Golden Birthday

So, today I turn 26 on the 26th. In honor of this momentous occasion, I thought I would post 26 random things about me and my birthday in general.

1. I was born at 5:01 am.

2. I found out that IU shared a birthday with Johnny Cash when one of my substitute teachers for English in high school basically told our class he was going to get high for the entire weekend to celebrate.

3. Favorite Birthday Cake, if it has to be cake: German Chocolate with coconut frosting

4. Favorite Birthday Cake, non-traditional sense: Cheesecake

5. Since I have been back from my mission, I usually go home over President's Day weekend to celebrate my birthday with my family.

6. When I was young, I got at least one kite for my birthday every year (something about being born close to March). In keeping with tradition, I gave my niece a kite for her 2nd birthday this year, which was on the 20th.

7. If I had waited a few more days to be born, I could have been a Leap Day baby.

8. I was baptized on leap day (along with nearly every other LDS person born in February 1984)

9. Today is also the birthday of Victor Hugo, Steve Blake, Hannah Kearney, and a host of other people, all of which can be found on wikipedia.

10. The Grand Canyon and Grand Tetons were made national parks on February 26th.

11. I was named after one of my Dad's childhood friends, not the bible character.

12. In 1993, the World Trade Center was bombed on my birthday.

13. I used to tell people that the only reason I liked Valentine's Day was that it meant there were less days left in February til my birthday than days that had passed.

14. I stopped having birthday parties early in my life because it meant my parents would buy me a better present (and really, what can you do at a party in February...)

15. Most common birthday dinner: when I was a kid, fajitas. Now, steak.

16. I hate when they sing Happy Birthday to you at restaurants, especially when it isn't your birthday and you are just there because you get a free meal any time that month.

17. Worst birthday meal: a few years ago when we went to this crappy chinese buffet in Provo, because it was free, and because they had remodeled so we thought it would be better. It wasn't, but it was nice of my roommates to want to do something for me on my b-day.

18. I did once have a frozen burrito for dinner on my birthday when I was in high school, because the day was so busy for my family that my parents weren't home at dinner time, but we celebrated later on, so not really a birthday dinner.

19. Birthday presents this year: hiking boots, tool kit, iTunes gift card and $50.

20. On my 20th birthday, I got a new mission companion and helped a family move out of their home.

21. In 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Japan.

22. Favorite ice cream: Cookies and Cream, no contest. I like all ice cream, but given a choice it is cookies and cream hands down.

23. February is pie month at Marie Calendars, so in recent years my Mom always buys a pie or two when I come home to celebrate.

24. When I was a kid, I used to set my alarm for 5:01 am so I could celebrate when I was actually born. That tradition has since died out.

25. Most people don't think I look old enough to be 26.

26. When I was a kid, we went to mexican food for my birthday pretty much every year (mostly Cafe Ole, then Casa Mexico)

So, there you have it. I hope you all have a wonderful day! I think it is the best day of the year to be born on, but I am a little bit biased.

The Curse...

So, this weekend I went home for my sister's wedding reception, and on the way home I confirmed something I have suspected for a long time...I am cursed. What kind of curse, you ask? Well, it is the curse of the chipped windshield. You see, ever since my mission, whenever I have a pristine, chip free windshield, it is inevitably chipped on my next drive on the freeway. I thought at first this was simply a result of the decision by the Idaho Transportation Department to chip seal the freeway, a decision which left loose gravel on the freeway for several months, just waiting to give my windshield a chip. However, that project has been completed for a while now and the curse lives on.

You probably want to hear the whole history of the curse, and you are about to get it. It all started when I was living at the Glenwood in the summer after my mission. While driving on one of our many adventures that summer, I got a chip in my windshield that turned into a crack. I ignored it for several months, but finally decided it was worth fixing and forked out the money for a new windshield. My next trip home on the freeway, I got a chip in my brand new windshield. It was at this point that I learned an important lesson about the curse: it only strikes when there is no chip in the windshield. I ignored this chip, knowing that my car was on its last legs and not wanting to put too much money into it. Fast forward to summer 2008, and my car dies on the drive home. I get a new car with a pristine windshield, and you guessed it, promply get 2 chips on the way home. I once again ignore these chips for a while, but as I am out in Boston visiting my brother in June 2009, he gets a chip in his windshield. The curse lives on. He gets his chip filled, so I decide I should do the same. At my next oil change, they offer to fill it for free and I oblige. The day I get the oil change, I leave for home and get a chip in my windshield again. This is when I knew I was cursed. Nevertheless, I got the chip filled when I got back to Provo, and lo and behold, as I am driving home this weekend, I get a new chip in my windshield.

Now look, I could blow this all off as chance, but the facts just won't let me. I mean, one or two chips I could accept, but this is beyond the point of anything other than a curse. I went through the first 22 years of my life chip free, and suddenly in the last 3 1/2 years my car windshield has become a veritable rock magnet. I guess I should figure out why the curse started so that I can rid myself of it before it gets any worse.

Back by Popular Demand...

So, given that I had 2 recent comments suggesting that I post again, and I always give the customer what they want, I figured I owed another post. Actually, I was going to post while I was in Prague, but I decided to catch up on my hand written journal instead. As most of you probably know, I recently had the opportunity to head to Europe to do some research for my Master's thesis. We spent our nights in Prague, and our days traveling through the Czech Republic (and even a short distance into Germany and Poland) collecting samples at rivers and seeing the countryside. For those of you who have never been to the Czech Republic (can't think of anyone who would be reading this that that statement doesn't apply to, but you never know), it is green and hilly, a lot like the Eastern United States without the humidity. My thesis adviser claims that they have more castles per square mile than any other country in Europe. Since it would take me forever to write an entry about the whole trip, I figure I will do it in parts, each one containing a few photos and some specific things about the trip. I'll call this first entry, "Things to know while traveling in the Czech Republic". Accompanying pictures likely have nothing to do with the topic of the post.

First off, it is a long flight to the Czech Republic. With the time change added in, it takes a whole day to get there. You will be tired when you get there. Lucky for me, I had people to keep me awake so that I only woke up at 3 am the next morning and was fine thereafter. The thing people probably wonder about the most is how we got around without speaking any Czech. Well, just about everyone in the Czech Republic speaks English. In Old Town Prague, their English is typically very good, but the farther away you get from there the less they speak, although they all speak a little bit and every restaurant has an "English" menu.

And speaking of the food, there are a few things you should know when going to a restaurant. First off, it is going to take a while, so don't plan on being in and out in no time. Second, make sure they know you speak English when you go in. This may save you up to 30 minutes, since otherwise they will give you a Czech menu that you won't be able to read, and the waiters come by only infrequently. Next, you should know that you have to pay for water at the restaurant, and you only get one bottle, so save some for dinner. Also, make sure you ask for "still" water, unless you want mineral water. And for some reason, water is the hardest English word for them to understand, even though the Czech word is "voda", which sounds almost the same. Lastly, you have to ask for the bill, and since they don't come around often, make sure you ask for it as soon as you are done. Tipping is optional, and 10% is considered a large tip.

Other random things to note...make sure you have money with you in case you ever need to use the bathroom, since most cost money. If you park your car on the street, and it has French plates, the tires may get slashed. Even if something on the menu sounds like something you would order at home, it is probably something completely different. The English in the English menus, on the English tourist pamphlets, and on English signs is very poor. Well, I have probably rambled on enough for this post, I'll write more about the trip later. Any questions may be answered in the next post. And now for pictures...

Me on the Charles Bridge

Me in front of St. Vitus Cathedral

Adrspach Rocks

Astronomical Clock at Old Town Square in Prague

New England

Well, now that it has been a few weeks since I have posted, and I think nobody reads this anymore, I figure I had better post on what I have been up to the last few weeks. See, my brother just graduated from law school, and it made a good excuse to go and hang out with my 1 year old niece for a couple of weeks. Really though, we went out to see the Northeast, since we may never have a chance to go back.

Me and my niece became pretty good buddies over Christmas. I played with her a lot, and she seemed to warm up to me pretty quickly in Boston. This is the first night we were there. She is even more amazing in person.

So, we flew into Boston and then went up to Bar Harbor Maine. I wish I could post some pictures, but they are all on my brother's or Dad's camera. It was very beautiful. We took the long way back to Boston through New Hampshire and Vermont and visited the Joseph Smith Birthplace. Then it was graduation time. After the graduation my Dad, my Brother and I hiked about 50 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Then we packed up a moving truck and drove it across the country in 3 1/2 days, sleeping 2 of the 3 nights in the back of the truck on a mattress. So, if you have missed my random musings or reports on what is happening in my life, I apologize.

Always wear sunscreen...

So, once again, I have taken a month off from posting. But you all know how it is...life gets busy, you have 2 final papers to write in 2 weeks, you take your only final and get out of town so your roommates don't kill you because you are sitting around the house in your pajamas all day long while they are headed up to take their finals, you then have to put everything together for a week of field camp, move out of your apartment and into a new one all in the same day, then go TA field camp, and then you forget anything interesting that you could blog about because you waited so long and are now working 7 hours a day and not eating lunch because you forgot to buy mayonnaise when you went to the store. Also, I am not as good at manufacturing things to write about as some of my blogging counterparts.

So, as far as getting out of town went, I went down to Capital Reef National Park with my Dad for a few days of camping and hiking during finals week. We put in quite a few miles and had some sore feet, but we saw some beautiful scenery. I wish I had pictures to share, but unfortunatly I need new rechargeable batteries for my camera, so my Dad took all the photos and I don't have any. What I do have, though, is some advice all of us have been given throughout our lives...don't forget to wear sunscreen. Many of the readers of my blog may even remember a song that came out a while ago that shared that message, way back when I was in high school. I did not, however, follow this advice on this particular trip and I paid the price. On our first hiking day, my Dad and I hiked about 12 miles unprotected from the sun, and I got the early summer pink that we all need after a long winter of long sleeves. I knew the next day I would need sunscreen to prevent pain, but we didn't have any, so I went without. I actually hiked with a jacket on in near 80 degree weather to save my arms. But the sun still got the better of me, burning the tops of my ears and the backs of my legs. Being pale and prone to sunburns as I am, I knew if I took a cold shower that night my sunburn wouldn't hurt as bad. Well, that worked, except that a few days later my ears started to peel. So much skin peeled off that they started to bleed. Two weeks later they are finally done peeling.

Now, I know the title of my blog exhorts you to examine your preconceived notions to see if they are holding you back. However, in the case of sunscreen, I don't recommend testing the advice you have no doubt received many times. When going out in the sun, learn from my mistake and put on some sunscreen.

April Fools' Day

So, I woke up this morning and realized that today was April Fools' Day. It got me wondering where we came up with this crazy "holiday" where people try to make other people look silly and most people spend the whole day being skeptical of anything anyone tells them. So I went on a very brief search to find the origins of April Fools' Day. My search began and ended on Wikipedia, where I learned it has been a holiday for a long time and nobody really knows the origin. Who knew?

So all this work looking for the origins of the day reminded me of the only time I have really been involved in an April Fools' Day prank. It is a funny story, so I figured I would write it down for the few people who read my blog to reminisce about the good old days (if you weren't involved in this, feel free to enjoy the story for the first time). Probably the best thing is that while this was supposed to take place on April Fools' Day, nobody who was pulling the prank had the guts to pull it off when the day came, so the prank was actually pulled of a couple of days later. As I remember, the story goes something like this (feel free to add your perspective/rebuttals in the comments. I actually had very little to do with the whole thing so I won't be offended).

It all started as we headed up to Lamar's house for our semiannual conference weekend retreat. Kip was driving, and for some reason we stopped at Wal-mart. As Kip went to find whatever he was after, I split off with Clint to see what we could find in Wal-mart (there may have been a 4th person in the car, I only remember the three). As we got out of earshot, Clint tells me that when he had been in Wal-mart months ago with Med, they had found these dog cookies that looked like real cookies and had decided they would e a great April Fools' Day joke. So, we went to the pet section and he bought the cookies. I guess if I hadn't been with him I wouldn't have been in on the joke, so apparently I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

So, as I said before, we were too chicken to pull the prank off on the day at Lamar's house, so we waited until we got back to our apartments. It seems to me like it must have been a Sunday afternoon when it finally went down, because everyone was around, but I could be wrong. Since the whole thing was Clint's idea, and since he was the one who had money invested, it fell to him to take the cookies to the apartment across the hall (where everyone was for some reason) and offer the cookies to the roommates. I was laughing too hard to try it anyway. So, he went across the hall and gave the cookies to everyone, and surprisingly everyone took one with only a little suspicion. They all ate them, and apparently they tasted fine because nobody said anything. Clint went back and offered everyone another, which had to raise some suspicions, but pretty much everyone accepted again. So, Clint decided to leave the box on the table and tell everyone they could have more, so they would read the box and see they were dog cookies. As the legend goes, Murt happily obliged to take another cookie, and while looking at the box remarked "Lick 'n Crunch, that's a funny name" and proceeded to eat another before anyone realized the implications of the statement (don't know if this was the second or third cookie, could have been either). We all enjoyed a good laugh afterward, and got some good mileage out of what was left in the box. The best was the person that came over and just took a cookie without asking if he could have one. So, that is the only real April Prank I have ever been involved in. Not great, but it sure made me laugh at the time.

In Like A Lion...

Well, it is that time of year...the weather is nice for a week, then it snows (for all you who have been enjoying 70 degrees, just wait...). All of the geology classes take field trips (ours was to Honey Lake. I would post pictures, but my camera is out of battery so I can't upload them...maybe later). Spring research conference is in the air. And we have to figure out where we are going to live for the summer and the fall.

So, I spent 4 days this last week on a field trip... 2 days of 10 hour drives, 1 day of field work, 1 day of sight seeing. The drives were long, the field work was good, and the scenery in the Sierra Nevada mountains was excellent. I am sure you don't want to hear about the TDS of thermal springs and where the wells were in relation to the playa and the alluvial fan, so I will spare you. We did do some cool things in the Sierras though. We hiked through a lava tube (don't worry,the lava was long gone). We saw Mount Lassen and Mount Shasta. We visited a cool waterfall called Burney Falls. And we visited the Allen Telescope Array, a SETI run array (definately a highlight of the trip). All in all, a good trip.

So, now it is back to trying to survive until finals are over. On top of school work, I am to the point where I am getting close to finally having a thesis topic, which means writing and research starts soon. We also have to make the difficult decision of where we are going to live for the spring and summer and next year. Always tough, especially now that we are all old guys and are tired of living in young wards. Sometime the search will end, we will sign a contract and be done with it. Until then, just another thing on the plate. Welcome to spring I guess.