Vote for Roger's shirt design

Some of you saw the cool shirt I wore for St. Patrick's Day. My friend Roger designed and printed them. He has since submitted the design to Threadless.com so you should CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE and go vote for the design.

Click that you'd buy it and then vote (give it a 5). You will then be prompted to make an account. It's free and takes seconds. It's just a username, password, name, and email thing. If his design gets a high enough score threadless will make and sell the shirts. :)

ps - the design is a lot cooler in person than what they show online. For a better image, go here.

Starry Night: Show #2

Starry Night is a way cool venue. It's small but uber chill, has fun lighting, and a good house PA system. It was a great show. We had an excellent turnout and played slightly longer than expected since the first opening band didn't show.

I also think we sounded better than our first show. The levels were a little better and I could actually hear myself in the monitors!!! Yeah!

Here are some pics my sister took.

We ended with Flying Over the Atlantic again. People seem to really like it, and it seemed an appropriate lead in to the headlining band since they were playing much softer stuff. I really like this pic.

The band we opened for (Ring of Scribes) was way cool. They played a rock opera called Magic. It's based on the Harry Potter books. It sounds super cheesey, but it was totally awesome. Way cool stuff, and totally relaxing.

Here's some pics I snapped with what little battery power was left on my camera.

It was PERFECT riding weather all week

but I was too busy...so Sean and I decided we'd take to the road this Saturday after I got home from a short game of disk golf with some friends and before we had to go to our show.

Here's some stats.

Distance: 43.8 miles
Average Speed: 17.5 mph
Ride Time: ~ 2.5 hours

It was such a nice ride.

Bonfires are always fun

I've been kind of busy, thus the no new postings of late. but I liked how some of these photos turned out so I figured I'd post.

These are from last Saturday (the 10th) when my roommate and a small group of us went out to Utah Lake and burned some wood palletes and about 7 Christmas trees that this same roommate had been saving behind our house for such an occassion. He's kind of a pyro. :)

Here is said roommate:
and some of his friends that he works with: (these guys are awesome)
Roommate and girlfriend...how cute: Here's my hott date: (no really, she was hot. That fire was HUGE!)

I have to pass

I was a little worried about my test tomorrow. I hadn't studied at all for this midterm and when our 489 group-meeting adjourned tonight it was T-minus 12 hours before I'd be sitting in class taking said test.

Haha...I'm such a procrastinator. In so much that I didn't even know how horribly I did on our first test in the class. I hadn't wanted to look because I knew it was bad. I had procrastinated studying for that one till the last minute as well.

Anyways, I've been sitting here studying for the past while and decided I should check online and see how I did on the first test. Part of me thought this was a bad idea. I mean, seeing how horribly I did isn't going to make me stress out any less. It's sad, it really is, but all I really want to do is pass the class. It's not an important class to me. I mean, it's cool and all, but it doesn't directly relate to my major. It does stress me to some extent though because I actually have to pass it in order to graduate this April.

Well, let's cut to the chase: I checked my test score for the last test. I got an 82! Beep!!! That's sweet! I'm no longer worried about doing well on this test. Heck, I could do horribly on this test and still be passing. I'm seriously contemplating going to bed now. :)

Oh ye of little faith

I promised pictures, so here you go. For those of you who couldn't make it last Wednesday, I hope the selection of photos I chose to post (courtesy of Xaque) will serve as a photo tour of sorts to help you feel a little more connected to the event.

Here we have Becca and Richard posing outside Muse Music with their cans of food.Look at all the wonderful people that came to support us! We must be loved.
Here we are...so nice and respectable.Haha...atleast that's what we want you to think. But then when you least expect it...unleash the rock!
Don't worry. The rock isn't that scary. I mean honestly...look at that inviting sign. Come back in and join us. It will be fun.
There you go. Just a couple more steps. Come on in and make yourself comfortable among our friends.
Or you could just stay standing in the back next to Tyler over there on the left. He's cool. But you already knew that from his hair.
I just love how Sean looks in this pic. So cool. And way to go Adam for rockin' it solo style up at the front of the stage. I love you!
This is a good pic. you can actually see all of us.
Ah....bubbles. I liked these next couple of pictures. They're kind of progressive. I mean, we start out pretty chill. We got some nice bubbles doing their thing here.
Then we ditch the bubbles and start singing.
Then we turn it up for full effect. (I look so intense right here.)
Then we decide to throw in some harmonies. Oh yeah. That sounds nice.
We ended up finishing with Flying Over the Atlantic (a favorite of the few who had heard our music before.)
Overall, it was a good show. Let's all thank Xaque for some sweet pictures:
Thanks Xaque!

PS -

I'll post pictures from the show at some point for your viewing pleasure. I know for a fact that there were several good photographers with cameras in the crowd.

I'm convinced...

I'm convinced that I have the best friends in the world!

Tonight was the premiere performance of The Plan and I was simply amazed by the amount of support we had. Amazed I tell you. I didn't count or do the math but I'm pretty sure that I knew over 3/4 of the people at the show by name. You are so wonderful to me. I love you!

As far as how the show went?...well, that's a good question. Perhaps some of the people that were there and reading this blog could shed some light on that. Comments anyone?

From what I've heard already from people that were there, I think it was a success. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the music. There were a few things I wish could have worked out differently, but overall I am REALLY happy with our performance and with the show. It feels good to have our first show "behind us" or "under our belt" or however you want to put it.

Again, my heart sings out to all of you that were there. Thank you for supporting us and for bringing your energy and enthusiasm to the show! I am convinced I have the best friends ever. Love.

Butterflies aren't always pretty

I'm still awake. That's actually not saying much considering how late I've been staying up lately. I mean it's only 12:13 right now. My staying up-ness isn't so much because I've been studying (although I should be) as much as it is that my sleeping schedule is just jacked up!

It seems that all the stress in my life of late, coupled with my lack of motivation toward school, added to the fact that I don't have early morning classes this semester equals staying up and sleeping in later. It's actually quite sad.

