More Kipling

Pink Dominoes
Jenny and Me were engaged, you see,
On the eve of the Fancy Ball;
So a kiss or two was nothing to you
Or any one else at all.

Menny would go in a domino --
Pretty and pink but warm;
While I attended, clad in a splendid
Austrian uniform.

Now we had arranged, through notes exchanged
Early that afternoon,
At Number Four to waltz no more,
But to sit in the dusk and spoon.

I wish you to see that Jenny and Me
Had barely exchanged our troth;
So a kiss or two was strictly due
By, from, and between us both.

When Three was over, an eager lover,
I fled to the gloom outside;
And a Domino came out also
Whom I took for my future bride.

That is to say, in a casual way,
I slipped my arm around her;
With a kiss or two (which is nothing to you),
And ready to kiss I found her.

She turned her head and the name she said
Was certainly not my own;
But ere I could speak, with a smothered shriek
She fled and left me alone.

Then Jenny came, and I saw with shame
She'd doffed her domino;
And I had embraced an alien waist --
But I did not tell her so.

Next morn I knew that there were two
Dominoes pink, and one
Had cloaked the spouse of Sir Julian Vouse,
Our big Political gun.

Sir J. was old, and her hair was gold,
And her eye was a blue cerulean;
And the name she said when she turned her head
Was not in the least like "Julian."

'Twas a mighty long day. Funny story. I found a note on the ground during Sunday school that was probably left over from the day before. It said "Joe" on the front. I thought about opening it, but I wanted to show it to Alan first. So, I handed it to Alan and Alan handed it to Council Bluffs who handed it to someone else. I forgot that when someone hands you a note and your name isn't on it, the proper procedure is to pass it to the person next to you. Then at the end of the row someone piped up and said that Joe was actually the person sitting in front of me, so they passed the note back, and I handed it to him. Joe looked very confused. I wish I knew what the note said. In my mind the note said, "Dear Joe, You are Hot Stuff. Meet me Monday at 9:00 in front of the SWKT. Love Julie." Now the wrong Joe is going to show up and it shall be a hilarious comedy of errors.

Dillards

Work was made up of a lot of standing around and a few noteworthy happenings. First of all, I will not be manipulated, and I will not allow others to believe that I am being manipulated unless of course by doing so I am manipulating them(Not that I make a habit of manipulating anyone). So, this guy is trying to decide between a 200 buck Dillards brand suit and a 600 bone Hart Schaffner & Marx suit. Just the fact that he's debating between the two tells me that he has money and can afford a nice suit. I know that wealthy people aren't satisfied with cheap suits and will come back and complain anytime they get a wrinkle. So, I talked up the advantages of owning a high-end suit and he chose to purchase it. Then, I ring up the suit and he asks if I can ship it to his house after it's altered(he's from out of town). I say, "sure thing", and look up the price of shipping. Then he starts to have a fit and says that he shouldn't have to pay for shipping since the suit is so expensive and if we don't ship it to him for free he won't buy it. I thought, "Well, this guy is a big jerk, but he's right. He's from out of town and can't wait around for us to finish altering his suit, so we should send it to him free." I picked up the phone and said that I'd try to get a manager to waive the shipping fee. That's when it happened. He looked at me with his beady eyes and said in a snotty condescending voice, "Alright, call a manager so we can see if you get your sale or not." I could feel my face turn a bright red due to suppressed rage. My left hand was clinched tight while my other hand set the phone back on the hook. I looked at him with a forced smile and responded, "I'm trying to get this approved because I think you're right, NOT because I'm afraid of losing a sale." I just wanted him to know. I wanted him to know that he wasn't pressuring me into doing anything. He wasn't some master negotiator that threatened the little suit boy until he got his way. I made the phone call, the manager approved it, and I was happy to see that guy walk out of the store, hopefully never to return. I felt good, I didn't lose my temper, but I wasn't a doormat either. Some very pleasant things also happened. Unfortunately, I don't feel like telling those stories at the moment. So, instead, just read the white ninja comic again and laugh. It's funny.

