mi hermana
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
the phony
haha. did i call that or what? i knew from the start that karr didn't kill jonbenet. i've been telling everyone that he just seemed like some whack who is just way obsessed with murders, particularly little girl murders. he probably admires many famous killers throughout history and has always wanted to be one himself. the only problem is that he's probably always been too pussy to carry anything out; and thank god for that. so he studied this case and that other unsolved case for years, partly out of his interest/obsession and probably because he thought he could really know what it was like to actually kill. maybe it was to plan for one he'd carry out some day, or maybe it was so that he could confess like he did and to the world he would become the killer. too bad he forgot about modern science. he's had a freaking alibi this whole time. why would any ex-wife lie for a confessed murderer? looking at his past, he's definitely had issues and maybe has gone so far as to sexually assault younger kids where he taught, so without a doubt he should be locked up. what a douchebag. thanks for wasting tax dollars. for stupid false confessions he should still be charged. case closed.
the orientation
this past tuesday was our little dc reunion. vance bailed on us and supposedly jess’ car broke down. and i’m not sure if anyone ever called jordanne, which really is no big loss. it was good though. bittersweet as usual. i get so depressed thinking about my time back there and how i will never have that again. exactly this time one year ago ryan and i were trekking across the u.s. (somewhere in illinois i think) to our destination back east. i’m not sure i ever want to go back to dc only because what’s the point? i did everything i wanted (mostly) and repeating events will never live up to when i was actually living there. ah well. i left early tuesday morning and got there around 3 or so, met up with barry (that freaking genius is rocking the lsat right now) and caught up for a few hours. we all met up at chilis for a lovely little dinner and basically parted ways soon after. i stopped off at hard rock to replace my replacement slc glass then drove on down to my mom’s for the night. we talked for a good portion of the night about this and that. it’s weird seeing our relationship now compared to how it was five or so years ago. i guess just being a teenager i didn’t have the most respect for her because i felt she was always trying to keep a brutha down. of course she was just trying to parent a defiant child; nothing more. now that the control stuff is gone, we have a pretty decent relationship where we enjoy just talking about stuff. so i was glad to spend some time with her. and actually all the next morning and into the afternoon we pretty much just chilled and shot the shit (that's past tense). unfortunately i didn’t get to see my sis because she had school and i had to get back on the road. while i was out there i was supposed to buy a giant picture board thing that these people sell online. the lloyds know them so we were hopefully gonna get a hooked up discount and i could just pick it up from them instead of paying $150 shipping. but instead the idiots didn’t have any in stock. what kind of retarded business are they running? first of all, the prices are pretty steep so i’m sure they are making a nice little profit from this crap. they have a website and everything, yet they have no inventory? sorry for venting, but that’s the stupidest shit i’ve ever heard. apparently they are moving or something, but who gives a crap? i want to say that i hope their business goes up in flames, however i still want my board. after we buy it i may put a hex on them for STUPID BUSINESS DECISIONS. the trip back on wednesday was made in insane record time. seven hours to be exact. for those who have driven i-70 from provo to westminster, i will leave it to your imagination on how i was able to accomplish that impressive feat. this example probably isn’t the most accurate, but imagine driving from downtown to boulder in twenty minutes time. i’d say that’s about right. in fact, i’m on my way there now. my orientation starts in thirty minutes and i’m on the oh so familiar rtd headed west. it’s like i never left.
our costco here sucks compared to orem’s. the fireplace in our apartment doesn’t work. we have chipotle on every corner but i have yet to eat there since we’ve been home. (update: as of yesterday, that last statement is no longer true.) too freaked out about the massive amounts of calories i’d be consuming. i found a middle eastern restaurant in westy that i can’t wait to try. who doesn’t love goat? i took one of my anxiety pills right before i left today because i’m kind of freaking about this whole orientation business. it goes from 1 to 4, from 4-5 is pizza, then at 5 we get on a bus to the rockies game. hopefully kim is able to get to boulder so we can go together. and there’s the damn new law school building. let it burn. i’m not bitter. oh yes i am. so very much. i need a vacation. kim and i have one in the works for over thanksgiving, but they never turn out so i’m not getting my hopes up. my stop.
