A Prop 8 Facebook Conversation...

This is probably way more than you're interested in, but I posted this article on Facebook about the "strange charges" that Judge Walker made in the Prop 8 decision. This conversation followed:

‎Russ - "what about the violation of basic civil rights of the 52% of Californians to govern themselves?" We've never had that right, Chris. Or rather, we have that right until we use it to take away other peoples' rights. That's the job of the Judicial Branch: to ensure that the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the people don't enact laws that take away basic human rights.

Think about it this way: I live in Washington, a pretty darned liberal state. Would you think it okay if the liberal majority here voted on a proposition that would amend our state constitution to say that conservatives can't broadcast their views on television? No, obviously not, even though the majority wanted it: the Bill of Rights protects the conservative minority's right to free speech. We don't have the right to govern ourselves if it takes away another's human rights.

Similarly, the Supreme Court has ruled that the right to marry is a fundamental human right, and thus all citizens are entitled to it under the 14th Amendment--see Loving v. Virginia (1967), Zablocki v. Redhail (1978), etc.

As the Court said in Loving v. Virginia: "The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men. Marriage is one of the `basic civil rights of man,' fundamental to our very existence and survival." It's really a pretty clear-cut issue. You can disagree with the Supreme Court's rulings if you want, but as it stands, marriage is classified as a fundamental human right and thus you can't vote to take it away from people.

And that's a good thing. Keep in mind that our religion is very much a minority in this country, and if the majority decides they don't like us, we'll be screaming for the court's protection against the majority's right to govern themselves.

Chris - We've never had the right govern ourselves? Do we not elect our own government officials from among the public populace? Do we not propose and vote on laws that the people have submitted or that our politicians have drawn up? We do go...vern ourselves. I think that's about as fundamental as it gets when you're talking about a DEMOCRACY. Isn't that inherent in, and apart of, the definition of the label most commonly ascribed to the type of government that we have?

I think if you really wanted to, you could find just as many, and maybe even more court decisions that have affirmed the traditional definition of marriage. In response to the court decisions that you have cited, what about the 1972 Baker v. Nelson decision that was appealed from the Minnesota State Supreme Court up to the US Supreme Court that was dismissed by the plaintiffs because the SCOTUS decided that marriage was not a federal issue, thus affirming the state's decision to leave marriage defined as between a man and a woman. Additionally, aside form the semantics of marriage v. civil unions being argued, what CA rights will same sex couples be gaining that they do not already have with this decision?

Do you really want to invoke our religion in this question? Because our leaders have unquestionably come out in support of the proposition, and against the most recent court decision. If you faithfully and honestly hold up your right hand every time you sustain the prophet, then aren't you also pledging your support of the direction that he has plotted for us as God's mouthpiece? I don't doubt that it's a difficult issue to understand, but as a member of the church, we all presumably also support his decision. That is as fundamental as it gets in our religion, in spite of whatever arguments you might have otherwise.

Russ - ‎"We do govern ourselves. I think that's about as fundamental as it gets when you're talking about a DEMOCRACY. Isn't that inherent in, and apart of, the definition of the label most commonly ascribed to the type of government that we have?..."

It doesn't matter how commonly that label is applied to our system of government: it's wrong. We're a federal constitutional republic. That means we're a collection of states that are overseen by a central authority, all of which are bound to follow the laws set out in a constitution. The people elect our representatives to make laws on specific issues not covered by the Constitution (under the guidance of the Constitution's principles, of course). But ultimately, the United States is governed by the Constitution, not the people.

That's it. That is the structure of our country's legal system. I don't care how many times people say we're a democracy; we're not, and that's one of the big misunderstandings that causes people to get upset when the legal system doesn't function the way they want it to.

"I think if you really wanted to, you could find just as many, and maybe even more court decisions that have affirmed the traditional definition of marriage."

Let's not get into the traditional definition of marriage, because if so, then individuals of different races couldn't marry. That's the traditional definition in this country, unless you restrict "traditional" to the last 50 years. And if you do THAT, then you admit and endorse the concept of changing marriage's "definition" based on changing social and legal culture--which is exactly what is happening.

"dismissed by the plaintiffs because the SCOTUS decided that marriage was not a federal issue"

No no no. You can't generalize. The Supreme Court ruled that the THAT particular case was not a federal issue, not the concept of marriage in general. Baker v. Nelson is a really hard case to apply. Because the Supreme Court refused to hear it but it came through the appellate process instead of through a writ of certiorari, that decision is binding but in a very confused way, since the Court didn't explain their decision. I wish Judge Walker had addressed it directly in his ruling, personally, since it is definitely a gray area. I don't disagree with that.

"Additionally, aside form the semantics of marriage v. civil unions being argued, what CA rights will same sex couples be gaining that they do not already have with this decision?"

Walker covers that explicitly in his decision (which you really should read, if you haven't, and read it a bit more closely if you've only skimmed). He says that "First, domestic partnerships are distinct from marriage and do not provide the same social meaning as marriage. Second, domestic partnerships were created specifically so that California could offer same-sex couples rights and benefits while explicitly withholding marriage from same-sex couples."

As for the religious issues: I'll have to get back to you after lunch. ;)

Post lunch - So here's my brain spew. If I'm out to dinner with the prophet and I'm trying to decide whether to have strawberry cheesecake or chocolate cake, I'm not going to take his recommendation as revelation directly from ...the mouth of God. Prophets are allowed to have opinions just as much as people are, and we're allowed to disagree with their opinions.

See this message, for instance: http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/approaching-mormon-doctrine

An important quote: "Not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. A single statement made by a single leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, but is not meant to be officially binding for the whole Church."

For example: Joseph Smith believed in a universal ether. The theory of the universal ether has been conclusively proven incorrect. Does that mean Joseph Smith wasn't a prophet? No, it just means that every word he said isn't doctrine. That's the beauty of the church--it's led by human beings, who are fallible, and allowed to have their own opinions and beliefs outside of those that are inspired. Sometimes when the people in charge have particular opinions, the church follows even though it's not the right thing to do.

See our history with blacks and the priesthood, for example. That is a horrible, shameful part of our history, and there's no way to see it as anything else. Brigham Young was racist--that's not really in question. He said on page 290 of the Journal of Discourses: "You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind." I don't necessarily hold it against him; he was a product of his time. But the people of the church confused personal opinion with revealed doctrine, and the church kept with that tradition for too many years. Many prophets supported his racist ideology, so it wasn't even just "a single leader on a single occasion", it was many leaders over many occasions that were wrong. I personally don't believe it says anything bad about me that I think the prophets who denied the priesthood to people based on the color of their skin were wrong, and that the members of the church would have been good people to disagree with their prophets on that point.

So what are we supposed to do if we know that prophets can sometimes be wrong? I do believe that a person would do well to follow everything the prophet says, and that God won't look harshly on them for doing so if that leads them to bad things (like uphold racist policies). But I also believe that sometimes, if moved by the Spirit otherwise, they would do even better to follow another path. For example, Nephi disobeyed every prophet before him when he murdered Laban, but it was a good thing, yes? Because he did it while following the dictates of the Spirit.

That's our job as followers: to use the Spirit to guide our actions. If you don't believe in personal revelation and the importance of following the Spirit's dictates, then I would suggest you reread the Book of Mormon and the teachings of Joseph Smith. That, frankly, was his whole schtick: find out for yourself. Do your own thinking. Follow the prophet, yeah, but only because you've had it confirmed by the Spirit.

I did a lot of research, prayer, and study when this proposition first was put on the ballot, and everything I read, every conclusion I came to, and everything I felt leads me to believe that Proposition 8 is a bad thing. It establishes a horrible precedent: that the rights of the minority can be withheld by a vote of the majority.

I know that the Founding Fathers were inspired when writing the Constitution (and many, many prophets have spoken to the same effect). They were led by the Spirit to write what they did, and to establish our country as a country that would NOT be ruled by one person or by the whim of the mob, but would instead protect the rights and freedoms of all of its people. I know that our church, as a strange minority--a "peculiar people"--could easily be the target of mob hatred as much as homosexuals are now, and in fact have been in the past (see Executive Order 44, obviously). I believe that the Constitution was written in part to let us freely do the work that we're doing now, spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ, protected by the establishment of a government that was not subject to the whims of the people, but was established to protect the freedom of all in order to safeguard our ability to do the work we're called to do. Being complicit in establishing a precedent that the rights of a minority could be taken away by majority vote is a sickening thought, contrary to the intent of the Framers as inspired by God, and would be tantamount to handing a loaded gun to the person who says "I want to kill you".

