Tokyo Drifting

I went to BYU Racing for the first time today. This means that I walked around for an hour and watched other people do things. Some leader guy told me that most people join way before I did, so I was quite a bit behind and he didn't know how caught up they would get me. I also signed up to tryout for a driving position, because that sounded like fun. Wish me luck. I have to win a qualifying race. Hooray.

Today, some rando guy came up to me and Allie basking in the sunlight and said, "I feel you guys" in a really low monotone voice. He then looked at us and said, "Do you know where I could buy doughnuts around here?" I told him where the small bakery was and he said "Okay, thanks" and walked away. It was one of the strangest encounters of my life.

After this, I went to Paige's mission call opening. She is going to Oaxaca, Mexico speaking Spanish. Crazy. Good old Pedge. She leaves on July 15. Good luck, my friend. I'll have mine before too much longer.

Oh yeah, I forgot something. I have a call now. Ward indexer. What does an indexer do, you ask? I don't know and they even told me about it. It is probably something useless, but that's likely a good fit for me. I don't think I would do well with a lot of responsibilities on top of what I already have to do. Short day today, and it's time for bed. Goodest of nights, lads and lasses.

bored bored bored and also global warming

 Today was boring. If there was a theme in my life, that would be it. Eventually I will be unbored. Maybe.

Yesterday I got a text from none other than Abby Shelton informing me that I will be going on a date with a girl named Rachel on Wednesday. That's in 2 days. Hooray. So much for all that explaining about how I didn't want to go on any dates.

Isabel and Becca didn't recognize me because my hair was too short. I just heard them screaming and then they were right in front of me. In case you're wondering what temperature it was, it was probably 50 degrees. Screw you, global warming. Don't get me wrong, I love warm weather, but it is January. It shouldn't be 50 degrees in January. I just looked up heat records and found something unrelated: in 2015 it snowed in Utah on July 17, my birthday. I don't recall this being a big deal. Weird that winter 2023 saw record snowfall. Alta hit 903" of snow, over 150" more than their previous record. Summer 2023 was the hottest on record. The planet does weird things when it isn't being taken care of, causing huge amplifications of dramatic weather patterns. 

I drove to American Fork to eat ribs with Grandpa and Papanwa. They were delicious, and it was good to see them again. I also made a group in my engineering class for the design project and discovered that the 3 girls I'm in a group with also do BYU Racing. Hooray. I'll write more tomorrow.

#iapologize #lateagain #dontworrybro

 I forgot again. I'm sorry. If you want to burn me at the stake, go for it. You'll never catch me if you tried. #toofast. Yesterday was Charles' farewell. He is headed to Knoxville, Tennessee. It was nice to talk to him before he left. Apparently I was the only one of his friends who came because they are all on missions already. They played the pirate hymn as his final hymn. The lard will be on his syde for sure. He talked about how he wasn't going to serve a mission at all, and then his patriarchal blessing said sike you're gonna do that. It was pretty empowering to hear his perspective and how he changed. Charles struggled for a very long time to get his mission call in the first place, and his determination just to make through all of these hoops before he could serve was really cool. Compared to him, I have relatively little work that I have to do to get a mission call. Very cool, that Charles guy.

I make terrible decisions. I really need to stop complicating my life. Enough said.

After Charles' farewell, I dropped of my medical papers at the doctor's office and they checked my arm for any tuberculosis. Negative. Then I headed to a meeting with Bishop Wade about my mission papers. He pretty much said nice, let me know if you need help. Then I went home and taught Violet basic piano. I also helped her work on figure matrices for her A.L.L. (Advanced Lindon Losers, according to Hazel, who is in the program) test in a couple of weeks. That girl cannot sit still. The hardest part of the test for her will be sitting in the chair for long enough to complete the test. Then I worked on Differential Equations; my mother made her "Smart at Math, Stupid at Love" joke again. She is mean to me. I should have said "Stupid at Marriage, Smart at Law", but I didn't because I am considerate of her feelings. If she says it again I will consider it. She was texting a man yesterday. Austin Adams? Something Adams. That's all I know. You better get it, mom.

