Let's see how much of this I can type up at work so I can go home and sleep.
Greetings to one and all. What's up, peeps? Ah, what a lovely American Tuesday we have ourselves. Congratulations on all of you for surviving another week of life. I've got quite a bit to discuss today, thanks to you people! After my rant last week about how nobody cares about my life anymore, I actually got quite a few responses and suggestions for things you folks wanted me to enlighten you on. About. Of. With. How do you say that?? Um... anyway, topics to be discussed today: Generic gummy bears, the difference between BYU and Utah, "The Voice," change, things you'd take a bullet for, and the latest edition of Newsletter gold. But first, a disclaimer. On we go!
Believe it or not, I was once a citizen of good standing in the ranks of LDS missionaries. At one point, in fact, I was a district leader for a group (or district) of about 12 or so missionaries in a small region of North Carolina. As the district leader, I was given the responsibility of preparing two short lessons (or workshops) per week to teach the missionaries. Occasionally (and I know this may be a stretch for your imaginations), I would get a little worked up about certain topics. After one particular workshop about baptism and district-wide goals for that transfer (or six-week period), two of the missionaries mentioned that I was so worked up about it that they thought I would overturn the table and start throwing chairs around the room. Keep that in mind during this Issue, especially toward the end. Thank you. Lights, camera...
Rage face.
Jesse Bramall wanted me to give a comparison of my thoughts and feelings between BYU and the University of Utah. That's all he said, so I'm not sure whether he's referring to their sports teams, their academic qualities, opportunities for social and geo-political growth, or anything like that, so um... I'll just start typing and see if "magic happens," as they say. (wink wink) I really don't have much against BYU the institution. When I applied there back in the spring of 2009, they didn't offer me as much of a scholarship as I would have hoped, but my decision to atted the U instead of BYU was almost entirely based on the fact that it would be much cheaper for me to live at home and commute than to have to pay for housing. I think BYU is a fantastic school and wouldn't have any reason to complain about it as an academic institution. As far as sports go, many of you may not know that I, A-Town, was once a season-ticket holder for BYU football. As a child, I dreamed of the day that I would play for the BYU basketball team. But something happened during the 2009 Sugar Bowl when the Utes took down then-powerhouse Alabama. During that game, I knew I wanted to go to the U. As an acadmeic institution, the University of Utah is fantastic. Socially is where things get interesting. I cannot think of any schools of higher learning in the state of Utah other than possibly Salt Lake Community College that would offer a worse social scene than the University of Utah. Things would have been different had I been living up on campus, but living at home, riding TRAX to school, and going to classes with non-Mormon commuters from the far reaches of Park City, West Valley City, and Ogden offered a less-than-ideal situation for me. I found people at the U to be generally unfriendly on campus and it was very difficult for me to make friends in my classes. When I did have the opportunity to get to know my peers, more often than not, religion came up early on in the conversations, followed by the question of doom: "Wait a second, are you Mormon?", to which I responded, "Yes." This typically prompted responses such as "Oh well then you probably don't want to hang out with me" or "Yeah, you definitely don't want to date me." Though there are allegedly thousands of single Latter-day Saint students at the U of U, I almost always felt like I was the only one. I think I would have done well in Provo. I really do. I'm fairly confident that my dating life would have been much less eventful (in terms of the type of activity I've seen here in Sandy) and I could perhaps have been in a much different situation than the one I'm in right now. I think I would have had many more guy friends, as well. All around, I believe that my social life would have been much better down there. Let's not forget, however, that there are some things about social life in Provo that are just really, really strange, namely the stereotypical hyper-religious culture (that is obviously a little exaggerated, but not entirely false) and the general attitude of "if you didn't go to BYU, we're better than you." I feel that students and citizens of Provo (and Orem, to a smaller extent) are very friendly and inclusive with each other, but very exclusive of others, especially the dreaded arch-rival Utes. That's about it. Those are my thoughts. Those are my feelings. If I've said anything too highly distressing to you Provo-ites, please, by all means, prove me wrong. Next topic? Ah, the illustrious mail bag. What do we have here?
Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
**QUESTION TIME!!**
Q. "I would like to get your opinion on the show 'The Voice,' and especially how it compares, in your opinion, to other talent shows such as 'Idol' and 'America's Got Talent.' Did you predict a winner, and were you right?"
- Suzy Petersen
A. I really liked 'The Voice,' which ended this past week. Oh, and by the way, **SPOILER ALERT** I thought it was a nice new take on singing competitions, which have become incredibly tedious in the past few years (looking at you, Seacrest & Co.). My problem is that "American Idol" is the same thing over and over and over. I will watch a few of the auditions here and there, but I lose interest once it gets to the actual competition because it's just different singers singing different renditions of the same songs season after season. "The Voice" provided a new spin on that whole thing with the blind auditions, which I thought were really cool, and I thought that the four coaches (as opposed to "judges") were a nice addition. I also liked that the season was relatively short (almost too short, in fact), but it wasn't as drawn out as the A.I. seasons get. Get in, get out. It was good. I still like "America's Got Talent," as far as talent shows are concerned, because there is much more variety in the acts, providing something new, something exciting, and something generally humorous week in and week out, rather than 100% music all the time. Did I predict a winner? Well, because this was the inaugural season of the show, I think that the good talent is still out there. I believe that future seasons of the show will have much better singers because now people have seen the show and have had time to say, "Hey, I want to try that out." Because of the almost-mediocre level of talent in the early rounds, I think everybody knew that Javier Colon would win the whole thing. His rendition of "Angel" by Sarah McLaughlin blew me away, which is really impressive, considering how much I hate that song. Once I heard that, I knew he'd win. However, I was very impressed with Utah's Dia Frampton. I feel like Javier was head and shoulders above everyone early on in the competition, but he never really improved. He was good and he stayed good. Dia, on the other hand, showed improvement every single week and she really impressed me in the finale. There was a second there where I actually thought she was going to win. Future contestants on the show would do well to take notes from Dia. Constant improvement is an important thing in this show. All in all, I really enjoyed the show and will be there when season two airs this winter.
Q. "I would like to get your opinion on the show 'The Voice,' and especially how it compares, in your opinion, to other talent shows such as 'Idol' and 'America's Got Talent.' Did you predict a winner, and were you right?"
- Suzy Petersen
A. I really liked 'The Voice,' which ended this past week. Oh, and by the way, **SPOILER ALERT** I thought it was a nice new take on singing competitions, which have become incredibly tedious in the past few years (looking at you, Seacrest & Co.). My problem is that "American Idol" is the same thing over and over and over. I will watch a few of the auditions here and there, but I lose interest once it gets to the actual competition because it's just different singers singing different renditions of the same songs season after season. "The Voice" provided a new spin on that whole thing with the blind auditions, which I thought were really cool, and I thought that the four coaches (as opposed to "judges") were a nice addition. I also liked that the season was relatively short (almost too short, in fact), but it wasn't as drawn out as the A.I. seasons get. Get in, get out. It was good. I still like "America's Got Talent," as far as talent shows are concerned, because there is much more variety in the acts, providing something new, something exciting, and something generally humorous week in and week out, rather than 100% music all the time. Did I predict a winner? Well, because this was the inaugural season of the show, I think that the good talent is still out there. I believe that future seasons of the show will have much better singers because now people have seen the show and have had time to say, "Hey, I want to try that out." Because of the almost-mediocre level of talent in the early rounds, I think everybody knew that Javier Colon would win the whole thing. His rendition of "Angel" by Sarah McLaughlin blew me away, which is really impressive, considering how much I hate that song. Once I heard that, I knew he'd win. However, I was very impressed with Utah's Dia Frampton. I feel like Javier was head and shoulders above everyone early on in the competition, but he never really improved. He was good and he stayed good. Dia, on the other hand, showed improvement every single week and she really impressed me in the finale. There was a second there where I actually thought she was going to win. Future contestants on the show would do well to take notes from Dia. Constant improvement is an important thing in this show. All in all, I really enjoyed the show and will be there when season two airs this winter.