I do believe that marriage between a man and a woman, solemnized in the Temple, is ordained of God. But that doesn't mean that I believe others shouldn't be able to make their own choices just because we don't agree with them: that's the Savior's plan. Forcing people to do what they should is the Adversary's plan.

Also: if your neighbor has sex with his girlfriend outside of marriage, does that mean that suddenly your chastity is made meaningless? Not at all--it just means they made a bad choice. If a member married in the Temple commits adultery, does that invalidate any other member's Temple marriage? No. It doesn't affect you at all. So why would non-member dudes marrying other dudes or ladies marrying other ladies affect your ability to have an eternal marriage?

So yes. I believe in the prophet's guidance. I sustain him happily and lovingly, and I follow his words as the Spirit dictates. I believe in this particular case that the leaders of the church at this time are being swayed by their personal opinions, by the culture they grew up in, and are forgetting the divinely-inspired protection that the Constitution offers us as a people. As much as the metaphor is used, we're NOT supposed to be sheep--we're supposed to be active followers who research, pray, think for ourselves, and listen to the Spirit to determine our actions. That whole process led me to my conclusion, and if I'm wrong, I trust that the Lord will judge me justly based on that.

But finally: regardless of how I feel, this isn't a religious issue, it's a legal issue, in spite of whatever arguments you might have otherwise.

Chris - Before I respond to the other points, the church one is without argument. When the church mobilizes its members in an effort to support a particular issue, this is not a matter of opinion. When the church issues official statements such as ...this one - http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/church-statement-on-proposition-8-ruling - then its not something at all comparable to whether President Monson decides to have chocolate cake or ice cream for dessert. It's not a matter of opinion when the church has an official proclamation on the family and it defines marriage as being specifically being between a man and a woman. I don't know how anyone can ever argue this point. Do you not think that the Prophet has received revelation when he has asked his consecrated members to donate their times, talents, and efforts to the support of this proposition? Or is that something he just decided to do on a whim? as if he felt like today he'd have steak, and oh, by the way, let's have our members do something that will force them to dig deep into their wallets, probably alienate many of our own members as well as the community around us, withstand ridicule and protests, just because it happened to strike him at that particular moment?

Yes, the Spirit IS the law, but this is a doctrine that is fundamental to our beliefs. I don't want to argue the finer points of your opinions on blacks and the priesthood, but don't you think that if God had really wanted that revelation to come sooner, than he would have found another way than let his apparently misguided prophets fumble their way along for 148 years after the founding of the church to finally change that doctrine? Whatever the reasons were for the way that unfolded, it was the way that God intended. If God had wanted otherwise, then it would have been son. Or was God somehow rendered impotent in that particular instance?

Whatever you want to call the government of the United States, it still approaches nearer democratic rule than any other nation. Yes, we have aspects of a republic. Yes, the constitution has great bearing on the formulation of our laws and the administration of our government, but ultimately, the people decide on the direction that this country goes. The constitution was implemented as a means of securing some fundamental rights. Never before has the SCOTUS ruled on this matter, which is why there is so much discrepancy between different state decisions because it has always been referred back to the state.

We elect representatives, those representatives (hopefully) carry out the will of the people, and (hopefully) appoint like-minded judges to rule on the matters of the law. If the constitution needs further revision, then those become amendments carried out by the will of the people.

This is about traditional marriage. Comparing homosexuality to racism is a specious claim that is often invoked in this discussion. You're talking about a protected class of citizen, which is not something that has applied to matters of sexual orientation, until now with the recent discussion of same sex marriage and these cases of judicial activism.

This is not about specific rights being afforded to same sex couples. Even in your own quotation of Judge Walker, he mentions that, "domestic partnerships are distinct from marriage and do not provide the same social meaning as marriage," but this is the point that I'm making: this is an argument over the "social meaning" of marriage." This is about semantics, and this is about the acceptance and embracing of a particular form of lifestyle that many people do not agree with. The second point of that same excerpt further validates my point, "domestic partnerships were created specifically so that
California could offer same-sex couples rights and benefits." It's the reclamation and validation of a traditional definition of marriage that we're after. The couples who enter into domestic partnerships are afforded those same rights and benefits that heterosexual couples also enjoy.

Please refrain from the claims that what someone else does in their own bedroom has no bearing on my life. Without getting into any kind of specifics, the way a person lives his life, however private his behavior, will always have an affect on other people, if only because we live in a community of citizens. What a person does in private will affect his comportment in public because we are the sum total of our thoughts, words, and deeds. This is why our church leaders have asked us to take a stand on this particular issue. There will be further reaching consequences than simply the allowance of same sex marriages, and that's why we have those watchmen on the tower to see those things that we don't. Apparently, there is something ahead that you and I cannot perceive at this time, and that is why our church leaders have asked its members to act on this particular issue.

He backed off after my last response, saying that he would end the discussion before anything too personally insulting might be said.

I have a follow up post on this coming right...about...now!

More on Judge Walker's Prop 8 Decision

I found this article, Prop. 8 judge makes strange charge, via this post by Ed Whelan over at NRO. From the article:

Until very recently, same-sex marriage was unknown in human history, and it is opposed today by many progressive leaders, like Obama and Clinton. Can this be explained only by irrational prejudice or religious zeal? No. Only unions between men and women are capable of producing offspring, and every civilization has recognized that responsible procreation is critical to its survival. After the desire for self-preservation, sexual passion is probably the most powerful drive in human nature. Heterosexual intercourse naturally produces children, sometimes unintentionally and only after nine months.

Without marriage, men often would be uncertain about paternity or indifferent to it. If left unchecked, many men would have little incentive to invest in the rearing of their offspring, and the ensuing irresponsibility would have made the development of civilization impossible.

The fundamental purpose of marriage is to encourage biological parents, especially fathers, to take responsibility for their children. Because this institution responds to a phenomenon uniquely created by heterosexual intercourse, the meaning of marriage has always been inseparable from the problem it addresses.

Homosexual relationships (and lots of others as well), have nothing to do with the purpose of marriage, which is why marriage does not extend to them. Constitutional doctrine requires only one conceivable rational reason for a law, and the traditional definition of marriage easily meets that test.

From the commentary by Whelan:

Also yesterday, plaintiffs’ lawyer Ted Olson, in a long interview on “Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace,” did little more than repeat, over and over and over, variants of the question-begging propositions that “We do not put the Bill of Rights to a vote” and that “the right to marriage is a fundamental right.” As to just how it is that the Bill of Rights might be thought to create a right to same-sex marriage, or that the Supreme Court’s previous holdings on marriage might be thought to extend to this previously unimagined novelty, or that anyone purporting to be a conservative on matters of constitutional interpretation could take the position that Olson is taking, Olson offers little or no clue. Evidently, his powers of persuasion haven’t been honed by arguing to a judge whose overwhelming bias was evident from the beginning.

One line of questioning that I wish Wallace had asked Olson: Why didn’t you speak out against Prop 8 during the 2008 campaign, when California voters were deciding how to vote on it? Why doesn’t your failure to have done so properly invite the suspicion that your anti-Prop 8 lawsuit is driven as much by your ego and vanity as by your newly declared convictions?

I posted this comment accompanying that article on Facebook:

Opposition to same sex marriage is not exclusive to religious people, or even conservatives. I thought this point was interesting in the round table comments at the end of the article - you might like to repeat the mantra that you do not put the Bill of Rights to a vote, but what about the violation of basic civil rights of the 52% of Californians to govern themselves?

100 Things

Amy did this on her blog, after her sister wrote this somewhere, maybe on a blog also, I don't know, but I'm following suit. I guess I've just been thinking about what 100 things I would put since she mentioned it, and I haven't been blogging so much lately, so here goes:

1. I was born in Mission Viejo, CA. Lived in Orange County my entire life up until I left for college. Most of that time was spent in Irvine.
2. I am the younger of 2 kids. My brother is 8 years older than I am.
3. I am the first person in my family born in the United States. On both sides of my family actually. I only just not realized that. That includes extended family going both directions.
4. I played soccer growing up, and would play it everyday of my life if I could. I don't know if there is anything else in this whole world that gives me as much joy.
5. I am halfway through my graduate program in applied social psychology.
6. I had a cat all growing up, but I think I'm more of a dog person.
7. I like collecting things. I collected a lot of baseball cards as a kid, and a couple years ago my mom sold my best baseball cards in a garage sale. The guy paid maybe $10 for probably a couple thousand dollars worth of cards. Fortunately, I still have all my comic books. There are lots of those too.
8. I want a beach house when I'm older.
   
