I left my "will to live" in San Francisco

I don't have much time to post right now, but I fear that if I wait until I have enough time, I'll never post at all. The big news was that this Thanksgiving break was awesome. For a more detailed account you can go to Becca's blog. She did a great job. I had a lot of fun with Becca's family. They treated me like I was just one of the family, and made me feel really comfortable. Actually, they probably treated me better than a member of the family. Had I been a member of the family they probably would have been more comfortable taunting me relentlessly about my inability to break the single digits in Squeak. I held a baby for the first time also. It wasn't all that scary because Lucy is a little older and doesn't look as fragile as other babies I've seen. California is really cool. I'm glad to finally know what all the fuss is about. Is it appropriate for my generation to say "fuss"? I'd better rephrase that. Hmmmm......okay...."I be gettin' all the hype now....dawg." That's better. Much better. I have to go take an exam that will surely suck all the life out of me now. Why can't I just drop out of school and be a bum in downtown San Fran? Would that be so wrong? I could even study molecular biology on the streets. Not many scientists are street smart. I could start a new fad.

Anticipation Proclomation

I'm ready to get out of Provo. San Francisco, here I come! Go Lincoln!

"That on the twentieth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand and seven, all persons held as students within any University or designated part of a University, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom."

Last night was unprecedented. All five of my roommates and I went on a group date. Even when there were only four of us in Moon Apartments, we never did that. It was fun. Oh and just in case you've seen Becca's blog, I'm not abusive. I just lose my temper sometimes. :). Becca and I made some Kitchen Chaciatore (chicken cacciatore) and polenta. It was absolutely divine. I'm impressed with the success we've been having in the kitchen lately. It must be the new oven.

Today in church I saw that we would be ending a little early, so I told Becca she would have to give her testimony to use up the extra time. I kept telling her the bishop would ask her to do it, but she didn't believe me. Sure enough, her name was called to go to the pulpit and give her testimony. She did a really good job. In that situation I probably would have just said something quick and impersonal to get it over with, but Becca actually shared her thoughts and feelings. It was cool. I should have gotten up right after her to say, "hands off brethren, she's already taken." Then I gave my lesson. I didn't do a very good job in my opinion, but at least I was more prepared than usual. Now it's time for a day of home teaching and studying for my evolution exam. Peace.

A Pound of Flesh

Boy did we get fancy last night. I'm pretty sure it was even fancier than the Olive Garden- Italian Restaurant. Becca was craving steak, so we did a quick run to Smiths and with the help of her mom, she picked out a beautiful New York Strip Tenderloin and some seasoning. Then we came home and cooked the steak and Becca made some of her world renowned couscous. It was really good. Another item that complemented the steak very nicely (other than the couscous, Martinelli's, candle, and company) was the cleanliness. We could have easily made a huge mess out of the kitchen with liquified beef fat covering every dish and utensil, but instead we cleaned as we went and had no problem leaving the kitchen cleaner than we found it.

Relaxation

I'm done with work! No more Dillards! My room is clean, I've done some studying and now I have time to take a seat and jot down a few of my thoughts. Saturday morning I took the GRE subject test for Biochemistry. I think I would have done just as well had I not even read the questions, but I'm still glad I took it. The rest of the weekend was great. Becca and I got to hang out and spend some good quality time together. Now we're back in school mode, but at least I don't have to work.

I am developing the habit of walking behind people on campus and listening to their phone conversations*. Sometimes what people say makes me want to quit the human race and join some other species that isn't so obnoxious and lame, but other times my faith in humanity is restored. Today I overheard a girl talking about her volunteer experience with autistic children. You could tell her concern and love for them was sincere. She had ideas about changes that could help them. For example, there was a kid in the class that didn't speak English. When a teacher was reading a story, he would perk up and get excited whenever he understood a word. "Elephante! Elephante!" he would say. No one there spoke Spanish, so there was no way he could get the same help as the other children.

*I am a creepy person, but at least I'm not menacing.

Not Angry!