Little Manhattan (2005): a kid in new york experiences first love. it does well evoking emotions that we all had as children. good movie for ny’ers to watch. i really felt like i was really with him on his love roller coaster. the kid's narration is really excellent and never gets old. and his imagination is really a lot of fun. movies about kids really aren’t my thing, but if i were to ever want to watch or buy one, this would be it. it’s so much fun and will take anyone back to those early days of relationships. i complained before that i won this movie, but i'm now happy i own it. buy it.
memorable, B+
the day after the funeral in colton was basically a day of getting to know my hometown again. joey took off that morning and i spent much of the day at grandpa’s place packing stuff up and basically just walking around and taking pictures. lori drove me and em around town to find all the old spots of my childhood: chuck e. cheese, black angus, old homes, our church. i went around myself and did some driving. i spent a couple of hours over at the colton area museum and saw the many things that old dusty town had to offer at one point or another. in one of the displays was a picture of my uncle fred and aunt dortha’s 35th high school reunion picture. there was a very kind lady there who answered a ton of questions i had to the best of her knowledge. and then there was supposedly some expert who has written a number of books on colton, yet i could hardly get a word out of him. and he was pretty standoffish when it came to the history of mormons in colton. aside from that old fogy, it was a good experience and i learned a ton more about my fam. one of the books he had written and which i bought has pictures of my great-great-great grandparents and a picture of a distant aunt so that was pretty sweet. i spent some time in 104° heat cleaning up my grandma's little rose garden she planted at our church, so that felt really good. i tried stopping by my grandpa's house but like my dad, he was mysteriously gone. it really sucks because how great it would have been to see him. after cleaning up a bit i got my mom finally out of the house and took her and the kids over to universal to hit up the hard rock. i hadn’t been to the city walk in like ten years so it was sweet being back there and getting to drive through la. i love california so much (except fresno). from way out in hot, industrial colton, to crowed muggy la, i love it all. there really is nowhere like it. we were already starving before even getting into the car to leave, we had a long drive ahead of us and a 25 minute wait, but oh how worth it it was. add hollywood to the collection you ho’s. i’m glad the fam stuck it out with me. not like they had a choice though. we got back late and chris came over to the hotel to spend the night. we chilled and really didn’t talk about too much of importance. he’s young, so it’s not like we’d be talking politics or war. but a little quality time with the little bro is always good. that was my last night there.
the orientation for school went really well. i didn’t take a count, but i’d say there’s maybe thirty-five new students that showed. maybe 70 percent are from India, a couple from taiwan, ksa, iraq, pakistan, maybe five americans, and i’ll say about five or six girls. from what i could hear from my eavesdropping (“i haven’t been dropping no eaves, honest.”), a huge majority are engineers, either electrical or some other sort like computer science grads, crazy programmers, or they have had years of experience installing this, developing that. half the americans are military guys who have so much already that i’m not sure what they even need this for. basically, they are all geniuses. and then there is me. of course right off the bat i’m my usual anti-social self. i met some people here and there and tried to keep convos going when we’d get talking, but i’d get a little freaked out when we’d actually start talking about what we’ve done, what we know, and where we are going. it sucks enough that most everyone is starting in the normal classes, but i have to take the retard classes that is a pre-req to everything, which then screws up my schedule for my entire two years. they are all very nice people, but i just feel slightly dumb. everything is pretty tight though. the freaking lab they have to work in is just so unbelievable. there are tons of programs and even a student organization to join for loser telecom people like me. the best part is that they have t-shirts! we had pizza afterward and kim dropped by so we could all take the bus up to a rockies game. before the game kim and i made our way to the tavern bar where i kept playing this radio station contest to win a pair of tickets to either melissa etheridge that night, or devo and the psychedelic furs tonight. after losing to three or four people each time, they basically felt bad for me and just gave me the damn tickets. not being a lesbian, i of course chose devo but unfortunately didn’t go to. it was over at fiddler’s green which i’m sure was being rained on, or if not was freezing cold, and kim was pretty sick tonight so we stayed in and watched code 46 instead. anyway, the baseball game was tight believe it or not and the rockies kicked the padres trash so that’s always good. who doesn’t love a good baseball game? good food, overpriced drinks, crappy teams, and a whole section reserved for itp nerds. that would be me.
i'm also a buff now and season tix are on the fridge.
our costco here sucks compared to orem’s. the fireplace in our apartment doesn’t work. we have chipotle on every corner but i have yet to eat there since we’ve been home. (update: as of yesterday, that last statement is no longer true.) too freaked out about the massive amounts of calories i’d be consuming. i found a middle eastern restaurant in westy that i can’t wait to try. who doesn’t love goat? i took one of my anxiety pills right before i left today because i’m kind of freaking about this whole orientation business. it goes from 1 to 4, from 4-5 is pizza, then at 5 we get on a bus to the rockies game. hopefully kim is able to get to boulder so we can go together. and there’s the damn new law school building. let it burn. i’m not bitter. oh yes i am. so very much. i need a vacation. kim and i have one in the works for over thanksgiving, but they never turn out so i’m not getting my hopes up. my stop.