Christina is annoying and her face looks P.M.U.!!
Q. "Here's something you should discuss... change. Accepting or rejecting or dealing with changes in life. Taking a leap in something new or being reserved and sticking with what's comfortable. Japanese proverb - 'The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.'"
- Ileana Merlos
A. I guess that's more of a request than a Question, but I accept it. Change is tough. And yes, I'm being serious right now, if you can imagine that... I'm a guy who likes change when it doesn't involve me. I like seeing trades and free agent moves in sports(mostly... *coughMiamiHeatcough*), I like starting school up with new classes and new people to meet, I like rearranging furniture from time to time, but it's hard for me to change my personal life, especially when I'm comfortable with the way my life is. I've mentioned it in the past, but there is a great talk by Hugh B. Brown called "God is the Gardener (The Currant Bush)" that I was introduced to on my mission that is really great. I'd highly recommend it. Click here to read a condensed version of it as published in The New Era back in 1973. Basically, the message is that sometimes God asks us to do things that we do not understand, things we do not want, and things that sound hard. Though we complain about these seemingly-monumental tasks at the time, we must understand that many times God "cuts us down" to mold us into something greater. As we conform to His will, we will become stronger than we ever could have imagined. I liked your proverb, Ile. And, to wrap this serious stuff up, consider that age-old example you've heard a hundred times in Sunday School - the way we build stronger muscles is by facing opposition in the form of weight. Failure to use those muscles, though considerably easier than working out regularly, results in zero change and no improvement whatsoever.
- Ileana Merlos
A. I guess that's more of a request than a Question, but I accept it. Change is tough. And yes, I'm being serious right now, if you can imagine that... I'm a guy who likes change when it doesn't involve me. I like seeing trades and free agent moves in sports(mostly... *coughMiamiHeatcough*), I like starting school up with new classes and new people to meet, I like rearranging furniture from time to time, but it's hard for me to change my personal life, especially when I'm comfortable with the way my life is. I've mentioned it in the past, but there is a great talk by Hugh B. Brown called "God is the Gardener (The Currant Bush)" that I was introduced to on my mission that is really great. I'd highly recommend it. Click here to read a condensed version of it as published in The New Era back in 1973. Basically, the message is that sometimes God asks us to do things that we do not understand, things we do not want, and things that sound hard. Though we complain about these seemingly-monumental tasks at the time, we must understand that many times God "cuts us down" to mold us into something greater. As we conform to His will, we will become stronger than we ever could have imagined. I liked your proverb, Ile. And, to wrap this serious stuff up, consider that age-old example you've heard a hundred times in Sunday School - the way we build stronger muscles is by facing opposition in the form of weight. Failure to use those muscles, though considerably easier than working out regularly, results in zero change and no improvement whatsoever.
Iiiiiiinnnnnn other news, according to feedback from last week's Issue, approximately eight people would take a bullet for the Newsletter. This is relatively comforting to me. I mean, it freaks me out that people are willing to risk their lives for something as trivial and worldly as an email Newsletter/blog, but hey - as long as it's my email Newsletter/blog that they're doing it for, I'm ok with that.
