Sports Gives the Best Drama

Last week the semester wrapped up and I finally finished up my qualitative paper about how people use sports to cope with grief. As I wrote the paper, I began to realize just how much I loved not only the topic, but also the research methodology. It made me wish that I would have spent more time on the whole thing. I was thinking about posting either the paper in its entirety on here, or at least some excerpts, but I have been thinking lately that I might like to actually turn this into a publishable paper. I know, but I really did enjoy it that much so that means I will not be putting up any potentially copyrighted material on here.

This spring term I'm auditing a sports psychology class, which I'm already in love with. The guy that is teaching is the BYU sports psychologist and in class on Tuesday we ended up watching a documentary about the 1980 US hockey team. Even after hearing the story for the umpteenth time I couldn't help from feeling emotional. And that story got me thinking about this last one from the most recent summer Olympics:


Honestly, was there anything better you watched at any point during the summer? Seeing that race was one of the most amazing things I had ever witnessed. I love that up until about the last 25 meters the announcer just keeps on talking about how he does not think that there is any way that Jason Lezak can close the gap to edge out the French team. The best part of the video has to be at about the 3:43 mark in the video when the crowd suddenly realizes that Jason is closing that gap and you can hear the volume of the cheering amplify as the crowd realizes what is about to happen.

The best part about sports is that it is completely unscripted, but it always provides the best kind of drama. Sometimes it's heartache- like if you are a Raiders fan and see them pick a guy they could have traded down 20 spots and still get. And then other times when you see your team or your guy pull through, it's best thing that you could ever imagine happening.

Tidbits

As is normally the case, didn't do a whole lotta posting while at home. Got back to Utah late last night. Just wanted to post a couple of things though:

• I loved the way Jay writes in his Monday Impromptu's column about Bill and Pat Buckley:

  His parents, my beloved friends, were big, big people with big flaws. “Issues,” we might say in today’s parlance. You could feel the sting of those flaws, or issues. But, more than that, you felt the love and the warmth and the fun and the huge, huge humanity. I think of this couple regularly: not just Bill, as you would expect, but Pat, too.
  
  She could be furious with me — furious with me like anything! — but then she would love me like anything. She could be at my throat, ready to slit it, one minute, and then the tenderest person the next. It is the love that remains, believe you me. All the rest simply washes away.
  
  Holy Moses, do I miss them. I’d take them at their worst, right this second, just to sit down with them again.

  I just thought it was really touching how effusive he is in his love for them. The way he writes about them makes me think of that line in the Ralph Waldo Emerson poem about Success - To win the respect of intelligent people...
• Last Wednesday was Earth Day and some people were encouraging celebrating Earth Hour by turning off all power at a designated time. One of Jay's readers sent in this demotivator that he created:You know what? Indoctrination really works on children (and adults too). One of my friends was talking about how she was cleaning out her kitchen and putting everything in a trash can when her oldest son, 5 years old, starts freaking out because not everything just goes in the trash, some of it has to be recycled. I wonder when I'm a parent if I would go to the extent of keeping my kids home from school on Earth Day like it's some kind of sex ed course that I don't want them learning about from hyper-liberal people. Would I let them watch Wall-E? Is that too extreme? Probably, but where should you draw that line?
• I was eating lunch last week with my mom and CNN was playing on one of the TVs in the place we were at. They were talking about the sharp criticism that Cheney had for Obama in the wake of all the interrogation memos, and they actually had a poll that asked, "Does anyone care what Cheney has to say anymore?" I couldn't believe the implicit condescension in that question. Did anyone ever even think twice when Al Gore criticized Bush on his policies? Don't even get me started on the tea-party/tea-bagging comments made by the major media outlets.
  
• About Bush and withholding criticism...the guy has been nothing but first-class in how he has responded to questions about Obama and how he's running the country. He was the same way when asked about Clinton while he served as President. I had a brief exchange with a friend about this subject today. Obama takes no accountability, and displays no solidarity with the recent leadership of this country. Between him and Secretary of State Clinton, it's just a constant campaign. It's so ugly. Is it Un-American? Maybe in one respect it's completely American. Think about it - we live in a country so free that we can express utter disdain for the people who are working feverishly to protect our interests, while in the same breath heaping praise and sympathy for those who seek our annihilation. How many other places have freedom to that extent?

Until next time, dearhearts.

Rough Edges

Dave lent me a book written by one of his law professors at Chapman University - Rough Edges by James Rogan. It came very highly recommended and I picked it up from him when I last visited. Of course I didn't start reading it until I was in the thick of finals and school work piling up, and then I couldn't put the book down. I think, generally, I'm just a huge fan of biographies/autobiographies because they're real life stories about people that are usually extraordinary. Put in the right framework, you can make any story truly fascinating and that's what Rogan does in this autobiography.

It traces the course of his life as a child living on welfare with his family through his stint as a bartender at a strip joint to his rise as a judge and eventual congressman. What's better is his shift from Democrat to Republican, and conversion from agnostic (?) to Christian.

Because the book isn't mine, I don't have the luxury of underlining throughout, dog-earring pages, and being able to refer back to the book, so I'll include a few of my favorite excerpts here:

Because of our circumstances, the stories of presidents coming from humble backgrounds fascinated me. Yes, the rich often filled their ranks, but those ranks also included plow drivers, tailors, Indian fighters, store clerks, realtors, preachers, reporters, miners, flatboat pilots, railroad timekeepers, surveyors, bookkeepers, insurance salesman, rail-splitters, haber-dashers, and cattle herdors. One future president was an indentured servant; another was a bankrupt; still another hanged criminals. Some came from mud-floored, claptrap shanties on desolate prairies; many had little or no formal education. For every son of privilege to occupy the White House, there were sons of mule traders, drunks, gamblers, grocers, and dirt farmers who got there, too. These stories planted the seeds of an important subliminal truth: People inherit money, but they can't inherit greatness. That comes from hard work, honor, and perseverance. Rich people may get a head start in the race, but marathons aren't won in the sprint.

There is one exhange that Rogan notes that he heard while serving as a DA between a public defender and police officer that is just priceless, but I won't include it here. I will say, however, that I don't remember many other times where I've laughed out louder while reading a book.

My favorite parts of the book are where he talks about the shift he began to make in his own personal politics and also his own adoption of Christianity.