9. I joined the church of the Mormons when I was 17.
10. I served a mission in Santiago, Chile.
11. My favorite toys as a child were my GI Joe. I had a whole army of them.
12. My best friend as a kid was Justin McFerran. Now my best friend is Dave. We've been friends for the last 17 years. Wow.
13. I received my bachelor's degree in psychology from BYU in 2005. Except for about a month soon after coming back from my mission, I never deviated from that path.
14. I was painfully shy as a kid.
15. My favorite sports teams are the Angels, Lakers, and Raiders. I'm a home town fan, but my favorite to follow has always been the Raiders, but it's been the most difficult seeing that they've been the worst team in the NFL over the last 7 years. At least no one can say I'm a bandwagon fan.
16. I was arrested on 5 counts of strong-armed robbery when I was 13.
    
17. I have run 2 marathons.
18. My first crush was when I was kindergarden (well, as much as you can have one as a 5-year old) on Jenny Dale. She had these big coke bottle glasses, and no one else had glasses as a kid, and I loved her for it.
19. I played the saxophone for one year as a kid, and for several years also played the organ.
20. I learned how to ski when I was 5.
    
21. I am a yellow belt in karate, so watch out. Combine my technical fighting skills and my previous history as a felon, and I am suddenly a very dangerous man.
    
22. I definitely prefer chocolate over any other kind of sweets.
    
23. I am much more verbal than I am visual. Just ask me to describe a picture for you and then have me draw one, if you want proof.
24. My first car was a Chevy Blazer.
    
25. I got my first ticket my first night driving in Provo down center street, and Dave and I had all of our stuff in the back of that Blazer, and a cop cited me from going 30 mph down Center street.
26. My favorite book is Treason, by Orson Scott Card. He is also my favorite author.
27. On September 11, 2001, my friend Chris Cornwell called and woke me up in the morning to tell me that two planes had hit the WTC towers. I was taking a nap after my early morning shift as a janitor in the JKHB.
28. My first job was helping out at the tent sale at Chick's Sporting Goods.
29. When I was too young to be alone, my mom used to take me with her to work, and then I would go watch movies alone at the theater in her shopping center.
30. My favorite TV show is Scrubs - Scrubs saw me through my worst breakup.
    
31. My favorite superhero as a kid was Captain America.
    
32. I am maybe the best pen pal you could ever have. When my brother went to boot camp for the Marines when I was 12, I wrote to him multiple times a week. When my friend Chris moved to South Carolina was I was 15, I wrote him monthly for the next three years until we met back up as freshman at BYU. I write missionaries very regularly. My missionary children will never suffer from want of correspondence from me. I just miss people a lot, I guess.
33. My favorite vacation as a kid was going to Cancun. I think that was our last one as a family too. I got offered alcohol at a restaurant bar and I went scuba diving. I loved it.
34. I failed my driver's license test two or three times. I was just too nervous.
35. I love going to concerts. My favorite have always been punk shows.
36. I want to go to Jerusalem more than anywhere in the world, but I think I want the BYU Jerusalem Center study abroad experience, so I don't know if I'll go anytime soon. I'll take anywhere in Europe or Brazil for now.
37. Because I served my mission in Chile, I'm fluent in Spanish, but I'm always surprised when I hear the language or start speaking it that I still understand it.
38. I don't have any allergies.
39. A car ran over my leg was I was about 4 years old.
40. I have had three bikes stolen from me, and it was always a devastating experience. Really, having anything stolen from you is a very violating kind of experience.
41. My greatest fear these days is of not measuring up.
42. I want to learn to play the piano, and then the guitar.
43. I want to take a hip hop dance class.
44. I hated vegetables as a kid, up until I came back from my mission. Now I eat just about anything.
45. I really like art in all its varieties. I love poetry, but I love painting and sculpture and photography and just about anything else you can name.
46. Just about everything about who I am now can be traced back to my brother until I was about 14, and then my friends.
47. Blue used to be my favorite color. Now I don't really have one, I just like anything that can be described as vivid or brilliant.
48. I have very strong tooth enamel. Whenever I go to the dentist, the dentist always comments on it.
49. To my knowledge, I have never spent a night in a hospital. The only bone I've ever broken was a small one in my wrist while playing soccer.
50. I was handball champion at my grade school the last two years I was there.
51. I received the first ever "Principal's Award" at my grade school that they continue giving to this day (I think) for doing a good deed. I got it for making sure that all this athletic equipment that had been left outside after hours got returned to the school.
52. 4th of July is basically summer Christmas to me and my friends. It's my favorite holiday, apart from actual Christmas.
53. Since it's not really a holiday, Halloween is my favorite non-holiday day. I absolutely love the entire month of October. I love the scary stuff and candy and everything associated with it. Incidentally...
54. I love costumes and dressing up. I feel like I've been acquiring this love the last several years, because I haven't always been this way. But my favorite thing about dressing up is finding some way to involve makeup. I just love it.
    
55. I was a ninja for six years in a row as a kid for Halloween.
56. I am very conservative in my Politics. You can pretty much go down the list of every political topic and assume that I'm right of center on everything. And I feel like I'm pretty informed about everything too, so I pretty much assume that I'm always right about stuff.
    
57. I can sleep in just about any environment. I have fallen asleep at a concert before.
58. I love airports. I have always had good experiences traveling, so airports are only associated with vacations and going somewhere fun for me.
59. My mom used to make her own variety of German chocolate cake when I was kid, and I always wanted that as my birthday cake. Nothing I loved more.
60. I am very good at remembering details about people.
61. I wish I could watch every comedic movie with Dave, Greg, and Mike. There is no one in the whole world that I laugh with more.
62. My favorite bands are Strung Out and Unwritten Law.
63. I LOVED ghost stories as a kid. For about three years, I made my mom either buy me every book of ghost stories that I could find, or take me to the library so I could check out more. I would read them alone in a darkened room by myself.
64. If I could meet any deceased not-associated with any religion person, it would have to be Ronald Reagan.
65. If I could live during any time period, it would probably be during the Renaissance. I wouldn't have to experience the ravages of time and aging, but I could fight with swords. I loved chivalry as a kid. I was a little bit of a weird kid.
66. I have a bit of an addictive personality. I get very involved with the things that I enjoy.
67. My favorite baseball player as a kid was David Justice. My first autographs were from Bob Boone and Dick Schofield, both Angels. I got those at my first baseball card show.
68. I really, really, really want to go to Comic Con, but that desire also started way before it was cool to go, and only geeks went. I still could spend hours in a comic book store.
    
69. My favorite painting ever might be Starry Night Over the Rhone by Van Gogh. The way he does texture is perfect for painting water, but whenever I see lights shining over water, I always think of that painting. It reminds of walking any pier by the beach at night.
    
70. I am a strong believer in everyone having to go through some kind of major breakup before getting married. Dating experience gives a lot of depth to a person, I believe.
71. If there are three things I could teach my children, it would be to love the Lord and his gospel, to love reading, and to just be active.
    
72. I have some regrets about things in my past, but I think that's okay. I think it just means that I've made mistakes, and I know better now. It doesn't mean my life is dictated by those wrongs, you know?
73. I love Home Depot. I hope that someday I can do a major overhaul of some part of my own home. Maybe not the whole thing, but at least a few rooms. I'd love to do a kitchen, if only because it's so much more complicated than any other part of the house. Bedrooms are easy, but doing appliances and plumbing and cabinetry, etc. is quite a feat.
74. My favorite job was as a residential appraiser working with all of my friends. Not only was it so much fun, but it was cool to see different houses, travel all over southern California, and actually enjoy what I was doing. Doing home refinishing stuff with Greg was also really fun too.
75. I have never attended a funeral before.
76. I would wear a t-shirt, with shorts and sandals every day of my life if I could.
77. If I were to redirect my professional career, I would either go to law school so I could work with Dave, or I would be a physical therapist. I think I could realistically do either of those. Not so realistically, I would love love love to be a writer. I don't think I'll ever make a sustainable living with writing, but I am almost certain I will write a book some day. And I think that will happen in the next several years.
    
