"I write, therefore I am."

Oh wow. So I am a very, very, very happy boy right now. With no voice. My absolute #1, top of my itunes, favvvvvvvvorite band ever ever ever ever played Boise tonight and you know I was so right there. Front row, dead center (okay there was one chick in front of me but I was taller than her). I was so close I could reach out and touch the lead singer. And the concert was amazing. Much better than the first time I saw them live. That time I was nowhere near the front. I sang and screamed, shouted, and had a freaking blast. And now have no voice. :) I even got the mic. TWICE. Because I'm just that fricking cool. I rocked out, head banged, and just had so much fun...I haven't been this happy in ages. Classic Crime has two albums and one EP, all of which I own, and I love some of their softer stuff (they like to rock HARD live). I knew they were playing something acoustic tonight, so I had a sign ready, and when he got the acoustic guitar, I whipped it out. Lead singer Matt then p...

I was going to bed like an hour ago...and then I got distracted. Yay for an ADHD mind. I don't even remember how I got there... but I found this . Apparently, November 14th is Domino day, and this was the 10th year of doing it. And the Dutch are INSANE about their dominoes. And have ZERO competition... All 10 of them are in Dutch so I understand very, very little, but it's still freaking AMAZING to watch. Yeah, I had domino rally when I was a kid, and I could never even get one whole bridge to stay up, so these people...yeah I idol worship you a little. They broke tons of world records, not just the most dominos ever knocked down. Like the longest single domino field? 1 million dominoes? What happens if someone bumps one...? Go waste 45 minutes of your life. It's spectacular. Here's the first one compliments of me to get you tantalized (Ps, don't ask me what that girl in spandex is doing at the beginning... I don't speak Dutch. I prefer to believe she is just w...

So, this was the second time I taught my kids. (The week before was Stake Conference, so I didn't teach). Episode 2: Hang the Man, Prophet Who?, and a Crash! This week the lesson was on the Jaredites rejecting the prophets, so we recapped the previous week's lesson, and dove right in. The kids did NOT let me down... One of our activities this week was Hangman, since that was voted by the kids in the questionnaires their fave game we could play in class. I only had 6 kids this week (one had not been there last week, so now I have 8 in all? I think there are actually 9). Anyway, three of the kids played Hangman the right way, but the other three decided to take the title literally. Their goal was not figuring out the word, but hanging the little man. They would guess Z and X on purpose. The best part was when one of them guessed "Q" and it was in the word. I laughed at him. A little. Oops. :P Anyway, so we were talking about consequences, then I started introducing the...

Really I shouldn't do this. Because it's just as bad as a forward. And I abhor email forwards. And delete them. Always. Oh Blogger. You have changed the venue, but not the game. *le sigh* Only to indulge Erika am I doing this. Because I love her. And one of her facts is my fault. I was the missionary who taught her family. :D So... 1. I love to read kid's books. Like lots of them. The bottom two shelves of my bookcase are all kids books. From little kid just learning how to read, to chapter books and choose-your-own-adventures, to the older teen books. 2. I don't drink pop. I try not to at least. Once in a while (read: every 3 days about) I break down and have a Dr. Pepper. But that's the only pop I will ever touch. If it's anything else, it's not worth the destruction of my internal organs. 3. I am a self-proclaimed bacon addict. I could eat it all day, every day. I just love the stuff. In the restaurant downstairs, our cook tries to keep some cooked alway...

Okay, honestly. I love to celebrate. Everyone. Everything. I finally broke down and made myself a nifty little google calendar, so I can finally get rid of the one I've been writing on since 2005 that's kinda out of date just a little bit. Before that the information was just scrawled somewhere. So this is your opportunity to be celebrated! Send me an email (don't leave a comment) with your birthday (the whole thing, month day and YEAR, so I can say how old you are) and/or Anniversary (with the month day and year you got hitched) and I will add them to my nifty calendar. :) Disclaimer: This is no guarantee you will get anything on that day (except an email or phone call of me celebrating).

Chapter 8 - Knee'd that? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ron borrowed the splitter again, and the splitting has resumed in recent days. Because there is so much freaking wood down there. Someone got a little saw-happy me thinks. We even started selling the wood to other people and delivering it to their houses, we had so much. Just a few nights ago, we were out splitting again, and Ron and Tobias were loading a truck to take to someone, and that left Spencer and me to split. I'd since learned to "drive" the splitter and was now quite efficient at slicing those things. Well, what I wasn't apparently efficient at was moving the darned thing. It's like straight up metal (about the size of a large go-cart), and has wheels just on one end, so you have to maneuver it carefully when you move it. Well, I was trying, but when I was backing up a log rolled from somewhere, under my foot, and I fell over backwards, still holding this metal thing. I landed on the woodpile which hurt i...

