nightmare

Have you ever had that nightmare where you go to your class one day and when you walk in, you don’t have any of your books or anything else. It is only after you sit down that you realize that your teacher is handing out an extremely hard test that you had completely forgotten about? Then, as you look at the test, you realize that you have no idea what is going on and everyone keeps talking to you about how easy it is.

You then, in a panic start to write your name at the top and then read the first question. Then the horrible words spewing forth from the mouth of your teacher:

“Everyone, hand in your test. You’re time is up.”

As you realize that you haven’t written anything except your name, you slowly walk to the front of the room. And turn in your exam. You know that it’s going to get no credit and all you can think about is dying right then and right there. Suddenly a cool breeze comes wafting past. It’s colder than it should be, like someone opened up the door to the outside and some winter winds came rushing in, although you know that it’s not that cold.

Oh great. You’re naked. In front of the class, and for some odd reason, they only now are beginning to notice that you are naked. Luckily, you are in a class of 95% males (I’m a male, so that makes sense) but that seems to make you more nervous because all the guys you know from the class start pointing and whispering… then laughing historically at you.

As you run outside, you see all the girls you ever dated (who knows why they are all in the engineering building) and they all want to come talk to you, somehow oblivious to the fact that you are naked running from a class. After a calm conversation, where you step lightly as to not let them know that you are naked, they then want to introduce you to their boyfriend.

Yeah. Those dreams suck. So guess how my day went today…

Well, I guess this whole story starts on Monday. I hadn’t looked at the schedule the week before so I didn’t know what days I as working. As I gazed on the organization of my life dictated by those who seem to be in charge of even the most minor details of my life such as where I’ll be every morning at 8:15, I found something that I thought might be a discrepancy.

I brought it up with my coworker who makes the schedule.

“Hey, I have a final at 1, and I don’t get off work until 1 on Wednesday.”

“Are you sure,” she replies, “because I gave you Tuesday off for your final on Tuesday.”

A sudden rush of doubt creeps into my mind. I pull out Grete (the handy G1) and start to look up the class website. At the bottom of the Schedule page, I saw in clear, bold letters,

Final Exam: TUESDAY Dec. 15, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

It was then that I decided I needed to plan my day to get everything done so that I could get some studying done.

Go to work… check.

Get home and eat

Go to the Service Auction

Be back with enough time to study. Perfect

Well, the Service Auction went later than I expected. I was in charge of getting all the audio set up (which I did and I totally rocked the audio system’s world) so I had to stay till the end so I could put everything away.

I got home at about 10:30. That’s not to late, well, except if you are feeling sick and have a deep desire to go to bed so that you can be alive for the test the next day.

Tuesday:

Wake up, and study

Eat Breakfast

Relax for an hour to calm the nerves.

Head to the test.

To maintain the calm relaxed exterior, Mojo needed some sweet music to rock out to all the way to school. Grete gets plugged in (how cool is she?) and Pandora starts. Well, I must have been listening to some more mainstream (who? Mojo?) calmer music because a familiar, Mojo-wishing-it-was-forgotten song came on the air.

Hands Down (Acoustic) by Dashboard Confessional

Now, why would this song want to be forgotten? Oh, that’s right. It’s the song that reminds Mojo of the first (and probably only) girl to break his heart.

Awesome.

Now to the test itself, let’s just say I didn’t feel as good about it as the last test. And the last test I felt pretty good about… and didn’t do “pretty good.”

Yikes.

I think I may just change my expected graduation date to 2019.

life update

So I thought that I might need to take a little time to update you on what's been going on in my life. Here it goes...

Kate and Tom are in trouble.


It seems that the scientology and weirdness of being controlling has really been taking a toll on Kate. She's been taking care of their little girl Suri (who seems to be dressing like a 30 year old at the age of 3) but Tom has been very controlling about the whole thing. Even down to the little stuff like what the family eats for breakfast.

The whole thing seems odd to Kate's friends too. She seems much more distant in the past little while. It's like she's a whole other person. In some of her new movies, she doesn't seem to socialize with her coworkers as well as she did in the past.

So in other words, someone left US Weekly at work...

choose your words wisely

The people I know make me happy.

So, you know that a conversation is going to be good from the sentence that precedes it. Such examples include:

I can say this because my best friend is a bishop...

Now I love [ethnicity] people, but...

So a new one was laid on me today. It was one that I had never heard before.

