Christmas vacation is good...

for lots of reasons.

One of which is you actually have time to do things you've been meaning to do for awhile, like play around with the header of your blog. :)

Thank you mooney for the original picture.
Thank you teachinfourth for the inspiration.

Rockin' Bluegrass in The Living Room

So last night a couple friends of mine and I went to see Michael Daves and Chris Thile perform at The Living Room here in NYC.

I'm at a loss for how to describe it. I found out about this show while rockin' out to the amazingness that is Michael Daves and Chris Thile at another show I went to Dec 4th with my friend Rachel (thanks for letting me know about it babe). She sadly couldn't be there last night because she's here supposedly working.

Michael Daves plays at Rockwood Music Hall every Tuesday (well, not this coming Tuesday seeing as how it's Christmas, but whatever) and occasionally he will have a guest artist come play with him. When Rachel told me at like 4 or 5 o'clock the day of the 4th that she just got an email saying that he'd be playing that night with Chris Thile I thought to myself, "There is no way I'm missing this show."

For those of you who don't know, Chris Thile was the mandolin player and lead vocalist for the former Nickel Creek who I was able to see in Salt Lake with my brother when they came through on their final tour back in May. Chris is amazing. Thus the obvious reasoning behind my thinking, "There is no way I'm missing this show." I'm glad I didn't. The place was packed, but how could it not be considering Rockwood is like a 40 ft square room, and there wasn't a cover charge. It was amazing. So intimate. And just plain rocked.

In my mind, last night's show was just a continuation of the awesomeness that was Dec 4th, with only minor differences: This time Michael and Chris had actually practiced a couple songs together before the show, we had to pay a cover, the room was a little bit bigger, and we were all seated.

I apologize that I don't have any video of the show to share with you all. (I must get my own small digital camera soon.) Their set really was amazing. They returned to the stage twice for encores.

If you go to michaeldaves.com/sound, you can hear a live recording of him and Chris from an older show at Rockwood. The song is titled "Loneliness and Desperation." You can also hear an older recording of Michael performing "Rain and Snow." An awesome song. As a request, the two of them performed it last night as the first of three songs they played during the two times they retook the stage for an encore.

Sidenote:
After the show I asked this woman sitting at the table next to us if she wouldn't mind emailing me some of the pictures I noticed her taking during the show. In her own words, she's "no professional photog," but I very much appreciate her willingness to share them with me.

The following pics are thanks to Jen (who I found out is actually playing with Michael Daves next month at Banjo Jim's. :)

Swashbuckling in NYC

I didn't exactly fight any pirates today, but at least I know I'm not a pansy.

i guess it's official

Today I got my New York license in the mail. So I guess I'm now an official New York resident.
I'll tell you one thing, my picture sure looks a lot more like me.

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New:

Book Clubs are for...

I don't really have a meaning behind the title of this post or an ending in mind for that phrase, although a quick google search will take you to a web bulletin where someone finished the statement thus: "Book clubs are for people who don't really like books."

I thought that was an interesting statement.

Anyways, that statement is not the point of this post. I just through it in there for the heck of it. The point is to say that the book club I've recently joined finished its third book last night. So far we've read the following:

The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho

The Power and the Glory
by Graham Greene

The Love of the Last Tycoon
by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I can honestly say that I've enjoyed every book we've read so far. (This statement is not to imply that the purpose of a book club or of reading books in general is to enjoy everything you read. It just so happens that, for me, that's been the case thus far.) In its own way, each book has brought new perspective to my ever changing landscape---the lens(es) by which I view the world.

The following is not meant in any way to act as a comprehensive list or summary of my entire learnings from the books read for book club thus far. I wouldn't even say that it's intended to highlight key learnings. Take what comes next as simply what it is... a small piece neither first nor last in the grand scheme of my experience with the above mentioned works.

"The Alchemist" invited me to look at the world around me and my relationship with God, nature, and myself in a new and insightful way. Greene's "The Power and the Glory" explored the dichotomy between faith and doubt, sin and righteousness, that exists within a single man. "The Love of the Last Tycoon"---which is really not a complete novel, but rather a collection of 17 existing (out of 31 planned) episodes or mini-chapters left unfinished and in rough form due to Fitzgerald's untimely death at age 44---allowed me to see under the normally complete and tightly woven fabrics of a master writer's work to see the intricacies and processes that come together to create the greater whole. I was able to see a snapshot of the process behind creating what would have been and what, despite its incomplete form, many consider to be the best Hollywood novel.

All that said, I'm excited to read our next book:

Fire in the Belly: On Being a Man
by Sam Keen

i hate when i do that

On the subway ride home from work tonight I saw a man with a Liahona bike. For those of you who don't know, Liahona is a brand of bike that (atleast to my knowledge) is based in Utah and is mostly targeted to missionaries. Anyways, I thought that I should go ask the man where he got his bike, thinking that it could possibly lead to a missionary oriented discussion. Perhaps he bought it from a missionary or maybe the missionaries use to teach him and gave it to him to help him get around and take care of his family...I don't know. (I'd like to think that he didn't steal it from some missionary.)

Well, the thought to go up and talk to him wouldn't go away. The words kept repeating in my mind, "Where did you get your bike?" Those seemed like easy enough words to say.

I chickened out and didnt' say anything. And then, we both got off at my stop. I could redeem myself. But I didn't. I walked out the turnstile and up the stairs.

Once above ground, I paused for a moment, kicked myself for being so stupid, turned around and walked down the stairs and back to the platform where I assume this man was waiting to transfer to another train. I arrived only to find a new train sitting at the stop, its doors closing as it prepared to leave. My bicycle man was nowhere in sight. He was likely already on the train.