A poem

If

IF you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream -- and not make dreams your master;
If you can think -- and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings -- nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And -- which is more -- you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling

I made some phone calls to Chile this morning. Everyone is excited about my visit. I can't wait to see everyone again. I've spent enough time with my computer today. Back to Life. Back to Reality.

ouch

Life just keeps handing me lemons and I have no idea how to turn them into lemonade...so all I can do is what this kid is doing. It sucks. Yep, it sucks BFCGB, but life goes on. I just need to do a hard reboot and start over. On my list of goals I have written, "Enjoy Life". Right now it seems like an impossible task, but someday things will get better.

Lemonade

Today went well. I practiced self-discipline and accomplished everything I set out to do. Of course, I didn't set out to do anything that is really very noteworthy, but that's beside the point. I feel great. Tomorrow should be just as good. I'll start the day at 7:oo so that I don't miss any of the wonderful things that are sure to happen. Maybe I'll even have some lemonade. Maybe instead of looking for a job this fall, I'll just set up lemonade stands around the county and hire cute little kids to push the stuff. Then I'll come by and collect the profit with some thugs (Gavin, Alan, and Council Bluffs). If they don't pay up, we'll go to their houses with baseball bats and...............break their neighbor's window and blame it on them so that they get grounded. HA HA HA HA HA! It's ingenious. Will anyone buy lemonade in December? Hmmm... Never mind. It would never work. It'll be too cold. Back to the drawing board.

1200 Bones

I just spent 1200 dollars. It feels great. I was wondering when I could get rid of that lousy money that's been burning a whole in my pocket. So, this means that it's official. I leave for Chile August 10th and I return August 22nd. My parents decided to come with me for the first week, and then I'll have five days on my own to just chill. I can't wait to start sending out emails and making phone calls so that everyone knows I'm coming. Yipee!

I got some bad news though. I didn't get the TA job that I applied for. All the spots are full now and I'm not occupying any of them. It seems like things just aren't going my way lately. There are a couple of possibilities. Either I'm just in a slump of bad luck/mood and good fortune is headed my way as I post this, or this is just the beginning and before you can say "man that sucks" my life is just going to spiral downward until I hit rock bottom, break through rock bottom and become trapped in the super-heated core of the Earth. Well, when life hands you a lemon, squeeze the juice into your eye, or make lemonade. Hmmm.... Not getting a TA job is to a lemon as __________ is to lemonade. I'll ponder that. Over and out.

The Boot

Last night I was out pretty late discussing some things with Chelsea. After we decided it was time to head home I walked up to my car and, alas, a yellow piece of paper and a boot. I think it's ridiculous that they can get away with booting cars that are parked on what is obviously a street. Oh well, I made a point of not letting it get to me, and I remained chipper when I realized that I have joined the elite society of people who have had their cars booted. Sure it sucks that there is a fifty dollar membership fee for this society, but I guess it's worth it. Darn, I should have taken a picture to cherish the moment.

In other news, Saturday night turned out to be the oddest date in the history of dating. Imagine a date involving, four square, a nickel arcade, three ex-girlfriends, two ex-boyfriends, a switcharoo, a kazoo, a slap bracelet, a Chilean, free room temperature pizza, a pet rock, a Santa Claus necklace, and a marijuana shop owned by herb. It was good fun. It was a date that will not be soon forgotten. A complete explanation of the date is available upon request. Simply contact me.

Council Bluffs needs to do the dishes

My good friend CB was just sitting here, but then he told me that he needs to go do the dishes. He should be back soon though. Till then, I'll just type away. This morning I got up and read a little bit. Then I went for a jog and lifted Gavin's weights. After showering I ran down to the post office to mail off a gift to my mom for Mother's Day. Then I came home and watched some Karate stuff on ESPN and went to work. Work was slow. I talked to Adam for a good while before his shift ended. Our conversation was comforting and depressing at the same time, with an overall feeling of understanding. After work I came home and then left with Alan to drop off the Spider Man 2 DVD back at Route 22. Then it was off to do some shopping at Wal-Mart. Well, after all that adventure and excitement I'm ready to call it a night and hit the sack a bit earlier than usual. Good Night.

Surprise

Boy oh boy, this weekend sure was full of surprises. Actually, there was only one surprise, but it was big enough to fill a couple weekends. Whenever something is weighing on my mind, and I need to make tough decisions or just sort through some things, I've been known to take short walks. By walking, I feel like I'm distancing myself from my problems so that I can approach them more objectively, but not running away from them. It gives me plenty of time to be alone and just think. I guess I had a lot of thinking to do Sunday night, because the short walk landed me in American Fork at 4:00 am. I had to take the bus back to Provo. It was a good walk though. I realized a few things. Mostly about myself. Partly about life in general. I can't really mention what I was thinking about or what I realized. You see, the whole idea of the walk is privacy, personal reflection, and prayer. I can't say that after the journey I now have everything figured out. That would be great, but it's not the truth. I can say, however, that my mind is at ease now, and I'm ready to face all the new surprises that life has in store for me.

