was recently set ablaze when conservatives flooded town hall meetings to shout down members of Congress debating health care. They were so effective in strangling dialogue that some of these meetings had to be canceled or delayed. This behavior surely is strongly correlated to the immense popularity of the pseudo political pundits and their outlandish behavior. After being saturated with the belligerent attitudes of these commentators long enough, it is only natural that their mode of conduct would soon be imitated. Now, even though this type of behavior will certainly command the attention of media outlets, real protest must be carried out in a more civilized way if any type of change is to effectively sweep the nation.

So, as one possible remedy to the current situation, those who are Republican could consider the positive points of the Democrats. Despite what Mr. Limbaugh likely thinks, there are many good ideas supported by the other party. By becoming more open, it is likely that the Republican Party would attract more votes and regain power in Washington. To those who think this is just a hopeless fantasy, think of the success of George W. Bush in propagating compassionate conservatism, or, in other words, conservatism that adopts various liberal goals.

An even more electrifying idea to change the nature of the current debate would be to turn off the television and read the news. There is something to be said about reading the news instead of watching it. The careful presentation of a written article invites more thoughtful consideration of what is being presented, and often causes the readers to form their own opinion instead of passively adopting the outlook of the person who is presenting it. Simply, conservative America needs to begin to choose informative over inflammatory news.

Now while reading the news, one may come to dislike certain actions of the government or a political party, and this is acceptable. A natural byproduct of the two party system we have is dissension, and it is healthy for our nation. It can, and should, then be manifested in the form of petitions, articles, marches, rallies and letters to members of congress. Or voting! Perhaps then, with a bit of luck and a great deal less sensationalism, the conservative movement can have some lasting effect. We can then save shouting at the other side for college football games, where it belongs.

BYU

So BYU pulled out all the grit and determination it was capable of and beat Oklahoma, who was then ranked third. We had a huge party where we stuffed everyone we know into our room and screamed and watched it together. As only the most epic of games must be, BYU ended it with an 8 minute, 90 yard drive to win it all. We flooded into the streets with a couple hundred other students and chanted and sang and than someone brought speakers to make it a dance party.

I don't think it would be outrageous to call it the best day of my life. In fact, it was. I will probably lie through my teeth on my wedding day, because deep down i will know that the day BYU beat Oklahoma was probably a little bit better.

In other news, my classes are excellent. Though i have a hunch one of my spanish professors is crazy. He may or may not have condoned human sacrifice on the second day of class. It should be interesting.

Knights of Cydonia

So I'm gonna throw on here the link to the best footage i have seen of anything.http://www.clevver.com/music/video/27108/muse-knights-of-cydonia.html

I certainly liked this band before i saw this, but after seeing it, they just might be my favorite band now.

Just as a side note, while listening to this song before seeing the video, i always envisioned someone just riding a horse as fast as he could while the music is being played. I suppose Gustof Von Musterhauser had exactly that same vision...

John Muir was onto something

So i finished my application to the Marriott school of business about a week ago. I've pretty much decided that even if i do get in, I'm not going to go through with it, but just rather get a spanish major. Though i've already discovered that business classes are extremely useful and practical in the business world, and that spanish classes are not extremely useful and practical outside of classrooms, it seems the better fit for my life plans. Besides that, a Spanish major seems so interesting. Its like a literature, history and language major all in one. Since i tested out of those silly sixteen credits of grammar and such, it isn't quite as much learning about the nuances of the spanish language as one would think.

Besides that, the pre-law office finally made its impression that it doesn't mention what i major in, they just want good grades.

The 4th of July was just yesterday. My dad, mom and i went to the usual ward BBQ, which was pretty fun. Then we basically just hung out. The day before though we went to Muir woods with our cousins. It was a pretty casual deal, we hiked through (hike: stroll along a cement path with my sandals on) the trail they had there and looked at all the pretty things around us. I was particularly impressed though, that i can now handle a baby without it looking like im holding a football. Jake and Melissa have their little Rushton that they let me hold. I have been notoriously bad with not knowing what to do with little babies, even though i like them. I mantain that i'm the victim though. I've never had a baby cousin or a baby brother or anything like that.