We're friends, so we can talk about this...

The conversation that followed was how since her breast implant surgery, it's been somewhat difficult because she is always cold but if she wears anything to keep warm, she sweats more than anyone could imagine.

"Oh. Thanks for... letting me know...?"

why google wins

the google on the inter-web

Do you ever do Google searches for yourself? I do. It's somewhat depressing that I don't ever come up in those searches though. I even cheat and put my city or state... and nothing.

And then in my stupor of thought and depression (from not being popular... even on the internet), I figure, "Why don't I see if other people I know come up when I type their names." This only depresses me more though.

I have to say that I know of someone, whom I know would not like me to divulge ANY information about him/her via the internet (those who read this regularly will know whom I'm talking about... yes, you.) who seems to come up on most every search for his/her name. It's somewhat sickening. I then decide to try the image search. You got it readers, there is his/her face staring right back at me.

It makes me laugh. Because usually at that point I start doing the image search for my own name (which I'm sure you a thinking about doing to yourself at this very moment) to see what I can find. Why don't I share that with you:

Yep. Some awesome guy with a mustache, and a picture of 9/11. Well, if I'm going to be associated with 9/11, at least I'm sporting a mustache that just says, "Yeah, that's right. I've got a mustache. Want to fight about it?"

lazy friday

Nothing says fun like staying home on a Friday morning and getting some vital stuff done.

TV
Nap
Email
Blog
Paying my first speeding ticket ever which was $90
Raisin Bran

Well, some of those being more important that others.

I do have to admit, I've been pulled over before, but the first time was this early this summer... and the second 3 days later... but this was my first ticket.

So I give all you readers (4 I believe) to watch yourself. When you are in Salt Lake, and you want to get off the freeway at 500 South, REMEMBER THAT THE OFFRAMP HAS A SPEED LIMIT. It's 40 MPH. I know. That seems crazy to me too. Just be forewarned.

fifth of november

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

Well, it's Guy Fawkes day. For those of you who don't know what that is, just Wikipedia it. I does make me want to watch V for Vendetta...

art attack!

So I've been doing some work with Charcoal in my art class. I'd say I'm getting pretty good. I've only done three drawings so far in the medium. The first was only three hues: white, shadow, black. I decided not to take pictures of that one 'cuz it's not quite as interesting. So here was my first attempt at a whole range of hue:


I sadly was unable to finish Pooh Bear, but what can you do, right? Next, one especially for Halloween:


They were teddy bears with Halloween masks intermingled with baby dolls.

going places

Here is Mojo's daily attire (due to work dress codes):


Here's Mojo's mode of transportation across campus:


Yes, it's quite the sight to see. Although what is more interesting are the looks from people watching me streak past them in a blur of solid colored shirt and striped tie. There are mainly three different looks that I tend to see. All of which, I saw today. To make the explanation of easier to understand, I refer to NBCs The Office:

Firstly, there is the Jim Halpert. This normally comes from non-longboarders:


Secondly, the Dwight Schrute. This comes from those who walk in the bike lane:


Lastly, my personal favorite. The Michael Scott. This look comes from longboarders, especially the longboarders that I know personally:


Not too long ago, I was leaving my art class and someone in the class came up to me and asked, "Hey, do you longboard." My class is at night and the materials are to cumbersome to carry while longboarding so it doesn't come with me to class. I responded with a resounding yes. She then told me that she had seen me longboarding across campus that day and thought to herself that it was so funny to see someone dressed like a businessman riding a longboard across campus... twice.

I somewhat like being that type of spectacle on campus. I'm hoping that I get some sort of nickname like, "Longboarding Business Guy," or "Necktie Boarder." Something like that. Readers, see what you can do about that.

poor, poor (totally awesome) mojo

My adventures for this week can all be seen in this informative and hilarious fake web ad:

2009-10 Season Pass to Brighton Ski Resort: $215

New Boots: $110

New Bindings: $100

New Board: $200

A new friend at Sports Autority who told us that we could go boarding with him as long as 2.0 doesn't make him tie her boots for her: Priceless.

For everything else, there's credit card debt. Accepted most anywhere but hardly acceptable.

Yeah. That's right readers. I'm so ready for this jump into awesomeness. Plus, just OWNING the gear makes me cool, let alone my sweet skills whilst wearing them. Ah, yeah.