I cooled off pretty soon after posting last time. I knew I would. Our manager came back, passed us, and had a change of heart and didn't charge us any money. For a while now I've been meaning to post about our trip to the Olive Garden-Italian Restaurant. That's right an Italian RESTAURANT. Not an Italian diner, or hot dog stand, but a restaurant. That's high class. Becca, Katy, and I were in the mood for something fancy so we pulled all the stops and went straight for the the big time. I felt really under dressed and didn't know if they would even let us in. Well, we got there and got a high tech flashing/vibrating device to tell us when our table would be ready. We took the flasher and went to visit some of the charming shops in the area (an LDS bookstore and a dollar store). Then, after some confusion over the availability of our table, we were seated and ordered some delicious food. I had baked ziti, Becca had spaghetti with meat sauce, and Katy had the chicken alfredo. One thing I love about the Olive Garden-Italian Restaurant is that the waitresses are so eager to put freshly grated Parmesan cheese on everything that is on or near the table. "Would you like some freshly grated Parmesan on your salad? On your ziti? In your water? Straight into your mouth? In your lap? In your girlfriend's hair?" MMMM....I loooooove Parmesan. I also like Soda a la italiana. Becca let me try some of hers. We all had a wonderful evening and hope to be lucky enough to return to the Olive Garden-Italian Restaurant some time in the future.

ANGRY!

Nothing makes me more outraged than cleaning checks. Last night I called in at work and put off some much needed studying so that I could clean. Then, this morning the idiotic manager came and FAILED us! She's even trying to charge us 20 bucks for a recheck! That uninteresting concoction of moldy diapers isn't getting any of my money! Alan just made the point that she'll just take it out of my deposit, but we can just do more damage to this place than the deposit is worth! One hundred dollars is well worth the satisfaction of breaking all the windows and tearing up the carpet only to replace it with cottage cheese and strips of raw bacon. I can feel the rancor overtaking me. I should be studying for the quiz I have today, but I can't. I'm too mad. I want revenge. A cleaning check is a cleaning check, not an exam. We aren't professional cleaners in custodial school. The check should be- "Was this cleaned?" It shouldn't be, "was this cleaned perfectly so that it looks like no one has actually ever lived here?" I want out of here. I'm sick of BYU approved housing. I'll take living in an apartment complex filled with prostitutes and drug dealers over Park Place management any day.

Hopefully I'll cool off soon. All my ideas for revenge will only make things worse. If I make their life more difficult, they'll get mad and be even bigger jerks. It just sucks that they are by nature bigger jerks than I am and no matter how evil I try to be they will always be one step ahead. I just need to forget about it. In less than a year I'll be done with this stage of my life and I'll have a fun new set of problems to deal with. I can't wait.

I just want to post my Comic

I went to a seminar hosted by the College of Life Sciences in the morning. A number of happenings at the seminar caused me to reflect.

1. It was crowded.
2. Freshman were obnoxious.
3. The speaker and I were on the same wavelength.
4. I sat by an acquaintance who became a friend.
   

I've been craving the real world. I want to get back into real research that has an impact. I'm sick of getting an assignment done just so that some TA can skim through it and slap on a grade. But why can't I do meaningful things now? How can I make my assignments meaningful? What is it I want to accomplish and how can each class bring me closer to that goal? Am I currently focusing too much or too little on my grades? What's going to matter in the long run? Will my GPA come back to haunt me? What contributions to my field can I make now? These are just a few of the thousands of questions that run around in my head all day. One day I need to set aside some time to talk myself through them and come up with ideas and solutions.

El Jorobado de BYU

I think Becca may have supernatural powers that allow her written fantasies to become reality. Last night she wrote a story about a hunchback whose hump was really a sack of treasure. Then, this morning as I was walking to the library, a hideous creature passed on my left side. He was wearing a brown hooded cloak that covered a large deformed hump. I quickened my pace to get a better look and upon closer examination I saw that the hump was actually a backpack. I can only assume that it was filled with gold and saffron.

Becca just called me! She's coming home from class! I shall ask her to pen a story about me getting all A's this semester and gaining 20 pounds of muscle. And then she can write one about me winning the lottery!