And on a different topic, after much fasting, prayer and deep meditation, along with about 5 different grocery stores and 14 dollars, I've determined that IBC is the best root beer out there. Seth, Madi and I all went around to a bunch of stores and bought 17 different kinds of root beer and had a very official root beer tasting test. We came to the joint decision that IBC was the best, followed by A&W (my actual favorite), Henry Winehards, and some german name that was pretty good too. This week we're going to determine if you can tell the difference between Pepsi and Coca Cola.

Oh, and in the news recently, Michael Jackson died. I always thought he was a bit creepy and never did really like any of his songs, except for the one about billie jean, or whatever it was. But all of the sudden everyone my age has been acting like they've been lifelong fans. Weird... Or maybe they actually have been lifelong fans, which really creeps me out.

Bucket 1

I've always heard the cliche things about how a man feels about his first car, but i thought that it was just an empty sterotype. Recently though, the state started giving out a 1,000 dollars for cars that can't pass a smog check (recession? what recession?). Needless to say, my family jumped at the opportunity and handed the ol' 1988 toyota corolla over to the state and cashed their grand. I do not harbor any hard feelings, it was time to say goodbye. It was funny though, The day before we were going to take it in, i was came home from work and i was standing there looking at the car, and much like saying goodbye to a dear friend, i felt a sudden emptiness in my heart that echoed and resonated in the secret chambers of my soul. It had been a good car. I kept it floored wherever i went, that was the only way to get it moving. It was the most forgiving stick i have ever seen in my life, and its sheepskin covered seats always accomadated my friends and brother. It had seen its battles too, bearing scars from where it had been keyed, kicked and dinged. Dearest to me though were the many bumper stickers that emblazoned the trunk, bumper and window. I had 'Bush/Cheney '04', 'Viva Bush!', 'In 'N Out', 'Ygnacio Valley Athletics', 'Brigham Young University', 'Water Polo' and possibly some others. My brother named it bucket 1 while i was on my mission. 1988 tan corolla, there is your eulogy.

For the first time that i can think of, I'm pretty excited for summer to end. It's kinda just work, come home, work again. I like BYU life a lot more.

Fabio? Is that you?

Finished up another semester. It was pretty tough, but nothing like taking a calculus class, which i did first semester. I would sooner strap on a leotard and take an interpretive dance class than any math class again. I did all right this semester though, i got all A-'s (what's an A-? mediocrity in excellence?) and a B in Econ. I had an 89 something in that class and then the final just snuck up behind me and dragged me into a dark alley where it snatched my A- away and slapped me around a bit. I left that hypothetical alley heartbroken. But anyways, it leaves me with a fairly weak business school application.

Which brings me to my other item. I've decided what i want to do. I've always played around with the idea of law school, but never really committed to it. Very recently though, I decided it's what I want to do. So it really doesn't matter what my major is. Well, mostly. I think I would want to do corporate law, so having a degree in business would be a good background. On the other hand, if i major in business, i'll probably have a GPA of 3.5 when i graduate, and I will be a very busy bear until i graduate. If i graduate with a degree in Spanish instead, I think i'll have a 3.6 or something like that by the time I graduate. The law school I'm looking at right now is UC Hastings, which, according to top-law-schools.com, is ranked 39th, has a median GPA of 3.5 and 163.5 average LSAT for accepted freshman but most importantly is located in the bay area, which I've decided is where I want to live. East bay, specifically. I drove through the south bay on an errand Thursday, and it was just yuck. Yuck. Anyways, the fact that i've figured out what I want to do is just colossal in my life.

The purpose of driving through the south bay is because I had to go to Santa Clara to pick up a computer from some pakistani guy for my job. The current computer I have at work is simply too slow. I work for an accountant in our ward, doing basically whatever they need me to. It's tons better than Mervyn's retail store and manual labor for Blake's dad, like the summer after the mission. Or shoveling dirt, like the summer before the mission. I guess lifeguarding isn't bad. I did that during high school. And a newspaper route, which I did during all of middle school. Anyways, it'll be something to keep me occupied until I get back to school. I have basically nobody to hang out with here, it's pretty pathetic.