I'm Back!!!

I'm terribly sorry for not posting for such a long time. You see, I was walking home from my last final when a custom hot pink 1984 DeLorean pulled up and a man resembling Peter Jennings poked his head out the window and offered me a bag of dried banana chips if I would get into the car with him. Would you say no? I hopped in and the car took off. I was so busy eating banana chips that I didn't even notice when the gull wing doors flew open and we started flying into the sky. The next weeks were spent upon an alien spacecraft.

Nearing the End

I'm done with classes. After finals, I'll be free from homework and studying until next fall. This morning I read 50 more pages out of Babbit. There are some parts of the book that do a good job of explaining what its like to feel like a failure in the midst of success. I have enjoyed the book up to this point, but if the pace doesn't pick up pretty soon, I can see myself getting bored and not finishing it. I'm anxious to read my other books. I have no school and no work today. What will I do with my spare time? It has to be noteworthy. The great thing about publishing my daily thoughts and activities in a potentially public forum, is that I am very aware of moments in my life becoming dull and boring. Well, I need to catch up on the past week. I'll do my best to remember things that have occurred.

Monday, April 17, 2006

It was difficult to get out of bed due to my late night preparations. Bro. Walsh ended up just having us hold up our journals and filing assignments. That was it. He didn't even look at them. Part of me wished I hadn't bothered doing them, but the other part of me would lose all respect for the first part of me if it had lied. I want all my parts to get along, so actually doing the work will always be my only true option whether "getting away with it" is an option or not. After the short internal debate, I mailed my state tax thingamajigger. The girl who I always sit next to in Cell Bio has been much more open and friendly ever since she got married. I suppose that at the beginning of the semester she was either afraid of me hitting on her, or just constantly worried about the wedding and how it would all turn out. Getting hitched in the middle of a semester has to be pretty stressful. In Genetics we discussed speciation and interspecies mating. Of course, some slightly inappropriate, but entirely funny comments were made by witty students. In the afternoon I fell asleep and woke up late. I threw on some clothes, sped to work, and made it just in time. In my rush, I neglected to put on my cufflinks, so I ended up using cable ties to keep my shirt cuff closed. I had my five minute review with my manager who warned about the evils of gossip in the workplace. It's funny, because after the meeting she asked how I was holding up since Jessica took off. I never told her about that. She must have heard it from Chuck. Gossip. Well, anyways, I was happy to report that I'm holding up just fine. Then I came home, went to Wal-Mart with the gang and jogged over to Route 22 to see Chelsea. We ended up going for a nice walk around the neighborhood. It's great to have such a wonderful girl to walk with.

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Church was fine. We saw Terra and Leslie, and Derek and Paul for the last time as their home teachers. In the afternoon we walked over to Route 22 in response to a dinner invitation. On the way all four of us were talking on cell phones. It must have looked pretty ridiculous. The food was amazing. I'm still craving ham. Frozen burritos just won't be the same for the next few weeks. During dinner we voted on the correct pronunciation of words like crayon, trombone, syrup, Monticello, Camille, and both. I have to change my pronunciation of syrup from now on. No more sear-up, just sir-up. Then I came home and worked late into the night preparing twenty gospel files filled with three stories each, filling in all the gaps in my daily journal, writing three analogies, and writing four test questions for New Testament. It's my own fault for not working on it throughout the semester.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Eight hours at work flew by pretty quickly. I had lunch with Adam and his mom in the foodcourt. That is the first time I have ever shared my lunch break with a co-worker. I usually eat alone and keep to myself. I enjoyed it. After work I went to Chelsea's ward's "end of the semester, good bye, closing social extravaganza." The food was tasty. The hamburgers were burnt, just how I like 'em. I threw a football around with Chelsea, Whitney, and Councilina for a while. Even though I can't handle a football very well now it brought back memories of high school P.E. and the only time I ever felt good at a team sport. For some reason, maybe all my practice with juggling, I was able to catch a football really well at that time in my life. My teammates would always throw the ball to me because I never dropped it. They even called me Jerry Rice. Well, after tossing around the ol' pigskin, we watched the slide show, went to play foursquare at Alpine Court, and Chelsea and I watched the second best movie ever made, Reckless Kelly.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Well, I waited too long to write an update. I can't remember what happened Friday. I'm sure I went to school and then went to work. Well, I can tell you that two years ago from today, I was helping an investigator do some work on his house in Chile. I accidentally grabbed a live electrical wire and everyone freaked out. Miraculously I wasn't hurt at all. I must have been wearing the right shoes.

