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:

11 Days in 1 post: May 3rd - 13th

Thursday

• Arrived in New York around 6 am
• made my way uptown to my friend Megan's house
• took a nap
• met Megan at her work (photo studio)
  
• ate Chipotle in Bryant Park

Friday

• slept in
• emailed and phoned lots of people in attempts to set up interviews for next week
• stopped by Geppetto (where I had my internship last year) to say hi to some people and ended up sitting in on a meeting for an hour or so
• helped Megan carry loads of food left over from a shoot for The Food Emporium to her apartment
• met up with friends at Madison Square Park for some Shake Shack!

Saturday

• grocery shopping
• picnic in Central Park with friends (food compliments of the Food Emporium)
• row row row your boat
• shopping in Soho (I bought a sweet satchel from J. Crew, new flip flops from H&M and mother's day presents from Anthropology)
• dinner at Malecon
  

Sunday

• Church at the Inwood ward
• Dinner at Adrienne's pad with good eats and good peeps

Monday

• First Interview: Maloney & Fox
• watched The Royal Tenenbaums (I was staying at a house just down the street from the house this movie was filmed at)
  

Tuesday

• cooked breakfast for the girls I was staying at
  
• Interview: Hall and Partners
• went to the ballet (Romeo and Juliet) with Christina as my hott date
  
• dinner/dessert at Cafe Lalo with Megan, Jared, and cute girl he brought down from Boston and took to the Opera
  

Wednesday

• Interview: Ogilvy , production dept
  
• Lunch with Adrienne and Christina
• Interview: Ogilvy , planning dept
  

Thursday

• Interview: Saatchi and Saatchi
  
• Lunch with Justin down in the Village
• Grand Central station to hop on a train to Connecticut for an interview at Just Kid Inc.
• Ate Dinosaur Barbecue with people at the IHouse
• Packed
  

Friday

• Interview at Insight
  
• lunch with everyone at Studio 26
• set up a last minute interview for later that day
  
• helped paint a wall green for a photo shoot
• Interview at Desgrippes Gobe
  
• Flew out of JFK airport...flight was delayed.

Saturday

• arrived in Salt Lake about 2 am
• slept over at Jason's place
• went mountain bike riding with Jason and Sean northeast of Salt Lake
• saw Nickel Creek in concert at Abravanel Hall with my brother

Sunday

• ate breakfast for dinner at The Village Inn in Provo at like 1 am
• slept
• church was good
• cabobs at my brothers house with sister and brother
  

one down, ? to go

Just finished the first of who knows how many interviews for places in NY. It was at a place called Maloney & Fox.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was a very enjoyable experience. It's really a cool place and somewhere I could honestly see myself working at. Really cool environment, people, and approach to advertising from what I could tell. I wasn't applying for a specific position/opening. It was more informational and for them to have my name on file, but who knows. Something might come of it.

Lately

So I realize that I've done a pretty poor job at keeping my blog readers posted on what's going on lately in my life. I just wanted to take this moment to tell you that I...

• arrived in NY just fine (early Thursday morning, the 3rd).
  
• think living with 5 girls is interesting.
  
• have had a fabulous time with dear friends (Shake Shack, Central Park, Sunday dinner, etc)
• stopped by Geppetto and said hi to the peeps there.
  
• went shopping (H&M, Anthropology, etc)
  
• am excited for the interviews I was able to set up for this week.

My first official interview is tomorrow afternoon with Maloney & Fox. Wish me luck.

I'll write more regarding the details of my NYC trip, fun activities, and interviews later. For now, please know that I'm enjoying myself and doing well.

Today I officially graduated!

I also:

• wore a shirt and tie
• received a compliment regarding above mentioned tie
  
• found out that several of my friends look a lot like their parental counterparts
• sat for WAY too long
  
• clapped repeatedly in the presence of President Hinckley
• saw the Vice President of the United States
• listened to the Vice President (very enjoyable actually)
  
• spent time with friends
• took pictures
  
• saw my youngest sister
  
• ate dinner with part of my family (Dad, older brother and sister, and youngest sister)
  
• surprised several different pairs of friends when they found out that I'm friends with one of their friends independent of my relationship with them (I know a good number of people)
  
• got a cool graduation gift
  
• ate Pudding on the Rice (for free)
• had an hour and a half phone conversation with a friend
• withstood the pain of a massive headache
  

Yesterday I...

• took my last college final
• clocked into work for like 10 minutes to fill out some employee interest questionnaire thing that made no sense since I'm graduating and leaving that job
• fixed someone's ipod
  
• received an unexpected graduation gift from a friend that means a lot to me (thank you anonymous.)
  
• sat and talked in our hammock with someone I desperately have been needing to talk to for awhile (I'm sorry I didn't say what I did sooner.)
  
• lost my moleskin notebook
• came home to an alarm clock that doesn't show the time anymore
  
• exchanged the brown tassel they gave me at the cap and gown place for a white one like I'm suppose to have (that would have been fun to be the only communications student at graduation tomorrow with a brown tassel...haha)
• received several positive emails about possible interviews in NY
• ate mac & cheese
  
• had a friend call to tell me he found a moleskin notebook with my name on the inside cover on a table in the WILK (at this point, I hadn't even known I'd lost it)
• graded some papers and input some grades (but not nearly as many as I should have today)
  
• got a massage (and oh was it marvelous)
  
• went to bed at like 2 am or something like that
  

I should be sleeping

489 Throwdown

OK, so it's almost here. The end of the semester is just around the corner and Monday is our big 489 presentation to EA. Some of you know the immensity of what this means. 489 is a major part of your culminating experience as an advertising student. If any BYU film students are reading this post: it's like 419...on crack.

I just want to say that I'm way excited for Monday. I got home a couple minutes ago, the majority of my evening having been spent running through our presentation with the rest of my group again, and again, and again. I love them! They are awesome!

I can't think of a better group of people I would want to share this culminating part of my college experience with.

Upcoming Show! This Saturday!!

I've been busy, but I really should post about this.

OK, so maybe you noticed the addition to the sidebar. You can see a list of our upcoming shows. I don't know how long this will last since I have no idea what's going to happen after I graduate so come enjoy The Plan while you can!!!

We are playing this Saturday at Muse Music with some other very talented musicians (at least, that's what I've been told....I don't know any of them personally, but apparently Taylor does.) Oh! and if you're lucky we will be unveiling a new song as well as have a guest come perform a song or two with us...yes folks, that's right: Rob Whalen. :)

Ode to a guy with ILS (Imaginary Lat Syndrome)

I see you as I walk toward the stairs to the RB.
You look like you're 15, and roughly 4 ft 3.

Is it short man's complex to which you've been diagnosed?
It very well might be, but it's not what I notice most.

It's your arms, oh your arms...how they hang there so awkward
away from your sides as if you've about to jump skyward.

Why is it, I ask, that you hold yourself mid funky chicken dance?
Why is it you stand in this most akward stance?

It's my muscles you cry!
My latissimus dorsi!
There's so swollen and huge!
roughly the size of Baton Rouge!

I take a second and look to see what you mean
but I see nothing unordinary, nothing obscene.

"Are you sure that's what's wrong?"
"Oh yes, I'm quite strong."

My fears now confirmed I have to profess
It's my humble opinion, this boy has ILS.

Stats

When I got home from working on 489 tonight I decided I'd ride the bike for a half hour. Here's how I did.

Speed (mph)
Average: 25.6
Max: 38.5 (I wasn't there for too long.)

Distance: 12.8 miles
Time: 30 min