I just ate Chicken and Waffles... Anfter years of seeing it on the Food network. Not bad. Not especially good. I may or may not have just licked honey off my phone. And I may or may not have just done it again. And again.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
I was talking to my friend Shantel the other day, when, I said something about Nice Guys, Jerk Guys, and Gay Guys for some reason. I realized it seemed like the Dr. Suess book, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. So I decided to write my own book. I think you can click the pages to see it full size. Enjoy.
Yep. That's Nice Guy and Gay Guy together. It's ironic, funny, and I think I am hilarious.
Friday, October 23, 2009
There is so much to be happy about. Sometimes, I like to list the things I am apprecitive of just to remind myself. With a blog, I'll be able to go back and be able to reread things that were fresh on my mind. Right now, I am thinking about people.
John Hanson: We've been friends for so long, and everything is still so good. I can't wait to go on my trip to Wisconsin next month. Thanks to him, I almost always have a fun weekend to look forward to, even though due to school, work, and money I can't do it as often as I want. Luckily, we make up for the infrequency with awesomeness. PS. Do you love Derek and John? Then become a fan: Derek & John Fan Page Click that. Become a fan.
Wow. I got really tired. I'm going to finish this one with just John Hanson. That's worthy enough for it's own post. There are plenty more. I'll post them later :D
Thursday, October 22, 2009
It was pointed out that I left the most shameful part of the trip, so I thought I'd throw it in there. I guess there was a couple of cool things I left out.
1-) Greg and I sang "Every Rose has It's Thorn" over and over. We got it memorized. We are awesome. There was even a point where we realized the song starts with a sigh. We thought it was Ali. We were mad.
2-) Greg and I made the most annoying "Music" at this little area in Disneyland where you can bang on things. It was awesome.
3-) We were able to get two extra fast pass tickets to Soarin' over California by singing Every Rose has its Thorn to the gate attendants. Yep. All the singing paid off.
4-) Ali flipped me off, and, more importantly, I got a picture of it, just as she was putting her finger down. Yeah. It's pretty obvious what happened here:
5-) Ali dropped the F bomb. THE F BOMB. Greg hit her with some flying piece of cardboard, and the bruise is pretty gross, and she was upset. A few seconds later, I had this piece of plant that was working like a whip. She was in a bad mood. I hit her with it, SOFTLY, and BAM. "What The F***" Yeah. It happened. You might not believe me, but it happened.
Alright, I'm going to finish up writing about the weekend in California so that I can get onto blogging about bigger and better things. Or at least things I feel like blogging about. It's really fair to saying the things are bigger and better.
So... Saturday. Woke up, hit up the hot tub, the pool, and read a bit more in the "Have a Little Faith" book. I think I might actually talk about that book a little bit in a future post, a lot of cool things are brought up throughout the book.
Anyway, Maria got up early enough for us to walk to a Vons and buy something for her tooth which was hurting, and some breakfast. Doughnuts, OJ, & Apples. Mmmmmm. We eventually all got ready, and headed to San Diego to watch BYU take on SDSU at Qualcomm Stadium.
The drive was nice. We were in and out of the fog that comes off the ocean, and it looked pretty cool. The weather was really nice too. Not super hot, and definitely not cold. It was perfect. At the stadium, it was nice and sunny, but again, not hot like when Greg and I went to UCLA vs Fresno State last year. That game was the worst.
The game was too close for comfort, but BYU ended up pulling it out by 10. Go Cougars! Greg was in charge of the, "That's another Cougar, First Down" cheer, so that was pretty exciting. Haha. He had to be reminded a few times throughout to say it, but, he got most of them.
After the game, we found our way back to Costa Mesa (After going 20 miles out of our way and back, because I made a mistake on what road to take), we picked up Jamie, and we went to dinner at "I love sushi" That place was really good. Afterwards, we went back to Jamie's.