2.0 and I went back to Sniagrab on Saturday and got our best friend (whom we met our first time there) to help us get the rest of the gear. Toni (aka, 'bluetooth') helped me pick out a good board and some awesome bindings.

Afterward we headed to Costco to meet up with some other friends and get some shopping done. It was fun running around the isles, pointing out great eats, trying samples of lime roasted shrimp and BBQed Beef. Nothing beats going there on a Saturday.

We were there with 2.0's little sister J who was extremely late getting home for a family party (which 2.0 was only planning to stop-by for some time during the night). We drove out and said hello to everyone. Well, it was quickly evident that we should stay (steaks on the grill) so we helped fix dinner and ate with the entire family. Now when I say entire family, I'm not exaggerating when I am saying ma and pa, 4 siblings, 6 nieces and nephews NOT including the 2 babies. It was a full house.

We had a great time talking a playing with the kids. I even found out I have a class with 2.0's brother. Who knew? Darn that university for having a class of 200 students!

it's completely linux based...

For those of you who have never seen Criminal Minds, it's a show about FBI agents who get called into areas to help solve crimes. There was one episode I watched once where the main computer-wiz was out and someone had to take over her job for a little while. The new tech said after a shocked look on his face, and I quote:

"It's completely Linux-based!"

Okay. I'm a computer geek. That is not being refuted. But to be completely honest, that would be like me walking into a bakery and saying, "Wow. This cake is made from flour!"

Yes Linux isn't that well advertised in the "land of the norms" (non geeks) but still...

To get to my story, I've been wanting to create a computer recently with a good coax input running a linux operating system. My reasoning? I can take an old computer, put a fairly lean OS on it, and use it as a cheap DVR. It's not like I couldn't just get one from the cable company, but it's more about the adventure.

That was a few months ago. I never got around to doing it. I've had two torn apart computers sitting in my room since the beginning of summer with the full intention of doing said project. Many months later... time to get rid of the mess.

I took the computers to my local BestBuy and said my last goodbyes. I figure, if I really want to do it in the future, I can always find an old computer. There' no real need to keep them lying around in the off chance that I DO have time work on it.

That being said, with Snow Leopard (Mac OS 10.6) now installed on my computer, my virtual machine program no longer worked so I lost my Virtual Windows machine. I got a new program, and reinstalled Windows... and Ubuntu (Linux)... and Mythbuntu (A branch of Ubuntu with DVR programs installed). Yeah. Might as well mess with them before I start building a machine...

Baby steps...

v jack

For those who don't read my school blog, (and who would?) I just thought you would enjoy last night's adventure:




Need I say more?

adventure 101

The blogoshere is interesting. It's a place where you can read updates about poeple's lives, food they've eaten, diseased cats, adventures in Mexico, anything really. Although there is one catch the whole process: updating.

I have a writing class this semester that has an assignment to write a blog post and comment on someone else's blog each week. This seemed like a simple task when I first started the class, but I have quickly started seeing blogging as "an assignment" rather than a release from assigned work. This is depressing. VERY depressing. This "assignment" feeling flowed over into this blog too.

So I need to think of a way to make blogging into the fun time again. Originally it was a girl who got me into the whole thing. Girls come and go, but blogs shouldn't have to. I really want to make sure to update this puppy as much as possible. I think that's why I started the blog with the theme of being thankful. It gave me something to write about.

Hence, Adventure 101.

I'm going to try and give as many examples of the adventures of my life as possible. I'm thinking once a week is going to be much easier than daily or sporadically.

Piper.

We watched a cute 7 year old at our house this week. She stayed with us for two nights and she slept in the basement (scary for a 7 year old) next to my room. The best part? My father decided that Coraline would be a good fun movie to watch right before bed. Tim Burton movies always set the mood for a delightful and restful evening.

3:30 am: "Morgan... Morgan... I had a bad dream. It was about spiders."

She's adorable. We went back into her room, talked for a second, and then she went back to bed.

All-in-all, it was pretty fun with her. She's totally cute and has enough energy to power most of Europe for 6 months.

holy fast, it's 3g

For crying out loud, it's about time. T-Mo has decided to grace us here with the presence of 3G wireless internet. Although I haven't had time to really had time to utilize the blazing speed of 3G since I've been at work and school all day, but like the baby panda at the zoo, it's comforting just to know that it's there.