Update

Today I have felt a great need to restructure my life and change what I focus on and how I do things. Well, It's not really something new that just hit me today. I've felt it for a while. In an attempt to take a step up and not be complacent with where I am and what I have achieved, I purchased some books to help stimulate sections of my brain that haven't received much play lately. The books are Babbit, Utopia, A Tale of Two Cities (That's right, I've never read it), and The First Men in The Moon. When I go to work today, I want it to be different. I want to do things differently, find a better approach, get to know the people who enter my department, and really enjoy my time there. I won't allow it to be three wasted hours. I'm reminded of some Franz Ferdinand Lyrics:

I time every journey to bump into you, accidentally

I charm you and tell you of the boys I hate

All the girls I hate

All the words I hate

All the clothes I hate

How I'll never be anything I hate

You smile, mention something that you like

or How you'd have a happy life

if you did the things you like

I have no plans to make any dramatic changes in my life. I won't move to Russia, change my name, or join a boy band. I actually have no plans at all. I just want to wipe away everything I know about life and rediscover it. I tried this in the mission field in two different ways. When I started the mission I tried to forget American Culture and I just accepted Chile as my new reality and learned to love it. After a year, this new strange culture and missionary lifestyle became routine and unexciting. When I had the chance to train, I decided that I wanted to start over and forget everything I knew about the discussions and the routines of missionary work. Since my new companion wasn't tainted by unnecessary traditions, together we could reinvent how the work was done and find new ways to be successful. It felt great. I want that feeling again.

Eureka's Castle

I found a copy of Reckless Kelly on Amazon and made it mine. It should arrive next week. I had a lot of fun studying with Chelsea last night so she could get ready for her test, but tonight I've been stuck studying for my own classes, bummer. I can just be glad that my tests probably won't be half as difficult as hers was. Since I aced my last lab exam I'm hoping to do it again. If I get every question right I'll have a good chance at an A in the class. I need every A I can get. I don't see it happening in any of my other classes this semester, unless all my teachers suddenly whip out Kilimanjaro sized curves. I'm pretty pooped. I just thought I'd jot something down real quick. I have to keep studying now.

Funny ways to take the bolded sentence out of context.

"I'm pretty...", bragged Kyle as he studied himself in the mirror.
When Kyle was questioned about his slipping grades he responded, "I'm ... [poop]."
Headline: "Kyle claims '...pretty [poo]' to be more beautiful than our own Milky Way!"

Alright, that's enough. Be excellent to each other.

Reckless Kelly

Now I'm on the lookout for a new movie: Reckless Kelly. It's made by the Australian Director, Writer, Producer, and Actor, Yahoo Serious. So far I don't think it has been released on DVD and none of the video stores carry it, even though they do have his other works such as, Young Einstein and Mr. Accident. For now I'm keeping an eye on eBay to see if I can find it for cheap. My classes went okay today. Before work I was trying to open up a can of spaghetti sauce with our piece of vraag can opener, I got mad and threw it away. Since it was thrown away and I wasn't about to reach into the garbage and restore it to it's post, I went to Smith's and bought a new heavy duty one. This sucker is the Arnold Schwarzenegger of can openers. Later, on my way to work, I listened to the Eagle's cassette that Chelsea gave me. I arrived at Dillard's early so I just sat in my car and kept listening to the tunes before clocking in.

Tuesday, April 4, 2006

I spent the morning getting the final touches done for my presentation in my Molecular Biology lab. I knew everything about the Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone that I was assigned to study. Before I left, I thought of a scripture that I wanted to share. So, I grabbed my scriptures and tried to find it as I walked to my class. Then, out of nowhere, I ran into one of my favorite zone leaders from the mission. I asked where the scripture was and he found it right away. FYI, the scripture was Alma 30:44. The presentation itself could have gone better, but I also got back my last exam and saw that I made a 100 percent on it. After work, I watched Run Lola Run with Chelsea and Council Bluffs. If you loved, Groundhog Day, The Bourne Identity, The Fifth Element, One Crazy Summer, and Schulze Gets the Blues, then Run Lola Run is the movie for you.