So, as we are driving up, there are these big trees that I noticed the day before. They looked weird to me. It was like they were regular trees with all of the bark peeled off. I could see little parts where the bark was there, but it just wasn't really anywhere else on the tree. I said, "This is really weird, those trees look bald to me" To which Greg quickly came back with, "Yeah, and they are looking down through the sunroof, thinking, yeah, that boy looks bald to me."
Oh man. I about died laughing. That was so good. We were joking around at Jamie's for a while, then went to bed.
Sunday was awesome. I got up early again, and was able to read in the hot tub for a little while. After we were all up, we went to Huntington Beach to eat dinner with my Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, and Grandma. That was awesome. Great food, and it was refreshing to spend a little time with my family.
After that, we hit the road. We had to stop at Disneyland to pick up Greg's sister's phone she lost there, and then it was the long 10 hour drive back. We stopped in Primm, NV to ride the giant rollercoaster. We got two rides for one. Just FYI, the front on that coaster is better than the back. And it's good. If you drive through Primm, stop at the coaster. Awesome.
The rest of the drive was filled with us joking around, Ali and Maria sleeping, and Greg and I acting crazy because we were sleepy, but neither of us were going to sleep. We came up with a new version of "What's my Age Again" by Blink-182. Basically, we just kept singing "She took off my pants" instead of the actual words. It sounds childish now, but, had you been there, you would have been singing along. It just made sense then.
That's the trip. Maybe I'm not writing this with a ton of enthusiasm, but, boy, was it great. I wish I could go on a trip like that every weekend, however, I was pretty exhausted when I got back. I'm just barely feeling like I have recovered.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Hurray for Sunday. I really love taking Friday off from working and having a 3 day weekend. Sunday turns into a cheat day. After two days of relaxing and fun filled events, I wake up to remember, 'Oh yeah, another day off!'
This weekend has been a blast. After work Thursday, we drove right out to California. On the way, we stopped in Mesquite, where the blackjack tables kicked my butt. I'm not going to say how much I dontaed to the Virgin River Hotel and Casino, but, I will say it's a good thing I won that PS3 at work last week.
We got to Anaheim at around 430, I think. Disneyland didn't open til 8. We got some breakfast, and found things to do for the next few hours. When we finally got into Disneyland, I has already had 2 five hour energies, and I was ready to tear it up.
The park was great. I'd give details, but, it was like anyone's visit to Disneyland. It was great to be with Greg, Maria, and Ali. The ride lines weren't too bad when coupled with a few 'FASTPASS' opportunities. I think my favorite ride was The Haunted Mansion, mostle because they REALLY do it up with Nightmare Before Christmas, which I have always loved
By the time we were done with Disney, Greg and I had been up for 36 hours, and we weren't done yet. We went and grabbed some food, went to Jamie's, and we all joked for a while. I put the hammock I got to sleep on out on the back porch, read my book for an hour, then finally got to sleep, 41 or 42 hours after I had last woke up. I don't suggest Disneyland on no sleep, but, I do suggest it over NO Disneyland.
The next morning, I woke up early. It was cold out. I hit up the pool and the Hot Tub for awhile and read. Ive gotten through 100 pages of the book. I'm actually reading! yes! Im going to cut this post short, then update the rest a bit later. Time for more Hot Tub. )
Thursday, October 15, 2009
I finally bought a Snuggie today. I told myself I wouldn't buy one for more than $9.99, and I think I finally did it. Here's my logic: The snuggie / booklight combination was $11.99. I needed a book light, and I was willing to spend $3 for one. So... I feel like I spent $9.99 on the snuggie, and $2 on the booklight. Perfect. I got my deal on my snuggie, and I got a sweet deal on a booklight.
That being said, I am not happy with my Snuggie. It's such a piece of junk. I've decided to write a Snuggie Haiku:
The Snuggie is bought,
what a waste of ten dollars.
Shoud have kept the receipt.
Yep. I am so disapponited in my Snuggie, I dabbled in poetry. I remember throwing my receipt away on the way out of the store, and I can still feel it leaving my hand. What a mistake.
Whatever. I own a snuggie now. I might as well enjoy it. My best friend John told me you can take it into the bathroom and do twosies with it on. That might actually be kind of cool. We'll see.
