Thursday, December 29, 2005

Best of 2005!

~January~

1. Did you have a New Years resolution this year?
Like many others, I wanted to get into better shape!


2. Who kissed you at midnight?
My friend Mel

3.Does it snow where you live?
That it does!

4. Do you like hot chocolate?
Love it, especially with marshmallows and whipped cream!


5. Have you ever been to Times square to watch the ball drop?
Nope, someday since I could do it for almost free


~February~

1. Who was your Valentine in 2005?

I've never had a valentine so I consider February 14th to be Singles' Awareness Day

2. What did your valentine get you?

See above

3. When you were little, did you buy Velentine's for you whole class?
Definitely! And I loved it because then people were forced to give me valentines lol

~March~

1. Are you Irish?
Nope!


2. Do you wear green on St Patricks day?

Yeah, being pinched is not fun!


3. What did you do for St. Patty's Day in 2005?
I...don't....remember.....

~April~

1. Do you like the rain?
Of course, especially if it's with lightning and thunder!

2. Did you play an April Fool's joke on anyone this year?
I don't remember exactly what I did, I just remember being called an asshole

3. Do you get tons of candy on easter?
Yup!

~May~

1. What's your favorite kind of flower?
Venus Fly Trap, any carnivourous flower earns my respect

2. Do you like the spring?
I like all the seasons about the same!

3. Finish the phrase: April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?

Snow storms?

4. What would you think of as a spring color?
Baby blue


~June~

1. What year will you graduate from school?
Class of 2005!

2. Will you go on a Vacation?
Hawaii and Florida, and California, and camping, and Jamaica, and The Cayman Islands, and Mexico, and that place in the Caribbean where the official religion is Paganism (I can't remember what it's called) Haiti?


~July~

1. What did you do on the 4th of July?
Saw fireworks with friends and family at the park in ACRES GREEN! That's right you Lone Tree fools, the park is in ACRES GREEN! HA HA HA HA HA!!

2. Did you go on any vacations during this month?
Hawaii I think? Or maybe that was June? I travel too much...

~August~

1. Did you do anything special to end your summer?
Went to Hawaii with five of my best friends!


2. What was your favorite summer memory of '05
See above


3. Did you go swimming a lot this summer?
Yup, nothing beats the Pacific Ocean!

~September~

1. Did you attend school/college in '05?
Yes, University of Colorado at Boulder! Go BUFFS!

2. Who is/was your favorite teacher?

Probably Kishore Kulkarni, my Econ professor because he made us think about what would happen to our grades if the teacher died mid semester lol funny guy!

3. Do you like fall better than summer?
Except for the start of a new NHL season no!

~October~

1. what was your favorite halloween costume ever?
When I was a Borg from Star Trek in fourth grade!

2. What is your favorite candy?
Butterfinger or Reeces are both very close


3. What did you dress up like this year?
A Jedi

~November~

1. Whose house do you usually go to for Thanksgiving?
We usually have Thanksgiving at our house and that we did!

2. Do you like stuffing?
Not particularly

3. What are you thankful for?
My wonderful family, awesome friends, how fortunate I am to be an American, my dog, and many other things!

~December~

1.Do you celebrate Christmas?
Favorite holiday!

2.Have you ever been kissed under mistletoe?
Not really... No

3. What do you want this year for Christmas?
I got a sweet Video iPod!!!! WOO HOO!!! Also tickets to see Coldplay!


4. What's the best present you ever got for Christmas?

Probably this iPod or maybe when I got a Nintendo 64 or maybe when I got a Mission M-1 Hockey Stick

5. do you like cold weather?
If it snows otherwide I get sick of it!

Friday, December 9, 2005

The Calm Before the Storm and Why I Hate Boulder Cops

Woo hoo first semester's classes are now over! Our last day of classes was yesterday which was wonderful because today I slept until about 1 to make up for weeks of 4 and 5 hour nights. And the thing that's most exciting? NO MORE CHEMISTRY EVER!!!!!

Unfortunately I can't get too excited just yet because as I write this I am 4 hours away from my first final, Calculus which will be from 7:30 to 10 tonight! Through my wonderful luck with schedules my second final is tomorrow morning at 7:30am! Just as I'd hoped, I've always wanted to see what going to school on a Saturday was like and now I get my wish! After tomorrow's Econ test I get a few days break before my dreaded Chemistry exam. As soon as I finish that test I am outta here and on my way back home!

I can't believe this semester is over already! College moves light-years faster than high school, which now seems a distant memory. Overall it was a good semester but I really need to work on my procrastination, it is becoming a serious problem. I read this on a psychology website:

"The main reason people procrastinate is fear," says Neil Fiore, Ph.D., author of The Now Habit. Procrastinators fear they'll fall short because they don't have the requisite talent or skills. "They get overwhelmed and they're afraid they'll look stupid." According to Ferrari, "Procrastinators would rather be seen as lacking in effort than lacking in ability." If you flunk a calculus exam, better to loudly blame it on the half-hour study blitz, than admit to yourself that you could have used a tutor the entire semester.

As much as I hate to admit it it describes me almost spot on, so I'm hoping that this will change for next semester.

Anyway for a bit of randomness, I've decided that the Boulder cops are sadistic! I was walking back from the rec center with Grace last night and we were walking along a particularly wide paved path, and although we were walking in the middle there was ample room for a car to pass. However a police car happened to need to pass by us and rather than flashing his brights or just waiting until he was close enough for us to hear his engine and move out of the way, he decided to be an ass and blare his siren for a second. I don't scare easily but after that blast from the siren I'm pretty sure that both my heart and Grace's were about to explode from shock! To make things worse I"m almost positive the cop was laughing to himself as he drove by!

Happy Holidays all! I can't wait to come back home and see a lot of you!

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Harry Potter and Whippedcream from a Closed Safeway

A few days ago I was one of the lucky/crazy/fanatic people to see Harry Potter at it's midnight premeire! There was a large group of us (Grace, Courtney, Kinsey, Cha Cha, Carissa, Jon, Sarah, Mike, Cori, and Ashlyn) I really enjoyed the movie and the atmosphere of going to a midnight premeire.

The real story however, is what happened after the movie. A bunch of us decided that we were hungry and would go to the Denny's on Baseline for something to eat. Although there were classes the next day and it was about 3 in the morning it made very much sense at the time so we headed in and sat down.

Unfortunately there was no whipped cream for Courtney's pumpkin pie, so we decided that we would go on a mission to the nearby Safeway to aquire some and hopefully make it back before our food got too cold. We also had decided to take Grace home as she looked like she would'nt be awake much longer on the amount of sleep she had the night before. After dropping her off we headed out to the Safeway.

We made it there about 4am and unfortunately there was a sign on the door stating that they would be closed until 5am. I figured that we would go back to Denny's. Instead Courtney noticed that some of the stockers were in the store and she began pounding on the door. Incredibly none of them heard the noise, but undeterred Courtney then manually opened the automatic door and went inside. She then asked the startled Safeway employees if they wouldn't mind if we came into the store for some whipped cream. He thought about it for a while and then agreed and told her that Kinsey and I could come in too!

It was quite amusing watching the reactions of the various employees as we regaled them with stories of the missing whipped cream from Dennys and wandered around inside their closed Safeway. Most of them seemed pretty skeptical that we were there for just whipped cream but after a few minutes we were out of there and on our way back to Dennys.

By the time I got to bed I had gotten to see the sunrise, and I'm pretty sure it was about 6:30 when I finally got to sleep. Unfortunately this was a Friday morning on which I have 9am classes. As you might expect I slept through them and didn't wake up until about 11:45 to make it to my noon class. But it was all worth it! :)

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

What Happens When it Snows in Boulder? (Underwear Football!)

The snowstorm that came through Colorado tonight actually brought the first snow of the year to Boulder! Granted it was only about 2 inches but it was the first snowfall of the season in Boulder so it was marked with joyous celebration.

