What happens in Vegas....

So I just spent like five days in Vegas.  I've heard people say that Vegas is a three day kind of town.  It you stay for less than three days you won't get the real feel of it, but if you stay for more than three days you're likely to end up in more trouble than you set out for....  I'd probably have to agree.  Truthfully I didn't get into any traditional 'trouble' like someone would suppose when it comes to Vegas, but I certainly got a lot more out of this trip than I was ever expecting.  Being with my friends and hanging out all day everyday was awesome.  I really do have some of the best friends ever!  My old roommate was getting married (the reason for the trip) so it made quite a special time for us all, and I LOVED going to the sealing, it was beautiful.  The only thing that rivaled the excellence of the temple was the day before and after where I got to enjoy some time with a girl I met in my ward this past semester.  Her name is Lyndsi and she's a native of the Las Vegas area so we picked her up from home and had her along for some of our activities.  My roommate, Reece was pretty happy about that, he's been trying to get me to hook up with a girl all semester.  I guess he got his wish because all that time with Lyndsi seemed to end with us being pretty much together.  It was certainly the last thing I was expecting from this trip, but I can't complain.  I guess in the back of my mind it is what I wanted all along.  YAY!   She is a really awesome girl, I'm super excited to get to know her better next semester.  (that's the biggest problem with the situation, just as we began to really want to spend time together we have to be separated).  Anyhow... I'm excited for life, and for skiing this break.  All in all, I am so thankful for all that has happened in the past week or so :D

... like the ocean needs the waves.

I've been pondering on the phrase, "all drains lead to the ocean." I believe this is a Disney take on the world-wide saying that 'all roads lead to Rome' although I don't know if that's really where it came from, that's what is certainly sounds like. Anyhow, it's an interesting thought though, and the more I use it the more meaning I see in it. This originally comes from Finding Nemo where the fish in the dentist's tank are trying to escape back to the ocean and try to get into any drain in the office, believing that it will lead them back to the ocean. In the end this is true, and Nemo is able to escape by going down the spit collector drain and later finding himself in Sydney Harbor. I thought it was a clever line and like it quite a bit.

I started to use this phrase on a weekly basis while I was serving as an office elder durring my mission. We would often have errands to run around the city and we wouldn't know how to get where we were going. My companions would sometimes get worried, but I told them over and over again that all drains lead to the ocean, and all roads lead to EDSA. Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue is a large (4-6 lanes in either direction) highway that entirly encompasses most of Metro Manila, if you drive long enough in any direction you will eventually end up back there. So they began to understand that whether not I knew where exactly I was going, we couldn't get too lost because we could always get back to the main roads which would lead us home.

Since being home I've realized that more and more of my life is centered around that idea. For instance, I've driven around Provo quite a bit, but I always get 'lost' around south campus. I just don't have the locations of different landmarks memorized so when I go in that area I just remember that all drains lead to the ocean, and I keep driving, right turn, left turn, right turn, left turn... until I finally drive by the place I'm looking for and it's all good (ok, honestly I don't just drive aimlessly, but you get the idea). Recently I've begun to understand it as a very gospel oriented subject. I may not know all the twists and turns, but I know that eventual out come. All we have to do is, "just keep swimming" and we'll get to where we need to be. Isn't that so true? We don't know which road we'll take, how I'll get there, but I'm headed in the general direction of the Celestial Kingdom and I expect I'll get there someday. Obviously not all roads lead there, but there is a general direction of paths that head there, and I like to think I'm on one of them.

It breaks down into everyday things too like temple marriage. I don't know who I'm going to marry, I don't know when or where, but I just keep swimming, right? Dating different people, finding what I like... it'll lead to the ocean someday, right? Or college, sure I don't know what my grades are right now, but I'm doing my best to head in the direction of graduation... I guess it can be kind of a lackadaisical view on life, but that's me :D It's an odd feeling sometimes when you're swimming and swimming and you don't see or feel the ocean yet. It takes faith and hope, and charity so that you stay happy on they trail.

It's beginning to feel a lot like.....