During the 2000 presidential campaign, when Governor George W. Bush was asked to name his favorite philosopher, he answered without hesitation, "Jesus Christ, because He changed my heart...When you accept Christ as your savior, it changes your heart, it changes your life." Like Bush's experience, God began changing my heart when I became a Christian, although in my case the change remains a laborious (and sometimes regressive) work in progress. I still cuss like a stable boy; I'm not particularly remorseful over every youthful indiscretion; I laugh at jokes not told in polite company; and by instinct I much prefer battling enemies to offering them a turned cheek. Each day I fail to uphold God's standards about as often as I breathe.

This being the case, one might ask, "Where's the change?" The change is that despite my failings, I now know certain things. I know that Jesus is who He claims to be. I know God is unimpressed with my resume, titles, or honors. He is impressed by my ability to show unconditional faith, love, humility, repentance, and forgivness - all qualities that elude my almost every time. I know that, despite all this, God created me and He loves me. I know there is eternal life after death, and I know where I'll be spending mine.

That's the real change: I know how the book ends.

And then towards the end of the book, in speaking of the course his life has run, he says:

Despite the bulkheads I've constructed between my Maker and me, God remains. His hands keep smoothing the rough edges while whispering - always whispering - that He catches the falling sparrow. That's His promise from Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

So that's why my congressional defeat left no bitterness. Why should it? In Congress, I had a job with predecessors named Jefferson, Webster, and Lincoln; as a bartender, my predecessors were named Zonko, Chi Chi, and Filthy. When one views one's life through the appropriate prism, gratitude comes in easily. Besides, I've learned the only permanent defeats in life are the self-imposed ones.

It's really a great read. There are so many people out there who are just amazing, and James Rogan seems to be one of them worth learning about.

Homecoming - Josh Hamilton

For those who have followed my blog since at least last year, you all know that I love the Josh Hamilton story. You can find those blog posts here, here, and here. The quick recap that does absolutely no justice to the story is this: he was probably the best Major League prospect who was projected to be at least an All-Star, if not Hall of Famer, who became addicted to drugs, lost his career, family, everything, but found God and made his way back into the Major Leagues in a major way. I'm surprised I didn't post about what he did at the All-Star game last summer, but he ended up hitting 28 home runs in the home run derby which is just absolutely absurd. I caught that part live and the crowd and announcers were just going insane. It was the coolest thing ever, and I'm not even someone who loves watching the home run derby.

Anyway, I bring this up again because today ESPN is starting a new show called Homecoming where they do personal interviews with athletes in their hometowns. This is the first in the series, and it will probably be the best. I just don't think there is anything that can beat his story.

This link will take you to an article talking briefly about the series and his interview, and this link will take you to the show's website. They don't have embeddable videos on there, but you can get sneak peeks at what will be featured. The best part about the show may be the fact that they feature Kanye's song with the same name.

His interview airs today on ESPN and 7 pm eastern. I promise if you watch it that it will make you cry. Best story ever.

Gay Marriage Exchange - Prager and Hilton

Thought this exchange was interesting. It's hard to remove myself from my own biases, but Perez doesn't feel as responsive to the actual flow of the conversation. It just seems like he's armed with his talking points and mistakes conviction in his own views as being convincing.

Hi California

I just got in this afternoon. A couple of things:

• I started listening to the So Cal talk radio as soon as I was close enough, and I had forgetten just how much I love listening to it. With the political shows, they actually broadcast the ones that I like in Utah too, but I'm just hardly ever in my car. You're just forced to drive so much more in California. As I was listening to Rush and Michael Medved, I started getting a familiar tense feeling as I heard some of the things going on in government and comments from some of the callers. I had forgotten just how much I get annoyed with how dumb some people can be. And it's not like I haven't been hearing about everything that's going on, but it just comes across differently when you actually hear people voicing those ideas.
  
• Also on the talk radio vein - I love love love hearing the sports talk radio here. I can't believe how much I miss that. The LA radio people are just so much more entertaining than the Utah people, and of course the sports just interest me so much more. Who can really get excited about the Jazz? or Utah college football? It's so dry. Boring.
  
• I listened to KROQ for only a few minutes, but I cannot believe how much better the music selection is here than in Utah. I simply cannot stomach the radio out there. It also helped that I missed KROQ's typical Foo Fighters-RHCP-Nirvana block that they so frequently play. Still, it was so nice to hear music that didn't all sound like Nickelback and Creed. Gross.
• I love that it's so dang hot today. It freakin' snowed last week on my birthday. A lot. I'm so ready for warm-hot weather. I kind of wish it were going to stay that way.
• Let's take in an Angels game this week? Let's party?

See ya.

Singleness and the Mormon Life

A girl I know recently wrote this post about Marriage As Status. I blog-stalked my way over to her blog, and I kind of think I might like to be best friends with her. She always seems to have a good perspective on life, but combines that with a lot of sass. She's really great. I'm tempted to post the entire thing from her blog, but I'll constrain myself to just these two paragraphs:

I try not to look at my singlehood as a curse. More like an opportunity to learn and grow and experience things I wouldn't be able to under the "married with children" filing status. That's not to say that I don't feel a deep longing inside not to be alone and to have a family. But, I am not going to tie my life to another person just to get those things. If that were the case, I would have done it long long ago. No. I want more. I want love. I want to know deeper and more inspiring love than what I've known before. And I don't think that waiting for that kind of love is wrong or makes me unloveable or even picky...

So, this oratorio leaves me here: there is no one status that is better than another. We need to be sensitive to others and less judgemental (myself included). I firmly believe I will find the love I seek. But I don't want to be made to think I'm less than without it.

Some recent events in my own life left me lamenting the single-status, and when you're in the thick of it, it's hard to maintain a similar healthy outlook as this girl seems to have. I was talking to a friend of mine about it the other night, telling her that I was just so tired of dealing with the trial of being single, and that I was ready at least for the new trials of dealing with an ornery wife, crying babies, or struggling to pay the mortgage. Especially in the midst of my affliction, I just wanted to deal with a different kind of heartache from what I was then experiencing. Sometimes in this Mormon culture it's hard to be over the age of 25, actively participating in church, be single, and not feel like a screw-up.

After talking with my friend, and even though we didn't come up with any solutions, I felt so much more at peace. The grass is always greener, regardless of what it is that you're going through, even when it comes to gladly taking on another person's worst problems. Somehow whatever I'm dealing with at the current moment can't possibly be as bad as whatever that person over there is dealing with, so could we please make an arrangement and just trade concerns for at least a day or two?

