By Grabthar's hammer... by the suns of Warvan... You shall be avenged!
Greetings to one and all - and happy Tuesday to you! Oh, there are so many things I could talk about today... but what to choose? What to choose? Hmmm... Topics to be discussed: Pomp and circumstance, things you'll regret in 15 years, another man who's ruining my social life, widespread criticism, and my first outing with the new congregation. On we go!
You've seen photographic evidence. Yes, it's true. I'm graduated!... Well, technically, I'm not official yet. I still haven't received the credit for my internship with K-UTE. The deadline for submitting grades is on the 15th, I think, but until then, it's not a done deal. However, if my advisor tries to screw me over again, I don't care. When was the last time you went in for a job interview and the prospective employer asked to see your diploma? Never. So, in the case that I don't actually graduate (which I will) and they ask for proof of my graduation, at least now I'll have a bunch of pictures to display. You can't fight the photographs.
Eat it, advisors.
Speaking of photographs, one of the absolute highlights of my Friday was having a little mini-reunion with my good friend and long-time "Signs of the Times" colleague, Donald Osmond. That's a fact, ladies and gentlemen. I saw our buddy Donny up on campus right outside the blessed Rice-Eccles Stadium. I even snapped a quick picture of him. You'll see it posted in my latest photo album on Facebook. It was great to see him, as always.
Love him so much.
**QUESTION TIME!!**
Q. "Dear Aaron,
How does it feel to be graduated?"
Just Curious,
- The Junior Mounties
A. Feels about the same, to be honest. Though it does make me Feel Good About Myself to have that fake little diploma in my hands (the other one is in the mail), let's all keep in mind that I've basically been on extended Christmas Break for like five months now. (SALUTE!)
Q. "Dear Aaron,
How is the job hunt coming? Having any success? What can you do to make yourself more marketable to employers?"
Just Curious,
- The Junior Mounties
A. (SALUTE!) I'm still on the job hunt as we speak. I try to make an effort to apply for jobs every day. So far, I've applied for a bunch of journalism jobs around the valley, including a reporter/producer job at KUER, the public radio station up on campus at the U, but haven't heard back from anyone yet. I interviewed with EFY last week, much to the dismay of my facial hair, and they offered me seven weeks of work yesterday, spanning from the second week of June to first week of August with a small break before the final week of the summer. I'm still not sure if I'll take that gig or not. It really depends on whether or not a "real" job comes along first. If one does, I'll probably go with that. I'll keep you posted. But what can I do to make myself more marketable? Easy! I'm going to make a billboard with my face on it. And my phone number. I figure this could not only attract potential employers but also lovely young ladies that are making their way past the Point of the Mountain on I-15. Mhmmm...
You know she's gonna call.
As always, you can submit your very own Question to "Signs of the Times" in a veritable plethora of ways. If you don't know how to by now, I suggest you learn.
I don't often get scared by art. I don't go to a whole lot of art exhibits or anything like that, but I certainly can't remember ever going to one and just coming away totally freaked out by anything I saw (barring full-frontal male nudity). However, yesterday I saw something floating on the virtual gossip wire known as Twitter that I wasn't particularly fond of. It seems that our old friend Andrei Kirilenko has gone and made friends with a bucket of paint and come back with a back tattoo. And when I say "back tat," I mean, like, his whole back is covered. It's scary and weird. I'm not a fan for several reasons: First and foremost, it's a Utah Jazz player - Utah, the team known for its conservative, no headband, no nonsense style of play. And now we've got a guy who looks like he's trying to catch up to Denver's Birdman in the competition for largest/worst-looking tattoos. Secondly, tattoos like that just don't look good on skinny White guys. And thirdly, I can't even tell what the heck it's supposed to be! It's like... a mixture of a dragon, internal organs, and a sirloin steak? That thing is hideous. Nice job, AK. You just blew undoubtedly thousands of dollars on something you're going to regret a week from now for the rest of your life. Ick.
Why, Andrei? Why??
While we're talking about the NBA, I have to admit that, though I've hardly watched any of the games these past couple weeks, the playoffs have been pretty exciting. I've said before that there are only a few things that could maintain my interest in basketball once the Jazz bite the big one. Watching the big teams go down is the main reason I'd pay any interest at all to the Jazz-less playoffs. San Antonio and Orlando went down hard in the first round. The Bulls have been struggling (which is, perhaps, what makes me the happiest - DOWN WITH BOOZER!!), and the most monumental feat of all is that the Lakers got swept in the second round! YES!!! Oh, the joy that it brought me. Last night's triple overtime thriller in Memphis was pretty good, too. Some of those shots Memphis hit were unthinkable. And, of course, they ended up losing in the end. If they can keep playing like that, though, I can see the eight-seed knocking off Kevin Durant and the Thunder, and that would make me happy, also. Down with the top seeds! Long live the underdogs!
