Rambo

So I'm up in Idaho Falls with Rachel's family over Thanksgiving and Rachel's uncle Garth says, "Let's go shoot some guns on Saturday". I'm thinking shotgun, handgun, .22, etc. He says, "We can shoot my new .50 cal". "Sounds like fun" is my reply. "You don't even know what that is, do you?" he responds. No I did not.

A .50 cal, as you can see above, is a mother of a weapon. The bullet was a solid 6 inches, the gun weighed about 50 pounds; so you're definitely not shooting clay pigeons with this thing. Standing about 10 feet behind the gun when it fires you feel like you're getting punched in the face with the kickback force. Pretty awesome power.

John Adams

So after 6 months of slow progress, I've finally finished reading the biography of John Adams, our Second U.S. President! The slow progress had nothing to do with the interest level of the book, I was caught up working late (as usual) and especially cuaght up studying for tests. I bought the book mid-June in the Orlando airport and didn't finish until a couple days ago. Quite a journey indeed.

Did you know that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the same day, which happened to be July 4, 1826, our nation's 50th anniversary? Crazy, whether coincidence or not. Basically the book noted that they were both determined to stick it out that far.

John Adams lived a pretty amazing life and it makes me want to read more biographies of Presidents. He was a Harvard-educated lawyer, yet he was never super wealthy. He defended the British troops who killed the men in the Boston Massacre, he lived all over Europe as a U.S. Ambassador during the revolution, and he lived a very simple life comparatively speaking. The author made many comparisons between Adams and Jefferson; the most interesting to me was how simple and debt-free life Adams lived and how lavish and debt-ridden life Jefferson lived. Adams died with a net worth of $100k, and Jefferson died with debt of over $100k and the sale of his entire his estate did not make up the debt. I found that very interesting when contrasting the two lifestyles throughout the book. If Jefferson was the "pen" of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, Adams was the "voice". So very interesting to learn about these things that I hadn't even thought of before. Adams is also the "father" of the US Navy. David McCullough did an excellent job; I would highly recommend this book to anybody interested in a very important person in US History.

I think another interesting thing to me is to see what experiences a lifetime can bring to a person. Adams was not a war hero or anything like that. Besides becoming the President of the United States, he seemingly led a life that a normal person could lead; yet looking back so many experiences add up to make him an incredible person. That probably applies to many people all over. Adding up a lifetime of experiences can lead to a pretty impressive story for just about anybody.

When I think about historical figures, for some reason I just think about that person, alone, and their context. This book reminded me that Adams, Washington, Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, etc. all lived and dealt with each other. I'm sure they didn't know at the time what type of historical figures they would become, but it's amazing now to think that so many great minds with such foresight for our country came together at the same time.

Anywhere But The Chest!

I mean, seriously, this is getting a little out of hand, don't you think?

Isn't it supposed to be a chest bump?

Is this what they mean by "Utah Man"? I thought I'd bring it strong to start off rivalry week. Go COUGS!

Jumping Jacks

You know how when you're in little league football and every day at practice you do jumping jacks to warm up? Those who played know what I'm talking about when I say that you can't do jumping jacks and hold in your gas at the same time; you basically rip it every time you split your legs wide for the jack. Well, today I experienced a similar experience at work, speaking of the need to rip it, not speaking of anything related to spreading my legs or doing jumping jacks; that was just a reference.

So I don't really know what came over me or what I was thinking, but I was sitting at work this afternoon and I guess I just decided I either couldn't or wasn't going to hold it in any more. I proceeded to rip a GIGANTIC, loud and proud fart, followed up by a quick toot to polish it off. As soon as I ripped it, I froze, realizing that I was NOT alone nor sitting in the comfort of my home. I was at work, in a business environment, supposedly being professional. My co-worker sitting across the table from me froze as well. He looked up with a stunned face, "Did you just. . . Did you just do that on purpose?!"

What could I say? I hesitated for the briefest of moments before acknowledging my flamboyant rip, "Yes, I did just rip that and I apologize."

He hesitated, "Hmm, So that just happened. Wow." He seemed to shrug it off after that, but I'm pretty sure he will never feel completely comfortable around me again.

I had to get up for a meeting right after that and I couldn't stop laughing. I had to bite my lip so hard it almost bled. The problem isn't that I was laughing, it's that people ask you, "Why are you laughing?" Then what? Tell them you just ripped a giant bomb in the conference room and left your coworker in there to suffer the consequences? No, you're just screwed if you get asked. Luckily, I was successful in avoiding any questions but I did get a couple weird glances as I continued to laugh/bite my lip ferociously.

So what did I learn from this experience? Apparently nothing, as I sit down 30 minutes later after my meeting and immediately proceed to rip an equally high-decible blast. It was like I was sitting on a whoopie cushion, only it wasn't a whoopie cushion and these farts were definitely the funk. My coworker didn't verbally acknowledge the flatulence but I did catch him cocking his head toward the ground in that, "What in the world is he doing!" grimace. I'm sure if not from the sound but from the putridity reaching his nostrils. The answer is, "I don't know"

The Brandon Face

Rachel sent me this picture the other day with the caption, "This is a Brandon face if I've ever seen one!" I put it as the wallpaper on my cellphone and I laugh every time I open my cellphone. Too rich. I couldn't disagree as I know I pull such faces all the time. Such a shame my son has to pick up on some of my more embarrasing traits.

Belated Anniversary

So it was like 2 weeks ago but I've been completely overwhelmed by life so I haven't been able to officially recognize my 1 year anniversary of bloggins! I think it was officially on the 16th of October or around there. As of this posting I have made 63 posts which is good for an average of slightly above 1 post per week. However, I realize that I started off averaging about 1 post every couple days when I first started and I've digressed to about 1 post per month, so I'll have to pick up the pace to keep that average up. It was so simple to post when I started because I worked the graveyard shift every night. Now it's basically impossible to post at work and impossible to post at home (read: Cannon Ball) so while I have no shortage of topics I have experienced a dearth of opportunity.

So what have I learned in one year of blogging? I've learned that I love to write, especially about items that to me are frustrating or annoying. I've also learned that I'm not as prone to write about sports as I thought. I've certainly shared numerous sports posts, but I

(Sidenote: This is why I don't post as often. So this is what has happend during the 3 minutes I've tried to sneak in to actually write some of my thoughts down. Cannon has come in and pounded on the keyboard multiple times-I should have left all the insertions in my post here for proof- and then he dropped the absolute funk in his diaper. I went to change him on our bed-luckily unmade as will soon be relevant- as soon as I pulled his diaper off he pulled some 180 spin move out of my grasp and proceeded to smear poop all over our sheets and one of the pillow cases. So now I'm washing to sheets and the pillow case. I will now proceed to bang my head into the desk. Back to regularly scheduled posting)

originally thought I would breakdown every game of every sport as I am prone to do in conversation. While that has not happened, be on the lookout for a streak of Jazz/BYU posts. I've noticed that my favorite posts generally have to do with writing about my old memories growing up. As I feel this is generally a journal-type thing for me I've been pleasantly surprised at my range of topics covered. I have a stockload of things I want to write about but as noted above I'm struggling to find opportunities to sit down and write. I hope to improve, as with anything else in life. Here's to one year of blogging!