Christmas time *is* the most wonderful time of the year! It's so very nice to see snow (uh.... well in the mountains) and think of Christmas, and drink hot chocolate, and listen to sweet music. Yesterday I was SO happy to see the most beautiful Christmas tree ever (thanks to Mallory) and it even smelled like a Christmas tree!! I can't wait to get home and see our train, and tree, and all the presents. I love love love it so much. Even on a dismal day like today, I'm sitting at work, there are no calls, life is so boring, at least I have Pandora and Frank Sinatra's Holiday channel to keep me company.

I had a marvelous experience just now so I thought I'd write about it. I was getting pretty bored, wasting all kinds of time browsing the internet absentmindedly.... I took out my head phones for a sec and walked around our little office space and then came back. As I put my earphones back in my overall happiness increased dramatically as I was welcomed by not only a holiday song, but a Christmas song, that's right a CHRISTmas song. I sat and listened to "What Child is This" and was filled with the spirit. I'm so thankful for the 'reason for the season' and despite not having snow, or a tree, or presents at my apartment right now, it's just as Christmas-y as ever. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Life has an interesting way of making things happen. Isn't it funny that no matter how much we dream otherwise, time never stops, days don't slow down, and every perfect situation that we could ever dream of *doesn't* happen. It's funny how one small event can change the course of your week. I don't really like to tell stories that aren't over yet, but there is this one... and it's hecka funny thus far. I met this girl, I thought she was pretty cute... ok, who am I kidding, I thought she was gorgeous! and as such, I was totally freaked out to even talk to her. One evening at a ward gathering we randomly end up talking with each other (yay!) and I met her sister, who's not quite as beautiful, but still an awesome girl. They tell me that 'sure, we should hang out sometime' and the very next day I get a call and hopefully would've done something with them... but timing didn't work out, so we didn't. Then it was thanksgiving and the day after I have a chance to see them again, going on a hike. However the older, more attractive sister doesn't come and I end up on a date (pretty much) with the younger sister.... dag. I can't say I didn't enjoy the hike, I did, it was awesome, but it just didn't work out the way I would have planned it. That reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, "I saw that going differently in my mind." (Hitch) pretty much the story of my life. Solution, stop thinking.

Elevator

It often seems that the darkness and sadness can last forever, even to the point it seems that perhaps life was meant to be that dark and dull and you become complacent in the misery. I am pleased to announce that it's not true! It just takes some time, sometimes you're only in the middle of the ride, but everything will be just fine, everything will be alright!!

I can't say I've been super sad recently, just content with a seemingly sub-par life. This past weekend though I had quite a wonderful couple of days, and I saw the light again of a joyous life. This is why I have thus decided to make the conscious effort of making my life move upward again, and hopefully be on top of it all by the end of the semester. If not, I'll sure have fun doing it :D

Dance, Dance

So I failed. :-( I can't say it was the saddest day of my life, but it was still extraordinarily sad. Did I really have a chance to win? maybe not, but I sure felt that I didn't go as far as I could have. Today was BYU's DanceSport competition (and for those of you who know me, competition is my middle name) and I was all over the Cha-Cha and even tried my hand (or feet...) at Swing. I was felling great, having fun, but got cut after the fourth and first rounds (of cha-cha and swing, respectively). It wasn't a big deal, I don't mind not winning, I'm not a dance major, nor do I ever plan to be, but I do like dancing. It really shouldn't matter that I got cut so early... but it did.

Going in to this competition I was ready to win, it was in my head, I had visioned it, winning, what a champion-like thing to do, no? My dance partner was amazing, she *is* a dance major (er... minor actually) and she is a wonderful dancer. She got called back in all of her events (6 of them) except the ones where I danced with her.... see a connection? I feel bad that I lost, but even worse that I made her lose. Sure it wasn't entirely my fault, but I feel bad that I wasn't able to do better. She sure helped me a lot, gave me pointers and practiced often. I really feel like I've improved in my dancing, even just today I felt like I learned a lot from her as we would wait backstage and she would tell me over and over again about keeping my posture up, about planting my feet, about looking up, making it snappy, starting quickly, making it dramatic..... I learned SOOOO much today, and I loved dancing, even for the short while that we did. However deep inside of me it feels like I'm wretchedly angry at myself for falling short, and truthfully I feel like crying, but I can't... there's still life to life, so I'll do that.