Why can't I ever seem to escape the trap of thinking that I know what's better for my life than what Heavenly Father does? I'm sure that once I get some perspective on everything and I'm not feeling so myopic, I'll be able to look back and thank my lucky stars that things have turned out exactly the way that they did.

This girl that I've fancied for the entire school year took me out to lunch for my birthday yesterday. We got into the topic of dating and being an older single member in the church. On the surface when you talk to her you would never think that she struggles with feelings of inadequacy or disappointment when it comes to the dating and marriage issue, but she feels it just as much as anybody else does. She also added that she gets all sorts of comments about why she's not married - too picky, not picky enough, don't devote enough time, don't devote enough attention, too intimidating, etc.

Otherwise very sensitive people somehow become very insensitive a lot of times when talking about this subject with their single compatriots, and so often they'll leave out what perhaps should be the most obvious reason - marriage hasn't happened simply because it isn't time yet. In the post I refer to above, the girl makes a comparison to how it is a similar situation to when people can't have kids who have been trying for years, and for some other people they can't seem to do anything to stop the flow of extra mouths to feed.

Maybe we won't know all the reasons why things turn out (or don't) they way they did until after this life, but there is purpose behind it all. Somehow the trials that each of us experience are a perfectly customized program that helps each of us evolve into the person that God wants us to be. Whether it's dealing with the tragedy of death, betrayal of a friend, or the disappointment of failed expectations, they all do their part in fashioning us into the person that Heavenly Father ultimately wants us to become.

I guess, in a sense then, that when I want to shove off the difficulties in own life, I am denying His plan for me and assert that I know better than He does, that my finite vision sees something that His infinite vision does not.

And when I put it in those terms, I can't help but laugh at how dumb I can be sometimes.

Happy Birthdays....

Yes, my special day of the year is here. You know how some people celebrate birthweeks, or birthmonths, and not just their birthdays? I'm not one of those people. I'm kind of funny when it comes to my birthday because I don't want to draw attention to myself, but I still like for other people to remember me.

Today I hit the big 2-9. This particular birthday doesn't come with any special perks. I don't get to buy cigarettes, finally get my driver's license, or swim at the pool by myself. I already passed all of those benchmarks. Next year is 30, and then in 6 years I think I can finally make a run for president, but other than that, nothing really special about this birthday.

One of my favorite and most fun birthdays ended up being my freshman year at BYU. One of the most thoughtful things that Dave's mom ever did (and that was not even belated or anything either) was send me a birthday in a box. It was a bunch of dumb games and toys, which totally happens to be her specialty. For a lot of people, it would have been lame, but for my group of friends it was perfect. We ended up playing them all in the cafeteria, and somewhere I still have the pictures.

Last week I was going through this box of remembrance that I have, and I came across a birthday card from Brenna and Laura, and I laughed out loud. This was Laura's note to me:

Dear Christopher,

I wanted to sign the card myself. I love you Chris! Homosexual guys make the bestest friends! Ha ha ha. I know you loved our April Fool's jokes! We rule! 15 days and you did not even know! Happy 12th Birthday (you are a deacon!)

Love, Laura

Mowin' the lawn, mowin' the lawn, mowin' the lawn BOY!

I loved the 12th Birthday comment because it was so random; I forgot all about the emphasis on the lawn mower dance move from that year; I love that even back then I was getting a lot of gay jokes; and I loved the reference to probably the best April Fool's joke that anyone ever played on me (and Dave).

In 1999, nobody had cellphones, but in the BYU dorms, there was this awesome answering machine that somehow turned into one of the most fun things in the world. One of our friends recorded all of our favorite messages on a CD that I still have to this day. One of the messages on the CD was Laura and Brenna's April Fool's Joke - they had replaced our outgoing message with this:



(I'm pretty proud of the fact that I figured out how to post a sound file to my blog. That amounted to about an hour of my time from last Saturday.)

The funny thing was that NO ONE ever laughed or even mentioned on any of their messages the strange new outgoing message we had. We didn't know until 15 days later when we called our own phone and heard it for ourselves. By the way, everything on the message is true: Dave and I loved Herbal Essences shampoo and did share a bar of Caress soap. I love love love that they used their "girl" voices while imitating us.

To this day I still don't think it's a big deal to share a bar of soap with another person. One of our other friends who also thought it was gross compared it to peeing in a river because it's essentially not the same river. Expecting that comparison to wake us up and gross us out, we agreed with him instead and felt like he was proving our point. He looked at us like we were idiots.

Anyway, I write this post as just a big thank you to all of you five or so readers out there. My life is so rich because I know all of you. I can't say enough about how much I love the people in my life. I am so deeply blessed with the friends and family that I have, and I couldn't be more grateful for all the fun, funny, and wonderful ways you've remembered me on my birthday.

Thanks.

Immigration

Last week while driving with some people to FHE one of the people found out that my family is from Brazil. He asked if the recent government movement on illegal immigration had bothered me at all. I think he assumed that because government is putting tighter restrictions on it that I would be upset seeing that my family were beneficiaries of emigrating from Brazil, but I'm not bothered at all by it.

Laws allowing immigration were probably looser when my parents came over, but whatever the circumstances, they did it legally and had a solid plan for once they arrived. My dad even came and visited a couple of times to get a feel for the US, his business prospects, and figure out where he wanted to move to. He had tens of thousands of dollars saved. And he was coming from Brazil, a third world country.

Immigration is such a complex problem because it allows for the US to secure the best and the brightest minds from around the world. Think about how much better off we are because of all of the people who have come over because of greater economic opportunity that only this country can provide. At the same time, however, it's difficult because there are so many people who want to take advantage of what it is that we can provide that come from all walks of life.

There are no solutions coming from me today. There does need to be some major reform within the system, but it doesn't feel like that is going to happen any time soon. A friend of mine forwarded me this letter that was featured on the KFI website. Here are a couple of paragraphs:

Dear Steve,

I am mad as hell today. My best friend is leaving to go back to Brazil on Wednesday. She is not leaving because she wants to... she has been in the country legally for 6 years now, being sponsored by her company. Her company has recently laid off several people and cut the hours of employees that remained. As it didn't look like the company would stay afloat, she had no choice but to leave the country. Well... that's not entirely true, she could have: A) stayed in the country illegally like the other millions of them, B) gotten married to some one (she had offers of "help"). If she would have broken the law by doing either of these... she would have been able to stay - NO PROBLEM!