I don't know why or if I was suppose to talk to him, but I don't think that's what's important.
I hate when I do that.

styled hair and bright eyes

Despite things both within and out of my control today seemingly conspiring to bring my day down.
For example: sleeping in and getting stuck on a very slow subway train this morning, getting an unpleasant mid-day headache, realizing both my tires on my bike are flat only AFTER I've gotten everything else ready for some exercise on my rollers, etc.
Despite these things, it was a good day.
Let me tell you just two of the reasons why:
On my way home from work I stopped in at the Supercuts on University (between 10th and 11th) to pick up some d:fi (It's this "pliable molding cream" for styling your hair. I've used it for several years and haven't found anything I like better). I was almost out, and then I went and left what little I had left in Boston. Anyways, after calling them up to make sure they had some in stock, I decided to alter my normal route home in order to secure said product. To my joy I was able to get the larger container (double the size and normally costing something like $20) for the price of the smaller container because the guy found one in the display unit that had been marked down for a promotion.
And as if that wasn't enough to make my day, I learned a new song on the guitar tonight.

yes, i know

Yes, I know. Much has happened since my last post:
I've been to several concerts where I was privileged to hear great music and spend time with good friends.
My roommates and I hosted an early bird Thanksgiving roughly a week before the official Thanksgiving holiday at our apartment. (All credit to its fabulousness goes to Becca Shim and those who brought food. It was Becca's party, we were just lucky enough to act as hosts.)
Two of my roomates went to Costa Rica for Thanksgiving. My other roommate and I found ourselves surrounded by marvelous people in Boston for the holiday weekend. While there I was able to visit several close friends I haven't seen for a good while.
Oh yes, and then on Sunday I turned 26. Yes, another year older and wiser to (let's hope).

To tell you the truth, each of those things deserves a post in and of themselves, but in case that doesn't happen...well, at least they've found their way into this synopsis post. :)

Hope all is well out there for those who make my blog a regular read.

a little sick

I woke up this morning with a sore throat.
My throat is still a little sore, my nose is runny and tender, and I can feel some sinus pressure.
I've tried to be gentle on myself today.
I'm going to bed.
I hope I'm feeling better tomorrow.
We have a client presentation/worksession in the morning.

She touched me...and I remembered.

She touched me---a gentle but firm hand that caressed and then slid along my back as she passed by, smiled, and said hello.

She touched me. And I remembered how perfect it feels to be touched by someone who loves you.

I didn't.

On my way to work I saw someone from behind that looked a lot like you. I knew it wasn't, but I still wanted to call out your name to make sure.

I didn't.

If you came to New York you would tell me---wouldn't you?
I miss you, but I can't help but wonder if it's just the thought of you I miss more.

Either way, a part of me feels empty.

One of those nights

I'm restless. Maybe it has something to do with the nap I took earlier today. Or maybe it's something else. I don't know.

happy ending?

Some of you know about Patrick Moberg's recent craigslist posting. You heard it from a friend who sent you a link over IM while you were at work, saw on another friends blog, read about it on gothamist, possibly watched an online video, and you've undoubtedly went to his website (nygirlofmydreams.com). But in case you have no idea what I'm talking about and don't feel like clicking on those links, here's what Patrick originally posted on craigslist and on his website the other day:

And here's what he posted on the site today:

Some of my thoughts considering the subject:

There's a fine line we guys ride when approaching a girl we find attractive. There's an invisible balance between "putting ourselves out there" (what some of us call, "growing some balls") and being seen as "creepy".

I'm positive that, to varying degrees, every guy I know has experienced what Patrick did that day on the subway. You see a cute girl, but the opportunity to start up a conversation in a way that won't come across as creepy just doesn't make itself apparent. Or maybe you are able to break that ice, you're able to say hi or exchange a few words but in the given situation asking for her phone number just wouldn't seem appropriate. You could hardly expect her to give her number to someone she's known for 5 seconds. The opportunity is fleeting, and then she's gone. The opportunity has passed and you kick yourself for not doing...something. I know I have experienced this; and, considering recent conversations with roommates and friends, I know they have as well---one as recent as last night.

Anyways, who knows if it will work out between Patrick and this girl, but it sure makes for a great story. Every guy's daydream. Way to go Patrick.

maybe later

I've been sitting here for awhile now and still this blog post is zero lines long. Literally every time I start to write, it just doesn't feel/come out right.

For now, just know that I love you all and I am doing well.

I leave in 3 1/2 hours to go home and visit my parents. I'll likely be back to NY sometime next week.

i need to ride more

After waking up today, i rode on my rollers for a half hour. (I think my last ride was two weeks ago.) Since it had been awhile since my last ride, I didn't ride particularly hard, but when i got off my bike i felt like i was going to throw up and pass out.

My body said "stop" at about 20 minutes, but I forced myself to go for a full 30, pushing up my speed somewhat toward the last couple of minutes. Perhaps that was dumb. Apparently my body wasn't very happy with me directly after.

I feel fine now.

Average Speed: 19 mph
Max Speed: 34 mph
Ride Time: ~30 minutes
Distance: 9.7 miles

Chance Encounters: 1-800-call a billboard lawyer

On the way home from institute tonight I saw an ad on the subway for a law firm that specializes in accident cases. The headline of the ad read, "No it's not the lottery. It's justice."

Next to the ad someone had placed a religious tract entitled, "God's Judgment."

I found the chance juxtaposition slightly humorous.

Puppies in need of a home

I got an email this morning from a friend at work about these guys:
Aren't they just adorable?

The email said this:
Rescued 6 black lab (mix) puppies out of the middle of the road on Saturday. PLEASE help find them homes - otherwise, it's Animal Control - which means they only have 5 days. We've bathed them, sprayed them for fleas and wormed them....but we can't keep them. They are currently in a kennel in my basement since I don't have a fence. I've lost count of the number of rescue groups that I've contacted, only to be turned down due to no room. Please check with every dog person you know to see if they need a puppy.