Little Manhattan (2005): a kid in new york experiences first love. it does well evoking emotions that we all had as children. good movie for ny’ers to watch. i really felt like i was really with him on his love roller coaster. the kid's narration is really excellent and never gets old. and his imagination is really a lot of fun. movies about kids really aren’t my thing, but if i were to ever want to watch or buy one, this would be it. it’s so much fun and will take anyone back to those early days of relationships. i complained before that i won this movie, but i'm now happy i own it. buy it.
memorable, B+
the day after the funeral in colton was basically a day of getting to know my hometown again. joey took off that morning and i spent much of the day at grandpa’s place packing stuff up and basically just walking around and taking pictures. lori drove me and em around town to find all the old spots of my childhood: chuck e. cheese, black angus, old homes, our church. i went around myself and did some driving. i spent a couple of hours over at the colton area museum and saw the many things that old dusty town had to offer at one point or another. in one of the displays was a picture of my uncle fred and aunt dortha’s 35th high school reunion picture. there was a very kind lady there who answered a ton of questions i had to the best of her knowledge. and then there was supposedly some expert who has written a number of books on colton, yet i could hardly get a word out of him. and he was pretty standoffish when it came to the history of mormons in colton. aside from that old fogy, it was a good experience and i learned a ton more about my fam. one of the books he had written and which i bought has pictures of my great-great-great grandparents and a picture of a distant aunt so that was pretty sweet. i spent some time in 104° heat cleaning up my grandma's little rose garden she planted at our church, so that felt really good. i tried stopping by my grandpa's house but like my dad, he was mysteriously gone. it really sucks because how great it would have been to see him. after cleaning up a bit i got my mom finally out of the house and took her and the kids over to universal to hit up the hard rock. i hadn’t been to the city walk in like ten years so it was sweet being back there and getting to drive through la. i love california so much (except fresno). from way out in hot, industrial colton, to crowed muggy la, i love it all. there really is nowhere like it. we were already starving before even getting into the car to leave, we had a long drive ahead of us and a 25 minute wait, but oh how worth it it was. add hollywood to the collection you ho’s. i’m glad the fam stuck it out with me. not like they had a choice though. we got back late and chris came over to the hotel to spend the night. we chilled and really didn’t talk about too much of importance. he’s young, so it’s not like we’d be talking politics or war. but a little quality time with the little bro is always good. that was my last night there.
the orientation for school went really well. i didn’t take a count, but i’d say there’s maybe thirty-five new students that showed. maybe 70 percent are from India, a couple from taiwan, ksa, iraq, pakistan, maybe five americans, and i’ll say about five or six girls. from what i could hear from my eavesdropping (“i haven’t been dropping no eaves, honest.”), a huge majority are engineers, either electrical or some other sort like computer science grads, crazy programmers, or they have had years of experience installing this, developing that. half the americans are military guys who have so much already that i’m not sure what they even need this for. basically, they are all geniuses. and then there is me. of course right off the bat i’m my usual anti-social self. i met some people here and there and tried to keep convos going when we’d get talking, but i’d get a little freaked out when we’d actually start talking about what we’ve done, what we know, and where we are going. it sucks enough that most everyone is starting in the normal classes, but i have to take the retard classes that is a pre-req to everything, which then screws up my schedule for my entire two years. they are all very nice people, but i just feel slightly dumb. everything is pretty tight though. the freaking lab they have to work in is just so unbelievable. there are tons of programs and even a student organization to join for loser telecom people like me. the best part is that they have t-shirts! we had pizza afterward and kim dropped by so we could all take the bus up to a rockies game. before the game kim and i made our way to the tavern bar where i kept playing this radio station contest to win a pair of tickets to either melissa etheridge that night, or devo and the psychedelic furs tonight. after losing to three or four people each time, they basically felt bad for me and just gave me the damn tickets. not being a lesbian, i of course chose devo but unfortunately didn’t go to. it was over at fiddler’s green which i’m sure was being rained on, or if not was freezing cold, and kim was pretty sick tonight so we stayed in and watched code 46 instead. anyway, the baseball game was tight believe it or not and the rockies kicked the padres trash so that’s always good. who doesn’t love a good baseball game? good food, overpriced drinks, crappy teams, and a whole section reserved for itp nerds. that would be me.
i'm also a buff now and season tix are on the fridge.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Monday, August 21, 2006
the sunsets
three books, $220, all used, and that's just one class. network finance 1 if you are curious which. what a nightmare this (grad school) is going to be. tomorrow morning i'm driving back to utah for our tri-annual dc intern reunion. this is only our second time doing it and could easily be our last. very excited to see everyone though.
i haven't mentioned how sick i was during the funeral trip. it started on the ride over with emily when i began losing my voice. for the entire trip, with the worst of it happening the day of the funeral, my voice was shot and i'd get into these horrible coughing spells. what a freaking disaster it was for me. and it lasted well after i got back to utah. i blame emily.
