My Love for Concerts

Death Cab for Cutie at Red Butte Gardens in Salt Lake City


Kalai at Westminster College


Citizen Cope at The Depot in Salt Lake City


I love me a good concert. I hit the Citizen Cope concert up last night and it was AMAZING! We were on the second row amongst the drunks and pot heads and it was a blast. They are in my top ten favorite bands which would probably consist of DMB, Death Cab for Cutie, Coldplay, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Bob Marley, Atmosphere, Sublime, and The Shins. The list could go on forever though. I'll be hittin up a Jack Johnson concert in August and I'm sure I'll hit up a couple more in between.

Last summer I went to a Death Cab for Cutie concert and loved every second of it. It was at Red Butte Gardens, which was a sweet venue and it was the perfect night. I listened to nothing but Death Cab for six months straight after that concert. They put on a great show if anyone wants to know. It was probably my favorite concert.

25-Years-Old & Prank Calling

My boy Conrad and I were watching the tube at four in the morning when Pastor James came on. He said, "Today is the day to sew your seed with the Lord by donating money to his church." That is all the information we needed. We dialed immediately to "sew our seeds." We probably called them 15 times before realizing that there were only two people answering the phones and they were angered with us. It's a crying shame the Condog couldn't hold a straight face.

Spring Break 2010

P-COVE!!!!!!


Paradise


Swimmin in the cove


The crew


The tennis master


The gang at Coronado Beach


Our Coronado Beach House


Our humble abode


Joey and I in front of the San Diego Bridge


Hotel Del Coronado


Coronado Beach


Night Riders in Coronado


Right before "ravin' the cave"


Tennis in Geezy


The heated shuffle board match


Spring Break 2010 was a spring break never to be forgotten! I loved every second of it. Our plans were to leave for St. George Saturday morning on May 13th and return to Salt Lake on Thursday afternoon on May 18th. We packed our things up Saturday (afternoon, due to some difficulties deciding who was driving) and took off to catch the sweet sweet rays of St. Geezy.

The ride down was absolute HELL! The four-hour drive turned into a seven-hour drive due to the blizzard from Beaver to Cedar City. We arrived super late and decided to hit the sack (not because we don’t like to party, but because church was in the morn and their were babes waiting for us to hit on them in the chapel). I don’t know what it is about St. George, we never hit on girls in Northern Utah but once we get down south it’s like our hormones shoot through the roof and we go on the search at all the student wards. I can’t say we talk to tons of girls but boy do we stare and sometimes make the catch! (most ladies are catch and release though)

That Sunday we got word that our friends from Utah State (Summer Tillotson and her girls) were coming down and wanted to hang. So Sunday night we headed over to Grandma Tillotson’s for a lovely night of volleyball, swimming, scum, jumping off the waterfall, a little ping-pong and a heated match of shuffle board (which ended with profanity and the double bird). We couldn’t have asked for a better night! When we were leaving they extended the invite to Pirates Cove on Tuesday, an offer we couldn’t refuse.

We had to find something to do while we patiently awaited P-Cove so we decided to round up the troops Monday night to “rave the cave.” (Raving the cave consists of a hike down into a volcanic cave in the ground, which opens up into this huge room, cutting glow sticks, throwing them all over yourselves and the walls and playing hide and go seek) At 1:30 in the morn we rounded up about 20 peeps and went up Snow Canyon to party! We bought about $70 worth of glow sticks and hiked down into the volcanic cave. The estimated hike of 15 minutes turned into over an hour due to lack of directions and leaving from the wrong parking lot but we made it and it was a splendid experience.

When Tuesday rolled around we woke up and headed to the one and only P-COVE! We swam and rocked the water slides for five hours straight. When we were sick of swimming we filmed an MTV Cribs, which was pretty lame but extremely entertaining. When we were departing from the ladies, Summer said, “If you guys get bored in St. George, you should come to Cali.” We laughed and wished them a great trip.

When we awoke in St. George the next day the spirit confirmed to all of us that we needed to be in Cali for the remainder of our trip. After some St. George swimming, beach volleyball, and a little Texas Roadhouse we packed our bags, typed Coronado in the GPS and took off. At the moment of our depart, we were not quite sure if Summer meant what she said but at that moment in time… we didn’t care! We were going to Cali whether she liked it or not!!!

Seven hours and a huge speeding ticket later we made it. It was a sick beach house right on the Coronado Bay and the sweet salty air had never smelt so good. Coronado consisted of day/night bike rides, beach volleyball, $14 nachos, sunrays, tennis, 75-degree weather, Nate’s first encounter with the ocean, beach bon fire, body surfing, and tasty, expensive food among great company. It was a hoot!

Our four day, $50 trip turned out to be an eight day, $300 trip (not including the ticket) and it was worth every penny! So the lesson learned here is, when good times are on the line, and you haven't been invited, invite yourselves... it's worth it!