As far as epic things that have happened in my life recently, besides my tragic battle with Econ, we went and saw BYU's rugby team play against Cal, who is the perennial winner. It was epic.It came down to the wire, but we had a last second score. It was the first time we had ever won, and all the BYU fans ran onto the field as all the Cal guys just kinda filed off crying. I like Cal 364 days of the year, but I was definitely hating them in a big way during that game. The players were all like 20 feet away from us, and i feel that my taunting was the deciding factor in the game. To sum it all up, I think it was the best sporting event I've ever seen. Seriously though, it was epic.

Finally, I remembered I started writing this to talk about the last book I read. I decided to start off the summer with Cold Comfort Farm. It was hilarious, I thought the gal who wrote it was extremely witty. The ending though, really left a bad taste in my mouth. The heroine of the whole thing likes this guy who lives far away, who is different from the other gentleman she knows because he's more quiet, shyish and all that. Anyways at the end, he shows up and it's like he became Fabio overnight, sweeps her off her feet, super confident and all. I thought it was awful. Maybe she was just sick of writing the book and whipped that out. I do that with papers occasionally.

Anyways, in a few days my little brother will be off on his mission and I'll have to face the rest of summer by myself, so I better go prepare myself for that.

Lullaby for Wayne

I went and saw Macbeth the other day put on BYU. i thought it was great. Macbeth and lady macbeth were pretty good actors, they made if fun. the witches were pretty cool, they wore these cool masks that looked like some type of islander witch doctor thing. the whole thing was kinda like a Book of Mormon themed costuming, which made it interesting. anyways, i liked it. it was my first time seeing it, so i thought that macbeth's descent into madness was a lot of fun to watch.

Weezer has this song called Lullaby for Wayne. It talks about a guy who "shoots his guns" all day even thouhg all his friends have stopped doing it after they got out of high school. in fact, they have moved on, gotten wives, jobs, and put their own guns away. so the song calls for Wayne to put his own guns away and move on. I thought that it would be cool, since titles of blogs must be quite cool and creative, to name mine wayne's guns. anyways, its a heck of a lot better than stupid band names nowadays, like red jump suit aparatus.

so while having business school in mind, i have finals coming up here in a week or two. i think i'll do well, but i'm pretty nervous, because i need to basically get all A's to have a good shot of getting in there. well, technically, A-'s, which are the bane of my existence by the way. all of my classes are right around an A-, so it's going to be pretty tense. lot of pressure.

Scooby Doo

The other day, i went into the bathroom in the library and i had the following conversation with an 8 year old.
"sometimes these scare me" (referring to the automatically flushing urinal)
"ya (brief silence as i think in what way a urinal can scare someone) sometimes im worried its gonna get me wet."
"oh, im not worried about that"
...
then, as he was drying his hands and i was washing mine,
"do you know who i think is funny?"
"no idea, who?"
"scooby doo"
"wow, thats great"

then he walked out without saying another word.

it was one of the funnier thing that happened to me in a while.

also, talking about funnier things, AJ's dad sent our intramural basketball team matching bicep bands and headbands. needless to say we won. i even had a way cool looking assist. only bicep bands could've done that for me.

so as long as i'm just kinda jumping from topic to topic, i decided i want to memorize where a lot more constellations are. i went to the planetarium the other day and the gal was showing all the constellations. so i think from that little experience i can remember how to spot orion, arturus (or something like that. who named these things, king arthur?), the seven sisters and the queen. but anyways, if i could have one superpower, it would probably be the ability to spot constellations.

and just as a side note, my little brother is going on his mission to pocatello idaho. im really excited that he can go, its going to be great. it made me think a lot about my own mission and getting my call. its weird that so much time has already passed since i've gotten back.

The Orange uprising

So i decided once again to attempt sending in a letter to the editor. i actually sent this one in this time though, so i'm hoping to see it in Friday's 'reader's forum'.

BYU once again, much like the United States a few months ago, finds itself amidst a heated election. Fortunately for me, as a concerned voter, BYU keeps the various parties divided into neat colors. As for myself, I am a loyal voter of the ‘orange’ party every year. Some might feel that I should be scolded for voting without really researching the various platforms, caring about what candidates the orange party has nominated, whether or not my party has drifted from the core values they’re supposed to represent or even the stances of the other parties (the green party likes “In N’ Out”! All right!). But I think I should receive no such censure. Really, voting for the orange party each time is nothing new. It’s just like any other election on a national or local level- just vote republican!