As I walked home from work I saw groups of people breaking out into spontaneous snowball fight and the creation of armies of snowmen. When me and some of my friends were outside later this guy started yelling at us because he thought we screwed up his snow man. He was REALLY pissed but we managed to convince him that someone else destroyed his snowman and he left without incident.

Now is where the story gets interesting. A bunch of us in the dorm, remember the name Cockerell, as this is in the works to become a tradition, decided that we would celebrate the first snowfall with a game of football in the snow! While we were playing a bunch of girls from our dorm decided to run around the dorm once in the snow in their bikinis. A few of them joined us playing football and before too long suggested that it was not fair for the guys to remain fully clothed!

Thus was born the Boulder Underwear Snow-Football League! We played a full hour in the snow in nothing but boxers and bikinis! We must've had a crowd of at least 60 people watching us through the windows of the nearby dorms, and several groups of passerbys stopped to watch the festivities. It was great fun and a lot of people yelled that we were crazy but a few seemed to enjoy what was happening and yelled "Yeah take it off!!!" apparently I play sports better half naked, as I had three touchdown receptions! There are a couple pictures in my Myspace photos, but there are several more on facebook to check out! You are much more concerned about falling as a result of cutting in the snow when you aren't wearing much, and playing defence is much more interesting when you aren't sure just how you can two hand touch someone who's not wearing much :) After we were all beginning to lose feeling in many areas of our bodies we decided to go inside and warm up with hot chocolate and a movie! It was a blast!!! Look for another game come next snow!!!

* Disclaimer: I'm sorry you had to witness pictures of me shirtless ;) I cannot be held accountable for any resulting sickness or blindness as a result...

Saturday, November 12, 2005

All These Things That I've Been Told

So it's unbelievably nearing the middle of November! I can't believe how fast the time seems to flit by now! I wish it would go just a little faster and get me to the end of the semester though!

I'm having all kinds of issues with school. They told us at the beginning of the year that this might happen and how to avoid it but I didn't really believe I needed to worry about it. They said you may feel like the first couple weeks of class are review from high school but not to become complacent. Unfortunately I did just that.

As I sit right now I will end this semester with unimpressive grades, I'll be lucky to pull a 3.0 after being spoiled on a 3.74 for high school. I haven't been to my chemistry lecture in almost 2 months now... I started off by skipping one Friday class with telling myself I'd go back the next Monday, I've never been back lol. The thing that confuses me is I just don't really care. My only motivation is that good grades will hopefully get me a good job but for some reason that's not really enough to motivate me.

I always used to laugh about stories of people skipping class because I always thought it's so easy to go to class, and it is, yet I always find some justification not to go. I constantly battle with myself, but just like the person who plans a new exercise routine that will start tomorrow and then it never happens, I keep falling into the same trap. Why don't I care anymore!? The only class I think I'll get an A in is Engineering Projects because in that class I actually get to work with my hands and build things and think creatively whereas calculus and chemistry are both dull and drab to me. I was raised with the mindset that a C is a bad grade but I just can't think that way anymore... Every time I get a bad grade back it stings but then I never do anything to get a better grade on the next chance.

I'm in danger of needing to retake Chemistry because as an Engineer you are required to get at least a 63% in Chemistry before you can take any of the upper division engineering classes. At the moment my two mid terms a 59% and a 65% average out to a 62%, so I wouldn't meet the requirement if class ended today. I feel pathetic but I can't find the resolve to get things done anymore.

I'm hoping that taking a Maymester (1 month summer course) in Italy will provide me a much needed breath of fresh air and give me some perspective because at the moment I don't think I'm going to cut it...

Tuesday, November 1, 2005

Jedi Mind Tricks and Westminster's Finest

Happy Halloween again everyone! Hopefully everyone enjoyed the nice weather, it's been freezing and snowing every Halloween for the past several I can remember. Unfortunately I had to work so my Halloween festivities didn't start until I got off of work at about 8!

Going to a haunted house seems like an integral part of Halloween so that was my plan for the evening. We were also supposed to go costume bowling afterwards but unfortunately that fell through. At the time though I didn't know this so in full Jedi robes I met with two of my friends and we headed to Frightmare.

For those of you who don't already know, I'm very prone to getting lost when driving and unfortunately this was no exception. However I'm much more familiar with Westminster now!

The haunted house was awesome, I really enjoyed the setup and the presentation of the whole thing. I was also delighted to discover that apparently wearing a Jedi robe makes you feared and respected through a haunted house because through the entire experience I did not have one of the monsters or clowns in the haunted house target me for their scares.

However in a blatant breach of the don't touch the monsters and they won't touch you policy that I was informed of several times while waiting in line, the chainsaw guy actually hit my arm with his chainsaw. He came out too quickly for our group and I hadn't yet passed him, he chased the rest of our group ahead and as he whirled around to go back to his hiding spot he swung his chainsaw into my arm. I awoke several hours to doctors working frantically to repair the damage done to my arm. Unfortunately I do not have much mobility and I may never again. By which I mean nothing happened because the chainsaws have no teeth ;)

Anyhow we left the haunted house to go back to Boulder and watch House of Wax. Unfortunately on the way back I missed the turning lane for our right turn. It was the type of large intersection where the right turn lane is a breeze-by lane where it curves to the right in its own lane. However I missed this lane and being in the far right straight lane and it being late at night I figured it would be okay for me to turn. Sure enough after doing this maneuver the SUV behind me suddenly turned into a police SUV and I pulled into a parking lot to await my fate.

Apparently you're supposed to pull over immediately even if it would obstruct traffic rather than pull into a parking lot, but one of my friends I was with when she was pulled over was told not to obstruct traffic when there was a parking lot nearby, so I followed this line of thought which didn't thrill the officer who pulled me over very much.

After pulling into the lot the police truck pulled up behind me and put on those bright glaring alien abduction lights that everyone loves so very very much and he came up to the car. I got the "Can I see your licence, registration, and proof of insurance?" routine and then he asked me what I was doing in Westminster that evening. I couldn't help but think in the back of my mind "You don't need to see his identification" but I knew this would get me into more trouble so I told him we were simply on the way back from a haunted house. He pondered this and my registration for a few seconds before walking off with a curt "Have a good night!" PHEW!!! So there you have it: Jedi mind tricks work on the police!

PS House of Wax is fairly good but gorey.

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Smashing Pumpkins

Happy Halloween everyone! Its been pretty crazy around here! Last night I had the misfortune of having to squeeze past this guy in the hallway who was wearing leaves to keep himself from being completely nude and that was it... Add to that the fact that he was totally drunk and stumbling around so he started to fall into me before I shrugged past him.

I was also playing pool with some friends in the lounge when some other people decided to bring their drunk friend into the lounge by carrying him on a table and dump him off onto the couch in the lounge. Then they parked a trashcan for him and he made his deposit before falling asleep with his head in the trash can. At that point we decided to call it a night for pool and went back to watch the Avs beat the Canucks in OT!!!

Later on we decided we wanted to do some old fashioned pumpkin carving like at home so 5 of us headed off to Safeway in search of some pumpkins. Unfortunately Safeway decided that two days before Halloween is time to throw all their pumpkins away. Luckly we were shown to a back room where they have the pumpkins that weren't bought and they told us we could take some for free. We found two that looked decent and figured we'd set them outside our dorm to make it a little more festive. Before we were going to carve we decided to watch Silence of the Lambs. Unfortunately the drunks came out while we were watching and decided our pumpkins' best use would be to be hurled out the second story window. Oh well at least they were free lol.

BTW last week I saw Switchfoot and they were AWESOME!!!

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Blegh... Midterms!!!

So this week was the week of reckoning, where we all found out how we did on our second set of mid terms. Unfortunately I've been having major problems concentrating on school. It's not that I have a lot of other things going on, I just can't seem to find the mental focus that I've always been able to rely on... Anyway, as a result I got a 66% on my Calc exam, a 58% on my Chem test and the only good grade was an 80% on my Economics test. I was actually slightly suprised at my Chemistry score because I haven't been to a Chemistry lecture in about a month...