78. As it turns out, I really like singing. I love karaoke type games.
79. I think I take after my mom more than my dad.
80. My favorite sports moments - Bo Jackson killing the Bengals in the AFC Divisional Playoff in the early 90s, Robert Horry hitting the 3-pointer to beat the Kings, and the Angels scoring 8 runs in one inning in the series clinching game, then Adam Kennedy hitting three home runs in one game against the Twins, and then being at Pizza Factory when Scott Spiezio hit the three-run home run that changed Game 6, and realizing we had to rush home to see their fortunes completely swing back for the Angels.
81. Dave and I would play Spanish Hit Man in junior high and talk about girls.
82. Rachel Collins was my first kiss, and first girlfriend.
83. My first time golfing was when I was about 24 at my friend's bachelor party. I used to hate it. Now I love it.
    
84. I wanted to play football in high school, but my mom and brother wouldn't let me because they thought it would detract from soccer.
85. I want 4-6 kids. Preferably on the higher end of that.
86. I really want to learn how to cook and to sew. I'm getting pretty good at grilling. I think I was meant to be a stay-at-home dad.
87. I really, really hope that I live next door to Dave and his family someday. We'll knock down the wall between our backyards and make a soccer field, and we'll coach our kids teams together.
88. I have never been fired from a job, but I really want to quit a job in a really dramatic and abrupt fashion one day.
89. I think the first CD I ever bought was Pennywise's self-titled album. The first tape I ever bought might have been a Paula Abdul album. Quite the contrast.
90. The best days of my life are all church associated - the day I received my endowment, my first night in my second area of the mission and committing a woman to baptism, and the last day of my mission. There's nothing like the sudden influx of enormous amounts of the spirit. I've had great days since, but those were so grandiose in one way or another. Now everything is much more subtle. I'm sure there will be more though.
91. I love shopping. I love clothes and I can be dangerous with a credit card.
92. I love soda. Like, really love it. Vanilla Coke is favorite.
93. I much prefer the satisfaction that comes from eating when I've been starving over getting sleep when I've been extremely sleep deprived. I don't feel like I ever really get good sleep or like I get caught up at all after finally getting to sleep again, but the first meal within the first bite eating when I've been really hungry is instantaneously satisfying.
94. I watch just about every sport. I watched the majority of the World Cup games, and I'll watch everything that I can when it comes to the Olympics. I am way more in favor of the Summer Olympics v. the Winter ones. Amy is the opposite, and I think she's crazy for it.
95. I would love to do MMA training as my form of working out, but I don't have the money to afford that.
96. I used to be deathly afraid of public speaking, but now I feel like it's actually a strength of mine. I have no fear or nervousness anymore when it comes to public speaking.
97. I like taking long showers. It's where I get my best thinking done.
98. I want to have a monkey as a pet someday. I would dress him up in a sailor suit, or get him a train conductor's outfit. Or a suit of armor.
99. I don't think I want my formal education to end after BYU.
100. I have seen many R-rated movies in my day, but only two in the last year - Zombieland and Shutter Island. I really enjoyed both. I won't ban them for the rest of my life, but I'll keep them extremely limited. I feel like that's good enough for me.

What's Bothering You?

A lot of things recently, really just politically.

• The one thing I'll just never understand, however, is how members of the church can celebrate a court decision that goes clearly against the stated position of the church. I know that it's hard to understand, and nobody fully grasps the issue in its entirety, but when the leaders of the church, those men whom we pledge to sustain multiple times throughout the year by the raise of our right hand, tell us that we support the passage of Proposition 8, why is it so hard to grasp that that is the line that we are to hold? Following the prophet will always supercede any political position that we already have, because it's no longer about politics - it's about being on the right side of the line, which has been clearly defined by the Lord's mouthpiece. That particular belief will sound pretty crazy to anybody who isn't a member of this church, but that is the only place where safety can be guaranteed.
• Been listening to some podcasts of This American Life recently, which definitely leans left in its politics. They have been talking a lot about the economy, and how to improve conditions. You know what I found remarkable about their conclusions? The solution is always fiscal responsibility, staying out of debt, and keeping taxes low.
• The Proposition 8 thing makes me mad. Supporting Proposition 8 seems to mean that you hate gay people. You are a bigot and want to restrict fundamental rights by supporting that constitutional amendment. You know what else this reminds me of? Being critical of President Obama means you're racist. Not liking what the Reverend Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson says means you're racist. People throw these terms around at every opportunity to detract from the greater issue at hand. Throw a white sheet on a person and it automatically discredits everything that person will ever have to say. Yes, that kind of white sheet.
• This is a little off topic, but I would really think that a former governor would always be best suited to be POTUS. A state is really just a microcosm of the nation as a whole, and a governor who has a demonstrated track record of success would seem to have a pretty good idea about how to work with the two opposing parties, manage an economy, and lead a group of people. That just makes sense to me. I don't think Sarah Palin really qualified, mostly because her experience was so limited, but doesn't it seem like she had a better record than Obama did at the time of his election? I don't know.
• If you don't like the direction of the country - economy, health care, social issues - then it's time to start encouraging your friends and family to vote differently, isn't it? Admittedly, I'm pretty hard right in my politics, but I can't believe how much I disapprove of in the last two years, politically.

Anyway, if you're interested in some political commentary of Proposition 8, you can read The Editors' response from National Review here, read about the problems with Judge Walker's handling of the case here, and the guys from Powerline here, which features this quote:

Conservatives have long said that the day would come when liberal judges declare the Constitution unconstitutional. That happened today, when a gay federal judge in San Francisco, relying on the opinions of mostly-gay "expert" witnesses, ruled that an amendment to the California constitution, which was adopted in perfectly proper fashion by a substantial majority of voters, is "unconstitutional." In this context, unconstitutional means "unpopular with me and my friends."

As a legal matter, Judge Walker's decision is a bad joke. It will be appealed, of course, but the outcome of the appeal will be determined by politics, not law. I think it is safe to assume that anyone nominated to the Supreme Court by a Democratic President is explicitly or implicitly committed to the proposition that gay marriage is a constitutional right. If you think that is bizarre, stop voting for Democratic politicians.

It's all very maddening, isn't it?

To My Adoring Readers...

Believe it or not, I have been working diligently on my thesis this week, and it's actually exciting to make some real progress on this thing. The problem, however, is that when I start to become focused on important things, relevant things, then that is usually the same point that I start to become most inspired with my blog posts. I have been dying to write more lately, and on a variety of different topics, but alas, I must resist the urge to dedicate any serious thought to that particular endeavor. However, I think I will reward myself over the weekend with some time spent on writing some thoughtful post about the post-modernization of contemporary culture and the underpinnings of the industrial economies of blah blah blah...okay. Not anything that dense. But I do have some things I'd like to talk about, for which my blog will serve as my sounding board. In the meantime, enjoy this awesome goal celebration:

Miracles Follow Those Who Believe

Today in Sunday school we got to talkin' about miracles. We were discussing the story in 2 Kings 6 about Elisha and his servant seeing the chariots of fire surrounding them, and such a large part of having miracles in our lives is just having our eyes opened to them in the first place. Ultimately, the miracle of the Atonement and of forgiveness and redemption is the greatest miracle we can ever experience, and one that we can experience daily if we can get our sensitivities to that level of awareness.

A couple of weeks ago the sports awards show, The Espys, were on ESPN, and each year they give out a courage award. This year's recipients were the Thomas family. If you're ready to cry and hear more about this story, then watch this video:



The most amazing part of that whole story, to me, is just that family's natural inclination toward forgiveness and healing. That man's whole life ended up being the preparation that they needed to cope with his tragic death. Beautiful, beautiful story. And I also love that the Atonement is very much alive and present in the lives of other faithful people. I love seeing the effect that faith can have, especially with all of denigration of religion that secular society attempts to perpetrate.

Warm Reception for Inception

Some people aren't really movie people, but I definitely am. I love the experience of going to movies. I've been known to go to the movies just to get into an air-conditioned theater, and I've also had some of my best naps in theaters. When my brother used to have to babysit me, we'd go to the movies and catch double features pretty regularly. It's kind of funny looking back on it now, because we'd often go and see different movies, so as an 8 year old, I'd be all by myself in the theater, and then wander out when I'm done, wondering where he was at. As a teen, Dave and I would go on movie marathons and pick out 4-5 movies we would watch in one day, hopping around in the theater, prepped with a backpack full of food, mostly junk food, that would leave us feeling pretty hashed by the end of the day.