Anyway, about the book. My friend Amy told me about this new Mitch Albom book, "Have a Little Faith" which is a book written by Albom while he was interviewing a Rabbi in what I understand to be the last few months of his life. I guess there is another pastor of some sort interviewed too, and it basically speaks about what Faith means to you. Just the kind of thing I need to read right now.
Hurray!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
So, I was talking with my supervisor today, and he showed me a little thing we filled out at the end of last year. Basically, we review all the good things and the bad things from the previous year. This was under the "Areas of opportunity" section, and we both started laughing,
"Derek is working on his image and wants to prove to team members, and to others in the department that he can be more reliable with attendance and be more mature so that people don't form opinions about him acting immaturely to hinder job growth opportunities. Derek doesn't like being looked at as immature, and is going to work hard to make sure that is not how he is perceived in the future."
It sounds like something you would say to a child. In reviewing 2008, I don't remember acting like a child, but, apparently, it was such an issue, that we came up with that and put it on my yearly review. I think I've come a long way. I came out of a restaurant the other day and talked to someone I've known for awhile, and, I can't explain it, but, I felt... Mature.... Or... Maturer than I have previously.
As a side note, I'm just going to throw in here that I had the hardest time getting up in the morning back then. It's not like I was some douche that never showed up to work. Haha. I don't want some future employer reading this blog and thinking, attendance issues? Heck no!
I started thinking about that, I saw my reflection, and tried to figure out if I really am growing up, or if I'm just getting older. I feel more grown up than 2 years ago. I feel like I am better than I was. I text Brit since she's known me for so long to ask if she thought the same. She said something along the lines of, "Yeah, you've grown up in a lot of ways. But in some ways, you are Derek and always will be. And that's not a bad thing."
That's true. I'm growing up, but, I'll always just be Derek. Man. I wonder where I'm going to be in 5 years. I really need to put together a list of goals soon. That'll feel good to do. I'd say I was going to do it tonight, but, I doubt it. Maybe over the weekend. This weekend is going to be awesome, and I'll have a good amount of thinking time with the 20 hours of driving I plan on doing. Hmm.
I found this Onion story on Facebook today. It made me laugh, and it also made me a little uncomfortable. I happen to enjoy the uncomfortable humor. Enjoy:
http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/if_god_had_wanted_me_to_be
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Tonight, I was diving out to Provo to watch the Y game at Joel's, and I was having a text conversation with someone. We were talking about religion, and my thought that I consider myself spirtual, but not religious. We talked about me being Mormon, but struggling with some of the core principles, like Joseph Smith and Jesus. Let me include some of what was said (I'm D, BTW):
D: I don't consider myself very religious... I'm kind of a halfsie Mormon. I'm relatively obediant, but, I struggle with a testimony.
T: Umm Ok? Don't we all? Does that mean you are inactive?
D: Yeah, basically. I believe most of the lifestyle can make you a better person, I just don't think I believe that Jesus and JS were prophets. It makes my life pretty darn tough right now ;-)
T: Haha. Well, Jesus and Joseph Smith are the basis of our religion... so... Yeah...
D: Ha. Yeah. Oops.
T: You know that's pretty mess up, don't you? haha
D: Trust me, I know. lol
T: The only way to know for sure is to prove it.
D: Prove it?
T: Yeah. Find out the truth for yourself. Do you beleive in God?
D: Yeah. Totally
T: Then go straight to the source :)
D: Ha. Yeah. I have, and I've confused myself with it. But, all I have is time to figure this out. If I don't ever get it right, I think by living a good life, I'll be alright. I have FAITH in that. ;)
She went along and talked a bit about being promised that by asking, we can find the answers, and all that good stuff. Anyway, that's beside the point.
After writing that last text I included, I got to thinking about faith. There are not a lot of things I actually have what I would consider faith in.
