A Fan is an Island

I'm sitting on the floor writing this. That's because when I watch Gonzaga play a close game, I always sit on the floor. Somehow it helps with the nerves. I don't need to do that for any other sporting game. I also don't throw on my team gear to watch a game by myself at home, as if I was a satellite one-man student section.

There are other college basketball teams I should like more than Gonzaga. Cal-berkeley is my home town school, I'm enrolled at BYU, and heck, even St. Mary's, Gonzaga's rival, makes more sense than the Zags. They're just down the road from where I live. But yet here I am, yelling at my TV (which I never do), hating St Mary's for having the audacity to play a close game against my favorite Spokanians. All the same, I think I only love BYU football more than Gonzaga basketball.

The strangest thing of it all I think, is that I can't think of another single fan that likes Zags basketball. That is, apart from my little brother, who I forced to watch Gonzaga games with me 10 years ago.

I wrote this during the overtime. Zags won. I can rest easy tonight.

Your Beard Is Good.

There's always a balance in things; for every Berkeley, there is a Provo, for every game of football, there's about 12 episodes of "Project Runway" and "Glee." And for every good movie, there's about three that contain a line of dialogue akin to this gem from Transformers 2- "Oh, no! The machine is buried in the pyramid! If they turn it on, it will destroy the sun! Not on my watch!"

And then there's beards and "fun" clothing.

This might seem like a pretty arbitrary connection. But look into it. If you're a non-beard-grower (a woman) think about the last time you bought something and your friends said "That is so FUN!" Now think about the thing you bought—chances are, it was a smidgen garish, probably shiny, and perhaps not even that flattering. But it's entertaining because you're pushing things with it, or maybe it's stating in some obscure, not-so-apparent-to-everyone-else-but-makes-tons-of-sense-in-your-mind way, who you are.

Now this is the same exact thing that happens with a beard. If women, through some petrifying twist in the creation story, grew beards, they would say something like, "Rosie O' Donnell, that beard is so FUN!"

The beard fills that same role the "fun" clothing does. Women generally hate it, it's scratchy and irritating to grow, and more often than not, it just doesn't look like any of the beards you see on "The Lord Of The Rings." Its allure is inexplicable, but at the same time irresistible. Even if it is some ugly scraggly thing. See below.

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.