Monday, April 3, 2006

I'm going to give up on trying to figure out the code to Route 22's door. They can even punch it in right in front of me and I won't even bother to look. They can all feel free to let their guard down. That's right, they can go ahead and let their guard down. I'm no threat. No siree. No threat here. Not at all. Nope. No threat. (fingers crossed). After work I stopped by Route 22 because Chelsea said she had something for me. What she had for me was one of the most thoughtful gifts that I have received in a long time. She knew that all I ever listen to in my car is R.E.M and the Ghostbuster Soundtrack, so she gave me some new cassette tapes. Now I have a good variety and don't have to listen to the same thing every time I get into my car. She's so great. Later, we went to the park to do some swinging, and then just sat and chatted for a while. We also did an anti-snow dance to ward off any evil winter spirits. At the end of the night she agreed to let me be her boyfriend. YIPEE!!! And, I hate to jump to any conclusions, but I think that also means that she's my girlfriend. YIPEE!!! I've been on cloud nine ever since. (I don't really know what that expression means, but I think that it applies to what I've been feeling)

SLEEP

I need to sleep, and I will sleep, but I would like to keep a daily account of my life, even if it is brief. Today I woke up and watched the first Sunday session of General Conference. I confess that I missed one of the talks in order to fill up my car with gas. I was sure to go to a pay at the pump station so that no one would be required to take my money. Although it would be fun, I don't feel like debating the ins and outs of Sabbath day observance right now. Then we all got together and made our way towards Salt Lake for the Afternoon session. We made it to the Conference Center with what we thought to be plenty of time, but I guess we were wrong. So instead of using our tickets to get in, we used them to pass notes as we sat in temple square and listened to Conference over the speakers. It was a ton-o-fun. Thank goodness for cootie shots. After conference Chelsea invited me over for dinner. She made some delectable bean soup and heavenly cornbread. Then I came home, took a nap, ate some orange sherbet, discovered my shirt was sewn shut, called Chelsea, and now I'm typing this up before I fall asleep.

Saturday, April 1, 2006

I woke up much earlier than I wanted to so I could go to work. I only had to work until four, which was great because it meant I was able to go with my roommates to the priesthood session of General Conference. Of course, looking back I realize that the night would have been much different for quite a few people had I stayed at work till six and skipped out on the priesthood session. So we went to Salt Lake and got there way too late and ended up watching it at the Legacy theater. On the way back I was exhausted. It's already been a really long weekend. We came home and opened the door to find that we had been pranked. Route 22 used their girls night out to have a little fun with our apartment. They took all of our right shoes, and stole our doors. There was also a lot of random stuff all over the place. At first I thought that they switched our things with stuff from someone else's apartment, but upon further inspection of the sign they left and the items themselves we realized that it was just a bunch of treasures from good ol' DI. We took a moment to inspect the apartment and then had a small apartment meeting where we discussed our plan of action. Do we get mad or do we get even? Well, all I can tell you is that we're not mad.

Friday, March 31, 2006

I did some school stuff, went to Chelsea's soccer game, and then had a really fun date with her. We tried to get a bite to eat at Chili's, but there was an hour long wait so we aborted that mission. We ended up going to Costa Vida/Azul. They make a killer burrito. Then we saw Schultze Gets the Blues, got ice cream, were sent on a pointless errand and then watched The Hudsucker Proxy. Thank goodness for cootie shots. I enjoyed the night a lot and came home happy and started to go to bed, but my "spider sense" told me that something was terribly wrong with the fabric of the universe. Alan was outside talking to Councilina Bluffs so I got dressed and went outside and started walking laps around the neighborhood and looking over to see if he was done talking yet. When I walked by and saw that he was no longer on the phone, we started walking and I found out that my worst nightmare had become a reality. Alan and Councilina Bluffs are no longer Alan and Councilina Bluffs. Now they're just Alan........and...........Councilina Bluffs. I didn't cry and I didn't beat anyone up, but I was very unsettled. So me and Alan just kept walking until we reached Beto's, a 24 hour Mexican food place. The food made me wish I had no stomach. Then we walked home and went to bed around 6:00 in the morning.