It's hard to break the cycle now that I'm use to this schedule because I don't get tired till way late and I am not a morning person. I'd be tired earlier if I would force myself out of bed earlier, but like that's gonna happen anytime soon.

But that's not the only reason I'm awake right now. I'm actually kind of nervous. I'm nervous for the show tomorrow...scratch that, later today (seeing as how it is technically Wednesday already.) I know I should be grading papers, proof reading a press release, reformatting a flier, logging video, studying for a test, preparing a lesson, cleaning my disaster of a room....the list goes on. But right now I really don't think I could do any of those things that I need to and should be doing. I'm too worried that I'm going to get on stage and freeze....draw a blank....or vomit out the butterflies that I know will be swarming around inside my stomach in search of a way out. If they find and work their way up my throat I really don't know what will happen.

Mostly I just hope that I remember the lyrics. But I'm also hoping that I stay on key, don't look like a complete idiot when I'm unsure of what to do with myself on stage when I'm not actually singing, and am able to keep the audience entertained between songs. I don't know what to say. To be completely honest with everyone, I've never been the leadsinger of a rock band.

It's true, I can sing. I sang many a solo back in the days of highschool choir. I was even the featured soloist in my small ensemble that competed in the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival my senior year. I also went to State (something that perhaps you thought only athletic teams went to). Well I went twice, and placed second. Yes, my senior year of highschool I placed second in Idaho's state solo competition.

All that is fine and dandy. I remember getting nervous then, and yet somehow I made it through ok and people were impressed with my ability to sing...heck, they even awarded me. But doing all that the only thing I had to worry about was singing. The most I'd ever actually "say" to my audience went something like, "My name is Yancy Zimmerman and I will be singing 'Non Posso Disperar' by Giovanni Bononcini." or perhaps I might have to say, "First Tenor, Number 12."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Anyways, my train of thought was broken because my roommate came home and wanted to talk. I'm pretty sure this post is long enough so I'll end it here. Maybe if I read in bed I'll actually fall asleep soon. Perhaps I'll run through lyrics.

Tomorrow, when I'm standing on stage, I just need to remind myself to Breathe In, Breathe Out.

I totally rocked this game

So I'm one of the FHE leaders in my ward and like usual, my co-leaders and myself didn't plan out what we would do until like 5 o'clock today. I am such a procrastinator. Anyways, I ended up sharing a short documentary called Scriptures from the Fit for the Kingdom website. It's awesome. If you know Dean Duncan, then you'll appreciate the short even more.

After the video we talked briefly about the importance of scripture study and such. Then we played this game that a friend of mine told me about. I'm not sure if it has a name, but you're probobly familiar with it. It's kind of like limbo...but not really.

You place a paper bag on the ground and standing on one foot you bend down and pick it up with your mouth without touching the ground with your hands, knees, or other foot. After you pick it up, you tear part of the top of the bag off so it's now shorter. The next person goes.

Well, I just want to say that I totally rocked this game; In fact, when we were done, I ripped a small piece of the bag off and placed it FLAT on the ground just for kicks. Well, I picked it up. Three times.

Affirmation (Breathe In, Breathe Out)

[verse]

Breathe In
Breathe Out
Allay your fear
Beseech your breath to fathom air.

Control your tears
Compose your soul
Believe in grace and rise above.

[chorus]

Above the chains of self-inflicted doubt
Bestowed on you by a self-appointed crowd
Beneath all this, you know you’re so much more
Attain the crown that you were sent here for.

[verse]

Breathe In
Breathe Out
Allay your fear
Beseech your breath to fathom air

Divide your thoughts
Dismiss your nerves
Believe you can; you’re not alone.

[chorus]

Alone to face these trials here yourself
Begotten sons of what, you cannot tell.
Beneath all this, you know you’re so much more
Attain the crown that you were sent here for.

[bridge]

Each time you fall you know you must rise up.
Erect your fence where last you failed to stand up to the fear.

[verse]

Breathe In
Breathe Out
Allay your fear
Beseech your breath to fathom air.

Control your tears
Compose your soul
Believe in grace and rise above.

The Plan: our first "official" show

I apologize for not posting in awhile. But I just thought I would let all of you know that my band is performing this Wednesday night at Muse Music. It's our first "official" show. I hope those of you near Provo can come join us as we rock out with All Over Again and The Fresh Faction.

It's also Sean's birthday that night, so even if you don't want to come hear us perform you should atleast come to wish him a Happy Birthday. :)

PS -
The show starts at 8:00
doors open at 7:30
we'll probobly be playing at 9ish. So if you can't make the beginning of the show to see All Over Again or The Fresh Faction, you should still be able to catch our performance.

PPS - Thank you Sam Gray for making our sweet a-flier at such short notice. We love it!

And shoes to match

I finally got a pair of road shoes and was able to put on my new Look pedals I bought on sale back when Copeland Sports went out of business.

Is it wrong that I'm so excited at how perfectly my new cycling shoes match my road bike? Oh what a beautiful thing.

Thank you Katherine

So I got a package from FedEx today...or should we say, this lady named Katherine several blocks away from our house got a package from FedEx for me today. (It's a long long long story. The short version is Performance Bike and FedEx both employee a bunch of idiots.) Luckily, Katherine (the lady that lived at the address the packaged was delivered to) was smarter than the FedEx driver that left it at her doorstep (which incidentally didn't even match the wrong address on the package) and the customer service woman from Performance that typed the address in wrong in the first place COMBINED. How do I know this? Because Katherine realized the address on the shipping label of the box didn't exist (I guess her address was close enough for FedEx) and had the intelligence to call the number next to the address.

Thank you Katherine. Thank you for using common sense. If ever you need a job, I'm sure you could be CEO or something for FedEx or Performance. They could use someone like you.

Again, thank you. Because of you, Sean and I got some new bike gear today.

I'm no David Beckham

I'm no David Beckham, but I did enjoy playing intramural soccer last night. We tied 1-1 which I guess is better than losing. So instead of losing to or winning against we simply tied 'Your Mom.' I found the other team's name slightly humorous, but mostly because that's what our wireless internet was called for awhile.