So, she's got 6 years under her belt contributing to our system, speaking the language, following the immigration laws, being a good citizen. She is college educated, beautiful, and an exceptional individual in general. She has given away or sold all her furniture and other belongings, had her last day of work yesterday, and now all there is left are the goodbye's.

While I can empathize with the plight of her friend, those people who abide by the laws are always going to be the ones who contribute most to the system. I've always thought about what it would be like to run a study looking at the the differences between the lives of those people who immigrate legally and illegally, examining specifically variables like level of education, annual salary, life expectancy, time spent in jail, and it just seems pretty clear that you're dealing with a completely different class of people.

When there are higher costs associated with getting certain benefits, people are more appreciative of those benefits and act in a corresponding manner than when they receive the benefits without any effort on their part. This is related to a principal called cognitive dissonance.

There was a study done comparing two groups of people. Both groups of people were asked to give their opinions regarding their membership in a club that studied closely the mating rituals of certain insects - not exactly something that anybody would ever be excited about. The independent variable was how favorable their opinions were of the club, and the dependent variable was the barriers of entry. One group had relatively no barriers of entry toward gaining membership in the club, while another had to read aloud to a group of strangers text from an erotic novel. Which group wound up finding the insect mating ritual club to be entirely fascinating and entirely riveting? The group who had to read sex stories to complete strangers.

The idea is that when you have no reason to support or enjoy something that you're taking part in and it didn't cost you anything to do it, then you don't have to bother with coming up with any kind of justification about why you're involved. However, when you are going to participate in something, even if under most circumstances you would think it was the dumbest thing in the world, when barriers of entry are high, you have to convince yourself that you really love it. You have to rid yourself of the dissonance in your cognitions, hence cognitive dissonance.

While it sucks that her friend has to leave the country, I'll bet you that she's going to come back, and when she does, she's going to live a better and more grateful life than those people who skirt the law and don't pay the price to live in this country. For those people who jump through the hoops and deal with the high barriers of entry, I'm sure that they end up becoming among the hardest working and best citizens of this country.

Yes, it is harder to move legally into this country than it has been in years passed, but it's not like people aren't still able to do it. There are plenty of law-abiding legal immigrants who live here as well, and those are the ones that we're really after anyway.

Easter Sunday

I'm a little late to the party with this post, and I don't like that a bunch of people have already posted this on their Facebook accounts, but it's a great video. The message comes from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's General Conference talk that he delivered last Sunday.



And these thoughts come from a BYU professor (found in this post):

Three times in the Gospel of John, Jesus says that he must be lifted up as part of his returning to the Father and his drawing of all men to himself (see John 3:14, 8:28, 12:32–33), and the last time he makes it clear that this was a reference to how he would die. Crucifixion was a humiliating but above all a very public form of execution, but what seems to be significant here is that Jesus’ sacrifice is there for all, in every age and place, to see. John 3:14 directly connects it with the raising of the brazen serpent upon a pole in the wilderness (see Numbers 21:9), an image that Book of Mormon authors recognized and expanded (see 2 Nephi 25:20; Alma 33:19; Helaman 8:14–16). Therefore the crucifixion illustrates that Jesus’ salvific death provides healing and life to all who will simply look to him.

But perhaps the strongest endorsement of “lifting up” imagery came from Jesus himself, who told the Nephites: “My Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works” (3 Nephi 27:14–15).

Recognizing that crucifixion was tantamount to “being hanged on a tree” adds another level of symbolism. Under the law of Moses, cursed was anyone who was hanged on a tree (see Deuteronomy 21:22–23), perhaps explaining one of the reasons why Jesus’ opponents were anxious to have the Romans crucify him. While it is not completely clear what rights of capital punishment the Jewish authorities might have had (the prohibition against putting any man to death in John 18:31 might have referred to Jewish law, since they could not execute on Passover), having the Romans kill Jesus did more than shift blame. Jewish execution for blasphemy would have been stoning, whereas Roman execution for treason or rebellion was crucifixion. The high priest had asked Jesus the night before, “Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” (Mark 14:61), and nothing could have proved that Jesus was just the opposite, cursed of God, than having him hanged on a tree. Nevertheless, this “cursing” was part of the Savior’s descending below all things. Indeed, Paul wrote, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13).

What was amazing, however, was that the cross, the Tree of Cursing, became, in effect, a Tree of Life to us. After Jesus expired, a soldier pierced his side with a spear, “and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:24). Hearkening back to Jesus’ discussion of living water with the Samaritan woman in John 4 or his discourse on the life-giving Spirit in John 7 in which rivers of living water flow out of him, this sign suggests that Jesus’ death brought forth life. Indeed, in medieval iconography there developed the image of the “verdant cross,” or green cross, which was often portrayed as sprouting leaves and fruit.

I can't expound much more than what's mentioned in the video or from that excerpt. I guess there is one thing...

Today I got to teach Sunday school, and I was sharing some of my thoughts on the Pearl of Great Price, one of our books of scripture. Something that has always impressed me about that short book is that in such a short space, there are several visions that prophets have of the vastness of God's creations. Moses, Enoch, and Abraham all give some good description of how expansive God's works are.

Sometimes we look at the infinite extent of his creations and see that as reason to think of Heavenly Father's distance from us, that he couldn't possibly be mindful of each of us individually, or worse, that he wouldn't even really be concerned with those matters anyway. However, with that same thought about the unlimited power that he has to create, why can't that same power be unlimited in its ability to focus on each one of us in our respective circumstances?

I think my favorite - and maybe most fervent - prayers come when I have lost something. The pattern is always the same too. I'll be anxiously looking for something, and at the time it really feels life or death to me. There is just no way I can do without having whatever it is that I'm looking for. And after I've exhausted every possibility and spent a lengthy amount of time looking, I'll reluctantly kneel down in prayer asking for help in trying to find whatever it.

