a moment to vent.

The following may come across as self righteous but it bothered me so I’m gonna gripe for a second.

Today in church my very diligent second counselor, who usually takes care of sacrament was running late so I asked Jordan to see that it was set up and I went recruiting people for passing the sacrament. Now my ward has fairly limited priesthood and it is not uncommon that all but one or two of the worthy priesthood holders in the room when sacrament meeting starts will be either blessing or passing. With this in mind it really bothered me that one of the men I asked told me he would not pass the sacrament because he was sitting next to a girl. Today we had fairly good sacrament attendance and I was able to find all the people I needed but I am still bothered by this.

Part of this goes back to the fact that I firmly believe that there is little more important than the ordinance of the sacrament. I spent a year trying to instill this in the 11 and 12 year olds I worked with in my family ward and to have an elder brush off a request to help reminds me of those teen age boys who view preparing and passing the sacrament as a burden.

Perhaps part of the reason this bothers me is because the girl he was sitting with whom I supposed I had expected more of, seemed pleased with his decision rather than supportive of his priesthood obligations.

Or perhaps I am just a judgmental person with subconscious resentment of a handful of individuals who I would find a reason to disapprove of regardless of what they did.

Well, I hope my heart is pure.

dancing

One of the really fun thngs about dating is trying new things. I took Cheryl and tried disc golfing for the first time. Crystle took me roller skating for the first time since 5th grade. It seems when dating there is always a new restraunt or something new to try.

One of the things Marquel is really fond of is swing dancing, so three of the past few fridays I have gone with her to the YWCA downtown and tried my best to learn to dance. This week I didn't have work so I was able to stay the whole time and even though my legs were quite sore from the hiking I did this week I found that I am starting to "get it".

I find it very flatterning that Marquel spends so much time working with me on the most fundimental staps, when I know that she is one of the best dancers in the room. I think her efforts are starting to pay off because though I am still far from good at it this week it actualy started to feel natural.

camping alone

The original plan for this past week was for my family to spend the week camping at the beach, with David, Jason and myself joining them on Wednesday afternoon. Due to my grandfathers poor health those plans changed. My family stayed home and tried to do as many of the camping activities as possible while still being close to Kaiser Hospital in Roseville. They slept in a tent in the backyard and roasted marshmallows over a small fire, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves, but that was not enough for me.

Tuesday I announced that I was still planning to go camping on Wednesday. David asked where I was going but when I told him I was backpacking in he decided it was more than his wife and kids would be up to. Jordan never expressed any interest, Rosie, Crystal and Marquel each had work and so I went alone.

Wednesday shortly after class got out I drove up past Colfax to the Euchre Bar Trail head. I was the only car at the trail head and I no longer had cell signal by that point. Euchre Bar trail head is at about 4000’ in elevation it makes a two mile descent to the north fork of the American river at about 2000’. So for every three feet forward you go one foot down. This makes for a quick trip down the hill and as I approached the river I took a side trail and went a mile or so up stream and so some old mining ruins and took some pictures of the river. Then I hiked back to the place where the trail crosses the river at an old suspension bridge, crossed to the south side of the river and made camp.

Shortly after sunset I decided to make diner. My new stove works pretty well, It brought the water for my cup of soup to a boil much faster than my small fire would have. I ate beef jerky and a cup of Nile Spice black bean soup. After diner I wondered to where I could better see the stars it was at this point that it began to settle in that I was alone. Not just alone in that I didn’t have someone else with me but alone in that there were no other camp fires or flashlight beams or signs of human life down in the canyon except for me. It was moderately unsettling, as I toasted marshmallows over my dying fire some of the camp fire stories of my youth went through my head as well as thoughts about bears and other bad things that can happen to campers. After eating my three s’mores I climbed into my tent and it occurred to me that this may have been the first time in my life when I was truly alone, or at least that I had never been more alone. No one was with me, but that is not uncommon, and no one is near by, far less common but it had probably happened before. Now here is the kicker, If I needed help or wanted company there was no way to get it. It actually made me think of my great aunt Jesse who had live in the high Sierra as a youth, for her this would have been the norm.