The Naive T-Cell of Bel-Air

Immunology was great today! Our skit went well, and the room broke out into enthusiastic applause after I performed my song. I'm pleased that it went well, and that it's over so I don't have to think about it anymore. Working 20 hours a week and taking 18 credits is killing me. What keeps me kickin' is always having something to look forward to. For example, Becca's birthday and the opera, quitting my job, and maybe going to California. And what am I going to be for Halloween? I know Becca liked my costume last year, but I've gotta be original. Hmmm... the TV is giving me some good ideas. I could be a diabetic, a mermaid, Whoopie Goldberg, a nun, Tom Hanks, or an orange. Nahh, those don't sound so great. I'll have to keep brainstorming. I wish I had more time to write, but I just plain don't. Maybe next month will be better.

Too hot, Too cold

My chili is too hot and my milk is frozen, so that means I have some time to write in my blog as my food cools/thaws. Quite a bit has happened since I last wrote. The most magnificent event is that me and Becca started dating almost three weeks ago. Talking to her on the phone all summer was great, but having her close by is even better. An added bonus is that she has an awesome family. I also quit my job at the Field house and started school. I have a feeling that all my classes this semester are going to eat my whole head. It's going to take a lot of work if I hope to graduate this April. Our apartment looks awful, but it's apparently not bad enough for us to do anything about it. Too many other things take precedence. Ok, times up. That chili is looking PRETTY good.

Star Struck

I met Gary Freaking Coleman at Dillards! He came in to have a suit tailored and I had to turn him away because he wat too short. No, actually I had to turn him away because he bought the suit at JC Penny's and not Dillards. He seemed really irritated, but the more angry he got the cuter he looked. I wanted to pinch his cheeks the whole time I was talking to him. "Whachu talkin' 'bout Willis?!"

In other news, it appears that the legendary F6 is almost dead. Alan and I are the only remaining original members. Council Bluffs is off trying to make someone president and Gavin is off playing basketball in France and then off to live somewhere else. It makes me really sad that people move on and we are forced to begin new chapters of our lives. Of course, new chapters mean new excitement and new joy. Maybe F6 will live on in a different way, but things will never be quite the same. We've had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs no matter how boring and repetitive we are and always will be. Here's to F6!

Oh and here is the latest episode of Square the Mall.

Fridge

Please click this. It will hurt your eyeballs if you try to read it like this.

Square the Mall

I wish I had some amazing stories to tell. It's just been work for me the past couple of months. I went on a really great date the other day with a wonderful girl, but I don't think she liked me because the next day she left the state. :( I hope she doesn't really expect a little bit of distance to keep me away. I'm much too persistant. Just ask Chazlyn. Well, I was thrilled by Alan's comic on his blog, so he inspired me to write my own. I know I'm a copy cat. Enjoy!

Debt Free!

I did it! I'm 100% debt free. Life is good.

Accidents Happen

I broke a bone in two places today. It's okay though because it wasn't MY bone. I broke someone else's jaw. It's okay though because the person has been dead a long time. You see, I was buffing the floor of the cadaver room and I accidentally hit a table. There was a skull on the table and it fell off and shattered the mandible. I don't know what will happen to me now. My first instinct was to cover it up and deny everything, but then this weird adult like conscience took over and made me tell my boss what happened. If anyone has a skull they want to sell me for 10 bucks, I'll be glad to take it off their hands (or neck). In other news, I saw an owl for the first time today. I was locking up the tennis courts and I saw a bird wearing a funny hat. Then when I got closer I realized it was a bird with a big head. But then I got even closer and saw that it wasn't a bird at all; it was an owl! THEN, I realized that owls ARE birds! It was awesome. I tried taking a picture, but my new phone doesn't have a flash. I tried to talk to it but it wouldn't talk back. It was within reach, so I tried to grab it, but it flew away.

I kind of feel bad about crushing a human skull. I'm going to have some interesting dreams tonight.