My problem was that I stopped going to lectures and replaced them with...nothing lol. I had made an agreement with myself that if I stopped going to lecture I would read from the text book and go over the online notes for at least the same amount of time I would have been having lectures. This plan worked for about a week before it turned into naptime instead!

I hope that I will still be able to make the cut as an engineer, because at the moment I don't think I have the drive left in me to do so.

Friday, October 14, 2005

Home Again

CU is on Fall Break so I decided it would be a good time to go home for a few days as I've been feeling a little homesick lately. After dropping my friend off in Littleton I got back on the highway. As I came over the hill near Santa Fe, I saw the big Highlands Ranch sign that sits on the top of the hill marking the start of Highlands Ranch. For some reason seeing that sign made me instantly feel so happy and I finally realized that I really do miss home.

I don't really know what's going on with me because things are going very well and I've met lots of wonderful people in Boulder, but I still have periods where I feel very sad and like there is something missing in my life. I don't have it rough at all, infact I'm under much better circumstances than a lot of people so I feel ashamed whenever I feel sad, but I can't figure out where these feelings are coming from.

Anyway... As I drove up Maximus Drive into Acres Green, I was shocked at the devastation of the trees in my neighborhood wrought by the snowstorm that came through. I couldn't believe that so much snow fell a few miles away when we got nothing but rain in Boulder. It was really sad to see trees that have been standing as long as I've lived in my house splintered and broken. I know that new trees will grow in their place but it still was an unbelievable site. I can't imagine what it must have been like for the people who lost everything to Katrina or Rita....

Hope everyone has a great Fall Break!

A Hui Hou

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Breaking the Silence...

Ok I've almost forgotten about MySpace, but I've decided I'm going to try and at least write a blog once a week...

Life is going well, our hockey team is undefeated heading into the second round of the playoffs. I missed the JV club squad by one so now I'm playing intramurals for a team called the Playas. We have destroyed every team we've played save for one where we only won by 2.

Our frisbee team, Gyroscopic inertia on the other hand was eliminated in the second round of the tournament to have a winless season and one win by disqualification. But I'm sure our broomball team this winter will be much better!

Boulder is awesome! No where else would you see someone on skis try to ride a bike and then get really pissed at the grass because it made him slip and jam his ski into the chain of his bike. Or have a pizza delievery guy hide the pizza in some bushes because it is after a football game and groups of drunks are roaming the streets that would be happy to score some free food. It was also crazy because apparently there was snow earlier this week but not an inch of it fell in Boulder! Boulder really is it's own country complete with it's own weather!

Overall things are going awesome! I can't wait for Fall Break this week though, it'll be good to be back home for a few days! After that comes another round of mid-terms... ughhhhhh...

Monday, August 29, 2005

Life Beyond Ranch: The First Two Weeks of College

College has been awesome these first two weeks! I have been super busy but everything has been going great! I have met many new people whom I spend a lot of time with and I've gotten the ins and outs of campus down pretty well. I've been suprised just how friendly everyone is here, I feel completely comfortable around most everyone and have enjoyed seeing the variety of thought and expression the people around me possess. I have a full load of classes with Calculus for Engineers, Engineering Chemistry, Economics, Introduction to Aerospace Sciences, and Engineering Projects, but they are all interesting so far. My favorite class thus far would have to be Engineering Projects. Our project for the month of September is to design a trebuchet, which in the midieval ages was used to hurl boulders as a siege weapon. Ours will fire much less lethal grapes and we will be graded for our ability to fire the grapes long distances accurately. I'm also balancing a job at one of the colleges dining centers and I play to play intramural hockey, frisbee, volleyball, and broomball. I'm also very excited because tommorow I'm going to an open house hosted by the Colorado Space Grant which is an oppourtunity to work as a student on various satellites and scientific experiments that will be launched into space! So far I'm loving Boulder! So far I would say the only disappointments I've had is that I've had to miss out on a couple of things because of work, but I suppose that is to be expected. Overall everything is going extremely well!

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

My First Song...

Here's a song I wrote/perform on my acoustic guitar. It's inspired by moving away to college. It's pretty short cause it's just the intro and chorus as of yet.

My life is changin

The past is gone

My future is calling

I've said goodbye

The memories we've made here

Will last life long

And though I must go now

Don't you cry

Chorus:

Cause I'm spreading my wings

Spreading my wings

And my heart sings

If you're around you should ask me to play it so you can actually hear what it sounds like! I may try to record it and post it if I can we'll see ;)

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning's End

It is truly remarkable the swiftness with which time flows. I can't believe that I am now faced with the final night before the end of a chapter of my life.

As I lay here now in my bed for the last time, I prepare to begin a new chapter of my life. Though I will always cherish my past, I realize that I can never return to it and I should not spend much time looking back. However, my spirit trembles beneath the weight of the realization that when I next return home I will return completely changed and the exact person I am now will be gone.

I am faced with a deep yearning to grasp onto my childhood and not let go though I know I must! The endless possibilities of the future excite me, but I am counter balanced by feelings of anxiety towards change. I do not want to give up what I have now though I know there lies even greater things in the future.

I have been blessed with incredibly loving and caring parents with whom I enjoy a great closeness. I have been privledged to know some of the most uncommon, noble, and purehearted people as friends. And I have made this place my home. I can't help but feel as though some of this is being torn away from me. But I know that in time this feeling too shall pass.

I stand now ready in mind, body, and spirit to meet this challenge and begin the next chapter of my life!

Hope that wasn't too heavy ;)

The Time Has Come

I can't believe that the moment which has always seemed so far in the future is now 10 hours away! I've packed all my things and I will soon be enjoying one last breakfast at my home of 13 years before heading off to my new home in Boulder!

I'm very greatful for everything and everyone that has played a part in shaping my life and getting me to where I am today! It is my sincere hope that I have touched the lives of everyone who impacted mine in some way! I will forever treasure the moments we've shared! I'll miss everyone greatly and I hope that our paths will one day cross again!

As this chapter of my life comes to a close and the next begins to take shape I am thankful to share the journey with my wonderful friends and family! Fare thee well!

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Viva Los Vegas

I just got back from a two day trip to Las Vegas! Be forewarned so much stuff happened that this'll be a fairly long blog, though mine usually are so if you don't mind that read on!

Even the plane to Vegas was interesting! I was already in my seat when Mrs. Hulk came on board. She was by far the most built woman I've ever seen in person! I'm pretty sure she would have creamed me at arm wrestling without breaking a sweat! It was kind of amusing to see her lift her heavy bag with ease to the overhead bin and how her rippling muscles made the men around her uncomfortable!

Once we got to McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, I couldn't believe how even the airport was bustling and had all kinds of video moniters playing and the sounds of slot machines filled the air. McCarran is the only place where I've seen videos that instruct you how to walk through security and they don't use extras they actually have hollywood actors going through the security lines and telling you to please have out your boarding passes, etc. Also it was freaking hot!!! The highs were in the low 110's while we were there!

A short while later we has secured our awesome* ride from US Rent-a-car, a 2005 PT Cruiser! (*The awesome can either be sarcastic or literal depending on your feelings toward PT Cruisers) Though I've been to Vegas before the last time I was too young to remember much so I was amazed at the sheer size and splendor. The Vegas strip makes Park Meadows and Highlands Ranch seem like a trailer park by comparison. From the massive beam of light coming from the top of the black Egyptian pyramid known as the Luxor to the sprawling statues and fountains and towering buildings of Caeser's Palace everything in Vegas is supersized! Even the McDonald's had a massive flashing neon sign the size of the actual restaraunt back home!

