double-duty: So today and last night were a bit stressful. I'll start with yesterday morning. I got a call from Brother Rickson in my bishopric and was surprised to hear him ask me to give a talk in sacrament meeting. I said yes and then told him that I was also teaching Gospel Doctrine... perhaps in hopes that he would retract his invite, but he didn't mention it and just carried on with the conversation! Subtle-attempt-at-getting-out-of-speaking FAIL! So last night I had to plan both my talk and my lesson. I feel like neither was great because I didn't give either enough time to develop. Oh well... the important thing is that I'm done with double-duty, and I didn't get booed out of my lesson or off the stand.
crying: As I was leaving home yesterday I mentioned to my mom that the week ahead of me was going to be very tough. "If ever there was going to be a week where I called home from school crying... this would be it." I'm frankly very scared. I don't know if I'm going to be able to get through all of it with the grades I want. My GIS class as I mentioned a couple posts ago is NOT treating me well. I'll live, but hopefully I'll be happy with the outcome.
heartburn: I don't think I've ever experienced heartburn until the past few weeks. It's not great. I don't like it. And I wish to voice my opinion that it should be stopped. That is all.
blue l.e.d. christmas lights: I know some of you have heard me rant about them before, but I really don't like the new l.e.d. Christmas lights that are blue. People think I'm crazy when I say this, but they hurt my eyes. Yesterday, as I helped my mom put up her new l.e.d. Christmas lights, I finally figured out why. I like the colors of her lights, but the blue ones are different. She and I went out to her sidewalk to look at the lights when they came on in the evening. I noticed that when I looked directly at the bulbs of the blue ones (my mom has the large-style lights) they're all fuzzy and my eyes won't focus on them! The other colors... my eyes can focus on them just fine. (I like the green.) But when I stared directly at the blue ones, they look all blurry! So they've been messing with my eyes from a distance all this time that I've been complaining about them. So there! I'm NOT crazy! (Provided ranting about Christmas lights doesn't qualify me for crazy.)
a lack of bloggage: As mentioned before... this next week is going to be tough. And unless I'm going to be shirking on my school-work, you should probably not see me on here for a while. The semester ends next week. Wish me luck!
k, see ya.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
I'm thankful for squirrels. (My thanks in videos)
I'm thankful for squirrels.
I'm thankful for turkeys.
I'm thankful for people who keep the news interesting.
I'm thankful for muffins... funny funny muffins.
I'm even thankful for Christopher Walken.
I'm thankful for hilarious dogs.
Most of all, I'm thankful for Jesus Christ.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Whirling Disease in Utah
Did you know that whirling disease is caused by a microscopic parasite called Myxobolus cerebralis? - Now you do.
- Did you know that just because spores of this parasite are present in a stream, it does not mean that whirling disease will be manifest in that stream's fish?
- Now you do.
- Did you know that whirling disease can cause various conspicuous types of mutation and the darkened tails exhibited by the trout in the photo to the right?
- Now you do.
- Did you know that I have a freakin' huge project due not too long from now that is causing me much stress and makes me want to whirl... hurl?
- Now you do.
I really want to go fishing.
Mostly I just want to be done with law school apps, graduation, and this semester.
I'll get there.... whirl.
K, see ya.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Best Places to Eat in Cache Valley, Utah
I'm in a list-making mood. Since here in Logan there's nothing to do but eat... I'm going to make some sweet lists of the best eateries in the Logan area. Spencer is helping me out with this one.
Top 10 Local Fast Food Joints:
1. Logan Burger and Sandwiches (Main Street)
2. La Tormenta (North Logan, Strip mall by Wal-mart)
3. Logan's Heroes (Main)
4. Center Street Grill (Center and Main)
5. Old Grist Mill (Bakery that makes a great sandwich)(Providence and one on 400 North)
6. Andy's (North Logan, Main)(Great new place.)
7. Pounders (Main) (By Spencer's recommendation)
8. La Beau's (North Logan, 1400 N.)(It would be higher if it wasn't so darn expensive and slow)
9. Yah Poh! (North Logan by Best Buy) (Way good Chilean food that takes FOREVER, call ahead.)
10. Pasta LaBella (In The Hub food court in the Taggart Student Center on USU campus) (The pizza's pretty good, but I mostly love it for the awesome Japanese lady that sells the pizza. It will brighten your day to see her. GUARANTEED!)
