Totally soaked, totally stoked!

This week at school, we've been celebrating homecoming. There are all sorts of activities, but my favorite is of course the football game (I guess whether it's homecoming or not). Sadly, our good ol' boys didn't do too well, only managing one touchdown. TCU is a great team and there were "ON" tonight and it unfortunately ended 38-7. But, not to dwell, this isn't what this post is supposed to be about.
Every year for BYU intramurals on homecoming week Saturday, we have a staff play-day/tailgate party where we don't schedule any intramural games so we as a staff can play. We do this every homecoming game. This year, even though our numbers were smaller than in the past, it was fun. We played some flag-football, volleyball, soccer, and even some ultimate. The weather was great, and with cloud cover, the sun wasn't blinding us. Right at about three o'clock when we called it a day, and the last few people were leaving the fields, it started to come down.

This isn't me, but it's sort of how it was! Fun eh?

There had been some off and on rain storms over the weekend and it came instantly. I had biked up to the fields, but I was prepared if there was crazy weather. As I said, the rain just started and it was full on within about 45 seconds. I had a windbreaker/water resistant jacket on as I biked home (which was only 2 miles away). As it poured, I got wetter and wetter. When I got home I could wring out my shorts which were partly shielded by my jacket so it created a cool gradient.
I think I was happy, just because I was able to get outside and play a bunch of sports. I was also happy that I was prepared so I could bike home in the rain. I appreciate my blessings of good health, and athleticism... and for rain! Thus, today- I was soaked, yet stoked!

Have you ever heard of Precision Time?

Well, it's a great company that has a huge selection in watches. I know you're thinking- "I hardly ever wear a watch," but let me tell you, some of the goods they've got just may change your mind. They've got watches for all types.

The real reason for this post is to ask for your help. Precision Time has been nominated as one of the Best Brand Use of Twitter. Click the logo to vote. You've got to sign in to a facebook or twitter account to vote, but there's no additional obligations they ask for. When you vote, you type in @precisiontime in the box. Simple eh? Also, if you get on the bandwagon and follow precision time on twitter, they give away a free watch every Friday. Yeah- just for following their tweets you're entered for a chance to win every week! DO IT YO!

Hawaii...nuff said.

Yes, I'm blessed to have been able to take a trip back to O'ahu with my fam this summer. We stayed in Laie most the time at what we call The Hukilau House for sixteen days. We also bounced to Levon's place in Waianae a few nights. The surf was really good out there on the West side and like they say, the water is a lot cleaner (you don't get the dirty mountain runoff from the river). As always, the food was ono and the beach had some real good days. The best part about it was to see Levon and his family. I hadn't seen Pohai and Kekoa the niece and nephew for a whole year and it was neat to spend a lot of time with them. There's so much to be told with many funny stories built in but you'll have to give me a call if you want the narrative. So here's a pictorial recap of some of the things I love in Hawaii.
(P.S. all of these pictures are from my phone, but you can click any one you want to see it bigger)

First stop when we arrive: Zippy's .....always Zippy's.

Chocolate Long John! Another Zippy's stop. I believe Mike and I went about 5 or 6 times.

Ahhh, Laie Bay (Hukilau Beach).



Here is the steep mountainside near Kualoa Ranch.


It was a rippin' day at Pali Lookout. Mike is Supa-Man.

The wind can be so strong you can lean into it and your body remains at an angle, or even blow you back and knock you down.

Seeking refuge from the wind for awhile.

But it's a great view of the windward side, and a "must do" event if you come here.


In the summer, it's really busy at Matsumoto's (shave ice) so here we are waiting in line. We went there four times I think. Hey, you gotta go all out when you're there.


My brothers and I and the kids went up on the heights overlooking Waimea. On the way Kekoa fell asleep...

So Pohai and I were fakers and we tried to copy his open-mouthed napping approach...

But we couldn't do it for long because we just started laughing.

We decided to take a quick detour to a Heiau I've never seen. It's the Puu O Mahuka Heiau State Monument which is above Waimea Valley. Pretty Cool.

The bay was beautiful as always.

Silly Popo-nani...

and "solid" but always busy, Kekoa.



Did I mention we love all the food here? That's one massive macaroon.


Levon collected some big daddy Portuguese Man o'War and we probed them. It was interesting under the magnifying glass.

This tentacle was a few feet long! We tried to "see" the barbs but they're microscopic.

Not sure if the tiny specs were barbs being produces, egg sacs, or if they served some other purpose.


Arizona Memorial
Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial are always humbling.


The song about the "Hukilau" was made famous from this beach. This is a local ward pulling in the net.



My friends, this is no screenplay, it's authentic fishing. I apologize for the wrong orientation.


Oh yeah, I celebrated my 22nd birthday there too. I'm filled with glee because I got a Chantilly cake from none other than Liliha Bakery.