Our first stop was an In 'n' Out burger, one of my favorite fast food places that isn't in Colorado! They have awesome burgers that are fairly cheap! The awesomeness comes from their secret* sauce (*Thousand Island Dressing - I freed a circus clown in exchange for this information)

Anyway after that, being the huge Star Trek fan that I am we headed toward the Vegas Hilton, home to the Star Trek Experience. Warning: If you aren't a Star Trek fan or hate sci-fi or something please skip to the next paragraph or you'll find this one incredibly annoying, long and geeky! Entering the Star Trek Experience was incredible, four model ships the size of Buses hung from the ceiling complete with lights and those cool star light things dotted the ceiling. The beginning of the Experience was a museum style walk housing props and uniforms from all five series and all the movies as well as a time line connecting the series and movies together and showing which episodes occured where in the timeline! Of course I thought this was all very cool! A little farther down the hallway I saw the Klingon. He was a good 6' 6'' and spoke in a raspy voice to the humans who were waiting in line for the rides at the end of the museum. He glared at me as he walked past, it was very cool! Finally we got to the first "ride." We were all taken into this room where there was an amuzing take on the airplane safety videos but made for a Star Trek shuttle. But suddenly the screen went static and all the lights in the place went out, suddenly we were blasted with air and it was pitch black. The lights dimmed back on slowly and we were suddenly standing on a transporter pad on the Enterprise! Before us stood a uniformed crew member who immediately signaled the bridge informing them we had been beamed aboard. She then led us to a turbo lift which opened out onto the bridge! This was by far my favorite part, so many times in each episode you see the bridge and I was now standing on it! We came in through the door to the right of where Worf usually stands, behind the tatical station (See told you I'm a geek!) and stood on the bridge watching the crew work the panals when suddenly Jonathan Frakes, or Commander Riker came on screen! He told us that the Klingons had attemtped to kidnap us from the past because one of us was Captain Picard's ancestor and they were trying to make him not exist. The Enterprise had intercepted us and was now under attack by several Klingon ships. The ship went to red alert with the familiar sound and lighting and the ship rocked under the attack. We were ushered into another turbolift and were headed to the shuttle bay when the ship rocked again. Suddenly the lights outside the turbolift were flying by and the crewman in the lift with us screamed that we were in free fall! It was an interesting sensation! Luckly we recovered and were soon in the shuttle bay. We boarded this shuttle that had a cockpit so large you could look 180 degrees side to side and straight up! We flew around in this nebula dodging Klingons all the way before we warped into this rift thingie that took us back to our time! Suddenly we were in the sky over the Vegas strip and one of the Klingons had followed us! We dodged around for a while and then the Enterprise came and blew up the Klingons and we landed in this secret shaft of the Hilton. The doors opened and we were back at the Star Trek Experience. Very cool... The second ride was called the 4-D Borg Invasion, we were on some station with the EMH from Voyager when the borg attacked. They cut into the room where we were and soon there were drones walking at us. My dad informed me that they were looking for my ticket and that I should go over to them, but luckly I know enough about the borg that I didn't do that! We ran through the station with borg everywhere and people shooting phasers with some pretty cool naked eye special effects before we got on another shuttle. We were captured by the Borg Cube and then we were "Assimilated" a la the Honey we shrunk the audience ride at Disney world, where your chair does stuff to you! Luckly Voyager flew into the cube and rescued us! Again very cool!

After the Star Trek Experience we checked into our hotel at the Rio, which is themed to be like Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. It has four pools each with water falls and sand bottoms and all kinds of cool things like that! There is of course a massive cassino and scantly clad dancing girls everywhere! There were also massive lit up river boats and hot air balloons running along a track on the ceiling while music was blasting! It was very exciting!

Our second day we saw a show called the Mac King comedy and magic show! It was hilarious and quite entertaining, I couldn't believe some of the tricks he could do! I actually learned a little bit of hypnotism and a few basic tricks from Mac King himself after the show and I got an autographed book from him!

I saw so much the second day I can't even begin to describe it so here goes. I saw a Volcano in front of the Mirage hotel, the fountains in front of the Belagio, where most of Ocean's Eleven was set, a Pirate Battle/Danceoff at Treasure Island, the Eiffle tower in Paris, the Statue of Liberty, a Roman Colleseum, a massive Sphynx, a Castle and some other stuff I can't remember at the moment! Every hotel on the strip save a few has a distinct theme for it's arcitechture and design and most are massive! My favorite was the Luxor, modeled like an Egyptian pyramid, which was also where we saw the coolest show of the trip!

I was lucky enough to have gotten to see the Blue Man Group at the Luxor! If you don't know who they are you shoud look them up they're a pretty cool "band" with a very unique and distinctive sound because of the type of instruments they use! It was the most entertaining concert I've ever been to and I couldn't belive that they were actually able to physically involve the entire audience! It was an experience I"ll never forget! The show was incredible, the special effects were amazing, it was hilarious, and the atmosphere was so incredible! There were things hanging from the ceiling which spun and twirled and they gave out long strips of crepe paper to everyone before the show and told us to "enjoy your free paper and do whatever you want with it be creative"! Not being very creative I fashioned two arm bands and a chest band thing like the ones the Revolutionary War British had! Everyone therefore glowed under the black lights they had throughout the theater! During one of the songs these massive rolls of paper in the back of the theater which happened to be where we were sitting came down upon everyone in the back row and we began shoving it ahead to the people in front of us! Before long the ENTIRE theater was covered with these massive rolls of connected paper so everyone was in essence connected! Then the Blue Man Group started pulling the paper on stage and waving it around to the music! It was incredible! They are actually a little scary close up because they never show teeth or facial expressions just a blank but intesive stare at you. One of them stared at me for quite a while before he ran off! If you are ever in Las Vegas you MUST see this show! It is incredible!

Other than that I spent a lot of time lounging by the pool! And besides that there isn't a lot I can share, because as the saying goes, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!"

Sunday, July 24, 2005

There's Monsoons in Colorado?

I just got home from a quick camping trip up at this really neat spot near Vail along Piney River. We headed up Saturday morning after my hockey game with my parents, my dog, and my cousin Tosha who flew in from San Francisco to join us!

This spot has to be my favorite spot to camp, it's right on the banks of the Piney River and is located where the river bends so it is as if you are on a corner of land bordered on two sides by the river. There are spectacular views of the nearby scenery and it is very serene.

The first day started out decently enough, it was very sunny and warm all the way up to the site and for a few hours after we got there. Then the clouds began to roll in. It began to rain at about 4 and didn't stop until about 9 that night. This wasn't actually as bad as you might think as the four of us enjoyed sitting in the tent together singing songs, talking, and drinking margaretas!

By the next morning the sky had cleared and it was a beautiful sunny day! We went for an awesome hike before we had to take my cousin to the Vail transportation center for an airport shuttle as she is the VP of her company and had to get back for a round of meetings tommorow. If only I had known what was in store for us tonight...

Our plan had been to enjoy one more night in the mountains and pack up to come home tommorow. It seemed like a good plan at the time and it would have been if only...

They may have looked like the storms that had passed through the first night but these were insane! The storms that opened up above us amid bolts of lightning that struck the ground unleashing claps of thunder that echoed throughout the canyon were nothing like I have ever experienced in Colorado! I have never before been afraid of a 6 inch deep river as I was today when the torrents of precipitation cascaded down upon us. I was seriously concerned about flooding as it was not only raining but hailing so heavily that hail piled around the woods as though it were snow, while meanwhile the heavy rain began washing away trails and the 5 mile dirt road that led to this pond we had earlier called a campsite!

Our once mighty fire struggled valiantly against the onslaught but was reduced to an ashey puddle in minutes surrounded by an inch to two inch deep puddle of water! Fortunately our tent was fairly well made and weathered the storm well with only a few small leaks and after moving all of our stuff to higher ground to escape the flooding waters we plotted our escape.

Finally when the hail stopped and the rain hit a lull we scrambled about and mashed everything into our Chevy Trailblazer and headed home! Luckly the majority of the road was still intact and we managed our way out!

I was releaved when we got home! A hot shower has never felt so good and I'm looking foward to jumping into my dry bed! Despite all this though I still love camping and can't wait to go back to that spot when monsoon season is over!

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Hawaiian Adventure

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Day 1 in Paradise

I think I've slept about 3 hours in the last 48. But lack of sleep is definitely worth what I got in exchange.