I'm not posting the email senders contact info here, but feel free to leave a comment on this post and I'll email or text you their name, email address and/or phone number.

The Boom Stick

It had been awhile since I visited myspace. Tonight I figured I'd check to see if I'd received any messages, comments, or friend invites. Well I ended up visiting some of my friends' pages.
I found this video my friend Sam posted on his page. Sam and I are good friends from high school. Oh how it makes me smile.

It's a beautiful thing

As you can tell from this picture, my bike arrived on Monday as planned. What drove me crazy was that it was "OUT FOR DELIVERY" from 7 AM and wasn't delivered until 4:40 PM! Talk about anticipation. Oh well, when it finally arrived it was like Christmas.

I had it shipped to work because that's just how things go in NY. I mean, nobody would have been home to sign for it or anything and it's not like that's something I want sitting on my porch outside all day. In anticipation of its arrival I had brought a sharp pocket knife and some tools to work in order to unpack and put it back together (thanks Sean for packing it all so well and for keeping the putting-it-back-together process simple). I just had to put the handlebars, front brake calipers, pedals, seat, and front tire on and she was ready to go. Oh, and I had to walk the bike over to a bike shop to air up the tires.

(NOTE: always let pressure out of bike tires when shipping. You never know what kind of air pressure differences the tires might go through while in transit on planes and...trains and...zeppelins. You should also loosen the strings of your guitar and other such instrument before shipping or extensive travel. Sean knows this. He's smart. Thus the reason I needed to run to a bike shop to use a pump before my bike was truly ride-worthy once again.)

Anyways, due to the lateness of the bike's delivery I wasn't able to put it together Monday night. I got it all unpacked and left it locked up in a room at work where we keep the servers and extra computer equipment. After leaving work I met up with a friend and headed into Queens to Shea Stadium to watch the Mets vs Nationals game with a bunch of other Mormons. It was a good activity. There was plenty of socializing and I was able to see some of my friends from other wards that I don't get to see too often.

Tuesday after work. I put it together, got some air in the tires and rode it home---from 4th Street and 2nd Ave all the way up to 128th and Lenox. It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't all that great either. Traffic was horrible. I'm really unfamiliar with which streets are best for biking so just headed north up 3rd Ave. There was a lot of stop and go up to 60-something where I turned left and into Central Park. From then on, the rest of the ride was great. I rode the loop in Central Park up to 110th Street and then went straight up Lenox.

Once I got home I couldn't not try out my new rollers, so I set them up in the living room and hopped on for a couple minutes.

I rode them again tonight for a short little ride. I didn't want to go crazy, but I did want to get a little riding in so i can ease myself back into shape and get use to the rollers. In case anyone is interested, here's what I rode tonight on the rollers:

Ride Time: 21:45
Distance: 8.6
Average Speed: 23.7 mph
Max Speed: 33.7

PS - both times I've ridden on the rollers nobody else has been around to go downstairs and tell me how loud they are (I've been riding in the living room directly above my room rather than in my room above the neighbors downstairs.) They seem pretty quiet to me, but I'm wondering what they sound like when you're directly below them.

When the metaphorical becomes literal

Sometimes we're too busy banging our heads on locked doors to notice the Lord's ever quiet whisper to try the front window.

90 days and counting

That's right. Today I hit my 3 month mark. What does that mean entirely? I'm not exactly sure, but I do know that it means work will start taking more money out of my paycheck to cover for benefits that kick in soon (hurray for Insurance, 401(k)'s, all that other grown-up stuff and the paperwork that comes with them). Hitting my 3 month mark also means that my third subway pass since moving here expired today. And that I'm nearly finished with my third jar of peanut butter.

It's a little crazy to think that much time has passed since moving to New York; but at the same time, it feels like I've been here a lot longer---strange how things like that seem to happen.

Now all I need is my bike

I've been going through withdrawals. It's been over 3 months since I've gone riding.

Can you blame me for buying these rollers when I saw them online for a decent price? I knew I'd be wanting a set of my own after leaving Provo and no longer having access to Sean's set, so in my mind it was inevitable. Honestly, it was only a matter of time.

Well, they came in the mail about a week ago. I put them together and now they've sat folded up under my bed unused since. (Oh yeah, they fold up---for easy storage)

Let's hope that once my road bike gets here on Monday I'll use them regularly.

Did I mention that my road bike arrives on Monday. :)

Maybe size really doesn't matter...

...maybe what it's really about is frequency.

Lately I've been feeling the pressure from some of my dear friends to post more frequently. I know it's been awhile since I've published a "real" post and believe me, it's not for lack of having things to post about. I have plenty to post about, and I think that's part of the problem. I've also been living with the paradigm that I have to "compose" something significantly well put together before publishing it for all my readers--it takes time and careful thought to find and upload the best picture or video, to link the most appropriate words with the most relevant website page, etc.

I'm starting to realize that perhaps a simple and short report on some of my activities would suffice. Although they may not be as long or as polished, I will try to publish posts more regularly so you all can stay up to date with the happenings of my life.

The Plan: the Cannon Center - March 30th, 2007

I friend of mine sent me links to these videos a couple weeks ago. They're from...I think it was our second show? I didn't even know that she had recorded video of the show. I don't think anyone from the band knew. haha. Anyways, good times. I thought I'd share.

for my brother

So, I know it's been awhile since my last post. This is just a quick post to let you all know that I've doing well and am busy with good things. I have a number of drafts saved to post, but none of them are ready for publishing just yet. Just know that there is a number of posts in the pipeline, so don't you worry...in the words of that one song by that one person that said something like (well, if she would have been singing the chorus in the firt-person singular instead of plural it would have been something like), "I'll give you something to talk about."

Or maybe just "read" about.
Perchance comment about? :)
We'll see.

