Am I a Material Girl?

No. I don't listen to Madonna.

Let's just make that abundantly clear right here and now.

However, I~having recently acquired a paycheck for two weeks of laborious labors~ have experienced a very typical American reaction to getting money.

The dire & mindless need to spend it as fast & shameless as humanly possible.

Prior to receiving the said paycheck I had schemed down on a list (oh, how I love to make lists, and lists of lists) how I would divvy up each paycheck for optimum financial gain.

10% - Tithing ( we're hoping God knows a good credit repair guy)
10% - Long Term Savings (liquid)
10% - Investment Pool
20% - Outstanding Debt Service on Credit Cards and Student Loans
30% - Provo Rent and other obligatory payments
20% - Feel Good Money

I was very proud of this little formula until I actually deposited the funds at my local Wells Fargo.
Not two weeks later and I am now back where I started. No I didn't blow it on ammo, cheap thrills and gadgetry (more on that later) the student loan sharks took most of it, and then OPEC claimed a nice chunk, and then I have myself to blame for some luxuries associated with food and racquetball.

Too much month and the end of the money - they always say. Damn straight, people.

However, I have one happy discipline story to be had from all of this.

As the Moores already know, I haven't had a phone upgrade since '04, and the darn thing is nearly busted. Well, yours truly had his eye on a pretty little iPhone competitor called Sprint Instinct. Which has a number of advantageous features over the the Gen 1 iPhone, mind you.

Unfortunately the plan for all the bells and whistles would end up being some where around $1000 a year..... I'm not going to pay a grand just so I can check my friggin email in between classes or on the road, and even if the GPS and touchscreen and 8GB memory and digital voicemail and web browser and hi resolution streaming video are all super snazzy I can't justify the cost compared with what my avg usage would be. So, I've decided to dip my toe into the icy waters of the law of sacrifice pool by getting a simpler phone that will not be so hard on a wallet that's already been shot and bled dry. I know. Big step for us 21st century saints - giving up the latest and greatest communications device, but there you have it. Tuesday is payday again, and this time I'll be biting the bullet and render unto Caesar that which is Caesar and unto Caesar's pizza...well you get the idea.

10.33 - time to shuffle on downstairs and get ready for another day.

Growing up sucks. The End.

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2008/06/23/daily23.html

Now What?

I've been asking myself that question for the last seven years now. Although to my defense there have been definitive "do this" moments, but for the general outline it's been like one of those oil/sand desk flippy art things - shifty and inconsistent. Yes, I looked for a picture online but no luck so you're just going to have to use your imagination cuz I ain't changing my metaphor, dang it.

5 minutes later.

Seems I wasn't really sure where I was going with this idea...bummer.

I guess the point was today was a nice day- albeit the sun is a stranger this washingtonian summer - and instead of making plans that are bound to a sequential A-B-C order in order for its ultimate success it's better to just experience the present; do some A, some C, maybe even a little J & in the end see where you end up. Not a new thought by any measure, but there you have it.
A Slacker's Guide to the Galaxy, :)

...I'm not seeing any cheese around here

The Story of a White Boy and the mischieous TOM-TOM

Reminds you of Hummingbird Lane, doesn't it? Eh? Behind Walmart and all those ditches...and things.

Represent.

Enjoy, Aubdawg

Hot Off the Press

This just in.....


Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull -

Sucks.


Someone said it was better than Temple of Doom - lies.
I even went in with low (we're talking low here) expectations.
But not low enough.

After over a decade of rumors, anticipation, and preparation this was what the minds of Lucas/Spielberg were able to come up with ?!?!

It wasn't gawdawful, but it wasn't what i needed

Shea LaBeouf - Tool
H. Ford - Tired
Bad Guys - Poor russian accent
Plot - WTF, are you friggin kidding me?

Sigh. Sleepy, feeling a midday nap coming on.

Deuce.

Chill Tune

Mason Jennings - Ballad for my One True Love



Happy Memorial Day everyone.

When in Rome...

