Geekin it up

So here I am... I've been geekin' it up with my bro Sterling. On the computer all day, fumbling with virutal machines and installing or tweaking our operating systems. It's realy fun, expecially since it's been so cold and snowy outside.


I also just bought Sterling's old computer from him. It's super nice, and a definite upgrade from what I'm used to. I'll miss my old computer... and it seems like I just got xUbuntu working perfectly with all my apps just how I want them on it. Well, guess that means it's time to start over. My new laptop has dual core 2.5 ghz 64 bit processor, 4gig ram, 160gig 7200rpm SATA HD, high def monitor, the works. The outside looks like a beast from 1989, but it's what's inside that counts. I spent all day installing drivers for WinXP, and now "Linux Mint".


Tonight I went to my friend Greg Zeh's wedding reception. He's marrying Aubrey - who he met when she was a missionary. Long story short, after her mission they got in touch somehow on FaceBook, and the rest was history. He moved from Mesa, AZ to Salt Lake, UT and dated and got engaged. I think they look great with each other.


--WBC--

Christmas Traditions...

Ours is to finish a puzzle before christmas day.

To Reap what you Sew

I got a 4.0 this semester (that's an A in Pre-Calculus and an A in Engineering Chemistry). I never thought it would happen, but I worked my butt off and sacrificed a lot for it. I feel so good right now.

--WBC--

I'm Driving to Utah

and Tamra is coming along too!

Playing Monopoly with da roomies

the other night i took out my star wars monopoly game and played it for the first time in years. we had a blast, and Jeremy won. As it turns out, he's never lost a Monopoly game before.

The Downgrade of Modern Society

Santa Claus

Peace World

I just want to share this awesome picture of Mary in Guatemala:

 See more at her blog: http://marrychristmas.blogspot.com/2008/12/pics-of-el-estor.html
--WBC--

Knotts

went to knotts berry farm as part of out thanksgiving vacation. i'm in the back, pondering the meaning of falling.

Good News

So I got a good grade on my last test! It was the third Chemistry test (1 more + a final to go), and I was really, really stressed out about it because it covered 5 chapters and they are hard. I don't think I've ever cared about school so much before, but I guess I feel like I've invested so much time and money here that I want it all to be worthwhile. So all those slump times have lifted. Funny thing about life though is the cycles: the good, the bad, and the good again. I kinda like it.

On another note, here is a Weird Al music video, "Trapped in the Drive-Thru" that I really like. It's simple and kinda stupid, so I can't really explain why I like it. It just sticks in my head:




--WBC--

Sunday

The Full Moon: in all its stellar glory

I dare you to howl at it, right now.

Slump-times

I just feel like I'm losing the battle here. Not keeping up on my studies. Can't sleep at night. Can't wake up in the morning. Big test tomorrow and I wish I could understand the concepts better (I try to study all the time but just can't break the English-Russian barrier I have with my teacher. His study guides are crap and I'm sick of the bad grammar and broken English with made up words. I can't believe I PAID TUITION for this crap!)

I'm also feeling emotionally numb. It usually happens this time of year when there's more darkness, and the air gets a little colder. I just don't know how I feel internally. Good, Bad, Exited, Sad. I dunno. I just wake up and move.

Other thoughts constantly running through my head are that I need to find a better job. One that I enjoy. In fact, I'm feeling this more as a prompting. I'm thinking of something within the electronic design business, or the good old outdoors. It makes sense for me to pursue my dreams of being an engineer, but not like this (paying out of state tuition at a University with a crappy professor - no matter what kind of reputation ASU has, I'm better off taking chemistry at a community college, or studying it on my own). I'm almost sure EE catches my interest more than Rocket science, because knowing how electronics work means you know how just about everything we use today works, and knowing rocketry means you know how to send something into space - cool, but not everyday practical. On top of all this, going into extra debt makes me feel sick. Even if it's for as good a cause as going back to school. I've lived here over a year, voted here, and paid taxes here. If ASU doesn't consider me a resident next semester, I'm dropping out, and making plans for a different school.

Ugh. The worst part about the past few days has been my bad sleeping schedule.

But the best part, is last weekend I drove to the Dragoon Mountains in the Coronado Natl Park to meet Jo and Porter. We camped, climbed, and made dutch oven food. Good times! Click Here for the pictures.

--WBC--

Punky Brewster

I just finished watching old Punky Brewster episodes on YouTube. I can't believe I was into that show as a kid (among others like Thunder Cats, Different Strokes, and even Mr. Rogers), but it's still pretty fun to watch and reminisce.

I watched the one where Zack Morris was her math tutor. In a way I wonder if watching shows like this one had any affect on how I view the world today. Take for example, if I saw anybody wearing different colored shoes and crazy hair I would consider them to be cool in my book, whereas others may think that's pretty dumb. Or even the whole boy-likes-girl (and vica-versa) interaction displayed between Punky and Walker (Zach) - I'm sure it gave me pre-conceived opinions about what romance was all about (being a kid when I was watching this on TV, and not having any girlfriend), plus I think this show is why I thought multi-colored clothes were really hip. I wish I could go back and watch myself watching these TV show and see how I was receiving it all.