If you really want to know, we should have won. The other team's only score was from a penatly kick that really shouldn't have been called, but it's all good. I'll keep you updated on our teams season. I don't think any of us think we're going to win or anything. It's just fun.

The last time I played soccer was on my mission against a bunch of old guys from Jerusalem and Cairo and other such places yelling at each other in a language I couldn't recognize. Before that was 6th grade.

I already know what you're going to say

So, the fact that the Valentine's Day show at Velour with Monkeygrinder was great isn't the only reason why this year's Valentine's Day will be memorable.
The invitation to the show encouraged people to dress up. After all, it was the 'Heartbreaker's Ball,' so Megan, Taylor, Brandon, and I got 'dressed up.' For some of us this meant dress pants, white shirt and tie, and eyeliner.
For some reason all the girls liked it. My roommates however...well, let's just say that Taylor told me if I wore eyeliner at our show next month, he would kick me. :)

Valentine's Day with Monkeygrinder

For those of you who do not know who Monkeygrinder is, feel free to check them out at www.comejointhecircus.com
You can also find them on myspace at www.myspace.com/scarecrowcowboy
I think I can most accurately describe them thus: circus rock. Yes, circus rock. :)

An old roommate (Kylin) and I somehow ended up at a house party they happened to be playing at several years ago on Halloween. It was one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen. The whole place was decked out like we were at the circus. All of the band members were dressed up: the lead singer was singing into a vintage looking microphone, another one of the band members had a peg leg and was dressed as a pirate, and someone else was performing on stilts. It was a memorable Halloween.

They really put on a great show and their music is fantastic. They only play a few shows a year so if you have the chance to see them, I would take it.

This year's Valentine's day will be one to remember.

The Way I See It #186

(brought to you by Starbucks Coffee)

"The world is smaller than you think, and the people on it are more beautiful than you think."

-- Bertram van Munster
Emmy Award-winning executive producer/director

As I continue through life, I realize more and more the truth of this statement. Hurray for long talks with enjoyable company at Starbucks.

489 Update: Primary Research Time

So we are in the process of gathering primary research for our senior capstone campaign with Spore. Good Stuff. Anyways, we just posted an online survey. I think we've gotten a number of college students to take the survey but want the demographic of the survey to be a little more diverse so...

If you're graduated, or 25 or older (I know I've got a couple of you readers out there) than we would really appreciate you taking a couple minutes and filling out the survey. I will lof you long time! Here's the link:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=286803198011

If you're NOT graduated, or 25 and older...I still lof you, but we've already gotten a huge number of respondence from your age bracket. :(

As far as other updates with 489...we're gonna be conducting some focus groups this week so I'm excited for that. My internship with Geppetto (I think they're in the process of relaunching their website so that link might not work) last spring was spent working as a Jr. Strategic Planner so it's been fun to apply what I learned there to what we're doing with this project.

i HEART indie kids

that dance super crazy ridiculous over at the edge of the crowd stage right as Of Montreal performs in the frigid outdoors of Mainstreet and 7th Avenue in Park City Thursday night in January of '07 as part of the free Sundance Film Festival festivities.

What's that you're humming?

So I'm sitting in class and someone behind me just started humming The Offspring's "Why Don't You Get a Job" from there Americana album.
It made me smile. I think if you knew the first couple lines of lyrics that went with what he was humming it would have made you smile as well...especially considering the context of where he was humming the aforementioned song.

Mr. Dungbeetle (take two)

I saw Mr. Dungbeetle for the second time on Saturday. There were a number of people that I know there to see it as well which made me really happy for several reasons:
-It just made me happy to see their faces
-I was glad they had the opportunity to experience the film

I remembered really loving the film, and having quite a moving experience the first time I saw it...but I had forgotten just how amazing this film is. It has and will be for quite some time, if not all time, one of my favorite movies. Tom (and company), once again...thank you.

In the Foreground

We crown ourselves in our denials,
unfailing victims of the fire
we lit ourselves.

The flames to purge our sins it seems
unorthodox and quite obscene,
yet we continue on.

Why can’t we seem to see
our strength has become
our weakness.
Just open up your eyes.

The contrast between right and wrong
continues to fade ‘till it’s gone
and all is gray.

Consumed by all our righteous acts
we blind our own eyes to the fact
we’ve lost our place.

Why can’t we seem to see
our strength has become
our weakness.
Just open up your eyes.

If we could only see ourselves for what we are not.
So pious in our own discourse to remove all doubt.

The writing on the wall appears
not in our hearts and that’s my fear
that leads me to unearth my voice and sing.

How long our reign will last this way
I’m quite unsure and yet remain
unmoved myself.

Why can’t we seem to see
our strength has become
our weakness.
Just open up your eyes

If we could only see ourselves for what we are not.
So pious in our own discourse to remove all doubt.

The writing on the wall appears
not in our hearts and that’s my fear
that leads me to unearth my voice and sing.

We crown ourselves in our denials,
unfailing victims of the fire
we lit ourselves.

The flames to purge our sins it seems
unorthodox and quite obscene,
yet we continue on.

Why can’t we seem to see
our strength has become
our weakness.
Just open up your eyes.

Mr. Dungbeetle showing

Just FYI. For those of you who don't know anything about this movie you can refer to an earlier post of mine here or you might go to the post on imdb or better yet, just go to the movies webpage at www.mrdungbeetle.com

I just found out that it will be playing tomorrow night (Saturday) at 7:30 at the Scera Theater in Orem, Utah. If you don't have plans, I would invite you to go see it. I'll see you there.

Also, I just found a link on the College of Fine Arts and Communications page on BYU's site. You can go there by clicking here and scrolling down a little bit.

I want one

Excavation 101

Cleaning checks were today. We basically all forgot about them until late late late last night, and seeing as how 2 of the roomies have early school and work, Taylor and I told them we'd take care of it in the morning. Luckily our house wasn't in too bad of shape so we just did some quick cleaning/straightening up around the house...it didn't take too long and we passed so life is just dandy.

