ummmm... yeah. i have slacked of lately and need to get my butt back there. i think i might switch to gold's gym. it's more packed and doesn't feel as clean, but it's a lot cheaper and provides towels (which is a biggie if you keep forgetting to bring one like i sometimes do).
just got back from toilet papering our bishopric's houses. it was a fun renewel of my youth, but once again i was dissapointed in the turn-out from this ward. hell, when we did this a couple years ago, we were trying to keep it to just a half-dozen of us and we had like 17 show up. tonight we had only 10 people go and 2 of them don't even live at the crestwood. i understand if people were tired. it was late and that's a fine excuse, but when people don't want to go because it's too juvenile or it's not their thing, then they can just suck my balls. none of my roommates even went. tom said he was tired, i don't know where logan went, and jake is just a pussy when it comes to anything. i need to talk the few fun people left here into moving out with me. off course it's juvenile! we're in college. we're single. live while you can.
i took plenty pics, but they turned out really dark. we're gonna see if we can touch them up and brighten them at all. i'll post 'em as soon as we do.
finished reading chuck palahniuk's lullaby. another great book. i didn't quite like it as much as fight club and survivor, but it was still an awesome book. twisted. brilliant. classic palahniuk. next up is j.g. ballard's concrete island
bobby
it looks like my blog got a special visitor earlier tonight. here are a couple quotes from an e-mail he sent me today that i found quite funny.
"okay, i dont know if i am very `legal` to to check out your site, but i did anyways, what are they going to do, send me home?"
"its kind of funny. before the mission, I thought of you as a pretty wayward member"
wow. and there i was thinking i was a great example to my little brother...
why i believe
i felt like sharing what and why i believe in a non-philosophical way tonight. i dunno why. just because.
the book of mormon is scripture. i don't how historical it is. to me, that doesn't matter. it came from god. whenever i read from it (which i need to do more often), i learn something. it's as if the words speak to me personally. guidance. reassurance. comfort. condemnation. it's all there when i need it.
joseph smith was a prophet of god. how wonderful is the gospel that he restored! there is so much to it. simple enough for the child to understand, yet deep and challenging others. the teachings of family, marital unity, the nature of god, the nature of man, and so much more are so beautiful and powerful.
i am a child of god. sure, our physical bodies might have evolved from lower life forms, but we are so much more than our bodies. we are unique from all other animals. i have a spirit. i can reason. i am divine by nature and have the potential to be like my heavenly father.
jesus is my savior. he suffered physically and spiritually for me. he took upon my sins. all that crap that i have done, he placed those on himself and suffered the penalties for me. because of him, i will live again. because of him, i can be clean. because of him, i can have a marriage and family that extends the eternities.
how do i know this? it's not from some logical equation. i know it because there is something beyond my initital five senses that tell me it is true. it's more than just a feeling. it's a sense of knowing. when i read the scriptures, i know they come from god. when i pray, i know he is listening. when i repent, i know i am being cleansed. i can't explain how it all works, i just know that it does.
Well when all looks frail on a land that is run by the buddhists, one has to look on the heart of the person who sits infront of them, not the statue, not the shrine and not the wierd dangling things in front. all people have an image they wish to protray, but it isnt until we get to the heart that we see the things wich they truly believe. Dr. Marvin, I`m sailing! love and peace to ya brother, from your wompsack brother. ps. just dont tell the Pres on me, I will see ya in 3
first megan, then jake, then tory and mel, then randii bail out. they all had good reasons though. except maybe jake, but his is understandable if his date is hot stufs. then i find out that the bishopric is being released tomorrow. so if i want to be there for that (which i do), then we'd have to be up by 6am tomorrow morning to clean the cabin and leave by 7am. i don't want another night of 3 hrs of sleep. maybe in 3 weeks we can get it to work.
these last few days have been a killer. my sis-in-law called me just after 6 this morning to tend koji for a while. i love koji to death, but watching him so early in the morning does start to tire me out. i'm glad there is just one two year old to watch. megan just got hired to teach seven or so two year olds for preschool. that's gotta be tough, but i'm sure it'll be fun for her.
tomorrow night, a fairly large crew of us are going to head up to my folks' cabin to hang out for the night. it'll be fun, especially since derek is in town on leave from the reserves and tory and mel will be there as well.
i am so looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. of course with my luck, something will wake me up and i won't be able to fall back asleep.