Air Force Brat

I arose at 11 am. Read the last blog post if you really need to know why. After showering, I brushed my teeth then left to get a haircut. I didn't know that men were allowed to be employed at Sports Clips, but he was very young. He was also very thorough and it was probably the best haircut I have ever received. Thanks Zeke. You're a real one, bro. I look like an Air Force brat now with an almost buzzed head, but at least the mish should be happy. We did not ski today because we stayed up till 3, and that sounded miserable. After my haircut, I ate In'N'Out because it was in the same parking lot. Then I went home, put on church clothes, and went to the temple. It took forever because there were a couple of wards there. I got to do confirmations for the first time, so that was cool I guess. I went home and did some homework, then the mother texted me and asked if I wanted to go see Mean Girls with her and the mean normal girls. She said that I could bring a friend, so I asked Ethan. He said he had to finish his homework. I then asked Katy, who said she could come. I picked her up and drove to Pleasant Grove. I forgot how weird that movie is. It had some funny parts though; I really hope Katy enjoyed it. It seemed like she did, cause it didn't seem like she didn't, so that's a good sign. Part way through the movie, Cady (main character) sings a song called "Smart at Math, Stupid at Love". My loving mother leaned over and said, "It's you! Do you relate to this song?" Thanks mom. Appreciate it. I drove Katy (not the main character in the movie) home and went back to my apartment. Allie called and asked if I wanted to go country dancing. I didn't really, so I said that. About an hour later, she called me and begged me to go, but I didn't want to, since it was already 11:00. For those of you who are observant, yes, this was half an hour ago. I said that I couldn't because I was writing in my blog. You're welcome. Now I am going to do some engineering homework and then go to sleep. Goodnight, boys and girls.

Not today, but yesterday's events

 Today was yesterday. Sorry that I'm late. You'll understand why once you've read this blog post.

Yesterday I skipped work to go to the doctor. Mother said that I was up to date on shots. I went with no fear of what would occur inside, but little did I know what awaited me behind those smiling logos. Okay, it wasn't actually that bad. An old guy looked at my balls, and then a young lady poked me with something sharp 5 times. I am glad that those roles were in that order and not inverted. I got 3 shots, a TB test, and a finger prick. My arms are still hurting, but not nearly as bad as yesterday.

After the doctor, I went to the library to hang out with Sophie and Lucy. It was chill. We did homework. Much exciting. Then, I walked home and went to Paige's surprise birthday party. There, Ethan and I redezvous-ed with Isabel and Becca. I said postpartum as a joke, referring to post party events. Ethan said "what? huh?" with a typical look of confusion. I said it again and Allie did the same thing. I said it a third time and Isabel did the same thing. I said, "Do you think we can get 4 out of 4?" I said it again and Becca had the same reaction. For the rest of the night, the word 'postpartum' became a sort of running joke. We then decided that for our postpartum plans, we would go to the gala at the BYU MOA. I went home and put on my baby blue suit, and we went to the museum. Everyone and their mom was dressed fancy, but it was a madhouse because there were so many people. Isabel and I were interviewed for our very blue garments, and they asked what inspired our looks. Isabel said she liked the way it looked. I said that the sky had always been a big inspiration to me growing up, so I tried to replicate that feeling. We looked at art and debated the meanings and rhetorical(?) choices that each artist made in crafting their work. I said that a certain painting reminded me of certain Nirvana cover, so Ethan posed with it. As we were browsing the works of old, dead guys, we saw one painting with an incredibly ornate frame. You'll never guess what word it said at the bottom: POSTPARTUM. I kid you not. We have photo evidence. Ethan quipped that he was going to steal a painting.

After the gala, we wanted to go somewhere fancy in our fancy clothes. We were going to go to the mocktail bar, but there was no parking. We went to Wiibeck and Isabel's clubhouse and played pool and drank sparkling cider. It was fun, and probably around 12:30. Isabel left her watch on the table so I stole it and put it on. I was wearing a watch on my other wrist, so I had two. I decided I would see how long it took her to notice. We went back to their apartment and decided we would watch a movie. Inspired by our timey garb, we began the film Oceans 8. Coincidentally (or not), it is about thieves who attend a gala and steal jewelry. As the movie continued, I made increasingly deliberate comments about how my watch wasn't working and held my hands up together. Isabel took no notice of these things, although everyone else did. Soon everybody knew except Isabel. She ate pickles, and eventually she asked me what I was doing for some reason that I forget. I replied quickly with, "Eat your pickles and get back to work." It was hysterical for no particular reason; easily my best one line comeback in history. At the very end of the movie, Isabel looked at my wrist and said, "Are you wearing my watch?" Surprise! We then watched the entire history of the world, i guess, and then went home. It was 3 am when I got in my bed.

Ethan Scott, everyone.

Becca parked so close to this car that she was touching it.

Literally me in 50 years.

*THE DOORS ARE CLOSING FROM ABOVE*

 I will let you decide how I woke up this morning:

        Choose one option:

    A. I woke up before my alarm

    B. I woke up to my alarm

    C. I woke up 20 minutes before class started and my alarm didn't go off at all

If you chose answer C, you are correct! I wish I had a prize to give you. I am quite proud of myself; I managed to get dressed and make it to the JKB to Linear Algebra on time. It's crazy what you can do when you only have one goal and not multiple things you're trying to accomplish. Today we learned about span and linear combinations, which seem pretty basic. I have not been confused yet in that class.