After getting to the airport at 430am, we were an interesting group, between the six of us we had two large cardboard boxes, three guitars, and about 7 uniquely sized suitcases. On top of that, Dan, Nathan, and I were all wearing our hockey polos with kahki pants. We decided that it would be interesting if we started acting like we were a hockey playing band from Ukraine where Harry would be the German agent, Andrew would be the manager, with Dan, Nathan, Michael, and yours truly the band members. We certainly got a lot of odd looks from people but before too long we were off to San Francisco to catch our connection there.

While waiting for the Honolulu plane we all decided we were a bit hungry since my breakfast had been about 2:30am to help keep me awake for an all nighter and I ended up at this icecream shop run by two oriental women. I ordered a banana split which was quite amusing because the server asked if I wanted bananas in it. I said yes, wolfed it down and then boarded the plane to Honolulu.

I managed to embaress myself when I first got on the plane. Being a standby passenger I was one of the last to board the plane and most people were settled into their seats. I was trying to load my guitar into the overhead storage bin and there were these two girls behind me so I figured I'd step into the seating area and let them pass. In the process I rammed my head pretty frickin hard into the overhead storage bin I had just opened and made a rather loud klunk that could be heard throughout the cabin amidst laughter and people going "ohhhhhh" I'm just that smooth ;) So I calmly got settled and we took off, with me hoping no one would remember me after a few hours into the flight

I came to learn later that while I was sleeping my "friends" were attempting to throw the assorted contents of the United Fiesta Mix snack pack into my mouth while I was asleep. Fortunately they seem to have bad nut throwing accuracy because I never woke up with a nut lodged in my throat. After about 5 hours, (I was off on the half-way to Hawaii game by 25 minutes) we landed and got picked up by my grandparents

We decided to spend our first day split between the beach and the pool in my grandparents backyard. Being a world champion chicken fighter we played a few rounds of that in the pool where I quickly led whoever was on my shoulders to victory

The beach was fun as we spent a good few hours body surfing the waves at Kailua beach park. They're very small by my standards but it was still entertaining seeing a bunch of people from Highlands Ranch frollicking in the surf!

It was a great day except for that the streets in Kailua are very confusing as they all look the same and though I knew I was looking for Keolu drive to connect to Akihala road and eventually Akipola street, I kept getting turned around and I ended up pulling about 5 u-turns in my grandpas 4-speed truck in about 30 minutes. On top of that I stalled the thing when we were in a parking lot in front of a bunch of locals because the parking break was in, but still lets you reverse, so I reversed normally and tried to accelerate and it stalled. Embaressing moment # 2.

So far though, I'm extatic to be here and can't wait for tommorow! I only wish that I could have brought everyone with me!

Monday, July 11, 2005

Hawaii Chapter 2: Military Police and Sand Boobies!
Current mood: ecstatic

The past few days have been a blast! We were able to go along with my Uncle Matt to a campsite with a bunch of his co-workers onto a military airforce station called Bellows. I was a little curious to see if the MP at the gate would have any issues with the fact that both Dan and Nathan had drivers license IDs that no longer matched their hair color, but fortunately the guard only needed my ID as I was the driver and we got through with no problem.

After we pitched our tent, we immediately suited up in our boardshirts, grabbed our boogie boards and headed to the beach in search of the perfect wave. The surf was fairly decent the first day, though we got to the campsite late, and it was overcast and steadily growing dark while we were on the water. It was shortly after it began to get dark that I thought I remembered hearing somewhere that shark attacks generally happen near dawn and dusk, and though the only sharks supposedly natural to Bellows are the thousands of Hammerheads, that somehow wasn't very comforting so we got out of the water.

We spent the rest of the evening playing 5 card Texas Hold 'Em which I rocked at until Michael came along and stole everything away from me. Oh well at least I knocked two people out. We also enjoyed eating all sorts of food, as the Hawaiians we were there with were excellent chefs and kept us well fed. We got to have Teraki chicken and beef, and sirloin steak, and squid, and Ahi, and Ono, and Oysters, and all sorts of other great food!

The second day of camping was really the first day we noticed the ants. One of the Hawaiian guys named Hanale (Hah-nah-lay) had warned us about them before but I didn't think they would be that bad. I couldn't have underestimated them any more, althought they are some of the smallest ants I've seen they are like little hellspawned servants of satan that took great offense at the existance of my feet. For something that small to have a bite that painful was quite impressive. So of course we decided to bottle a bunch of them and see if we could have them battle other insects we found such as cockroaches. The ants destroyed the cockroach and the Hawaiians thought we were very strange.

We also enjoyed several games of volleyball, though 6 Highlands Ranch seinors are no match for 6 Hawaiian natives at beach volleyball. We did give them some competition though as we were always not too far behind.

The boogie boarding was much better the second day and we spent a good portion of the day doing that before we decided it was time to relax on the beach. We began building sand castles and before too long we ended up entombing Nathan. Of course we had to make him female and semi - anatomically correct, so we made a lucious pair of sand boobies for him as well as two arms with wolverine claws.

Unfortunately this memory must have occured to Nathan later on when I was trying to sleep/sunbathe, and he covered me in sand and gave me sand boobies also. Though I could never actually see them because of all the sand compacted on the top of my face. Unfortunately in this case ignoring things doesn't always make them go away.

I was also fairly amused when Nathan somehow managed to lodge one of his shoes in the top of a 20 foot tall palm tree because he was trying to knock a coconut out of it. After about 15 minutes of throwing footballs, more shoes, and other coconuts at it, Nathan finally got his shoe back and there was much rejoicing.

Later that night we decided to go down to this place I know of on the beach where there is usually an occurance of florescant algae that glows bright blue in the sand, however it wasn't there and so we began walking back along this road that had no lighting and was therefore pitch black. A car happened by and as it approached it slowed until it pulled up next to me. A uniformed army guy leaned out the window and asked bluntly "Where are you supposed to be?" Luckly I knew that our campsite was G-5 and informed him of that. He told us that we were out after curfew on a military base but luckly just let us off with a warning and none of us were shot! Phew! Now I can say I've been caught by MPs!

Today we came back from camp and decided we would just relax the rest of the day away and Michael, Dan, and I formed a super cool band called the "Existentialists" and sang our first song about Hawaii, as well as practiced our cover "The Lion Sleeps Tonight!" Finally I have found a place where my ability to imitate high pitched vocals comes in handy!

Stay tuned...!

PS Luckly no one has been stung by a man o' war yet

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Hawaii Chapter 3: The Hukilau and a Vibrating Spongebob
Current mood: cheerful

Today was another awesome day. There is something about Hawaii that makes it seem much later than it actually is so I've been waking up about a quarter to 9 everyday! This morning I was the first one up and the other 5 were still sleeping. I thought about doing the old toothpaste in the eyes trick so everyone would have woken up with eyes dried shut, but as we had previously decided that was far too brutal and mean.

When everyone finally got up we decided we would take a drive to the North Shore. Using my expert knowledge of Oahu's 3 main highways, we made it to the north shore! We started off at the town of Halewa where we went to Killer Tacos and I hade an awesome plate of nachos made from Big Island Kalua Pig. It was quite tasty. Fortunately the name of the restaruant was a misnomer and all of us survived. It was amusing on the way up because Andrew and Michael had my camera and were waving at other cars and acting like they were taking their pictures. We even had one of the cars wave back and then show us a massive bag of lime green marajuana before they passed us and another car while narrowly avoiding a head on collsion!

We eventually we made it to the world famous Sunset Beach where there are normally 15-25 foot waves and some of the best pro surfers around the world. We even had the guts to venture into the water ourselves amidst the 15-25 inch waves that crashed on the shore today. We had a great time wrestling around in the water, and I had a rough time cleaning all of the sand that was compacted into my scalp out when I got home.

