Stalwart

Happy Sunday evening everybody. Just a few random thoughts for tonight.

I'm very bad at complimenting girls. I know there's so much to compliment, and I always want to express my great respect for them when they do awesome things. Problem is, I'm so conditioned to complimenting guys that I end up telling the girls that their throw was manly, or that they're a stud. I figure they know what I mean, but I got to work on that.

Paint is really really cool. I'm way happy with how my flying man turned out. Yeah, it does look like the flying peter petrelli picture from heroes. It's not a rip off though, it's just what came out. I can't really paint all that well, but it does always make me happy. I like it.

Just a thought-> I'm looking at my options for employment this summer, and right now things are wide open. If any of you know of anywhere that's hiring, or anybody that wants a good able-bodied manly man to work for them, let me know, eh? If where you work is looking for somebody, I'd love to check out the option. I'm open to pretty much anything, so let me know if you want.

Mr. Rogers was a very impressive guy. Whenever I think about him or read about him I can't help but admire the person that he was. I have absolutely nothing but love and respect for him. If the world had a little bit more Mr. Rogers in it, we'd all be doing a little bit better. Don't forget the gentle guy.

There's something super awesome about having something waiting for you. At PLC, I smiled a ton because I knew that once I got home I had a nice clean room waiting for me. It seems small and stupid, but it was a big deal to me. It was so nice to have that little poster waiting for me too, that made me pretty happy.

I'm going to work on taking it to the limits. You've all heard me talk about it, and chances are I'll just keep talking about it. You know the plan, it's going to be intense.

I think I'm also gonna work on some more water. It's been forever, and I've had some cool ideas. No promises, but it's something I'd like to pursue.

This cat is headed to bed, I hope you're all doing well. Good luck in your various pursuits, I'll catch you all later.

Leg Shaving - The End of the World

This was my final project for my junior English class. I edited it all during one day, spent a few days filming before that. It was a rush job, but I'm proud of how it turned out. Science, once again, was on my side for this one.

I hope you enjoy.

Ockham Rival

The Start of Something Good

Hey mystery blank, I'm back.

Life has been pretty intense lately. I've been hustling. There's been a lot to do, a bunch of stuff on my end game list.

See, I made this list of things I'd have to do in order to get out of school alive this year. As I finished them I'd check them off. After school came PLC.

I just checked PLC off the list, and now here I am.

Without a list.

So I made a new list. Not a list of things I've got to do, but a list of things I want to do. It's not like I didn't want to do the things that were on my other list, because I did. It's just that this list is going to be things that I'm pushing for. I've got some genuine free time on my hands here, and I'm gonna take it and run with it.

What's on my list of things to do? I'm gonna put a fire pit in the backyard. Me and my dad have talked about it, and I think we're gonna make it happen. It'll be fun and useful. We've got a never ending supply of fire wood and all sorts of occasions to start fires. I love to engineer and build a one-match-wonder. I tried up at PLC, totally failed. But it's something I like to do, and having a fire pit has social advantages. We've got the location, we've got the desire, now all we need is a day to do it. Whoosh.

You know, I didn't write much this past month. I could throw excuses around like so much dollar menu food, but that's not the point. It's in the past. I didn't take the chance I had to write.

But I'm going to start taking that chance. I'm going to write more. The honest truth here is that no matter what I say, whether or not posts show up will speak for itself. Will I really write? You'll see.

My life is moving along. There's a lot of work to be done, but I'm excited to go tackle it. I cleaned my room, it's so awesome. I've got a ton more room now, and that means I can get genuine whiteboard space on the wall now. Whiteboards make everything more efficient. I'm ready to make a list, look at me go.

Good things are on the horizon. I feel like I'm starting a new life. Things are so fresh. For so long I was searching for fresh. The latter end of school got monotonous, the weather was the same, everything was the same. Fresh things kept popping in, but never the whole picture.

Now, at the edge of summer, things are fresh. My room is clean, and there's no school on Monday. I'm going to go running, and I'm going to work out for me. Not for anybody else. This one's for me. I'm going to breathe, I'm going to write. I'm gonna make it happen.

There are three ways to live your life I figure. There's the crappy way, that most people don't choose. There's the neutral way, and that's the way that 98 percent of the world is. The neutral way is where you let your natural talents and abilities and circumstances take you where they will. You roll with the punches, you roll with what's given you. Some people are more gifted than others, so some guys excel with the neutral path.

But then there's the excellent path. The path where you take what you're given and you work to make it better. The path where you sit down and think what you can do to maximize your excellence today.

We've got talents. It seems the people I associate with are really talented people. I, just like everybody else, have talents too.

And so far the talents have been working pretty well for us all. We're moving along.

But I think that neutrality has taken us just about as far as it's going to. It's time to make a choice, and I'm choosing to be excellent. I'm choosing to maximize. I'm going to work. Not in short bursts, but all day long at a respectable pace. I'm going to take it to the limit. I don't want to just be mediocre. I don't want to just take the opportunities handed to me. I'm going to get up every morning and fight for excellence.

Oh yeah, it's a new day, and that new day better watch out. I'm ready to roll.

For all the talk and big words, it's going to come down to what I actually do.

Just you wait and see.

Humble Return

It's been a while since I've been excited about running.

But it seems like the dental plaque that was growing on my hippocampus is finally receding. The 2007 Cross Country season is dawning, and with it comes the athletically motivated version of yours truly that we've all been missing.

I went running tonight with Kyle and James. Both of them are talking about running with the team as often as possible. Do you know how sick that'd be?

We've had a ton of girls sign on. Some of the best girls in the school are talking about running for us. Our team is not only going to be bigger than last year, it's going to be the very best team I've ever been a part of.