I did come to an interesting realization as I was cleaning the bathroom sink...cleaning for cleaning checks is like participating in a beginning excavation class. I mean, you can never really get somethings clean in student housing, all you can do is scrape/dust off your layer of film, grime, and dust...the ancient layers dirt from student civilizations that have gone before you are still there in all their glory.

Sometimes, all you can really do is take off your dust and make what's left of the past existence of former students in the space you now reside visible.
That's how I felt cleaning our sink this morning.

Suprisingly

i feel really good.

It's like riding a bike.

Well, last night I had Sean tell me how to ride his trainer/rollers. I really felt like doing something physically active and riding my bike in the fridgedness that was Provo last night was not an option. I had been meaning to learn how to ride on roller so I figured it was a good time to start.

When Sean rides, he usually sets up in front of the TV and puts on a dvd of the Tour de France or something like that. I decided I'd put in my roommates Incubus Alive at Red Rocks dvd. I figured the music would pump me up and I'd be less likely to lean over and crash from following some weird camera angle or something. I could just imagine riding on those rollers while watching a video of the Tour...as the bikers come whizzing around a corner a camera angle from the biker's POV is seen and I naturally and instinctively lean into the turn as well only to find that I'm not going around a turn...I'm carefully balanced on a stationary trainer with rollers roughly 15 inches wide and so natural laws insue...I topple off the trainer and run straight into the wall. Yeah, that really didn't sound like the kind of experience I was hoping for so I opted on Incubus.

For the first...hmmm...say 2 miles or so of riding I rode one handed (that is, one hand was on the handlebars while the other was on the back of the couch helping me keep my balance.) I'm sure it was slightly commical to watch me as I started. I would slowly lift my right hand from off the couch and feel it out for a moment or two before steadying myself again. I think my first real stretch of time not holding onto the couch lasted for about....well, atleast 10 seconds before my balance wavered ever so slightly and I reached out for the couch again.

After awhile I got the hang of it and rode just fine. In fact, by the end I even felt comfortable enough to take one hand off the handlebars to wipe some sweat off my face before it reached my eyes. I didn't however have the confidence to attempt to retrieve my bottle of water from the cage mounted on the bottom tube of my bike in order to get a drink while maintaining to ride. When it came time for me to get a quick drink I opted to stop just long enough to take a sip before jumping back on and getting back to business.

It begins.

So we were placed into our 489 groups today. :)
I'm so excited. F*#%, I'm elated. (That F-bomb was for you Richard, so that people in the industry will know that I'm serious.)
I will be working with some of the most amazing people I know. It's gonna be crazy fun, crazy work, and just crazy in general.
Stay tuned for more 489 madness.

not finished

Alone with my thoughts as I walk down the cold dark street.
Like a shadow, I follow my breath as I release.
And the white stillness of the snow reflects the light above
from the streetlamps that I know.

The stars smile down from their blanket of darkest blue.
But no outer warmth is conveyed from my point of view.
Like silent statues they stand as monuments to the grave
of the mistakes that I have made.

Tonight

was the first time in a long time that I was in the HBLL when they turned on the crazy music to get everybody out before closing.

"This section is complete"

So, I'm looking over my student academic record in preparation for school to start tomorrow...just checking to make sure I'm actually got all my bases covered and am taking all the classes I need to in order to graduate this April and I keep seeing this phrase over and over again:

"This section is complete"

It's kind of scary.

"Why can't cars drive themselves?"

So I can have another way to express how much I care about you.

it's been awhile

So...change of plans. Instead of heading down toRexburg with Tyler and Ike and then going the rest of the way to Provo on my own while they went up to Jackson Hole, I decided I'd spend a couple days working in Jackson with them to make some extra cash.

It's been awhile since I've earned wages via physical labor. Well, not really. I mean, for the past several summers I've done roofing and seismic work, and although the majority of last summer was spent in New York doing my internship (not what I would consider "physical" labor), I did spend the end of the summer high up on the roof with a hammer and nailgun in hand. Well, more like a bag of screws and a screwgun. (The last job of the summer was a Decra metal tile roof.)

What I guess I'm getting at is that even though the last time I was up on a roof was only a few months ago...dang I'm tired. We got into Jackson and went to bed at about 2:30 this morning and then were up at 6:30 getting ready for work, but that's not the only reason I'm tired. Work is just draining...and yet, there's something about physical labor that I just love. The ability to look down after a hard days work to see all that you've accomplishyed. The ache in your muscles and genuine feeling of tiredness. What a great thing.

That said, this kind of work still motivates me to get a good education. I mean, it's good and all...but it's not something I want to be doing when I'm older and my body is falling apart as I try to support a family. So there's another reason why I do it: to motivate me to get done with school and do well in my classes this last semester of college.

Waiting...

How much of our lives do we spend waiting? Waiting for just the right moment to tell that certain someone how you really feel, what you really think. Waiting for that boy/girl you've been crushing on since 6th grade to make the first move. Waiting for the opportune time to make the move yourself. Waiting for the right job to plop itself in your lap. Waiting for the phone to ring. Waiting for an old friend to apologize. Waiting...waiting...

May I submit a simple idea to you all?

Stop waiting.

So, what brought on this thought you might ask? It just so happens that I'm waiting right now. Yes, you heard it. Tyler, Ike, and I were all suppose to leave this morning to Rexburg and then i was going to continue on to good ol' Provo while they carried on to Jackson, WY. That didn't happen though because the work truck that Ike and Tyler were taking down to Jackson wouldn't start this morning. So...here we are waiting for it to get fixed.

Fade to Black
Superscript: "Several hours later...")
Fade In

Looks like it's working. Now we're just waiting for Ike's dad to bring the truck into town and then we'll be on our way. I'm not going to be rolling into Provo till super late tonight/early tomorrow. Perhaps I'll sleep in Rexburg tonight and continue on tomorrow sometime. We shall see.

Merry Christmas from the base of the Grand Tetons

Well I was finally able to get onto the internet out here. It's not the most stable thing, but here I am. I figure I'd take this opportunity to put up a small post. Sorry, no pictures. I don't want to push my luck.