i was going to write something, but i got distracted and now am too tired to remember what it was. took janneka out for lunch today. (i thought it was jennica until i saw her name on her apartment's chore chart). she's pretty cool. levi is adorable. south park is funny. cafe rio is yummy. spring break is short. soup kitchen is full. mentoring is better than dishing out lunch. lullaby is a good book so far. i am tired.
not needed
stopped by the provo soup kitchen today, but fortunately they don't need my help. i say fortunate for two reasons. one, it means that they have plenty of volunteers. two, they don't have volunteer opportunities that i was hoping they would have, such as reading with kids and stufs. they did refer me to the united way of utah county which has many opportunities to mentor, read with, and tutor children which is something i'm sure i'd enjoy.
no more song for the week
i checked out my blog and realized that the song's quality was really jacked up when i tried to make it streaming. so at least for this week, there will be no song. cartman will remain though. i know some of you find the music annoying, what about the rest of you? comment let me know if i should keep it or rid it.
levi quinton ericson
i got to bed at two last night and was woken by my brother at four becuz my sis-in-law was going into labor and they needed me to watch my nephew koji as my new nephew was coming into the world. levi quinton ericson was born a healthy 7 pounds and 12 ounces at 8:29 this morning. i'll post some pics of him as soon as i get some.
Mosiah 4:16
"and also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish."
ever since i started working on my talk on saturday, my desire to help out the poor has multiplied. i look at all the things i have and realize that there is so much i can do. i decided that i need to get off my butt and get a job so that i can start doing more (that and my savings are almost depleted). i also just found out where the local soup kitchen is and am going to go there tomorrow to find out how i can do some regular volunteering there. it's amazing how blessed i am as a poor college student when compared to those who have so much less.
my books that i ordered from amazon.com came in today. i got chuck palahniuk's lullaby and invisible monsters as well as j. g. ballard's concrete island.
i haven't finished strangers in paradox yet, but i'm more in a mood for a novel right now. i'll finish it with bits of free time during school and stufs.
i think i'll go with lullaby right now
mormon blogosphere
a soft answer has a list of many mormon-related and mormon-authored blogs. check it out. mine is in there somewhere i think
it's frigging late and i should be writing this in the morning when i get up, but i figured i'd do it now. i was just about to write this up and then a friend needed a shoulder to cry on. well i'm back now and here it is...
death cab for cutie
went to the death cab for cutie with my pals tonight. i must say that the performance was awesome. i definitely need to find their other two albums now. the opening band plus minus was really good too, especially the guitarist. oh yeah, and we almost got ourselves into a good ol' fashioned brawl last night with some drunk kids because they were harassing some girl. good times...
i can't write anymore.... i'm way too darn tired. that reminds me. new goal. stop swearing.
i guess it turned out a lot better than i thought it would. i was honestly scared that it would be boring because most of it was going to be spent quoting scriptures. i had to do that because i didn't want things to appear to be my own thoughts and ideas. plus the scriptures can be a lot more blunt and straightforward than i could be. everyone seemed to like it though. so that's good. here's the talk in its bits and pieces. not that anyone would care to read it.
i forgot to write something yesterday. here's a little recap of some of my thoughts yesterday before i get back to finishing my talk for sacrament meeting today.
ward activity
went and saw testaments as a ward activity. yeah, i cried a little again. it's a great movie and does a wonderful job at helping you realize the love that the savior has for all of us individually.
our ward turnout was pathetic though. we are actually having ward activities, but nobody is coming to them. i had just seen testaments a couple months ago with jenna, so i wasn't in the most excited to go see it again, but i went to support the ward. another confirmation that it is time for me to move elsewhere.
sushi
mmmmmm..... found some more sushi buddies too.
taking lives
saw the angelina jolie, ethan hawke, keifer sutherland flick. it was a fun movie, but left a lot of unanswered questions and loos ends.
back to finishing my talk...
today was a pretty long day, spent much of it bouncing back and forth between my apartment and the mormon studies conference, which i'll comment on more later. went with megan to buy gifts for maggie's b-day, joined the summer crew for krystal's wedding reception, sat in the warm tub, and now i'm watching return of the king which i watched a couple weeks ago and am not entirely excited to watch.
life is still good. some things could be better, but i just need to smile and be happy with what i have.
o ;pbr upi ,rhsm
jeff and i went to the a perfect circle concert tonight. what an awesome show!!! it was the opener for their tour. all i can say is that maynard kicks some major a**. the opening band sucked a big one though. i forgot their name (which i have no reason to remember). my ears will be ringing tonight.