When I say best, I'm not talking about competition. I'm just talking about my team. Cross Country brings out the very best in the world. It's wholesome. There's so much love and power out there on those blessed mornings.

I've been thinking tonight about some things the past few days to make CC amazing this year. First and foremost will be team unity. I've got some cool ideas. There's definitely going to be a resurgence of the Tville CC Album. We're gonna be so ripped, it's going to be amazing.

I'm shedding the fat kid right now. I'm turning over a new leaf. It's time to improve. It's time to go out there and become the best me that I can become. It's not about times and performances: It's about me.

This team is going to take me to the tip of my existence. I honestly believe that through Cross Country, Seminary Council, Mads, and rigorous study next year, I can reach heights I've never dreamed of before.

The key is work. It's persistence. Not short bursts of work, but an over-riding theme: a habit of work and progress.

Here's to you, 2007 Cross Country. Let's take it to the stars.

-And now, a genuine decision by yours truly->

Friday night. I will play harder Ultimate than I've ever played before. I will tire myself out twice as fast as usual. I will sweat like Andrew. I will play both sides of the field one hundred percent. I will blend every part of my brain with my instincts and physical prowess. I will flow on that field like I've never flown before. All the beauty and simplicity of flow with an added touch of "Ohmygosh-how-did-he-do-that?!".

When 10 o'clock rolls around I will be drained and spent. I will play heart and soul from seven to 10. Substitutions are for squares. Iron man.

Will I be unstoppable? That's up to the opposing team. But know this, I'm gonna give them the most frightening night of Ultimate they've ever seen.

Engage

I don't generally mind having a song stuck in my head. I never really understand people when they freak out about me singing something because they're going to get it stuck in their head. The only reason I'm singing it is because it's in my head and I like it.

Generally I love songs in my head. Not tonight though.

Because every time I try to think of something to start the post with, all I get is "Doooo dooo doooo, Doo Dooo do doooooo"

It's not even that cool of a song.

But it's alright. Because in the process of complaining about it, I've start the post.

So on we roll. Not because we must, but because we feel like it's the right thing to do.

I'm amazed at the power of cross country. Track officially ended a few days ago. We had the region meet, and that's the last meet of the season. Once that's over everything for me shifts to cross country. Training essentially starts as soon as track is over.

And boy oh boy, I can already feel the difference.

I didn't write much at all about track this year. I haven't written much of anything for a long time, actually. But that's not the point. Last year I talked about track a lot. I wrote about how I wanted to do, how I actually did, and why I loved it. I wrote about the charms and the discouragements, everything that made me think.

This year I couldn't really do that. Track and I didn't get along this year.

And maybe that's a story for another day. It's something I'm not really too proud of. I made a decision back in junior high that goes against the actions I took with track.

See, we're always in a process of shaping the people that we are going to be. Always changing, making small adjustments. We're finding ourselves. In the process of finding ourselves, we are truly making ourselves. There's nothing out there to find, there's only something to create on this path of 'finding ourselves'.

In junior high I saw some things that disappointed me. I decided that if I was going to do anything, I was going to do it well. I said that if I truly made the decision to pursue something, I was going to pursue it wholeheartedly. I was going to give it my all, not hold anything back.

That decision has brought me a lot of happiness since I made it. I do not follow it as often as I should. I love times when I make that decision though. I can see the difference, and I can still feel the difference weeks later.

On nights that I play Ultimate or basketball, you can always tell whether I've decided to go for it or not. When I make the decision that I'm going to give it my all, there's very little that can be done to stop me. That doesn't mean I'm going to win, it doesn't mean that I'm even going to play well.

But you can see it. I run faster, I jump higher. I literally try harder. It's not a psychological thing, and it's not a physical thing. It is everything rolled into one. My entire being is thrown into whatever I'm working at.

Oh yeah, it's good stuff. When I decide to truly pursue something, I pursue it pretty nice.

I did that with a lot of cross country last year. I know that I didn't do it with all of it, but for a large portion I did. I remember mornings when I woke up at 6:59, thinking that there was no way I could make it to practice in less than 60 seconds. I remember going back to bed, laying there and realizing that I was letting everybody and myself down. I remember that awesome feeling when I rolled out of bed at 7:03, knowing full well that I was three minutes late already. I booked it to school so fast that day.

I had slept too late to make it realistically, I knew that. I had a perfect excuse to go back to bed and miss that whole day of work. But I refused to. I got up and booked it to school. I made it right as they were leaving on the run. I got out and ran with them.

I was successful, and it was because of the choices I made that day. I made the right choice. I dedicated myself to it and I made it there.

It's like that. I made a goal last year to make it to every summer CC practice I could. I knew that it'd be hard; I knew what was on the line. But I made the goal, and I fulfilled. I think I slept through two practices on my own free will. Two out of about a million.

I am proud of how I worked during CC last summer. It's something that I can honestly take pride in. There's no question about it. I made good decisions last summer.

And that's what I want to shoot for in my life. If I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it well. I'm going to do it all the way. No compromises, no slacking.

Madrigals is one thing I want to apply this to. I am so excited to have made the group. It's an awesome opportunity. It's going to be so much fun.

But, straight off the bat I know I'm probably the weakest singer in there right now. That's not a bad thing, and I don't feel crappy about it. All it means is that I'm going to have to put more work into it.

And you know what? I'm going to. I'm going to bust it in there. I'm going to bring myself up to everybody else's level. I'm going to practice the songs. I'm going to stop chronically swallowing all my notes. With everybody else's help, I'm going to make myself a better singer. I can already see some results. I've been working these past few weeks, and I've been getting a bit of help from Levi and Kyle. I've got an honest desire to become better. It's already happening.