I talked briefly to Katy, not a whole lot, but some. I looked around for her but didn't see her when I first got there, so I sat by myself. Then I saw her in an adjacent hallway... and then I was too scared to go sit by her because I'm afraid of new people. So I texted her and asked if she was in the building even though I knew she was and then she came over and sat by me, so it worked out.

Greek and Roman Literature tugged at the heartstrings today. We talked about war (as usual) but today was much more personal. We related the war happening in the Iliad to the horrible, terrible wars in the real world. Did you know that 2020 was the year that America stopped paying out reimbursements for the Civil War? An old veteran married a very young lady, who finally died in 2020. That's a really long time for a relatively short war. We discussed dehumanization as a tool to help children stay sane while murdering other people. We talked about how war doesn't just effect those on the battlefield, but every single person who knows each and every soldier who has to be absent from their families and friends, whether permanently or temporarily. War is a harrowing thing. Those who start wars are often those who do not have to suffer. Black Sabbath said it well in their song "War Pigs":

"Politicians hide themselves away, they only started the war. Why should they go out to fight? They leave that role to the poor, yeah."

They don't suffer nearly as much as those who have to watch people wander in shock looking for lost limbs. They don't have to taste the bloody mud that sprays up with each grenade blast. They don't have to shoot people point blank and live with the feeling. It's no wonder PTSD is so prevalent among veterans of any sort of conflict. These things aren't things of the past that don't apply to our war-free world. This is happening in Ukraine and in Israel. I only hope that these things resolve themselves and that it doesn't come to involve the rest of the world. No, I hope they end so that nobody has to feel their effects anymore. I don't want to be forced to lower my compassion and become something unbelievable, disregarding human life like man to a bug.

On another happier note, today was career fair day. I arrived at work, grabbed a cart, and pulled boxes/chairs around until I was told everything was done. This is a fun part of my job, because I get to use the freight elevators in the Wilk. Something was different from the last time I used them, however. They installed an alarm that plays a very loud recording: "THE DOORS ARE CLOSING FROM ABOVE", accompanied by flashing lights and beeping. While moving things about with Sterling, I made some comment about it. He asked if I knew why they added them. I figured it was because someone got squished in one of them. He said yes, but if I knew who? I said no. He paused, stared me in the face, and said, "It was Dallin H. Oaks!" He said he talked to the guy who had to fill out the accident report for the incident, and that it was the security guard's fault for ushering them in while it was closing. Now there are warning signs everywhere because Dallin H. Oaks got hit on the head with a door. Funny, isn't it. Now it warns you that the doors are closing on your head before they hit you. Those doors were pretty loud in the first place, so I don't know how you wouldn't move out of the way when you heard them start closing, but he probably wasn't thinking about it.

I looked around my office today and realized that most of the people that I work with are married. Even the people that are only a couple of years older than I am are sealed up. That scares me about as much as war does, if not more. Is that not the saddest thing you've ever heard? I am afraid of marriage, everyone. I'm terrified of dates. I'd rather give a work presentation than go on a one on one date with a girl. My heart beats all weird and I feel stressed the whole time. I know that I do have to get married at some point, but I just try not to think about it because that means doing a lot more things before and after that I am also afraid of. I have an image in my head of what that version of myself would look like, and it isn't me. I don't feel like I'd be worth it as a spouse. I know what you're thinking: "oh my gosh that is so sad you have the lowest self esteem there's hope for you don't think that way how can we help you that isn't true you probably have depression now we're worried about you," I'm gonna cut you off right there. I do think that, but it doesn't bother me. Strangely enough, I don't feel pressure to be worth dating. I don't feel like I have anything to prove to anyone I'd go on a date with, which would be impressive in and of itself. I know what I'm doing and I know where I want to go. I don't need the approval of a female to feel like I can accomplish something great. For a lot of people, children are the single great thing they achieve. They do other things sure, but children stand out as the number one. My children will be my number one accomplishment as well, but I'm going to have a long list of other things I'm proud of doing. I know it. I won't let myself live without it. I've never really dated someone and I don't feel a need to for some reason. I know that I would like that kind of validation if I had it, but I don't feel like I need to go find it. I have other things in my life that are more important than that. Once I have decided to marry someone, then yeah, that'll take first place from whatever else I'm pursuing. But for now, I've got my number one. If you're reading this and thinking, "man, that kid doesn't want a girlfriend, he doesn't want to date anyone," that isn't what I said. I'm saying that I don't have to chase that right now. If it finds me, great. If it doesn't, that's fine too. I'm not going to go out and look for it out of a combination of indifference, fear, past experience, and priority.

I guess that's all from me. I could go to the temple tomorrow morning with the regular temple group, but I don't really want to get up at 6. It's a building. It is God's building, and that makes it special. But it is a building nonetheless. I do not arise at 6 am for buildings. I know that could offend someone, but I don't care. Unfortunately that is the way my mind works. I wish it were different. I am going sleep now. Goodnight.