No, I didn't elope off to Italy, or anywhere for that matter. But I am in Washington and it is a doozie. Probably the most Washingtonian thing I've done is listen to Nirvana's "Heart Shape Box" while driving through the streets of Tacoma (south of Seattle) looking for the DMV. Which was closed that day, go figure. Work starts not this week but NEXT week, and as to what that will entail, I have no clue. So yeah, Washington. It rains here. and I have to pay 1.75 to get across a bridge everyday that I drive. Darn Hippies and their bridges and their taxes. I've taken up residency with the Rawlings, where a mission friend of mine lives with his folks and whose older brother is my employer-to-be. To keep myself occupied when I'm home alone during the day, I've been blistering my fingers away on Rock Band for the PS3. It's like Guitar Hero but with karaoke, bass and drum options as well. Very fun.


So I guess BlueRay has been all but officially declared the winner of High Def Media. Darn. I was really rooting against Sony on that one. But unlike the VHS/BETA battles of the late 80s, today's consumer is far more tech savvy and demanding (and willing) for higher quality entertainment.

I heard Indiana was "OK", I'll probably see it tomorrow or something.

We play racquetball almost everyday and I've decided I definitely sweat more in this humid coastal environment than in Utah

I also decided that the 1.5 people who are likely to read this should be aware of the above information. and that you should be grateful for it as well.

So yeah, unless you have babies this is the kind of thing you blog about, I guess. Summer Blockbusters, indoor sports, and perspiration.

The End.

If I only had a plan

May 1, 2008

Dear Grayson,

Congratulations! Upon review of your application, you have been accepted into the Facility and Property Management Major Program... et cetera - et cetera, so on and so forth.

Well. Not only did I not get kicked out of school this semester, but I even managed to finagle my way into the program of my preference. Jolly Good. Now however I have the daunting task of looking at exactly how long it will be before I graduate. This should be interesting.

State of the Adams Union

Total Hours Completed: 102
Hours Remaining For Graduation: 77.5
Classes Repeated: 3
A's: 13______ B's: 13
C's: 4 _______ D's: 4
E's: 3 _______ W's: 1

GPA: 2.94

Scheduled Classes

Spring 2008 Independent Study:
Org B 320: Organizational Effectiveness, 3.0

Fall 2008
CM 105: Construction Documents, 3.0
CM 210: Light Structural Systems, 3.0
CM 211: Finishing Methods, 2.0
PAS 103: Residential Landscape Design, 3.0
BusM 300: Financial Management, 3.0
BusM 371R: Entrepreneur Lecture Series, 1.0
Rel 355: Jews and the Gospel, 1.0
Total Hours: 16.0

Age:26
Winter 2009
CM 155: Architectural Drafting, 3.0
CM 241: Electrical Systems, 2.0
CM 311: Quantity Takeoffs 3.0
CM 320: Mechanical Systems, 3.0
CM 426: Real Estate Principles and Development, 4.0
Rel 356: Islam & the Gospel, 1.0
Total Hours: 16.0

Spring 2009
BusM 340: Marketing Management, 3.0
Org B 327: Human Resource Management, 3.0

Summer 2009
FM 199R: Technical Internship, 2.0

Fall 2009
FM 291R: FM Lecture Series, 0.5
FM 310: Human & Environmental Management, 3.0
FM 360: Facility and Property Management Technologies, 3.0
CM 385: Construction Contracts and Law, 3.0
CM 412: Scheduling and Cost Control, 3.0
FM 420: Commercial Real Estate Management, 2.0
RMYL 483: Public Facility Management, 3.0
Total Hours: 16.5

Age: 27
Winter 2010
MCOM 320: Communication in Organizational Setting, 3.0
FM 340: Operations and Maintenance, 3.0
FM 399R: Capstone Internship, 3.0
CM 411: Advanced Estimates and Bidding, 3.0
CM 415: Project Management & Control, 3.0
FM 430: Capital Planning and Management, 3.0
Total Hours: 18.0

Just looking at this massive grocery list of classes makes me sleepy. But at least the end is in sight, right? You'll notice that there are no "in class" courses scheduled for this summer. Well, I've been given an opportunity in Washington just south of Seattle to work for a mission buddy's brother's management firm. It should be neat. More on this subject later.

