Rocky Mountain High

That's what I'll be experiencing this summer. I'm going to Denver to install security systems for a company called Northstar. There is potentially a lot of money to be made, but it'll be a lot of work too. The nice thing is that at least $6000 is guaranteed; everything else will be gravy. It'll really be nice to get away from Happy Valley for awhile. After going to a friend's reception just outside of Denver a few years ago, I've fallen for the natural beauty of Colorado. So it will be good to spend some extended time in the area to get a feel for the city, to see if it is a place that I could settle down somewhere down the road. Another place I would like to live is on the east coast, namely Philadelphia. I spent some time there last summer visiting my aunt. I liked the feeling of history there. It's more settled or established out there. The west seems so busy, so new in its cities. They are places where you can feel like you could leave you figerprints on, but eastern cities are more likely to leave their fingerprints on you. I also visited Boston and New York on that trip. Those places really have character. Which is not to say that all western cities feel the same; Salt Lake is very different from Los Angeles, which has a different feel than Seattle. But they still feel a little raw, a little green behind the ears so to speak.

Seeing the Forest Despite the Trees

I like to think I am a spontaneous person, I certainly don't like to plan anything too far in advance. But that's probably just self-justification for a general lack of self control. It certainly sounds better. I like to think that my belief system allows me to see the bigger picture of life, and I guess in an academic sence it does. But for someone who is supposed to have such great perspective, I have a hard time getting past the here and now. A couple of examples; I play a game all the time, it literally consumes my days and has for months. It is moderately entertaining, just enough to keep me coming back day after day, but in the long run I know it means nothing. In fact, in the short run it means nothing. I know I shouldn't play, it keeps me from doing other things with my time, I think it is even affecting my eyesight. But if I were to stop playing, I'd start doing something else that would keep me distracted. It's been the pattern in my life for a long time. It'll be a game, or a book, TV shows, movies, the internet, etc. Some of it benign, some of it bad. The point is that I'll do the things that I absolutely have to do, and then my spare time I fill with something, anything, to keep me distracted. I get in a rut. For someone as self-proclaimed spontaneous as I am, I sure do feel comfortable in a routine. Now I have done some random things in my time, I've picked up and just left a couple of times, did something different for a few months, but I always come back. And even when I am 'gone' the words are the same, they're just played to slightly different music.

Now recently I got this crazy idea to go teach english in Japan, do something really different. What I've found is that it is not real easy, or real legal for someone of my qualifications and financial status to do. There is one program that claims all you need is an ESL certificate for about $1K. But everything else I have found says that you need a Bachelor's, and the certificate is optional. One of the biggest things with the degree is that work visas are most easily procured by those with a degree, or three years experience in a given field. There are some places that will hire 'under the table' so to speak, but I would be looking over my shoulder the whole time. Besides, by the time I pulled together the money for the certification course, airfare, and a month of survival funds I'd have paid for almost two semester's worth of tuition. The thing is, I don't know if I'm being realistic or cowardly. The thought of saving and planning for that kind of thing makes me want to forget the whole thing, despite the fact that I felt really strongly about it when I first had the idea. Add to it that just about everyone I've told thinks it's a great idea makes me rather confused about the whole thing. If I had the wherewithal to go shortly after I had the idea, I probably would have done it.

There is something to be said about going through this recognition of my shortcomings, but why does it always seem like I only do so right before bed? I'll get up tomorrow and crawl out of bed with just enough time to get to work, got through the motions there until I am fed up, and by the time I am home will not be thinking the same thoughts I am now when I have the power to do something about my situation. Oh Bother! Here's to climbing out of my rut in the daytime.

Is it the 'Year of the Cougar'?

The Lunar New Year (AKA Chinese New Year) is fast approaching. For the last 4 years, my friends and I have celebrated, in our own way, Chinese New Year. It usually means staying up all night before our celebration working on our paper mache parade dragon. Then the next night we take the dragon down to BYU campus, parade around the WSC and then go out to a local Chinese restaurant. It is always very fun. Part of our tradition is to do the dragon mixed with the animal whose year it is. This year it is the year of the boar or pig. I forsee it being done in pink.