Interdependence Day

DAY OFF. That's what I have. Enjoy it while it lasts. Enjoy how? The question at hand. Fireworks? Maybe. Watermelon off of bridge? Hopefully. Sit at home and read? Maybe. Bad? No. Relaxing? Yes. Too much work. Not enough play. Lost desire to play? Not bored enough. Excitement follows long periods of boredom. No good movies. Nowhere. Seen them all. Nothing good. Girls. Lost another point today. Sub-zero+friends=good. Mythbusters+couch=good. Need Five buck pizza. Big time. Nothing but the best. Delicious. Del Taco? Been a long time. Missed. Respected. Understood. Councilina's engagement pictures= cute. funny. sweet.

Weekend Retreat

Inventory was best defined by a girl in the Juniors department. She said, "it's the process of staying up all night scanning clothes with no music or socializing of any kind." Luckily it didn't last all night. We got out around 2:45, so I had plenty of time to sleep before church this morning. Even though it wasn't that bad, I'm not looking forwarded to doing it again tonight. I just hope I don't get stuck with the underwear. If I do, I'm going to sing "I left my undies down under" while I scan. I filed a complaint against a co-worker this past week, but I don't know exactly what is going to come from it. I hope they don't tell him that I'm the one who complained. That would stink royally.

Just a couple more months until I'm free from working my rear end to a pulp every day. Yipee!

I'm going to write in my blog.

Fabulous....A Poem by Kyle

Overanxious whistle cues,
lighting always naked hues,
Wishing, falling, letting shoes,
Drinking overcrowded booze.

Fly around me Mr. Brown,
Tie me on the rhino frown,
Knock me, Knock me, Knock me down,
Lactose intolerant Purple Town.

October rolls, or does it not?
Selling wigs, you think you're hot?
Doing jigs, you want some pot?
Cereal bowls, they all you've got?

Ligaments and upholstery,
Climbing up the taco tree,
Handing down for all to see,
It's so great when it is free.

This poem reveals a lot about my inner soul and deepest thoughts......NOT. It might make a good song. Life has been mostly work for me. I had some time off today which is nice, but soon I'll be at Dillards again. Tomorrow will be great. No work at all. Just church and relaxation. I wish I had some really good stories, but nothing is really coming to mind. I'll try to keep better track of my life happenings this week.

Hmmm... I just read my poem again, and I thought I was randomly choosing words and phrases, but I bet I know why I thought of each one, For example, climbing up the taco tree is probably a mixture between del taco Tuesday and Cannon's job.

1,2,3,4,5,6

It feels so good to finally feel like my life is in order again. I have a drivable car, I have two jobs, I got a raise, and my academic advisor said I shouldn't have any problem graduating in April. Yesterday I got a fortune cookie that told me "You will soon have the opportunity to improve your finances". It couldn't have been more right. Dillards hired me back and is willing to work with my hours so that I can work full time there and at the Smith Field House. Then I went to the Field House and was determined to demand a raise. Well, when I was about to do it, my boss looked up at me from where he was sitting and said, "Kyle, I'm gonna go ahead and make you Lead Student, and give you the raise that goes along with the position." BAM! I didn't even have to say anything. That fortune cookie knows it's stuff. I don't even feel like I'm sacrificing that much as far as my social life goes. What do I do between the hours of 9am and 4pm anyway? Nothing. So it shouldn't be much different from my previous situation. One difference will be working Saturdays. That's a bummer, but it will mean more freedom and availability for social activities in the fall. Oh...just a word of caution to Life....I haven't forgotten how you've treated me in the past...I'm not letting my guard down...I won't fall for your tricks!

Here is my darling niece Sydney waiting to go out on the boat.
Braxton and I hiked to a rock formation called the Lighthouse. I stopped to pick some flowers on the way back.
Here I am at the Lighthouse.
Here I am trying to climb just high enough to make it look like I know something about rock climbing.

MMMMMM.... The cake that Braxton and Kyle built.

The Greenwald Curse

Jared left and suddenly everyone is being injured. What's up with that? So far nothing major has happened to me, but I live in constant fear. Who will be next? What will happen? How do we break the curse?

Here are some pictures of me with different styles of facial hair. Tell me what you think and vote for your favourite!

A B

C D

E F

G