However, my favorite episodes were the originals, when Punky was really young . It's just as simple to say that Punky inspired me when I was a kid. Did parents in the 80's ever think that TV would do that?

Watch some for yourself:

Punky Brewster - Go to Sleep part 1
Punky Brewster - Go to sleep part 2

But what's also funny to think about is the dynamics of the show... there's an old man, a dog, and a spunky girl living in a small apartment - who made this up?

--WBC--
(modern television is hilarious, and nothing like what it used to be)

Barack Obama Presidential Acceptance Speech

For those of you who didn't get to see his speech, it is one of the best speeches I've heard and I loved what he had to say. I've provided a link here:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/42672/msnbc-decision-08-obama-presidential-acceptance-speech
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Also, here are some photo's from TIME

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Gotta Love the Didgeridoo

I spotted Captain America at an iron man race today... though i didn't race, i came here with my djembe to play some beats for the runners... Jess played too, and Elizabeth ran the race. She did pretty good... 1/2 iron man in 5.5 hours!

My Brother is a Real Pirate

Climbing The Didge 5.9+

I guess my updates haven't been too informative about me. But that doesn't necessarily mean my life hasn't been eventful. It's just that some things are better lived than talked about. Or, I just don't have time to write about them here.

Well, I would like to update y'all on a bit of my life lately and hopefully you can see how I feel everything is a once in a lifetime experience.

Last weekend I went camping and rock climbing with my friends Phil and Amy. We went out to this awesome spot by the Superstitions set back from any roads or common trails (to avoid any other people or traffic). We played music in the evening...

And we had the BEST tin foil dinners just before telling stories around the campfire with fire-cooked cinnamon rolls for dessert...

The next morning we were planning on driving out to Globe for some rock climbing, but Phil had a better idea. He was looking at that cliff a hundred yards from where we were and thought it looked like a fun climb. I agreed, and we both had all the gear needed to set up a natural anchor, so we hiked over and checked it out...

It actually looked pretty sweet, so we went around back and go to the top and sure enough, we found some places to set up 2 bomber anchors around the rock (to make them I used my whole box of dental floss and 6 paper-clips, but it was a double-bomber!)

Since Phil had the bright idea of climbing this piece of rock, he did the honors of the first rappel... (with a backwards glove)

Then, with his life in-tact, and as I double checked the equipment, we were all set for some "first ascents" (we figure this is a first ascent because of our remote location, the rock was un-touched, and if we were going to climb this again, chains would be a better alternative to all that webbing we used).

That's Amy rappelling, and those are my feet, yeah!

Ultimately we climbed the face and rate it at a 5.9+ or 5.10a. We were able to find two climbable routes and think there's more than that (though I only climbed one route because, I will admit, I was outta shape). The official name we gave this landmark? "Phil's Djembe" and the route we climbed is "The Didge" in honor of our musical talent the night before. The next route isn't named yet.

Well that concludes my story for today. I have a lot of Chemistry homework, but I won't go into details about that. It's finally cooling off here in Arizona... It was 70 degrees yesterday. I almost wore a sweater!

Being a Graduate Student Feels Better than Another Bachelors

I just want to make clear (and I just confirmed this) that I'm not in school for a 3rd Bachelor's Degree, but for my MASTERS Degree, which will be in Engineering. I'm doing the pre-requisite courses, which involve a lot of math and science stuff.

Oh and the picture below is a demonstration/competition done by High School's around the area in Robotics. These "robots" are remote controlled and they're playing soccer with that big red ball. Found this in front of the Student Center where I was eating lunch. Good entertainment, I guess.

robots on campus?

A Little General Conference Insight of Mine

So, Conference was great... especially Priesthood. I sat in the hallway on a nice couch and the missionaries pulled up two chairs in the same hallway. I just felt their spirit so much as they sat there. It brought me back to my missionary days and how I longed for them. That attitude of hard work, and the Spirit of God so undeniable. It is almost like because I know how to wake up and be organized each day and be productive, that I sin when I don't do it. So I've resolved to start doing it again. I've had this realization before since being home. (not that I've become some kind of bum... I just know I could do better).

But though I've cycled through productive lifestyles and unproductive ones, this time, being productive feels like a one-way street, and I don't feel like a return trip to lazy-ville will ever happen.

Duck Tales Teaches us about Inflation and the Economy

Ron Paul and Bernanke on the Bailout Plan

Frankly, I think Ron Paul makes sense here and I really do wish we as Americans would pay more attention to our CONSTITUTION!!!

Rocket Science

nerds rule

One more reason why ASU is great...

I'm going to ASU

Okay, I accidentally confused a lot of you into thinking I was going to school in Utah, but... I'm going to ASU (Arizona State University). I only visited Logan to see the Utah State campus - which I may transfer to one day, but I was already accepted to ASU and so here I am! I love it here! There are so many things here I can't begin to explain it all!

I have a part time job working at the football games. I walk up and down the stands and assist people with whatever they need. The good = I get to watch the game for free. The bad = I miss some of it when I'm attending the fans, plus I can't woot for my team.