The "To Do List" for Summer 2010

Everyone of these things will be checked off starting in May and ending before school starts in August. Those who would like to join me... let me know

1. One full day on the lake with friends
2. Camping trip in Bear Lake
3. Hogle Zoo
4. White Trash BBQ
5. Ruth’s Diner
6. Scooter and/or motorcycle ride
7. Sunday night bon fires (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
8. Tennis tournament
9. Bee’s game
10. REAL soccer game
11. Classic Skating
12. Float Provo River
13. Lagoon
14. Trip to Joey’s cabin
15. Get Hatches Ice Cream
16. Valais golf tournament at Wasatch and/or Homestead
17. A night at the Yurt
18. Go fishing
19. Demolition Derby
20. Shoot the Tube
21. Soccer Game at the park
22. Fright Night at Provo Cabin
23. Park City date night (Alpine Slide and/or Roller Coaster)
24. Hike Bell Canyon
25. Wendover Fun Bus
26. Drive-in movie night
27. Seven Peaks
28. Frisbee Football
29. Moab
30. Hike Mt. Timpanogus
31. Hot tub at Snowbird
32. Gallivan Center Concert
33. Dunk Ball
34. Oakley Cabin
35. Test drive sweet cars
36. Make a funny movie and/or music video
37. Studio 600
38. Attend a strangers wedding
39. Rodeo
40. Horseback Riding
41. Visit scary sites
42. Driving Range
43. St. Geezy
44. Make homemade ice cream
45. Tin foil dinners
46. Jack Johnson at USANA (Aug. 13, 2010)
47. Hike to Mary’s Lake
48. Ogden Surfing
49. Bear Lake (Ric’s cabin)
50. Ice Blocking
51. John Mayer at USANA (Aug. 31, 2010)
52. Sleep at haunted hotel in Ogden
53. Paintball up on Wasatch

Post Mission Dating...

When I got home from my mission my parents thought I had a gay lover. This kid, by the name of Conrad, and I did everything together. We took the same classes, had the same job, and were basically with each other 24/7. We had a lot of good times together. Another thing we did together was date… not each other (though some would argue that) but fine, grade A women. We needed one anothers support because we were still afraid of the ladies. So you didn’t get one without the other. But I felt we were a pretty good team. We had a lot of good dating experiences. One of our first dates home consisted of Dirty Ric, Conrad, and myself taking three lovely ladies up to my buddy Conrad’s property (the yurt) for some late night four-wheeling. The car ride up was toasty and I sat on some leather seats in the back of the suburban. When we arrived I was anxious to get out for I was too bashful to ask for a little air on the way up and was excited to step out to catch a cool mountain breeze. As I exited the car, Ric’s date said, “Oh Stew, did you sit in something?” as I immediately responded, “Dude, Ric, what was on your back seat?” (Immediately knowing that my shirt had fully absorbed the swack due to the hot leather seats) It was the start of a beautiful beautiful night. Our dates were hungry so we decided to woo them with our cooking skills as we burned a footlong sausage over the fire till it was black and all partook of it directly from the stick it was cooked on. It wasn’t the sausage that was delicious but the friendships that were built from such a wonderful experience.

Conrad and I had delightful dating experiences but we also had our awkward moments. We picked up our blind dates one night in the beautiful Provo Valley and we didn’t have a lot to say to the young ladies after we had introduced ourselves. As we drove in silence down University Ave. Connor was desperate to strike up a conversation, so he browsed his surroundings. The next thing I heard was “Big O Tires…. good times… good times,” thinking that would help the awkward silence. We soon arrived to Noodles n’ Company for a tasty meal. Conversation at that point had not yet picked up so Connor, in a panic said, “I love cheese,” as he gazed at his Mac n’ Cheese, “What kinda cheese do you ladies like?” For the next half hour we engaged in a fascinating conversation about different cheeses. It was one of the better dates we went on…

One of my favorite memories was on a date with a gal whom I was whooped over a couple months after the mish. It was a fun night and it was time for the moment I dreaded… the doorstep scene. Being a newbie to the whole dating thing, the doorstep scared me to death even though I knew nothing was going to happen because Conrad was 20 feet away. I wanted to be smooth so I got out of the car and was thinking to myself all the way to the door. I didn’t hear a word she said though she yapped my ear off every step of the way. As we hugged good-bye I was immediately back peddling due to fear. Then she said, as I was back peddling through her mothers garden, “I had fun, we should do this again soon.” I was still talking in my head at the time so I’m lucky I heard what she said. After telling myself over and over to be smooth, I looked her square in the eye with a sudden leap of confidence and said, “Ya do whatchya do.” I turned around with a look of disgust. What the hell did I just say??? I whispered “ya do whatchya do” to myself over and over as I walked towards the car trying to figure out what the hell that even means. As I got in the car Connor asked, “How was it?” I immediately said, “She told me she had fun and that she wants to go out again.” He said, “Sweet man!” “Yeah, but I told her she does what she does…”

My Birthday!

When I was chillin in the womb at about eight months my mom took a spill. I stopped moving. Frantic and afraid her favorite child would not be born my mom went to the hospital. The doctor was worried about me so they did an emergency C-section to find out that the umbilical cord had been wrapped around my neck. Once they untangled me the fresh air had never tasted so fine and lets be honest, I was probably the best looking baby that hospital had ever seen. That was 25 years ago to the day and hot damn it's been a good 25 years!