Stay Tuned

haha, i don't know that any of that made sense. lovely. just lovely.
i dont' even care. it's gonna be posted! Here you go!! aha!!! and now I'm getting case-INsensitive and explanation point crazy. LOL. I mean exclamation point crazy. Yes, with a C!, not a P. haha, I wonder if this post is more entertaining or annoying at this point. oh well, if you've made it this far you must think it's leaning to the former...or perhaps your'e just hoping that it will somehow redeem itself somehow even though you have no idea how it possibly could and so therefore your'e driven on to continue reading by mere intrigue. now I'm being apostrophe-insensitive. Hmmm....that play on words doesn't really work as well as the case one. dang. Maybe it's more like using my apostrophes' a letter too late...which would mean I was late in my use of proper punctuation and so therefore I would not be punctual. (cue drumroll and cymbal crash)

and...I'm done.

The Format at Webster Hall - 21 Aug 07

(Alyssa Scheinson took the original pictures in the above thumbnail grid. Check out the full pics here and the rest of her amazing work here.)

A couple weeks ago I went to Webster Hall to see The Format. It was awesome. I wanted to see if anyone would post some good video of the show onto YouTube so I waited a little while to see what would turn up. Nothing too amazing (I really need to get my own digital camera), but you can get a taste of what I was able to experience at least. (Nate Ruess's voice is just as amazing live.)

On Your Porch:


Oceans:


The First Single:
(This was the first song I heard of The Format. I knew right away I was going to love their music.)


Here's a pic of the setlist that somebody posted on their flickr account. :)

The last 4 or 5 songs on that list made up their awesomely long encore.

In case you feel teased by only hearing parts of each of the above songs. Here's one in its entirety.

Ready for a marathon

I was talking with a group of friends on Sunday and I got this crazy idea. What if I ran a marathon (26.2 miles) while I'm 26 years old?
I haven't fully committed...but I'm definitely toying around with the idea. I turn 26 this November. After that I'll have a full year in which to make it happen. Anyone want to join me? What do you think? Am I crazy? Any advice?

I did buy a pair of running shoes today. Check them out here. Turns out I pronate slightly. Who knew?!

My Labor Day Weekend...

a list (well, kind of anyways)

Thursday

My Labor Day weekend started Thursday night. Since I didn't have to work Friday (company holiday), my Thursday night was pretty much my Friday night.

I spent the evening with Christina at her house where we watched Run Lola Run. I had never seen the movie before, but due to recommendations from film professors and people I trust it has been on my list for awhile now. I'm glad to say now that I've finally seen it. It's amazing.

Friday

I slept in and then took it easy.
I played guitar for a awhile. A long while (my fingers were pretty sore by the end of the day.)
I neglected to help Adrienne move (but I hear she had lots of little helpers.)
My roommate Matt and I helped move a girl I home-teach to her new place. If you were there you would have seen us carrying large pieces of furniture through the streets of Harlem. Quite a sight. (I think I may have actually hurt my wrist somehow during the process--one of my tendons got aggravated and swollen. I'm pretty sure I hit it on something and didn't notice it until later.)
Later that evening we helped move another girl.

Saturday

Slept in yet again. Oh glorious!
Went to Long Beach with Matt, Matt's girlfriend, and a couple other people. We met up with a good sized group of singles (mostly from the 8th ward) and enjoyed a beautiful day at the beach.
I...swam in the ocean for the first time. Threw the Frisbee around on the beach. Dove in the sand in an attempt to catch said Frisbee. Did i mention that I swam in the ocean for the first time? Oh, and by that I mean for the first time ever! Read a book on the beach...the list goes on. It was great.
Did I mention that I swam in the ocean?

After the beach, getting home, showering, and changing clothes. My roommate Nick and I went out to dinner with several of the girls and another guy that was at the beach with us earlier. We ate at this small hole-in-the-wall Taquerilla on Amsterdam and 107th. It was really good and quite cheap for NY.

Sunday

I had a marvelous talk (over IM) with a dear friend about the gospel. She makes me smile.
I taught Gospel Essentials. My preparation was less than par and lots of people showed up. The Lord is too kind and things went much better than it should have thanks to everyone's participation.
I ate dinner at Connie's new studio apt (first girl I helped move on Saturday) with Matt and several other mutual friends.
Stopped by a get-together for some beverage and snack refreshment down on 96 and Riverside.
Went home. Chilled.

Monday

Slept in (let's hope this habit ends by tomorrow.)
Went to NY Running Company at Columbus Circle and bought a pair of running shoes.
Bought some groceries.
Had a small last minute bbq on our roof. (Thank you Marcus and Matt for providing the meat and cooking, and thank you Matt for providing the grill. You guys are great.)
Posted on my blog.

mp3 experiment four

Last Saturday was a great deal of fun. I participated in improv everywhere's mp3 experiment four. Some of you may have remembered last year's mp3 experiment III and my report on that. It was a lot of fun. This year was a little different but equally as enjoyable. Here were the biggest differences:

-Instead of 4 different mp3's, everyone listened to the exact same one
-We weren't in Central Park
-Instead of meeting in groups with a leader from Improv Everywhere to know when to press play we all started scattered out on our own within the same general part of Manhattan and just needed to have our clocks synced up
-We were all instructed to wear a colored t-shirt (red, green, blue, yellow)
-There was aerial photography involved (from the top of a skyscraper looking down on us)
-We didn't see Steve :(

I'm glad I was able to go and enjoy the activity. I almost didn't. Long story short--when I attempted to transfer the mp3 (something I should have done earlier, but instead waited till I had like 30 minutes to get out the door) I saw this:
NOT a pretty site for anyone to see...EVER.
Notice the time. We were suppose to be in place pressing play at 4:00. With the subways running local on the weekends, transfers, and the fact that the experiment was taking place all the way down in the financial district, I was planning on it taking me about an hour to get there. I had wanted to leave at 2:30/2:35 so that I'd have plenty of time to get there, meet up with friends, and would get there early. At this point I was beginning to seriously doubt my ability to make it there on time with a working ipod.