It's nice just sitting here, looking out the window in front of me as I type, and seeing the beautiful mountains, covered in pine and snow. Sometimes you just need to take a break from the regularities of everyday life. Christmas should be a time that fosters that. It should also be a time that fosters family relationships.

That being said, I should probobly mention that I am not spending this Christmas with my family. As things would turn out, I didn't make it all the way up north this year. I know my family misses me, but there were a number of things that just made sense to me at the time as to why I might not go. So, here I am...sitting in a cabin in Jackson, Wyoming with my best friend and his family (one of my several second families), typing away at a blog entry and looking out a set of several massive windows at a range of several Massive mountains.

I love Christmas. Mostly because it facilitates families coming together, building relationships, traditions, and memories. For those of you (both family, and friends) whom I'm not able to physically share this day and time of year with...know that miss and love you. Merry Christmas.

it's been awhile

since my last post...and it might be awhile longer seeing as how I'm not sure if I'll have internet in a couple days. :(
I spent last night and today kickin it in Rexburg, Idaho. Yes, glorious Rexburg. It is butt cold here.

Tyler and I will head up to Jackson to meet up with his family tomorrow when he gets off work. I'm looking forward to enjoying Christmas vacation. I'm actually hoping that I'll get some "quiet time" to myself to just sit and enjoy "being" and breath.

But before that happens, I need to finish grading papers and submit grades and all that business. Why don't I stay on top of things during the semester!? Arhg...I'm going to do better this winter. Yes, I am going to be so on top of things my final semester at BYU. Just you wait! :)

How could you be so careless

So, Thursday night I went with a friend to an Amos Lee concert in Salt Lake for her birthday. I had never heard of the band before she introduced them to me, but I enjoyed the prep cd she gave me the day before the concert and was looking forward to the music and spending time with her.

In Summary, my overall thoughts regarding the concert: lets just say that the concert was amazing for a number of reason.

Amos has an amazing singing voice, and the members of the band are great musicians. (Mom, I think you and Peter would have really enjoyed the concert. This is me telling you to check them out.)

My friend (her name is Emily) and I ran into some old friends of hers which was fun. And then we were invited back to the "After Party" in the VIP lounge area (translation...the security guard figured if he invited people back they would spend money at the bar and word of mouth for the venue would be good.) The security guard informed us that he was going to try to get the band to come back so we figured...why not. Well, he did, and they did. And it was cool, cause Emily and I were able to talk to the band members and she got a picture with Amos. Happy Birthday Emily!

Here's a pic of us at the concert. We had some random crazy girl take it. I think the conversation went something like this:
"Hey, could you take a picture for us?"
"Yeah, I'm great at taking pictures. Are you on myspace?"

Let it snow...let it snow....

It's snowing outside as I type this. It's absolutely gorgeous. It's been coming down pretty heavy and the world outside is covered in white. The window next to my desk looks out onto the front of the house and the street we live on. I decided I'd open up the blinds so that I can look outside and just enjoy what it looks like.

LOL! So, I'm sitting here chatting with a friend as well as typing up this post and talking with a roommate that just popped in to say goodnight...He and I looked outside and just saw a car drive past pulling someone as they lay on top of an inner tube. How funny is that?

Oh Provo...you're just lovely sometimes.

Thanks Sis!

I arrived home today after a long visit to the BYU library (actually my longest uninterrupted stay in the library for some time) to several things.:

• Sean in spandex after a ride on his trainer
• A package on my bed
  

The first of my two finds is not too uncommon, although it's definately something that hasn't occurred for awhile; it's been awhile since Sean's last ride. The second find however was more interesting. "Hmmm.....a package," I thought to myself. "I wonder what's in it."

Well, I decided to satisfy my curiosity and open the darn thing...I mean, it was addressed to me. It was a shirt, and a cool one at that. I wondered, as did my half naked roommate, who was responsible for sending me such a cool shirt. It had been sent directly from the company from wence it had been purchased so the address label did no good...aha, but inside there was a packing slip of sorts with my sister's name on it. Ah...sweet!

So, I just want to say: "Thanks for the shirt Sis! I freakin love it! In fact, I put it on as soon as I took it out of the package and I'm wearing it now as I type this."

that's interesting

So, my Gregorian chant (The Opening) has gotten over 100 plays since we posted it Friday afternoon. That's just crazy.

Band of Annuals: Thought I'd Learn by Now

Christina and Adrienne, thank you for introducing me to this beautiful song. I thought I would post it on my blog as well in the hopes of sharing it with more people. -check out their myspace page-

Sushi anyone?

My friend Christina flew into P-town from NY for the weekend. She flew in late late LATE Friday night...(I should just say early Saturday morning cause that's pretty much what it was...hurray for delayed flights.) Bless Adrienne for going to pick her up from the airport so that we could all enjoy her company.

It's sad when friends move away (or you move away) and you don't see them very often. This is how I feel about several friends from high school who are spread throughout the country now, as well as friends now graduated and being grown-up-sorts-of-people in NY.

A pretty small group of us met up and had dinner at The Happy Sumo which I had never eaten at before. It wasn't what I expected, but was super enjoyable nontheless. For some reason I just thought the atmosphere would be more like Panda Express or something like that (which it totally isn't). Anyways, it was nice. We had some deep friend Calamari and then each ordered a sushi roll.

I have had sushi before...I think. I mean, I've had a California roll and things like that. I liked those, so I wasn't too worried about having a raw version. Turned out, I liked it just fine. If you click here you can see the menu of Sushi avaiable there. I had the Venus Roll, Christina ordered the Vegas Roll, Brandon ordered the Cosmopolitan Roll, and Adrienne ordered the Surf and Turf.

I liked them all, but I think I liked the Cosmopolitan the best. The lemon and lime was a nice touch of flavor.

Overall, it was an enjoyable evening. Very enjoyable.

who hath ears to hear...

New bands I was introduced to today and I think I might just really fall in love with:


The Bad Plus (check out their cover of the Chariots of Fire theme.)
Band of Annuals

Little Drummer Boy

Announcements, Announcements, Announcements!