Consequences

I love music. Music can really make or break my day, it can cheer me up or make me sad, help me remember or help me forget, and I feel like I could eat and breathe nothing but music for a week and be just fine. Since I was young I liked to listen to music when I did my homework, and when I was young my dad would tell me I couldn't study with such a distraction... then as I got older it turned into a question, "How can you study with music on?" Now and days I get it every now and then, "You can study and listen to music at the same time?"
I thought it was just a generation thing, that because he was old and I was young he didn't get my live/love of music. However recently I've been running into this problem more and more (aka, everyday!). On idle MWF afternoons when I come home to do a little homework, I turn on some tunes, sit down in the middle of our floor, and work out some Mechanics of Materials problems. It's usually not long before my roommate comes home and also starts studying and within minutes I can be guaranteed that he will ask me to turn off the music because he just can't think. More than once this has spawned conversation of how he can't stand to study with music on, and how I can hardly stand to study without music on. Truthfully I can hardly stand to do anything without music on, but I've learned to be very tolerant of those with less brain power than I ;-).

Today however I encountered a most amazing experience. I was sitting in the computer lab of the SWKT doing some ISYS quizzes and checking facebook and listening to Pandora, and checking my registration status and checking my e-mail..... so I was working on this quiz and I was doing just fine, but I got to the point that I couldn't think very well so I took a break for a second and when I got back to work on the quiz again I still just couldn't think, I couldn't really even read the question! I was quite frustrated when my frustration was compounded by my realization that the music was listening to was inhibiting my thinking! I could hardly believe it! Me, marvelous Mike, sting, *I* was having trouble thinking because of a song!

Mind you this was quite the amazing/distracting song ("Consequences of Sound" -Regina Spektor) and you might realize where it gets its namesake. All I know is that I was suffering some serious consequences from the sounds in my head at that time. Now I know that it's not any music that I can stand to have helping me study, and I think I may go back to my techno station when studying.... that seems to get me in the groove pretty well.

This fall weather

For the past couple of weeks I've been wandering around campus in awe. Every crisp autumn afternoon was a spectacle of color and beauty for me. I loved all the leafs on the ground and all te colors the were. It was magical to see grass covered in what was like a sandy yellow of leaves, only to get blown around by every passer by. The wind, the leafs, the colors, the sun... it was SO amazing, I love this fall weather we've been having. Many people have been on the complaint the past couple of days about how cold it has become and how much they hate winter, but guess what, I still love this fall weather we're having, and yes this is still fall weather.
I think it's about time that BYU students accepted the fact that snow is not only a 'winter' happening, but infact very much a part of fall. In fact snow falls well into the spring in higher elevations, and the presece of snow does not denote winter. I think that red and yellow leaves poking out of a thin layer of snow is just as beautiful as they were all dry and crackly.

I thought it funny of myself to enjoy this fall weather we've been having so much, I don't remember loving the fall colors so much ever before. I think this is because I haven't seen fall colors for a couple of years and it's like seeing it for the first time, which I LOVE. That goes for the snow too. I've always been excited for snowfall, but I think this year I'm just a little more anxious since this will be my first time living in snow for the past two and a half years. And on that note I am SUPER excited for the snow to fall, for the slopes to open, and for me to go skiing!!!

Several Ways to Die Trying

"When you can't fake it hard enough to please everyone, or anyone at all..."
"The artist these days are not who you think they are,"
"...'cause I'm scared of myself again."

Just what are you? Just who am I? What am I tring to be, myself? is anyone ever truly tring to be themselves? who are they and how do they find themselves? I don't claim to entirely be myself, and I'm not saying that no one can be theirselves, but I just like to wonder just who exactly is 'yourself?' I believe that the society that we live in has such a great influence on our attitudes, minds, perceptions, and actions that almost nobody can truly be something not part of it. Even those who are trying to be different, rebel against the norm and be a punk, they too are molded by the society we live in: whatever we are they aren't... So if what they thought was cool became a norm in society would they stop doing it...? Doesn't society then have a sway over what they do just as much as anyone else? maybe not....

I once heard a very interesting quote about self-esteem or self image. This is in relation to what has the greatest influence on our actions/attitudes: "It's not important what you think of yourself, or even what others think of you, but what matters most is what you think other people think of you." How about that? Isn't it true though? You may have great thoughts about yourself, but what if others don't? you don't know that, but you sure might worry about it a lot. Perhaps we're all stuck trying to live the expectations that we expect others to give us........ but I guess in that way we are basing our actions off our own perception of what the norm is, therefore doing what we want, or what we think we want... or want to think.