After some struggles, I ended up running out the door with my inoperative ipod sitting next to my computer and Chateau's ipod shuffle in my pocket. I was definately going to be late, but I just figured I'd start it ontime while in the subway and then catch up with everyone when I got there. Easy enough, right? I knew my cellphone was only a couple seconds behind the online clock they had asked us to sync our watches to so no worries there...Oh wait, in my mad dash to get out the door I had left my cellphone! How was I going to know what time to start the mp3? How would I sync it up to the right time when i got there since the ipod shuffle doesn't have a screen where you can see the play time? Also, we were suppose to have a camera or camera phone to use during part of the experiment. I had planned on using the camera built into my phone. And how was I going to find all my friends during/after the experiment among so many people? Frustration!

This is where I make the long story short: no worries, it all worked out perfectly.

As for the actual mp3 experiment...well, rather than detailing out the whole thing here...I'll let you go someplace else where the wheel has already been invented. If you want, you can read more about it here at the mp3 experiment post at improv everywhere honestly, they have a great breakdown with pictures and video of the whole thing.

Friends who came and posted on their own blogs about it:
becca
seth

Also, check out beccashim's post (cool "Where's Waldo" style pics...I'm wearing a green shirt and khaki cargo shorts; see if you can find me).

a day late and a dollar short

Originally I wanted to write more about this, but I'm beginning to realize that setting aside time to compose really well thought out blogs can be difficult of late. So instead, you get this several days after the fact:

Last Friday night i saw this movie with a group of friends. It was good.

I'm intrigued

On my way to work Friday morning I saw the following written on a post-it note attached to the cover of this book a girl was beginning to read:

Stephanie,

This is one of my most prized possessions.

Cheers,
Colin

The name of the book was "The Man Outside" by Wolfgang Borchert. I have no idea what it's about, nor do I know Colin, but his note really intrigues me.

Overheard in New York

Girl on her cell phone:
"(I can't) I'm going to this nude party on Sunday."

Overheard on the corner of 8th and Broadway
7ish PM, 15 August 2007

Jazz Mobile

I got off the subway at 125th on my way home from work today and as I walked past 127th I saw and heard this:


Well...not exactly. I just found that picture of the Jazz Mobile trailer/stage on the internet. That's basically what I saw...what with the cool stage and signage. The band was different though. What I heard was this guy.

It was great. Nothing quite like good jazz in Harlem -- good free jazz on the streets of Harlem.

A missionary Sunday

I just read this blog post from a parent of one of my brother's students. It made me cry. If anyone wants to feel a little inspired, check it out.

On a similar note, the mission president and his wife visited our sacrament meeting today. They spoke on missionary work. During their talks the following question came into my mind: "Why don't we share the gospel?"
As I thought about this question, a new question arose in my mind:
"Why do we share the gospel?"
I realized the first question is all wrong. The question we should be asking ourselves and changing if necessary is Why DO we, not why DON'T we. If I ask myself why I share the gospel and my answer is something like:
"Because I'm suppose to, or because that's what good members do, or because I should be a good example in my calling..." It's no wonder why we struggle with sharing the gospel and find so many reasons why we don't share it more readily.
If our reasons for sharing the gospel are founded in a strong testimony of the love of God, His plan, the Atonement and an eternal perspective, the answer to the question "Why DON'T I..." will not exist. It won't have room to exist against the overwhelming strength behind your motivation to share the gospel.

i got a haircut today

good news:
it was at a hair styling college so it was super cheap
good news:
he did a good job
bad news:
his "good job" wasn't how i wanted it done
good news:
i think i can make it work anyways

indifferent news:
maybe you'll get a picture later but i'm not promising anything

Limiting Ads of Junk Food to Children?

A friend sent me this article today. When I read the title I was like, "Wow! That's kind of a big deal." After actually reading the article I was extremely disappointed. If you don't care to read the whole article I will attempt to give you a brief rundown of what I gathered in my quick reading and why I was disappointed.

Apparently 11 big food companies (McDonalds, General Mills, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, etc.) agreed to limit the advertising of products that don't reach a certain nutritional standard to children under 12. They came to this agreement on their own accord (great PR move). Cool huh? That's what I thought. To bad the pledges were "made under the threat of regulatory intervention and, in some cases, the threat of lawsuits..." I'll say it again...great PR move.

Here's another interesting tidbit regarding the "regulation."

"while General Mills will no longer be advertising Trix to the 12-and-under crowd, it will continue to peddle Cocoa Puffs, which have one less gram of sugar per serving. And it will be able to continue advertising Trix on television shows and other media that are considered to cater to “families” rather than just children.

That qualifier amounts to a major loophole, given the media-watching habits of children. An episode of Nickelodon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants,” for instance, is viewed by an average audience of 876,000 children age 6 to 11, according to Nielsen Media Research, and falls in the category of shows that are off-limits to ads for junk food. But “American Idol” from Fox, which qualifies as a family show, attracts 2.1 million children in the age group."

Overall, I guess it's at least a step in the right direction. Who knows, maybe this is the beginning of something bigger.

So what does this really mean?

• The involved food companies will attempt to tweak the amount of sugary goodness and fat in their products to reach the "nutritional standard." (Apparently Cocoa Puffs meets the standard but Trix, with it's extra gram of sugar per serving, does not.)
• Advertisers will look for more creative ways and media vehicles to reach their target.
  

Any thoughts?

Flight of the Conchords

I suppose there is some good about working over the weekend. Two of my coworkers introduced me to these guys today when we needed a quick break.

(Just to warn you: these videos contain some mild sexual humor and a few choice words, but nothing I would deem exceptionally offensive to the majority of my readers.)