It's hard to say goodbye to this place.

I hope you enjoyed this. I sure did!

4th of July in Manti

I celebrated Independence day with family and a few friends from Santa Clara. It was decided that we beat the heat this year so we spent our weekend in Manti. We stayed in our 1850's pioneer-era restored home. It is actually a vacation rental, capable of hosting small parties for receptions or weekend getaways. It was a delightful weekend becuase Manti really comes alive with their celebratory activities. There was a volleyball tournament, small carnival style games, food and entertainment, karaoke, a movie projected in the park, a parade of all the surrounding towns' clubs & organizations, and an impressive fireworks show. It was great.

Here's Sara walking around the Manti house. We stuck a coon tail on her, and she eventually forgot it was there. It was quite cute and quite funny.

Just waiting for the parade to start.

We also drove up into the mountains at about Fairview where it was even more pleasant. We went with intentions of seeing Mike and his friend Braedon as they stayed with his family by Scofield Lake, but it was a zoo up there. There were some truly zany people just out there having a good time. It was fun to watch, but we opted out of the crowded scene. My brother Dan had brought up his wife's Sunfish sailboat and it was just too crowded so we opted for a quieter, Electric Lake nearby.

We spent the afternoon with the Stucki family riding four-wheelers, barbecuing, canoeing, and sailing. Pono, Steve Stucki, and I went for a long ride high up into the mountains where it plateaued at the top. There were some snow drifts still up there and we made a stop and threw some snow around. I thought it was the coolest thing to be playing in snow in Utah, on the 4th of July. Playing around the water was fun too, and I'm really starting to crave sailing with Dan & Beckie.

Spring Recap?

.....I know, it's been that long.

I stayed up at school for the short spring term and I had a great time. I kept working and took two classes: Packaging Design, and Accounting. While accounting wasn't my favorite I learned a lot about business, and I thought my instructor (Norm, for any of you who know who I'm talking about) was pretty funny. And though my packaging design class was six hours long, two times a week (yes, 6!), I learned a lot struggling through getting things right, had a lot of fun, and enjoyed my classmates and my instructor. Adrian Pulfer shared numerous stories about his experiences as a designer, and taught us some important lessons.

This is a sample of what I created. I redesigned the labels for a company called DHC skin care. Here are 5 products with a new (and hopefully better) design.

Also, what was cool was that we had a guest critique from designer Brett Traylor. He came all the way from New York to spend the day critiquing and telling us a little about himself and the company, Thinkso. Later that month, we discovered a post was made about his trip to Provo, UT. Here is a picture of the class we took which is posted on the site. It was pretty neat.


I also had a chance to hike up to the 'Y' on the mountain with my dear friend and roommate, Lauren. It was sort of a last hurrah before the semester ended, and I had yet to go so I finally got a chance. It was great.

It was so bright as the sun reflected off the white-washed cement.

And here we are, looking over Provo and Utah Lake. The phone didn't suffice that day.

Did you miss me?

The USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

I

AM A

SLACKER!

Yes, I really need to update the blog, and post up past things from this summer, but it will take some time. I've got 4th of July adventures, and Hawaii things too. But right now I'm in Hawaii and I'd much rather be out riding waves and eating good food so you'll just have to wait. Besides, I'd much rather prolong my vacation by blogging about it when I'm back in the dry heat of the So. Utah desert.

The Dad and I at Matsumoto's

Vantage point. Squeegee man and flying bats.

How many corners are in this picture?

This is totally unrelated to the rest of the post.

Well, it's a rainy evening here. It's actually rained quite a bit. It's a lot of fun, because we're really getting dumped on this season, and the weather has been pleasantly mild, even in Southern Utah.
It doesn't create the most optimal playing fields for kickball and softball though. As I was umpiring this week for the intramural championships, people were slipping all over the place. Yes, we do 'call' the games and postpone them if it gets too dangerous. We were close one day. There were some legitimate mud stains on everyone's... everything from the shoes to the face. Granted, we scoop out puddles and fill holes with fresh sand. It's a choice between slipping in the mud, or pretty much sliding to home base like it was a mat made of sandpaper. Good battle wounds I guess.
In one instance a player was rounding 3rd base, heading for home when he slipped. I tell, you what- I've never seen anything like it. It all happened in slow motion too, but by the time he hit the ground, he was pretty much horizontally parallel (so at least the impact wasn't painful) but this guy was like a squeegee for the grass. A sheet of water sailed into the air, and when this player returned to his feet he was dripping/soaking wet with the appearance of chocolate milk. He was safe at third base, but unfortunately the next guy up got the third out, so his efforts didn't even convert to a run. Still- quite funny.

This is the West Stadium intramural field(s) on a sunny day. Nice eh? Click for better image.

That same evening, the hour earlier and when the rain was really coming down though the sun was shining bright a player came up to bat. By now the equipment is pretty wet- bats, gloves, and balls. Normally, if a player throws their bat they are called out because it's very dangerous. Well, the craziest instance occurred when he took a good swing at the ball. It went sailing up as an infield fly. Meanwhile, the batter's bat also went for a ride. It must have been so slick that it escaped his grip. The bat flew to the left, beyond the out-of-play line, beyond the row of spectators sitting about six feet behind that line, past the light pole, and landed on the grass about 50 feet away.
I was baffled. His ball was caught, but this guy was OUT regardless. I'm grateful that no one got hurt from that because the bat could have easily cleared 3-4 people. This too happened in slow motion for me and it reminded me of a chain shot which in naval battle you clear the decks with the chain-linked cannonballs. The night's injury report would have been extensive, but we were blessed and nothing terrible happened.

Oh the fun of Intramurals.
I love my job.



The answer to the question at the beginning is: 9 corners. There are the four rounded ones that make up the mirror, the reflection in the mirror is a corner, and the corners that are a part of the actual picture sum up the remaining four.

Thanks for reading my blog today!

Arbitrary Images- mmmmm mochi

I'm currently taking a class for my major which is called Packaging Design. Normally, most of the BYU art classes are 3 hrs. long twice a week (during Fall and Winter semesters). But since it's spring, the load practically doubles and yes, I know it's hard to believe, but my design class is from 12:00 to 5:50 Tues. + Thurs. Since it's so long, we've got to take breaks, eat food, etc. so we created a sign up to take turns and bring food to class. Another classmate and I were to bring food last Thursday.

I brought a whole pallate of fresh strawberries and an entire pan of pink coconut mochi.

The other kid brought more strawberries, sliced sourdough baguettes, Jones soda, and a tray of shrimp cocktail. Well, we certainly had a lot of strawberries to eat that day, and I was pleased that many of my classmates have tried AND liked mochi. There was only a little left which I snatched away to have a snack for work later that night.

This is all that was left

I think everyone in that class tried at least a little mochi and a few wanted the (lazy Hawaiian) recipe. It's good to share cultures and tastes, and what better to do that than through others' stomachs. It made me happy, we ate well, and I'm still snacking on the remnants of the strawberries!

Arbitrary Images- smart people are cool

I was working kickball the other night and this girl was up to kick when I saw her shirt. She must have been a math major, or in some sort of club. It had trigonometry terminology such as sine and cosine while referencing to one of Will Smith's songs. The saying on the back read, "Gettin' Triggy Wid It." I had a good laugh, and so did this girl as she was asked if a picture could be taken of her.

Arbitrary Images

This week is a little late for my image but it's for a good reason because I got to go home to visit the fam for the Memorial Day weekend! Today's image comes from a suburban which parked next to my suburban at school. I thought to myself, "cool- the suburbans are by each other."



Then I really noticed the cool part. My unknown friend is also a Glenn Beck listener because I saw his hydro-carbon powered eco vehicle sticker.

It's great for those who jump to conclusions too quickly (You know da kine, who give you a glare because you drive a big gas hungry beast). Well, we evil conservative hate-mongers are doing our part to help with greenhouse gases. Glenn Beck has created a sticker for those to help combat the extremist attacks. He says---

Have you ever driven by a hippie, environmental protest and
had your beautiful gas guzzling SUV keyed?

Now you can protect your car by making it appear environmentally
friendly with the Glenn Beck Hydro-Carbon Powered Eco-Vehicle
bumper sticker. Look like a friend of the Earth while killing it at the same time!

Hydro Carbon just means oil, but with our clever
recycle-shape inspired design, environmentalists and
global warming zombies alike will take one look and think you’re
on their side. Only we’ll know the truth behind it…you evil conservative hate monger!

get in on the action with a sticker if you'd like

So anyways, I saw this sticker on the suburban which made my day. I grinned as I wrote a note to this unknown person who I now felt a connection with because of their stance. I thanked them for being so cool, and proudly showing their beliefs in a non-intrusive way. I too have this sticker, but I don't own a car in my name so I've had to refrain from putting it on the suburban.
Nevertheless, I took a picture because I was giddy. Have a great week.

Besides- for those of you who are all natural and and trying to "go green" just remember- we as humans as well as other essential things are made of carbon. It's part of nature and God's creations. Let's not try to get rid of the carbon in the world or else we'll die.

Arbitrary Images- Spring!

With the human eye, these greens were even brighter.

It so green right now. Spring is full on. While walking home from class along the hedge of the outdoor track was when I really noticed the greenery. To my right a hedge, and to my left, the line of trees. The shade made the colors vibrant and I felt gratitude for living where I can see the beauty of spring.