Enter one of my favorite pasttimes: people-watching. I was at a concert the other night full of emo punks and hotshot rocksters, and it was interesting to think about who they really were or who they were tyring to be. A lot can be ready from a persons clothing, speech, and actions. Then as you observe thier age and supposed social status it begins to paint a picture in your head of who they might think they are. I'm not supposing to be all knowing, nor do I pass judgement on these people, just simple observations that I do believe to be generally true, if not for all cases.
Another hobbie of mine is reading the readers fourum in our campus newspaper. Some people have some crazy opinions. They are often very ridiculous filing thier opinions with extreme biases and generalizations. I once again wonder, what are they trying to be? Are they like this in 'normal' life or is this something they only woud say on paper. Some kid criticized the paper for running an article on getting into fall fashions saying that it was worldly and encouraged people to buy immodest clothing, thence becomming immoral people.... WHAT!?!? I think he just isn't in style and therefore was jelous of those who have even a slight sense of what looks good.

In the end I guess I want to say that I don't necissarily claim to be entirely who I am either. I know a lot of what I want and don't want, but I'll be the first to admit that I am very much in flux, chaning daily. I do think it's interesting how 'finding ourselves' pops up often in our society, especially at this time in my life, college students are bombareded with choices and chances. I do though, love love love the Dashboard Confessional song "Several Ways to Die Trying" about trying to be 'normal.' http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dashboardconfessional/severalwaystodietrying.html

OK... so this all stemed from some Panic! at the Disco Lyrics. They have some crazy weird meanings in their songs, and it's interesting for me to know that the lead singer grew up mormon, but is no longer. The song, "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage" is about "how kids today are being raised under high expectations that create pressure and make them uptight" (a good interepretation). Because of my own gospel centered point of view I do know who I am, I'm not weighed down by worldy expectations, but only that which I have learned to be of real importance. Meaning those things pertaining to eternal salvation. The gospel is the aswer to the question I have posed in this post. Just who are we, and what are we doing here? We are children of God, he loves us and we are here to prove ourselves and someday return to Him.

No coherence

So I really want to write today, but I don't have any specific thing to write about. I guess a lot is happening and there's a million things I want to say, but couldn't have time for half of them to be said. Last night I talked on the phone with an old friend for nearly three hours... which I guess in comparison to some isn't that long, but for me it was a pretty long phone conversation. The weather lately has been so cold it's strange, this morning I scraped ice off my car. I drove to campus this morning, I never drive. I've been eating candy all day, I've only had oatmeal and a burrito other than skittles, starburst, and smarties. I played Wii for four hours today, most of that just happened between Chris and I, we rocked some super-smash butt. I did two CE 203 practice tests today, but I still feel inadequate for the test tomorrow. My day tomorrow is going to be so busy. I love this last weekend, we didn't do anything. We played Starcraft for many many hours (including 'till 3am saturday). I went to an awesome freezing cold football game. I got a free beanie and wore my free shirt. I love the BYU Cougars.., and Max Hall. I didn't really enjoy church. I did like our sunday-school lesson though. I didn't ride my bike all weekend. I saw a movie last thursday, I loved it! I nearly fell asleep in class today. I actually started sweating during dance class (go cha-cha!). I didn't finish today's crossword puzzle. I am slightly tired. We didn't have FHE tonight :( I have homework to do. ...

Happieness is.....

So perhaps I should just make a new blogg, "How the Gospel Relates to EVERYTHING" because I'm about to talk about it again...
Fixing your bike is like repentance. So true. A couple weeks ago I had one of the saddest days ever. A number of unhappy little things went on, but in the end the worst part was when I left class and got my bike to go home, I had a flat tire :-( Ultra sad. Walking my bike all the way home was exceptionally sorrowful, but naturally life went on. It took me about a week until I had the time to fix it, so it was somewhat of a dark and sad life for that time, but then on the day when I finally had the time and went out and fixed it I was SOOO happy. It was like a complete reversal of my feelings from the previous week. This of course reminded me of Alma, “that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.” That’s kind of how I feel about my bike being broken… and then fixed, what a lovely gospel adventure.