FYI: The Plan had someone audition this morning and let's just say that we know have a drummer. Jacob is an amazing drummer. He's got a heavy jazz background and we are all really excited for him to join us.

Gregorian Chant (with slight modifications)

Ok, so for my History of Creativity class final project I decided to write and record a Gregorian chant...only this Gregorian chant would be slightly different. It needed to include some sort of lateral creativity in order for it to fulfill the requirements of the project and recieve a good grade.

I started out with the idea of having electric guitar accompaniment....hmmmm...yes, that might be considered lateral thinking considering the electric guitar wasn't a contemporary instrument and Gregorian chant did not typically have accompaniment. Then I decided that instead of Latin text from the Bible I'd use Arabic from the Holy Qur'an....ah yes, now we're getting somewhere.

Sean helped me with the Arabic text and pronunciation (the text for the chant is the first chapter or sura of the Qur'an, also known as Al-Fatiha or The Opening).

Taylor helped me out with a little guitar work and recording. It sounds pretty crazy, weird, ethereal, buzy, dissonant, um...reverbatorial, etc...you pick your adjective.

If you're at all interested in what this sounds like you can see...err, hear for yourself by going here.

Happy Birthday to ME

Well, it's my birthday...officially.

I'm not exactly sure what time I was born on the 25th...Mom? I know you'll be reading this eventually; any light on the subject? All I remember was... haha, well I don't "remember" per se, :) That would be pretty weird. Actually, it would probobly be kind of scary. What I mean is that from what older siblings have told me (namely my bro...he was kind of pissed and you'll see why in a second) I was actually born on Thanksgiving. Mom was in the hospital of course so what did the fam do for Thanksgiving dinner you ask??? Well, Dad took them to McDonalds. :)

It's fun to hear my older brother tell that story. lol. He was a little bitter.

Back to the discussion at hand: yes, it's my birthday. I am now 25 and semi-happily unmarried. Not that I'm semi-unmarried. No, last time I checked I was 100% UNmarried. And not that I'm UNhappy either. For the most part I'm a pretty happy camper. I like being single. It's refreshing and fun and...well, all I've known thus far in life. Now I'm sure my older single friends are laughing a little inside as they read this thinking something to the affect of, "What does that youngin' think he's talking about. He doesn't know what it's like to be old and single."

My intent in writing this post isn't to express my feelings of growing into an old single "menace to society."

I'm also sure some of my married friends are reading this thinking, "Dude! Get married already!" (pace, I'm thinking of you my friend.)

Well, it will come in due time and I want the world to know not to worry about me. Yes, I'm now 25 and yes, I'm still single, living in Provo. I do like girls, so you don't have to worry there. And I do want to get married, I'm just not in any sort of rush to get there. There is a time and place for everything.

I think I just might graduate from BYU a single male. Isn't there some sort of honors sash or something I get to wear at graduation for the accomplishment.

Thanksgiving

Whilst it's still technically Thanksgiving....or as Dean Duncan, one of my film professors, would say: "American Thanksgiving" (He's Canadian) I want to just let the small portion of the blogosphere that I interact with to know a few of the things I'm thankful for.

This is by no means a comprehensive list...just a few scattered thoughts before I retire for the evening.

I am so thankful for a loving family. I mean sure, it's pretty jacked up to say the least, but it's not bad. I'm thankful for the gospel. I can't imagine what my life would be like without it. I'm thankful for the opportunity to live where I do in the surroundings that I do. I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to study at a University and to be surrounded by good roommates. I'm thankful for good friends. Life sure would suck without friends, and I've been blessed with some pretty dang good one's.

Anyways, like I said...it's not a comprehensive list...I just wanted to say a few things. Thanks everyone. You mean a lot to me. I love you all, and hope that this message finds you well.

Thank you.

Ew...sick! That's just wrong.

My roomate Sean (yes, the one that fit in our dryer) and I were cleaning the house yesterday since it was cleaning checks and as I was tidying up my room I noticed that the heating vent in my room was getting a little dirty. I thought, "...interesting, I wonder how long it's been since the filter's been changed?"

Being the manly man that I am I decided I'd go check. So, I walked downstairs into our creepy basement and looked around. I couldn't seem to find where the filter was suppose to go, but I did find an old used filter leaning up against the concrete wall next to the heater...hmmm....

Well, I looked some more and after not being able to pinpoint a filter or the place where a filter might go I called for Sean's help (he's pretty much amazing at all kinds of manly things.)

Sean came down and we both looked, and as we were looking I saw something that was truly disgusting....there was a dead bird laying there in our heater and bird crap everywhere. So Nasty! (scroll down to see picture I took with my phone)

Well, to make a long story short...we removed said dead bird (I say "we," but really Sean just did it) and bleached the spot where it had been laying...solidified to the freakin shelf in the heater. We then opened doors and windows to let the smell of bleach that permeated the house through the heating system disapate...then we had some choice words with the people from our management company when they came to do cleaning checks.

You'd think they would check and change the air filter every month when they came for cleaning checks. In fact, I think that might be in the contract...I need to check. We're kind of pissed at them right now because they still haven't done a thing about any of the maintenance requests we made when we first moved in. I think someone in their communications chain has really dropped the ball. I mean, when we first moved in there wasn't a single battery in ANY of the smoke detectors in the house. We made mention of this when we moved in and to this day there is still not a single smoke detector with a battery in it in our house.

When we pointed that out to the cleaning inspector people they kind of freaked out a little. I wanted to say, "Yeah, get on the Freaking ball folks! You're lucky we've been nice and haven't put up a huge stink about some of this stuff that you said you'd get to but haven't yet."

Anyways, we'll see what happens now. I'm guessing not much. We'll probobly have someone come by to put in a filter and put in batteries in our smoke detectors, but for some reason....I'm doubting it. I'm kind of hoping it doesn't happen in a timely manner, so that I can call up someone at the management office and/or write a letter and just let them have it.

For those of you that know me I'm pretty laid back and easy going, but right now...It sure would feel good to rip someone a new one.