finally finished all major work on the stool with a little help from my pop-in-law's massive rubber hammer to smack in the retarded screws that were making dents on the whole freaking thing. all that it needs now is a little touching up on the metal ring and another coat of clear finish on the seat. my original can ran out before i could finish it so the seat is as rough and nasty as tom's ass. another can should do the trick. this will all be when i get back on thursday though. now i just have to find bar stools to match, which by the way i'm having a near impossible time finding. i've been to six furniture stores and even called 'the bar stool man.' apparently though mr. stool only does commercial crap, "but has a huge selection of used bar stools with black seats that might need a little reupholster." screw you man. i have an idea. how about i give you the finger..and you give me my phone call.
outside some tropical location, colorado has hands down the best sunsets ever. it's still taking some time to get used to the weather here. not that it's that much different from utah, but there still is a significant enough difference. us utah county folk aren't used to such a ginormous sky with massive clouds. the weather changes so quickly here, which is what colorado i guess is known for. a typical 90 degree sunny summer day in utah is just that. here there is no typical 90 degree summer day. well there may have been, but we missed all that probably a month ago. these days it's nice out and it'll only get better.
World Trade Center (2006): two port authority cops get trapped under wtc rubble. very amazing reenactment. i mean, you would think this was all actual footage shot on that day. they never show the planes hitting, which we've all seen countless times, but i would of liked to of seen a movie perspective. i guess that would be for a different movie because it was all about the officer's perspectives. watching it makes you realize how bad these people (al qaeda, taliban, bin-laden) fucked us and five years later we still haven't won that war or avenged what happened (in my opinion at least). it gets a little old watching the two main guys trapped for the majority of the movie. however, the subplot of the marine who comes to save the day was pretty awesome. as expected, it certainly is depressing and is also predictable. predictable not in the sense that planes crash, towers fall, people die, but the actually story line of these people is predictable. it is obvious they will both live. no way would they have made a movie where so much horror happens, just so the main characters can die at the end. there were also mice in the theater. the ending dragged on and on. and on. don't see unless you're just dying to see a sad movie.
fair, B-
i haven't mentioned how sick i was during the funeral trip. it started on the ride over with emily when i began losing my voice. for the entire trip, with the worst of it happening the day of the funeral, my voice was shot and i'd get into these horrible coughing spells. what a freaking disaster it was for me. and it lasted well after i got back to utah. i blame emily.
finally finished all major work on the stool with a little help from my pop-in-law's massive rubber hammer to smack in the retarded screws that were making dents on the whole freaking thing. all that it needs now is a little touching up on the metal ring and another coat of clear finish on the seat. my original can ran out before i could finish it so the seat is as rough and nasty as tom's ass. another can should do the trick. this will all be when i get back on thursday though. now i just have to find bar stools to match, which by the way i'm having a near impossible time finding. i've been to six furniture stores and even called 'the bar stool man.' apparently though mr. stool only does commercial crap, "but has a huge selection of used bar stools with black seats that might need a little reupholster." screw you man. i have an idea. how about i give you the finger..and you give me my phone call.
outside some tropical location, colorado has hands down the best sunsets ever. it's still taking some time to get used to the weather here. not that it's that much different from utah, but there still is a significant enough difference. us utah county folk aren't used to such a ginormous sky with massive clouds. the weather changes so quickly here, which is what colorado i guess is known for. a typical 90 degree sunny summer day in utah is just that. here there is no typical 90 degree summer day. well there may have been, but we missed all that probably a month ago. these days it's nice out and it'll only get better.
World Trade Center (2006): two port authority cops get trapped under wtc rubble. very amazing reenactment. i mean, you would think this was all actual footage shot on that day. they never show the planes hitting, which we've all seen countless times, but i would of liked to of seen a movie perspective. i guess that would be for a different movie because it was all about the officer's perspectives. watching it makes you realize how bad these people (al qaeda, taliban, bin-laden) fucked us and five years later we still haven't won that war or avenged what happened (in my opinion at least). it gets a little old watching the two main guys trapped for the majority of the movie. however, the subplot of the marine who comes to save the day was pretty awesome. as expected, it certainly is depressing and is also predictable. predictable not in the sense that planes crash, towers fall, people die, but the actually story line of these people is predictable. it is obvious they will both live. no way would they have made a movie where so much horror happens, just so the main characters can die at the end. there were also mice in the theater. the ending dragged on and on. and on. don't see unless you're just dying to see a sad movie.
fair, B-
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Saturday, August 19, 2006
the reunion of sorts
pick a body part or one of our senses or anything and i can usual describe how it came to be through the evolutionary process. i mean, you'll get an answer based on my own logical reasoning. so my answer may or may not be correct. however, when it comes to orgasms, i don't really have an explanation of how it came to be. why and when did intercourse go from just the starting act of reproduction, to this crazy pleasurable experience? i read some time ago that the only two beings on earth that do it for pleasure are us and dolphins i think. or maybe it is which animals feel pleasure during. either way, something happened over time to us and not to other animals. or maybe all animals do experience it. unfortunately jonas is still a virgin so i can't ask him. any ideas of how this came about?
