Tuesdays with Muerte

This week, our BYU ward pledged 4041 cans at a service auction and dinner. Every ward member wrote down something for others to bid on the previous week at FHE and this week we bid for them. The highest bid was 400 cans for an authentic Indian dinner hosted by one of the members of the bishopric. My bit of service was quite original but not very wise. I granted the highest bidder a punch in my stomach as hard as they could. I thought it was a good idea at the time, but when all was said and done, the winner was a big guy named Greg who won for only 1 can. AS HARD AS HE COULD, FOR ONE CAN! (Fortunately, he did hit me in the stomach and not the groin like it appears to be in the 3rd picture there. That was the ricochet after the initial blow.) I guess nobody wanted to hit me. I would have hit me if I were someone else. Can I help it that I am so amiable? Next auction, I will offer a lifetime supply of high-fives or something lame like that.

I took an intermediate bowling class at BYU in 2007. I was surprised how much focus is required to bowl well. I also learned a lot about life and love. Every M,W,F I would show up to the downstairs bowling facility after my Gold Standard Ballroom Dance class to bowl. I was tired and didn't want to continue to focus; not after an hour of coordinating my mind, feet and the rest of the muscles in my body. I initially thought bowling was a goof-off class; a break between the more rigorous classes. It is only in hindsight that I can see now that I was quite mistaken. I think Tom Cruise said it best in one of his all-time classic films, Top Gun: "If you think out there, you're dead." Of course, I am examining this quote in a non-literal light. What I mean by this is that bowling, like every sport, requires concentration 100% of the time. Foreign thoughts can pull me out of the "zone" and I'll blow it. I wonder if that is why bowling is so popular with ...

Dad and I love to make the same poses when we visit beautiful places all over the world… …actually, that's not so true. Only one of these is the real photo. The rest were created by me last night. Can you tell which one it is? I got carried away after taking an online tutorial of photoshop and made about 20 of these. If you are interested in seeing the others, I'll send them in a family email. These are the best though. Hopefully, I will continue to improve my graphic arts skills. I have a feeling that this is something that I would really like to spend my time doing as a career. What kind of "good" careers are there out there for graphic artists? BTW, I saw cousin Devin Brown this week on the tennis courts. He's back from Arizona doing an internship with the Church Motion Picture Studio here in Provo.

As many of you know, my wrist have been bothering me since EFY this summer. I thought the cause of my pain was a handshake gone bad. However, recently, I've been feeling the same pain in both wrists. The x-rays took 3 weeks ago indicate no brakes in the bones. The doctor suggested that is was only tendonitus derived from the initial handshake and exacerbated by continually meeting people and shaking their hands. Recently, I've opted to offer side-hugs in place of handshakes. It's worked out well in the Monticello and ward settings, but I'm not sure how it's going to fly at work. I have been conducting some initial research with some old people I drive home from the Cadillac dealership. After a nice conversation in the car, I hoped out and helped an 70 year old lady out of the car and gave a her a little side squeeze; I think (hope) she liked it. I haven't received a call from the "Service Manager" about any harassment complaints so I guess it we...

In preparation for Halloween, my roommates, B-Spence, Ben, Hunter and I all put wigs on and posed outside of your apartment. This is us trying to be "gansta". Believe it or not, I think most of these wigs belonged to my Great-Grandma, Hedvig: …that's a good name for our gang: "The Hedvigs 4"

Outn'Back held a two day sale during which all 2007 Chaco Sandals were 60% off. Having only received the email on second day of the sale, I wasn't sure how much selection they would have left. I called ahead and, sure enough, they had at least one pair of sandals in my size. When I arrived, I discovered only 6 boxes of shoes left; 3 mens, and 3 womans. After careful deliberation, I bought one men's and one women's pair. The men's pair is "dirt". It is very thin and tri-colored. I bought it a size down so that it is PERFECTLY shaped to my foot. I wasn't going to buy 2 pair, however, when I tried on the women's real leather sandal, it felt SO good that I just couldn't pass it up. The total bill was under $50. Here are some pics of my ever-growing Chaco collection:

We know that you have many choses when you fly; we're glad that you've chosen to fly with us. --Which airline says that catch-phrase, do you think? The greatest airline in the world is Singapore Air. I will let the following pictures speak for themselves. Here are some of my family's own pictures: These chairs really DO recline into beds. It was the best $5000 I never spent. (We were bumped up to 1st class due to a minor airline error in our benefit.)