Choices

There are some things in life that rarely change. I know that for most of my growing up life we had this certain brown-ish, boxy couch. It was somewhat of a staple of growing up in the Murray home. Also our TV, it’s been the same since… almost as long as I can remember, perhaps since I was five or six. You can almost always expect household chores to be underway on any given Saturday morning. One thing that I can always remember is a certain bowl in our kitchen. Ever since I was young it’s always been there, and it’s always been full of fruit. Often times it would hold apples, sometimes peaches or pears, apricots or bananas, even plums and oranges could be found therein, but it always had fruit. Sadly enough, I don’t think I ate all that much fruit when I was growing up… probably not as much as my mother would have liked, but this fruit bowl was always out in the kitchen, sometimes set as a centerpiece on the dining room table, but it was always around.

I think perhaps my mother was trying to get across to us an idea with this. She was offering us fruit, not forcing us to eat it, but just had it there as a permanent offering that would could at anytime eat if we so choose. Perhaps had I been slightly more keen on eating fruit I would have done so, but at least I had the choice, and I know that my mother isn’t upset that I didn’t eat much, she was just happy to have offered it. It’s sort of like in Alma when he tells his son, "whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is not compelled to come;” it’s as simple as that.

Album Artwork

I really love album covers. For some reason I feel a very special deep connection to a band or an album when I can have some kind of connection to the artwork on the cover. I guess there are some where I first like the music, then the cover reminds me of that great music. Then there are others that just seem to have a great deal of meanig in their pictures. Most of them are pretty stinkin' random though... and I think thats what I like most about them. The have no real meaning, just kind of a funny story. So here I would like to place before you several of my favorte album covers. (Most of these I know and like because I actually own that CD... although not all.)

A new favorite

Funny story, my grandmother often says the world favorite giving emphasis to the 'a' but pronouncing the 'i' as 'eye' not 'eh' like it usually is... when we were kids we thought that was the right way say it. :D

So yesterday I stumbled across an amazing song... it's funny 'cause I'm not entirely sure just where it came from, but I think Pandora played it for me. It's by Snow Patrol, which I've heard a lot of, my sister has a CD or two of theirs I think, but I ever really gave it too much notice. Yesterday however when I was idly trying to write a seven page paper I was listening to some background music and all of a sudden what I heard caught my attention. I listened even more carefully for a moment and it was amazing! It was a most amazing and beautiful song, and I loved it!! I haven't had a new favorite song for a long time so this was kind of a big moment for me. Hearing this song made me do a little reading on the Snow Patrol which I thoroughly enjoyed, and it gave me a nice little break from my homework.

Naturally after this the song was stuck in my head, but that's okay because I do love it. Then this morning it was like an addiction, I HAD to hear the song... so I listened to it like four times in the past hour... I love it! Having a new favorite song is for sure an important thing, and I feel it give me a solid step in the 'adjusting' to normal life that everyone keeps asking me about.


I love music.

Heart Attack

Sometimes you just have to take a bad day to make life fair. Since last Wednesday I’ve been having pretty good days, I love waking up every morning, seeing the sunrays coming over the mountain and getting ready for another day of life. Honestly every day for nearly a week has been good, and even some great days mixed in there. Last night I went to bed happy, looking forward to today. I had a bunch of stuff to be happy about, dressing up, a dance test, religion class… It was supposed to be great. Then this morning came…. Ugh! Today was not quite the spectacular wonder of happiness that I was expecting, and I’d almost complain about it, but I guess it’s only fair, right? I mean there are children dying in Africa and I can’t take one bad day? Nah, I’ll take this one, I can do that… In fact it’s almost a blessing, a way to remind me that I’m not perfect or invincible. I think there’s a song about that… something about how bleeding lets you know you’re still human. Speaking of songs I think I just want to sing a couple to the world…:

What's a day when it all ends up the same,
and lasts forever?
Can't complain when there's nothing there to blame,
and things can't be better.
Summer evenings, teenage grievings,
got no problem with the life that I've been leading.
No concentration or hesitation,
I can't make time when nothings new,
‘cause waking up is hard to do so...
-Sum 41

If I had a dollar bill for every time I’ve been wrong
Id be a self-made millionaire and you’d still be gone
So hand me down my best dress shoes and my best dress shirt
‘Cause I’m going out in style to cover the hurt…
‘Cause now I’m drunk again
The leads to my end
And I’m scared of myself again….
-Reel Big Fish

On a Sunday go once around,
because when the rides done,
the hopes that you have carried,
they fall out from your hands back to the ground.
Live with that, with that.
They fall out from your hands back to the ground.
Baby live with that, With that.
And the haze clears from your eyes on a Sunday.
Yeah, the haze clears from your eyes on a Sunday.
Learn as the drugs leave.
Learn as you lose it.
You will.
-Jimmy Eat World

On the Way Home....

