Been pretty busy preparing projects, studying for finals, and finishing up odds and ends to finish off this semester. For one of my presentations I decided to make a video about some colorful cures for aggression. The stills below were taken from my camcorder (hence the poor quality) and I thought it would be cool to throw them on. Adam and Jeff were good sports in helping me make the video. It helps to have friends that are talented and can do back flips. I am seriously just counting down the days until this semester is over because I am getting really excited to make movies with the boys when school gets out. Jeff and I watched the Jazz game (if you want to call it that) tonight and had some Sichuan chicken. I am really becoming addicted to that stuff. It'll be good for me to go on a trip and get re-addicted to Yangnyum Tongdalk so I can put this Chinese stuff out of my mind. I have to finish some homework and stuff before I can go to bed but if you want to check out some cool pics, visit Sloan to see his broken window or Adam's brother in law's brother's page.
"Today was a day marked by extremes," to paraphrase Kyle's words. For those of you who aren't aware, Kyle's grandpa, Tom Turner, passed away last week. Today we (Jeff, Tyler, and I) sang at and attended his funeral services that were spread out between Roy and Toole. It was quite an experience as I came to know a man I had met several times quite a bit more intimately through the eyes of his family. The mood of the day changed, almost as frequently as the gusts of winds that blew over us in the Toole cemetary, from hope, to longing, to sadness, to introspection, to joy in remembrance, and all over again. Everyone appeared to laugh as much as they cried and at times it seemed like the only way to maintain balance and stability. Whatever they all felt individually, the one thing that was conveyed collectively was their love for their father, husband, and grandpa and their continued love for each other. Sad as it is, and as many times as we hear it, none of us ever trully stops to appreciate our life and relationships in this life or contemplate the meaning of our own existance in this state of mortality. As much as we swear to appreciate more and try harder to show more love, our effort, much like the "Christmas Spirit," each year seems to dissipate in time only to be renewed by the natural course of life later by some other tragedy. Maintaining that perspective constantly would be the ideal, but even in less than ideal situations it allows even the weakest, most imperfect of us to reflect and cherish what we have been given and strive to give more to those around us. The friendships I have are amazing, each in it's own diverse way and I would love to one day have those friends say the things said about Tom Turner about me as well. The thing that I will take with me more than anything else from today was one man's desire to make a difference. Watching from afar it's easier to see how ripples on a pond become the waves that crash against the beach and hence easier to make goals to cause ripples of my own. Hindsight is always 20/20, but when we are able to build on the experience of others hindsight pales in comparison to the value of heritage and history. Thanks for the example. Best wishes, prayers, and gratitude to the Turner and Halbasch families.
(There are also several pictures today of a humorous nature that I'll put on in a couple days when I think it's more appropriate.)
We went to Kaysville to look for Kay's cross, a place we have heard stories about since we were kids and none of us had actually seen. We ended up not going, but we did see this nice house with a gate over the driveway. It made laugh, because only in Kaysville would someone who owned a home worth less than $500,000 that thought they needed to put up a guard arm to keep people out. It reminded me of a conversation I had with Jeff's dad about the star they put up in Kaysville on the mountain during the winter. "It's like come worship us, we're the best..." and a conversation Kyle had with some girls from Kaysville they tried to pick up on last night. The girl's name was Porsche, and he asked if she thought it was ironic that she drove a bug and was named Porsche. She said, "Well my daddy has a Porsche." It just makes me laugh the mindset that prevails in a place less than a quarter mile away from me. I might be able to see it from my house, but it feels like it's a million miles away.
Didn't wake up until way late today missing school again. I finally did get up eventually and ran around running some errands. I got my hair cut, ate lunch with Adam and bought some stuff. Later on I hooked up with Tyler and Kyle, who are up since they're done with school this semester. We went out to an old abandoned house in the middle of nowhere and started planning a movie we are going to make, (I don't want to say to much because I don't want to ruin it for anyone who happens to see it) when they get back from Europe and I get back from Korea. I got so excited about making it that I wished we could do it now, but with the way things are we won't have enough time to get it done before they leave in a few days. We also came across a funny sign on the side of the road while we were cruising. Tyler spotted it so he got the privilege of posing next to it. Anyone interested in learning more about hud don't hesitate to go and find out! As for me, I know as much about hud as I ever want to. How about Orlando? All the way to the finals baby...