And finally, before we get to the Shoutout of the Week, let's go back and revisit one of the long-forgotten topics that I once blogged about. This week's Blast From the Past is the fabled Big Bang Theory. Once upon a time, I mentioned the Theory in the Newsletter. Somebody had asked me how I feel about scientific theories and I went on to discuss how I don't believe in dinosaurs. Nope, don't believe in dinosaurs, don't believe in the Big Bang Theory, and, you know what's something else I have a tough time with? Eskimos. I believe in Eskimos just as much as I believe in a stegosaurus. Have any of you actually seen an Eskimo? No. Have any of you ever lived in an igloo? No. How can you live in an igloo, anyway?? It's made of ICE!! Your body heat would warm up the air inside the igloo and melt the ice. Allegedly, the cold breeze blowing on the igloo keeps the ice frozen, but I'm not buying it. Is there always wind in Alaska or something? What if there wasn't a breeze and there was a family of Inuits inside? And what if the sun was shining? That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard. "We're in Alaska and it's freezing out here. I know - let's build a house out of ice!" Doubtful. It's not real, people. They say that seeing is believing. And until I see something other than some cartoony clip art image of an Alaskan dressed in whale blubber, I don't believe in Eskimos.
The Shoutout of the Week goes to Jonathan Blackham, perhaps the most Loyal male Subscriber in the history of the Newsletter. He's a good man and probably deserves way more Shoutouts than I could ever possibly offer him. Oh yeah, and one more to the incredible Mr. Scott Aylett, who helped restore my laptop over the weekend. The computer unexpectedly crashed on Friday night and Mr. Aylett and his technical prowess saved me $200. Very nice work. Then we went to see Transformers 3, which I disliked. For risk of throwing any chairs right now, I won't share my opinion. You all disagree with me about movie preferences too much as it is. But uh, yeah. Didn't like it, wouldn't recommend it. 'Nuff said. For now.
And finally, before we get to the Shoutout of the Week, let's go back and revisit one of the long-forgotten topics that I once blogged about. This week's Blast From the Past is the fabled Big Bang Theory. Once upon a time, I mentioned the Theory in the Newsletter. Somebody had asked me how I feel about scientific theories and I went on to discuss how I don't believe in dinosaurs. Nope, don't believe in dinosaurs, don't believe in the Big Bang Theory, and, you know what's something else I have a tough time with? Eskimos. I believe in Eskimos just as much as I believe in a stegosaurus. Have any of you actually seen an Eskimo? No. Have any of you ever lived in an igloo? No. How can you live in an igloo, anyway?? It's made of ICE!! Your body heat would warm up the air inside the igloo and melt the ice. Allegedly, the cold breeze blowing on the igloo keeps the ice frozen, but I'm not buying it. Is there always wind in Alaska or something? What if there wasn't a breeze and there was a family of Inuits inside? And what if the sun was shining? That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard. "We're in Alaska and it's freezing out here. I know - let's build a house out of ice!" Doubtful. It's not real, people. They say that seeing is believing. And until I see something other than some cartoony clip art image of an Alaskan dressed in whale blubber, I don't believe in Eskimos.
This is not real.
That's about it for this week, kiddos. Surprisingly, I'm functioning quite well on five hours of sleep after a uncharacteristically late night for the working man, A-Town. I thought I'd be much more tired than I am right now at this point, so that's good news. Perhaps I will go take a nap anyway. And perhaps you will, too.
Until next Time,
Move It! Sell It! And Leave the Door Open!
Aaron
6 comments:
Transformers 2 was no good so I am not surprised by the 3rd one not being good. But I'll probably like it, since I expect it will suck.
Also, I love that you actually spent a whole paragraph talking about store brand gummy bears.
Awesome.
I was just curious. I lived at home for the year before my mission when I went to SUU, and I didn't love it. I've lived in my grandma's house in Provo while at BYU, but that changed in February, and I'll be finishing south of campus.
And I had never heard of "The Voice" and for some reason I thought you were talking about the young man's transition that happens in the teenage years. I thought that was a really random topic.
Dear Aaron,
Since peppermint ice cream (like the kind only found at the holidays) is your favorite, out of curiosity, do you like the peppermint flavor found in York peppermint patties?
Thanks for the link to the talk! I read it, it was awesome and made me cry! Totally what I needed. =)
Sexy ;)
Great issue...I'm behind a bit because of my lack of internet. Maybe you should discuss the problem with big businesses and their disinterest in customers...haha. I'm not loving our internet provider right now, but I am loving the newsletter.
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