This is a CD that I've listened to a hundred times, not one of my absolute favorites, but one that I have and often gets played for its namesake, Dashboard Confessional. I love their 'early material' on The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most and such, but their middle CD where they took some big changes in their overall sound I never got really into. This of course is the rather notable A Mission, A Mark, A Brand, A Scar which made much of their popularity in the early 2000s. This morning however I idly turned on some music to get ready to and this CD happened to be conveniently located in my CD player already (it's been a dashboard sort of month I guess ;-] ) So as I listened to the music it all of a sudden had a bunch more meaning than I had heard from it. Not just song for song, but the album as a whole is quite the amazing story.

I LOVE the lyrics of all dashboard songs, and these ones are particularly potent, and thier story is so moving. As you listen to the album straight through you are indeed taken on a journey with the singer as he loves, lies, dies, and somehow fights through the sorrow to live and love again.
And as we see, the Dashboard Confessional goes on. That name in and of itself is a wonderful lyrical majesty. The song, “Sharp Hint of New Tears” speaks of driving home, and letting the car “hear my confessions.” Giving the idea that all these songs could be considered as though sung in the car, trying to choke back the sharp hint of these new tears, but being beaten with ease.
If anyone is up for some intense poetry just check here http://www.azlyrics.com/d/dashboard.html under the first three full albums, any of those songs will amaze you with amazingly poetic lyrics.

Hey Wyoming:

Hey Wyoming:

UP YOURS!! That’s right, our defense scored more points that your offence today. That’s right, the referees called every penalty in the book… and we still won. BYU dominance is beginning to be established in the MWC. Actually after the fourth quarter I feel more like saying "hey Ref, up yours!" Did you know that there are only 40 possible penalties in the game of football (that’s including ‘using helmet as a weapon’) and I think today, some referee woke up thinking he wanted to call all 40 of them, well you got about 80% of them buddy! But despite of the numerous delays and set backs of the day, BYU once again forced a shutout in LaVell Edwards Stadium. The offence took a little while to get in the groove, but once they were going it was a cake walk to 27 points in the first half (12 of those coming from the defense). Once again BYU was able to play many of their second and third string players in the third and fourth quarters, which still held Wyoming scoreless. GO COUGARS!! Kudos though to the Cowboys, they may not have scored, but they did play a good game, nearly equaling the cougars in rushing yards, and actually having more time of possession than the cougars. It’s too bad that they just couldn’t make anything of it. Then in the fourth quarter, QB Dax Crum (sadly, not from Bulgaria) was sacked big time for a fumble, leading to another three points for the cougars. I guess that hit busted his ego more than him because he didn’t come back into the game after that. I guess it’s acceptable, good game Dax, maybe next week you’ll have better luck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

on a different note:

As a child I attended many BYU football games with my grandparents, who while residing in Long Beach, CA, loved BYU football that much that they would buy season tickets. Of course we know a season consists of multiple games, and my grandparents couldn’t go to all the games with just themselves, so naturally we were often the beneficiaries of very loving grandparents, going to the game, eating ice cream, and learning all about the important sport of football. What a impact that has made on my life. I would like to thank Wendol Murray for his love for me, as well as for all the games he took me too, all the plays he explained to me, and for his help, even in my life today. Today as the cougars took the field and the crowd sang the fight song I knew that he was there. I hope you enjoyed the game, I love you grandpa!

People...? or not two people?