in other news...
ummm... yeah
there are a couple things that throw in a twist in my philosophical view of god's attributes.
the first is that i hope for a god that has more power than my mind is currently willing to give him. that hope leads me to believe that there is a way to make things all work out.
the second is that i have had experiences where i believe that the spirit has been able to let me foreknow future events, especially on my mission. i don't know how it was possible without infringing on other's free will, but it still seemed to happen for me
just got back from doing extra work for that movie again. megan got sick and couldn't make it, so i got scared it would be me and a bunch of highschool students there. luckily there were plenty of college students this time. it was an all-nighter at borders and it got over at 6am which was a couple hours sooner than they thought it would be. i am beat, but unfortunately i will prolly wake up in a few hours and not be able to fall back asleep. time for bed.
oh yeah..i got paid this time too.
did i mention i went out for sushi last week? mmmmmm mmmmm mmmm. it's unfortunate that too many people are too scared to give it a try, cuz it is hella yummy. we're going to try to make a tradition of tuesday being a sushi day cuz the demai (sp?) has their sushi half-off on that day
i've noticed that i don't write much about my feelings and stufs on here anymore. i guess it's because there are too many people i know that read this now. i haven't written in my regular journal since january 17th. i think i better start writing in it again
i can say one thing though. i am very happy with my life right now
last night, the bishopric asked me if i would give a talk this sunday. i'm supposed to use a general conference talk as a basis. now the question is...do i keep it simple and conservative....or do i bust something open?
just when i thought i was in the safest city in the world, violence strikes my own apartment. i guess some stabbing or something occured at my apartment's hottub a couple nights ago. what will we ever do? where can i turn for peace? here's a deseret news article about it
"what a day... the sun is out, birds are singing, bees are trying to have sex with them - as is my understanding...." -- bart simpson
today was a pretty good day, school went well. afterwards, megan and i went out for some polynesian grinds and then saw starsky and hutch, which had a few funny moments, but is nothing i'd jump up and recommend to anyone. a bit of a rest, then we all hung out with some friends and saw along came polly, much worse than today's earlier movie. it was mostly trying to get laughs with gross gags that didn't work mixed in with a few funny moments. i wouldn't recommend it at all. even though the movies weren't all that great, it was fun being just being out with my friends. life is good.
me!!!
i went to turn in the things to the department head for my nomination for the outstanding student award and i found out that they had to have a name picked by last monday, so i got screwed out. birch (the department head) even told me that they were really considering me, but i did't have my stuff in by then. it's not my fault though, i was just told to get it in some time this week. birch told me that i'll have a good chance at getting it next year though. geez and i even made myself a lame vitae that you can check out here.
i had an hour between classes, so i thought i'd step into the computer lab to leave a message for some of you on the road yesterday. first of all, a blinking yellow traffic light does not mean stop, it is equivalent to a yield sign. that means you don't stop, but you keep going..just be careful. if you suddenly slam your brakes, somebody will rear-end you. if the traffic light is blinking yellow, then the other direction perpendicular to you will have a red brinking light which is equivalent to a stop sign. while i'm at it. turn-abouts/round-abouts are not that hard to figure out. once again, the yellow upside down yield sign does not mean stop. much like the blinking yellow light, it means proceed carefully yielding to the right of way. what is the right of way? if there are no other cars on the turnabout, you have the right of way. cars only come from the left. that means you look to your left, if nobody is there you have the right of way. just don't. no need to stop.
and to the queen bitch who was honking at me yesterday, i drive fast. prolly much faster than you. if i am driving stopping or driving slowly, i have a good reason to. don't ride up on my ass and don't honk at me. i stopped because there was a cross walk with crossing pedestrians. i drove slow because i was in a parking lot with kids walking around.
now that i have that out of the way...
the weather has been great lately. i am so ready for a warm spring and summer.
spent most the day up in salt lake being an extra for an upcoming movie, love surreal starring shiri appleby. megan came with me and we had some good fun (seperated by long periods of boredom). we got in some good shots for the movie though, so that was cool. we'll be going up again next week, but we'll bring some cards and books to keep us entertained.
megan and i are going up to salt lake to be extras in some movie that is being filmed. i'm supposed to bring 4 outfits with me that are "trendy, artsy, but not gothic". what the hell does that mean? problem #1 (no matter what megan might say) i'm a guy, i don't have outfits. problem #2 whatever i have that might be an outfit is not "trendy, artsy, but not gothic". quick...someone send me a fashion consultant!