Kitchen Stories

So...I watched a Swedish film in my beginning screenwriting class today called Kitchen Stories (also known as "Psalmer från köket"...literally translated into English as "Psalms from the Kitchen").

I really enjoyed it, and think that it might possibly become one of my top ten. It's a beautifully film and I suggest it to you all.

Birthday Party

So, I know that my birthday isn't actually until next weekend (Nov the 25th) but some friends of mine and I decided we'd get together and have a "little" combined birthday party since we all have November birthdays. This weekend seemed the most condusive seeing as how last weekend is past, next weekend everyone will be elsewhere with Thanksgiving plans and the weekend after that is actually December.

The party is going down this Saturday and you are all welcome to come. For those of you in the Provo area who are not married, it should be an ideal opportunity for you to meet that special someone. I mean, seeing as how there should be a number of people you will likely know (friends of mine) and a great deal of new faces to meet (friends of the other 4 people also celebrating their birthdays with me), the chances of you being able to meet new people in a not-so-awkward environment should be good.

For those of you who are married...you're welcome to attend as well. For those of you out of town who have moved on to better things (Boston, NY, LA, Seattle, etc etc etc...) your presence (and presents...hehe, aren't we punny) will be greatly missed. However, you are still MORE than welcome to hop on a plane and join us. Heck, i'd even figure out a way to go pick you up at the airport.

So come join us. Oh, also...The Plan is going to be doing a short acoustic set towards the end of the evening which should be fun.

A Script

So...I really need to be working on the second draft of my script for my screenwriting class, but...it's just not coming to me. Maybe I should change my concept. I don't know. I seem to get decent enough ideas for creative things when I go on walks. I just took a walk. I got some good ideas, but nothing that screams out to me "Write Me! Write Me!"

Part of me just wants to start fresh. I don't know. Can I even do that?

Well...back to the grindstone. Something will come. It allways does.

You may tell 12 people whatever you want...

(thanks for the idea Jared)
No names, just how you feel:

1. Sometimes I'm just a flirt...I really hope I didn't give you the wrong impression.
2. Why do you have to be so negative all the time. I want you to help me get my hopes up for after I graduate, but lately you really haven't come close.
   
3. For now I think it best not to tell you this in person, but I love you.
   
4. I know I've said this to you before, but I just feel like I should say it again: I'm really sorry that I was such a jerk when we were both younger and I hope you can forgive me.
   
5. I'm not sure what to do with you...I mean, I like you; I like you a lot; but I'm not sure what you think about me or what you want out of this relationship...heck, I'm not exactly sure what I want out of this relationship.
   
6. Why didn't we hang out more before this year? I mean...let's be honest, you're pretty cool.
   
7. Dang but I miss you!
8. I just love how things happen in our lives that lead us to meet people that we know will be a part of our lives for a long time...you're one of those people, and I'm really glad for the things that lead us to meet each other.
9. Maybe you've noticed that I've been avoiding you lateley...well, it's true. I'm sorry I've been such a slacker and haven't gotten on the ball with getting you those things, but...pretty much I realized that I don't have to get them to you till next semester, and I kind of tend to put things off for as long as I can...it's kind of in my nature, so let's not talk about it and I'll just get those papers to you later.
10. I'm not sure what happened to you, but I've been thinking about you lately. I even had a dream with you in it. Where are you? What are you doing with your life?
11. I recently learned some suprising things about you...I wasn't suprised per se, because I had put the pieces together awhile ago, but the puzzle I had put together awhile ago was recently confirmed. I want you to know that knowing what I know doesn't change the fact that we're good friends, and we'll always be good friends.
    
12. You're gorgeous.
    

My Friday Night

Well, as you can probobly tell by the picture, I went to a Haunted House tonight. It was fun. I must say there's something about walking through one of those things with a girl clutched to your arm. It's just so rewarding, especially when said girl is cute...which, I must say....she was and is. Thank you haunted house for fostering an environment that leads itself so well to unawkward arm clutching, and hand holding.

The Plan: latest update

Ok folks. So...my goal was to have some vocals recorded for one of our songs Thursday night. Well...it's now technically Friday morning, and as I'm typing this Taylor is in the other room on his computer uploading the newest version of "In the Foreground" onto our myspace page.

I hope you all take a moment to go to the site and listen. Let me know what you think. If you've got a myspace profile, feel free to add us and make comments there as well. :) I'm sure the rest of the band would love to hear what you guys think about our music.

Peace out. I got to get some sleep so I can wake up early, read 50 trillion pages and take a quiz. :)

Lately

So...lately life has been pretty good...except for the fact that I'm getting more and more behind in my schoolwork and in my grading of papers. Oh, and I've been getting headaches almost every other day. But like I said...other than that life is going pretty good.

The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics

A friend of mine told me about this video today and I just finished watching it. Just thought I'd share it with you all. It's about 9 minutes so give yourselves some time to watch it. Really cute.

Sean, in a dryer

Crazy things happen when you're a college student, it's so late it's early...and you are attempting to avoid doing your homework...Behold, the before unknownst supernatural talents of my roomate Sean!

The Plan

So, I just recently became the lead singer of a band called The Plan. I'm kind of excited. Right now the band consists of the following:

Me: Lead Vocals
Sean: Guitar, Vocals
Taylor: Guitar, Vocals
Christian: Keyboards

As you can tell, we are in need of bass and drums. If you know of any awesome people in the Provo area that play either of these two instruments and are looking for a band...let me know. We've got a couple guys auditioning this week so I'll keep you posted.

As of right now, The Plan is in its infant stage. Sean and Taylor have put together some rough recordings of two of our songs. (When I have time between work and school, I'm working on lyrics and vocals.) Hopefully we'll get some vocal tracks down soon on some songs and post them on myspace so you can hear them.

To be honest, I don't think I can ever say I've been in a rock band before. I mean...when I was in high school I was lead vocals for my friends band for one gig so...I don't think that really counts; and I was a featured artist in a Scream Phoenix song. :) So pretty much this is new territory. Most everyone that knows me knows that I can sing, and they know that I have written a couple things on the guitar that lack concrete lyrics. We'll see how this turns out. Hopefully what I write won't be crap. Who knows...maybe you'll see/hear us soon around the local scene.