Business Time



Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

Jared says it better

Everyone should read this post.
I'm serious. It is good.

In memory of...

Ingmar Bergman.


I meant to blog about this Monday night when it was a little more timely, but this week has been crazy busy for me at work. The time has passed, but I still feel obliged to post at least something.

For those of you who don't know, Ingmar Bergman died Monday at the age of 89. He's known as "one of the greatest artists in cinema history" (AP).

It's rather interesting how I fell upon that article on Monday. I had been reading something for work entirely unrelated. Then later this week while in Home Depot, I ran into a man from Sweden with his two kids. He and I had a short, but enjoyable chat. I ran into him maybe an hour later further down the street as I was leaving another store. Funny how if I hadn't have fell in love with movies like Winter Light and Kitchen Stories (not a Bergman film) I probably wouldn't have recognized the language he was speaking to his children and been compelled to strike up a conversation.

To be honest, it's kind of perplexing to me, Bergman's death. I mean, I didn't know the man or have any formidably strong connection with him, nor do I possess any great deal of knowledge about his history...and yet I feel as though something is missing. I suppose it's the feeling that I've lost some sort of opportunity. An opportunity I can't quite explain in words at the moment.

It's true, I studied film for a small portion of my undergrad experience, but I've only seen three of Berman's films:
Smultronstället (Wild Strawberries)
Sjunde inseglet, Det (The Seventh Seal)
Nattvardsgästerna (Winter Light)

That being said, I've enjoyed all three. And many of you know that Winter Light is one of my most favorite films. (Thank you Jared for introducing it to me, and thank you Mom for getting it for me as a birthday gift last year.)

Perhaps I should just close the post by saying how much I love film's ability and power to communicate on such a deep and beautiful level. Mr Bergman, thank you for expressing and sharing with us a piece of what it means to be human.

In honor of

In honor of the final stage of this years Tour de France finishing on Sunday I wore this shirt today. Not that I really need an excuse to wear it. Anyone that really knows me knows that I wear it all the time and that it's one of my favorites.
Why?
1. It's just a cool shirt
2. It's got a bike on it
3. It was a gift from my little sister and
4. Shirts from threadless seem to fit just so well

Advertising at its worst?

I was at the grocery store tonight and whilst I perused the cereal aisle in search of good deals I heard this cute little girl say to her mom, "I want that cereal," as she reached for the box.

The funny thing was, you couldn't even tell what kind of cereal it was. All you could see was that it was all red with a spiderweb design and a big Spiderman logo. The little girls mom laughed and said, "you don't even know what kind of cereal that is."

I felt mixed emotions at that point regarding my chosen profession. It strengthens my position regarding the need to teach children how to intelligently decode the many media messages they come across every day. Teach your children. We don't want a bunch of media illiterate kids running around eating, drinking, wearing, reading, and listening to who knows what just because it's got [insert favorite color, logo, movie/tv/book character, etc. here] on its box.

What a wonderful day

So yesterday was great.

We had a client workshop all day, so work was really busy, but a good busy. The client we're working with is quite a joy. Really laid back, fun, and humorous people. Their playfulness certainly makes the job a lot more enjoyable than it otherwise could be.

The workshop was also a great learning experience. I was able to see principles of strategy research being exercised in a way that was quite similar, yet different from what I've learned from my schooling and internship.

After work I was suppose to go home teaching, but due to some planning issues our hometeachee called and rescheduled. It was actually quite perfect. I got off the subway to find I had two voicemail messages. #1 was from hometeachee girl saying we were rescheduling for Thursday night, and #2 voicemail message was from my friend RJ saying that he and a couple people were meeting up at Fort Tryon Park to go bouldering.

I was kinda bummed that the hometeaching appointment had been rescheduled but what perfect timing. The last time RJ went bouldering up at the park he gave me a call, but I wasn't able to go.

Bouldering was great. I was able to help RJ solve some problems he had been working on and it was just a lot of fun to be climbing. It had been awhile since the last time I went climbing so my endurance was definitely not up and my hands certainly took a bit of a beating. As expected, my muscles were sore today, but it's a good feeling.

The end to a wonderful day: so I was already in the area so I decided I'd give my friend Meredeth a call and stop by to get caught up on the Tour de France. She's way into the tour and has been recording it on DVR every day. Tuesday was a rest day so they had done a recap. I figured it would be a good one for me to watch since I haven't been able to watch much of it (what with work, and then not having any covering TV channels at the apt, etc.)

All in all it was a good day. I didn't get home till about midnight so it was definitely a late night. I was a little tired today as will I be tomorrow for staying up and blogging tonight (I was over at Meredeth's with a roommate catching up on todays Tour activities...talk about crazy).

Anyways, it's time for bed.

Internet!

I now have internet at my house, but we haven't been able to set up our wireless just yet. As of right now, we've just got a cable modem with one ethernet hook up out the back. Wireless will come soon and make life a lot easier.

Brace yourself for a revival of blogging from my neck of the woods.

Safe and Sound

I made it to NYC safe and sound early Sunday morning. Just thought you'd all want to know. The trip was great. Definitely made some lasting memories that will be some of my favorites for awhile.

Details will follow when I get more time.

ttyl

I'll see you all in NY. (in person, online, or otherwise)

Cross-country road trip

Change of plans. Instead of flying from Provo to New York, I'm going to be riding with a friend of mine who just graduated and is moving out to DC for an internship.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what route we take and/or where we stop for pictures, refueling, eating, sleeping, peeing, etc??? If anyone has family or friends along the route that would be willing to feed us and house us for a few hours while we stretch our legs and sleep that would be awesome to! Let me know.

I've driven long distances for work over the summer, but never this long and never cross-country. I've never been to some of the states that I will be passing through later this coming week so I'm excited (I leave Thursday morning).