The next morning I awoke before sunrise, not surprising when the fact that I was probably in bed around 8:30 or so is taken into account. I don’t know what time I went to bed or how long I slept because I didn’t bring a time piece, oh the joys of camping. I built me fire back up and went hiking up stream again. I was bummed that my camera had dead batteries at this point because the fork of the river I was following was absolutely gorgeous. As I jumped along slippery rocks above a cold and fast moving river the thoughts of the previous night revisited me. I did not avoid the river but I became a little more careful of my footing. I gathered a bunch of fire wood as I headed back to camp figuring it was a polite thing to do, besides I may be the next person to use that camp site. Instead of boiling more water for oatmeal I simply had a granola bar for breakfast filled my water bottle, made sure that my fire was out cold and repacked my gear. The hike out of the canyon was grueling but I managed a respectable pace and was climbing into my car at 11:15am.

As I hiked I thought about all the things I am thankful for and I observed that it am much more grateful when I am out in the wood with no more possessions than I can carry on my back. Anyway. Happy Thanksgiving.

Sick

Yesterday morning I woke up and ran into the bathroom. Shortly there after I saw my diner again. It had been a huge mistake to eat the Jambilia that had been in my parents fridge. Not that there had been anything wrong with it, but it was NASTY coming back up.

I called into work and left a message that I was sick. I then took Jeremy to the medical building and headed to class. I sat near the door as far from everyone as possible and where it I could make the quick exit; just in case.

After class I went to my parents house and slept a few hours. When I woke up I called work to confirm that they got the message. Then I called Marquel, I was supposed to have a lunch date with her. It turns out that she was sick to so I took some soup over to her apartment and we played sick together. We watched Singing in the Rain and went for a walk.

I was home and in bed around 9:30 (way early for me) and when I woke up this morning I felt just fine. I guess that means I have to go to work.

Stake conference ate my Weekend.

This weekend was stake conference and that left very little time for other things.

Saturday I was Supposed to take Sarah Lynne out to breakfast. But I called her just before work got off and said that I would need to reschedule because when I picked the date and time I was not thinking about the fact that I had stake meetings. She said that another day would actually work better for her as well.

I went home and went to sleep. When I woke up it was time to go to the leadership session. The new Sacramento mission president spoke, as did president smith concluded by a few words from the stake president. I got some good instruction and feel I need to make some changes to the way I preside over my quorum.

There was then an hour break between sessions and I stayed and wrote Devon a letter, then I cleaned the glass doors.

Then the Adult session started. I think it was my favorite session of the three. When it ended I went with Cheryl to try and say good bye to C$ but she was not at her house, so chreyl took me back to the church and I helped dad secure the building then went with parents to their house and the three of us had diner.

After that it was time to head to work.

Sunday I just got a few hours sleep then went back to stake conference. After diner My family and Marquel, who had joined us for diner went back to the stake center for the Joseph Smith Contada. Then three of us went to what was left of the YSA fireside.

48 hr weekend

16 hrs at work

10 hrs sleeping

9 hrs at church

I was a good weekend but I am glad and I got a lot out of it but I am glad Stake conference only comes once a year.

car? CAR!

so I now have a car. Not that I didn't have a car yesterday, but today I really have a car. After class this morning I went to the dmv, stood in line 20 min or so and got my number, B083. the screen said B061 was now being server so I went next door to my polling place and voted Yes on everything but prop 80. Then went back to the dmv and B076 was being served so I trotted to the grown-ups house and check my email then went back. B081, time to take a seat. I was only at the counter for a minuit and got my new temp sticker, there was no charge and that was cool, then I went back to my grown ups and checked online for insurance info.

Progressive quoted me $590/six months and said Geico would be $700/ six months. I tried checking 21st century which my parents have but the website wouldn't let me get very far. Then mom came home and after trying the website again I called 21st. I got my insurance for $370/ six months and mom got a $50 gas car for refering me.

Well I then went to start my car and guess what... nothing happened. Last time I sat in the car, about a month ago, it started just fine. I think , maybe the lights got turned on and the battery is totaly drained. I pop the hood and the battery is disconnected. I try and connect the cables to the terminals but they don't reach. Something is weird here, is this even my battery? I call Jason: "no, I don't know anything about it. I can take a look when I get home from work if you want." I talk to David: "yeah, Jason took it and put it in his nissan." I go and buy a new battery and leave jason a voice mail telling him that he will need to pay me for this battery I was buying. I think un-christlike and fairly violent things at him, more for the petty lie, but the fact that he stole my car battery is pretty low.

Once the new battery goes in I start the car and drive to work.

I don't know what to think. I know I am going to bike less and that bums me out, but it is nice to own something and feel kind of grown up.

the pros and cons are zipping through my head to fast to type. I miss life as a kid.

Trips to SF are Expensive

$6 birdge toll (Carcinas and the Bay Bridge)

$ Some amount of money for Marquel's gas that we used to get there and back ( We ended up taking Marquels car [his name is Bruce and he is a stick] but she had me drive half the trip down and all the trip back. I was pleased with how well I did with a standard trany on the legendary hills of SF, but I still feel bad for some of the pain Bruce suffered at my hands)

$50 lunch at Rain Forest Cafe at Fishermans Wharf (I had the pot roast and thought it was pretty good. We spent most of lunch trying to figure out how the water effect on the ceiling works. we came up with a few good guesses but if you know the answer with certainty feel free to tell.)

$30 all day parking near Fisherman's Wharf. (If I had read the sign we would have parked around the corner but such is life)

$10 each for cable car tickets to Union Square and back. (it really isn't much of a trip into San Francisco if you don't go on the trolley but each time I go it gets more expensive)

$50+ sur charge for two tickets to the They Might Be Giant concert at Bimbo's 365 (read about it in the next post)

A day in San Francisco with Rosie and Marquel... Priceless!

(I know, I know that, was completely unoriginal, but I really did enjoy everything about the trip and feel it was worth every cent (except the parking lets get real with that one). We left hear about 1:oo and got an early lunch then headed by trolley to Union Square so Rosie could visit a soap store called Lush that smelled so strong that Marquel and I just stood by the door. She also had us go into Tiffany's and Co. so she could oggle the sparkly bits, she sure does like those sparkly bits. then we went to the club and waited for the show. 365 is a very swank place the even have restroom attendants. after the show we headed home. Rosie slept in the back seat and Marquel and I had a chance to talk about things. She is really awesome and I hope we get to do more stuff together. I got home around 1:30am and I assume the girls got home shortly there after)

The Concert

Inspite of the fact that "Bimbo's 365 Club" sounds dirty it is actualy a very upscale place. It only seats about 300 or so it is fairly intamate and is very swank. Rosie, Marquel and I sat at a table about 40 feet from the stage and on a slightly raised platform.

The opening act was Corn Mo who no of us had never heard of before. He is most likely a highly trained musician, He plays the paino very well and his vocal range and control are impressive. However, most of his song where acompanied by accordian that is not played with the skill of a Weird Al, or a John Linnel, and His songs tended to the sophmoric.

TMBG did a set that covered all their bases. Opening with some of their classics then including some of their newer songs. They included the "grown-up version" of Robot Parade and The Alphabet of Nations off their kids albums and did a pair of "venue songs" teasers. I enjoyed the entire set and I think the girls enjoyed it as well, Rosie more than she had expected, perhaps. My favorite was probably... well all of it was great.

This is the third time I have seen them live, and they seem quite audiance driven and this audiance was not as high energy as the others have been, but they still did a double encore.

Well I am glad I got to go, next month BNL is coming so there may be another concert review soon.

A chance to tell me that you think I'm ugly!

so I got talked into posting a pic at hotornot.com. here is the url if you wanna rate me.

http://www.hotornot.com/r/?eid=E8OSHZE&key=RUM