This week is turning out to be a little less stressful than last week. Holy Hannah, I thought I was going to jab my eyeballs out with stress last week. This week is going to be much calmer.

With all this calmness, now all I need to do is find something fun to do with high-speed internet.

smile

Things that make me happy:

Reading blogs
Cartoons
Chatting
Argyle socks
Leather couches
Quiet
Guitars
Steam
Reflections (literal and figurative)
Firm pillows
Wifi
Naps
Magic
Koala bears
Koala soda (which I haven't seen in years)
Hulu
Friendly strangers
Pears
Open windows
Heavy blankets
Bookshelves
The Russian letter "Ж"
People with interesting names
Art
Snugly Pets
Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost

Readers, I just thought it was about time to make a good list of good things. Make your own. It's pretty relaxing. You can even post it in my comments if you want.

mega mega megaman

Readers, I've started a new blog. Well, to be honest I started the blog a a few weeks ago, but now it's getting interesting.

I'm writing a blog for one of my classes. It's all about the project I'm working on for my 3d modeling course. It can be found here. (http://mojoschool.blogspot.com/)

3D Megaman is coming along. I'm actually pretty proud of my artistic ability. Those are sketches which yes, line-up nearly perfectly.

visa card, be gentle

Well, Mojo will be poor for the next little while. 2.0 and I bought season passes to night skiing at Brighton. I know. How could I resist a night skiing pass for $200? Well, actually it would have been very easy.

2.0 called me the other day with the idea of buying passes. Now, Mojo's not rolling in the dough, but he's not too poor either. The only problem that I was faced with was that the sale of tickets ended only a few hours after I found out about it. The entire night was spent pondering and debating about the tickets. $200 is nothing to shake a fist at.

Lyndsi, a mutual friend without a cool nickname yet... YET... went up enough times last winter to necessitate a season pass. But not everyone was on board for the $200 investment in pure adrenaline fun. So time pondering was spent and a reasonable compromise was found. 2 for 1.

The resort does a 2 for 1 deal each Monday, Wednesday, Friday (although you have to stand in line for a while) for $16 bucks a person. That's a steal. Better than going for $32. We made a Facebook group so we can contact people about going to the 2 for 1 deal. I know. Sweet.

So here's the deal: It's going to be a little different from what I'm used to... see below


Regular Skiing vs Night Skiing

Warm... Cold (New warmer gear) $$
Bright (Sunglasses)... Dark (New SEEING glasses) $$
Preperation... Able to go on short notice

Plus, the boots I'm wearing above are slightly too small so I can't wear thick socks... yikes. I'll have to see if I can find some sales online.

welcome back jerk

I'm sitting in the computer lab waiting for my next class. I feel congested. Not nasally though. Timely. I've had so much to do before noon today that all of yesterday and the beginning of today was nothing but sheer congestion of time and things.

One of my classes (CS 4400 Computer Systems) is pure hell. The information is somewhat interesting, but I'm not seeing any applicable information to me. I like learning about some of this stuff, but it's hard to buckle down especially when the homework is very one-answer oriented. A + B = = C. It's tiring. We went over the homework that we had just turned in. It wasn't looking so good. Let me give you an example:

Is this always true? If not, give an example that would prove it wrong.




Note: What you are looking at is True = True.

Mathematically, yes. It's true. Computer-Sciencely, no. What if y is the Max_min? Negating an already extreme negative maintains its negativity. Mojo got that one wrong.

One after another like that too. Arg.

Ah to be the SOEP again... sigh.



So long SOEP. You're already missed.

don't let school get in the way of your education

Readers, it's been a little while since I've written. The vacation was awesome!

Boston rocked
New York rocked
Niagra Falls rocked
Connecticut rocked
DC rocked

Yeah. You heard me. We went EVERYWHRE! In fact, in NYC, we ended up walking more than 23 miles in one day. Yeah. That's borderline "hardcore," although I'm just "core."

For teh most part, there were about five to eight people just gallivanting round the touristy areas. I more my SOEP shirt as much as possible, but you can only wear a bright yellow shirt with a squirrel on the front so often before the stares and shaking of heads from absolute strangers seems to weigh you down. But I got some quality ones like me at Fenway Park (Go Reds!) and Yankee Stadium (Go Yanks!).

Now, back to school. If I can get through the next week or two unscathed, I'll see that as a great omen of luck and prosperity.

natalie update

Well, I worked on a little video the other day. It's a pretty simple on about a girl named Natalie that was diagnosed with Juvenal Onset Diabetes. I'm pretty sure I've written about her in the past.

Well, I just checked online to see how the donations for the Step for the Cure was going. Let's just say that they are well above 100% of their goal.

It makes me really happy to see that there are still people in the world that can take a need of someone and take the time to donate, contribute and even in a small way, take the time to make a difference in someone's life. From all the pictures that I got from Devany (mom), I can tell that this girl is adorable. She seems to be so energetic and life-loving. What a neat thing for me to take part in.

Tonight I made some new friends. They are friends of friends who are now just friends. But as we got ready for bed, which as you can tell, I'm not being very good about being in seeing as it just passed 5:00 am as I sit here Facebook stalking and typing away, we discussed our favorite passages of scripture. I pulled out a scripture that is so dear to my heart, that I don't often share it... and since I only have 2 readers, I thought I would share with you what insight I get from a simple and overtly overlooked one.

And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness.

Now, the first time that I share this scripture with others, they read it, and stop, dazed and confused. So let's do the back story:

Mahonri Moriancumer (Commonly referred to in the scriptures as the 'brother of Jared') had a dilemma. He was commanded of the Lord to build a ship. One unlike ANYTHING anyone of the time had seen. It was to be built for a long journey across the ocean and thus had to be windowless and air tight. But with this comes a lack of light. So BoJ tells the Lord that he sees a problem, and the Lord, in His infinite wisdom, doesn't fix the problem, but rather asks BoJ what to do. He quickly devises a plan and tells the Lord:

I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man; therefore touch these stones...

Here's what's so cool. He does it. With His finger, he touches the stones and they glow. It totally works! God didn't solve BoJ's problem with some light from the heavens to come down and sit in the middle of the ship. No. First he let BoJ figure out a good plan in which he used other stones. God being the Father of all wisdom and knowledge, prepared them so that they would be the source of light unto the people.

God uses people to bring His light into the world of darkness. He let's us find the light from those who are around us. Strength from our family or friends. Kindness from a stranger. Help from a leader. Love from God through a fellow man.

So I ask you this: What are your stones? What brings you strength? What has God put in your life that truly brings peace and God's love? Think about it for a moment. You can come back to reading in just a moment.

[Intermission]

Now, there is only one more thing that I leave you with. A question so vital to our own happiness. One that is a thousand times more important than the ones previously stated...

Are YOU a stone in someone else's life?

I hope that in this small gesture of creating a simple movie for a cause that would have otherwise just passed me by, that I have been a source of light, if only for a moment, to this wonderful family. I pray that I have helped someone feel the love of God, and the life changing light and warmth it brings. God is in the details, and we are the details.

the red coats are coming.

Dear Boston,

My name is Morgan. It's nice to meet you.

Thank you for your wonderful falafel. They are super tasty.

Although it was hot, I am thankful that you were so kind as to have fountains for us to run though.

Tomorrow will be fun and we won't be tired from traveling. Thanks for letting us stay.

Sincerely,
Mojo

but a banana in your ear

Our new song for the trip: Put a Banana in your Ear. Don't ask.

We said a sad farewell to Eric and Kate, and we were on the road again for Albany!

We had a fun stop at an historical landmark for my church. It was pretty sweet. Kirtland, OH baby! I know, for most of you, that doesn't mean much, but for members of my church it's pretty freakin' sweet. That's kinda the birthplace and there were some cool things that happened there. Feel free to check it out. We did.

We went and had a tour given by the sister missionaries. One from Hawaii (who could easily take Grant on in a teasing war. I was impressed) and one from Orem, so like neighbors.

I took some pics, but they are on the camera... in the car...

Elektra (the receptionist at the hotel) recommended a restaurant for us in Albany, but we got lost a little bit. So we walked down this street and found this AWESOME Chinese place called Awesome Wok Chinese. Yeah. That's how you know it's good.

rain, rain, go away

(Cincinnati, OH) Day two may have started a little rainier than we had expected... Oh well. I guess you can't win them all.

Although I think we are running into this storm a lot on the trip. And when I say run into a lot, I really mean, get in the middle and follow it all the way to Boston. It rained at the hotel last night while we were sleeping and then we drove right into the heart of it.

