Going on the Record

We all know that T.I. has had a huge year on the charts with "Whatever you like" and "Live your life". These songs are way sweet and I love them both, but I'd like to introduce you all to a song you probably haven't heard yet. Let's just say that the closer T.I. gets to going to jail for a year, the better his songs get. T.I. still thinks all other rappers have success because of him and that he is the King supreme, which right now makes sense because he puts out more music than most everyone else. It has actually been out for a while, but I feel like it is about to take off. He raps more in this new song than any of the others and it has Justin Timberlake as a guest. Hope you enjoy this, it's going to be around for a while . . . Dead and Gone

Wedding formalities

So I just got back from my best friend's wedding and there were some great times to accompany the events that took place. I thoroughly enjoy the Josie extended family and took more time taking pics of them than the actual bride and groom during the day. Anyway, the day started with the ceremony in the morning and as I passed Jesse upon the conclusion of the sealing I kissed him on the cheek much to the chagrin of many present including the sealer. As far as I am concerned it was appropriate for the time and setting. Kelly Josie presided at the ring ceremony and offered one of the best wedding speeches that I have ever beheld. I could not contain my laughter because it was actually so good. He started talking about when rings were introduced in ancient roman times and how the bride and groom would be chained together for a number of days before the wedding to make sure that they could stand each other and how rings symbolized a bill of sale in some cultures. He then moved on to the traditional exchanging of rings, which wasn't popularized until the 13th century. Kelly was at his finest and I really enjoyed his words. We had to leave a little bit early to get back for school and social events, but it was good to see Jesse and Darcy and how happy they were.

Fred taking some pics and creeping a bit.

Riley being the funny kid that he is and doing impressions of some of our old acquaintances.

Holy Matripony (Stang edition)

Well, the day that I have been anticipating for the last few months has finally arrived. The wedding of my best friend Jesse Josie to Darstang. Her real name isn't Darstang by the way. Her name is Darcy and she drives a Mustang, so we put the two together and arrived at the moniker Darstang, it was later shortened to Stang. December 12th these two love birds will get married in the St. George temple. I'm about to drive down with my family to witness the event. There are pictures and stories to come from this outing that I am excited to share. The fact that I should be studying for finals this week makes it all that much better, because I will be able to relax and enjoy the events.

Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is my new favorite word/disorder. It was recently used on an episode of 30 rock. The literal definition is a fear of the marketplace, but it is basically a fear of fear. In other words, someone needs to go to the store later, but they are scared that they will be scared or have a panic attack at the store, so it renders them useless. Even though it sounds serious and somewhat funny I suppose that many people have already suffered from this disorder to some degree or another. Like, when you have to go on a date with someone and you are scared that you will have a bad time on the date, or if you have to play in a game and you are scared you will mess up. These are lesser degrees, but kind of humorous if you think about it. Oh well you agoraphobics I am out of here.

Recent Reads

I didn't get any homework done this entire weekend, but I did get the chance to finish three books. I have been wanting to read them all for quite some time and I finally go t the chance. Catcher in the Rye was good, about a young lad who has a proclivity for cursing and contradicts himself more than a local weather man, but an interesting read and has some funny phrases (i.e. Did you give her the time?) I'm going to start using that term liberally in my speech.I finished this book a little post-maturely, if that is even a phrase. Yes, I know McCain was defeated in the recent election, but this book is an interesting read for anyone interested in Navy lore and stories. I was disappointed in the sketchy character of young Johnny Mac, not quite the winsome man that we now witness on tv. I enjoy war tales, so this was a good look at the men behind some of the biggest decisions in Americas largest battles over the last century.

Amazing book. If you have read Blink or The Tipping Point you will understand how interesting these books are. Outliers is no different and offers an interesting view into what makes people successful in the world. It also offers some interesting ideas for rearing children and giving them opportunities to make them extremely smart. It also helped me to review my life and notice the opportunities that I have given and what to do with them. He also makes interesting correlations between the Beatles and Bill Gates, and how they achieved success. This was my favorite of the three and if anyone is interested in reading this book, let me know and I'll hook you up.

Skinny Jay-(n)z

The rapper Jay Z so eloquently coined " Can't wear skinny jeans cause my knots don't fit No one on the corner gotta pocket like this, So I rock Roc jeans cause my knots so thick" in a recent song called "Swagga like Us". It's a sweet song with T.I., Kanye, and Lil Wayne. But anyway, he refers to skinny jeans, which is interesting because you don't picture most rappers wearing skinny jeans, but the lyric worked for his rhyme so I see no problem in the reference. I recently purchased a pair of skinny jeans and according to the obvious innuendos in this song I should be able to purchase them for a specific reason (because my knots do fit), but this is also just a nonsense lyric and skinny jeans are actually very accommodating to knots, maybe just not his. I'll move on. I was at Sears (of all places to shop for clothing) and found a pair of dashing 511s. They had my size (well my actual size does not exist, but this is the closest thing) and so I tried them on and they were tight of course, because that is what skinny jeans do, they tight you. I decided to get them because the price tag said they were 27 dollars. Not a bad price and it is hard to find jeans that are close to fitting me. So I swaggered up to the counter and the baby girl rang those pants up and they came to 10 dollars. I don't know why they came up so cheap, but I was glad and considered it as a Thanksbirthday miracle. I bought them and got up on out of there. Just another way that Jay-Z is such a blessing in my life.

Thanksbirthday

It isn't very often that a man gets to sit down and enjoy his birthday on one of the major holidays of the year. That was the case this year as I shared the celebration of my birth with the celebration of native americans giving pilgrims maize, amongst other things. So, I attempted to look at my life and see all of the ways that I can apply indian principles in my life. First of all, I can give maize to anyone in need, especially hungry people. I figure the best way to do this is to have my pockets constantly full of the stuff so that at any moment's notice I will be able to fish out some of this food and give it to whoever asks. Second of all, I will become proficient with the bow, but not the bow that is commonly associated with the native americans. No, I will focus on the bow used to translate the book of Mormon, the one that Joseph Smith inserted the seer stones into to look (peep) through and decipher those ancient hieroglyphics. This bow will obviously provide positive returns for me and my study of ancient texts in the future. Third, with India growing so rapidly on the international scene with the advent of globalization and the flattening of the modern technological world it is becoming increasing difficult to distinguish between Indians from India and Indians of the native american origin. Really, this is a perplexing issue for me anyway, because when Columbus arrived in the Americas it should have taken him all of five minutes to realize that he had not landed in India via a faster sea-route. So, why didn't he change the name of this indigenous people? Any name would have suited them better, Squawks, Reds, TimTims, but because of his error we are stuck with the awkward question in contemporary speech to ask people to clarify what Indian they are referring to. This all could have been cleared up many years ago and there needs to be a suitable way to reform this nomenclature. A fourth item that I will try to implement into my way of life is to eliminate xenophobia from my life, this is also known as the fear of foreigners. I know there are perplexing issues involving illegal immigration and even legal immigration in this day and age, but I vow to not be scared of foreigners, just like the native americans, and teach them and help them in any way that I can until they eventually overrun me from my way of life as was the case with the pilgrims. So there you have it. Some birthday lessons that I learned on this glorious day and the things that I am going to try and change in my life. Thank you for all the birthday greetings!!