Jenova

Hi all. I dedicate this post to the love of my life. Jenova.

For all of you that think I mean this crazy:

FALSE! It is NOT the Jenova to whom I am referring. I admit that it would be excellent to call the Jenova in the above pictures the love of my life, well....see the term "Jenova" translated means "calamity from the skies." You can imagine that she would be difficult to get along with, and probably wouldn't appreciate me. She would just go on from earth to earth, terrorizing the inhabitants thereon. Not something I'm looking for in a wife...

This Jenova of who I speak is none other than the sexy redhead found in the following video:

Wow. What a sexy machine. This truck has allowed me to take girls like this:

to the top of the hill seen in the video. Good times. Well as I was saying before the sweet vid I made, I am completely in love with Jenova. Today she proved to be in as good of shape as ever when we crawled up the almost vertical hill to the top for an amazing view of Cache Valley. It was sure amazing. I love you, Jenova!

Well the reason we went up the hill in the first place is because the piece that somehow flew out of my Walther when I was cleaning it showed up. It is a small piece of....well just look:

It's #31 in the above picture. Pretty sweet picture, eh? Now for all of you PPK fanatics, you can always access this schematic via Resplendent.

So yeah, Micah-Man had to install it, since his fingers are small and girl-like and mine are not so much as such... and Kendall and I took a drive up Hyde Park canyon to shoot it. It was glorious. No more false sense of security!

I guess you could say it was a pretty awesome day. I got EVERYTHING finished with school; so unless I become even more masochistic and go back to school, I am done. Forever. Then the gun part came and PPK .380 is back. Then Jenova rocked both mine and K's socks. Then tin foil dinners and dutch oven cobbler. Then finish this blog and grading homework. Ok the grading part isn't so great, but...well you get the picture.

Paz.

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Jack's Tire and Oil

I'm a bit of a slacker. I'll freely admit that. It took me a long time to get my research/thesis done, when maybe it could have taken any other given person about .7482 of the time. But it's OK. I always get there...eventually. My truck registration is never an exception to this rule. I haven't got that done on time in about 3 years. First off, I have to take Jenova to get inspected. This always comes with the risk of it not passing, which has happened 3 times in the last 4 years. You can understand why I procrastinated it, yet again, this year, or you better understand.

I was supposed to get this all done in March. It's almost the end of April. Since I'm going to be moving somewhere soon, I decided it was time to go find out what else I need to fix before it will pass the state inspection. There was a coupon for the inspection at Jack's Tire and Oil for $12.50, and along with that an oil change/express lube for $24.95. These both sounded good to me, so I told Jack (not his real name) to get it done. Jack comes out a bit later telling me that in order to pass inspection, I need new brakes. 40 minutes and $175 later, I had my state inspection done, an oil change, and new brakes. I get into my truck, go to crank the steering wheel to turn it, and almost drive into a ditch. "Holy H!" I said, "My power steering works!!!" Then I look down, and the brake light, which has perpetually been lit and the cause of an innumerable amount of inquiries as to why it's lit, was not lit. It felt like a brand new truck. Thanks Jack!

Peace.

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God's Country

Some of you may know what these pictures are. Well, one of you will know, since, Ambs, you're the only member of our family that visits Resplendent. To the other members of our family, you make me sad by not frequenting the blog. :( See? Sad face.

For those of you who don't know what the above pictures represent, I will tell a short tale. My uncles love playing jokes. One day, 20 years ago, one of my dad's brothers told him (my dad) that he simply must go to Blanding, UT, because "it's the greatest place in Utah." My dad, being the gullible, little man that he was believed every word. So on our family vacation to four corners, we stopped in Blanding. Due to a terrible experience there, consisting of staying at a negative-five-star motel and eating at a burger joint that shot somewhere under par, we, meaning my sister and I, vowed ne'er to return. I've never been able to drink Sprite from a fountain without thinking about the gross burger place with gross chicken nuggets and gross Sprite that is now a loan place. Ugh. We even used Blanding in the prediction-game MASH as the bad-luck-future-place-of-residence. Little did you know, Danny, you were right. I take back every bad thing I ever said about the town AKA God's Country. Eat your heart out, Moab. You will never be as cool as Blanding.

As can most likely be assumed from the preliminary, this post is about my trip to Blanding, Kendall's hometown. We drove down Friday, spent all day Saturday driving four-wheelers, hiking, and eating cookies, steak, potatoes, and cookies. We reluctantly, yet very swiftly, drove back on Sunday. It was a wonderful vacation. Here are some pictures of the beauty that can be found in God's Country.

We walked off that cliff on the left. I'm serious.

See?

I almost fell off the rock next to Kendall.

Looking straight up from...

...the edge of this cliff.

This wasn't a posed picture. You could see forever out there.

A kiva. I wonder who the Anasazi dudes worshipped? I took

this shot by holding the camera up to my face with one hand,

holding on to a rock with the other hand, feet planted on the

edge of the cliff of doom and leaning back. A small risk

for an OK shot. :)

I wanted to make climb to the tree on the left. I was

told I would die. PS the shadow looks like

Alfred Hitchcock.

If you look closely, you can see some people in the middle

of that crack. That's where we were.

A cool looking tree and proof that you can see forever.

Just another exhilarating view.

Kendall getting birthed.

I was about to get smashed by the large boulder up there.

A double-decker ruin, not unlike the double decker

from Taco Hell. It will ruin you.

These horse trails were made before the rock solidified. Around

400 A.D. or something. Evidence that there were

horses on this continent pre-Columbus.

A beautiful view.

Favorite shot of the day. This flower was growing out

of the rock with the horse trails.

It was a pretty sweet time. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Thanks Kendall, Kelly and Terri for such a great weekend!

Peace.

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Cool Whip

This clip made me smile today. More on the job interview I had today later. It went well, PS. :)

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Jason

My good friend and mission buddy Tiffanie inspired this post with her recent post on the difference between Tiffany and Tiffanie. Very interesting, Tiff. Good. Good!

Anyway, I decided to Urban Dictionary my name, and found some interesting, very true definitions of my name. I'm going to list them here.

1. The only name that can be spelled through five months of the year.

• J - July
• A - August
• S - September
• O - October
• N - November

2.

• Jason is the #24 most common male name. 0.66% of men in the US are named Jason. Around 808500 US men are named Jason!
• Jason is the #2512 most common female name. 0.002% of females in the US are named Jason. Around 2550 US females are named Jason!
• Jason is the #7202 most common last name. 0.002% of last names in the US are Jason. Around 5000 US last names are Jason!

3.

• The act of being the sexiest person alive.
• A very VERY sexy person.
• Something you would/should name your $%^&.

4. Leader of the Argonauts; legendary hero associated with Greek Mythology; Same level as Hercules, Ulysses, and Achilles; Smart, Sexy, Very Handsome person; often RF Engineer by day and gigaloo by night. Admired and idolized by many.

5. Jason is the most perfect guy a girl could ever want. Cute and yummy. :)

6. A jason is a cute, awkward, dorky boy. He's funny and sweet, can attract many girls by his lovable, boyish charm. However, a Jason isn't the best boyfriend because he doens't like talking or discussing relationship problems, only enjoys showing off his new "prize girl."

7. The cutest hottest most amazing boyfriend on the entire earth and no one can ever be even close to as perfect as him.

I'm not making any of these up, folks. I didn't list the examples on the correct usage of the word, however, because that bump this blog from PG to R. Just trust me on this one.

Peace.

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A Nice Glass of Red Wine

There are a few activities that I'd like to classify today as the finer things of life. Some of you may remember me talking about the Phantom of the Opera. This type of activity (theatre) is something that I hope to be able to do in the future once a month, given the right income. A few of the die-hard Resplendent fans may also remember last November when I wrote about going to a dance performance put on by Full Circle and Vilociti (the contemporary and hip hop dance companies, respectively). I went to another such show this past Tuesday, and was again awestruck by a fantastic performance. The emotions and feelings, and the story portrayed by these dancers and choreographers was spectacular and left many people in the audience in a state of tearing up and awe. To my friends Kristin, Sara and Seth: you guys are amazing. All 3 did some pretty awesome choreography. Good job, and thank you! Here is a picture, courtesy of .Kristin. that, although may not do the performance justice, gives a small taste of what took place at this event:

Next is an event that took place last night: a concert. Not all concerts will fit into this category, but every once in a while there is a band that means so much to a person, that seeing them live will inspire and leave one awestruck (and yes, I do like this word). Last night was exactly this for me. Many of you may not like the band Jack's Mannequin, but for me there are no words to describe and portray to you why I love them so much, and how excited I was to go to the concert. I will try and explain.

Andy McMahon, the lead singer/song writer/pianist of the band, puts so much emotion into his songs and even more emotion into performing. The past few years, including the present, I've turned on his music any time I've been depressed, angry, etc. (etc. being other negative emotions) and it has literally soothed my soul and calmed me. I hope that everyone has something, whether it be listening a certain band, taking a long drive, or some other activity that does this for them. This is why Jack's is so meaningful to me and hence the excitement I felt going to the show. I won't take the time describe the concert, but know that it was simply amazing. :) And the pictures I took (note that they didn't turn out too well because I had my wimpy Sony point-and-shoot rather than my Nikon):

Saren and I waiting patiently for the show. We had to sit down.

It felt like a high school talent show...

Andy threw out paper airplanes. He was a great performer.

He came back out (for the encore) and started playing Caves.

My favorite song. :)

Peace.

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The End of an Anchor

A few people have noted that they're either worried about me or think I need serious help. No worries, mates! I'm very content with my life here in Logan, UT, and I'm looking forward to starting my new life wherever it begins. I've been reflecting upon and ruminating thoughts of my life and different things from the past 6 years (to the present) that make me happy. I think I'd like to maybe write about a few of these. I'm going to do this in none other than LIST FORM!!! (Note: these are in no particular order.)

• I went to Hot Topic (for which Kendall (or anyone else..."You shop at Hot Topic? Ha!") hasn't stopped making fun...) and got an awesome wallet, belt and Zelda jacket. See? These types of things make me very happy. Kendall, in his comments on the belt said, "It looks like something a 7th grader would wear. And not a boy, no no, a girl-7th-grader." Thanks man. I have to disagree, though.

• I've met a lot of truly unique, awesome people and made some really great friends. So many people have touched my life in different ways and have taught me an innumerable amount of things; these people are worth more than any earthly possession. Included in this group are roommates (6 years worth!), crushes, bishops and bishoprics, more crushes, officemates, crushes on an officemate, EQPs, institute teachers, classmates, crushes on classmates, fellow wardies, and an occasional girlfriend. I even met my second cousin, once removed, and she has become one of the most important people in my life and one of my closest, best friends. My roommates these past two years are nothing short of this. They've been there to celebrate during good times, have slapped me upside the head and called me an asshat when I need it, and have been there to get me through the hard times, always offering honest, never-sugar-coated advice. As hard as this is to hear, it's been a source of courage and I truly respect them for it.
• My relationship with my family has gotten so much stronger. It's curious that we're all so very far away in Euclidean distance, yet we've never been closer to each other. After my dad passed away in January of '06, I learned why the gospel is so focused on the family and why the family is being attacked all over the world. My family is the most important thing in the world to me. It may be a bit cliche to say this, but I have the best one in the world. My sister has been such a great source of strength for me. She is always there to give me encouragement, courage, offer advice (that may be a little more sugar-coated than my roomies'), and calls me constantly when she senses or knows that I'm going through a hard time. Love ya sis! :)
• What would a list of experiences be without mentioning video games? Although it's been hard to find time to play as much as I'd like, I've still played a LOT of games. It's been fun to get together and play Guitar Hero or Dr. Mario with a group of people, or just zone completely out from the world and play some Zelda or Fable II. I guess it's been nice to have movie nights with these same groups of people. My eyes have been opened to a lot of fantastic movies that are out there, including musicals, Audrey Hepburn movies, the war genre, anything by Guillermo del Toro, and independent films.
• My ears have also been opened to the massive amount of music out there that is not among the pop, generic, ear-bleeding crap (called music) that has become today's standard. It's too bad people don't know what the music industry really has to offer them. This discovery, thanks to a guy I'd like to call Seth, has brought even more meaning to my life.
• Maybe most importantly, I've come to appreciate the gospel more than I ever have before. My knowledge, though limited, has increased ten-fold since my mission, and I feel like I'm ready to tackle the world head on, given that I actually get a job and have to face the world! ;) The Lord has given me trials that I never thought I'd have to face, has helped me through every one of them and has given me a priceless vat of knowledge and experience from them. He's chastened me when I'm stupid (which is pretty much every day) yet continues to bless and guide my life. Everything I have (my family, my friends, knowledge of the truth, etc., etc., etc.) I attribute 100% to Him.

As you can see, I have no reason to complain. I'm happier than I've ever been: I have an amazing family, awesome friends, and the Lord blesses my life more than I can even imagine. I'm quickly approaching the end of this chapter of my life, and can't wait for the next one to begin. Life is good. :)

Peace.

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Does Morbid Rub Off?

Some people say that I'm morbid. Others say I'm just plain effed up. I tend to disagree with all y'alls. I'm really OK. Like I said before, the stick figure people have a mind of their own and THEY'RE the violent ones, not me.

I guess I admit I'm a little screwed up in the brain, but no more than anybody else. Today I came into my room and noticed a nice drawing on the white board in my room. This was not drawn by yours truly, but my [choose your position, e.g. 2nd, 1st, etc.] favorite neighbor. I can't put a number on any of them because they are all just freakhog (freaking, in t9) fantastic. Anyway, this particular neighbor drew this on my white board last Friday night as I was deep in conversation about nothing with her roommate. My so-called morbidity must have rubbed off or seeped through the ceiling into their apartment. Crazy girls, I tell ya. Crazy girls.

So there it is. I'm not morbid, I haven't taken any dark turns, and I don't need to seek help. :)

Peace out.

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Return of the Stick Figures

I began a graphic novel. This is the first chapter.

Peace.

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$%^&!!!

I just finished up some homework, and for the first time in a very long time, I have absolutely nothing that I should be doing (except for sending out resumes, which for some weird reason I'm avoiding). I have some code running for my professor so I can't do any more work for him for another 3 days (when it finishes), I'm as far on my homework as I can possibly get without some help from my professor (whose office hours are not until tomorrow), and I'm completely done with my thesis until my advisor gets it back to me with any last minute touch-ups. I'll have to get it printed and bound, but that will take about 4.3 minutes. I'm very bored. I have a friend coming in for help with calculus at 4:15, a meeting with Dr. Stevens at 4:30, and a very booked night. But for the moment, I'm completely freed up. It's a weird feeling.

Another weird feeling is walking into your room at 1:00 AM and seeing a girl laying on your bed, staring at you, as you flip on the light switch. It scared the $%^& out of me. First you say it, then you do it, right? Well I didn't do it, but I would be lying if I said that "$%^&" didn't come out of my mouth in the following forms:

• $%^&!
• It scared the $%^& out of me!
• Holy $%^&!

This is what was really on my bed:

I did not mean to say what I said, but I do not apologize if the girls upstairs heard the obscenities that not so casually escaped my mouth. See, they're the practical jokers here. Another lucky thing, for the mannequin-head at least, is that it didn't get a .380 hollow-point in the brain. I had just come back from Ogden, which city requires the use at least 6 .380 hollow-points at any given time [snicker, snicker]. Even upon realizing that the dummy on my bed was in fact a dummy, I wanted to shoot it. Kendall thought it was funny...a funny dummy with a bullet in the brain.

I'm not a violent person. However, upon the purchase of two new pairs of pants, Kendall told me, "Hey [Squall], if people don't like your new pants, you can always come home and cut yourself!" But I'd never do that. I don't even own any razor blades, and Kendall took both my belt and shoelaces away. The ratio of people that were pro-me-getting-skinny-jeans vs. against-me-getting-skinny-jeans was about 5/3000, but I tend to side with the underdogs anyway. They won. Eat that, skinny-jeans haters. And for the record, I received the following text yesterday (the texter will remain anonymous):

So, as much as I hate to say it....the pants actually looked pretty good. :)

Thanks, friend.

Peace.

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