I'm a little worried about the baseball game in Boston though. We have tickets for the Sox Vs. Yankees game in Boston (Fenway Park) on Saturday. As you can see, with the whole "driving with the storm" party we are having, I'm scared the extremely expensive tickets are going to go up in smoke... or rainy haze as the case may be.

I'm pretty amazed at how much rain there is here. And it comes with NO WARNING. About ten times today alone, we have been hit with sudden POURING rain. It's so bad that we can't really see out the car. It's amazing. I was Google Talking with Sallee while in the smooshed (Spell check is really angry with that, but offers no real help or suggestions) back seat of Grant's car and she too reminisced on the awe of how quickly they come and how mysteriously they seem to appear AND vanish.

Notable Landmarks passed today? Well let's see...

Iowa: None, although there was quoting of Field of Dreams ('Is this Heaven?' 'No, It's Iowa.')

Okay I lie. There was that exciting part where I-80 turned slightly to the right, but it was fleeting and we were back to going in a strait line.

Although we did pass one awesome place of note on our trip today...

Yes, the exit for Knox College. Ah, the memories... *Sallee's Memories plus the one time I came out to visit*

We're staying with Eric and Kate whose picture I stole from their blog. They are totally awesome for letting us stay with them. We even got a tour ("tu-er" NOT "tore". "Uuuu" sound, like in pOO). This is the first time we've seen them since the move to Cincinnati: A city whose name I learned how to spell today while trying to find it in the GPS... after about 30 incorrect spellings. They have a great place and live in a very lively city. It seems like a huge place (with 2 Million people, it should) but the area they live in is quaint enough to still be labeled as comfortably rural-urban.

seop #4: road to boston

Well readers, the time has come for the final Summer Of Epic Proportions trips (number 4): The final and big shebang. Road trip to Boston!

For those of you who don’t know why Boston, I’m headed to help my friend Grant move in to the housing at MIT. He’s there to do his PhD. I know. Smarty pants.

We’re driving across country in a little car packed to the brim with stuff. It’s a pretty funny sight to see. There is barely room for the three of us driving out there. The back seat is pretty cramped, but all withstanding, it’s pretty fun.

Awesome.

We have some pretty big plans for the trip, including New York, Niagra Falls, DC and a tour of the White House. Oh yeah baby!

So my friend Frances is living in DC and I sent a text to let her know that we were going to be in town. I was hoping to meet up with her one of the days and go to lunch or just chill. We are going to be in DC on the weekend so I thought that would work out pretty well. It worked out better that well. After a few texts talking about plans, Frances told us that we could crash with her. That’s going to be way better than the plans we had. Sa-weet!

operation codename: boot

Natalie is back from her surgery, and she came with a new, boring, fun-killing toy... a boot.

Well, after we told her that her new nickname was "Boot" and that her boot's nickname was "Fun-Killing Boot," we got to work making sure that this boot could rock out. (The name of "Fun-Killing Boot" comes from the fact that Natalie was going to come to the GSL with us, but she couldn't because she can't get the boot or her foot wet. Boring. Fun Kill...)

Here was my contribution tonight:

The picture doesn't quite do it justice. Yes, those are freaking awesome flames coming out of FKB. My logo is the M in the corner. Yes, it's on fire too. Awesome.

Natalie is going to be just fine. She just needs some time to have a little R&R.

an soep reunion

'Twas a Summer of Epic Proportions reunion! We drove to Magna and saw Urka (Erica) in her play at the Empress Theater. The play was Once Upon a Mattress. It was awesome. And don't you worry, we all wore our SOEP shirts. Each of the cast members, including Erika, told us how distracting it was to look into the audience and see a complete row of BRIGHT YELLOW shirts as seen below:
A delightful reunion followed by IHOP. Mmmm... Pancakes...

soep trip #3

You know, looking back on my blog posts, I didn't ever really write about Yellowstone, which was the inaugural Summer Of Epic Proportions trips, but I'm sure when I get some time, I'll write about it. But for now, trip 3: buoyancy.

We (2.0 et al) took a trip to the Great Salt Lake. For those of you who do NOT know about the GSL, you will be pleased to learn that it is one of the most salty bodies of water in the world. That being said, only one organism can live there. Brine Shrimp.