Why do I think I have faith in the fact that if I live a good life, I'm going to be good in the end? I have no idea. No one's told me that. No one has taught me that. I didn't ask God that and get that answer. I just, think that's right. It just can't be wrong. It doesn't make sense that it could be wrong. What do I think living a good life is? It's hard to say. There are a million things that could be included in that. If it feels like the right thing to do, I do it.
I have faith in the fact that no matter what happens, my family is going to love me. I did a lot of dumb things growing up. I've taken my family for granted, and treated them poorly, yet, I love them, and they love me. Why do I have faith in that? Lots and lots of experience? I can't think of it another way. To me, that is Faith. It's not be proven that my family will always love me. I could make bigger and dumber mistakes and taken them for granted even more, but, I still think they will love me. That's Faith, in a nutshell, to myself. Knowing something, without specific truth. I more than hope these things, I don't have a doubt about them.
Now, again, I haven't done any research outside of my own mind, but, I've felt that figuring out things in my own mind came first. Atleast I have this mapped it out in my mind a little bit. What to do with my thoughts now? Work on it I guess. What else can I gain experience with that will give me a Faith? More importantly, can I do anything to gain a Faith in Jesus and Joseph Smith outside of asking God? Can anything? If it's all true, I don't need to look anywhere but to God, but, that hasn't worked yet. I don't know. But, I'm hoping to find out.
Maybe I need to try again. I'm thinking of another talk by Uchtdorf. And in searching for it, I just found something else, that I plan on including in this post. Dang. You are in for a read. If you've made it this far, you might as well just follow.
Here's the quote from Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk, The Way of the Disciple, from the May 2009 general conference:
A friend of mine recently wrote to me, confiding that he was having a difficult time keeping his testimony strong and vibrant. He asked for counsel.
I wrote back to him and lovingly suggested a few specific things he could do that would align his life more closely with the teachings of the restored gospel. To my surprise, I heard back from him only a week later. The essence of his letter was this: “I tried what you suggested. It didn’t work. What else have you got?”
Brothers and sisters, we have to stay with it. We don’t acquire eternal life in a sprint—this is a race of endurance. We have to apply and reapply the divine gospel principles. Day after day we need to make them part of our normal life.
Maybe I'm the guy wanting to sprint. Sure, I'm not just waiting a week, but it sure feels like it's only been a week. But again, I've got faith that I am ready to figure everything out, for better or for worse. I'm in no hurry. I have nothing to lose by taking my time finding I do have a Faith in my church or I don't.
Anyway, I was going to say, while I was searching, I found the following things Uchtdorf said:
First: Desire to believe. Some may say, "I cannot believe; I am not a religious person." (sound familar?) Just consider, God promises us divine help even if we have only a desire to believe, but it has to be a true and not a pretended desire.
Hmm. Interesting. A "pretended desire" is an interesting concept. I think I've got this portion down. I have a desire to believe in something, if something is true.
Second: Search the scriptures. Have questions; study them out; search in the scriptures for answers.I'll have to do this again. It's been a while since I didnt do then just casually read scriptures.
Third: Do the will of God; keep the commandments. It is not enough to enter into a scholarly debate if we want to know for ourselves that the kingdom of God has been restored upon the earth. Casual study is also not enough. We have to get in on the action ourselves, and that means learning and then doing God's will.
Fourth: Ponder, fast, and pray. To receive knowledge from the Holy Ghost, we must ask Heavenly Father for it. We must trust that God loves us and that He will help us to recognize the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
Mormonism is so easy. Maybe I'm making it harder than it needs to be, or maybe my mind works on a different wavelength than other people. Anyway. The stuff I just found gave me lots to think about. I really like Uchtdorf.
Hm. I started this post by thinking about Faith, divorced from Mormonis, and now I dragged myself back into the Mormon side of thing. Honestly, I'd love to have faith in Mormonism. But, it's just going to take time. I can spend my whole life trying to do what Uchtdorf counsels, but, if it turns out to be wrong, what have I gained? What I have lost? I think it's a wash. It probably wouldn't hurt to jump back in head first and try again, but, I am going to slow down again. Work things out in my own mind, and then seek out what I feel I need to seek out.
I think that if my God is a loving God who wants me to find something, and he has the power to do it, he'll do it. For now, I don't think I need to ask. He knows what I am thinking. He knows just what I need. Maybe I'm being stubborn, but, if I am stubborn, He knows that. I have faith that I'll figure this out, eventually.
Jeez. This post has gone in circles. Tell me if I sound like an idiot. I'm not rereading this before posting it. Sorry for sounding dumb, if I do.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
I guess it really started with yesterday. Today started with a good day hangover from last night. I got out of work early, headed up to the Alpine Loop and spent some time up in the mountains. I got some pretty good pictures, and had some time to just sit and think. I fell asleep for a little while too. I didn't get eaten by a bear or mountain lion. Can't beat that, right?
Here's a link to the album of the pictures I took on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59&id=139200011&l=396ec10320
Anyone can take great looking fall photos if they mess around with Picasa a little bit. After I uploaded the photos, I watched Tommy Boy & Black Sheep. Chris Farley is the man. It's too bad he left us so early, but, that's drugs for you.
I woke up this morning around 8, decided to put off off football this morning, and slept to 10. A good night of around 7 and a half hours of sleep. I went out to Sandy to play some racquetball, around noon. We ended up playing from 12 - 230. It was some of the best racquetball I have played in forever. I love that feeling when you completely wear yourself out doing something you like.
I started listening to the Wisconsin game, then came home to watch it. It's definitely a let down. I guess I didn't expect Wisconsin to win, but, I sure did hope they did. No Faith in Wisconsin, but Hope? Haha. I'll have to think about that later.
Anyway, don't know what the point of this post is, other than I'm trying to psych myself up a little bit. Reminding myself that most everything around me is good, and I while I want to feel down, because it's easier, I'm reminding myself to stay positive.
Disneyland next week. Less than a week from today. I'm excited for the car ride. 10 hours is tough, but, it's with my two of my closest friends in Utah, Greg & Maria. Oh yeah, then there's a 10 hours drive home too. Haha. Ok. I'm challenging myself. My next post needs to be a goals / priorities post. I want to sort that out. No class for over a week, I should find some time this week to do that.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
... ok... That is a little dramatic. Im just giving blood. But it could be. The last time I did anything blood related was when I gave plasma last year, and I full on passed out. Man, this blood is pouring out of me. Apparently I have fast veins. One handed blogging is not easy. HURRAY! Im done. One handed blogging sort of sounds dirty... I guess that is it for now.
Monday, October 5, 2009
I've always struggled with the difference between "Faith & Hope" I think it was last General Conference, or the one before, that President Uchtdorf gave a talk explaining the difference. I know I read and discussed the talk a few times, heck, I even taught on the talk on a Home Teaching visit, but, I still don't think I understand it. I'm writing this without reviewing the talk, or even thinking it through.
I just can't honestly say I know what the difference is. I feel like it's been explained to me the way you'd explain something to someone who you know isn't going to get it anyway, so, you just kind of say what needs to be said so that they stop asking questions. Maybe I'm just too dumb, or out of "practice" with the gospel to remember. Either way, I plan on doing some serious pondering and research in the next few days to try and figure it out. I'll share whatever I can with you while I try and figure it out.
Oh, and I haven't even thrown in the curve ball that is "Knowing" in there yet. That one's a mystery to me. Everyone around me seems to "know" everything. What am I missing? Wish me luck, and if you have any inputs, I'd appreciate it. Comment away :D
Friday, October 2, 2009
Two nights ago I had one of the weirdest dreams I've ever had. When I think back on it now, I feel like it's a combination of a couple of dreams, but, I know that when I woke up, and during the dream, I knew it was all a continuous scene inside my mind.
The dream starts with me at work, at my desk. I'm excited because I am going to be going to Wisconsin. For whatever reason, I feel like I need to drive there. My car feels like it's got some sort of suspension or steering system issue right now, so, in my dream, I was afraid to drive it that far. I concluded that if I just drove it to Denver, I could ship it the rest of the way to Wisconsin for pretty cheap, and fly right into Madison from the Denver airport.