General Conference

I just wanted to say how amazing General Conference was. I hope everyone was able to watch at least some of it. Over the past couple days, I've had the opportunity to talk with a number of people about some of the things that jumped out to them, or that they found interesting, etc.

I would love it if you took a moment to post a comment about an insight that you recieved during general conference.

Squaw Peak

Now, now...I know what some of you are thinking reading the title of this blog post, but don't jump to conclusions.

This Saturday, between General Conference sessions, my roomate Sean and I road our bikes up University, into Provo Canyon, and up Squaw Peak. Holy crap was that difficult! Four and a half miles of constant incline. I had to tell myself several times to just keep pedaling. The last half mile gets a little steeper and thinking that the peak was right around the corner, I pedaled through the first steep section giving it all I could...I rounded the switchback only to find that there was another quarter mile of the same before I would be in the parking area...let's just say that last 1/4 mile killed me. When I reached the top and hopped off my bike, my legs were like jello. It was amazing.

Well, I did it. And I'll do it again.

PS - you'd be amazed how well you can corner going downhill on a roadbike. It was fun getting to pass a car on the way down. :)

This is just awesome

Behold, the shred of Dragonforce: Through the Fire and Flames

When i saw this I couldn't help but make a post.

My New Bike

Isn't she pretty? :)

My Poor Phone

So...my poor little phone, bless it's little heart, has finally decided to go the way of the ghost. Ever since I dropped it near Harvard Yard in Boston it's never been the same. It started out as a small crack at the hinge....that small crack become a medium and then a large crack. Eventually the crack became...well, it became a freakin crevice that allowed the entire upper half of my phone to dangle by some wires.

Miraculously, the phone still functioned...well, until sometime last week. Then it decided to cut my voice in and out of calls I'd be on. I'd be able to hear the other people on the line just fine...but apparently they would hear my voice at times in fragments...and other times, not at all. It was really frustrating to be able hear people on the other end, "hello? are you there? ah shoot...I think I lost you..." and the whole time their voice is ringing crystal clear.

Basically what I'm saying is it's time to get my phone replaced. It's in dire need. I mean...let's be honest here. Look at it:

Ode to a Procrastinator

Ok, so this really isn't an ode. For one, I've never really written an ode so I'm not exactly sure how I would do it...but maybe someone out there will feel inspired and write one as a comment to this post.

Basically I just wanted to say that I have reminded myself once again of the fact that I'm such a procrastinator. It's amazing how school will clue you in to a deeper understanding of self.

Oh, and I've also come to grips with the fact that I am the worst at remembering people's names. I HAVE GOT TO GET BETTER AT REMEMBERING PEOPLE'S NAMES. I should make it a personal goal to not have to ask anyone their name again after meeting them or something.

Today after Doc History I was walking to my Media Literacy class and saw 3 people whom I recognized, but for the life of me couldn't put a name with the face. Each of these 3 people waved, smiled, said hi, and called my BY NAME. Now, granted...I do realize that my name is...well, I'll say it's the perfect balance of unique (let me expound upon that thought.) What I mean by the perfect balance of unique isn't that it's just amazing and the most perfect name ever, what I mean is that it is unique (true), but not so unique that it's completely foreign to most people and therefore extremely difficult to remember. In fact, I've found that it's extremely easy for people to remember my name. In some ways, this is great. In other ways...well, it's not so great. Why? Well because it makes me feel even worse when I can't remember the person's name, but they remember mine. Aghhh!

Please forgive me if I forget your name. :(

Back to School

Well, I know what some of you are thinking..."finally." Where has he been?

Have no fear, I'm back and ready to blog. Right now I'm kickin' it up on campus, but as we speak...wireless should be getting set up in my house. :) Hurray! I really can't stand not having home access to the net. I can't count how many times I've thought to myself..."oh, no problem, I'll just hop online and take care of that right quick...oh wait, NOPE, I can't."

Anyways, you should be seeing much more of me now. In fact, there's a couple things I need to report since last I blogged so I'm sure the next couple posts you see from me might very well be concerning some of that. For now, let me just give you a quick little update or synopsis of my life of late:

School started on the 5th. So far it's looking like it's going to be a good semester. I'm definately going to be busy (I've got some time consuming classes, but they should all be really good. I'm also working two jobs...but only for a total of 20 hours a week, oh and...I'll most likely be doing some work in the advertising lab.)

Here's what classes I'm taking:

Screenwriting
Technical writing
History of Creativity
History of Documentary
Media Literacy

(they're all 3 credit classes. Hurray!)

As far as where I'm working...I'm still a TA for Intro to Film, but I've taken over as the "Head TA" so they schedule me for 15 hours a week. Basically I'm in charge of blackboard--making sure everything is posted that should be posted and that quizes are going like they should. Also, making sure all the TA's know what's going on. I'm the primary contact between the Professor and the other 12 TA's. I also run all the multimedia/film clips/etc during large lecture on Tuesdays and then of course I have my own lab that I teach on Wednesdays.

I'm also working in The Center for Service and Learning again (but only for 5 hours a week.) Perhaps some of you don't know, but as a student you can only work a total of 20 hours a week at a campus job. (It has something to do with allowing other students to work and not making BYU liable to give you benifits, etc since you're only part-time.) Anyways, the Center wanted me back (I've worked there forever it seems) even though I told them I could only work for 5 hours a week. Dang, they must love me or something.

Well, let's see...what else can I fill you in on before I publish this??? Ah yes, over the summer I bought a new fork for my Trek (my mountain bike), and I also bought a road bike. I'll be sure to post some pictures soon. I was also able to go on a mountain bike trip to Moab right before school started. Most of you probobly saw the pics (he has a pretty sweet pic posted of my rad hair) and read a little bit about it on Jason's blog. If you haven't allready, check it out. I'll try to post some pics of my own here soon once I get them all organized.

I figure that's enough for now. Stay tuned for more goodness from the life of me.