Top 5 Local Full-service Restaurants:
1. The Beehive Grill (New place on Main)
2. Iron Gate Grill (Providence)
3. Hamilton's (North Logan, Main)
4. Firehouse Pizza (Providence and Smithfield) (Darn good food, and try a FH'zookie.)
5. Cafe Sabor (West side of Logan... don't know the street. It's an old train station.)(Good Mexican food.)
Top 5 Ice Cream:
1. Casper's (Providence)
2. Cold Stone (North Logan, 1400 N.)(Yeah, it's a chain, but it's darn good ice cream)
3. Charlie's (Main)(Just don't go inside, I hate the smell of the place. Drive through's great though.)
4. Aggie Ice Cream (On USU campus, 1000 East)
5. Angie's Restaurant (It's a full-service restaurant, but you'll see bumper stickers around town that say "I cleaned the sink at Angie's!" You get a literal small sink full of ice cream and you get the bumper sticker if you can finish the whole thing off. Usually done with a big group of people. Kinda fun.)
Like I said... there's not much else to do here but eat. Enjoy!
Top 10 Local Fast Food Joints:
1. Logan Burger and Sandwiches (Main Street)
2. La Tormenta (North Logan, Strip mall by Wal-mart)
3. Logan's Heroes (Main)
4. Center Street Grill (Center and Main)
5. Old Grist Mill (Bakery that makes a great sandwich)(Providence and one on 400 North)
6. Andy's (North Logan, Main)(Great new place.)
7. Pounders (Main) (By Spencer's recommendation)
8. La Beau's (North Logan, 1400 N.)(It would be higher if it wasn't so darn expensive and slow)
9. Yah Poh! (North Logan by Best Buy) (Way good Chilean food that takes FOREVER, call ahead.)
10. Pasta LaBella (In The Hub food court in the Taggart Student Center on USU campus) (The pizza's pretty good, but I mostly love it for the awesome Japanese lady that sells the pizza. It will brighten your day to see her. GUARANTEED!)
Top 5 Local Full-service Restaurants:
1. The Beehive Grill (New place on Main)
2. Iron Gate Grill (Providence)
3. Hamilton's (North Logan, Main)
4. Firehouse Pizza (Providence and Smithfield) (Darn good food, and try a FH'zookie.)
5. Cafe Sabor (West side of Logan... don't know the street. It's an old train station.)(Good Mexican food.)
Top 5 Ice Cream:
1. Casper's (Providence)
2. Cold Stone (North Logan, 1400 N.)(Yeah, it's a chain, but it's darn good ice cream)
3. Charlie's (Main)(Just don't go inside, I hate the smell of the place. Drive through's great though.)
4. Aggie Ice Cream (On USU campus, 1000 East)
5. Angie's Restaurant (It's a full-service restaurant, but you'll see bumper stickers around town that say "I cleaned the sink at Angie's!" You get a literal small sink full of ice cream and you get the bumper sticker if you can finish the whole thing off. Usually done with a big group of people. Kinda fun.)
Like I said... there's not much else to do here but eat. Enjoy!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
I have NO idea where in the country I will be next year...
Applying for law school is kind of weirding me out. I haven't the slightest clue where I'm going to be a year from now. I think this is the first time since waiting for my mission call that I've felt like this. (Holy crap, it's been 5 years since I got my mission call... that's nuts.) On Thursdays I work two shifts. (What's wrong with me that I'm on my computer between these shifts!? You'd think I'd have had enough computer time.) I spent the whole of my first shift compiling my "short list" of schools that I'm going to apply to. I've been working on figuring out where I was going to apply for a long time, but today I finally just decided on 10, yes, TEN schools that I'm going to apply to. I'm applying to a wide enough range of schools that I don't know if I'll end up in LA or Connecticut. It's a lot crazy.
Here's my long "short list" (I remember when McCain and Obama were picking their VP, the media kept talking about their short lists of candidates, and I want my own short list) of schools:
There ya go. My "short" list that actually felt super long. Where do you see me? Provo? Salt Lake? Arlington? L.A.? Champaign? Tempe? Hamden? Hartford? Williamsburg? Cincinnati?