Now, just to clarify, i think i am more republican than anything else. But most of the republican thinking here kinda does seem to lean towards blind following. A good example would be when Bush put wire taps (which are illegal) to try to track terrorists. However, these wire taps could also be used on the average citizen. Not cool. The general consensus here though was something like 'hey, they should do it. after all, i have nothing to hide!'. or anything to lose? like freedoms? But hey, a republican president said it during a war time, it must be a good idea.

Also, it is especially important to just be concerned about a few issues. The republican party pays some lip service to anti-abortion, anti-gay agenda and other such things, but really don't do much about it. they at least aren't proactive in seeking those things, like the democratic party. all the same though, they were really drifting away from the ideals of fiscal conservatism (Bush was spending a lot) or decentralizing the government. it offended, so i went Libertarian party this last election in protest.

There's also a flip side on the democrats too. the zealous adoration of Barack Obama was just out of control. There was no debate allowed as to his supremacy and just how ideal of a candidate he was. and it was so cool to be pro-obama. it was funny to watch, were it not tragic. he was a better candidate than McCain though, i think.

oh, and i actually do kinda research the different BYU parties a bit before voting. i think it's fun.

Manstinct

Today i had to add more coolant to the '94 Buick that my parents gave me to drive around with up here. i also checked the oil. After having done it, i felt that i was brimming with masculinity. if a deer had run by at that very moment that i closed the hood, i probably would've been so high on testosterone that i would've killed it with a windshield wiper and cooked it right there on the engine... Seriously though, i know nothing about cars and it can be a smidge embarrassing. Like one time i was taking the ACT at another high school and my '87 Corolla (now referred to as 'bucket 1' by my family) was not starting up so i found this girl with jumper cables. she hooked them to her big, intimidating 4 wheel drive vehicle than handed them to me. i took them, held them in my hands like a sign that says "i'm not man enough to figure this out.", looked at my engine, her, than the engine again, than i just kinda held them out to her. I forget if she kinda laughed it off or pulled a dress out of her car for me to wear while she hooked up the cables, but she got it done. needless to say, i'm pretty excited i can fill my coolant, check my oil and various other things.

though i still don't know which one the red cable goes on. positive?

Shower epiphanies

I was standing in the shower this morning and realized, or at least came to the conclusion, that i need to improve my game if i'm going to get the grades i want this semester. I don't think it'll be too hard, i was doing it last semester when things really got going. just be in the library all day every day and i think i could get a lot more studying done on the weekends too. I also have to make th time i'm spending studying a lot more productive. So ya, that'll be fun. but if i get all A's and a B i'll get a 3.78 on the semester and like a 3.56 or something overall, which will put me in a good postition to get into the business school... i think business is a ridiculous word. what is that "i" doing there? i have to think busy-ness every time i write it or else i'll get it wrong.

Other big news, i went to jiffy lube and am pretty sure i fell in love. The girl that was helping me out just stole my heart, despite the fact that she was wearing a mechanic's uniform. She was chatting with me and smiling a lot, i was just so flabbergasted i couldn't put it together to get her number or something (also, that'd be kinda awkward "hey, we should hang out sometime." as the entire shop listens in...). So ya, basically i just missed my opportunity to meet my true love and will die an old lonely man. I hear peyton might need an oil change though.

One last thing, i think i'm pretty good at spanish and i get annoyed with people who don't speak it well after being on a mission (i have sympathy for newbies). So i'm pretty annoyed every time i walk into my spanish classes. also, the worst is when people think they're actually mexican, or whatever and talk with these outrageous fake accents so that they sound moronic. Than i actually look over to the person who's talking and its just some white kid, and it generally makes me just want to politely ask them to talk normally. Well, that was rant-ish.

A Clockwork Orange

I made it through the salvo of tests i had lined up. it was pretty intense. i did pretty well though. i got a 94, 88, 80 (econ. i'm pretty proud of that score, actually), 86, 100 (it was more of a quiz) and i dont know the grade on the spanish test i took today, but i was feeling i aced it pretty good.