Well last Tuesday I had a CD coming in the mail that was the latest from my favorite band. We have two mail keys, but I'm the only one who ever gets the mail because I'm the only one who actually uses our address for anything, so I have leave one mail key on the kitchen counter, and the other in my car. That day I couldn't find either one of them, and I knew my other roommates wouldn't have any idea where either would be. I looked everywhere, combed my room high and low. I even remember seeing one of the keys fall out of my pants pocket in the days prior, so I was absolutely sure that one was in my room somewhere. I kept thinking to myself that there are only so many places a key can be in a 10x10" room, right? But I couldn't ever find it. And then I got down on my knees and offered up a prayer that went something like this:

Heavenly Father, I've lost both mail keys. I know that I did it, and I know that one of them is in this room. I really want to go and get my CD even though I know it contains music that isn't actually that conducive to the spirit, and I'm sure that's annoying to thee, but thou knowest how excited I am for this, and how much I've been looking forward to this, so wouldst thou please just help me find it? It would really mean a lot to me. I know I'm childish, but please help me out. Thanks.

And I got up, and my first thought was to check the pockets of one of my sweatshirts that I hadn't worn in awhile, and sure enough, it was in there.

Now I know that for a lot of people that it would be pretty easy to just write that off as just a coincidence, that it wasn't really God answering my prayer. But I have had that same scenario replayed dozens of times. Nobody on this planet has a stronger testimony that God answers prayers about stupid-things-you-lose-that-you-probably-shouldn't-find-anyway than I do. Nobody.

But for me, I really, truly believe that it is one of many evidences that I have that God is not only well-acquainted with the going-ons of my day to day life, but that he even cares enough to answer a request that is so menial as, where is my mail key? It's important to him because it's important to me. I love that intimacy that he has with each one of us if we'll just open up our eyes to those evidences that are available to us daily. And it's that same kind of intimacy with which the Savior carried out the Atonement and made available to all of us, on the conditions of repentance, the blessings of salvation. The Atonement is both infinite and intimate. It's as much for the multitude as it is for me, and I am so grateful to have that knowledge.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

Away We Go

This looks interesting to me:


And for good measure, this is my favorite commercial right now...

One Last Adenhart Post...

This is a photo journal of people paying respect to Nick Adenhart. And this is another ESPN piece about him that includes a video. Oh...I can embed the video...here you go. It's about time ESPN started providing that...

This American Life

I've mentioned this radio show before, but if you haven't checked it out, do yourself a favor and listen. Visit it at This American Life, and you can click on the radio link and that will take you to an episode archive and you can listen there directly, or you can subscribe to the podcasts, or download through the website itself.

What I think this show does better than anything is just know exactly how to present the story. It certainly helps that the subject matter is usually something interesting to begin with, but I'll bet that if they read the instructions for the operating system on your computer they could keep you glued to your chair.

Today I listened to last week's episode, "Remember Me," which has a bunch of stories about people being remembered in ways that either aren't true or not how they intended to be remembered. One segment within the show was especially poignant, and made me a little bit teary-eyed while I was doing the low row at the gym.

This blog post accomplishes two goals for me: I wanted to mention what I had heard today, but I also wanted to try out using this transcription kit that I borrowed to transcribe interviews that I've done this week for my qualitative methods course.

So here is my first attempt at transcription:

There is an organization that is recording people's voices to preserve their stories for their children and generations to come. It's called Story Core. They have an audio booth in Grand Central Station in New York City, including others around the country. And sometimes you can hear some of the voices and stories that they have gathered on public radio. Here are two stories they recorded in New York...the second is a bus driver who has never forgotten one of his customers...

I remember one woman in particular. She was a senior who had gotten on my bus, and she seemed completely lost. I could see that she was confused. I don't know whether it was an illness. But she looked so beautiful for a hot summer day...to have her fur on (sounding almost as if he's shaking his head)...so I said, uh, "are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine, but I don't know what restaurant I'm meeting my friends."

I said, "you sit in the bus. I'll run in and check each restaurant."

The very, very last one on the left. I said, "it's gotta be this one."

So I said, "stay in here, sweetie. It's nice and cool in here."

I went in and I said, "there's a lady in the bus, and she said she's not sure the restaurant..."

And I saw a whole bunch of other seniors there, and they said, "oh it's probably her."

So I ran back to the bus. I said, "sweetie, your restaurant is right here."

And I said, "no no, don't move."

And I grabbed her hand. And I remember my right hand grabbed her right hand. I wanted to make her feel special, like it's a limousine. It's a bus! (this last phrase he says quickly, like he's in disbelief that he could create this illusion of it being more than just a bus.)

And she says she felt like Cinderella. And she said...(voice cracking)..."I've been diagnosed with cancer...and today is the best day of my life."

Just because I helped her off the bus (he says, almost questioning it). I never forgot that woman.

This segment was about 2 minutes and it took me at least 4-5x that amount of time to get all the words in there. Just a quick sidenote about transcribing - I can't believe how much more feeling we communicate through our voice. The parenthetical remarks above are mine so that you could get a better sense of the feeling with which he was speaking. There is so much of the message that you just can't understand in the absence of the voice. Communication is really so interesting. Important things - things that matter - should always be communicated through speech, not text. Just saying...

You know what may be the hardest part about transcribing? Getting the punctuation right. There is so much that can be said that is automatically understood that just can't come across as easily in writing, unless you're really good at it.

Anyway...I loved that story. If you get a chance to click on the link above, listen to that episode and it comes up about 18 minutes into the broadcast.

I also thought I would mention that on Thursday, April 23rd, they are doing a live broadcast to movie theaters around the country of the show. I already checked and it will be playing at the Irvine Spectrum, and The Block of Orange, if you're interested in going. For tickets and listings of other available theaters visit this link here. Tickets are $20. Anyone wanna go with me? I'll be in town that week. Woo!

Adenhart Tributes

I came across two articles this morning and thought a couple of you might be interested. This one comes from the perspective of a childhood friend of his, and this one comes from the more distant reaction from all over baseball. Both are good in that they have personal stories that reveal more about him as a person. It all becomes so much more real when you add meat to the bones, and he becomes a real person.

Joy In Your Posterity

I got about three hours of sleep last night, so I was laying around this afternoon after I had finished all of today's work trying to get drowsy so I could catch up on my sleep. Not a lot is on TV during the afternoons so I was watching King of Queens while waiting to take a nap. The show is pretty entertaining, and the episode I saw today was about how Doug (Kevin James) had been taking care of his friend's baby just to annoy his wife. He was clueless at first about how to handle the child, but soon became an expert and grew very attached to the little girl. It just got me thinking...