We also stopped by one of the beaches filmed in the movie 50 First Dates, the Hukilau beach near the Hukilau cafe where Adam Sandler met Drew Berrymore in the movie. Unfortunately there were no Hollywood movies being filmed so I guess I'll have to wait a little longer to make it into a movie!

On the way back Nathan and Dan continued the waving game and as we got closer to home we finally had someone who waved at us first. It was a pair of Hawaiian girls and one of them definitely made eye contact with my sunglass region before she smiled and waved! Though she was probably actually looking at the reflection of Dan off of my sun glasses... At least they paid us us more attention than any of the girls on the beaches!

I also made a wonderful discovery today when I rubbed my hands together and realized that the moist air of Hawaii has transformed my normally dry hands into soft and baby smooth! It is without a doubt the smoothest my skin has ever been! Woo hoo!

We also made a trip to Safeway tonight so that Nathan could buy a new toothbrush since he lost his somewhere camping. While looking over the various Spongebob and Powerrangers electric toothbrushes we were wondering whether they came with batteries. I picked up one of the Spongebob models and forced the plastic to bend enough to touch the button. Sure enough the little Spongebob began to shake and vibrate as though he were alive! Unfortunately I could not press the off button without opening the package, so I put him back on the shelf to entertain the other Safeway customers with his dance vibrations. It was quite amusing because two other people saw me do it but just kept walking past. He's probably still vibrating on that shelf right now!

I also had fun a few minutes ago as I was reading over Dan's shoulder as he wrote his blog and I was reading out loud every word he typed complete with the pronounciations of mispelled words He began typing lewd comments but I continued to read them anyway. Good times lol!

Well I can hear our band beginning to practice in my room so I'd best be off to play with them!

Stay tuned!

Aloha!

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Hawaii Chapter 4: Waikiki and Sopping Wet Andrew Jackson

Today was quite a fun filled day, though we didn't get up and going until around noonish because everyone slept so late. Ah relaxation at its best!

We decided today would be a good day to take a drive in the trusty old pickup to Waikiki! At this point I'd like to say that if you are ever in the back of a car and the person who is driving has not asked for your directions please do not shout them out over the person who is navigating in the passenger seat... IT IS VERY ANNOYING!!! Plus it leads to lots of wrong turns and such.

When we first got to Waikiki and were all unloading the truck this girl passed by with a surfboard and bathingsuit. Michael asked her how the waves were today. It must've taken her a full two or three seconds to stop, turn, and with the most lost and bewildered "my house just exploded when I flushed the toilet" look I've ever seen and slowly exclaimed "I...have no idea..." Hilarious!

Anyway, Waikiki was awesome! We spent the first hour or so going around the various shops and checking out what they had in stock. The stores were pretty cool because an hour is a long time for guys to be in a store. In case you were wondering that is not a sexist comment, it is actually a proven fact. We did find this cool Tiki thing for my grandparents that's made of wood and is about 3 feet tall. I'm hoping they'll enjoy it and that perhaps it will grant them magical powers!

After shopping and a wonderful ham sandwhich we wound up at the world famous Waikiki beach. Along the way there I took several pictures of the scenery and my camera accidentally went off a couple of times capturing pictures of girls on the beach. *see Dan Andrews' blog* I spent the rest of the day laying in the sun trying to keep my MP3 player from being destroyed by the ocean. It happened once before but luckly the guy at Circuit City didn't look at the encrusted sand and water in the last one I brought in to exchange and they gave me the one I have now. It was awesome to see Diamond head and the downtown Honolulu area!

It was also pretty funny because Dan and Nathan both had their wallets in their pockets as they went into the ocean before both realized in horror that all their $20 bills and the other contents of their wallet were now soaking wet with salt water. It was also quite funny to watch Dan take his wallet to the shower and deliberately run freshwater through it. I have a feeling quite a few people thought he wasn't that bright lol. Fortunately Andrew was better prepared and only had $3 in his pocket with him when he went into the water.

I spent the rest of the evening laying out on the backyard pooldeck stargazing and hopefully some of the pictures I took of the sky will turn out and I'll be able to claim discovery of a new planet or something!

PS We went back to Safeway tonight and the Spongebob from the other day was gone... And they've apparently discovered another Noah's Ark according to the Weekly World News!

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Chapter 5: Stranded at Coconut Island and "It's the Way of the Future"
Current mood: cheerful

Today was another awesome day! We met one of my Grandpa's friends who used the be the captain of the navy submarine Swordfish and he took us onto a Marine military base where we took his pontoon boat out. We all got to rotate through being driver and navigator. Everything was going fine until Nathan got behind the wheel. He took the boat way too fast through one of the turns and we struck a coral reef embankment. The boat quickly began to fill with water and sank. Just kidding, actually we were all able to drive the boat with no problems.

Our first stop was a massive sandbar located in the middle of the bay. The water ranges from not even covering the sand to about 3 feet deep. We were there at high tide so the water was closer to being 3 feet. We decided that it would be fun to play freeze tag since everyone had to do this awesome waddle/swim/run/paddle move to get through the water! We also made it a rule that you had to swim under a frozen persons legs to unfreeze them, so hilarity quickly ensued.

After playing that and being quite worn out we went back to our boat for Subway Sandwiches. I had a footlong meatball sub which is usually my favorite except that I was the one who had picked up all the subs so while I was trying to explain 6 different orders to the people at Subway I somehow wound up with Lettuce on my meatball sub. I don't mind lettuce, but it
does not taste very good mixed with meatballs and cheese.

Our next stop was a island/nature preserve known as Coconut island. Much to my dismay, there are infact no coconuts on Coconut island, although there is the buried corpse of a 6 year old girl which I find to be slightly unerving. I kept worrying that her corpse would rise and she would come after me for dropping some of my lettuce into the ocean.

Despite that we all plopped into the water to snorkel along the coral reef. The reef was awesome with all kinds of varieties of colorful fish. There are also these cool plants that live on the coral that resemble a whole bunch
of bird feathers of different colors, and if you swish around the water near them they go shooting back into their tubes. Doing that is far more amusing than I expected, though I am quite easily amused. Come find out while I was playing with feather plants Michael and Andrew nearly drowned. I could have just imagined the letters and all the paper work I'd have to write. Mrs. Roth, your son was lost at sea because I couldn't stop playing with the feather plant thingies... Sorry... So I guess I wasn't a great group leader today cause I wasn't even aware that was happening and I almost came back missing 2 members of my group! Phew!

When it came time to leave Coconut island we fired up the motor and tried to put the boat in reverse... Nothing! The motor churned a bit but we didn't move at all! Because we had pulled in our anchor we were now adrift in the harbor, moving into the traffic lane! Fortunately this sweet looking local in a 49ers muscle shirt and awesome sunglasses happened by
in his speed boat that he was using to taxi people from the main island to Coconut island and he kept us from beaching or drifting into the boating lanes until help arrived for us.

Help came in the form of a guy who looked about my age if not younger in this little dinky boat and he very quickly realized that some button that miraculously makes the ship go was stuck and after unjamming it we were on our way!

After arriving back home we decided to go hike up to the top of some nearby mountains to the old WWII bunkers that are left there. On the way up Nathan and I were delighted to discover that the strong wind gusts along the path were perfect for the launch and rapid acceleration of loogies! Horray! We got some pretty cool pictures from the top as the bunkers were built on the top of a ridge that overlooks the entire town of Kailua as well as Lanikai beach and a few others.

By far the funnest part was coming back down. The mountain was so steep that it wasn't too unlikely for me to spear myself on a bush or trip over a rock and plummet off the mountain and land on someone's roof below. If I knew I would be okay it would have been kind of fun to land on someones roof and explain to them that I figured I'd drop in. At one point I was flying down the mountain so quickly that I was basically just falling and I just managed to grab a nearby tree. I swung around 180 degrees and I managed to stop myself!

We picked up some awesome shave ice on the way home and then decided to watch the Aviator It was a pretty good movie and afterwards we were running around saying "It's the way of
the future" and trying to act like Howard Hughes in the movie when he starts freaking out.


Good times!