the da vinci code
this book just kicks butt. read it. i loved the symbolism it references throughout the book. definitely a book to add to your list.
my next reading adventure will be strangers in paradox: explorations in mormon theology
the sacred feminine in the book of mormon
reading the da vinci code reminded me of something in the book of mormon i found a year ago. f.a.r.m.s. had an article a year or so ago by daniel c petersen about asherah and lehi's dream. before and during nephi's time, the israelites believed that god had a consort/partner/wife named asherah. she was symbolized by a tree in the temple. (which was later removed with aaron's rod as the symbols became objects of worship.) petersen says how the tree in lehi's dream (usually said to represent jesus) could have been understood by nephi to represent not jesus, but mary.
some time after reading this, i noticed something making the connection even stronger that petersen did not mention. in 1 nephi 11, nephi describes the tree he sees as being having "beauty... yea, exceeding of all beauty," having "whiteness," and being "precious above all." Nephi asks what the interpretation of the tree was. what did he see next? he sees mary who he describes as "most beautiful," "white," and a virgin (moroni 9:9 says that chastity is "precious above all"). the tree doesn't represent jesus, but mary
went up and had a fun time at club vector again. this time we had myslef, tom, jeff, my buddy mike, maggie, marie, and constance. i forgot my camera again, but it's ok cuz we are planning on going to go next weekend again. someone remind me to bring my camera next time!!! i'm tired. time for bed.
went to a private screening of saints and soldiers last night. this is the first lds film that is really a quality film. it's a story of a few soldiers in world war ii who escape a massacre and are trying to get to a us troop to give them some crucial information. definately go see this movie when it comes out this summer or fall. it was filmed with just $750,000 and has won 14 independant film festivals.
while it is a 'mormon' film, there is very little mormon about it. the main character is easily picked out by lds people to be mormon, but i doubt most anyone else would see him as that. the word 'mormon' is never used, nor is any other mormonese word. it kind of reminded me of richard winters character on band of brothers where he doesn't drink and the other soldiers are left trying to figure out why.
the ironic thing is, this wsa written, directed, produced, and (mostly) acted by lds actors, but the mpaa gave them an 'r' rating which was totally undeserved. what little faith i had in the rating system just went down the drain last night. they are trying to get the rating reduced, but said they will not cut anything out. it was easily a pg-13 movie. if some lds wll still refuse to see this movie because of it's rating, that would be extremely unfortunate, because this movie has absolutely nothing offensive, too violent, vulgar, or gratuitous and i would take almost any child to see it.
it will be very interesting to see how the happy valley community reacts to this movie and it's rating.
ok i really don't, but i sure have been hella tired this week. i think having 5 mid-terms in a week is doing it to me. last night, maggie was doing homework on my computer and i was struggling staying awake around 10 pm and these last few days i have found myself telling and asking people the same things over and over again as well as always thinking that the time was 1/2 hr earlier than it reall was. time for a nap...
went out again with megan to find a new apartment complex to move to. so far, omni and raintree seem to be the winners. omni is a little cheaper and has a washer and dryer. raintree has nice big rooms and a nice atmosphere, but will cost a little more. hmmmmmm...
i found out today that i am one of thirteen nominees for the outstanding student award for the philosophy department at uvsc. i'm not exactly sure what that is though, but it'll look good on a resume or vitae. unfortunately, i need to turn in a transcript and vitae to the head of the department. that'll screw me over. it was cool though, cuz it was dennis potter who nominated me and he's totally my favorite professor. i wonder how many students are in the department. being one of thirteen of 15 wouldn't be all that great ;)
once again i don't have much to right about write now. in my western religions, we spent most the day discussing the passion and rated r movies. it was most of the same ol' stufs i've said before though. i'm only about 30 pages into the da vinci code so far, but i'm getting excited to really get into that so i can discuss it with those who have read it. overall, life is good. got a date tonight. we'll see how that goes. and i get to babysit my little buddy koji this afternoon!
i finished socrates cafe rather quick. it would be a good book for someone who has little experience with philosophy, but it may seem rather simple for those with some experience.
i am now i'm reading the da vinci code which has been recommended to me by a few friends. i guess i'll see what all the hype is. megan, who pretty much shares all the same interests with me liked it a lot, so i'm guessing i will too