I finally found a place to call home, but I can't move into it until this Saturday. I'll have my 0wn room, bathroom, and walk-in closet. And since the bus will go right by my front door, I won't have to drive to school anymore!

Other than that my life is all business right now. I hope to go camping this weekend though. It's about time I had some recreation!

A few weeks ago when I visited Jo in Jackson...

Jo posted some pictures of us mountain biking in Jackson... sweet pics!

Viva Russia

after the storm there were trees uprooted everywhere. even a saguaro cactus was tipped over and broken.

we had the craziest lightning

we had the craziest lightning storm last night. the house shook from the thunder and car alarms went off all night. but this morning was calm.

imagine this... but happening 20 times a second, with a constant non-stopping roll of thunder, and you got the kind of storm we're having in Mesa right now. this is more intense than anything i've ever seen on the plains of Nebraska! obviously, if i can catch a bolt of lightning with my phone, there's a bunch of it.

we had the craziest lightning

we had the craziest lightning storm last night. the house shook from the thunder and car alarms went off all night. but this morning was calm.

I guess this is called 'urban camping'

the past two days here have been so busy that i don't have time to eat. let alone find a place to live. i'm using my phone to post this from the park. speaking of parking... a permit to park on campus is $250 a year. BYUI parking has nothing to complain about.

well despite being super busy with all the tasks of school i like it. a teacher told me i had a nice longboard. things are cool here (despite the heat). haha! well i think my food is done. later!

back to school

grape harvest

looks and tastes like the grapes are ready to go, so here we are putting them on the dehydrator to make some of the best raisins around!

Prom Kids

This is a wonderful picture of us and I don't know why we're all dressed up - it must be a Sunday. I knew that this was taken with my dad's old 35mm SLR from the 1970's.

All I can remember is that it was taken in Hemet at the "white house", and that dress my sister has on was the one she made for Prom.

Close Call

"This apparent disaster-waiting-to-happen is on the Island of St. Maarten. The airport has a particularly short runway that ends just 40 feet from beach, leaving large planes just barely enough room to land. So they have to come in low, directly over the beach, making it a prime destination for an afternoon of quiet, relaxing sunbathing."



(cracked.com)

Stay

I am still in Utah at my parents house. I've done a lot of things: replaced the bathroom sink, mapped the sprinkler system around the house and fixed/replaced many broken sprinklers, moved a lot of boxes, pulled a TON of weeds, shoveled the mud from the sidewalks, and stuff like that.

My social life has been with my cat, and my mom's new puppy. I mean, I guess I don't have very long conversations with my parents at all. I did spend some time with some really cool people here though.

Anyways, I was going to drive back to AZ today but seeing as how there's still more to do, I'm staying for a few more days. Perhaps I can time it so that I can go to John and Laura's reception in Las Vegas this Saturday.

I just signed up for my classes today. I am only taking two: Chemistry for Engineers and Calculus for Engineers. Both classes land me at 7 credits and many hours of homework. Bring it on.

Alpine Sunset

Kona - Princess Sun Puff

Climbing Dawgs!

Climbing Hoback Shield

me and kona

well here i am in jackson with kona lying on the grass and eating pears and zuccini bread for breakfast. i am also blogging from my phone (which is pretty nice). this is a perfect time so far. can't wait to go rafting this afternoon and then bike in the evening. sven says they're hiking the grand this weekend. tomorrow we're going to hike to some hot springs and camp... after we climb upon some rocks of course.

Visiting USU

Today is the 10,093rd day of my life. What did I do with it? I woke up early with my dad and we drove to Logan Utah (2 hrs) where we had breakfast at IHOP and then he dropped me off at USU. I had a scheduled tour and he had a business meeting. {The rest of the day I spent cleaning the house up}.

The tour was great. It was nice to see first hand what the campus was like. They got a few quirky-cool things like a hotel on campus (for visitors and parents), a library with a robotic arm to retrieve your books, and "aggie" ice cream. It definitely has an Agriculture Community feeling, or in other words, it feels like a "home-grown" University.

Overall the buildings felt a bit like Rexburg - with the red brick style. But then there were some cool modern looking buildings with lots of glass and metal, etc. They have an excellent track record for Engineering. Especially Aerospace Eng. They are the third largest funded University for Engineering research in the nation, the top University for Aerospace projects in the world, and they claim that 96% of their Engineering students pass the Engineer Exam on the first try.

The campus feels nice, like BYU-I does, plus it felt like a humble University in the mountains. Kind of cosy parked in a canyon with mountains all around. Totally cool spot for great outdoors and great Engineering !!!!! Overall my opinion of this school is that it's a good round fit for what I like. I still want to try ASU out because of the inner-city factor. But I really think I'd love USU for the Outdoors and quality Engineering courses.

some pics from my phone:

Basketball Arena

Engineering Building
In the Library

The Library's robotic arm

Housing Building - typical red brick style of Rexburg

Aggie Ice Cream (it's really good, despite the bad look I'm giving it).

p.s. i'm still attending ASU this Fall