You are beaten. It is useless to resist.
Greetings to one and all. Topics to be discussed today: My jump to the dark side, more insights on dating, my thoughts on Rock Band 3, more post-graduation uncertainty, and the biggest college football game in the history of Utah's statehood. On we go!
I suppose I should start the Newsletter this week by explaining to all of you that I have bitten the big one. I have sold my soul. Converted to the dark side, as it were. I have swallowed my pride and steeped once again into the realm of hypocrisy. I signed up for a Twitter account this morning - something that I always criticized people for doing. Why, you ask, would I do such a thing? Why?? Let me offer you four reasons for what we'll refer to as "The Decision" which will hopefully shed some light on the subject.
1) First and foremost, Harper Anderson is to blame for all of this. Harper was a guest on "The House that A-Town Built" last Friday and we talked a little bit about Twitter. I assume that he Tweets, since he's the one that brought it up. Harper explained to me that he has mainly used Twitter as a news source - and from what I've gathered so far, it seems like it should be pretty good. He also suggested that I start up an account to not only promote my aforementioned radio program, but also as an outlet that would let me express my random thoughts on a more-than-just-on-Tuesday basis. If I had to knock on the Newsletter for one second, I would say that nobody reads it. Just kidding. But seriously, what I'd say is that I feel obligated (mostly my own fault) to blog about my thoughts, feelings, and yearnings of my heart once a week - and only once - on Tuesday - and only on Tuesday. Sometimes I just wish I could write a short blog or a couple paragraphs of commentary during the week, but I can't if it's not Tuesday. Then, because I don't post the thoughts or otherwise record them, I often forget about them by the time the Newsletter rolls around the next Tuesday. Hopefully signing up for Twitter will help get a few more listeners, a few more readers, and a little more publicity for the A-Town Nation.
2) I've been doing a few things in the past several months that are really no different than having a Twitter account, so I might as well just hop on in. Ever since the NBA playoffs last summer, I've been following ESPN's Twitter feeds on their NBA page to see if they say anything about the Jazz. From time to time, they'll mention our boys and I find posts from the likes of J.A. Adande and John Hollinger rather insightful. Every once in a while they'll poke fun at other teams in the league, as well, and I enjoy keeping up with them. Now I'll have enhanced access to these feeds whenever I feel like it, so that will be cool. I have also started to become a "fan" of celebrities or athletes on Facebook, like Evan Lysacek, Donny Osmond, and Chad Ochocinco. They do a pretty good job of keeping their fans in the loop through their status updates. Ochocinco posts some pretty hilarious stuff sometimes. The first thing I did with my account this morning was to follow Twitter celebrities like Shaq, Terrell Owens, and that hottie, Erin Andrews (who will be in Salt Lake City later on this week for College Gameday - more on that later).
3) It's a good move for the career path. I've learned how to do a lot of things in the past few years. I'm a dang pro with iTunes now that I have to run my radio show through it. I've blogged for years. I can edit sound, edit videos, finally learned how to do a podcast. I'm all right with Photoshop, run a couple groups and fan pages on Facebook, and I text like a mad man. Add Twitter to the list of things that I will soon be proficient in. I've got a crazy major in school and am lined up for an ever-evolving career path. Everything is going online. Newspapers, radio, even TV - they're all going viral. I need to know how to do this stuff. Twitter may not be my favorite thing in the world, but it's a broad, popular way to reach out to fans, friends, and consumers. If I can learn how to tweet, it should hopefully open up a bunch of doors for me as an online journalist.
4) It's potentially less annoying than Facebook. Facebook can essentially be used as a Twitter account. You can update your status 10 to 20 times a day if you really feel like it. Maybe even more! That's not including links, wall posts, or photo comments, either. I get annoyed pretty quickly if people feel the need to update their Facebook status every half hour just to tell me, "mmmm in n out iz gooooooood. txt it!" ("Hide from News Feed." Unfriend if they still find a way to be obnoxious. It's a simple process.) I seem to have changed my stance on the annoying-ness of Twitter. I think it will actually be less annoying than Facebook for two reasons: A) Not everybody in the whole world has a Twitter account, so not everybody in the world will have to subject themselves to my mindless banter and B) People who sign up for Twitter actually care about what you're posting. If they didn't want to read it, they wouldn't sign up in the first place.
Conclusion: Yes, it's true. I've signed up for Twitter. It's a done deal. I'm ridiculously new to it and still have no idea what I'm doing. I do know that I have two followers already. One is my cousin and the other is some weird girl with a nose ring that I don't actually know. (How did she find me??) If you want to see how new I am, check out my tweet sent from my phone while on the way home on TRAX. It was apparently too long and got cut off a few characters short. Memo to me: It's 140, not 160. Anyway, follow me into the darkness if you dare. My name is "atownmania" and I can be found at www.twitter.com/atownmania
What have I done??
