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!!!