Chapter 6: Sticks, not stones, may drive some cars, but logs will always break my glasses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There has been this little yellow pickup out back for some time, just sitting there, because it had no engine. Well, Ron finally fixed it, and he decided I need to learn how to drive it (he just wants his jeep back). Only problem: It's a manual aka stick-shift. I don't do stick-shift. There was one attempt once upon a time, long, long ago (read: in high school, when I wanted to go to prom in a convertible), but my learning attempts were met with bucking and stalling. Once I got going, I was fine shifting and what not, it was that start/stop thing that was beyond my comprehension. But he deemed that I needed to learn. But while we are going for wood? Is this really necessary? I told him I hoped he was not in a hurry, and I was right. I think I stalled the thing 33 times before I finally got it to even move forward, lol. I'm no...

Chapter 4: Jeep Slider ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After a few trips up, I was finally graduated to rig driver (read: jeep with a trailer) and I was super excited about that. Except when we were driving on mountain roads that had snow on them. I was last in line, with Ron right in front of me, and he was always careful to make sure I was still behind him. Well, then there was this turn to the right. I turned my wheel, but the jeep did not respond. It kind of just kept going. And I kind of super started freaking out. Spouting obscenities, I pumped the brakes, which put the rig into a skid, and I went right off the road and started down the hill. I alternately prayed I'd stop before I died, and continued swearing. I mean, these are mountains. I'm lucky this wasn't a direct drop-off turn (which there are plenty of!) But the jeep just kept going, and I really thought I was going to die. After I was a full three-jeep lengths down the hill, a log finally stopped my jarring descent. But whe...

Those of you who read my uber long update (either in its original email format or the revised, pilfered version here ) will know that woodgetting always seem to carry with it an edge of adventure. Danger. Something insane happening. (And that's also what I'm deeming "Adventures in Woodgetting - Part 1" for those of you who are confused). My co-worker always knows whenever we go up, that when we come back down there will be a story to tell. Sometimes, though, I wish there wasn't. Chapter 2, addendum 1: Super Strength ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (excerpt from the last recorded woodgetting when it was super storming) The rain finally abates and we've filled the pickups and are ready to fill the trailer. Ron asks me to go up the hill and get the trailer, but make sure I turn it around by hand. I was super confused by this comment since Tobias and I already had it facing the right way. So I go up the hill, lift up the trailer with both arms, and proceed to march the thing...

This post is by no means a complaint. In any way, shape, or form. It's actually more prideful than anything else, but what else is new? :P So, for years now I have had the excellent fortune to be believed to be younger than I actually am. I have always loved/enjoyed/gloated over this. But recently, my deviant age has reached new heights. Twice. Incident #1: Cascade Public Library ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Being that I am now a resident of Idaho, I needed to re-register to vote, which was fine with me (since I moved from a state where my vote didn't count to a state where...my vote didn't count). Anyway, I went to the library to print off the form at the beginning of October. The following conversation ensued: Me: "Hi, I need to print something real quick. Just one page." Library Lady: "Okay, that's fine. It's just 15 cents. Do you have a user agreement?" Me: "Um, no I don't think so. Was I supposed to sign that when I got my library ca...

Okay so very recently I've been called to teach at my church. Primary. LOL I have a class with a 9-yr. old, five 10-yr. olds, and an 11-yr. old. Eesh. So some of my blogs will be about the random/funny things they say. Because, they're kids, people. And kids are freaking hilarious. Episode 1: Life Goal I want our class to be as fun as possible. I mean, kids love having fun! So I wanted to take a few minutes and get to know the kids a little better in order to cater the class more specifically to their likes and wants. So I made up this little questionnaire I had them fill out with questions like, "Favorite Color," "Something you're afraid of," "Favorite scripture story," "A game you'd love to play in class," etc. So they are penciling away at these things and I'm writing my own on the chalkboard so they know me. Well the 9-year old looks up and raises her hand. Me: "Yes?" Her: "I don't know what to put for t...

***Origination date: Wednesday September 24th*** Dear [insert your name here to make this a special, personalized message just for you and only you], The time has come for a lengthy, long overdue update of zee life of SpAz. Rewind to April 08. Finally done with BYU. Finally done with school. Let the celebration abound! My pops and littlest bro Ryan came out to the party, as well as many of my extended family members (two of my cousins were graduating also). We had a shindig at my house (thanks to everyone that came) and I settled into life after graduation in p-town. Wasn’t much different than before, except now the only thing I HAD to do was work. Which was fine. I increased my hours, got a raise, and started in full-time at the hotel. All was well and I was content to continue there indefinitely. Sometimes, however, it did get slightly tedious. I mean when you are working a 14-hr shift, there is only so much Disney’s Gummi Bears you can endure before it’s just detrimental to...

My hand itches. I want a pencil. And my journal. But that... that is not as readily shared, as readily without trust and completely bared. I miss my friends, and they all know I have yet to get around to having my own Fbook , so this shall be your consolation prize. And hopefully much more entertaining. I am doing this also because I suffer. From OIS. Oppressive Imagination Syndrome. It's how things like PK are born. If you don't know about PK, you are missing out. For real. Quote from NULC after I presented my award-winning story: "How did you come up with the voice for your character?" My response: "I went to LA, and slept on the street next to a dumpster for three months, until I completely understood the thoughts and actions of this crazy bum who slept on the other side of the dumpster, and that was the inspiration for the voice of my character." Woman: "O_o Really?" Me: "X_x No, not really! Gosh! I just have an oppressive imagination......