Tagged

Even though I posted something last night, Marcus tagged me so I figure I'd better go ahead and post my response before I forget.


So seven random facts about me...

1. I've been knocked out quite a few times. It's hard to keep track of them all, but here's a short list of how some of them happened: a baseball (3x), a D-Cell battery, a rope swing, a hardwood floor, a pile of bricks, and my second time snowboarding. Each of those incidents is a spectacular story in its own right, but that is another story for another day.

2. I'm a third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. I was an assistant instructor before my mission, and I worked with all age groups, 4-6 years, 6-11 years, and twelve on up. One of the highlights from that time: my boss's twelve-year-old son was being a brat, so my boss asked me to spar with him. I was 17 at the time. Yeah, so I knocked out a twelve-year-old kid with a kick to the face.

3. For me, "Catch the light" means turning a light on or off. It seems like a perfectly natural phrase (a Southern-ism, I suppose), but my roommates make fun of me for it.

4. I love skeet shooting, even though I haven't done it in six years. My best shot--three clays were launched in different directions, and I got them all with a pump shotgun.

5. The first song I learned to play on the guitar was "Hey Hey," by Eric Clapton--I didn't actually learn the full song, just the opening part. The first complete song I learned was "D'yer Mak'r" by Led Zeppelin.

6. I have nunchaku skills.

7. I have bo staff skills too, but that's still #6. The 7th random thing about me: the first CD I ever owned was the 1997 Grammy Nominees. I was only twelve at the time, but I think I listened to "1979" every day for a year.

I'm tagging Rebecca, Camille, Andrea, and Dave. Everyone else I know has already been tagged.

Sad day---

So the Cougars lost to the Utes, and my parents just love to rub it in. That's okay--I hope the Utes get destroyed in their BCS game.

It was a close game until the fourth quarter (24-27 at the end of the third quarter, in case you were wondering). BYU's defense actually made some stops in the second half, but then Hall had the worst showing of his career, with five total interceptions and a fumble. Hopefully that can all get sorted out before the bowl game (Vegas again?), and that next year will be even better. Three straight 10-2 regular season records looks pretty good, but 12-0 would be so much better.

Even though they're Utes, my dad sent me this picture that I thought was pretty funny...Especially since my friend Chris went as a Utah devil for Halloween, the trident being a large red "U" (is that Louie Sakoda holding the pitchfork, or the guy next to him?).Other than that, I'm just glad it is Thanksgiving break. I have several papers due next week, so I can't relax TOO much, but it will be nice not having to go to class.

4th and 18

Okay, today's BYU moment happened last year during the BYU-Utah game. Utah was up 10-9 with 1:13 left in the game, and BYU was pinned on their own 12-yard line. On 4th and 18, Hall threw a 48-yard pass to Austin Collie...Click on that description to load the youtube video. I'd include the video in the blog itself, but for some reason it keeps uploading incorrectly. But to appease the fans, I did manage to get a decent copy of the 2006 game winning touchdown. The first ten seconds or so are messed up, but the ending part should be fine.

Beck to Harline

Ah, that was a beautiful day: "This should be the last snap of the football game...Snap to John ...John backpedals...plenty of time, plenty of time, plenty of time...He's moving to his left, shuffling, shuffling, shuffling...All kinds of time. Now the heat comes! He's got to run to the right. John Beck is on the run...He throws behind him it is...CAUGHT FOR THE TOUCHDOWN! Caught for the touchdown! Caught for the touchdown! Johnny Harline got it for the score! Harline by himself in the endzone! The Cougars win it on the final play of the game!"

I would have posted the video, but most of the ones I found were too grainy. You need to see it in full-screen glory to truly appreciate it. I found it on Youtube, but I know what's going on just because I've seen it several dozen times. I could post endless streams of U of U jokes (How do you get a [insert name of hated college here] graduate off your porch? Pay him for the pizza), but I think the picture says it all.

The rest of the posts for this week will simply be awesome moments from BYU, in anticipation of the big game this week...It is going to be one crazy Saturday--

Times I wish I had a camera

Have you ever seen something so amazing, beautiful, heartbreaking, inspiring, scary, or just downright unbelievable that the only thing you could think was "I wish I had a camera..."? These are just a few of those times

1. Seeing a kid with severe ADHD actually get something right in karate--this kid had seen his dad shoot himself, and in the aftermath of this event the kid had been molested by a babysitter. And all of this occurred before his ninth birthday. He either ran around screaming uncontrollably, or he just sat there drooling, staring at nothing. But one day he came out of his shell, he followed instructions, he participated, and his mother couldn't believe it--there was hope for this kid after all. Read more about it here (I wrote a memoir about it for a writing class).

2. Seeing a power line break about fifty feet in front of me, falling in a cascade of sparks and landing in a gigantic puddle. It had been raining all day there in Brazil, and that side of the street was ankle deep in muddy water. It's amazing how something as simple as being on the opposite side of the street could potentially save your life.

3. Seeing a war veteran walk by himself with a computerized leg after having struggled with a cane for twenty years.

4. The time I decided it would be fun to run and slide on the icy sidewalk, failing to realize that the sidewalk sloped down about three feet after I started sliding. It was a spectacular wipeout, but it failed to impress that girl...

5. The random time my brother and I started doing synchronized swimming in the living room while making up our own theme music. "Like a dolphin! Like a dolphin!"

6. The time my brother stabbed me in the eyes (yes, both eyes) with his fingers, knocking me over the couch. Apparently I'd never seen the Three Stooges and didn't know how to play along.

7. The time I learned how to ride a bike because my dad tricked me into thinking he was running right behind me. Read the story here.

8. When I was in the airplane leaving Brazil, wondering if I would ever see the people there again, wondering if I would ever go back.

9. on Saturday, when I realized that I was at the last football game I would see in college.

10. Seeing a guy break up with a girl. She was in tears, unsure of what to do, and he had a smirk on his as face as he said, "Don't do this--don't cry." He promptly walked away, shaking his head and rolling his eyes, while she just stood there in the cold and cried.

I have a ball...

Well, sorry about not having posted anything in the past two months--things have been pretty crazy. I'm getting ready to take the GRE tomorrow, and I'll be extremely glad once that is all finished. In the middle of getting ready for that, I've been working on grad school applications to USC, UCLA, Tisch (NYU), and UT at Austin. I'll also be applying to Chapman, but that isn't until February--a lot of the materials overlap though, so that shouldn't be too bad. I also took a mid-term this morning, I have 50 papers to grade this week, a final paper due on Tuesday, and I'm trying to get a date for this weekend. Lovely...

On a different note, apparently someone said I remind them of the hamster in the upcoming movie "Bolt." 

In order for that to really make sense, I guess you'll just have to watch the trailer. Check out the clip called "Animal Rescue," since that is the one that sparked the comment in the first place...

Sorry once again for the long time between posts, and the fact that this is such a short post--but once I get past the GRE, I should have a little more time to keep up to date with everything.