Here's my long "short list" (I remember when McCain and Obama were picking their VP, the media kept talking about their short lists of candidates, and I want my own short list) of schools:
- Arizona State University: It's not a bad school it seems. It's a VERY hot school, but I think I'd rather be super hot at the beginning and end of the school year than frozen like I frequently am throughout the school year in this frosty Frigidaire of a city I live in now.
- Brigham Young University: Ok... this one's a no-brainer. It's the least expensive top 50 law school. It's 15 minutes from home. I can find me a Mormon wife.
- University of Cincinnati: This is a nearly top 50 school that is actually a safety school for me. They didn't make me pay the application fee, so why not, right? I actually started my application to them because they were the first to offer me a fee waiver, but then a BUNCH more schools offered them to me. (In fact, aside from BYU and ASU, all of these schools offered application fee waivers.)
- University of Connecticut: I'm not really sure why this one is happening. Pretty much the same reasons as Cincy.
- George Mason University: This is a school that I'm really interested in. It's a top 50 school, it is right by D.C., and it's a conservative school (which is only appealing because I won't feel quite as weird being a Mormon in a conservative atmosphere.) Being right by D.C., this is probably the best dating atmosphere for me aside from the two schools in Utah.
- University of Illinois: This is a great school that's ranked really well. I don't know if Chicago is where I'd want to end up, but it would be cool to get accepted there anyway. This school is the one that I think is most likely to reject me.
- Loyola Law School (L.A., CA): There are like three Loyolas, so it's necessary to say that this is the one in Los Angeles. I think it would be fun to go into entertainment law. The only way I'll end up at Loyola is if that's what I know I want to do. (This is also pretty much a safety school.)
- Quinnipiac University: This is a SUPER-safety school. I'm just entertaining this idea because I wonder if I could get a full-ride scholarship there... probably not, but I want to find out. (This is definitely my least likely destination.) (Can you believe I'm applying to two schools in Connecticut?)
- University of Utah: This may be the most-likely destination. It's also a top 50 school that is very cheap, but not quite as cheap as BYU. Like BYU they have a great employment placement rate. It's close to home, etc.
- William and Mary: This is the second oldest university in the country. Cool, eh? Yeah, this is a fairly prestigious school in Virginia, but I'm kind of only applying because they made it free. It's cool that it's in Williamsburg though. There's tons of history there.
There ya go. My "short" list that actually felt super long. Where do you see me? Provo? Salt Lake? Arlington? L.A.? Champaign? Tempe? Hamden? Hartford? Williamsburg? Cincinnati?
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
HEARTY LAUGHTER!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Curses...
The title of this post is both my topic, and the name of a VERY fun game that I played this last weekend with some friends.
First: TODAY
Today was a decent day. I didn't get some things done that I was supposed to because I couldn't get work off. That was just a little frustrating. Then I did get off of work a little early thanks to a very kind co-worker. I quickly grabbed dinner and then went to the Quinney Library Computer Lab on campus. I only had a couple hours to get some work done on my GIS (Geographic information systems a.k.a map-making) projects that I'm INSANELY behind on from having the swiggity flizzle. I was trying to get as much done as possible before the lab closed. I planned to be there from 5-7. Then after about an hour people all left the lab. Then the lights went out. I was alone in there working by the light of the solo light that stays lit. Finally a girl that works for the library came and said, "You know we're closing right?" I looked at the clock and it was only 6:15. "You don't close at 7:00?" Apparently the library changed their hours in the last week. After she was done giving me the bad news, I may or may not... mostly may... have cursed. It was the first time I've heard myself swear in over a year as far as I can remember. (The last time I foolishly pulled out in front of someone in my car.)