I've always meant to kinda write down what i thought of a book after reading it... during winter break i read A Clockwork Orange. i thought it wasn't bad. maybe a bit rough, with the content it has and all, but that was just the nature of the book. anyways, its 21 chapters, but when the american editors saw it, they cut off the last chapter. reading it though, i really agree with the american editor. what happens in the 21st chapter is that the delinquent, after having beaten, robbed and raped, gone to prison and than returns to doing it, suddenly changes. the change though, is very contrived i think. in my opinion, it's an atheistic approach to morality, which is in reality something of an oxymoron, and it shows. without a strong reason to turn moral, it just doesn't make sense why he does it. it seems like he has almost grown bored of the evil life he had lived before and wants to try the next thing, even though the author sells it like it's the maturing and natural changing that a person can go through. if you leave that 20th chapter out though, the ending grabs you and it's haunting.

also, the book is interesting because the guy creates a whole lexicon of slang for it. like horrorshow for cool, devotchka for girl, and i don't remember the rest, but it makes the read interesting.

just as a side note, i think some of my favorite books have been the phantom tollbooth (first long book i read, i think. it was in 4th grade or something), 1984, cat's cradle, Brave new world, earth abides... there's a lot more that i enjoyed, i've read a lot, but that's what comes to mind. haha. i remember reading a john grisham novel and being soooo disappointed realizing that was all the more popular adult literature was. depressing.

Proverbially kicked in the tenders...

so this week i had a test on wednesday, thursday and today (friday). i have a test tomorrow morning, monday and tuesday. it's as if im being proverbially kicked in the tenders 7 days in a row. i also get pretty tired during these midterm deals, even though i get more sleep than i usually do. i think i'm doing ok on the tests so far though. and i think i'll be able to pull out the rest of them too. just got to keep studying.

for a way different topic, i'm a pretty big fan of op-ed articles and letters to the editor, but i was reading through the campus political review and they had some responses in there. people go out of control. they say all sorts of super rude things about the person who had previously written the article, insulting their intelligence, their opinions or whatever. heaven forbid somebody should have a differing opinion. the ignorance!

oh, and a way lame article about the bathrooms in the wilk appeared in the paper in letters to the editor. i was pretty peeved i didn't send mine.

Heartless (cuss)

so, i think i'm kinda liking weirder music. i'be been downloading a couple songs of the 'heartless (cuss)' and other bands that kinda sound like it. it's pretty good stuff, but i think before my mission i definitely would've hurled instead of listening to it. it's slow, bluesy and... whiny? eh, not necessarily. but, just in general, i kinda have noticed i'm a little different post-mission. a lot of the movies that i really liked are just too much for me. i think i must just be getting to be old and offended by everything now.

Speaking of offended though, i think i'm getting kinda tired of the culture around here that is pushing marriage so much. i'd like to just kinda be normal and date girls for fun or not even worry so much about that stuff but i feel like i need to get married and procreating pronto. it's pretty silly, because it kinda skews things. like, you meet someone and think, oh, shes cool. but she is not going to help me build zion, no sir, i need my 5'1", 70 pound blonde with hollister clothes. but ya, ill survive.

Urinals, Hand Dryers and TP, oh my!

I was just sitting in the library and typed this out... it's not really that i care about having a nice bathroom, i mean, its nice. i think i get ripped off on a bus pass and it's pretty silly we have no parking around here.

I have recently been awed by the high tech wonders of the new men’s bathroom in the wilk. I can only imagine a UVU student visiting here weeping with joy as he discovers he no longer has to fatigue himself pulling out toilet paper from the dispenser, which now has a motion sensor to dispense it for you. How he will wish that HIS University had used that money they wasted subsidizing bus passes installing a high tech TP dispenser. I can also imagine another student, perhaps with adequate parking at his university, discovering, much to his chagrin, that he has been deprived a waterless urinal and motion activated soap dispenser. Perhaps though, all this is used to impress recruits. If only Manti Te’o had seen the state of the art hand dryer, he would’ve signed here.

i'm debating whether or not to send this into the paper. i mean, there's probably things i'm a bit more passionate about.

Dime, que estas haciendo?

So, I decided that the old URL was kinda weird, and I wanted to get posting again. Anyways, I'm pasting in all of my old entries from the other one with the date there. Holla!