after a night of some interesting tv, joe and i headed to the hotel gym for a little morning workout. as simple as it was, him riding one of those handicapped exercise bikes, me on the tread, and way too skinny al roker on today, it was a wonderful time. it all went down the drain once we headed to jack in the box for breakfast. i've always believed that jack has the best breakfast around as far as fast good goes and this occasion certainly reaffirmed my belief. wow. after i've retired to california and am done with this stupid lifestyle with my eating and exercising habits, i plan on getting stupid fat on jack for breakfast and double-doubles for lunch, hopefully somewhere around the 240 pound range.
later that day was the funeral. the first person i got to see was my cuz lori who hasn't changed since i remembered her taking me to mcdonalds for sundae's when i was like five. aunt linda and uncle larry was next as he gave me a big hug and greeted me with, "hey it's my favorite liberal nephew." it doesn't get any better than that. next were the second cousins courtney, josh, and amanda. josh felt he had to introduce himself to me by saying, "hi, i'm josh." yeah i know who you are buddy. we only spent a good portion of our early childhood together. granted, we haven't seen each other since the early 90s, but still. and oh the comments i got on how skinny i looked. i've always said i grew up as a fat kid and now i have my family to back me up on that. next were my cousins craig and jill who were just as i left them. me and some of the other grand kids and great grand kids were privileged to be pall bearers for my grandpa. as we pulled him out of the hearse i thought about this tradition that has probably gone on for thousands of years to give the dead the honor that they deserve. the grandpa ben that i know and remember and have heard stories of deserves all the honor we could bestow. the service was done by the masons of which he belonged to. it was hot and sweaty and i remembered back to the time of my only other funeral i had attended, which coincidentally had been in that exact same spot about twenty years ago for grandma dorene who now lies side by side to her husband. my only snapshot of that event that i remember is sitting up front next to my mom and seeing her cry. i think she held up pretty well this time but not me. it's hard knowing that i won't see them again for so many years. it is so comforting to know that they are together though, and that one day i can embrace them both and tell them i love 'em. it sucks to think that out of my four grandparents, only one is still alive now, which is my dad's dad (grandpa bob? grandpa chambers? not really sure what to call him). i have no memory of him and know nothing more than his name. more on him later though. the funeral was good and hopefully it will stay with me for much of my life.
we all met up for pizza afterward. in all we had sanchez's, the last hert, a bryant, williams, beach, wilson, and of course chambers. it felt fitting to sit at the "kids" table with my cousins. we talked and laughed and took pictures and had a grand old time. it made me realize how much i've missed out on everyone these past, oh, twenty or so years. and i love them all so dearly. it's really shame, but to be able to all get together like this was momentous. unfortunately only one person was missing. a sweet girl named kim had to stay home during all of this. grandpa decided to die the week before our move, but it all worked out cuz here we are.
i can't remember what all went on after pizza. probably just back to grandpa's place to do more work. well i didn't really do much but i must say that my little bro chris really worked his butt off. my hat goes off to him. hey joe, what did we do that night?
Miami Vice (2006): two miami-dade police officers must go undercover as drug runners in order to kill lots of people. strange that there were no opening credits or even a title. the violence is extremely realistic. as predicted it has some of the greatest cinematography i've ever seen. they used so many techniques and almost every shot seemed so well thought out. the acting is all flawless with crazy realistic dialogue. it's sometimes hard to follow what they are saying because they never say more than they need to. however it does show their connection and that they have been together a long time. so i guess it adds to the movie, but doesn't make following the plot any easier. throughout their undercover stuff, i totally forgot why they were doing it all in the first place. the story is complex but it flows well and i was always waiting for the next big event to happen. i think that's called suspense. good music, great locations, lots of effective juxtaposition. the reviews i read about a confusing plot and unbelievable ending is all crap and must have been for some other movie. it's an insane adrenaline rush and after you've seen it you'll want to invest in a speedboat and kill people. highly recommended. buy it.
almost perfect, A-
since we've been in westminster we've already hung with almost everyone. last night we met dustin's dawn for the first time who seems quiet but pretty chill. and tall. ryan, dani, and tom were there too at old chicago for a nice rehashing of old times. the night before that ryan, dustin, tom, and i met up at rock bottom for a little brew-ha-ha. i'm not sure if that makes sense but i was trying to think of something with brew in it. the point has been made. two nights before that it was karen, ryan, and us out to a dinner and movie. it's been really good seeing everyone. there are a few more out here that i still need to see, but all in due time. there are a few i don't want to see either, so let's hope greg keeps his fat ass in denver. kim's fam has been amazing as usual. the kids like coming over but sometimes they also don't like to leave.
less than a week until my orientation and after saying that i get really scared. i'm hoping i'll be back in utah next tuesday for our little dc get-together. for the past five or six days straight i've been working on the swivel chair adding layers of paint and finish and scraping and using enough chemicals that would be sure to kill a small animal. the finish line is getting so close though. today may even be the day that i can put it together. most likely tomorrow though.
after a night of some interesting tv, joe and i headed to the hotel gym for a little morning workout. as simple as it was, him riding one of those handicapped exercise bikes, me on the tread, and way too skinny al roker on today, it was a wonderful time. it all went down the drain once we headed to jack in the box for breakfast. i've always believed that jack has the best breakfast around as far as fast good goes and this occasion certainly reaffirmed my belief. wow. after i've retired to california and am done with this stupid lifestyle with my eating and exercising habits, i plan on getting stupid fat on jack for breakfast and double-doubles for lunch, hopefully somewhere around the 240 pound range.
later that day was the funeral. the first person i got to see was my cuz lori who hasn't changed since i remembered her taking me to mcdonalds for sundae's when i was like five. aunt linda and uncle larry was next as he gave me a big hug and greeted me with, "hey it's my favorite liberal nephew." it doesn't get any better than that. next were the second cousins courtney, josh, and amanda. josh felt he had to introduce himself to me by saying, "hi, i'm josh." yeah i know who you are buddy. we only spent a good portion of our early childhood together. granted, we haven't seen each other since the early 90s, but still. and oh the comments i got on how skinny i looked. i've always said i grew up as a fat kid and now i have my family to back me up on that. next were my cousins craig and jill who were just as i left them. me and some of the other grand kids and great grand kids were privileged to be pall bearers for my grandpa. as we pulled him out of the hearse i thought about this tradition that has probably gone on for thousands of years to give the dead the honor that they deserve. the grandpa ben that i know and remember and have heard stories of deserves all the honor we could bestow. the service was done by the masons of which he belonged to. it was hot and sweaty and i remembered back to the time of my only other funeral i had attended, which coincidentally had been in that exact same spot about twenty years ago for grandma dorene who now lies side by side to her husband. my only snapshot of that event that i remember is sitting up front next to my mom and seeing her cry. i think she held up pretty well this time but not me. it's hard knowing that i won't see them again for so many years. it is so comforting to know that they are together though, and that one day i can embrace them both and tell them i love 'em. it sucks to think that out of my four grandparents, only one is still alive now, which is my dad's dad (grandpa bob? grandpa chambers? not really sure what to call him). i have no memory of him and know nothing more than his name. more on him later though. the funeral was good and hopefully it will stay with me for much of my life.
we all met up for pizza afterward. in all we had sanchez's, the last hert, a bryant, williams, beach, wilson, and of course chambers. it felt fitting to sit at the "kids" table with my cousins. we talked and laughed and took pictures and had a grand old time. it made me realize how much i've missed out on everyone these past, oh, twenty or so years. and i love them all so dearly. it's really shame, but to be able to all get together like this was momentous. unfortunately only one person was missing. a sweet girl named kim had to stay home during all of this. grandpa decided to die the week before our move, but it all worked out cuz here we are.
i can't remember what all went on after pizza. probably just back to grandpa's place to do more work. well i didn't really do much but i must say that my little bro chris really worked his butt off. my hat goes off to him. hey joe, what did we do that night?
Miami Vice (2006): two miami-dade police officers must go undercover as drug runners in order to kill lots of people. strange that there were no opening credits or even a title. the violence is extremely realistic. as predicted it has some of the greatest cinematography i've ever seen. they used so many techniques and almost every shot seemed so well thought out. the acting is all flawless with crazy realistic dialogue. it's sometimes hard to follow what they are saying because they never say more than they need to. however it does show their connection and that they have been together a long time. so i guess it adds to the movie, but doesn't make following the plot any easier. throughout their undercover stuff, i totally forgot why they were doing it all in the first place. the story is complex but it flows well and i was always waiting for the next big event to happen. i think that's called suspense. good music, great locations, lots of effective juxtaposition. the reviews i read about a confusing plot and unbelievable ending is all crap and must have been for some other movie. it's an insane adrenaline rush and after you've seen it you'll want to invest in a speedboat and kill people. highly recommended. buy it.
almost perfect, A-
since we've been in westminster we've already hung with almost everyone. last night we met dustin's dawn for the first time who seems quiet but pretty chill. and tall. ryan, dani, and tom were there too at old chicago for a nice rehashing of old times. the night before that ryan, dustin, tom, and i met up at rock bottom for a little brew-ha-ha. i'm not sure if that makes sense but i was trying to think of something with brew in it. the point has been made. two nights before that it was karen, ryan, and us out to a dinner and movie. it's been really good seeing everyone. there are a few more out here that i still need to see, but all in due time. there are a few i don't want to see either, so let's hope greg keeps his fat ass in denver. kim's fam has been amazing as usual. the kids like coming over but sometimes they also don't like to leave.
less than a week until my orientation and after saying that i get really scared. i'm hoping i'll be back in utah next tuesday for our little dc get-together. for the past five or six days straight i've been working on the swivel chair adding layers of paint and finish and scraping and using enough chemicals that would be sure to kill a small animal. the finish line is getting so close though. today may even be the day that i can put it together. most likely tomorrow though.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
the return
i went swimming today and boy was it wonderful. at least until clouds starting coming in. actually, first i worked out a little and ran in our apartment’s workout room. then i went home to change, then went back to the swimming pool and laid out for a bit. it is all so conveniently wonderful. i've had this routine three days in a row now and sort of feel like a celebrity. not many people are afforded the time to to just kick back like i've been doing. but before you call me any names, i have also been working my tail off getting our apartment in order. on any given day i'll run about a dozen errands. our apartment is the building right next to the clubhouse so we have it made. way back in the day if i wanted to run it had to be outside, tanning involved going a few blocks to the park, and swimming was never an option unless i paid to swim in a the community piss pool. of course the pool will be closing soon i’m sure since summer seems to be winding down unfortunately. didn’t it just start? either way school starts in about two weeks so that will probably take up most of my leisure time. the place is great though. better than expected. our second story view of the parking lot turns out being a view of mountains galore. i’m sure we can see from boulder probably down past golden. and what sunsets this state has to offer.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006): a nascar natural goes from #1 to nothing, then realizes the importance of family and blah blah. i would never have seen this had i not been such an amazing friend willing to see crappy movies to please my people. as i expected it was very funny. so many times though there would be a big punchline, but then dialogue would start right up and the audience would miss whatever they were saying because the laughing was continuing on. you can blame a combonation of editing and the writers for that one. if it matters to you, which it may, 97 percent of teh humor is pretty crude and i thought that a good chunk of the jokes were quite sacrilegious, specifically all the mentions of "baby jesus". they also ripped on the french way too much and for that reason alone i'm dropping my grade of this movie. it was funny and entertaining and there are lots of great characters. and my hat's off to the work that was done to make the races look awesome with the cool fx and camera work. you get a lot of awesome perspectives you would just never see watching nascar. not that i watch that ridiculous sport. if you can stand the crude and blasphemous humor, see it.
flawed but worth seeing, C+.
the trip to california for the funeral was surely something to remember. emily and i drove out together and we get to a little outside of vegas when i realize i’ve lost my wallet, i think, somewhere outside of st. george. i mean, how crappy is that? i haven’t lost a wallet since high school. so we had to make the two hour trek back and after a bit of a scare, the gas attendants were finally able to produce my long lost wallet, unscathed. and off we went. we got into colton kind of late that night and met up at my grandpa’s house with mom, chris, and little joey. i remember that night kind of getting into it with mom about grandpa’s things and his will and other people involved. i suppose the night before the funeral isn’t the best time to be bringing all that crap up but i promise i had no intention of letting it get that far. i think i was just overwhelmed and frustrated like the next person. either way, after a little heatedness, joe and i headed up to our hotel for the night. on the way over kim called me and gave me some rather startling news. more on that later. the hotel was great. we stayed at the holiday inn express and were definitely satisfied. the downtime joe and i had together was awesome. he and i bonded and spent more time together that weekend than as long as i can remember. i don't think that sentence makes sense, but you get the point. truly one of the highlights of the trip.
our apartment is coming along so nicely. as far as décor, it looks nothing like our old placed. i’ve really tried to change it up as best as i can. all yesterday i worked on our bar swivel chair that was my grandpa’s. my aunt linda and uncle larry bought it for my grandpa and grandma for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary probably some time in the 50s, so everyone in the family has some memory or two, or three, sitting on the chair in the kitchen. i remember sitting there seeing my grandma next to me shortly before she died. it means a lot that i have it and i’m trying to get it looking respectable once again. boy was it filthy. i spent many hours yesterday taking it apart and cleaning the wooden part of it. there are metal parts that are badly spotted and i’ve tried that clr crap but it didn’t work. if anyone has any ideas, please send them this way. how does one make metal pretty again? today i hope to get around to painting it. i worked on it most of the day on our balcony (have i mentioned the view?) and it seems as though our apartment is on some trade route or migratory flight path for wasps. there is a small dormant nest in one of our vents out there, however these i think were coming from the mailbox downstairs. we saw a gazillion of them flying in and out of the unused box out there the first day we got here. these conditions were hardly ideal for spending hours out there. at one point i’d have three wasps flying all around me before i’d run off screaming to get inside. to this day i haven’t been stung by anything and i certainly wasn’t about to then. so off to safeway i go. i returned to the balcony with the new name of death. every five or so minutes a wasp would enter my domain and would receive a spray of my poison. i battled with all the might i had and only ran back in the house a couple of times when their sneak attacks would overwhelm me. using my grandpa’s chair as my shield and raid as my sword, one by one they fell and after destroying maybe ten of them i headed down to their nest and four more lay slain. time will tell today if i truly was the victor.
it's good to have the internet again.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006): a nascar natural goes from #1 to nothing, then realizes the importance of family and blah blah. i would never have seen this had i not been such an amazing friend willing to see crappy movies to please my people. as i expected it was very funny. so many times though there would be a big punchline, but then dialogue would start right up and the audience would miss whatever they were saying because the laughing was continuing on. you can blame a combonation of editing and the writers for that one. if it matters to you, which it may, 97 percent of teh humor is pretty crude and i thought that a good chunk of the jokes were quite sacrilegious, specifically all the mentions of "baby jesus". they also ripped on the french way too much and for that reason alone i'm dropping my grade of this movie. it was funny and entertaining and there are lots of great characters. and my hat's off to the work that was done to make the races look awesome with the cool fx and camera work. you get a lot of awesome perspectives you would just never see watching nascar. not that i watch that ridiculous sport. if you can stand the crude and blasphemous humor, see it.
flawed but worth seeing, C+.
the trip to california for the funeral was surely something to remember. emily and i drove out together and we get to a little outside of vegas when i realize i’ve lost my wallet, i think, somewhere outside of st. george. i mean, how crappy is that? i haven’t lost a wallet since high school. so we had to make the two hour trek back and after a bit of a scare, the gas attendants were finally able to produce my long lost wallet, unscathed. and off we went. we got into colton kind of late that night and met up at my grandpa’s house with mom, chris, and little joey. i remember that night kind of getting into it with mom about grandpa’s things and his will and other people involved. i suppose the night before the funeral isn’t the best time to be bringing all that crap up but i promise i had no intention of letting it get that far. i think i was just overwhelmed and frustrated like the next person. either way, after a little heatedness, joe and i headed up to our hotel for the night. on the way over kim called me and gave me some rather startling news. more on that later. the hotel was great. we stayed at the holiday inn express and were definitely satisfied. the downtime joe and i had together was awesome. he and i bonded and spent more time together that weekend than as long as i can remember. i don't think that sentence makes sense, but you get the point. truly one of the highlights of the trip.
our apartment is coming along so nicely. as far as décor, it looks nothing like our old placed. i’ve really tried to change it up as best as i can. all yesterday i worked on our bar swivel chair that was my grandpa’s. my aunt linda and uncle larry bought it for my grandpa and grandma for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary probably some time in the 50s, so everyone in the family has some memory or two, or three, sitting on the chair in the kitchen. i remember sitting there seeing my grandma next to me shortly before she died. it means a lot that i have it and i’m trying to get it looking respectable once again. boy was it filthy. i spent many hours yesterday taking it apart and cleaning the wooden part of it. there are metal parts that are badly spotted and i’ve tried that clr crap but it didn’t work. if anyone has any ideas, please send them this way. how does one make metal pretty again? today i hope to get around to painting it. i worked on it most of the day on our balcony (have i mentioned the view?) and it seems as though our apartment is on some trade route or migratory flight path for wasps. there is a small dormant nest in one of our vents out there, however these i think were coming from the mailbox downstairs. we saw a gazillion of them flying in and out of the unused box out there the first day we got here. these conditions were hardly ideal for spending hours out there. at one point i’d have three wasps flying all around me before i’d run off screaming to get inside. to this day i haven’t been stung by anything and i certainly wasn’t about to then. so off to safeway i go. i returned to the balcony with the new name of death. every five or so minutes a wasp would enter my domain and would receive a spray of my poison. i battled with all the might i had and only ran back in the house a couple of times when their sneak attacks would overwhelm me. using my grandpa’s chair as my shield and raid as my sword, one by one they fell and after destroying maybe ten of them i headed down to their nest and four more lay slain. time will tell today if i truly was the victor.
it's good to have the internet again.
Monday, August 07, 2006
the colorado move: part ii
well this is it. we are loading the truck now and about to take apart the computer. i'm back from the trip to california and what a roller coaster of emotions that was. such an amazing time though. there is so much to say that i'm not sure where to start. sadly it will have to wait. our stuff will be moved out tomorrow and we will be out there the next day or so. anyway, my mind is racing with so much i have to say. hopefully i can find the time once i get out there to get it all out. hopefully i will remember it all. so, i guess i'll see you in colorado.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
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