So I recently attended a well hyped sporting event... okay, so it was like the biggest BYU game EVER to a sellout crowd at our humble stadium, and I noticed some interesting things about the behavior of people. Before any BYU secret police read this and try to silence my insolence, please let it be known that I do in fact bleed blue, I am a true cougar fan, and I even stood up for the WHOLE GAME.... (except for the few minutes in the fourth quarter when I nearly threw up...)
So the game is getting close to starting, the stands are nearly full, and here come our BYU cougars out of the locker room.... the cheering and screaming crescendos as the players come running out, bearing the school colors and the flag of 'Tradition'. For the '05 season BYU adopted a new theme for its football program, the new coach wanted to go back to the roots of good BYU football, adorning the old style 'Y' logo and using the tagline, "Tradition, Spirit, Honor" in many of their advertising campaigns. It's been a good thing for them, the team has done well and the merchandise has sold nicely... But back to the game, they all came busting out of the tunnel hyped up to a roaring crowd and waved their banner all over the place. It was a thing of beauty.
Moments later, probably less than a minute after they roar had subdued, it was announced that the UCLA Bruins were now taking the field. Now if any of you know anything about college football, UCLA is a team to be respected. In the past twenty years they've only had five losing seasons. They hold a NCAA record for eight straight bowl victories. They have produced multiple NFL greats including hall of famer Troy Aikman. It's true that the past year has unnaturally pushed UCLA and BYU into an odd rivalry with the Bruin's regular season win last year at this same game, and then in the Las Vegas Bowl losing to the Cougars over a PAT... I'll admit there was a bit of rivalry felt going into the game, but what I heard as UCLA took the field saddened my heart. BOOOOO BOOOOO!!!! The crowed actually Boo-ed them, can you believe that!?!? I don't think we even got BOO-ed when BYU took the field at Husky Stadium last week, and here we are, loving, kind christians, demeaning our fellowman, and what for? nothing! nothing at all! Perhaps had they shown some hostility or said something unkind, but no, they hadn't. Our loyal blue bleeding fans couldn't allow that slightly lighter blue to taint their raging veins. (that reminds me of M:I 3, when the bad-guy says he'd bleed on the flag to make sure the stripes stay red.. when he is the one screwing them over.)

Truth be told, this un-sportsmen like conduct was short lived. I think those 'boo-ing' were soon hushed by their close companions who actually had a conscience. Eventually the game began and not a person in the crowd were ready for what was about to happen, and if they had, perhaps their reaction would have been different. In fact the intense rivalry continued for quite some time. Near the beginning of the game there was a UCLA pass that the wide receiver grabbed, bobbled, and caught just as he was landing out of bounds. The crowed was outraged to see the referee indicate that it was a fair catch and counted for UCLA first down. People were once again boo-ing and calling for a review of the play. It wasn't more than twenty minutes later when almost the same thing happened to a BYU wide receiver. He barley caught it barley in-bounds, but of course there were no calls for a review of the play. There wasn't anyone there to complain that he was practically out of bounds when it was caught, and play went straight on.

As the game waned sour for the Bruins the jeering from the crowd became less and less, but it was still into the end of the second quarter with a 35-0 BYU lead that the crowed was still overly upset at the referees giving penalties to BYU. Some people just couldn't conceive that UCLA should be given any respect at all. For me it was about the time that their field goal was blocked, retrieved, and gave way to another seven of BYU's points that I actually started feeling bad for them (regardless of what the crowd was doing). The BYU offence simply played flawlessly. The defense was rock solid. The home crowd was supportive and deafening at times, roaring for the D, and hushed in awe for offence. It was truly an amazing game, and yet it struck me odd that into the last quarter when BYU started to play it's second and third string players and UCLA still was not able to produce any points, nor stop the cougars from driving the painful score even higher. In the end, it was just a tough game for UCLA, and I think that those 'boo-ers' at the start of the game just may feel stupid for their childish act. Perhaps so... perhaps not. I for one hope that UCLA is able to recuperate and have a winning season despite this devastating loss.

My one other consolation for this game came from a KSL new slideshow from KSL.com (this is their picture). After UCLA had lost a TD to a fumble they started off the drive with a kickoff return of about thirty yards only to end in tragedy as fullback Trevor went head over heels into a tackle and upon finding himself on his head dropped the football, which BYU recovered and made quick work bringing it back to the end zone. The good part here was this picture, even after having fumbled, and amid the joyful cries of the BYU defense Trevor was not left alone, but helped up by none other than a BYU lineman. Well, thanks whoever that was. You're a hero in my book.