These little buggers are a delicious treat for most fish, but since the water is so salty in the GSL, they seem to thrive without the natural predator. They are tiny and if you are not looking for them, you won't see them, but in the lake, THEY ARE EVERYWHERE AND NUMBER IN THE MILLIONS! It's kinda gross to swim with them (including the stink of the lake), but that is in fact what we did.

We had stemware with bottles of sparkling apple cider and other good beverages. We got out in the water, and watched the sun set as we drank cider and played. One would think that as soon as you got out far enough, it would be hard to keep afloat with all the stemware, bottles, etc. Not the case in the GSL. Because we are more buoyant, it was in fact hard to be completely immersed in the lake. I tried. Floating is so easy, that it's hard to sink, if not impossible. It's quite the experience. If you can stand smelling horrible for the next 48 hours (with showers... showerS) it's amazing to try.

After some frisbee and such, we got out and headed back to Sarah's house for some treats. One of the group members has a hot tub in the apartment complex so we headed over there. We all rinsed off as best we could and got in the hot tub. Even with the best rinsing, when we got out, we still found little brine shrimp not-so-enjoying themselves in the hot tub. ...Sorry to those that have to clean it...

Quickly heading to the Pi Pizzeria for a bite, the night came to a conclusion. Good times. Although smelling myself even after a shower, hot tub and a shower... this is going to be an interesting thing to explain to those around me. Although with the salt deposits after swimming, you come out feeling like you are COVERED in sand (which is purely salt), your skin does look amazing!

an ode to breakfast

There's something to be said

For having white bread

with mustard and some smoked ham.

You want to add cheese?

You can do as you please.

Nothing's better than a sandwich in hand.

Readers (I put a plural on that because I think I have two now), I thought you just might want to join in the praise of a delicious breakfast. I hear it's the most important meal of the day.

burgers and donuts

Okay, tonight pretty much rocked. Laursen called me and we decided that it was high time that we got some food. We were pretty hungry. Well, one thing led to another and we were off to Alby's to grab some fixins for burgers and dogs. $10 later, and we had enough food to feed enough for the impromptu BBQ.

One or two invites seemed to escalate into a few more which seemed to take another step, and before we knew it, it wasn't just three or four people, but rather we had a good ten or eleven.

2.0 came and brought a salad that she had made. It was freakin awesome. She had composed her own raspberry vinaigrette dressing on spinach and mixed lettuce. (No iceberg junk for this masterpiece)

A mutual friend Heather was there and shortly after leaving, I got a call from someone she drove with named Angela. Angela explained that Heather had gotten a flat tire just after leaving my house and needed some help. I was on my way to the rescue.

Now, I'm no MASTER at changing tires, but I know what I'm doing. But this tire was a MONSTER to get off. A very kind officer of the law stopped and helped us with the light. We chatted with him while we got the tire off and he told us about how we was working the night shift on this particular street for just a little while. He had come from being undercover ("a long haired dirtbag with earrings, not to say long hair or earrings make you a dirtbag...") where he had been working for the last 5 years or so. Before that, he was a homicide detective. Wow.

Well, with the donut in place, Officer Long-Hair was off and we all parted our ways. I drove Sarah home while she got the update of her nephew who was in the hospital for having a nut lodged in his esophagus. Fun. Now I'm off to bed to sleep until eight AM work... yippy...

ben rocks

Kudos to Ben for the awesome pic at the top of my blog. He wants the credit, so I'm giving it to him. It's from the Yellowstone Summer of Epic Proportions trip. There was a strorm coming in over the water. It was pretty amazing.

white trash day

For those of you who know our family, we do have a few white trash things lying around. Since before I can remember, we have had a soda machine in the back yard. When I was a wee lad, I remember a dry season where the Coke machine died and left us high and dry for nearly a whole millennium (although real time was much shorter, a matter of day seems closer) and to a kid, that is pure hell.

On top of that, we do have an old church pew right next to the giver-of-cold-beverages-with-the-quarters-on-top. Oft I would sit on the pew, drinking a cool refreshing beverage, probably a root beer or Mountain Dew, and think to myself, "What a wonderful world."

Well not too long ago, there was a new addition to the RFC. We have had him (as well as his brothers who have been replacements for when the previous one seems to have flaws or breaks) in the family for years, and it was a good day to see him rise from the ashes of winter like the phoenix of summer. Welcome back old friend and thank you for bringing summer back into our lives.



This is where he has killed the grass in previous years and left us with putting a "putting green" in his stead.

It's good to have you back.