Now it's time for me to get a little something off my chest. Thor is ruining the life of many a young bachelor, as did Edward Cullen before him. Let me explain this to you. I haven't seen this new Thor movie yet, but I've heard about it. Oh, have I heard about it? Friday and Saturday's Facebook status updates were full of women young and young-ish spouting praise of Thor's muscles and attractiveness. In fact, more than once has a female commented that she refuses to date anyone that doesn't look like the god of thunder. Well I refuse to date anyone who refuses to date anyone who isn't Thor! Is that such a crime? I think women find that last statement offensive, but I don't understand why. How would girls feel if I came home from the Tomb Raider movies saying that I refuse to date anyone who doesn't look like Lara Croft? They'd be mad - and rightfully so. But on the other hand, after the latest "Twilight" film, vampire lovers came home talking about Taylor Lautner for weeks, begging him to take his shirt off again. Hmm... What if I came home from a movie full of scantily-clad women saying how hot I thought they all were or begging for Megan Fox to keep running in slow motion? That's not gonna fly, is it? Double. Standard. I'm sick of girls telling me how hot Thor is. News flash - Thor isn't real! Neither is Edward! Taylor Lautner is, but he's like 17 and, at least where I come from, that's illegal, ladies. You don't see me putting up posters of Hannah Montana on my wall, do you? No, you don't. Because she's not legal. Nor attractive. But hey, if you really only want to date men with the charm of Mr. Cullen and the brawn of Mr. Thor, go for it. And good luck. Because men like that don't exist. The false and preposterously-high expectations that women have for the men they date are large contributors to the social plight experienced by myself and many others. If that's what you really, truly want, some extra-terrestrial freak that doesn't exist outside the two dimensions of the silver screen or a paperback, have fun with it and enjoy the journey, for it will never ever end. And enjoy this, too. Everyone together now - BOOOOOO!!
This lady is shallow.
The other problem with the world today is not only that Hollywood has made girls (and many guys, too, I'm certain) terribly shallow , but that people with opinions are punished. This is a lesson I've learned through my college career as a broadcast journalist. The best way to get people to listen to you is by saying something that plays to people's emotions. You can get a huge response to something (sports, for instance) by posting something positive (i.e. "JAZZ WIN!!"). Inversely, you can get a similar reaction by posting something that goes against the grain (i.e. "GO LAKERS!!"). I've often told student DJs that if everyone agrees with you 100% of the time, you're probably not doing something right. If everyone always agreed with you, there would be no need for you. They could just talk to themselves all day and not much would be different. So in order to be entertaining, slightly controversial, and, in my opinion, a good journalist, you've got to say things that some people might disagree with. That's where the dilemma comes in. If you say something that some people might construe as being offensive (even when none is intended), they'll call you out on it and probably make it into a much bigger deal than it ever needed to be. People with opinions are punished by society. We make it seem like it's a bad thing when somebody believes something that we don't agree with. I'm not saying that we should necessarily just agree with everything anyone says whether we see their point of view or not, but I'm just saying maybe we should be less critical of people when they speak. (Editor's note: This is starting to sound like somebody out there hurt my feelings or something, which nobody did. Just typing the thoughts that are coming to my brain. Bear with me.) It's difficult, believe it or not, to blog every single Tuesday when I know there are people out there that are looking for typos, misspellings, or improper capitalization (note: I sometimes capitalize things in an unorthodox manner from Time to Time on purpose, so back off.). I don't check my spelling or my facts. I type this stuff and I post it. I blog about personal issues like my social life, fully aware that any of you could use it as blackmail, and I do it on a weekly basis. So why do I do it? A) Because you expect me to. After all, what would Tuesday be without a good Newsletter (capital N)? B) To entertain you and encourage you to find humorous things in our tedious, menial lives. And C) Because I want to, dang it, and it makes me Feel Good About Myself. Thus, I don't care what any of you think, whether you agree with me or not. If you're offended by anything I (or anyone else) say, that's probably your fault. Choose not to be offended. Choose to live your life and love it. And let us all remember the immortal words of Brother Brigham when he said, "He who takes offense when no offense is intended is a fool, and he that takes offense when offense is intended is a greater fool. (emphasis added)" Well said, Brother Brigham. Well said.
Are we all Feeling Good now? Finally, a two-folded Shoutout of the Week. Firstly, to Eric Greene, my frat brother from Xi, a true Utah Man, fellow movie maker, and relatively-recent convert to the Newsletter. If ever there were good men on this Earth, this fine specimen is truly one of them. A very good man, indeed, and we shall now revel in the glory that is "Eric Greene." Happy Tuesday to you, brother.
And now a Shoutout to my new ward, the Crescent Park YSA ward in the brand new Draper YSA stake. I spent my first Sunday and Monday night with the ward these past two days and I'm really excited for the changes that are taking place. After the scrambling of membership records that took place two weeks ago at the Conference Center, the boundaries were rearranged, forming a new group of young single adults in my area. It appears that half of the rest of the congregation is also new to the ward, which is fantastic. I attended the Family Home Evening activity with the ward last night, which just so happened to be one of my least favorite sports, volleyball, but really enjoyed the activity. I believe this to be due to the fact that there aren't cliques or solid groups of lifelong friends in the ward anymore. Everyone is trying to meet new people and make new friends and I don't remember feeling so included in a ward activity in a long time. Cheers to you, new ward. I'll be seeing you soon. And by the way, my team dominated just about as much as any team can dominate a volleyball tournament without winning a single game. I'm proud of our efforts.
That's about it for this week, children. I'm off. And so are you. Hope all is well and that everyone is enjoying this lovely Tuesday evening.
Until next Time,
Move It! Sell It! And Leave the Door Open!
Aaron
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