Darth Vader video

My roommate Taylor just showed Sean and I this. Oh so funny. Behold the power of editing.

10 Hoodies!!!

I discovered tonight as I was preparing to pack some things for my move to NY that I own 10 hoodies (well, pretty much only 9 since the 10th one is a work hoodie and has reached the point where it should be thrown away.) Most of you would consider me a fairly reasonable and frugal person so let me just say on my defense, that I only purchased 3 of these hoodies. The other 7 were given to me for one reason or another. BUT...needless to say I am still shocked that I own 10 freakin' hoodies.

Obviously they are not ALL going to come with me to NY so I need to make a decision. Any suggestions?
black Stars and Stripes*
green H&M*
black/grey/yellow Senate

brand new green Sessions hoodie (not cotton)*
white Volcom*

dark blue DC Shoe
plain black

grey Americorp
grey BYU

Packing sure does suck

So I've been putting it off for awhile now, but the time has come that I need to start packing away my stuff and figuring out what I'm going to take with me to New York.

I have a lot of crap! But I've been pretty good I think: there's a big pile that's going to DI and another that's going to the trash. :)

Emily Loizeau: (Je suis) Jalouse

I came across this music video quite randomly today and I fell in love instantly. So amazing! So so amazing!



PS - I found another version of the music video with English subtitles. If anyone wants to get an idea of what she's singing you can see it here.

NYC, here I come!

It's official: I'm now a real grownup. At least...I think that's how it works.

Some of you have heard the rumors and I'd like to take a moment to confirm...Yes, (as of about an hour ago) I now have a job in NYC. Don't be offended if you didn't know until now...I didn't want to tell everyone until I actually accepted the position.

I start work in about 2 weeks.
NYC, here I come!

(crap...I guess this means I need to clean my room...)

Payson Canyon: proving grounds for the new saddle

Saturday Sean and I went for a ride. It had been awhile, and was well needed. Plus, I needed to break in my new saddle. It ended up being the longest (time-wise) ride that I've done (and maybe the longest mileage as well). All and all, the seat worked great. Pretty comfy. My pelvic bone on either side of my butt was a tad bit sore the next day, but I think that's to be expected when you combine the fact it was my longest ride yet and the first time that saddle has been riden.

We rode out to the base of west mountain and then down to Payson. After filling up our water bottles at a gas station there, we headed up Payson Canyon for about an hour of climbing. That climb just keeps on going and going. It's gorgeous.

Here's some stats from my computer:

Ride Time: 3:55 (just shy of 4 hours)
Distance: 62.8 miles
Average Speed: 16 mph
Max Speed: 37

And Here's a cool map that I put together of our ride. We started in Provo, went out to West Mountain, then down to Payson, then up Payson Canyon. The green line shows that path.

We didn't backtrack exactly the way we came. You can see the blue line is our way back once we got back out of the canyon, and it eventually merges back to our starting path as you near Provo. (Click on the map to see a bigger version.)


I'm not positive how far up the canyon we actually went so this map isn't accurate with that info. All I can say is that once we reached the canyon, we climbed for an hour and we had a decent pace set. As for everything else, the route on the map is pretty darn close to the exact route we took.

Free Root beer Float Night!

This just in. Tonight (Thu the 7th) from 8pm to midnight your local SONIC should be giving out free root beer floats. Just thought ya'll should know.

Thanks Pace!

I wanna know what it's like...

This song is beautiful.



Nada Surf - Inside of Love

Google Maps: Street View

(cue the beatnik music)

Google. Gooooo-gull. Gargantuan giant of gift-giving goodies.

You free my life.
From tears and strife.
I smile when I see your name.

I love your gadgets.
They've become habits.
They don't go a day without use.

Hey Google...keep crankin' out convenient cool...stuff.

Victoria's Secret: new biking line???

OK, so the original title of this post was "New Saddle" but after hearing a roommate's comment about the look of these pics, I opted to rename it. :) I think Larry the Cable Guy would be proud of the new title considering the second picture (if you don't know what I'm talking about, click here and once the video loads watch from about 2:40 to 3:40). Anyways, enough with the explanation of the new title for the post.

Look what finally came in the mail today!
Isn't it pretty?
I must say, I was really impressed with the packaging. I mean, I open up the cardboard shipping box and remove some packaging paper to see this:
The clear plastic "guitar case" for the saddle even has these two little clips inside for the rails (the two bars along the bottom of the seat that connect to the seatpost) to clip into and keep the seat from moving around in the package.

Let this all be a lesson to us in branding. I mean, how differently would I feel about this brand if I opened up the cardboard shipping box and the saddle was just in a thin clear plastic bag, rolling around the box? The packaging of this product provided me with a very different and powerful brand experience. The people working with Selle San Marco know what they're doing.

Sean said I had cool hair

Biking on Monday we stopped to fill our water bottles at Sundance Resort before continuing up Alpine Loop Rd.

Sean thought my hair was cool so he took this picture:


I guess that's what happens to your hair after a hard climb, a quick downhill, and another hard climb all with a helmet on when you have product in it from the day before.

Eat your heart out Cafe Rio

You probably remember the dinner that Sean, Jason, and I made for ourselves after our bike ride on Saturday...well today for lunch I used what was left of my steak as well as the salad we had, etc to make up a little something to rival one of my favorite places to eat: that's right, Cafe Rio.

Take a look for yourself:
I even mixed the jalapeno ranch dressing and avacado vegetable dip in our fridge (compiments of Litehouse) with what little was left in the fridge of the House Dressing from when we had Cafe Rio on Friday to make a way good salad dressing to go on top of my creation.

All in all...it was tasty.

Change of Plans

Sean, Tyler (dude from the ward) and I took off on our ride this morning around 9 am. but we didn't end up riding Squaw Peak and Hobble Creek Canyon as planned. Instead, we rode up Squaw Peak, back down...and then went and rode to the top of Alpine Loop Rd again (up past Sundance Resort where Sean, Jason, and I rode on Saturday).