I've been going back and forth in my mind about what would be best for me this summer - go back, write my thesis from home, and work some odd job for a couple of months. If I stay here I can probably get an internship with the minor league team. The work wouldn't be all that exciting, but my buddy assured me that if I wanted the job I could have it, and it would at least serve as another line on my long and illustrious resume. I'm contracted in my apartment to stay through August anyway, so it kind of makes more sense. There are some extraneous other reasons why I'd like to go home (beach, baseball, beach, friends, family, beach), but there is a part of me that feels like being responsible means staying in Utah. But watching that episode today kind of got to me...

This may sound silly, but I think I'd like to come home if for no other reason than just to be around all the kids back at home. I'd like to form an attachment with my G0dson, Mason David Reid. I want to see Ryan and Tyler and have pool parties with them. I want to see Doug and Kristen's baby girl in July. I want to go up to LA and visit Matt and Laura, see Chase scurry to his playpen baby cage that he automatically ran to when I visited them last, and also meet their new addition to the family. I want to watch my niece Cameron play soccer, kick the ball around with her, and help my brother coach her team. And I'd like to actually witness Jake as the affectionate father to his little girl, Kate. Bridgette told me about that the other day, but I'll believe it when I see it. (Brooke, if you still visit here, will you please add me to the list of people who can visit your blog? ID - Chrissilva80).

I've never considered myself a "kid" person. I don't get gushy when I see children, swoon, and fall all over myself at how adorable they are, and reach for them and pick them up to play with them. I think that mostly comes from the fact that I just don't have a lot of baby experience in my life. I'm the youngest in my family, and most of my cousins are older than me or lived elsewhere. I've never changed a diaper in my life, and I have no idea how to handle a crying baby. I also didn't grow up in the church, so I just haven't had much baby contact. I've also never ever been a person who likes to demand attention from anyone. I'll sit and watch from the sidelines before I'll get directly involved, but once you start spending any kind of time with them, it's hard not to be left defenseless against their irresistible pull. They tug and claw for your heartstrings and you always succumb, even when you're not a completely willing victim.

Having the opportunity to get away for an entire summer is probably going to be something that will soon be a thing of the past. And I think being around these little ones is reason enough for me to come back home. It's funny that I'm looking forward to this part of being home as much as anything else - to the babysitting, hours spent staring at the newborns, and even the diaper changing.

...just thinking about it gets me excited. I can't believe how soon it all feels.

Nick Adenhart - 1986 -2009

The story appears also on the MSN homepage, but this is the ESPN version of the account. After making his first start of the year, Nick Adenhart of the Los Angeles Angels was killed last night by a drunk driver in an automobile accident.

Of course I didn't get to see the game, but I followed it live on Gamecast while I was doing some homework. He should have gotten the win for the game, but he got a no decision instead as the Angels bullpen surrendered 6 runs in the 8th and 9th innings.

I was able to catch his Major League debut last year when he got hammered by the A's. He couldn't find the strike zone that night, but when he did it was like he was serving up slow-pitch softballs for the A's hitters. One girl that was part of the group that I went with booed him relentlessly, and I kept telling her to just give him a chance because he was just making the first big league start of the year.

I don't know why this feels so personal to me. I think I was already feeling melancholy before I saw the story and this is just kind of pushing me over the edge. I think the details of the story make it that much more sad: his car was broad-sided by the minivan of a 22 year-old male who not only was driving drunk, but had a suspended license from already having been arrested for DUI previously.

While this kid was among the brightest of the Angels' pitching prospects, what's most heart-breaking to think about is that he was just on the cusp of establishing himself as bonafide MLB player. He was contracted to play for one of the best organizations in baseball, and last night he gave a glimpse of the promise that the Angels brass had seen in him when they drafted him 5 years ago. His life was so selfishly taken by someone who was already being punished for committing the very same crime he committed last night. And to be frank, the DUI laws are probably way too mild because so many people indulge themselves in a like manner. Society's permissiveness allowed for the offending driver to think he could get away with it because the punishment was not enough to deter him from trying to get away with it again. It's just sad.

Again...I was already feeling melancholy before seeing this story so I think that's where my tone is coming from. I didn't get much sleep last night because of school stuff, and life is such right now that I just happen to be in one of those moods.

If you need me, you can find me at the bar drinking myself into oblivion...

Save Me

There are a number of ways people harbor attachments and addictions that run contrary to their better judgment. I was talking with a friend today about her experience dealing with an eating disorder in high school. I had never really asked her in detail to explain what that experience was like for her growing up before, but it came up because I was asking her for some help on another project that I had.

It was not something that she maintained for an extended amount of time - lasting just longer than six months. Her wake up call came when she was at the gym late one night, weighing herself and coming in at 67 lbs. She passed out in the bathroom because her body was burning so much more than what she had been consuming. Some things came together in her life that helped her better manage her situation, but from that point on she never looked back. Without any professional help, she worked passed that disorder. If she never said anything, you'd probably never have any idea that she had to deal with that kind of thing.

Because I am in a psychology program and I work with so many students who are in counseling and clinical programs, I have heard a lot of addiction stories. Sometimes I kind of wonder if I missed my calling because I feel like I might be well-suited to help people work through those kinds of things. Anyway, one thing that I've noticed is how nothing ever really works for someone unless that person reaches that critical breaking point when they are so fed up with dealing with the unhealthy behavior that the person will do anything to be relieved of that burden. Real change doesn't happen until the person arrives at that juncture.

While the worst effects are felt by the person who has the destructive behavior, the saddest stories come from those who are affected because of their involvement with that person. Even when that person with the addiction is directly faced with the external consequences of his behavior, no person or no circumstance can force that person to change internally until the person decides for himself. As a result, the couples and other relationships that survive with a person through those addictions or otherwise self-destructive behaviors do so because the people involved don't force their desires on the individual, but cope with and encourage that person as the person learns to live a healthy life. The hardest part is walking the fine line of not condoning the behavior, but still showing their support.

I think what's most interesting about this is that the phenomenon is not just limited to severe problems, i.e. alcoholism, addiction to pornography, etc., but can be manifest in any way where a person might sabotage himself. I haven't had to really deal with addictions or anything like that, but here's the best example in my own life that I can relate. For a long time I had wanted so desperately for things to work out with one girl, and in spite of all the counsel I got to walk away and leave it alone, I couldn't do it until one day I told myself that I would not waste another day of my life being sad or beating myself up because things weren't working out with her. Those were literally the thoughts that I had. They came with such force that it felt like I had just been zapped with a defibrillator. My irregular and faint heartbeat suddenly burst with the intensity of realizing that I had to move on with my life.

It takes that kind of awakening for someone to change or move on with their lives, but until the person decides to get there himself, all we can do is lend our support the best way we know how.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Baseball is finally here. The Angels kicked off their season with a 3-0 shutout over the Oakland A's. For the first time in several years, winning the division is not a done deal. Oakland is a much more formidable team, especially after picking up MVP candidate Matt Holliday, not to mention they have some good young pitchers. The Mariners and Rangers probably pose little threat, but the bigger question marks remain within our own lineup. Can Juan Rivera produce? Is Vladimir Guerrero going to continue aging rapidly? Will our pitching staff do as well this season as they did last year? There are a lot of questions to be answered. I'm a big fan of Brandon Wood, and I think Howie Kendrick is an All-Star if he can avoid the injury bug. We'll see...

I'd give anything to be able to be in the Southern California sports scene right now. The last two years I've been able to go to the Angels' home opener, and this year I had to read the recap and watch the highlights online. The Lakers are poised for a good run into the playoffs, especially with Andrew Bynum coming back on before the end of the season. It's getting good right now. I miss the local cable playing my sports teams.

I'm so jealous that Laura goes to spring training. How lucky is Matt that his wife loves to do that as much as he does? If only I could be so lucky someday...

I do have some consolation, however. I will be home in less than two weeks and they will be in town so I'll be able to catch them then. And I talked to my friend who works for their minor league affiliate out here and he is the assistant general manager. He doesn't actually get to do all that much, but he is in charge of hiring and if I'm around, I can start working the ballgames. I love that idea, especially if I end up just sticking around here for the summer. We'll see, I guess.

I love baseball. Baseball is summer time. Summer time is warm. And summer time is carefree. I love warm and carefree. I can't wait to don my summer uniform of boardshorts and white t-shirts and sandals.

I miss that OC skyline. I'm excited to be come home. Go Angels! Go Lakers!

By the way: You can't hate on the love that Texans have for former President George W. Bush. Do you miss him yet? Whatever the case may be, we owe him a debt of gratitude. You know what else is pretty crazy? The guy runs a 7 minute mile, and he runs a lot. Cool, huh?

Country Roads - Provo City Half Marathon

About a month ago I signed up for the Provo City Half Marathon because I figured I needed something that would get me doing the long runs again, and then I could commit myself to a marathon soon thereafter. A month ago the weather was great; it was getting warmer, feeling like spring, and officially became spring just a few weeks ago. So you can imagine my chagrin when two weeks ago it started getting cold again. However, last Saturday turned out really nice so I was optimistic that the temperatures would be better. I got in an 8-mile run last week, and felt good heading into the race.

It was a terrible day for a race. Not only was it overcast outside, but there was a light snowfall as well. A friend of mine also signed up for the race, and I ran into him outside the clubhouse a couple days ago. If I hadn't asked if he wanted to head down to the race with me, I'm sure that I wouldn't have been able to get myself out the door this morning. I was just feeling so miserable. The ambient temperature reading in the car showed 30 degrees, Fahrenheit, not Celsius. Oi. I was not happy at all.

We arrived as late as possible. They said the race was capped at 1,500 runners, but I'm guessing only half that actually showed up. I couldn't have been less motivated to run this morning under any other conditions. And then a funny thing happened - I started running and got warmed up.

I ran with my friend for the first couple of miles, but I eventually broke away. I think I prefer running alone because no matter what, you're always feeling some kind of pull. Either you're feeling pulled to a pace that you're not comfortable at, or you're worried about the other person being pulled too fast. At least I'm always thinking about that. Running alone is so great because I can push it when I'm feeling the kick come, and I can think about whatever I want and not worry about conversation. I love that alone time. Me time.

Anyway...I was surprised how good I felt throughout the race, so much so, that I'm sure that my last 5k time was much faster than the rest of them. I love being able to think to myself at mile 10 that I'm feeling good enough to run another seven or eight miles. I love that after more than an hour of running, I don't even strain to breathe. I love feeling like my heart is the strongest muscle in my body.

The hardest part about these races, regardless of the distance, is the time you have to wait until it actually starts, and up to the halfway point. Once I cross that threshold no matter the elevation, I always feel like I'm running downhill. I hit mile 10 at about 1:19. Once I hit mile 12, I felt like I had enough left in the tank to really push that last chunk of distance. Over the last quarter mile, I caught up to and passed this one runner with a long, lean physique. For both of us a competitive instinct took over as we both sprinted to the end not letting the other person get ahead.

This was my first race since running the Dana Point Turkey Trot back in November. When I ran that race, I finished really strong also, but I never thought I'd be able to complete a race of that much distance and feel fit enough that by the end I could sprint out the last stretch. So help me, I hate running as much as anyone does before I actually get out and do it. I hate that no matter how in shape I'm feeling, I still feel creaky when I'm warming up. And some days are just hard, no matter how much rest you've gotten, how well you're eating, or how consistent you've been with your training. (Karen...I almost put in a "you're" right there, but you teasing me about it made me catch it. Thanks :). But it really is such an amazing feeling to know that you can make yourself get out there and do it, that you can make yourself push through whatever obstacles stand in your way. And then when you're actually in shape, it's a whole 'nother level of feeling of accomplishment when you realize that you can run two, three, or four hours without killing yourself.

One of the best parts about this last race might be waking up today and not feeling any kind of soreness whatsoever. I feel so good, in fact, that I think I'm ready to commit to run a marathon in the next couple of months. I'm not quite there yet with fitness, but I don't think I'm that far off. LA on Memorial Day? Or Utah Valley on June 13th? I'm about ready to dive head-long into this mother one more time. Yahoo!

Quick Hits on the Economy

Thought these things were interesting:

• Not a lot of people really get the benefits of free trade. They think it only leads to jobs going over seas and that it's only detrimental to our economic machine. It's not. This post at Carpe Diem helps illustrate this point. Really what it does is allow for a larger marketplace, which means more types of good, a greater supply of each of those goods which all helps to lower the equilibrium price between supply and demand.
  