Driving more vans and becoming the Avatar

    Bowling class, check. Mechanical engineering, check. Differential equations, complete. Religion is done. Boom, there's half my day. I kinda just went through the usual today until I got to drive two vans at work. It wasn't very exciting either. I did meet one Meagan Carter's aunt, however. Apparently she works in the same office as me and her parents live within two blocks of my home. Weird.

After working, I went back to my apartment. I learned that Ethan and I needed to leave for wallyball in about 30 minutes, so we did. Wallyball is 4v4 volleyball on a racquetball court, so you can use the walls to your advantage. Get it, wallyball? Dumb name, I know. We lost, as expected, but we played a lot better than the first game. I'm making better friends with most of the people on the team, so that is a plus. We had about 2 hours until our intramural water polo game started, so Ethan and I parked ourselves in a corner of the RB and worked on homework. I worked on my differential equations homework for the duration of our waiting. I think I finished two problems? That class is so difficult for me, and I don't know what to do about it. I can't go see the TA's because I am busy for the entire day up to when they leave. That isn't good. There are no worked solutions for my textbook online, so I can't learn from those. I'll probably just have to Kahn Academy that motherfather until I'm a god at differentials. It sucks.

Now for water polo. This sport is not regular water polo, my friends. This is inner tube water polo. It is played a lot like normal water polo, but you must be seated in an inner tube for the entire match. If you fall out, you have to get back in before you can play again. Allie fell out of hers 3 times and was so embarrassed that she subbed out immediately. I felt bad, but it was pretty funny. We got crushed, but that is probably the most fun sport I have played in my entire life. You just paddle around and throw a ball. It isn't very competitive from an outside point of view, but while you're playing it very much is. Afterwards, we went back to building 6 and I worked on my homework and talked. I submitted 10 minutes before submissions closed, so I don't think I did super great. I then had to do another assignment for linear algebra. Working with the speed of a cheetah running for its life, I finished most of the assignment and got an 82. Pretty good for 10 minutes of speedrunning. 

All in all, it was a pretty wrote day. I didn't do much that was special but it was still fun nonetheless. It is currently 12:36 am and I am exhausted, so I am going to bed now. Goodnight people who read about my life that I don't know about. I hope you have a wonderful day.

Which came first, the paper or the paper?

 If I were to hypothetically take some paper, shred it into little pieces, and then smush it together with some water, did I make new paper? What if I were to roll it out into tablets (not sheets, it's too thick)? I don't think that you just made paper. I think you just put old paper together. If I were to cut up a child and smash it back together with some water or the child equivalent, would it be a new child? Even if I mixed and matched parts? No. You have made a defiled corpse and are psychotic. You will also be going to federal prison and likely be executed, you sicko. I would like to take a national poll of this because I think I am right. This exact debate occurred earlier this evening, so thus explains the title.

This morning I didn't shower (because I showered last night, for you judgy people), so I woke up with anime hero hair. I tried getting it wet, but 18 years of life has taught me that fighting follicles is futile. Look at that alliteration. Literal literary genius. I decided that I would be wearing a hat today. It didn't come off at all today and is on my head as I write this. Womp, womp. I ran into Truly Carter on my way to class, who I met at orientation and became good friends with. She asked if I was going to the devotional, to which I explained that I hadn't been since week one of school. She laughed and said that it's okay, and then we talked about other stuff until we arrived at my building. Halfway through class, Ethan texted me and asked if I was going to the devotional. I thought about it and then decided sure, I'd go to the devotional. I knew that it was David A. Bednar, so I also knew that it was going to be in-shane-ly crowded. I went and called Truly on the way to discover that she had to sit with her sister who drove from American Fork to attend. I found Ethan, then looked at the sea of people that were here to hear this dude. Wild. I will attach a photo.

Look at all those devoted folks. I knew my mother would have something to say, so I sent it to her as well. This was the response I received:

My brain laughed on the inside, but I figured that some people around me might be upset if I laughed. Long story short, Bed-dawg pretty much quoted a bunch of dead guys and then added a bit about not cheating with AI (perfect for the college kids) and how it will diminish your growth and prevent your eternal progression. If God doesn't have a route for people who use ChatGPT to write their weekly religion essay, then I think that most of the world is probably screwed on Judgment Day. Just sayin'. The person behind me had one knee out, so I had to sit with a curve in my back for an hour. Oh yeah, and the people in front of me were as close to making out as you can be without making out. So all in all was a wonderful experience. Would highly recommend to a friend. The only reason I give 4.5 stars is because they let his wife speak first. I would have preferred more of his prepared remarks.