Scott Aylett and I had yet another crazy conversation about dating this morning on the way to school. Among other noteworthy things we discussed was this: If girls try to show interest by pretending that they're not interested, That's P.M.U.!! That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. I think the most dates I'd ever go on with a girl that showed no interest whatsoever in me would be two. Maybe not even that many. I'm at the point where playing games isn't fun, cute, or even worth thinking about. Scott points out that "playing the game" is different than "playing games." I agree with that. I mean, there's got to be a little bit of guesswork involved, but when it gets to the point that I feel like I'm back in seventh grade, that's no good. We compared dating to missionary work for a good part of the chat. Of course, all missionaries would like to think that their investigators are always progressing, always keeping commitments, always doing what they have been asked to do. However, once you've been out long enough, you realize that, no matter how bad you want them to, some people just don't want to read the three verses that you highlighted, boxed, and left open on their coffee table. In fact, many of them won't even touch the book until you come back and put it in their hands. It's not pessimism - it's reality. That's how it is with dating, too, to a certain extent. As much as you want to believe that a girl (or guy) is interested in you, it gets to a point where you just say, "You know what? It's over." Some people don't agree with my patented "Strike Rule," which varies from one strike to three strikes, depending on my patience at the time, but that's why I do it. Why should I keep giving girls chances if I see obvious signs that they're not interested? Time to move on. And finally, I am finally coming to grips with something that I still think I didn't fully understand on my mission - The best way to do missionary work is through member referrals. Similarly, the best way for me, Aaron Christensen, to find good girls to date here in this liberal, often anti-Mormon environment, is through other people. Blind dates are a little sketchy sometimes, but hey - if anybody, including grandparents (believe it or not), has somebody they think would be good for me to date, I'm up for it. The only question that remains is the issue of distance. I've had a couple bad experiences with long-distance relationships (actually, all three of my ex-girlfriends have been long-distance relationships in one form or another), but when I'm done with school in six weeks, distance will be less of a factor than ever. Do I dare try again? Hmmm... food for thought.
Now I only trust Boy Scouts.
I'm sure all of you are just dying to hear what I think about Rock Band 3. This is looking like it's going to be a long Issue, so I'll keep it short. The game seems awesome so far after a week of play. The graphics immediately stood out as a step above Rock Band 2. The keyboard is just as fun as I thought it would be. Kind of an interesting setlist overall, mainly because Rock Band can now include a heck of a lot of songs they would never even consider before because of the inclusion of piano/keyboard tracks. There are some catchy tunes on there, though, including Elton John, the Doobie Brothers, Queen, and the long-awaited return of "Freebird." The "World Tour" feature that we loved so much in Rock Band 2 has been replaced by the new "Road Challenges," but once we started to figure it out, we got the hang of it pretty quickly. Loving the Rock Band 3 up to this point. To provide room for error, we'll give it a 9 out of 10.
**QUESTION TIME!!**
What have you started to do to prepare for life after the U of U? I know you only have (7) weeks left, but what are your plans for after? and, are you going to try to escape the bubble or stay in Utah?"
There are some questions from the top of my head. Inquiring minds want to know!
-Nicodemus, aka Tyson
Q. "So, now that you are so close, what are your plans for after you graduate?"
- Kathryn Christensen
A. Hmm... looks like the Loyal A-Towners are all thinking alike this week. Honestly, when people ask me what I plan on doing after I graduate, I usually respond, "Something else." At this point, I don't have any jobs lined up, so I'll need to find a job (I've been lucky to not have to work for the majority of my time in college) and uh... I guess I should probably start dating a little bit more. But, as discussed in previous Issues, I'm mostly just looking forward to the ability to do whatever I want whenever I want without having to worry about homework. Should be pretty nice. Of course I say this now, but I may eat those words later. I'll keep you posted, as always.
Q. "What are you going to miss the most about your TRAX ride?"
- Jonathan Blackham
A. Making fun of people. No doubt. There are some really hilarious things that happen on TRAX and sometimes you can't help but laugh. I won't be missing my 45-minute naps because they seem to be getting less and less comfortable as time goes on. I'll definitely miss playing "Male, Female, or Both?", though. Good times, indeed.
A. Making fun of people. No doubt. There are some really hilarious things that happen on TRAX and sometimes you can't help but laugh. I won't be missing my 45-minute naps because they seem to be getting less and less comfortable as time goes on. I'll definitely miss playing "Male, Female, or Both?", though. Good times, indeed.
Q. "Dear Aaron,
Are you still running for President in 2012?"
Just Curious,
- The Junior Mounties
A. Oh yeah. Isn't there a Facebook group about that? I should probably start thinking about that a little more frequently. (SALUTE!)
The Game Ball this week goes to Christensen Crush, winner of Week Eight in Fantasy Football. Drew Brees didn't have an outstanding week for Austin's squad, but he's consistently earning 50+ points per week, which really adds up when my QBs are only averaging around 25 to 30 points per week. This week, Brees completed 34 passes for 305 yards, one TD, and 55 big ones. Congratulations, I guess.
Brees has snapped out of the Madden Curse.
Speaking of football, I must mention that the biggest college football game in the history of the state of Utah is going to be in town this weekend. It'll be the #5 Utes taking on the #3 TCU Horned Frogs. I don't know how fans in Texas are feeling about this game, but the attitude on campus at the U is that we can beat these guys. Especially after watching BYU almost hold them scoreless in the first half a couple weeks ago, I've been excited for this game for weeks. I think that playing this game at home should provide a pretty big advantage for us and it will be sweeeeeeeet if we can pull this win off on Saturday. ESPN College Gameday will be in town and Austin and I plan on heading up to the game early so we can try to get on TV. Look for us with our faces painted, shirts off, and crowd surfing. (*WINK!*)
GO UTES!!!!!
The Shoutout of the Week goes to Ashley Sanchez Funkeroo, who is cool and nice and keeps me up way too late sometimes. That is all.
Wow! Aren't we glad that's over with? That was intense this week, yeah? All right. Have a good day. That is all...
Until next Time,
Move It! Sell It! And Leave the Door Open!
Aaron
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