So Gosh Darn Like The Same Person

Today at Smith's the lady behind us in line asked if Alan and I were brothers. Why would she ask that? The comment was completely unsolicited. She must have been thinking, "Wow, those two guys look so gosh darn like the same person, you say to one of them 'you want Kroger?' both of them say yes." After that crossed her mind she just had to know if we were twins, because that would be the only explanation. We actually do look a lot a like. As you can see, the only way to tell us apart is that one of us likes to wear blue while the other likes to wear red. You can also recognize Alan because he's the one that is holding hands with his girlfriend, Councilina Bluffs.

An Interesting Day

I woke up and cooked some eggs and chatted with Alan. While he was walking out the door I threatened to cut his throat while he slept. I hope he didn't take it too bad. I was only kidding. OR WAS I? Then I did a quick chem review and left in time to spend three hours in the testing center. After two hours I was barely half done with the exam. The last hour I was sweating bullets and tapping my fingers uncontrollably on the desk. "Stop TAPPING!" I wanted to scream. My brain was sending the signals, but my fingers weren't listening. "Stop IT! You're going to annoy the people around us!" Still nothing. I gave up and just let them tap as I scrambled to finish the exam. My time ran out and I just had to turn in what I had so I could make it to my mol bio lab. The lab was fun. We isolated the glow in the dark protein from our transgenic bacteria and ran our replicated DNA on the electrophoresis gel. It turns out that I'm homozygous recessive for the section of DNA that we were looking at. Jessica called me while I was in my lab. I told her that I couldn't talk, and that was that. Then I grabbed some lunch at the cougareat with my Lab Partner and afterwards we went to the library to work on our presentation due next week. Work was really slow. I met Adam's fiancee. She seems nice. I told him that I approved. He was glad, because had I not approved he would have had to dump her. After work I went to Route 22 with the intention of discussing something with Chelsea, but it took me a little over an hour to build up the guts to say anything. Things were awkward for a moment, but she made a good point that sometimes things need to be awkward. Awkwardness aside, I feel much better now.

Too much

I finished my five pound tub of potato salad today. I just love the stuff so much. I didn't even realize it until now. The only problem is that five pounds of potato salad is just a little bit too much. Me having potato salad is like leaving on vacation and just giving your dog 20 bowls of food, expecting it to only eat one bowl a day. That'll never happen. Dogs and Kyles have no self control and will eat a month's worth of potato salad in one sitting.

Gavin's going to be a famous basketball player. Council Bluffs is still playing matchmaker. Alan is off with Councilina Bluffs. I'm just trying to remember everything I studied for my Chem exam tomorrow.

Great Success

The big plan turned out better than anticipated. I believe that all parties involved are better because of it. Everyone had at least some doubt about whether or not it would work. I know I did. But all those doubts have now been blown out of the water. I won't go into much detail right now, but if you WANT all the juicy details, just ask me or talk to me for more than five minutes and I'll probably mention it. After everyone came back, I couldn't let them see me and I didn't want to be locked in my room all night, so I snuck out the window and walked to route 22 and hung out with Whitney, Pottawattamie, and Matt until the plan came to completion. Yesterday I slept in really late, bought a large tub of potato salad, ate five buck pizza, went to work, and made and ate pancakes with Chelsea at Route 22. She's a great flipper. And she recognized my amazing chocolate chipping abilities.

Phase 1 Complete

Well, my role in the big plan is now over. The most crucial part is happening as I write this. I am anxious to see how everything turned out. Okay, now on to a completely unrelated topic... I think that it is a lot of fun to pretend to be someone I'm not. I was just discussing it with Councilina Bluffs, Chelsea, and Council Bluffs. When you aren't yourself there is no pressure at all. You can pick your nose, act like an idiot, make fun of yourself, leave your fly unzipped, or anything else that could be embarrassing and it won't matter. I enjoy living vicariously through other people so much that on occasion I have considered living vicariously through myself. If I pretend that I'm not really me, I can take a lot of risks that I normally wouldn't take. I can just pretend that I'm writing a movie script and I'm the main character. I just do what I would want my character to do, and if something goes wrong, It's okay because by the end of the movie I know that everything is going to turn out great.