Thinking that I was about to be late for the legendary Mike Pope's Greek and Roman Literature class, I walked briskly to the MARB, only to figure out that class didn't start for another half hour. I turned around and sat on a bench outside the classroom, then realized that the girl I was sitting next to was Katy Hansen! Katy is roommates with Elise, Miriam, Ashlee, Lauren, and Claire, so I knew her somewhat. This had happened once before, but we didn't really talk about anything of substance. I asked her if she went to the devotional, and she said she hadn't been since the first week either. I was like omigosh same girl (in normal vocabulary terms) and then we struck up a conversation about how we've felt at BYU. I can't go into detail about what we talked about, but I can say that we seemed to have pretty similar sentiments and opinions about things. This was especially odd considering what they were, and we kept talking until class started. I'd thought Katy was one of those stereotypically pretty dance girls or something who I wasn't cool enough to talk to. Turns out I was wrong. Walking into class, I thought "Hey, I should text her and say that I appreciated our conversation and that it was nice to talk to someone who seemed to think like I do," but I didn't. I'm very much afraid as coming off as overly eager about things and that it'll scare people off. I figured that I would just see her again the next week and we'd talk again at some point. GUESS WHAT? As I sat down in the broken chair in the 3rd row of the class, I got a text from none other than Katy echoing exactly what I was too scared to say. Wild. We texted periodically through class, and then she asked if I liked cars. I do like cars. They are one of those super cool things that I wish I knew more about but don't really know how to learn about them. I want to buy old cars later and fix them to be really cool again. You'd think I might've learned my lesson the first time, but I answered yes and feigned serious interest. She then said that I should join the BYU Racing team, and then explained that she does marketing and that they need more engineers. It was a low time commitment that fit perfectly in my schedule. Wild again. Next week I will go to their meeting and decide on a team to join. I don't think I will be told that none of the teams are for me and to make a new one, but anything's possible. Anyways, I think Katy's really really cool and I want to be better friends with her. 

After speeding through work assignments, I went home and did my laundry. I then went with Elise to an opera competition performance in the music building. It was great and I liked it, but I seriously could not watch their faces without laughing. They looked so silly, and a lot of them had stupid dances to go with their performances. To prevent myself from being unintentionally rude, I watched the walls and the pianist instead. Elise felt bad because I think she thought that I was only going because she invited me and made me feel like I had to go. She was sort of right, I wouldn't have gone without her, but I did enjoy it and I'm glad I went. We then walked to the Marriott Center to catch the last 40 seconds of BYU vs Houston, a game that they had a chance to close out for a win, but didn't. They missed an open 3 that would have sent them to overtime. Pretty good, considering Houston was second in March Madness last year. We went back to building 6, and Claire and other basketballers returned from the game moments later. They announced they were going to sing happy birthday to someone and that I couldn't come because it would be weird. So, I stayed there and talked to Lauren instead about dating. We talked about her recent plans to attend the gala in the Museum of Art with Jozen, and then talked about my dating life, which is mostly full of confusion and complication. I have things that I would want to say to someone with full context watching my life or reading this, but I cannot say them here because without full context I would send the wrong message. If you are a reader and you are actively related to anything I talk about, you'd better keep this on the confidential. Otherwise I'll blacklist you so that you can't read these words ever again. Can I do that? Doesn't matter, I will find a way. This includes speculative discussion about what you think I meant in something or trying to read between the lines with a partner, roommate, or family member. I wrote everything I wanted you to know. If I didn't include something, it was because I'm smart enough not to include it. This blog is a solitary experience, a product best enjoyed alone. If my life complicates because of words that I wrote, I will have no choice but to change the URL and keep it a secret. Don't make me do that. I have no clue who is reading these other than those who've told me that they do, so this is my message to all of those under-the-radar fellas and mellas.

This is officially the latest I've gone to bed this semester. You should be proud of me. I am going to bed now, goodnight. I've thoroughly enjoyed our time together.

Umm, I don't really like you... take your 40 and go home.

 The title is something that my coworkers will understand. Inside joke shared at work, and I jokingly told them I would put it as the title of today's post. I couldn't think of anything, so I decided why not and did it anyways.

I went to school today. Surprise. After school, I went to work. Surprise. After work, I went to the library. Surprise. My days are highly repetitive and would probably be boring if they weren't so critical to my later success. Differential equations should be renamed to indifferent equations, because they don't care if you know how to solve them. They'll just be as difficult as they want and there isn't much a computer program can do to solve them. I worked on a couple of problems for 2+ hours today. I then gave up and moved on to the following problems, which I did fairly quickly because they were pretty straight forward and made sense based on what we learned in class. Well, what I would've learned in class if I'd gone on Friday. I totally forgot I had switched times and didn't go at all. Add that to the blunder list this week.

I used to think when I was small that when you grow up you get a whole lot more mature, you get smarter, married, and get a lot of money. You also get good at basketball and you are free to do what you want. I was also convinced that you were basically grown up at 18 years old. Guess what? Only one of those is true. Can you guess which one? Oh, sorry. Corporate just called. There was an error in the script; none of those are true. Sorry, fellas. You're free to do what you want... outside of the hours from 9-6 on weekdays. You're not very good at basketball, unless you are, in which case none of these apply to you and you should go back to practice, Allen Iverson. You don't get a lot of money, you just get good at convincing other people to give you what you need. You don't get married unless you're crazy, and the proportionality of crazy people to normal people at this school is high. You might be a bit smarter than when you were 10, but all that gets you is more work to do because now you can handle it. And last but not least, you don't mature even a little bit. Your priorities just change. Today I dealt with someone who I will not name that only seemed to be concerned with their own interests, no matter how small or petty, at the cost of someone else's happiness. When I brought this up, the topic was changed to how things weren't fair for them. Lame, I know. I've been there, kid. If you're reading this in the future, I tried my best to help you out. I know how you feel (even if you don't) cause I had to deal with the same stuff countless times. It sucks. But it is what it is. Keep doing what you're doing and don't let other people's dumb choices get in your way of doing what you love. Okay, enough of that.

Have you ever seen that old movie I Love Lucy? Yeah, me either. I was just reminded of the title because I'm going to hang out with Lucy and Sophie this weekend after my mission physical doctor's appointment. Then we're going to the basketball game on the 10th. Funny how your mom can make friends for you even before you were born. I met Sophie when I was 3 months old. I met Lucy just before Christmas. My mother keeps relaying me information that I have no way to verify the accuracy of, so I will not repeat it here. I will let you, dear reader, speculate on what that could possibly mean. I probably should start reading the Iliad now. I think I'm 100 something pages behind because I'm just lazy and don't want to read.

I can't yet. I was sitting in church yesterday when I decided to test something that has been on my mind for a bit, and I think I'm onto something. A piece of thread came off of my pants, which normally is not a noteworthy event that ends up being written in a blog. But, I am writing it here just in case someone needs to know this story eventually, or if my ideas have any significance in history. This string was particularly long, probably around 8 inches or so. I had done this on smaller strings, so I was curious what would happen with a larger string. If you spin the string between your fingers, it will create nodes and antinodes along the string. The speed at which you spin it determines how many there are. And there isn't a continuum of them either. They also occur at fixed values, just like Planck's quantization of the atom. Tying (slapstick comedy right there) this idea into string theory, would the elementary particles just be specific spin values of a string? Which would then represent itself as a different frequency? Is it just strings that do this? Or does everything do this, we just can't see it yet? Weird stuff, I know. I don't know how closed strings would fit into this, but I'm working on it.

Anyways, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. I'm trying really hard to make this a regular thing from now until I don't know when. Goodnight, loyal readers.

Florists like Texas Roadhouse

There was no sun today. I know what you are thinking: "But Willy, today was Sunday." Bro, whoever invented Sunday lied. The word comes from the Latin, dies solis, which meant day of the sun. More lies. Who would name a day after the weather they were having? That would be like me saying, "Oh, there was an earthquake today, so let's call today Shakeday," or "Today there was a red sunset. It is now Redsday." For some smart dudes, Latin speakers weren't good at names. The Babylonians devoted the day to the sun, which the Romance languages changed to "Lord's Day", which is why it is dimanche in French. The more you know.

I woke up around 10 today and waltzed around for a bit as I always do. Then, I looked at what homework I wasn't going to do today. I thought about doing it, I really did. But then I looked over at my ski helmet and thought that doing the next layer of paint would be more fun. I guess I haven't written about that yet. My ski helmet's shell was coming loose and would shake around when I moved my head from side to side. I have had it for several years now, so I decided that I wanted to make it cool before I have to get a new one. I bought 3M mounting tape and stuck it between the foam and the plastic to stick the shell into place. It worked like a charm. I also bought spray paint and sandpaper so that I could make it look cool... like a rebel pilot helmet from Star Wars. You know, like the one Luke is wearing when he blows up the Death Star. Pretty cool, huh. I just did the layer of red for the striping today, I'll probably do marigold sometime this week and then do the insignias later. Not sure how I'm gonna do that yet, but hopefully it's ready by Saturday. What even is a satur anyways? Sounds like Saturn. (*edit, I looked it up, and yeah, it's from the Latin for day of Saturn. Who said planets weren't cool?) I usually paint over by the decrepit volleyball courts just north of Heritage because I figured nobody would care if the sand had some paint on it. I keep expecting some BYU guy to come yell at me but so far nobody has. Looks dope though.

I went to church in my baby blue suit, which a lot of people complimented. However, nobody talked to me at church or said welcome, never seen you before, or anything like that. I sat by myself and waited for Ethan to pass the sacrament. Then he came and sat by me. We finished church and a couple of girls that he knew talked to us for a bit and then we walked home from the JKB with them. Fast forward to ward prayer tonight when we hung out with them again. I still don't know their names. And I'm lowkey scared to ask now because they definitely know mine. Oh well. I'll hear it eventually.

I got a text from the mothership during church asking if I had plans tonight. She needed help moving a table hutch thing into the dining room that she bought off KSL. I knew she was excited because she's been looking for something to match the cherry in that room forever, so I said I'd be there. I went after church and we moved it as Jed (neighbor guy who always has something to say about our manual labor techniques that you'll hear about eventually) watched on from his driveway at the end of the cul de sac. When the Erin had to take a break from carrying it up the stairs I told her to hurry before Jed comes up and tells us what to do. She picked it up immediately. We got it in the house and put it where it needed to be, then she said "Where are we eating?" She likes to play this game where she invites me home to go eat but refuses to choose a place and makes me do it. It's a dumb game. But she plays nonetheless. She could go pro if she really wanted. After 15 minutes of deliberation, we chose Texas Roadhouse. We went there (on the day of the sun, I know. I'm a sinner. Thrust me down to hell already so we can get it over with.) We sat down and I looked over my mom's shoulder to see none other than my high school floral teacher, Mrs. Blackburn. She liked me quite a bit because I did all of the projects fast and asked her how she felt about the anti-GMO movement. She said she would get fired if she told me how much she hated it for the choice words she would say. Eventually, I went over and said hello briefly, and she said it was nice to see me and to keep her update on what I'm up to. I went back, we ate our food, and then we went home. Then I drove back to campus and went to ward prayer and played games as we always do. Dallin (I think that's his name), the ping-pong master, challenged the winner of mine and Ethan's game. It happened to be me, and I lost to him really bad. He's pretty social awkward, and is vice president of BYU's ping-pong club. He also doesn't live in Heritage. He just comes to challenge people at ping-pong. Imagine being good at something.

I also saw William Westerberg today. He was on my 7th grade TSA competition team. We won first place in the state competition together and got to go to Atlanta, Georgia. Then we got there and my teacher didn't bring enough Lego pieces for us to complete their challenge. Lame. Could've been national champions. Ironically, we beat Oak Canyon Jr. High to get there, who had won the last 5 or so years in a row. I then moved there the year after, but didn't do TSA. That trip was crazy. We thought it was a day later than it actually was, so a young, 7th grade Will was awoken at 4 am the day before he thought he was leaving and was handed a cell phone, some cash, and a duffle bag with a couple of pairs of shorts. Apparently motherboard had it in her calendar wrong (right, but the wrong context) and my teacher called at 4 to ask why I wasn't at the school. We had to meet them at the airport and I was not prepared for that trip at all. I think I had like 200$ cash or something crazy for the whole week. Then mothership Amazoned some stuff to our hotel. We stayed in the Omni Hotel, which was crazy rich hotel stuff. CNN had their headquarters there or something like that. By some miracle, I didn't lose the 200$ and I made it through the week. I was fairly homesick though, maybe because I left so unexpectedly, but I did get home before that much longer. It was only like a 5 day conference or something. I promptly quit TSA forever after that. Goodbye, Mr. Wardle. If you're reading this, just know that it wasn't your fault. Things just weren't working out between us. Also, you are old and I'd be impressed if you're still alive right now. I take that back. I'm pretty sure you teach at Provo High now.

Anyway, didn't do any homework and spent my last 20 minutes writing this instead of catching up on the Iliad. Why? Because I'm writing history, not reading it. Quote that. Make it your phone background or whatever. Bye.

                        "I'm writing history, not reading it."

                                                        -Will Ott

The Tale of the Killer Lift Operator

 Today was Saturday, which means it was also slope day. Slope day is a weekly holiday in which I and some friends (Zimi, Ethan, and Miriam) get to go ski the beautiful mountains of Park City, Utah. We left late today, leaving at 9 instead of the usual 7:30. The drive was typical; we passed the ominous lake of Deer Creek Reservoir and made it there about 45 minutes later. We were very afraid we wouldn't get parking, and things were not looking good. People were scanning the rows trying to find somewhere to park. Park City High School was closed for an event, so we couldn't park there if we needed to. Suddenly, a spot miraculously appeared despite many others searching desperately. We parked and went into the resort. It started hot, but it started to snow and got cold quick. We rode most of the day. Zimi crashed hard and lost her skis, which was so sudden but hilarious. She was alright, by the way. I wouldn't laugh at serious injuries. We also watched a girl drop not one, but both gloves from the lift on accident, and she didn't even notice. We told her we would get them for her on our way down because she wasn't good enough to go that way, and we were going that way anyway. She didn't seem that excited that we were gonna get them for her, and she didn't seem to care much that she had no gloves in the freezing snow. We waited at the bottom, and eventually saw her. Ethan gave her the gloves and she said, "Oh, thank you," in probably the least excited tone I've ever heard. Oh well. Maybe it was her first day. 