I have a lot of fond memories of movies. I feel like I used to be a lot more easily satisfied by movies also. I often left the theater with that amazed, in awe, kind of feeling that I had just witnessed something truly special. I haven't felt like that for awhile now, however. Not to say that I haven't been entertained, or felt like I got my money's worth, but I haven't had that same blown away kind of feeling, that is, until last Friday.

Inception was the one movie that I had really been looking forward to among all of the summer releases. A-Team was really fun, Iron Man 2 was entertaining, and the remake of Karate Kid was better than I had expected, but I had July 16th marked in my movie calendar for quite some time now.

Christopher Nolan, writer, director, and producer of Inception is one person in Hollywood that I feel like I can set my clock by. With his reboot of the Batman franchise, particularly the Dark Knight, I just knew that he wouldn't fail. I loved what he did with The Prestige. The guy gets awesome performances from his characters, but probably more than anything, I just love his dark, screw with your mind kind of style. His stories are unpredictable, and he communicates a vision and message unlike anyone can. I love the way he creates these very fallible protagonists - you didn't really know who you were rooting for in The Prestige, and while Batman is the obvious choice for hero in those films, he's not one that is ever openly embraced in the movie itself. There are all kind of flaws that he injects into his characters, and it's really kind of awesome to see.

Some people don't like going to the theaters, dealing with fanatics, or the crowds, or the high price of movie tickets, but I think that's the best way to enjoy it. What's better than going to opening night for a movie that everyone has been eagerly waiting maybe months for? A movie I think would be mostly annoying, i.e. Eclipse, can turn into an event because of the gasps and gleeful cries of overflowing estrogen oozing from every person in attendance. Anticipation begets excitement which in turn begets a more involved, fun-filled experience.

Inception was no different. Seeing that movie opening night, no one really had any idea what to expect other than hopeful anticipation that they would be getting their money's worth. It's rare to sit for about two and a half hours and have no one moving or walking about in the aisles. Silent moments in the film were truly silent because every person is gripped by the drama of the moment, and you find yourself sitting on your seat's edge, wondering how the next scene will unfold. When the movie ended, with what I think was the perfect close, there was a collective and audible gasp as the entire theater exhaled at once.

Perfect. The whole thing was perfect. I haven't walked out of a movie feeling so satisfied and intent on paying full price to see it at least one or two more times on the big screen for about two years since his last movie.

It is so freakin' awesome. Go see it.

Old Spicin' It Up

So, just like everyone else that reads this, about 50 of my closest Facebook friends posted this HBLL commercial mimicking the Old Spice campaign:



Pretty fun commercial. Now I don't know if this is the case with all of the Old Spice commercials, but at least the first one that aired on the Super Bowl back in January was done in one take. The ad wizards explain how they did it here:



I also kind of love the less heralded odor blocker commercials, like this one:



And apparently, in the last few days or sometime recently, the guys in charge of these ads put together dozens of other mini-responses. Seriously, dozens. You can go to their YouTube page by clicking here.

I've only seen a few of them, but I absolutely love this one:



This has got to be the smartest ad campaign ever. I think everyone has viewed their commercials at least a hundred times and is hanging on for when the next one will come out.

Silverfish hand-catch!

I Stand All Amazed

I am always amazed by how things work out. A year ago at this time I wondered a lot about the career opportunities that would be available to me. The same internship that I just got earlier this week became available this time last year, and I knew that I wasn't yet ready for the experience. My dating life at that time was also in disarray. And being at home, attending the singles branch down in Tustin, going to the activities with the people around that area, I just never felt like I had a place. The thing is, I wouldn't even characterize this time last year as being a down period for me, but I know that I wasn't really content either.

It's just amazing to me what time and the natural movement of life can bring about in such a short period, good or bad. One morning a couple of summers ago I had a very rude awakening with some family stuff that was going on. The events of one day cast a long shadow over the next several months, and it's something that we're still all feeling at times.

I thought about Dave, and how many conversations we had about how awful the bar was, and then about how much it sucked and how draining it was to not have the kind of job he had envisioned upon finishing law school and passing the bar. And now he's gainfully employed, and couldn't be more satisfied with how things have turned out.

I am so immensely grateful for those times when God has seen me through those rough patches, for the availability of wonderful friends and family that have strengthened my feeble knees and lifted up my hands as they have hung down low. And I'm so grateful for a time in my life when I honestly feel like I couldn't ask for anything more, when my prayers are filled with so much more thanks than with requests. I know it won't last forever, but I'm just so grateful for it while it's here.

It is wonderful, wonderful to me.

Messing Around In Moab

Yeah, the guy in the waterfall is me. You have no idea how cold that water was, even with the full wetsuits on. I don't think I've ever been so close to hypothermia in my life. It was pretty miserable at the time, but so fun to look back on now.

Amy is more hard core than just napping, but it didn't really get documented because she's the one with the camera, and I'm the one with the pretty face.

Job Interviews

While at Lyon, I conducted a few hundred interviews while working in their HR department. I haven't been interviewed myself for anything for more than a year now, and even that last one was pretty informal. My last real job interview was probably for Lyon, which was about three and a half years ago. So yesterday was an interesting experience for me.

I felt some of the nervous anticipation during the day leading up to the interview. I had planned on getting a certain amount of work done beforehand, but ended up doing very little. I guess it all had to do with the fact that I really wanted this one to work out. I don't know if there has ever been another job that I've wanted as much as this one. This position was one of the main driving forces behind me wanting to be in this program at BYU.

The questions covered everything that I had done in all of my scholastic career, and then some about my own personal life. He told me about the range of projects that they are working on, and answered my question about what makes for a successful employee. The interview went for an hour and a half.

I knew there were some other candidates, and I figured there would be at least another interview, but as we were closing he told me that he'd like to hire me. Crazy, huh? So this will be my place of employ beginning in September for the next year. The commute will be killer, but I'm really excited about this opportunity.

Let Me Get That Knife Out Of Your Back, Cleveland

Seriously, I am loving the Lebron carnage. I have followed sports all of my life, and while I can't really remember the significance of Roger Clemens leaving the Red Sox, I don't think there has ever been another athlete who was so beloved by everyone in the whole world that got turned into a pariah faster and more emphatically than Lebron James has in the last 24 hours. It's unreal.

And I love it. I can't get enough of it. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen. In the last few years, whenever YOUR basketball team lost out, usually everyone jumped on the Cleveland bandwagon and rooted for The King and his Cavaliers. Now, the Miami Heat are more the Yankees of basketball than even the Lakers. After winning his fifth NBA title, Kobe has managed to have his status raised to infinity because Lebron did what Kobe would never do, even when he threatened to do it for one lame-brained offseason - leave his team in dire straits. It's beautiful, really. I cannot get enough of this.

Fan reaction to The Decision. How funny/sad is that?

Bill Simmons has been documenting the carnage, and here are some of the emails that his readers have been sending in (these are actual emails):

City: Bowling Green
Name: Rob Schuster
Like dangling an engagement ring in front of your long time girlfriend, then getting on your knee at the bar and proposing to a girl you met last week. Completely destroyed.

City: L.A., (from OHIO)
Name: Collin
Explain to me why I should care about sports when the savior of my city turns out to be a false prophet.

City: Atlanta, Ga.
Name: Eric Retter
Closest example to what LeBron did with Cleveland: Instead of proposing to your girlfriend, dumping your wife on the Jumbotron. At the Super Bowl.

City: Cleveland
Name: Dave
How does someone recover from this? My father will be dead before a Cleveland team wins a title.

City: Fair Lawn, N.J.
Name: Jessica
You know how happy Carrie looked at the prom? And when the pig's blood was dumped on her you couldn't help but empathize? And when she went on her rampage you were actually kinda rooting for her? That's how I feel about the city of Cleveland right now.

**ME SPEAKING***This one is my personal favorite...
City: Anywhere USA
Name: Name Withheld
This is the day he went from being a lovable superstar trying to reach his potential to enemy number one. I want the Knicks to bring back Charles Oakley and Xavier McDaniel on 10-day contracts to injure him. I want Kobe Bryant (yes, Kobe!) to destroy him so badly every time they play that he loses confidence Rick Ankiel style. I want him to lose in the first round and then break his leg in the off season, only to see Wade and Bosh win without him (and have him screw up the chemistry when he comes back). I want him to join the French World Cup soccer team. I want him to go into the stands and attack a child in a wheelchair. I want it to come out that he was point shaving. I want Cleveland fans to throw urine water balloons at him. I want Castro to annex Miami. I want Florida income taxes to spike to 73%. I want the Bulls to beat the Heat by 50 points every time they play. And I want LeBron's father to come out of the woodwork and say "You've brought shame on me and our family." This has moved me from the NBA fence to a die-hard Premier League fan. Goodbye NBA!

City: New Canaan, Conn.
Name: Peter Kirschenbaum
I am a lifetime Heat fan. Last night: Mixed emotions. This free agency has been like winning two different lotterys. When Wade and Bosh chose the Heat, it felt like winning a $5 million dollar lotto jackpot. Having LeBron pick the Heat feels like winning the powerball mega million. Now nobody likes you and all of the sudden you have all these bandwagon fake friends wanting to hang out since you're finally worth something. You can't enjoy your money anymore because everyone wants a piece. Am I happy about winning the powerball? Yes, of course. Is it wrong though, that I feel like I might've been better off just winning the $5 million jackpot?

City: Minneapolis, Minn.
Name: Joe
Last night may have been the best PR moment for Kobe in his entire career. How many people are, just like me, going to be rooting for Kobe to tear LeBron apart on the court after that disgusting, narcissistic spectacle last night? LeBron really pulled off something to 'AMAZE' me last night ... he made Kobe 10 times more likable at 10 p.m. last night than 3 weeks ago.

City: Akron, Ohio
Name: Kevin Heffernan

Please elevate Cleveland to #1 on your Levels of Losing list. I want to be #1 in SOMETHING.

We had a LeBronfire last night ... I burned everything I own with his name on it.

My wife could sleep with my father and I wouldn't feel this betrayed.

Born here. Raised here. Played here. Betrayed here.

City: Oakland
Name: Frank
I'm trying to figure out where I've had a feeling like this before. Then I remembered: This reminds me of Hulk Hogan at the moment he drops the big boot on the Macho Man Randy Savage to team with the Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) and essentially form the nWo. These are the only two times when I have said to myself "No! Why are you doing this! Evil! Evil! EVILLLL!"

Isn't it great? I love sports. I love all of this drama and carnage. It's so awesome. I had no idea this would all turn out like this.

Summer Christmas Cali Highlights

In no particular order:

• Running in California - I can't believe how much easier it is to breathe here. Humidity makes all the difference in the world, and normally running in the early afternoon would kill me as far as the temperature goes, the temperate Mediterranean climate of the OC made it a nice time to run. Best part though=running passed the strawberry fields and breathing in that fresh aroma. I had never smelled it that strongly before, and for so long.
• Finally winning a game of trains. I feel like it's been forever since I've been able to do that.
• 8 or so hours at the beach on the third. I managed also to extend my annual tradition of getting a ticket on Summer Christmas by losing track of time and forgetting to fill the parking meter. $53 later, and I'm just glad it wasn't the $200 cell phone one I got last year. Newport at 15th street worked out perfectly, I thought.
  
• Big whiffle ball game. Although I didn't feel on my game, it was still so much fun to have EVERYONE play.
  
• Loved the mid-60s water temperature. I wish I would have spent more time in the water than I did.
  
• Angels Big Bang fireworks. Turns out that this would be the best show we'd get for the weekend.
• Seeing my dad. Normally, I don't have a need to go see him, but it turns out that I actually kind of missed the guy.
  
• Seeing the rest of my people.
  

I just love home. I love California freeways. I love how the air feels. I love what it looks like down there. I love the people that are down there. I just love it. Love all of it. I hope I can get at least one more weekend or so of beach time before the end of the summer.

I only wish we got more pictures.

Life After The World Cup

I don't know what it will include. I just realized a little while ago that I've just been killing time all morning, waiting for the Germany v. Spain game to start at 12:30. This is the second of the semi-final games, with the final being on Sunday. Yesterday's game was a fun one, ending up 3-2 in favor of the Netherlands. The first goal was one of the most amazing goals I've ever seen. It came out of nowhere, it didn't look like the Dutch were even in a position to attack, and you see players shoot from outside all of the time, but the moment that the ball left his foot it just felt completely different. I started laughing out loud to myself and watched the replay about a dozen times. For me, it was the best goal of the tournament (except for maybe David Villa's first goal for Spain).



The Germans just look too dominant right now. Spain is a good team, but they have not looked at all impressive like the Germans have in every game that they have played so far. They are missing one of their best players for today's match, but Klose is one of the best finishers ever, and will probably finish this World Cup as the most prolific goal scorer in World Cup history.

Anyway, I guess after today I'll have my mornings back, but it's hard to imagine that I ever lived any differently before this past month. It's a similar feeling to when the Olympics are over. It's been a good one. On to the final!

California Here I Come!

I'm off again to visit my wonderful homeland of the golden coast. This makes for 4 out of the last 5 weekends that I will have been out of town. I am too much of a partier. Not really, but it sure has been feeling that way lately. Just about every minute is packed with fun, so this should be a good trip, as always, but more importantly, this weekend marks the birth of the most wonderful nation on God's green Earth. I can't wait to see my CA people. See y'all in a few!

This video is super weird, but the song is so catchy. I kind of love it. I've been very poppy lately when it comes to my music tastes. Anyway, have a great weekend, dear ones, and enjoy the 4th. It's the greatest holiday of the year this side of Christmas.

Canyons and Stuff

You know what the problem is with getting new hobbies and interests? There is a crap-load of new stuff that you have to get if you really want to get involved. There is always the option of borrowing stuff, but then you are at the convenience of other people and not yourself. And it's not even necessarily that it has to be the high quality equipment, just the basics. For example, I love golfing, and I've been going almost every week, although it doesn't really show it in my golf scores. Getting into golf has been costly - clubs, balls, clubs, tees, not to mention all the fees for actually playing.

Want another one? Amy is a huge fan of camping and canyoneering. We've attempted three other times to do some canyons, and only this past weekend were we able to finally get to it. I'll do another post and talk about the experience once she gets me some of the pictures, but I have to say that it was a really fun experience. In the meantime, let me relate a little side story to the trip.

On the last day, we ended up going to Medieval Chamber in Moab. It has two pretty sweet rappels of about 100 feet and 100+ feet. When we got to the first rappel, two other groups proceeded us, so we had a wait time of over two hours for the first one. By the time we got to the second one, one of the groups went ahead of the other, and we were left watching as the other group was finishing up.

When I got to the scene, one of our canyoneers was helping a little boy of about 12 go down this over 100 foot descent. The kid was paralyzed with fear, only able to take a few steps down before freezing completely as his only movement came from the sobs and whimpers his body convulsed with the prospect of having to climb down the rock face. Amy was so sympathetic to him, but I could only laugh at his plight. With camera in hand, his father looked on while shouting words of encouragement. We all were rooting for him, although I couldn't help but laugh at his terror. As the member of our party coached and comforted him enough to get him down the rappel, the father mentioned to us as he chuckled, "poor kid, I owe him a big ass ice cream cone."

On the right is a bridge, and the left is the rock face that we, and that little boy, all rappelled down. What's really cool is the last part where you're descending about freely only hanging on to your rope for about 30-40 feet.

I laughed even more at that thought. I know that I've been that kid many times growing up. My parents enrolled me in a number of different things to try and get me good experiences and to help my brother and I assimilate into the culture around us. I have cried, whined, and whimpered many times about not wanting to do plenty of things, but I feel like in the end that's what has helped me have enough confidence to try and embrace new experiences. One of my friends expressed about his own kids that he never wants them to be able to say no. I don't really know anything about parenting, but I feel like that's one philosophy that I would also like to have.

When I am growing through my own life's trials, and I'm paralyzed with fear and sobbing to myself, I wonder if Heavenly Father looks down and says to himself, "oh man, I owe that kid a big ass ice cream cone," just like that other father did. I'll bet that he sees our aches and pains, and looks forward to the time when we'll emerge from those troubles and sorrows, ready and eager to give us the prize on the other side.

I suck at golf. I spend as much time enjoying the game as I am frustrated and annoyed with it when I'm out playing, but I still want to figure it out. I've never really been a camper, but I'm acquiring a taste for it and all of the adventure of the outdoors. And I suck at working on my thesis, but I want to blow through this thing.

I feel like there are a lot of things that I'm pretty good at, and then there are a whole lot of other things that I'm not any good at, but I like to think that I have a pretty open mind to at least trying them out. It takes a lot of time and practice of just trying new things, whatever they may be, to get to the point where it becomes comfortable trying something previously unexplored. Pretty rarely, I feel, is it the case where new experiences are not beneficial. I just hope that I can always stay open and eager to try them as they come along.

Shark In The Water

Going down to Moab for the second weekend in a row. Going to attempt to go canyoneering again. This will be the third such attempt. I'm kind of thinking that it's not something that you actually do, but just talk about doing and get disappointed every time because there is some extraneous variable that always prevents you from actually doing it. That's my experience with canyoneering thus far.

In the meantime, enjoy this song, and have a great weekend:

I Always Seem to Forget

When I get back into marathon training, there are always a few things that I forget:

• I like getting the calcium fortified orange juice to drink before my long runs. Calcium is a key electrolyte, and I'd rather do without having my digestive system try and process milk before and during my run (although the digestive system does shut down during vigorous exercise).
• It takes me a few hours after a run of 12+ miles to feel like I can function again.
  
• Running on shoes that are on their last legs is not a good idea on long runs. My feet start to get increasingly sensitive the longer the runs, and the effects of the pounding increases disproportionately in a negative way.
• It's always, always, always better to run in the mornings than any other time of day, for me at least. I'd rather run in the morning and little sleep or with a poor night's rest instead of with plenty of rest in the middle or at the end of the day. Unless it's really late at night. I don't mind that at all, but it keeps my wired for a few hours if I do that. Running in heat is equivalent to running at higher elevation and can slow you by as much as 10-20%. Beat the heat by avoiding it altogether.
  
• I love the feeling of accomplishment following a long run, and I guess that's enough to offset how much I hate doing them in the first place.
• I sleepy terribly the night before a long run. Always.
• And the biggest part is probably just all of the preparation that goes into doing my long runs. It starts the night before with what things I'm eating, and what time I try to get to bed even though it never really matters because it's either going to take me a long time to get to sleep anyway, or I'm just not going to sleep well as it is. I set my running clothes aside before going to bed. I map out my long run on Walk Jog Run. I wake up and fight all of my thoughts about how much I don't want to run, or I think maybe I can shorten it and make it up another day, until I get out running and go ahead and go through with it. I drink a glass of OJ, take some vitamins, and eat a banana, while I go and plant my Gatorades along my route. I come back and rub out my legs and stretch, and then I'm off. It's very involved, but I think my whole routine gets me into the frame of mind to go ahead and get on with it.
  

So what is it that I never forget about marathon training?

...that I hate marathon training.

The nice part about this time around is that today I ran 13 and felt fine. I am about 4 weeks ahead of my schedule from last year, and this year the race is only one week earlier so I hope the payoff is that I'll have more time to devote to building endurance over the last 4-5 miles of the race. I did some hill repeats this past week and me being the nerd that I am, wrote down all my times and made a spreadsheet to keep track of my progress. I hope that I can be a weekly thing. Doing those made me much more sore than anything else I've done up until this point. We'll see, I guess.

Here's an ad campaign from New Balance that captures well the running dynamic.

Well Would You Look at That

The US won in the 91st minute of today's game against Algeria, staving off elimination, winning their group, and allowing them to advance to the Round of 16.

At the 89 minute when Beasely got that yellow card and Algeria made another substitution I was beginning to resign myself to another American disappointment, but then Tim Howard (the goalkeeper) started a fastbreak, and all of a sudden it looks like we can get a very favorable draw in the next round.

I'm not usually a TV yeller, but I totally was today. I couldn't believe it. Bless those players, they played their little hearts out.

It's been an amazing sports week. There really is nothing like seeing your team down, on the brink of defeat, only to comeback and snatch victory from the gaping jaws of defeat. There are going to be a lot of good games coming up in the Round of 16. Here's to the games coming up this weekend!

***UPDATE***

And now for some video of the goal...


USA 1-0 Algeria

Simão | MySpace Video

World Cup Fever

I've come down with a case of it. I watched a couple games last week and didn't feel like I was that invested, but it's finally come around and now I can't get enough of it. I wake up every morning wide awake just before 8am and I'm ready to watch the World Cup. It's my first thought every morning now - who won the early morning game? Who's playing next? Which superstars/superteams are playing today? and on and on...


I've been impressed with a few things:

• David Villa of Spain is a stud. I think he kind of disappeared in the Switzerland game, but that guy was eating up every guy on his side of the field yesterday. His first goal yesterday was my favorite of the cup. It was pretty unreal, and an amazing individual effort.
• Landon Donovan. The guy kind of stunk at the last World Cup, and I was really disappointed with him when he couldn't hang in the Bundesliga, but his transfer to Everton this past year really gave him a lot of confidence. The guy is about as good as anyone is right now with set kicks that are of the crossing variety, and he works and does great things for the US. The guy is finally playing at an elite level. His goal against Slovenia was pretty awesome too.
• Portugal. I thought they stunk in the game against the Ivory Coast, and I didn't even see them destroy North Korea, but anytime a team wins 7-0, it's a big deal. Very impressive.
• I always hate Mexico, but Dos Santos is pretty fun to watch. The guy has endless energy and I feel like if he had some more talent to work with, he would be really top notch.
• Is Fernando Torres the most handsome soccer player in the world? He blew some good chances yesterday, but he also had some pretty sweet moments in developing plays. It'll be nice to see him match-ready again.
• I know I'm a little biased because I served there, but isn't Chile kind of fun to watch? Those guys run non-stop and are down on the ground on like every play. They play really hard, and aren't falling all over themselves like so many of these guys in the cup. I hope they advance.
• Brazil looks pretty good to me, but I can't really tell much about them until they play an elite team. That Portugal game is going to be quite the fixture. I don't know much about Fabiano, but he looks pretty decent. The hard part about Brazil is that they make everything look so easy. I thought they played an okay game against North Korea, but then they just kinda packed it in at the 80th minute. They did a similar thing in the Ivory Coast game, but they really handled those guys.
• England looks terrible. They almost have an all-star team, but those guys look so tight to me. Rooney is pressing way too hard, and there is no cohesiveness. There's no way they should have tied Algeria, and they should've had a much easier time with the US than they did. I hope they get it together just because I like most of the guys that they have. Heske looks awful up top. He's a huge black guy that should be a much stronger presence than he has been. They're all looking pretty bad.
  
• I haven't seen any of Argentina's games, so I'm excited for their match against Greece, but those guys seem very formidable. Messi is amazing.

I'm really excited for the pool play to be done with and start having more match-ups between these big time teams. Time for the good stuff to start!

Mike and Lauren, Together at Last!

How easily Mike and Lauren came together makes me laugh. Once they started dating, it became pretty clear within a several months that these two were going to get married. At his younger sister’s wedding I joked with his dad that Mike makes getting married look so easy – so Mike has shown me that all it really takes is getting up to BYU, pick out the first girl that you think is cute, go out with her, kiss her about a week or two later, become bf/gf right away, and then get engaged. Why didn’t I ever think about that?

What’s really cool is seeing the ways in which Lauren has helped make to stretch himself and become more than he would otherwise be on his own. They got married this last weekend up here in Salt Lake City, and had their wedding reception that same night at American Fork Amphitheater. The really nice part about all of this was how perfectly it worked out for me. I went on Amy’s family vacation a little bit earlier in the week, was able to still take care of some of my responsibilities midweek, and then all of the Reids came out this way to celebrate Mike and Lauren’s nuptials.I was really excited to have everyone that I really love and care about all in the same place for this weekend, but I was a little disappointed that Greg wouldn’t be able to come out and celebrate with us. I had called him on my way back to Provo from Zion and he gave me his story about how he wished he could make it, but between finals and another trip he has planned next week, it just wasn’t going to work out blah blah blah. Come to find that at the rehearsal dinner the night before the big day Greg walks in with his flowing locks and surprises us all. I should have known that was coming because Greg does love surprises. Freshman year when he went back home during winter semester to save money, he made a trip back to Provo to hang out, and he came a day early and it surprised the heck out of me. I still remember him walking into our prison cell dorm room and my jaw dropping, not being able to say anything from the shock of seeing him there. Anyway…

This wedding was more in line with traditional weddings that we don’t normally see in the church. Far from being the kind that holds a reception in the cultural hall of the local church and saving on every expense possible, Lauren’s family was the kind that could afford the sky’s the limit sticker price for her wedding, and she was the kind of bride that was going to maximize on that opportunity. Unfortunately for her, she had to wake up to cloudy skies and rainy weather for the one day in her life when she was dreaming of crystal blue skies and warm temperatures.

The sealing was at the Salt Lake Temple. I swear, I always get so much out of the brief talk that every sealer gives before performing the actual ceremony. This temple sealer also happened to be the mission president that preceded Mike’s mission president in Texas when he was a missionary, so he had a loose tie to the couple. My favorite part about the sealing was sitting on Mike’s side, facing Lauren across the altar, and seeing her lips quiver throughout the entire ceremony because she was trying to smile, but trying to hold back her tears. It was so endearing to see and made me feel a little choked up as well.

There were only a few pictures outside of the temple with the photographer, which worked out just fine because it also happened to be the wettest part of the day. As always, events took a little bit longer than expected, so everyone was cutting it close getting back to American Fork in their attire to do photos and be ready for the dinner that was before the general reception. The dinner itself was really nice, but my favorite part of the food provided was the dessert bar and the ice cream going around with the servers.


The nice part about the day’s events was that sun finally peeked from behind the clouds for the reception and when everyone had to be outside. A tent was setup that was lavishly decorated, with dozens and dozens of different kinds of flowers.

My favorite part of the day? By far it was the dancing. They had a dance floor on one side of the tent, and they had a DJ playing for a portion of the evening, but even better was the band that they had hired to play for the wedding. I couldn’t believe how good they were, and they had a male and female singer so that they could do a variety of different songs, not to mention that no song was outside of their range. My favorite was probably when the guy did a Bee Gees medley that I thought was amazing. You want to know another thing? I love dancing. I was a little bummed that all my buddies that I like dancing with only stayed out there for a few songs, but luckily for me Amy also loves to dance so we were on the dance floor for most of the evening. That’s the one thing that I want to make sure of at my wedding – that there is good music. I feel like so many receptions just become about visiting with people and just putting your time in, and getting in and out as quickly as possible that it becomes much less about the fun and celebrating that should be had. This was by far my favorite reception that I’ve ever been to. In fact, all of my favorite receptions had some element of dance involved. Lauren’s brother and sister-in-law and some other friends put together a choreographed dance number to top off the night for the happy couple. But you know who loves dancing even more than I do? Ryan and Tyler. Those kids had endless energy and moves on the dance floor. I thought it was so funny that they didn’t even care who they were around. They were just out there to let their little hearts scream out in their hopping and break dance moves. It was so funny.

In the last few months, there have definitely been times when I’ve felt a little put out by how much time Mike (and obviously Lauren) had to put towards wedding preparation, but in the end everything really paid off. Everything looked so beautiful, I think there were elements for everyone to enjoy that attended, and the importance of the sealing was not lost amidst all of the effort that went into preparing for the wedding day. Amy made a good point when we were talking about some of the events surrounding the wedding, that it’s important to remember that the day is more about a marriage than it is a wedding, and I’m so glad that it looks like both of those things will work out just fine for those two kids.

World Cup 2010

Are y'all ready for this? It is 4 years in the making, and a month long celebration of the world's most beautiful sport. It starts tomorrow. Want a preview? Visit Kent's blog here. For a complete schedule, go here. Want to fill out a World Cup bracket? Try this one here. I don't know of any good ones out there, so point me to 'em if you know 'em.

I have a couple of allegiances when it comes to the World Cup - USA and Brazil. I guess it's nice that Chile qualified, but I don't really expect them to do anything special. Team USA has a good draw this year with England (not the good part), Slovenia (good part), and Algeria (also good). Brazil has Ivory Coast, Korea, and Portugal, which would have been really tough, but the Ivory Coast lost their best player to a broken arm last week.

Being that the tournament will be played in South Africa, games will be on early with starting times at 5am, 7am, and 12pm. I kind of like that. US opens up against England this Saturday at 11:30pm, which would have been great, but some idiot decided that he was going to get married right in the middle of that.

It's always so fun to watch everything as it unfolds, all the drama surrounding the matches, the upsets, and the rising stars and underdog teams overperforming. It's really awesome.

And if you're still having a hard time getting excited, try watching this Nike commercial:

Waiting for "Superman"

On Monday nights I usually have a crew of people that I'll watch some TV with, and normally the show is 24. A few months ago we got into this pretty heated discussion that started with the health care debate that then went into education. One of the girls argued vehemently for public education as it currently stands, that there needs to be some way to be able to reach all of the less privileged kids and families that might not have the means for private education. I had a hard time engaging in the argument with her because she knew absolutely nothing about charter schools and the immense, obvious, and proven benefits that they provide as opposed to public education.

One of the best examples of this is the Harlem Children's Zone. It's unreal what they're doing, and the impact that it's having on people over there. I'll let this segment from 60 Minutes explain more (this is the first part):


The man who started this program, Geoffrey Canada, was also featured on This American Life. The website for the program is here.

Anyway, what's really cool is this documentary that's coming out that will be tackling this topic. Check it out:


The movie looks like it is going to be a very high quality film. Go here to see the website for the film. Something really cool that some people associated with the film are doing is a pledge system, where once they reach 50,000 pledges from people to see the movie, the foundation will donate 250,000 new books to struggling schools across the country.

LDS Scripture Citation Index

Have you all had a chance to use this yet? This is something developed by some of the people here at BYU. The LDS Scripture Citation Index allows you to reference any scripture, or groups of scriptures, and see any General Conference talk from 1942 to the present, and from the Journal of Discourses that references those verses. It's amazing. It's totally made some of most recent studies so much better. You can find it by clicking here.

Here I Come, St. George

So this week kicks off the official start of my 18-week training program leading up to St. George. You know what? I was feeling nervous about all of it until last week. I had been kind of battling a cold for the previous week or so, and I hadn't run much at all. I finally started to get over it last weekend, so I decided that last week I would get a full week in of good running. I ran 5, 5, 6, and then 8 miles Saturday which I hoped would clue me in as to whether I'd be ready for the 10-miler I have this upcoming Saturday. I wasn't sure that my previous base fitness level would carry me through all of that running, but it totally did. The 8-mile run I did went from my place up and around the temple. It was pretty killer, but I had no problems during the entire run and I managed to run it in decent time to boot.

That's the thing about anything. The mountain is always its tallest when you're standing at the foot of it and you haven't started climbing it yet, but once you start making your way up there, it turns out that the apprehension you used to have about scaling it starts to vanish. Running is that way too. You can get so caught up in the miles, and the time and all the preparation for it that it seems almost impossible to ever do, but if you can just convince yourself to get out the door and put one foot in front of the other enough times, pretty soon you'll realize that you'll be ready for, and able to finish the full 26.2.

The program I'll be using can be found by clicking here. It's just straight running, no interval training or anything crazy like that. But it does bump up the runs from the 4-day weeks that I had used previously, to 5-days a week, and it covers 625 miles of running before the marathon, which is about 200 more than I have done previously. Those things give me pause, just a little bit, but you know what? I realized also while running on Saturday that it's good to push myself, and not cut corners, it is also okay to take days off and maybe run a little bit less depending on how my body is feeling. Sometimes I forget that these training regimens are not set in stone. I can adjust them according to what fits my needs. I'm also hoping to start swimming. It won't be more than once a week, but I need to get some use out of my 24 Hour gym pass (which only costs me $49 a year, woo!), and swimming is the best cross training that you can do.

I kind of forgot until last Saturday how much I love running. I love how all the aches and pains go away after the first 20-30 minutes and then I finally settle into my groove. I love all the self-talk that I have to go through while I'm working up the stones to finish the full run, take on every hill, and make sure that I'm giving myself every opportunity to maximize on my fitness. I love the weight loss and transformation that my body goes through as I get into marathon shape. In the last couple of weeks I have dropped several pounds, and I am already getting leaner after my 25 miles from last week. I love the post-run high.

You know what's crazy about St. George? You get in based on a lottery system, but I know four separate people who registered independently and they are all running it too. The lottery is supposed to make it limiting, but everyone I know that tried registering have all gotten in. I'm really excited for this one. It'll be nice to do a well-run (pun intended) marathon that's dedicated only to the marathon, with a good amount of participation from other runners, as well as the community at large.

Anyway, so like last year, but not the year before, I'll probably have some running posts now and then, but not on a weekly basis. It's funny how much that time to myself spurs my thinking. I'm excited for round of marathon training. Up until last week happened, I wasn't really looking forward to it, but now I am. So here I come, St. George.

This song has no relevance to the post. I heard it yesterday for the first time in awhile and remembered that my old roommate used to listen to this song every night when he came home from work. I miss that guy.