The German Roller Coaster Ride

Okay, first off, if anyone can name the movie from whence I stole this title, I love you (hint: I replaced 'Hawaiian' for 'German')

So I decided I need a blog, but I'm to lazy to actually start one since I don't currently have a personal computer and I know that if I were to start it now, I'd probably stop being up dated within a couple of weeks, if not days. But I do like the opportunity to sit here and write nonsense about life, with or without the hope that anyone may or may not read this.... (captain ambiguity strikes again!)

So as far as this roller coaster goes, it was more like bungee jumping, or actually, better yet, paddle ball. you know when you have the rubber ball on the elastic string and you bounce it off the paddle.... I've had a couple of days the felt like that. First it was absolutely amazing and wonderful, then it was crappy, then it was totally awesome, then I had this really great plan that started falling apart, and as I pieced it back together and started to be happy with the piecing... it was destroyed again. Upon trying to reassemble, it was reconstructed quite differently, but turned out quite nice. Of course during the execution of the plan there were some ups and down, ending on a really deep low, an insanely ridiculous high, and then me laughing, by myself, at nothing in particular, just laughing, for at least a minute, then I nearly cried. As I wandered from my car (which was parked at the furthest end of the parking lot, away from my apartment) I wondered and prayed and could've cried, but I gave up on thinking and went to sleep.

The next day started pretty flat, but later turned up and down like crazy again. First being stressfully strained to a worrisome cringe, then exuberantly exploding with joy. Shortly thereafter that leveled off again, dropped out the bottom and floated back up to goodness land. My feelings of happiness then took about five hours to slowly, slowly wear down till I was quite depressed, and yet again surprised that I could have so many feelings. In the end some chocolate milk and a phone call to one of the most amazing people I know saved me enough to live on.

So this may perhaps be the most random and meaningless note ever written, and that's probably true. But it feels good to write.

All this roller coaster goodness is now quite beyond me now... It's like when you're at Knots Berry Farm ridding the Boomerang. It's a wicked crazy twisting ride that takes like ten seconds... then as you come to rest, you go through it all again backwards, which of course prepares you quite well to spill your guts. Assuming you're still alive, you walk away feeling better and better every second. You look back and say, heck, I'd do that again! forgetting the intense nausea that nearly killed you. And as they say, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. That's why we can look back and be glad it happened.

So to end, I'll offer another 'mikes heart' to anyone who can get this quote "...drops us like a new born giraffe...' (*descending whistling sound, ending in a lip/tounge pftpthppttsphphpstb*). (for those of you who know the movie "Hook," that's where the sound comes from (bangarang Rufio) but the quote is something else) :D

Go World

Maybe it's not where an athlete's from
that makes us root for them
Maybe it's not the flag on their back
or the anthem that we hear when they win
that makes us cheer
Maybe it's simply that they are human.
And we are human.
And when they succeed,
we succeed.

GO WORLD

I don't know about anybody else, but I LOVE this advertising campaign. I really could care less for visa, but the ideas they're portraying here in 'Go World' is just amazing, and I really love it.. times four.

In our family, when it is getting close to our birthday we post a small 'wish list' of thing that we'd like to get, and for as long as I can remember my Dad has always asked for 'World Peace' or 'Love at Home' and I kinda thought it was silly. Now, however, I kinda get it.... May we all pray for our world, a little more often.

This is the start, of something new....

Oh my gosh, I'm doing it. Everyone please stand and applaud before I puke my guts out. I can hardly beleive that I'm actually starting a blog... Isn't it funny how people rub off on you in the strangest ways. I've met enough bloggers that I couldn't help myself, so here I am! Ahhh! I don't actually like to talk that much, nor am I much of a writer, and heck, with school keeping me so busy all the time I doubt I'll ever get much on here more than a sentence or two... but I feel like I'm ready to make that commitment and make an honest effort to make this bogg of somwhat meaning-ful-ness-ish...... :] Okay, so by way of introduction my name is Michael Murray, I'm a sophomore at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT. I grew up in a small town called Payson, UT althought I currently go home to my family in an even smaller town in Washington called Anacortes. I love the ocean, I love music, I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, I also love learning; these things put together are pretty much why I'm here at BYU studying. So I like to think a lot, and I'm excited to see how this all works out... thanks for reading.

ps.. the following two posts are just copied from my facebook notes... I thought I might want to have them on here too.