An LDS Perspective on LSD

The druggiest substance I've ever been privy to in my days was some Vicodin when I got my wisdom teeth pulled. Even then, under a prescribed dosage, I said things and behaved in ways very uncharacteristic to my public nature.

However.

Given a choice with a guarantee of zero consequences, psychedelics probably would shed some light on a few Pink Floyd songs that I've been listening to, as of late.

The real question that I propose at this juncture, is the following:

Do you have 21 minutes and 38 seconds to sacrifice your full attention to the following chill and mellow melody? Go ahead, think about it. I'll wait.


----




"Echoes" has three short verses with one of the longest bridges you've ever heard (AABA if B is the bridge) - and to be frank, it's was a bit tedious until I personalized some imaginative visuals to accompany it.

This instrumental break is more interesting to me than the lyrics themselves (be they, awesome as they are)

With themes of eternity, timelessness, infinity (all those abstracts) the music takes a constant steady and strong tone after the second verse. Kind of like a part of human history that is accepted as fact and heralded as a personification to man's greatness. But then, right around 10:30 (in this particular version), that slow steady beat fades away into obscurity, as history falls into legend, then myth, and is at last forgotten in some deep chasm beneath the ocean - screaming out occasionally, yet completely unheard. Until eons have passed, and everything about the former song is lost to memory until 6:45 on the second clip, when perhaps by chance or providence - something is being excavated, invigorated, brought into the light. Until finally, suddenly and almost violently, it breaks forth from an unseen darkness and blinds the world with it glory. And that, which no one believed existed only moments before, is staring them right in the face - apocalyptic and indisputable.
It's powerful moment of return, the third verse, feels all too short but all the same - familiar and warm. Then, it too fades away, remembered by a new generation, waiting in its own time to come back to life at some future point in time and space.

This may be the 3:13 A.M. in me talking, I realize that. But I think it's one of the most reflective and satisfying songs composed. Ever.

Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air
And deep beneath the rolling waves
In labyrinths of coral caves
The echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand
And everything is green and submarine.

And no-one called us to the land
And no-one knows the wheres or whys
But something stirs and something tries
And starts to climb towards the light

Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can

And no-one calls us to move on
And no-one forces down our eyes
And any-one speaks and no-one tries
And no-one flies around the sun

Cloudless everyday you fall upon my waking eyes
inviting and inciting me to rise
And through the window in the wall
Come streaming in on sunlight wings
A million bright ambassadors of morning

And no-one sings me lullabies
And no-one makes me close my eyes
And so I throw the windows wide
And call to you across the sky

Redemption

Hi.

Chicken Coop Fairy Tales (FW)

I've been charged to list 10 random things about myself and it may come across as no surprise that I've procrastinated the effort. However, now being 25 minutes to deadline and with nothing else for a topic to write about I surrender the following.

Randoms of Mr. Random, himself

1. I have a special affinity for squirrels, inasmuch that if I'm ever allowed to make a world, my first course of action will be to remove all disgusting vile arachnid creatures from the program and replace them with miniature squirrels that climb on your shoulder and give advice when they're not killing insects.

2. When I was in my early teens I was still getting offered a child's menu at restaurants. Just last week, someone mistook me to be the father of someone who is only 4 years my junior (Alyssa).

3. My preferred mutant (special) power would most definitely be stopping time just like the girl from the show "Out of this World" where she put her index fingers together. Naturally there would be no aging effects on myself during these periods of prolonged time stoppage. I would never be late or miss a deadline and when I got tired of being around people I could take a year off anytime I wanted. It would be rad.

4. When I feel anxious, I clean my room (well, sort of)

5. My favorite on campus game is "finish the sentence" as I hear a soundbyte from someone's conversation passing by and then finish it with the most ridiculously possible outcome of my own invention.

6. I like the things I like, but when I see someone else behaving similarly often I mock disapprovingly at their actions.

7. I do voices when no one is around to hear me, for my own amusement.

7. I like to mess with people's minds. (gotcha)

9. That which I'm not supposed to laugh at is what I find the most comical.

10. I spent twenty minutes trying to think of a good number 10, gave up, and poured myself a glass of chocolate milk. Mmmm, good stuff.