It was a great ride. LOTS of climbing. On the way back home through Provo Canyon there was a crazy headwind that totally sucked. But as soon as we hit University Ave. it became an AMAZING tailwind. We were pedaling along in our top gear as if we were taking an easy cruise along the beach...and we were going 28 mph! That fast, and it didn't feel like we were working at all!

Sean and I decided to kick it into gear once we got stopped at the light at Bulldog and University to see how fast we could get going with this kind of tailwind. I got up to 36 mph on University as we cruised past 800 North. Pretty sure that's a new max speed for me on the flats. It's funny because I think that was my top speed going down Squaw Peak the first time.

Speaking of max speeds, I have a new one! I hit 48 mph coming down Sundance today! The computer on my bike says that my top speed was 47.3 but I looked down and saw 48. I wasn't going that fast long enough for my computer to register it as the top speed, but I hit it! Here's the stats of the ride from my computer:

ride time - 3:43
distance - 52.1
average speed - 14 mph
max speed - 47.3

Stay Tuned:

We're planning on riding up to the top of Squaw Peak and then Hobble Creek tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

Alpine Loop

Ride Summary:
We rode up Provo Canyon and up past Sundance to the top of Alpine Loop. It was awesome!

Ride Time: 3:26
Distance: 48.5 miles
Average Speed: 14.1 mph

New Max Speed: 44 mph
also, it's about a 3500 ft altitude change from the base to the top of Alpine Loop.

Extended Version:
Not having school or work certainly has its perks. Lately I've been doing a lot of biking and I'm loving it.

On Thursday Sean and I rode the West Mountain Loop (you all read about that here). Then on Friday Jason, Sean, and I went mountain biking up at Sundance and South Fork. Yesterday, the three of us rode the Alpine Loop. (Please see map below for a rough visual or click here). Let me tell you about Saturday's ride:

Basically we rode up University (notice all the "up's"), up Provo Canyon, then turned left and rode up to Sundance Resort (where we had mountain biked the day before). We filled up (ok, so that up doesn'st really count) our water bottles there and then kept going up Alpine Loop to the top. I think Jason said it's a 3500 ft elevation change from the base to the top. Honestly it was one of my favorite rides yet! It just felt so good and I felt like I was climbing really well. Sean even made a few comments about how well I was riding.

Here's a pic of me during part of the climb.
At the top of Alpine Loop you can either drop down into American Fork Canyon or go to Canyon Springs. Seeing as how none of us had ever been to Canyon Springs we thought we'd head that way. It was 7 miles so it would tack on another 14 miles to our journey.

We turned right at the top of Alpine Loop and cruised down what I think was about a 14% grade. It was amazing. I reached a new max speed: 44 mph.

After a couple of miles of fast, smooth, long curved downhill the road turns uphill. We zoomed up that and stopped to discuss. What we just road down we'd have to ride back UP and seeing as how we just climbed 3500 ft and weren't sure if we'd be able to fill our water bottles at Canyon Springs, we opted to turn around. It was a steep climb, but so good. We soon reached the top and then turned to head down to Sundance Resort, Provo Canyon, and back home.
By the time we got home we were pretty hungry, but we wanted to make sure we ate something healthy. After stretching out and showering up, we headed to the grocery store to pick up some supplies to make this:
The picture doesn't even do it justice. It was SO good. Thanks Dad for teaching me how to season a great steak.

Sean's blog

You should check out my roomates blog.

He posts funny things. Like this:

I'm tired

Sean and I did the West Mountain Loop today. Basically we rode from the house in Provo down to Provo Bay, around the big mountain down there following the edge of the lake down to Genola, then back up through West Mountain, Payson, and Spanish Fork back up to Provo.

Here is a rough map of what we did. It's not really accurate (seeing as how we started in Provo and we took a couple different roads once we got to Genola), but you get the idea. That's pretty much the route.

This is what the computer on my bike says:

distance: 58.7 miles
ride time: 3:29
average speed: 16.8 mph

337 Project

Apparently the owner of an old building in Salt Lake that is set for demolition in June opened the building up to local artists and their "gallery" is now available for viewing. If you're around the Salt Lake area the 25th-27th you really ought to make it out there to see what's taken place. I haven't seen it yet myself, but trust me: I don't plan on missing this experience. There is no doubt in my mind that it's amazing.

The artists ranged from graffiti to formally trained contemporary artists and everything in between. Some of my friends (those reading this post may very well know them or perhaps even be them) contributed to this amazing art project. People like Sam Gray, Chris Coy, and Bardi Haliti. You can see some pictures of the project unfolding at their individual blogs or go to the project website at http://www.337project.org

Also, take a look at this short trailer for a documentary about the project:

Nickel Creek

My brother and I went to see Nickel Creek in Salt Lake the Saturday I got back from my New York trip. The concert was awesome!

The sound/video quality isn't the best, but my brother recorded the following video from the concert. It's one of my favorite songs.



Jon Brion opened for them and performed with them on a couple of songs. He's produced/composed music for movies like Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind, I Heart Huckabees, and Punch Drunk Love.

I was definately blessed to see some amazingly talented artist and musicians that night.

New York multimedia scrapbook

I don't know if you can really call it multimedia since it's just pictures and a video, but here's some photos from my week in New York. Courtesy of Megan. Thanks babe.

Megan and I:

Seth and I:

I took this. Adrienne, you're beautiful:

Me:

The girls during our walk through Central Park:

Row Row Row Your Boat:


My new satchel:

Caught in the act:

People live here:

After Sunday Dinner:

Seth thought that he'd take a load off in a chair we found on the street...it appears to not be very structurally sound.

Night of the Ballet and Opera:





An Englishman in New York: