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.

More sideways stories...

Due to the popularity of my last post of random thoughts, and because I stay awake at night pondering these things (no, really...), here comes the second installment of random thoughts by Dan Ritter, only this time I am not extremely bored and running a fever.

First off, why in the world is it called "Daylight Savings Time"? I mean, we aren't saving any daylight, just moving it from one place to another. I actually looked it up on reference.com this morning, and it had no answers. I did find out that in Europe it is called "Summer Time", but in Provo that doesn't seem appropriate since the time has already changed and summer is a long way off. I guess "More daylight in the afternoon and less in the morning time" just doesn't have the same ring to it. The funny thing is, the entry at reference.com says that daylight savings time "causes problems for farming, entertainment and other occupations tied to the sun." How exactly does this create problems? We aren't changing the amount of sun in the day, just when it occurs. In fact, wouldn't this benefit people who rely on the sun, since they don't have to get up as early to catch the sunrise? Anytime I lose an hour of sleep, I am going to seriously investigate the process that caused the loss, and daylight savings time seems a little dubious to me.

In other news, sometime this month is the one year anniversary of my last date. This won't really surprise anyone who knows me. I don't know the exact date (that would be a little weird), but I know it is sometime in March. So by now you are wondering, how in the world has he gone a year without going on a date? (Okay, I know, most of you know exactly how it happened, since I am pretty sure everyone that reads this knows me pretty well). The truth of the matter is, I enjoy going on dates, but I hate asking people on dates. I hate calling people on the phone. And with dating, after the first phone call, the pressure just keeps going up. I trace my hatred of phone calls back to an incident in my childhood. As with all little kids, I enjoyed answering the phone. That is, until one fateful day. In my memory, it was in the evening, although it really could have been any time of day (and who knows whether it was during daylight time or standard time). The phone rang, and I ran to answer it. In my haste to answer the phone, proper answering dialogue slipped my mind and instead the words "Dear Heavenly Father" came out. Needless to say, the story was told in my family for years, and answering the phone has never had the same excitement. Now, when I go to make a phone call, I pace around the room, my palms get sweaty, and I have to plan out exactly what I want to say and practice it several times in advance. That is a lot of work for me to go through to go on a date, so I usually won't do it unless I am really motivated. Hence, it has been a year.

This is an actual picture of me calling someone to ask them on a date. Notice the panicked look on my face. A look of sheer terror, to be sure.

Quarterlife

Well, as anyone reading this probably knows, I turned 25 this past Thursday. That means if I live to be 100 years old, a quarter of my life is gone. I can't say that I regret too much from my first 25 years. Sure, there are things I wish I had done differently, or things I just wish I had done, but overall, my life has been pretty fulfilling so far. I know life has a lot of ups and downs, and probably even more of just the stuff in the middle where you aren't ecstatic but you are in the dumps either, but when you look back at it after the fact and from a distance, the bumps are smoothed out a bit and the bad times are hard for me to remember. Sure, my life hasn't been perfect, but it sure hasn't been bad. Hopefully after the next 25 years things are just as bright.

A few random thoughts about 25...I am the same age my Dad was when I was born, and I am the second child...guess I am a little behind! Also, after you turn 21, there are very few birthdays that give you more freedom, but I guess turning 25 makes your car insurance lower and lets you rent a car cheaper in most states. So, in case you are wondering, I am a safer driver now than I was last week.

P.S. I found out after I posted my last post that I had a fever the night I wrote that, so if there is anything particularly weird in that post, I blame it on the fever.

Random Musings After a Month Off of Blogging

So, this semester has been a little crazy for me, what with working 20 hours a week and doing classes (I know, some people's lives are a lot worse, but 9-5 everyday is unusual for me, ask anyone who knows me). So, since not a lot of people read my blog, I figured I didn't need to update it for a while. And, honestly, I don't think anyone wants to hear about life in the hydrogeochemistry lab or my weekly advanced hydro papers (if you do, just let me know)

So, the month of February is upon us. If you don't like February, don't worry, it is already almost over. Lots of amazing people have been born in February throughout the years...George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, et cetera. I myself came within a few days of missing out on being born in this amazing month. Of course, if I had waited a couple of days longer, I would have been born on leap day, every kid's worst nightmare. I turn 25 this year, but honestly, after you turn 21, nobody really cares anymore exactly how old you are except for car rental places and insurance companies. Actually, my niece turned 1 today, and I think I was a little more excited to shop for her birthday than I am to celebrate my own.

As long as we are on the subject of February, we might as well talk about Valentine's Day. I have never been one to celebrate the holiday much, having never had any real reason to, and this year was no different. But, as Valentine's day came around this year, I decided to move away from the "hater" mentaltiy I have always had towards Valentine's Day. I mean, I guess it isn't the worst thing in the world, and someday I will find joy in it. But for now, it passed much like any other day.

Since this post has really turned into a crazy stream of conciousness, you should probably know that I have a cold right now and I am pretty tired. I may regret some of what I type when I read it after I am fully cognizent. I guess you should never be bored and sick at the same time. Hopefully life picks up a little in the next few weeks so I have something more to write about.

California Here I Come

So, this holiday break I did something a little unusual... I spent only the first 10 days at home, then came back to Provo and went with Lamar to his family's condo in Huntington Beach, CA. Good times were had by all, so I figured I would detail it on my blog. We drove down on Monday, December 29th, stopping on the way at Excalibur in Las Vegas to partake of their buffet. The only problem with the buffet was that on the outside of the building they advertised 2 for 1 from 2 to 6 pm, but when we got in we discovered that they had suspended 2 for 1 until after January 2. We ate there anyway and got on our way to the beach.

Tuesday was hang out at the beach day. Lamar took much of the time we were there to build a sandcastle. I built a smaller one, but I took less time and Lamar's sandcastle skills are far superior to mine. He actually had some little kids stop and admire his, then come back an hour later to admire some more. We caught a sunset on the beach, then headed to a street fair on main street.

Lamar with his Castle...and the Sunset from the beach

Wednesday began with a long bike ride along the beach path. We ended up in Newport Beach, and there were some pretty cool houses there, some of which had their boats docked basically in their back yard. We went to lunch at Lamar's Aunt's house in Laguna Beach and spent the afternoon there. After a quick dinner, we headed up to Downtown Disney to spend New Year's Eve and catch the fireworks at midnight. There were some musicians there and we walked through the shops. When the hour came, the fireworks went off, but we couldn't see them because the fog was so dense. Made for a fun (i.e. scary) drive home.

Downtown Disney... and Lamar with brother Yusef (fog, not snow).

Thursday we got up late, and went back to the beach for some boogie boarding. We both tried surfing once, but the waves were pretty big and it made it a lot of work. That evening we went up to Long Beach to the Aquarium of the Pacific. It was a nice aquarium, and we got in for $10 because we went after 5, but they were open late for the holiday season. Good deal.

Boogie Boarding

Friday we went to lunch at Crystal Cove with Lamar's Aunt, then headed up to Knott's Berry Farm. We rode all the roller coasters there (we got there at 4 so that we could get in for half price), then made it home in time to watch the 4th quarter of the Sugar Bowl.

Saturday we got up and left. We stopped in Vegas again, but this time we got the 2 for 1 discount at the Excalibur buffet. We nearly turned the car around several times and headed back to California as the car thermometer started reading negative numbers in Utah, but ended up coming back to Provo.

Finals week

Anyone who has spent any time around me while I have been going through finals knows that finals week is probably my favorite time of the school year. I know several people don't share my enthusiasm for finals, but I try to remind people that throughout the semester they have to take tests and write papers while they are still attending classes, whereas during finals week, they don't have classes to get in the way. This usually results in me spending a lot of time during finals week in the apartment playing Guitar Hero and a little time studying and taking tests. This finals week has been markedly different for me though. I only have 2 classes this semester, and only one final, so that part isn't really that different. I have been spending a lot of time on campus this week, however, and no time playing the usual games. The reason for this is that as a graduate student, I have to write a thesis. Unfortunately, I do not have a thesis topic. So, this last week, instead of spending all day in my pajamas loafing around the apartment, I actually have been getting up early and going to campus to do some experiments for possible thesis projects. The good news is that things seem to be progressing, and I should have a clearly defined project by the middle of next semester. The bad news is I haven't been improving my Guitar hero skills at all.

As Promised...

Here it is, the most recent, and most likely last, live performance of Love Machine, in all its glory. Enjoy!