Friday, July 15, 2005

Hawaii Chapter 6: Pearl Harbor and the 8 Year Old Navy Pilot
Current mood: contemplative

The trip to Pearl Harbor was quite an intersting one. It's definitely a trip to be standing in a place where such an incredible act of war took place. You can imagine the planes swooping down over the mountains and attacking the harbor. We decided we would check out the Arizona memorial, but unfortunately the wait was about 3 hours.

We walked around the museum for a while and then decided we would get some lunch. Unfortunately the food was very over priced and we decided it might be best to drive into Pearl City and look for some food. I didn't really know where I was going so I figured I'd stop at the first available food spot.

We ended up eating at a splendid gas station Blimpies next to a bunch of Hawaiian guys who were older than us but not by much. I mostly tried to ignore them because they made me uncomfortable as they were acting really weird and started by asking if we spoke French or if we thought the one of them with a pony tail was a girl when we first walked in. I was glad when we left to go back to Pearl Harbor

Although I've seen the Arizona a number of times, it still sends trembles down my spine to think of exactly what occured that day. A lucky shot from a well placed bomber detonated the entire foward magazine of the ship, instantly killing over 1000 people. To stand over the wrecked hulk of that ship and stare down through the water at the hulk that has become the tomb of the sailors who lay where they fell in 1941 is defintely a reflective experience.

There was also a lot of oil leaking from the Arizona which was interesting because in all the times I've seen it, there was never as much oil leaking as there was when we were there. Unfortuately they only gave us 15 minutes on the memorial due to "Navy Security Regulations" before they kicked us off.

The boat back from the Arizona was interesting because as we left the memorial a small 8 year old girl and her 4 year old brother were brought to the front of the ship and were allowed to drive the wheel and use the throttle of the ship. It was very cute and made everyone's day on the ship. I thought it was quite amusing that the navy was so lax as to allow 8 year olds to pilot their craft.

On the way home I almost got in an accident. People always ask what you were thinking when you do something stupid and the only explanation I can come up with is that there were two stoplights probably about two or three car lengths from each other and I saw the farther away one was green. Luckly I realized the closer light was red just in time to skid to a stop and avoid hitting a turning car. Not a good feeling....

Luckly we made it home okay and I was able to shake it off, but it was still pretty freaky...

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Hawaii Chapter 7: Big Waves and The Man - O - War Strike Back
Current mood: happy

Today was a very relaxed and laid back day. We stayed up until about 2:30 Hawaii time watching Pearl Harbor and so three of us slept until about 9:30 and the other three slept until about 12:15!

We eventually made it to the beach at Bellows where once again my stellar driving skills became evident landed the pickup truck in a deep sand pit. After trying to rock the truck out and trying a few tricks with the manual transmission evreryone got out and pushed while I tried to reverse. Luckly it worked and we were soon moved to a more stable parking spot.

Finally we got to boogie board! The waves were the biggest they've been this trip so it was a lot of fun! There's something about being out on the water for me that just relaxes my mind and seems to push everything I worry about out. Plus it was awesome to be out there with my close friends and get to enjoy it with them!

Unfortuately the Portuguese man o war were particularly bad today and we saw several in the water. We made it for a few hours before Michael got stung on the leg. Luckly he only got a minor sting and he seemed to be feeling better about a half hour after being stung. I'm still paranoid of man o war, because the last time I got stung the main part of the man o war stung me so I wound up with a blister about the size of a half dollar where the center was and it's tentacle wrapped around my side and all the way down my leg stinging its way down. It was so painful that I actually had trouble breathing for a while until I was able to get some antidote from a nurse who happened to be on the beach.

After and in between boogie boarding Nathan, Dan, Harry, and Andrew all decided to dig a massive pit in the sand and bury themselves in it. It was very amusing because they started spazzing out with their heads and making all kinds of hilarious noises. Luckly I got a lot of it on film and will post it when I get back. I was either slap happy or its good stuff because my sides and throat hurt from laughing so much.

After we went back out boogie boarding two teenage girls that had walked by us earlier when we were having a long jump contest came to our spot on the beach and watched us boogie boarding for a while. They were both wrapped in towels and when I looked over at them they both opened their towels revealing thir biknis. I didn't really know what to do so I just kept boogie boarding and eventually they got bored and left. Hows that for smooth playah?

Anyway, today was a very fun and relaxing day. I've really enjoyed the trip so far and I can't believe that it is almost over. I'm definitely grateful for the chance to have gone on this trip and for the people I got to spend it with. It'll be something that I'll always remember...

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Hawaii Chapter 8: Strange Neighbors and the Sand Divers
Current mood: content

Yet another day gone by, it's really amazing how fast time flits by. Today we started off by going to Aloha Stadium where the NFL pro-bowl is held to shop at the swap meet.

The swap meet is where a whole bunch of vendors set up tents and sell their goods at really low prices. You can buy 8 T-shirts for $20 and numerous other things for great deals! I ended up with new seat covers for my car, this chinese wind hanging thingie and a necklace.

I also saw this shop that had all of these replica weapons including all of the swords form Lord of the Rings! I really really wanted to buy the Sword of the King as it was about 5 feet long and looked freaking awesome, but I couldn't justify spending $150 on a sword. At least not yet...

After we got back from the swap meet we decided to go to Kailua beach again. It's a beautiful white and soft sand beach and today it was very sunny. I spent a while just lounging around in the sand until someone suggested that we see how far off of the sand bank we could jump into this canal that was probably about 40 feet wide and 10 or 12 feet deep. We took turns running and taking flying leaps from the sand ledge to the canal below. It was quite fun. We also ran back and forth across the canal and lept into the sand embankments which was funner than it might sound because you could get massive air and then come down without being hurt.

We've pretty much just been relaxing as usual tonight but there was some excitement when Dan decided to take a run. He decided to run up and down the block my granparents live on and I had heard him pass by the house several times. I decided that if he came by again I would try to scare him. Sure enough he did, so Nathan and I snuck outside and hid on opposite sides of the street behind cars. Dan had just been barked at by a ferocious sounding dog so the timing was perfect. We waited until he was passing in front of us and then both jumped out and yelled. He lept about a foot in the air and yelled and I'm pretty sure that his heart rate probably went up another 10 or 20 beats! Awesome lol!

One other amusing thing I just thought of happened a few days ago and I forgot to write about it. The walls in the houses in this neighborhood are really thin to the point where you can sometimes hear the neighbors. During one of these times I was in my room and I could hear from the neighbor's house a man's voice yelling playfully "I'm gonna eat you!" followed by a little girl screaming "Nooooo!" I was very confused by this and have come to the conclusion that my grandparents seem to have very odd neighbors.

Tommorow we are supposed to be heading home, but I have not completely decided if I will be leaving tommorow or staying a few days extra. To go or not to go...?

Hawaii Chapter 9: Clueless and the Breaking of the Fellowship

Today went by in a flash. We decided to go to Bellows one last time as all my friends left tonight while I will be staying another two or three days. The waves today were insane, they had almost no form and the entire ocean seemed to be churning and chaotic. We think it was due to one of the two earthquakes Hawaii had this week as I've never seen the ocean quite like that in all the times I've been here. It was still a blast though!

When it came time to leave we discovered we were stuck. There were a lot of people at the beach and so we had parked in a sand lot next to the road. The front row nearest the road was nearly full when we came in and there was a small aisle for cars to drive into the second row. Unfortunately some idiots parked in the aisle while we were at the beach and blocked in everyone who was parked in the second row! There was a possible way out but only through a massive sand pit much deeper than the one that had trapped us a few days ago.

Luckly just then a group of 4 twenty something women arrived at their car in the front row with thier stuff to leave. I figured I'd just follow them out so I started the truck and moved into the spot behind theres. They were facing directly at our truck completely full and still they acted as though they had all the time in the world. One of them started doing her makup while the others brushed sand off themselves and kept going back and forth to the trunk and carefully packing whatever they had back there.

