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.