Back at work, I was waiting for my supervisor, Chris, to "Send me" to Denver. "Sending me" meant opening a facebook application like "FarmVille," clicking on my avatar, then choosing "Denver" from the drop down. Why I didn't have him send me to Wisconsin directly is beyond me. He was taking his sweet time. I was in a hurry, but he just wouldn't do it. Luckily, my co-worker Alex had that same application on his Facebook, and he went ahead and sent me.
The next thing I remember I was on a plane, nearing landing time in Wisconsin. I don't remember who was on the plane with me, but, I do remember them being familiar, and talking to the lady next to me like she was my friend. She was probably in her late twenties or early thirties, dark hair, and a bit shorter than me. We were joking about landing, which wasn't going good.
On our first pass at landing, something went wrong so the pilot decided to circle back. On this attempt, we starting running into the trees. At first, I was worried, but, that didn't last. The lady next to me was laughing at how unorthodox the landing was. I starting laughing too.
Just as the plane was about to touch down, the pilot screamed something frantically over the intercom, and tried to do a barrel roll with the plane. The plane smashed into the ground, and I was thrown directly onto the runway out of my window. I didn't see anyone else get out of the plane before it caught fire, skidded into the grass, then into the swampy, wooded area just past the runway and exploded. I got up and ran to help the people I could hear screaming.
Things were really weird in the swamp. The plane was gone, but there was fire everywhere. It was daylight, but it was dark (like on a really overcast day) and cold. I knew that the bodies of dead passengers were around me, but, there wasn't really any bodies, just impressions of bodies in the mud. Some of the impressions were filled in with a silver, shimmery, color. This looked a lot like someone spray painted the impressions with a silver can of paint. It was really weird. I couldn't help anyone.
The next thing I knew, I was in the airport terminal renting a car. There was a sign at the counter next to me that said "BYU Sweatshirts." I knew that this was part of a package deal. Something like, flight + car = Free BYU sweatshirt. I asked the lady at the desk if she had any extra, and she gave me 4 or 5 free BYU vs Marquette hoodies. Apparently, BYU basketball was playing Marquette that night. Free sweaters. Cool.
I started joking with the lady at the counter I was waiting to get up to because I was going to be late to a dinner I needed to be at because of the plane crash. She said she'd go a little faster, but, where I was going was right across the street. A little girl about 9 or 10 grabbed my hand, and we walked out of the airport.
It was now night time, and we entered a big sports complex. I knew then that the little girl was to compete in a Ping Pong tournament, and I was one of her coaches. This tournament was apparently important, because there were kids from all around the world there to compete. Most of them were Asian. All of the Asians looked the same. Apparently, I stereotype in my dreams.
I told the little girl she needed to warm-up before her first match because we had just been in a plane crash, and she said she wanted to use the speed bag to warm up her arms. Another coach told her that would be a bad idea because it'd wear out her arms, but, I told her she could do what she wanted, because she was there to have fun, not win. There was a weird "Rocky-esque" warm-up montage, and she was ready to play.
This was no ordinary ping pong tournament or sports complex. Everything was made out of thick gym mats. The floor, the walls, the ping pong tables, everything. It was like being in a giant Discovery Zone. The ping pong tables were all right next to each other, with around 20 kids lined up on each side, ready to do battle.
She lost her match pretty quickly because he arms were tired, but she told me it was alright, her friend would win. We went back to the site of the plane crash to go get her friend. The friend was one of the silver lined impressions. I grabbed the hand of what was basically a person shaped hole, and out came the other girl. She was bawling, her parents were killed in the crash. The other little girl cheered her up, and took her back to the sports complex. By the time I got back, apparently I was dillydallying, everyone was gone. A Russian man, who I knew to be a tournament official, approached me and told me we needed to talk.
We went into another room, and then the dream was over. I've tried to analyze it, but I've really got nothing. I'm sure I could dissect certain parts and make them mean things, but, I don't know if my subconscious was really trying to tell me anything. It was pretty crazy and vivid though.
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