About 15 minutes later we were still sitting there and another guy we had talked to while boogie boarding got in his car to leave. We warned him about the sand and told him he could follow us out after this car we were waiting on. However not even a second car lining up behind us was enough to clue these girls in! Granted we are in Hawaii and everything is laid back, but you'd think at least one of them might have noticed and thought they could hurry up a little. Anyway another 10 minutes of eye rolling and "OH MY GOD!!!"s from our truck we were on our way home.

Somehow when pulling into the driveway I managed to clip my grandparents giant wooden mailbox with the truck. It put a gash and several scuff marks all down the right side of the truck and damaged the mailbox. Luckly most of the scuff marks cleaned off and the gash doesn't look too noticable. I'm going to attempt to help grandpa fix the mailbox tommorow... I'm such an IDIOT!!!!!

Anyway after that incident we went for a last shave ice. The girl who was working there in Michael's blog "The Shave Ice Girl" was there again and recognized us. We told her that we heard she was working again so firgured we'd stop by and she laughed. After all six of us ordered and ate our shaved ice we decided that it'd be funny to go back in and act like we had just gotten there and order the exact same thing again. Plus we all wanted another round of shave ice. So we walked back in and asked for the same thing again! This was met by laughter from the two girls working the shave ice place and they got to work on our second round. We asked if we could just have them fill a cooler for us and they said they've actually had someone who had done that before. Finally we left and I left a $5 tip.

I cannot believe how quickly this trip went. I remember the first day I thought of it back in November or December and how far away it seemed at the time and now it is over! I will always remember this trip! I wish I wasn't so sentimental though as I now feel slightly sad that all my friends have gone and this house seems big and empty without them. I'm weird about stuff like this and I probably always will be but I always stop and reflect about the weirdest things like "If they were still here they'd be watching Matrix with me" or "Who will I swim with in the pool tommorow?" Pathetic I know, but I always have thoughts like these. Oh well I know that I'll be over it tommorow and plus I'm still in Hawaii!!! WOO HOO!!!

Hawaii Chapter 10: Flying Solo and Apparently Getting Run Over is Funny!
Current mood: happy

Today was my first day alone in Hawaii. Granted that my grandparents were here, but it's the first time in my entire life that I've been to Hawaii where I have keys to a car and I'm the only one going wherever I decide to go! Unfortunately it was pretty cloudy for most of the day today. I decided to give the weather a while to clear and it never did so I decided I'd go to the close beach to my grandparents, Kailua beach.

There were a lot of people there! I staked out my spot and jumped into the water. The waves were actually pretty decent size for Kailua so I got a lot of body surfing in. I thought it was kind of amusing because all these people were in the water and none of them were trying to body surf and then I came and caught two waves right in a row and then everyone was trying to body surf. I spent about an hour and a half doing that as it was a lot of fun and I was enjoying showing everyone else how it was done. Two teenage girls kept exchanging glances with me, but again I didn't approach them so nothing came of it.

I spent the next hour lying in the sand watching this little kid fly a black shark kite thingie. It was pretty funny because the wind was gusting pretty strong at that point and this kid must've been 4 or 5 and everytime the wind would pick up he would scamper frantically to stay with the kite. Very cute! There were a few times where I wouldn't have been suprised to see him whisked away by the wind!

After that I decided I would head on home and I started out. I reached this spot where the exit to the parking lot is and a bike lane intersects the exit. As soon as I approached it for some reason I had a feeling there was going to be a biker since it was a blind intersection. I carefully looked both ways TWICE before giving it the gas but sure enough out of no where came this teenage girl on a bike right into my path. I was only going about 10 mph but I slammed on the brakes and the whole truck skidded a second. She stopped right in my path, looked at me and the truck that had nearly just hit her, put her hand to her mouth like she was trying to hide a smile and then burst out laughing and yelled sorry! So apparently nearly being run over by a dude in a truck is amusing? I didn't know how to react so I just smiled and laughed back and told her that was ok and then I was on my way.

The rest of the evening so far has been pretty relaxing. I'm just watching some college hockey and enjoying walking around shirtless ;) Tommorow's my last day!

Hawaii Chapter 11: Goodbye Shave Ice Girls and Goodbye Hawaii
Current mood: cheerful

Today was another relaxed lowkey day. I layed around by the pool under the crystal clear skies we had today for a while and then I went to Kailua beach again with my grandpa.

We took a two mile walking path that winds through the beach park and talked about a lot of different things. We talked about how unbelievable it is that it seemed to him that just yesterday I was an infant, and here I stand today about to head to college and the world beyond.

It's days like this that make it so hard to leave Hawaii! The sky is totally clear, with a gentle breeze and bright sunshine. It's so relaxing! I hope it will be less than 9 months between now and my next visit.

Anyway after the beach park I decided to go to Hawaiian Ice for a final Shave Ice. The two girls who had been there almost every time we had gone for shaved ice were there again and smiled at me as I came in. They remembered that I was leaving soon and asked if I was bummed and I had to say I was. I'll be happy to get back home and see everyone I care about in Colorado, but there's just something about being here that makes me feel truly content, although the lack of hockey is catching up to me! Anyhow we said our goodbyes and they made for me the biggest shave ice I think I've ever gotten! So thanks Michael for breaking the ice!

I should be leaving for the airport in 3 1/2 hours so I need to go and start getting packed before a last steak dinner with my grandparents and the plane ride home!

WHAT AN AWESOME TRIP!!!

Tuesday, July 5, 2005

Fourth of July!!!

I had an awesome time on the Fourth! I've come to realize that not much in life can beat a housefull of good friends! Hope everone else's was great too!

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Parasailing is Awesome!!!

Just got back from camping and Lake Tahoe, and all I can say is parasailing rocks! I got to go to Lake Tahoe and go out on this speed boat and then I went up parasailing! I got to about 600 feet! It was so much fun! You can see the entire Lake Tahoe area from that height and it was a beautiful sunny day with the sunlight reflecting off of the deep blue water of the lake! AWESOME!!!

Friday, June 3, 2005

The Best Graduation Advice I Was Given

This is actually a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, but I'd have to rank it up there with the best advice I've gotten over the past few weeks:

Success:

To laugh often and much;

to win the respect of intelligent people

and affection of children; to earn the

appreciation of honest critics and

endure the betrayal of false friends;

to appreciate beauty, to find the best

in others; to leave the world a bit

better, whether by a healthy child,

a garden patch or a redeemed

social condition; to know even

one life has breathed easier because

you have lived. That is to have succeeded.

Saturday, February 19, 2005

Deep Thoughts...

I don't know why but for some reason I just had some pretty deep thoughts, so I thought I'd jot them down (hee hee). Here goes my attempt at being a philosopher:

As we journey through life, we can but hope that we will leave some lasting impact, some lasting impression that will endure far beyond the last scattering of our earthly ashes. How we change the world and the people around us defines who we are, and our character. Although we may never see the result of the seeds we sow, we must faithfully place them with the knowledge that a plant will grow...

Don't know if that makes sense or if anyone will even read it, but I just wanted to write my thoughts down somewhere and this is as good a place as any...

Sunday, February 13, 2005

At Least We Got One...

My ice hockey team had a 6 game winning streak as of Friday night. Had would be the key word. I had to get up at 6 this morning to go play in a game where our team got absolutely owned. We lost 10-1 but at least we scored one goal and we sucked as a team. Everything our team usually does well fell apart and I have no idea why! My only consolation is that I managed to crush a few guys on the other team in my frustration but it was still a pitiful display of hockey!

Wednesday, February 9, 2005

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Getting away for a week long cruise was awesome but coming back to school has been insane! I don't know how I"m possibly going to catch up! I've made up two aquatic bio tests, have one more to go plus the squid dissection lab. I have a Calc BC test tommorow, AP Physics test sometime soon, plus make ups of the two quizzes I missed there. My creative writing project was due today but I talked the teacher into giving me one more day so I have to write three essays all before tommorow! On top of all that I have major seinoritis!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I'm going insane!!