It's easy to talk big like that, sitting in the comfort of my office chair. My office chair doesn't ask me to exit my comfort zone. I'm not as consistent as I'd like to be. I see myself going through cycles of motivation and hard work to cycles of just getting by.

I've thought about that a little bit. What's the solution? Do I just try to maximize the accomplishments of my motivated times and minimize the time I spend lazy?

I don't think that's the answer. I think the answer is going to lie in changing the little things. I've tried the giant life altering approaches. When I'm motivated I'm really good at making plans and following through for a few weeks.

But those weeks eventually end, and I'm back to square one. So I'm trying something different. I'm making it a gradual, day by day thing.

I once had the plan to walk around everywhere on my tip-toes. The concept was that doing so would greatly improve my calf strength, and that'd increase my vertical jump by about a million. I'd finally be able to dunk.

I eventually developed shin-splints and stopped, but the concept is something that I want to apply everywhere. I thought of the plan like this: since I'm always walking, if I could change my walk just a little bit so that walking would help me improve, I'd always be improving. If I was always improving, my life would just keep getting better and better.

The plan wasn't to go do a raging calf workout every day. I wasn't going to hit the gym or power through an insane jump-rope workout. I was just going to walk around on my tip toes.

And that's how I've got to approach life. Yeah, the big stuff is important. But it's the day to day that makes us who we are. It's the day to day that changes the results in the long run. Sure, you can buy your mom a car once you're thirty, but being nice to her every day of your life is going to mean a whole lot more to her than the automobile.

So that's the plan. Make every day mean something. Make it make me a better person. It doesn't have to be big. Most days it probably won't be. But if I can make a real small difference in the world every day, after a while I've suddenly made a crater of goodness.

This theory of life goes along great with flow theory.

Unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten the intricacies of flow theory. I never did write it all down. I have the main concept behind it, and I do remember what taught it to me. I'll have to go on a quest this week to rediscover it. It was a good one, and although I didn't apply it as far as I would have liked to, it worked well.

I've often thought about what I could do to make something better. What I could to do to make the blog better, what I could do to become a better ultimate player.

I have a strong belief that desire is the key factor in everything that we do. The scriptures talk about it as it relates to faith, and the application spreads to everything else that we do. Once we have a desire to do anything, we can let that desire work within us to make it happen.

Which, really, is totally awesome.

Because simply by desiring to become a better Ultimate player, I firmly believe that that in itself makes me just a little bit better. Whether or not I end up leveraging that desire to find a way to become better, the simple desire completes half the task for me.

Desire is critical in everything that we do.

You can change days and you can change hours, but in the end its your life that's going to matter. The little things are the real variables here.

I think the key to really figuring the little things out is to consciously evaluate your day. Evaluate your decisions as you make them. Too often I find myself in auto-pilot, doing things just because. Not really for any reason, and not because I want to do them, but just because that's the way that I do things.

But if we'll stop and consider what's happening, if we'll give honest thought to what we're doing, we're gonna find things going a lot better for us. We're going to be happier, and people around us are going to be happier as well. We're going to be more successful.

I subscribe to the concept of individualism. I believe that we make the choice between greatness and mediocrity.

Everybody has natural talents that can take them to mediocrity. Everybody, I think, will default to neutral if they let themselves live long enough.

But it takes something extra on the person's part to truly reach greatness. The person cannot simply live life because there is nothing else to do. That person must rise up and make good decisions. That person must work and toil and become all that they can become.

That's the kicker. Are we waking up because we stopped sleeping, or are we waking up because there's something waiting for us out there? I'm ready to stop just letting life happen, and I'm ready to go face the world with a purpose.

I want to be great. I want to take it to the top. I'm going to do it with singing. I'm going to do it with school. I'm ready to do it with Cross Country. Yeah, I'm gonna start walking around on my toes. Maybe it'll tear my feet up, maybe it'll screw up some tendons. I don't really know, but I'm willing to give it a shot for a while. If problems develop I'll stop.

The point is, I'm setting out. Not on an epic quest. But rather on a slight course adjustment. I'm going to live my life, but I'm going to maximize the progress I make by doing so. When I go on a walk, I'm going to go on a walk to get somewhere.

"We're taking this thing to the moon!" -Strongbad

Fighting for the Post

I feel like a sports star sitting on the bench because of a broken ankle. I want to get out there and play so bad, but I'm restricted by a giant plaster boot around my favorite limb.

I want to sit and post and run forever. But there's an AP history test tomorrow, and I'm going to bank on this one and take myself a good full night's rest.

It's like I've been away for a long time. I'm trying to come back to camp, but conflicts keep getting in my way. One more battle to fight, one more river to cross.

One day I'm going to get there. One day I'm going to sit down and run forever. One night, soon, I'll let myself out onto this pixelated parchment, and for just a moment the post and I will be totally aligned. There will be no question about where I stand or how I feel that night. The purity and essence of the thoughts I have will be, for a brief moment, synchronized in two separate locations. The feeling of being entirely and unequivocably correct at two distinct geographies is one of the better feelings ever.

What's the news? I'm searching for Fresh. It's close. I'm trying to remember to quest and flow and be strong. I'm trying to make the best decisions. I'm trying to excel and make the most of the gifts and opportunities I have.

How is it coming? It's a never ending battle. The question isn't with ability or power or resolve. It's a matter of desire and consciousness.

We all have the power to make good decisions when we think about it. When we want to do what's right, we're given divine liberty to do so with greater power than we ever have otherwise. The desire to dominate, the desire to take ourselves to the next level, that's what it's going to take.

What's the news?

The news is up to you. Your news; your life. You are making the calls. You're the only thing making the difference between you and the next level. Where are you gonna stand?