But I was wondering if perhaps this isn't the year of the Cougar. Only time will tell, but the '06-'07 athletic year is shaping up quite nicely for Cougar fans old and young alike. Major sports like football and basketball are seeing a renaissance of sorts. The football team put up a year that hasn't been seen in these parts for a long time. Basketball too is on pace to one of its better years ever, but that season has yet to play out. So too have the other sports the BYU is known for including: Cross Country, Volleyball ( men's and women's), and Softball. Men's Soccer, though a club sport has improved greatly since joining the semi-professional league.

Instead of a giant pink pig-dragon, perhaps we should do a Dark Blue Cougar Dragon and bring the new lunar year in with a roar!

Go Cougars!

Craziness

Oi Vey! What am I getting myself into? I'm going on a date with a girl I've only met online, but we're going up to SLC to see the lights with her YSA ward. So it's like a blind date with 20+ people. And I won't have a car for my own use. Here's to hoping we totally click! It'll totallly suck if things are awkward for very long. But's not like I had plans for Saturday evening. And she is cute. This is a bigger risk than the trip to Las Vegas!

Merry Christmas

I hope anyone that happens upon this humble blog is having a Merry Christmas surrounded by family and friends.

Vindication

Well, that was awesome! Our seats were really bad, and we had a bunch of rowdy Duck fans nearby that were getting more inebriated by the minute, but we had good time at the 2006 Las Vegas Bowl. I was kind of nervous when the Cougs kept dropping passes in the first quarter (very uncharacteristic). But I was cautiously optimistic when we had two sacks on Oregon's first offensive series. Actually, I was quite surprised that BYU routed Oregon so handily. Harline was amazing, and ended up getting the MVP award. My brother and I went out on the field after the game with everyone else, though he almost fell to his doom in the process. The only bad part about the game was that it was the last one of the season. The team has all but exorcised its demons, the final step being a continual process of winning in the coming seasons, not letting this team be a one hit wonder. But everything else that this class of seniors had failed to do, they did this year.

1. Protect Homefield: In recent years the Cougs have not protected LES, but this year BYU were the most dominant home team in the country.

2. Field a balanced team: When one thinks of BYU, scoring lots of points comes to mind, defense does not. But the best BYU teams of the past have had good defenses to go with theirpowerful offenses. In 2003, the Cougar defenders experienced a role reversal, they were one of the best units in the country, but the offense was one of the worst. Last year it flipped back, and the defense was a liability. There were too many question marks going into this season, but most thought that the defense couldn't get any worse. Well, they were radically better, and it lead to holding opponents to just over two touchdowns a game.

3. Win a conference championship: BYU had not won a conference championship in four years, a feat the Cougs accomplished almost annually in years past. In 2006 they won the outright conference championship with one more game to go, but could they...

4. Beat Utah: I didn't start watching sports until I moved to Florida, so I didn't really know anything about the rivalry with Utah until I came to school. But then I only saw wins against 'the team up north' in my first two seasons at BYU. Since then, my loathing for the Utes has only grown. And part of this is anger at the Cougars themselves, but it seemed like Utah could always get itself psyched up to play BYU, and BYU would come out flat, and not just in football. I would have liked to have seen a blowout in Salt Lake this year, but I think it is so much sweeter that the Cougs finally...

5. Won a close game: John Beck had a reputation for not being able to win the close ones. Which is kind of unfair, since he only touches the ball for part of each offensive play, and has no influence on defensive plays. Nevertheless he had the reputation, and he only added to it in the only two losses this year. In every other game the offense and defense totally dominated opponents. He didn't get many chances to dispell the reputation, but he finally put it to bed by beating the Utes after time expired on the second to last play of the game. Fire in his belly and ice in his veins.

6. Win a bowl game: BYU went back to the Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl for the second straight year, but had not won in 10 years. And they did it against a "Premier" team in the Pac-10's Oregon Ducks.

Now that is satisfaction. Keep it up Cougars!

Hitting the Road Fully Invested

I haven't been to an away game in years, but thanks to a (relatively) close locale and only slightly overpriced tickets, my brother and I are headed to Las Vegas. I'm not a betting man, but this trip is a bit of a gamble. I dropped a little more than two days wages on the tickets, not including travel expenses. The Cougars had better win, or this trip will really be all about Lost Wages!