I was hanging out with my friend Nat Johnson the other day and found out she is always writing in her journal. It made me think that maybe I ought to start documenting little bits and pieces of my life and my thoughts but instead of having a personal journal I wanted it to be a little somethin somethin for my friends and family as well. So why not start it up on my 25th birthday?

Daily Awkward Moments...

I have come to realize that there aren’t too many people more awkward than me as I walk around USU’s campus. I have noticed that I have multiple awkward experiences daily. It all starts with a simple “How are you?” and it’s all down hill from there. I always say “How are you?” at the exact same time as the other person and then it falls in complete silence as we wait for one another to answer. Then, when we finally get the courage to answer, we say “good” at the exact same time, give each other weird looks, and walk away. How is it possible to mess up a simple “Hello, How are you?” If you can’t master that you’re due for a lot of awkward experiences in life.

The best is when you see someone walking towards you, someone you don’t know well enough to stop and talk with but that you will throw out an occasional “what’s up” to. The other day I saw a girl that I knew from church walking towards me. We both threw out the “How are ya?” at the exact same time as we passed each other. We both turned around and kept eye contact (even though we were walking opposite directions) to see how the other would respond. I held strong, I didn’t want to answer “good” at the same time so I didn’t say anything. She obviously had the same plan or didn’t hear me ask how she was. When we were about 30 feet away and after about 10 seconds of extreme eye contact I couldn’t take the silence anymore so I shouted at the top of my lungs “good!!!!!!,” she gave me a weird look and we both went our separate ways. I don’t say “hi” to her as I pass her on campus anymore.

There is also the classic “How are you?” as I quickly respond “nothing” or “What’s up man?” as I respond “Good dude, How you doin?.” It seems that I’m not as quick on my feet as I’d like to be. If you are having similar experiences at work or school... you are not alone.

Minivans

The other day I took a stroll in a minivan and I'm just curious, has anybody ever been in a minivan that didn't smell like dirty diapers, have smashed potato chips on the seats (that had been there long enough to have little grease rings around the edges in the cloth seat), and didn't have a sticky residue on the handle? Cuz I'm pretty sure these "features" come standard in the Minivan Package. The worst part about it is that the windows don't roll down in the backseat. They just have those ones you gotta push out, giving you a solid inch of airflow. So you end up having to crack it open and wedge your face between the plastic and the window just to catch a breath of fresh air. Next time you pass a minivan on the freeway and you see nothing but lips and a nose poking out of that crack you'll know exactly what it smells like in that vehicle.

When buying a minivan the salesman will try to woo you with the automatic sliding doors and the tv's in the back of the headrests, but don't be fooled... it'll still have that dirty diaper smell and it's only a matter of time before the greasy chips stick to your pants and there's a sticky residue in the palm of your hand that smells of sour milk.

Keep a close eye on the people driving the minivans too. A large percentage of them will be in old baggy sweat pants with some sort of stain on them. I think they throw the sweats in when ya make that sweet minivan purchase.

My Childhood

Growing up, dressing as a woman and grabbing my crotch to "Bad" by Michael Jackson wasn't exactly out of the norm for me and were actually everyday activities. My family travelled a lot and I had a hobby of buying and collecting rocks everywhere we went. I would save up my allowance (which was a quarter a day for cleaning my room) to purchase ROCKS... I guess the simple things in life satisfied me and I wasn't about to go dig them up myself. That would require work and I wasn't about to work for my passions.

My family used to call me the "Mean Bean" but truth be told I've only been in one fight in my entire life... it was a blood bath... punches were thrown that afternoon on the playground and me thinks I could hear cries for help in the background, unfortunately... those cries were on my behalf, none of my punches landed. I had other plans and techniques. I just decided to curl up in the fetal position while he kicked the shiz out of me for a few minutes and that was that. Playing dead was my line of defense. It was three minutes of public humiliation on the playground. Right then and there as a 3rd grader laid bleeding on the ground he learned an important lesson in life... He wasn't a fighter, he was a lover. I don't know if it was to save me from more public humiliation but it's worked out pretty nice for me so far and I haven't had to bleed to learn anymore valuable lessons.

Life has been good to me even though I grew up playing with my sisters barbies. It's a huge surprise to me that my parents never questioned my sexuality growing up but luckily I turned out alright. I was just "special." Maybe they didn't want to make things worse knowing that I couldn't pronounce my "R's" till the second gwade. Staying after school for speech therapy classes with the other "special kids" was hard enough for me (I'm just glad I wasn't the kid drooling all over his shirt). Questioning my sexuality would only put me over the edge.

I love my family! They were awesome growing up with and even moved in my behalf because I wasn't running around with the "right crowd." The move was hard because it was right in the middle of that awkward stage in middle school. Ya know, the one where your head is way too small for your body, people can't distinguish your nose from a zit and you had Ritz crackers permanently lodged up in your braces. But when high school rolled around I made friendships of an eternal nature. The guys I met have been the best examples to me and we've had one too many "good times" to count. I owe the happiness in my life to my friends and family because I have come to know that happiness is based on every decision we make and surrounding yourself by good people is one very important step in the pursuit of happiness.