Last: YESTERYEAR (SIXTH GRADE) (NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED)
(This is a story I don't think my family has ever even heard.) In sixth grade there was a point where I didn't have any good friends. I wanted very badly to change this. On Halloween I put a plan into motion to do just that. I was trick or treating with my good pal Xavier. He and I were cruising down the street and we heard an older guy across the street use a swear word. Xavier turned to me and said, "Did you hear what he said?!" Seizing the opportunity, I said, "Yeah, he said H***," as matter-of-factly as I could. (Wow, I found a great source for cool-lessons in that random dude on the street.) Xavier was CLEARLY impressed and laughed about me using the curse word. When I saw the reaction I got, the idea was solidified. Soon afterword I played football with Juan and Alex at recess. I casually included some colorful language. They thought it was so cool! Then I started hanging out with Juan a lot. Alex would frequently join in, too. Our friendship was almost based entirely on the fact that we called each other profane names and swore frequently. My word of choice started with a "b" and ended in "tard." I was friends with them for the majority of the school year. Then, not surprisingly for a relationship based on rebellion, things came crashing down. I should point out that all the while my family was nonethewiser to my cursing. All the kids at school knew, but not my fam. Finally my family was having a party and my sister and I decided to weigh ourselves. She went first, and then when I got on the scale it only said low battery and wouldn't work. I went to tell her and only meant to tease her about having used the last of the battery, but I accidently let my favorite word slip... oops. She called me out on it and I blatantly lied and said that I didn't say that word. Soon after that I had a falling out with Juan. Swearing to impress people had earned me a couple friends, but trust me, they weren't really winners. One of our favorite pass-times was chasing each other and slapping each other on the back of the head. Hard. It hurt. I probably lost a quarter of my brain cells. Turns out that swearing to make friends ain't such a grand idea. I pretty much quit after that. I now probably let fly about .4 swear-words a year. Not my cup of tea anymore. Besides, I think all that head-slapping made me forget all my favorite swears.
K, see ya.
First: TODAY
Today was a decent day. I didn't get some things done that I was supposed to because I couldn't get work off. That was just a little frustrating. Then I did get off of work a little early thanks to a very kind co-worker. I quickly grabbed dinner and then went to the Quinney Library Computer Lab on campus. I only had a couple hours to get some work done on my GIS (Geographic information systems a.k.a map-making) projects that I'm INSANELY behind on from having the swiggity flizzle. I was trying to get as much done as possible before the lab closed. I planned to be there from 5-7. Then after about an hour people all left the lab. Then the lights went out. I was alone in there working by the light of the solo light that stays lit. Finally a girl that works for the library came and said, "You know we're closing right?" I looked at the clock and it was only 6:15. "You don't close at 7:00?" Apparently the library changed their hours in the last week. After she was done giving me the bad news, I may or may not... mostly may... have cursed. It was the first time I've heard myself swear in over a year as far as I can remember. (The last time I foolishly pulled out in front of someone in my car.)
Last: YESTERYEAR (SIXTH GRADE) (NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED)
(This is a story I don't think my family has ever even heard.) In sixth grade there was a point where I didn't have any good friends. I wanted very badly to change this. On Halloween I put a plan into motion to do just that. I was trick or treating with my good pal Xavier. He and I were cruising down the street and we heard an older guy across the street use a swear word. Xavier turned to me and said, "Did you hear what he said?!" Seizing the opportunity, I said, "Yeah, he said H***," as matter-of-factly as I could. (Wow, I found a great source for cool-lessons in that random dude on the street.) Xavier was CLEARLY impressed and laughed about me using the curse word. When I saw the reaction I got, the idea was solidified. Soon afterword I played football with Juan and Alex at recess. I casually included some colorful language. They thought it was so cool! Then I started hanging out with Juan a lot. Alex would frequently join in, too. Our friendship was almost based entirely on the fact that we called each other profane names and swore frequently. My word of choice started with a "b" and ended in "tard." I was friends with them for the majority of the school year. Then, not surprisingly for a relationship based on rebellion, things came crashing down. I should point out that all the while my family was nonethewiser to my cursing. All the kids at school knew, but not my fam. Finally my family was having a party and my sister and I decided to weigh ourselves. She went first, and then when I got on the scale it only said low battery and wouldn't work. I went to tell her and only meant to tease her about having used the last of the battery, but I accidently let my favorite word slip... oops. She called me out on it and I blatantly lied and said that I didn't say that word. Soon after that I had a falling out with Juan. Swearing to impress people had earned me a couple friends, but trust me, they weren't really winners. One of our favorite pass-times was chasing each other and slapping each other on the back of the head. Hard. It hurt. I probably lost a quarter of my brain cells. Turns out that swearing to make friends ain't such a grand idea. I pretty much quit after that. I now probably let fly about .4 swear-words a year. Not my cup of tea anymore. Besides, I think all that head-slapping made me forget all my favorite swears.
K, see ya.
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