We also hit the terrain park, which I'd never done. Turns out that jumps go a lot better if you have enough speed to clear them. Learned that through experience. We ran the park for probably an hour or two, at which point we went down to Saddleback and rode that for a while. After Saddleback, we went to Tombstone, whose name is very fitting apparently. Tombstone is a six person lift and has automatic gates to let people through to board the lift. Zimi was slightly behind me, and I was slightly behind Ethan. I expected him to wait, but he didn't and flew through the gate. I barely made it through, but I clipped the wood next to the boarding area. The friction slowed me way down and I fell. This would be no problem, but I glanced up and the lift operator who was probably about 50 years old was staring at me on the ground. He glared at me, but didn't move. As I tried to stand up, I was pushed back down by the lift behind me. I was being crushed by a lift. I didn't really know what to do because the guy was just watching me get smushed so I laid flat on the snow and went under the lift. As soon as it went by, I popped up back on my feet. Then and only then did the lift operator slow the lift. The people getting on the lift asked if I was okay. I was perfectly fine, and stupid lift operator guy looks at me and goes, "Let's do that a bit better next time." Dumb man. Should I have maybe waited another chair instead of trying to go with Ethan before I was ready? Yeah, probably. But lift guy should have hit the button a lot earlier and we wouldn't have had a problem. It was so embarrassing. I think he was jealous of me or something. Probably because I had friends and he didn't. Anyways, with Ethan on the chair in front of me and Zimi on the chair behind, we made it to the top of Tombstone all in one piece. I hate lift man. I hope he had a bad day today. Not bad like his wife (if he has one) died or crashed his car or anything. I hope he had wet socks cause he stepped in a puddle or left his ice scraper in the garage.

Other than attempted murder, the day was great. The slopes were so pretty with the constant snow, and we hit some back runs today and got to put down fresh tracks. We were going to make hamburgers on Zimi's little grill but the meat looked weird so we passed. We made grilled cheese on hamburger buns instead and then promptly went to Costa Vida.

The sunset awaited our return and graced us with golden cliffs reflecting the sunlight off the snow. The contrast was incredible. 

Postal Premier

 Hello, world. 

I suppose this counts as my first blog post. My mother had a blog, you know, and although it did not make her famous or get any readers outside of my immediate family, I read it from time to time. It entertains me. She says dumb things. Well, she wrote down the dumb things that I or my brother said when we were small. I guess it was me saying the dumb things.

Today is Mac Miller's birthday. He was a cool rap guy that I like to listen to. He died because he did drugs that were laced with fentanyl. Don't do drugs, kids. Speaking of rap guys, yesterday, I went to dinner with my mom. After eating at the fanciest of cuisinery (le Olive Garden), we went to Barnes and Noble to wander around (what else do you do at that store). Apparently, they now have a music section. We looked in there and I found a Slim Shady LP CD. It was 7$. So I bought it with my big, grownup money because that's what grownups do. Well, I was going to, but mothership said that she would buy it for me. Sadly I do not have a CD player in my college dorm, but it looks nice on the shelf next to my Beastie Boys Collection CD. If I played either of them I'd probably get expelled from BYU or something anyways.

In honor of Mac Miller (not really, his birthday just happened to be today), I went to the music building with Ellia Hays and Rachel Done to record a song that they wrote and to help them with production. In about 2 hours, we got farther than I ever have on a song before in my life. Ellia's vocals sounded great, and I discovered that Rachel is really good at keeping tempo on her guitar. It is called Alaska, and we'd like to get this released on Spotify or something. That would be cool. If you're reading this and that song becomes famous, I'm just saying I told you so.

I also drove a van at work today. I do a lot of things at work, but not usually driving vans, so that was fun. And it wasn't just a small minivan, no no. It was a 12 passenger van. I had to drive it all of a mile and a half to pick up some randos doing a career trek just down the road. The girl who got in the front seat was a sophomore named Sarah, whom I befriended on the short drive home. She asked if I'd taken the training for driving the big vans, to which I replied, "Nope," and the other 9 people in the van immediately looked up with terror in their eyes. I just do what I'm told around here. Below is a video of my excursion. For some reason, the player looks like it was built around Y2K. It probably was. The video might not even play, so good luck future people who want to know what I looked like. Enjoy it while you can, cause it is in my power to delete this tomorrow. I really could, and you couldn't stop me.

I also forgot to go to my Differential Equations class, in case you were wondering. I went to work on homework for engineering instead because I thought it wasn't till later. Then I checked my schedule and realized I was supposed to have been there 30 minutes prior. Oops. Sue me.