Who are you gonna be?

Amateur-crastinate

Foiled again.

But worry not, I shall emerge victorious at last.

Why? Because that's how I roll.

I've got 11 minutes to write before Noakesy gets here so we can go down to the BYU invitational. I'm actually pretty excited for it. I'm only running one event, and I don't have to help put anything away afterwards. It's a win-win situation.

So, you'll notice that I promised a good post. I hold by my promises, even if they have to be delayed a little bit. There will be a good post. If not today, then tomorrow. If not tomorrow, sometime in the relatively near future.

But in order to make that good post happen, I'm going to need a little help. If there are any questions out there, anything you guys really want to see me write about, let me know. I'm not going to say that this will be a questions post, because I'm going to write something awesome whether or not you actually leave any questions or comments, I'm just opening up in the event that anybody has anything in particular they want to read about.

Predictions for tonight's game: Jazz by Four.

Predictions for tonight's other game: Me by a million.

Literary Magazine is essentially finished. That's a big sigh of relief right there. It's going to be really awesome this year, I think we did an excellent job on production. It looks pretty professional. Buying one would be a good idea, but if you don't have 20 dollars to throw at a book then don't.

The whole concept behind the literary magazine is awesome. Collecting all the best writing and artwork of the students of Taylorsville high into one awesome compilation? It's essentially a portrait of what Taylorsville thinks about during '06 and '07.

I'm in love with the idea of collecting awesome writing and ideas. That was essentially the idea behind the Taylorsville Alliance from who-knows-how-many months ago.

I think the Literary Magazine is going to be good, but not as good as it should be. No matter how awesome we do on production, we still rely entirely upon the writing of the students. It's not that good writing isn't out there, and it's not like we don't have amazing writing in the book. We've got some excellent work in there, we just don't know enough.

Next year I'm going to spam the .... Noakes is here. Cya later tonight.

Integrate Force on a Spring

*edit*

Good post coming tomorrow morning:D. It's 2:59 AM. So, no writing tonight. Tomorrow morning I hope.

In addition, I kicked Michael's butt at soul calibur.


And you'll get potential energy.

Good post coming tomorrow. In the meantime, my ceiling fan.

Conservation

*note-> I wrote this a little while ago, but hesitated to post it. I think it's fine to post now. However, don't be getting any ideas. I liked it though, so here you go.

A few bits and pieces because I haven't been here too often.

~There's a law of conservation. Many laws of conservation actually. You can't create matter, you can just change it. You can't create energy, you can just change it. Unless you move things really really fast. But that's a story for another day.

Many things are conserved. More than you'd think, it appears.

~This is 4th quarter. The beginning is going to be the hardest part of the year for me. Not because the work is the hardest, but simply because I'm tired of work and want to stop doing my English. I just don't want to write that argumentative paper.

But this is the 4th term, this is crucial. If I screw up now, I screw everything up. After all, heroes aren't made in the first 47 minutes of the game. It's only the last minute that really counts.

~I have been romantically inactive for a little more than a year now. Am I ready to actually talk about that now? I don't know.

But if there's one thing I do truly miss about the romantic chase, it's the freshness of it all.

You wake up in the mornings with a plan to woo the lady. When you do your hair, you do your hair so you can look dang good to impress the girl. You go to school with a mission. There are no questions as to what your purpose is. You're on the chase.

It's a bold world out there. One with obstacles and troubles, but nothing you can't overcome. It's a world rife with accomplishment and failure.

In short, it's life in a nutshell.

I miss the quick success or quick failure. You know if one of your jokes worked or not. There are tangible results to your efforts.

I could get all mooshy here.

But you know how in Ultimate, how it feels so great to jump up and get a swat, or run so hard to get the catch? That exhilarating feeling of success, the great accomplishment. It's the same for basketball, hitting that three and jogging back to play defense, huge grin on your face. Or maybe getting the test passed back, and seeing the big 100 circled in red.

It's that wonderful feeling. That big rush, the one that makes you want to stand up on the chair and reach your arms toward the heavens and just feel how good it is to be alive. You're the man, you did it.

It's the same when the girl smiles at you. Not a pity smile, not the polite you-made-a-joke-now-I-have-to-smile smile, but a genuine smile. My oh my, that's a good feeling.

What's the point of it all? I've been pretty anti-sentimentatily for a long time. Maybe I don't think it's all a bunch of crap anymore. Something made me remember. Nothing anybody did, just some old documents. No old fires rekindled, just a nice reminder of a nice smile that made a crappy situation not quite so crappy.

So hey, smile at random guys. Maybe it'll make them not quite so scared of dying while Sharpe is laughing and there's a horrible drop curtain tearing your hand off.

Unless you're a dude. Then smiling at guys would be weird.

That's all.

Mind

Can you read my mind?

There is so much right now. So much good, so much potential. So many good people, so many opportunities.

I wish that I had written more in the past few weeks. I wish that I'd slept more too. Those weeks served their purpose, I'm older, stronger, and hairier because of them. Here we are, weeks later. Welcome to April 23rd.

Life is good, but it's got its questions. Life's got the wonder, the mystery and the longing.

Contradictions and fields of stars.

This is one of those posts that I'm going to wish I had explained better. Will future me remember what fields of stars means? I had doubts initially, but I think he will now. I feel good about it.

Where do the answers lie? Stay the course, or attempt something bold? A breath of fresh air, or the steady pneumatic pace of the oxygen tank? The thoroughbred or the unicycle of chance?

Questions. But amidst the questions there are certain certainties.

And that's the key to understanding it. I don't know what's going to happen; the contradictions contradict themselves. There is no clear path to the very end. And yet the definite steps remain. A pithy portion of my personal puzzle, but a profound portion nonetheless. As I pursue the few steps I know I must take, the pathway will be made clear.

If I were to stand in a field and stare at the stars, would I know what I truly want? Could I be completely honest and unchanging? There, in the midst of the far-flung photons and toiling carbon, would the course unfold before me?

The field and stars contradict in beautiful harmony. Perhaps the course is simply not the course yet. Perhaps the course unfolds as it is created and forged. Not the predetermined route of careful planning and meditation, but rather the natural sequence and succession of the culmination of my decisions.

Perhaps the picture seeks not to be understood in full, but to be sought after with loyalty and dedication.

One must contemplate the possibility that step two never has, and likely never will, exist. The notion that step one is forever followed by step two does not do justice to the intricate and romantic workings of the unraveling secrets of life. Completing step one illuminates the path, creates a new set of inherited values and parameters. And one must pause and evaluate the new reality that one exists in, and then pursue the path that leads to the best end. Step one is reborn in the new and reborn circumstances of the new parameters. Step one leads to just one more step one, and thence onward forever, indefinitely.

Is it a happy path? Yes, I like to think it is. Step two is elusive, forever fading and crossing from my view. A multitude of step two's cling and vie for my eventual chase.

And yet the answers remain fully within step one. Step one will lead me exactly where I need to go. When the time comes, I will have the courage to give step one my one hundred percent.

The certainties in life are few, but by pursuing the fleeting group the pathway becomes clear. The nebula draws itself together not as a whole, but particle by particle. Step one by step one, the field of stars reveals its secrets.

People

Good people. That's what makes Track worth running.

Because Track attracts good people. I'm not saying other sports don't attract good people, I'm just saying that track does it as well.

And good people make me happy. They're just so good.

But what makes a good person? What changes a normal guy in my eyes to a great guy in my eyes?

I think it's kindness to those that have absolutely nothing to offer him or her. They don't have to say anything nice, they don't have to smile at the strangers. But they do. Not because they're going to get anything out of it, but because it's the right thing to do.

What's the point of it all? Good people make the world a better place to live. You want to save the world? Start by making yourself a better person. Make yourself a better person by being kind when you don't have to be. Be nice to your siblings, be nice to your parents. Be nice to your teachers and the Mexicans and the people that aren't as smart as you are. Be nice to me, be nice to Kyle.

Not because I said so, but because you know it's the right thing to do.

Cross Country Legends

Indeed-

I really should be in bed, but I have a bit to say. Much thanks to all the modest girls out there, good work on all that. There used to be more of a problem, but these days my friends are dominating at dressing appropriately. Nobody has really talked about it much because it hasn't been a problem, but I'm here to say great work, it's pretty awesome.

All you modest girls make the world a much brighter place to live. Thanks for being cool and covering yourselves. It makes all the guys pretty proud to be your friends.

Regret Nothing

It's 1:38 AM, I just finished my homework for the night.

It's late, but I am good with that. I read that history chapter.

But it's more than that. It's more than the fact that I just read it to finish it. I learned from it. I absorbed it, I figured out how I could use the concepts for me. I ate that chapter up.

I also wrote a poor-quality english paper. It is not good, but it will suffice for now. I'm not proud of that one, but I've got time to fix it.

Big changes coming, things I'm super excited about. No time to talk about them now, but in the near future. Really now, I haven't been this excited for a long time.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's go time.

Bipedal Rest

You are in a clearing. You see a tree, and a stand. Obvious exits are East, West, and North.

--> Take Stand

Plans have changed. Things are changing.

More info to come.

Stay tuned--> This is gonna be good.

The Next Level

Today's the day I've been waiting for. I haven't had a day like this for more than a month. I used to have them all the time. This is it, for reals. Today is go time.

Today's the day I plan five. Five ambitious plans. Five super cool projects.

I'm taking life to the next level. No more mediocrity. I am raising the stakes.

Go go go--->

Pseudo-Prom

I can't make it to prom. This is mildly upsetting.

So, what's the solution? I'm going to be out of the state, there's no way I can get to prom. So, I'm gonna host a pseudo prom in my back yard. Maybe it'll be in Sharpe's back yard. The concept is the same.

Music: Supplied by me. I'll DJ it, so we know it'll be good. It'll be like a region dance, but better.

Venue: Outdoors. Under the moon light. It's not half as hot and sweaty, and it's just a cool environment.

People: Not dirtbags. It's not a school dance. You're not going to have people making out or making babies. It'll be smaller too. It'll be sorta classy almost. It'll be cool.

Economy: Not expensive. Will it cost you anything to come to the pseudo-prom? No dice. This will be a free event.

Get a new dress: Nope. This will be pseudo formal, but you aren't going to have to rent a tux or get a dress or do the whole flower thing. If you want a limo, I'll pick you up in the minivan. It has limo seating anyways.

Date before: You better believe it. It's pseudo prom, I'm gonna make this the best date I've ever been on. That means a date before hand. It's not going to be too expensive, but it's not gonna be lame at all. I'll plan it out, it'll be smooth. I don't wanna ruin any plans or anything, but I've got some good ones kicking around. Depending on how many people are going to come to this pseudo prom deal, it could be just a cool group date, or maybe we'd all have to split up and do littler group dates. I'm personally a fan of the littler group dates anyways. I find that double or triple dates are cooler than an octuple date. It'll be primo.

Pictures: Yes. For free. I'll borrow my brother Michael's good camera, set up a nice sheet, and take pictures. Print them off on nice glossy paper that's either been donated or purchased on the black market. For a few extra dollars I might even print your picture on a T-shirt. My Costa Rican brother suggests I take the pictures in front of a quality green screen, so I can just impose whatever background behind you that I want to. It's a possibility.

~~

So why have the pseudo-prom? Three Reasons:

I can't make it to prom. But I want to do a date like that anyways. This will substitute.

Have a prom by my rules. I'm not content with school dances, there are things that need some changing. Therefore, I am taking it into my own hands and changing it. Not expensive, not crappy music. Not waiting in line for a million days to get pictures. To have a good prom, for cheap.

And finally, to prove that it's possible. For as long as I can remember, man has talked about holding his own pseudo-prom. It has been one of his highest aspirations since the first man entered the first high school. I want to finally fulfill the dream. I've always wanted to have my own dance, I've always wanted to DJ it. I've always wanted to have a dance outside. My brothers wanted to do this, their friends wanted to do this. I bet my dad wanted to do this. I have got to make it happen. Because if I don't pull it off, then who will? This is my destiny.

The dance would be guys choice. Difficult asking and answering would be outlawed. Creative asking is approved, but whoever is doing the asking must be there in person when the askee is asked. No anonymity.

Pseudo-Prom. For me, and for you. This is what I want a dance to be like. I'm going to make it happen. As a proof of concept, and as an enjoyable evening for everybody involved.

It'll take a lot of work, and I'll need some help. But it's not impossible, and that means I'm going to do it. This is one thing I vow to do. I'm the last brother. I've got to do it. For me, for my brothers.

It's happening. Believe in it.

If I were President

Student Body Officer grassroots today. The potential officers visited our English classes and we got to ask them all sorts of questions. It was cool, I just wish there had been more time to talk about stuff.

Events like this always make me want to run, to be the guy in charge. It's not something that's realistic of course, but it makes me think of what I'd do if I were the man wearing the pants.

So, here we go. The totally un-thought out list of things I'd do if I were the president. Go go.

Step 1. 5 v 5 student body basketball tournament.

Have a march madness tournament here at the school. Exclude anybody that was on the basketball team for obvious reasons.

Basically, we announce we're going to have a 5v5 competition. The winner gets something cool, haven't figured that out yet. But it's not about the prize, it's about the glory.

So, Bill wants to get into the tournament with his friends, so he grabs the papers from the office and gets his friends to sign up. They practice after school at Fred's house, and play Saturday mornings in the preliminaries.

Eventually you boil the tournament down to the final four guys teams and final four girls teams. (That is, assuming you get enough teams to sign up)

And then you do a battle of the sexes style assembly. At the end of the day, you've got the last three games. Quick 15 minute games with a little break between them all. The champion team is crowned at the end, yeehaw.

What does it accomplish? It let's people that want to play ball play some cool ball. It gets people involved, and helps school spirit. It's an opportunity to show what you've got. I'd kill for 5v5 basketball tournament.

Practical? Yeah, not impossible to pull off. I could see it happening. It's almost like battle-of-the-bands, except this time with basketball. w00t.

Step 2. Lunchroom competitions like mad.

Step one: get a sound system in the lunch room.

Step two: run at least one competition a week in there. Maybe more.

It doesn't matter what the competition is. Play Twister. Arm wrestle. Play Chess. Have them sing a love ballad to a teacher. Have a mock presidential debate on the merits of Mr. Rogers. Hold a cole-slow-eating king of the world showdown. Shake it up, appeal to the masses. Play DDR, play guitar hero. Play Halo. Have an obstacle course. Have a hand stand competition. Have a race to climb the rope. Break dance competitions. Tell them the first person to come back with MJ's right shoe wins the prize. Ribbon Dance. Simple addition, simple multiplication. Draw a really really really big smiley face with your toes.

So there are competitions. We know that. They're fun.

But why not take it a step farther?

Battle of the sexes was a good idea, it just faced a few giant hurdles. Step one was the whole "guys vs. girls thing" Guys are stronger, all that business. I don't wanna get in a fight here, let's just establish it wasn't exactly balanced.

I do however like the concept of a civil war. You can split it up two ways. You can play Class wars, where it's senior vs. junior vs. sophomore, or you can play it civil wars, where it's Eric Vs. Myself.

Yeah, I wanna see a Frisbee-Handstand battle to the death. We'll both campaign for people to join our side of the conflict. The common man will be compelled to choose a side. It won't just be restricted to our immediate circle of influence either. Everybody will jump in on it, because we'll be campaigning.

We'll coordinate our plans. We know when DDR day is coming up, so I'll sign my most amazing DDR'r up. Points for winning, points for playing along.

I'll use my propaganda ridden blog to promote our ideals, and we'll coordinate through the magic of Email. At the end of the month of conflict we'll have a giant capture the flag match, a giant everything.

It's conflict. It's a competition, and it gets everybody involved. We'll make T-shirts that say "Eric 4 President" or "Eric smells".

The best part is, it'd totally work, at least in my mind. I can see me running a giant competition. I can see people getting behind it. It'd take a lot of work to get the people that are totally unrelated to me or Eric to play along, but it's not impossible.

4 square battle to the death.

It'd be epic. I want a giant competition. I don't even care if it's civil war. I just want a cause to rally behind. There was nothing like "doing it for the sevies" back in the day. I wanted my grade to win, I wanted my comrades to have the glory. It wasn't just about me, it was about the brotherhood. We need a uniting power that's gonna help us compete.

Competitions. I really really like them.

And why don't we have a Taylorsville Egg drop like we had in elementary? Why don't we have everybody that wants to play build a little device that is going to keep an egg from dying at the bottom? Point subtracted for however much more mass it has.

Competitions that are just for the heck of it. Stuff like the egg drop. That's an engineering challenge, we can do stuff that relates back to school.

Why competitions? They serve several valuable purposes. They let people go above and beyond school. It's not just about the math assignment anymore, they're something else for you to dream about. It lets the people that care but don't go to games do something they care about. I don't expect too many kids that are failing to play along with the competitions. We'll have to get to them later. You've got a bunch of people that would totally play along with this stuff if they were there that aren't currently going to games and all that.

Let's get to the willing folks first. We'll worry about the others later.

For reals. I love competitions. And maybe i just do this for me. This is my dream. This is what I want to do. I want competitions, I want to drop an egg.

Step 3: Get the Committees back.

I've honestly never been to school when the committees were there as far as I know. But they are in the constitution, and they sound great. What could it hurt? The idea of a student council sounds really really awesome to me. I'd love to go yell at the SBO's every once in a while. Dooooo it.

Step 4: Have a Kaelin Dance.

Kaelin is an amazing rock star. If I were president, I'd do everything in my power to make sure we've got a Kaelin dance. Not only would have play music we could dance to, but he'd be super cool while he's doing it anyways. It'd be like a region dance, except without the ties, and with my math teacher playing the bass. The fact that there hasn't been a Kaelin dance yet makes me upset. We need more Kaelin!

Step 5: Assign someone to exploit the myspace deal.

I'm not a myspace kind of guy myself. We don't get along. But, I figure it's got a lot of social power, so why not assign someone to push your ideas through myspace? Who wouldn't want Taylorsville High School as one of your friends? It'd be a quick way to get announcements out to people. It wouldn't reach everybody obviously, but it'd hit a large demographic, that's for sure. It'd make coordinating events much easier. We could pimp out the page, have some music from the local bands, have all sorts of stuff going on. Why not? It's a useful tool (...sorta) that we can use to further our purposes. Easy easy, japanesey. Of course, you'd need someone who's not an idiot to do it. Still, totally possible.

Step 6: Enlist the teachers in getting the word out.

I've stated it in the past, but a big problem with school spirit is a lack of communication. If students watched TVTV and listened to announcements, things would be better. So, we ask for teacher's help in making that a reality. In addition, we send teachers an email once a week or maybe once daily that details everything that's going on these days. Upcoming competitions, football games, all that jazz. We tell them to mention it to the kids if they can, talk about it. I mean honestly, let's say the egg drop is coming up. Olsen knows it's coming because he got the email about it. He's like "Hey Kyle, why don't you do this?" and then Kyle'd be like "Dude, I'm so gonna do it cause Olsen talked about it!" It'd so work.

Because really, teachers know by the end of first term how their kids are. Most of them are fairly buddy buddy with them all. Hansen knows what I'm in to, Harward knows what I'm good at. If they got the email saying "We're having a school wide Haiku competition, the winner gets whatever. Teachers, please encourage students that you'd think would be good at it to play along." Harward would totally say "Hey, Chris, do this." And I'd totally be there.

Use the teachers. Some would choose not to play along, but some would be good at it. The key would be to not be obnoxious, and to scratch the teacher's backs too. Good relations with the teachers, they're useful.

Step 7: video announcements on the website

They're not hard to make, and some of them could be pretty fun. The important thing would be to have a cool website that could be the source of information for the competitions and all that. "We're gonna be having the Ugly Beard Growing competition throughout the whole month of February!" is a great announcement to have on the web site. It's a good one, that's for sure.

Step 8: Good relations with TVTV and Journalism

Few people (As far as I know) watch TVTV. Everybody reads the newspaper. If you want to talk about the Ugly Beard Growing month coming up, talk to Wessman about it. Send him a little article about it. See if he'll let you have an SBO section in the paper where the president would get to say what they have to say. Same deal with TVTV. Communicate with the masses. Even if you have great plans, it doesn't do any good if nobody knows the deal about them.

Step 9: Reward Spirit

I'm not talking about free T-shirts here. Recognize the people that are going out there. Recognize the man who dropped a hundred eggs and didn't break any. Find good ways to do it. Make it socially acceptable to go all out for spirit.

Step 10: Work to make Prom Cheaper

I don't think that Prom should cost as much as it does. A lot of us don't have jobs, and a lot of us don't have the bravery to tell girls "Look, I can't afford a stupid corsage, is that alright with you?" Perfect example: Jose. He's a good kid, but he's a sophomore. We love him anyways.

He asked a girl to Prom, she's a cool girl. Jose doesn't have a job, and he doesn't have unlimited funds to throw around. We were on a run in the recent past where we talked about his plan for Prom. I pointed out to him all the things that I had done for homecoming to cut costs, and he was totally shocked. He had never thought of these things, and in fact, had been told that they were social taboo by everyone's favorite undervalued ultimate player. Jose had the impression that he "had" to do the flower thing. That he "had" to do the pictures at school.

Now, maybe there are some people that think you do. I don't think it's necessary. Call me a terrorist, call me whatever you want. I don't want to see people spending so much money on dances, it's ridiculous.

So, how do we convince the student body that it's socially acceptable to be a cheapskate? Use the methods of communication we've establish above. Use your internet resources to publish the tale of your cheap homecoming you had, and how much fun it was. Encourage teachers to encourage students to go cheap. Take a poll with the newspaper, and have them publish the percentage of girls that wouldn't be offended if the guy asked if they could skip the flower business. Maybe encourage some teachers to offer extra credit to anybody that can account for all the money they spent for Prom, and have it total less than 75 bucks.

It's not for everybody. But this whole school dance thing is ridiculous. If I was in a position of power, I'd do my best to make it socially acceptable for me to be a cheap skate. Making the world a better place, one step at a time.

Step 11: Push the Litmag

The Litmag is really really cool. The idea behind it is golden. I wish it was encouraged more by English and art teachers though. It's got so much potential. I've grown the love the idea behind lit mag, so why not help it out as President? Use the tools we've already got, it's cool.

~~~

That's all I've got for now. I'm sure more will come in the near future. How much of it is possible? I'm thinking all of it, with the possible exception of the Me vs. Eric brawl for world supremacy. The big factor is communication and competitions. Make an ordinary week special by having a Friday afternoon egg drop, or basketball game, or basic math speed competition. Use your resources, break into the internet.

Break out of the ordinary routine and push the limits. Take it to the next level.

What does the president need to give the students? I can't speak for every student, but what do I want from the president? I want an opportunity to do something amazing. I want an opportunity to go beyond school. I get a 4.o, that's as far as I can go. I want to build the best egg dropper. I want to play on the best 5 man basketball team. Give me a chance to play with the high school community. Give me something to look forward to on Friday. I thrive on competition. Let's have some competition.

Fantasy Ultimate

The winter was hard on Ultimate. I stopped sending mass emails to the official club, and we never did get to play a real game of Snowtimate.

It is now spring. Say goodbye to crappy Ultimate. Wave hello to the greatest Ultimate you've ever seen.

"Hi greatest Ultimate I've ever seen. Wanna hang out some time?"

Me and Brad talked about it today. I got some intense ideas. Here's how we're going to take Ultimate to the next level.

~~Note. If you don't wanna read too much, just skip to the third one. That's the important one~~

Step 1: Increase the Upper Level's play

Our Ultimate players are divided into three main categories. The upper level, the functional level, and the run-arounds. The upper level are people like Brad, Kyle, myself, Brady, and the like. These are the guys that know how to throw, run, catch, and position themselves. They're always the first guys picked. They're usually the captains. The functional level are the people that come just a little after the upper guys. They're good, and they know they're stuff. They sometimes make mistakes, and they might not be as athletic. They're not great, but you can count on them and play with them. You want them on your team, but you pick them after the upper guys.

The run arounds are people that simply run around. They don't know how to throw, catch, or play with the team. But they want to be on the field, so they're there. I got nothing against the run arounds, so long as they eventually learn how to play. We'll get to them later though.

The first goal is to up the level of our top guys. We figure that right now we're sort of at a stand still. Brad isn't going to get too much better by playing more Frisbee Friday. We need to branch out and find a way to up our guy, because once we do that, everybody else will be able to learn from us and up their game as well.

So, what do we do? We're gonna go down to Sugarhouse park one of these Saturdays. We're only gonna send a small group, but we're going to go see what they're all about. From what I understand, they're old school folks that play intense, real Ultimate. They play with the force, they play with the stack.

We'll send four guys or so down there to learn how to run the organized offense and defense, and get some tips on how to play better. We'll play in their pickup game, have some fun, and probably feel stupid cause they're that much better than us.

But that's not what's important. We're gonna learn, and we're gonna bring those skills home to Bennion El where we can employ them for reals. It's gonna be good.

Step 2: Cultivate the Masses

We can't just be content to play at the stage we're at now. We want to up our game, so we've got to help up the functional players and the beginning players as well. How do we do it? This one is a little more open. We want to start running some drills and instruction periods between games at Frisbee Friday. With a little coaching, our little flowers will bloom like crazy.

This isn't going to be that hard to do. We've just got to sit people down and teach them how to improve. We'll do it.

Step 3: Get the Community Involved (This is the important one)

This is going to be way too cool. Frisbee Friday is a great place to come hang out and play. Even if you don't want to come play, it's a great place to just socialize and be with friends in a good environment. There's nothing wrong with Frisbee Friday; maybe that's why I love it so.

But I thought to myself, why not let more people love Frisbee Friday? Why not get more non players involved? How do we do it? Check this out.

One Friday night, we're gonna run a Fantasy Ultimate league. Starting the week before, we'll find out who's going to make it. I'll organize a system, and announce the ambitious plan in Junior Choir and pass out forms.

Here's how it'll work. We'll have the list of players that are going to be there. Me, Brad, Kyle, Levi, Glen, Peter, Peter, Brady, Santy, all the rest. Each player will be given a point-value, and people that want to play the game will pick seven of them for their fantasy team. They'll make which ones they want on the form, then give me a copy.

Come game night, they'll show up to see how it all turns out. I probably won't get to play that night, I'll be doing stat tracking. I'm going to track every single stat for every single player. Sounds hard, but not that terribly impossible with a borrowed laptop.

Anyways, let's say that you picked Brad for your team. Since we all know Brad is crazy good, he cost 60 points to choose. The points that your seven man team cost will be subtracted from your final score.

Every time Brad completes a pass, he gets a point. Every time he catches a pass, he gets a point. Each Touchdown pass is worth 7, each TD reception is worth the same. Big sky D's are worth 5, and the list goes on and on.

At the end of the night, I total all the cool things Brad has done, and then subtract the initial 60 points he cost. You come out with a total of +72 points for Brad. w00t.

I go through and do that for all seven of the people on your team, and find out what your final score is. The person that picked the best team gets the prize, whatever that is.

Either way, it brings people out to Frisbee Friday. Chances are I'll only stat track one game, and the rest will just be a party.

My money is on Santy. He's undervalued.

So, Fantasy Ultimate. It's all subject to change and balance, but I want to see how it works. It's worth a shot eh? I want to try to get some small team tournaments going on too, to create some grassroots effort. Maybe a 4 v 4 tournament, excluding Brad. I want to see Glen captain a team, and Thorup captain a team. Have one night of big tournament, figuring out who's the best 4v4 team. That'd be cool.

Either way, more involvement. Let me know what you think, ideas, etc. All that business. It's gonna be primo.