• Jay Leno mentioned on his show the other night: According to the government, GM's Rick Wagoner was forced to resign because of poor performance. That’s embarrassing. You run an organization that loses billions of dollars and then get fired by a guy who heads up an organization that loses trillions of dollars.
• I liked this post also over at Carpe Diem. I was going to make the point that the post illustrates its own separate post, but I can't remember what else I was going to include, but the point I wanted to make was the power of a free press. When it acts as it should and expresses the voice of the people, and not just a particular segment of the people, it is such a powerful tool that helps protect the citizens from their government. What's pictured at right is a protest by one of the newspapers of Zimbabwe against the hyper-inflation that they're expressing because of government policies.
  
• Earlier this week some Israeli politicians were hailing Palestinian leaders as being better than their own, and some other writers used those comments to make the point about what an amazing political system has managed to become - a country so free that their own leaders can praise the actions of other people who are ultimately committed to their destruction. You'd hope that people would exercise better judgment, but that is the benefit of the country we live in. You can have any opinion you want, even if it's an idiotic one.
• And one last post from Carpe Diem talking about Walmart. One guy I know that travels a lot was excited because Southwest airlines finally started flying direct to Denver. He doesn't even use Southwest that often, but he talked about the "Southwest Effect," which happens whenever Southwest adds a particular destination, all competing prices for airfare automatically decrease by 10% or more just by virtue of the low-cost travel that Southwest provides. It is the same thing that Walmart allows for. Some interesting bits from the article:
  

  This week, Wal-Mart announced that it: Stepped up charitable giving globally from February 1, 2008 through January 31, 2009 with more than $423 million in cash and in-kind gifts, an $85.6 million increase over its global giving in the previous year. Last year, Wal-Mart and the Wal-Mart Foundation gave millions of dollars to numerous national and local charities including the Institute for Higher Education Policy ($4.1 million), YouthBuild ($5 million), Children’s Miracle Network ($4.7 million), The Salvation Army ($3 million), Special Olympics ($3.6 million), the National Urban League ($1 million) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation ($3.4 million).
  
  Wal-Mart offers the opportunity for a career: More than 75% of Wal-Mart's store managers started as hourly associates.
  
  In 2007, independent research from Global Insight shows that the reduction in the price level due to the presence of Wal-Mart translates directly into savings for consumers amounting to $287 billion in 2006. This corresponds to savings of $957 per person and $2,500 per household, regardless of where consumers choose to shop. That is, even consumers who shop at Target, Best Buy or Office Depot save money from the presence of Wal-Mart, due to the competitive pressure of Wal-Mart's "Everyday Low Prices."

People who hate Walmart or think its an evil company are morons. I read somewhere that Walmart only hires something like 1/20 applicants because so many people want to work there, and the average wait time to hear back from them is at least a month out from when the application is turned in. Crazy, right? Walmart is a good thing for the world. Deal with it, Dave.

• In this post, Larry Kudlow writes about the new era of government controlled business. In the post he says:
  

  Remember, as bad as Wagoner’s performance has been over the years, it was the federal government — not shareholders or the board of directors — that threw him under the bus. (By the way, GM’s board is being thrown under that same bus.) And I’m not arguing in favor of Wagoner or his board; they’ve made a zillion mistakes. But I am wondering if we’ve officially entered a new era of government-controlled business...
  
  Incidentally, most of the big bankers who met with President Obama in the White House last Friday want to pay back their TARP money, not take more of it. But the Treasury is conducting stress tests that could stop the TARP pay-downs and force the banks to take more taxpayer funds in return for even more federal control...
  
  As for Detroit, the carmakers should have been in bankruptcy months ago. And it is a bankruptcy court that should have fired GM’s Wagoner and his board. Along with some serious pain for bondholders, bankruptcy would have broken the high-cost labor contracts with the UAW as well as carmaker contracts with dealers across the country. That’s what bankruptcy courts are for. They’re part of the free-market capitalist system.

Just thought those were some interesting points.

Bankrupting Athletes

I came across an article in Sports Illustrated called How (and Why) Athletes Go Broke that details how so many pro athletes wind up losing all of their money. Here are some mind-boggling facts:

• By the time they have been retired for two years, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress because of joblessness or divorce.
• Within five years of retirement, an estimated 60% of former NBA players are broke.
• Numerous retired MLB players have been similarly ruined, and the current economic crisis is taking a toll on some active players as well. Last month 10 current and former big leaguers—including outfielders Johnny Damon of the Yankees and Jacoby Ellsbury of the Red Sox and pitchers Mike Pelfrey of the Mets and Scott Eyre of the Phillies—discovered that at least some of their money is tied up in the $8 billion fraud allegedly perpetrated by Texas financier Robert Allen Stanford. Pelfrey told the New York Post that 99% of his fortune is frozen; Eyre admitted last month that he was broke, and the team quickly agreed to advance a portion of his $2 million salary.

Isn't that insane? It's so tempting to ridicule these athletes, but what would that be like to have a huge influx of cash when you most likely grew up poor and have little education? In the article the author makes the point that athletes are more like lottery-winners than anything else just because of the nature of how they earn the money. Normally it comes as a windfall and hasn't been toiled over and the wealth hasn't grown with them over time. I wish I could find a good academic study detailing the numbers better, but rates of depression and suicide (among other negative health outcomes) are higher for lottery-winners than the normal population.

Anyway, it's an interesting article. Check it out.

Sinner

I'm in a concert going mood these days. I guess I haven't seen anything since Christmas time, so I'm starting to ache a little bit for some live music. I was going through my normal list of bands that I like to see and saw that Unwritten Law and Strung Out are doing shows in Vegas in June and July. Those were some of the best weekends ever when we'd do those back in the day. Anyone interested in a 24 hour trip to Sin City for one of them?

I got an email for some reason for presale tickets for the Warped Tour. I think my days of large militant punk rock gatherings are behind me now. I was tempted for a second, and then I remembered that I tend to feel like a dope when the average age of the person standing next to me is 17, and I'm creeping up on 30.

I ordered the Incubus album that's coming out in June just so I could be eligible for the presale concert tickets which starts on Monday. Anybody interested in catching them at the Hollywood Bowl on Monday, July 13th? I'm getting at least two, and I can get some more if anyone is interested.

Anyway, the title of this post comes from this song that is on the Unwritten Law MySpace page playlist. It's kind of catchy, but I like the last part of the video because...who can name that beach where Scott is singing from? And...go!

Funny People

I haven't been excited for an Adam Sandler movie in years, but this one caught my attention when I saw the trailer recently: