An observation

With no disrespect intended towards their physical prowess, stamina or agility, some people just look silly running.

Also, I got a free desk today off KSL Classifieds. \o/

Living the Dream

First of all, let me say that I apparently suck at blogging.

The last few days have been freaking awesome, and since my mission where the word "awesome" was completely verboten, that is a word I do not use lightly.

Monday: I went to my dad's work and got to play with a pressure washer, my algebra textbook came in the mail, and oh, Jack Johnson concert. I *could* leave it right there, but I don't think I will. It was the best show I've ever gone to. His opening acts were solid, the venue (USANA Amphitheater) is great (except for getting out of the parking lot afterwards), and he and his band were amazing. His keyboardist played a song entitled The Devil Went Down to Bavaria on the accordion (!), a guy told him he wanted his wife to have his babies (which made him actually stop in the middle of a song, reply "You're lovely, and I'm sure your husband has had a few too many drinks", and start the song over), and he totally played all my favorite songs (including dropping a passage from the Cars' Just What I Needed into Sitting, Waiting, Wishing). GOOD TIMES.

Tuesday: Okay, so not so dreamy - my mom and I had a few words. But we'll leave it at that. I couldn't find my credit card, but I suspect it remained at Wendy's from Monday night. I read some really good books.

Wednesday: I went to the dermatologist, and I have no cancerous moles. Hooray! Then I went boating with my sisters. Hooray! I found some clay on the bottom of the lake and made a little penguin. I took a picture, but it is currently locked in the inaccessible depths of my cellphone.

Thursday (today): I had an interview for a job at the math tutoring center. It went really, really well - the lady interviewing me said she was impressed at how much math I remembered over a two-year hiatus, and how I was able to turn to the exact page in the reference textbooks to find what I was looking for. She offered me the job, yay! The big tangible benefit is that I apparently get a half-tuition waiver, but the intangible benefit is that it is one step closer to my dream job of being a teacher. I am so, so excited. Anyway, then I took my mom out to a doctor's appointment and totally bought four Jack Johnson CD's and a Donavon Frankenreiter CD. :)

To explain the title of the post: grad school, tutoring job, watching my life go in the direction I've been dreaming of for the last seven years. I am living the dream. Thanks, Heavenly Father!

Boating

So I almost got up on waterskis today. I just couldn't quite keep the tips together long enough. I'm thinking, though, is one ski easier than two?

Also, I didn't get sunburned at all (that I've noticed so far, anyway). This is rather remarkable.

Finally, the world will not stop going up and down, and it's kind of disorienting.

Jeans

So today I went to Old Navy to exchange some jeans.

You see, I bought two pair of jeans when I returned home from my mission, seeing that both pairs I brought out with me had died a noble death from being worn 34682493 times. (That's a lot.) They seemed to fit adequately, and I went home relatively happy.

When I got home and actually wore the jeans more, however, I noticed that while they fit nicely in the waist and through the lower leg, they were so tight in the thigh as to make putting my wallet and cellphone in my pockets rather uncomfortable, if not positively onerous. I concluded that I had purchased somewhat defective pairs of jeans, and so resolved to exchange them.

So I arrived at Old Navy and found several pair of painter's jeans, the jeans I've been wearing for probably a good ten years. They have always treated me well, and have always been my favorite jeans. I went to the dressing room and tried them on. Being more well-informed this time, and knowing what to look for, I made sure to put my wallet in the pocket of each pair I tried on.

The results were rather disappointing. These jeans I tried on were just as tight through the thigh as the ones I was intending to return, and my wallet was pressed just as uncomfortably into my leg.

I have, therefore, postulated the following hypotheses:
a) Old Navy has changed their jean cuts to reflect the growing trend of lame emo kids wanting to wear girl pants, and therefore, even their "relaxed" fit jeans are now not as comfortable as they once were.
b) I developed over-large thighs from too much walking and biking on my mission.
c) Both a) and b).
d) Penguins are pretty cool, as are dinosaurs (especially the utahraptor).

I think we can throw out d), since it is clearly irrelevant to our current discussion, so I think that option c) is the most correct here. So, my faithful readers, I ask: Where can I go to buy jeans that are actually loose through the thigh, instead of just saying they are loose through the thigh while they are in fact conforming to the girl-pants trend?

Thanking you in advance,
Me

The fragile equilibrium of a skid-steer

So today at my dad's work, I was driving a skid-steer around. Fun times! We are levelling out a large dirt pile and putting it in this ditch over this ginormous steel pipe. So I had a big bucketful of dirt and rocks and cinder blocks and heaven only knows what, and I was on my way over to the ditch to dump it out.

Now, skid-steers don't have any sort of suspension, so if you go over a bump, they rock back and forth like a bucking bronco. However, they have a fairly low center of gravity, so usually you are all right.

Unless, of course, you have a heavy bucketful of dirt, rocks, cinder blocks and nameless yard waste, and you are carrying said bucketful way higher than normal bucket position. Such a course of behavior raises the center of gravity significantly and puts it rather far out to the front.

I'm sure you can see where this is going.

I can has grad school?, or, The Letter

Dear Spencer:

The Mathematics Department Graduate Admissions Committee has completed its review of your file and has unanimously agreed to admit you to the MS program in mathematics for Fall Semester 2008. ...

Sincerely,
Kenneth Bromberg
Director of Graduate Recruitment

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I CAN HAS GRAD SCHOOL!!1!1!!!oneone