Ode to Bus

(On a side note, the title to this post just reminded me of the time I played "Ode to Joy" at a piano festival. I forgot to play the middle part of the song -- it seemed awfully short to me when I had finished, and I was puzzled until I figured out my mistake. I still got a Superior. Woot.)

I spent three of the past five weekdays riding the bus to work while my car was having some body damage repaired. There's some things about riding the bus that I've always liked:

I like the interesting people you meet on the bus. On the first evening ride home I met Elsa, a ninety-year-old Chilean "who still dances." She lives with her son in Provo, but rides the bus to Orem every day to volunteer at an assisted living place. She's 90 and volunteers to help old people! She's probably older than a lot of the people she's assisting. She's in good health "because she keeps busy." I hope to get old like Elsa.

And I didn't meet, but observed, a pregnant lady riding the bus with her two young daughters. She was very much pregnant but not at all grouchy or "look-at-me-it's-so-hard." She was reading the signs in the bus to her daughters then interpreting them: "No offensive language -- that means you don't say mean things. No vandalism -- that means no writing on the seats." At the end of their ride, she helped up the youngest daughter so she could "pull the line" to signal a stop. I like good moms who enjoy just being moms.

Oh, and the BYU road maintenance crew needs to think a little more when they do things. Riding the 830 up past the Wilk one morning, we encountered heavy conage. Bookending every single, freshly painted, white, lane-dividing line were two small orange cones. So there was no way to change lanes. Our bus driver had changed lanes just prior to the cone derby and thus found himself stuck in the left lane as we approached a stop. Luckily, there was no one at the stop and no one wanted to get off... but good heavens, painting crew! Take the lane-changing out of a double lane road and you've broken the system.

I also like that the bus is slow -- that you have to wait for it and that it takes forever to get anywhere. I'm not being sarcastic. There's something good in not getting exactly what you want when you want it -- of having to wait for something. And there's something... relaxing about just getting there when you get there. Reminds me of my mission.

And lastly, I like that you have to walk more than 20 feet to get to work when riding the bus. Every day after work, walking beyond the parking lot to the wild unknown, I would follow a dog down the sidewalk. And you too, if you were to walk that way, would follow the same dog. As far as I know, he only made the trip once, but he chose to do it soon after the sidewalk makers had done their job thereby leaving his footprints in the slabs.

And this is funny:

The Miserables and Angel's Landing

I spent the past weekend with my roommates and Amanda and Val and my grandparents in St. George. And we had a blast! My grandparents fed us like kings (thank you, Grandma and Grandpa) and the weather was great.


Oh, but before I begin... I dedicate this post, or rather, the pictures in this post to Martha, who mentioned here that one of the things that "blows her mind" is "people who take pictures to make it look like they're having tons of fun. it's one thing to document your trip, quite another to take a trillion pics of big-grin-right-in-the-lens. get over yourself." Knowing that before going down, I made a special effort to "document" the trip.

Here's my comrades and me on the shuttle to the bottom of the mountain:


Here's me part way up the mountain (I'm the one looking at the camera).


Here's another part way up (I'm the one occupying the right half of the picture).


Here's Scout Point (where you stop if you're afraid of heights)


Practicing lightning avoidance. I wish the pictures could do some sort of justice to how pretty it is up there.


Another shot of me (I'm near the bottom part of the picture. The mountain is behind me.)


And finally on our way to Tuacahn to see Les Miserables (that's my head in the middle obscuring the view of Tuacahn)


And I loved Les Miserables! That was my first time ever seeing any sort of production of the story. I've heard the music all my life, but I'd never seen it. Because the Tuacahn is outdoors, they could do cool things like have horses, pigs and goats, fireworks and a cannon. The pit orchestra was great and all of the performers sang and acted very well. It was quite a moving play.

Timpa No Go Us

I've never hiked to the top of Timpanogos.

I've always wanted to -- I've lived at her feet my whole life. It's just never happened. But this morning, I awoke at 5:00am so that I could make it happen. Yesterday, in fact, I gathered all the necessary (and superfluous) preparations -- fruits, nuts, food, water and a slightly earlier bed-time. But...

...every once in so often, I'm reminded that I'm human -- that despite my strongest intentions, I may not be able to always do everything I want. This morning was one of those "so oftens." I felt queasy on my way down the stairs to the grassy knoll (our ward's official meeting spot for all activities), but thought it would go away. It didn't. A few blocks out, I made Jason pull over and I... to euphemize the act... made an addendum to the gutter.

Hindsight says I should have just gone back home... but I truly did feel better. Anyway, we made it up to the mountain... and las cosas que viven adentro querrían escaparles. Escaparon.

And so, we had to come back home. I'm glad everyone was willing to drive me home and sacrifice their hike -- though I feel pretty darn lame about it. They dropped me off and did a different hike.

On the positive side: it's beautiful up there. It felt great to breathe the mountain air. Now I have a greater desire to hike to the top.

So, I've still never hiked to the top of Timpanogos.

Here's us not hiking:


And here's my niece -- just because she's cute:

Two Good Books

Recently, I finished reading two good books: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens two Sundays ago, and the seventh Harry Potter yesterday. (As a side note about the Harry Potter books: I've met a third person who refuses to read the books out of "principle." The principle seems to be simple stubbornness, though some argue literary quality; all seem to eschew bandwagonness.)


I'd like to try a technique I learned from past English classes by comparing and contrasting the two books:

Analyzing the data from this comparison, you will probably reach the same conclusion I have: the days between August 2006 and June 2008 had less hours than the now-typical 24 we've been experiencing for the past couple weeks. That's why it took me so long to finish David Copperfield. In some ways, I feel like I was reading in real-time as David grew up :)

But it seems silly to me to compare the two books. Yes, they're both British, take place in London, involve a crummy-step-parented orphan boy who can make things magically disappear. But beyond that, I see little resemblance. They don't even have the same name!

Comparisons aside, I enjoyed both of them thoroughly. I recommend the Potter books as good, easy entertainment–they're fun. And I recommend Copperfield as good, laborious entertainment. As I've written before, I enjoy boring things–though "boring" is perhaps the wrong term: quiet, unpretentious, slow are probably more apt adjectives. David Copperfield was definitely that, loaded with details of surroundings, situations, people and thoughts, it's the kind of book you can leave to the dust, then pick up and continue a few weeks later.

Dickens is also a lot more thoughtful... less Roman, more Greek. Here are a few of my favorite gems:

From the financially unsound Mr. Micawber: "My advice is, never do to-morrow what you can do to-day. Procrastination is the thief of time; -- collar him."

David reflecting on his own life:
"I have never believed it possible that any natural or improved ability can claim immunity from the companionship of the steady, plain, hard-working qualities, and hope to gain its end. There is no such thing as such fulfillment on this earth. Some happy talent, and some fortunate opportunity, may form the two sides of the ladder on which some men mount, but the rounds of that ladder must be made of stuff to stand wear and tear; and there is no substitute for thorough-going, ardent, and sincere earnestness. Never to put one hand to anything, on which I could throw my whole self, and never to affect depreciation of my work, whatever it was, I find, now, to have been my golden rules."

And his descriptions about loving the women he loved at various times are spot-on. This one, in which David has built up the courage to give flowers to Dora, can be likened to asking a girl out on a date: "I had had an intention of saying (and had been studying the best form of words for three miles) that I thought them beautiful before I saw them so near her. But I could n't manage it. She was too bewildering. To see her lay the flowers against her little dimpled chin, was to lose all presence of mind and power of language in feeble ecstasy. I wonder I did n't say, 'Kill me, if you have a heart, Miss Mills. Let me die here!'"

Thank heavens for good books!

I know I don't really read wordy posts, and I don't expect anyone else to, so here's another picture to look at. I took it at the parade yesterday:

Argggg

I've been working on a paper for my Technical Writing class for the past few days. It's kind of a fun project, but I'm getting a little tired of the tedium. I've got most of the content down, so now I'm going back to make sure that I meet all the requirements. And I'm stumped. Here's the requirements for the Front matter: (remember, this is a technical writing class)


So, for the four pages, this is what I think it wants me to do:

	Count	Number	List in TOC
Title Page	i	No	No
Letter	ii	No	Yes
TOC	iii	Yes	No
Preface	iv	Yes	Yes

The one I don't understand is the Letter... why do I not number it, but list it in the Table of Contents?

Argg.... English majors... :)

What a fun week

This past week has been so fun!

Monday
Celebrated my birthday with my family at home. We made homemade ice cream and it was just as good as I remember it.

Tuesday
Celebrated Meleah's (my niece) birthday. She's one! We tried to teach her to say "hawk" using some cool flash cards she got as a present.


Wednesday
Celebrated my birthday again at my apartment thanks to Judy's banana cream pie! We also played pickup sticks:


Thursday
Ward intramural kickball team took 2nd in the tournament.





Had my very first mint julep at Thirsty Thursdays at the Ashley's. I took the experience to heart and sat on the porch sipping the mint julep. Can't say I'm a fan though–my mom noted that it's probably popular as a source of alcohol, and that since ours was without... maybe. Also, had a really good blender-burning chocolate smoothie. I think the sucker had 5 different kinds of chocolate in it.

Friday
Hostile Work Environment Day at work. During this annual celebration, employees can vent their frustrations by blasting coworkers with Nerf weapons. This is my brother before he went terrorizing:



Also, we watched Rear Window outside on the grassy knoll Friday night. I liked the movie. I liked that it was intense without the unnecessary gore or over-the-top, horror violence (I don't like horror movies). Some may say it was weak... I liked it just fine.

Saturday
We hiked to the top of Y mountain! It was a beautiful hike. We ate strawberries along the way. And this is the first time I made it all the way to the Y without stopping. Here are some of the flowers:








Here's Martha flying:


Here's my hair flying:


Here's Ammon after he ripped two apples in half:

Here we are at the top (I think that's the Pacific Ocean in the back):


Here's where Elaina almost died from a rabid, prehistoric fern-dwelling, Brown Wolf Recluse Black Widow Spider-Snake:


Here's those ubiquitous, nest-making caterpillars:



And here we are at the bottom:


Then we played some water basketball in the pool to cool off (didn't actually cool off -- the game was a little intense).

Then we celebrated Tiffany's birthday with cake.

Then we saw Kung Fu Panda! What a fantastic movie! I haven't seen such a well-done movie for a long time. The animation was fantastic; the fight scenes were original (especially the dumpling fight); and it was funny! I recommend it.

Then we saw the fireworks at Orem's Summerfest. People had been staking out their spots for several hours so that they could get a good view of the works... We just took a spot right next to the fireworks on the road.

Then... I went home and slept a good sleep....

Life is good.

It's My Birthday!

It's my birthday today! I've now circled the sun 24 times (give or take any astronomical-calendarical discrepancies). So, to celebrate my birthday I'm going make a list of 24 things -- just like what I've seen done on other people's blogs.

Here are the best 24 years I've lived in:

1. 1984
2. 1985
3. 1986
4. 1987
5. 1988
6. 1989
7. 1990
8. 1991
9. 1992
10. 1993
11. 1994
12. 1995
13. 1996
14. 1997
15. 1998
16. 1999
17. 2000
18. 2001
19. 2002
20. 2003
21. 2004
22. 2005
23. 2006
24. 2007

Happy birthday to me! :)

Boring Things

I haven't written in a while... but I've been taking pictures.... so here's what I've been up to since the RKelli wedding.

I've been under two waterfalls. Here's Bridal Veil Falls -- the other was Stewart Falls.

Are named waterfalls plural or singular?

I got a new computer to use at work. It's a beautiful new iMac. I have it hooked up to another external monitor that I had been using with my laptop -- so I have a ridiculous amount of screen in front of me. Every time people come behind my desk, almost without exception, they exclaim, "Wow... that's a really nice screen." I'm lucky for sure.



And lastly, something about me: I like boring things. I really do. I sometimes tire of our American life (I say "American" because not all "modern" lives are the same): constantly doing things; constantly stimulating our senses; never letting the earth hold any sort of sway in life.

Today I walked to Harmon's for lunch -- for the Matt Value Meal (corn dog, big croissant, string cheese, mnms, pint of OJ, banana, can of Pringles -- all for $4.50). I've driven to Harmon's many times -- it's a trivial drive, though it consists of too many left turns. But I've never walked. And as I walked today past all the old-style houses... some with unkempt lawns, others with very kempt lawns, some with wooden fences, some with none, some with kids swinging or playing... and a whole lot of birds singing... I remembered how wonderful life can be when we're not rushing from place to place or worrying so much about everything. All this time driving to Harmon's for lunch, I've been skipping something great -- I'm glad I caught it today.

Around the corner from the oldish neighborhood and set off by a small field, there's a much larger and much newer house. It's a beautiful home -- it seems like it has a room for everything. It's not any larger than many of today's homes, but juxtaposed with the old neighborhood, it seems a little gaudy. And it reminds me of a thought I've thought many times before:

I am much happier living patiently and contentedly with imperfect things than I am living with exactly what I think I want. I could come up with reasons for having every single room in the larger house. And when compared with the smaller houses, if I could afford the larger, it would seem foolish to take the smaller. But so many times, life is just better when I don't get everything I want. There, that's how I wanted to say it:

Life is so much better when I don't get everything I want. It's nice to want for at least some things.

Healthy?

I'm finally doing it. I've always wondered what it would be like to eat exactly what the experts say you should eat: all the fruits, all the vegetables, all the not potato chips. And this week, I'm doing it.

Also, I've often had a goal to gain some weight. Girth has never been one of my strong points. So, in conjunction with the idea of healthy eating, I've also decided to increase my eating. I've planned out a daily 3000 calorie diet for each day this week:

After doing it for one day... I'm sick of eating. I'm most surprised by the quantity of fruits and vegetables I've got to eat. A cup and a half of carrots is a lot of carrots!

I'll let you know how the week turns out.

And Richard&Kelli were married this weekend! Their wedding was great... and they're married. It was very fun. Here's some pictures:

The happy couple:

The green-tied bachelors:


The Jordan River Temple:

Dum da doo da da da dat dat dum

I failed my Women's Conference, candy counter, picture-taking mission. Every time I was around the counter... it just wasn't busy enough. I meandered through the bookstore for a while. I even stood for a while on the phone with my mom trying to look inconspicuous. But to no avail -- I'm left with only my mental picture of myriad mothers clamoring for chocolate covered cinnamon bears and "just a little" fudge.

In other news, the bongos have returned. Last year, the bongos were the staple bane of studying during finals. This year they waited (thankfully) until after finals before coming out to play. (Though I actually did better on last year's finals...)



If you haven't played them, you're welcome to come over. It's a little like Guitar Hero -- but with four people, and a lot more violent smacking.



And if one set of bongos isn't enough...




And here's some of the flowers on campus: