Twenty Three

As a late and rather final celebration of my birthday, I have decided to list 23 memories. The list is not all inclusive, just a few favorites.

1. School at Neil Armstrong Elementary. I played smurfs on the playground with the other kids, even though I never saw or even knew what smurfs were. I would also try and flirt it up with the girl who played smurfette.

2. Killing the gold fish. Ashley and Amy had a pet gold fish that I was put in charge of caring for. I remember them being gone, and I over fed the little guy. He ate till he burst.

3. While going to play at the McDermotts house, I wore a jacket because I was cold. I decided to run with my hands in my pockets. I tripped and fell, smashing my face on the side walk. With a bloody nose, I staggered home and into the arms of mom, who cleaned me up, held me tight, and I on my way again. I still to this day will not run with my hands in my pockets.

4.Flinging dead fruit (usually apricots because the tree grew so many of them) over the fence in Turlock

5. One winter in Turlock our street flooded. Mom was in school, so she left and we booked it out side right after she left and we (Amy, Ashley, Me) messed around in the street for a while after. I remember the water being super cold.

6. One year at school, I got a sweet lime green shirt that I loved to death. I wore that shirt all the time.

7. I got a black eye on the monkey bars at school. It hurt, but the looks I got were much better.

8. I had a friend named B.J. who lived down the street towards Brown Elementary. I remember wrestling with her younger brother Joey. He was

a tough kid.

9. Joseph moving into my room for a few months and having

to listen to the humidifier every night. It was not too loud, and was actually quite calming.

10. This has only happened to me one time ever. I was young. 7 or 8. I went to bed super tired. I remember laying down, blinking, and it instantly being morning. Seriously. One blink, the whole night passed, and I was full of energy and ready for a new day. It was awesome.

11. This one is out of order, but I can still picture, although dimly, a small bit of the Loma Prieta earthquake. From what I remember, the girls and I were outside with mom. The ground was going crazy and so mom told us to get on the lawn. Later that night some aftershocks came through and woke me up. That memory again, is foggy, but I got it.

12. Moving to Concord. I was pumped to be with dad in the moving truck. And thats all I remember.

13. Breaking my arm on the slope of El Dorado Drive whilst delivering papers for the Contra Costa Times. I was late (as usual) and was bookin it on my roller blades, slipped and fell. For the duration of my term with the cast, I w

ent swimming four times, all four times getting the cast wet, and having to go to Kaiser with d

ad to get a new one. He was so pleased every time.

14. Getting my bike stolen. One day I went

to the park and left my GT bike there. Never saw it again. Sad day.

15. Reading 13 thousand pages in my Elementary School career. What a blast. Goosebumps and I were buddies.

16. Working for Dad doing construction work, and forging a strong father son bond. I remember working on the Aikeles house, something for the Contreras', Fixing something for the Kelleys, another thing for the family from India, and of course the Old Lady addition, whos name I cant remember for the life of me, and several jobs with Phil.

17. Crashing Dads pick up truck. To make

a long story short, I drank a hot 7up, passed out, crashed the truck through several bushes, tore out a sprinkler system, knock out/over a street sign, hit an enclosed trailer, and finally push that trailer into a car. He was so pleased. And to make matters better, both the paramedics

who came to take me to the hospital were light weights. Both around 130 pounds. Dad had to help lift the gurney into the ambulance.

18. Going away to college. Got dropped off at Biddulph Hall, kiss from mom, hug from dad, and that was that. "See you later son."

19. Vacation in Paris! I will never forget taking pictures in front of every door in Paris. Blue, red, black, it didnt matter. I also remember the "Jamaican" guys selling colorful bracelets in front of Sacre Coeur for fifty bucks a pop. Thanks dad for buying them!

20. I will never forget the delicious crepes we would get from the shack outside our hotel. Chicken tika, and banana nutella. Also on the same breath seeing France beat Portugal, then the ensuing chaos in the streets of Paris.

21. Dachau Concentration Camp. I was emotionally drained. Never had I seen so much death and sadness, yet serenity seeing the efforts of the German people to document and preserve the camps in efforts to remember the people and celebrate the power of the human spirit to overcome shear hell.

22. Serving honorably and returning home to see the family. Too many emotions to convey in this space.

23. Living away from home, but still feeling loved and cared for by mom and dad.

And dad you were right, I do not remember the vacation to Lake Tahoe... sorry. But I do have many other great memories, and I hope to make more as the years roll by.

Hambone

While the word hambone to most people would conjure up thoughts and pictures of this:

But in the simpson family we do things a little different. To us the one and only hambone is:

As I continue to learn and grow whilst away at school, I am able to call home and talk to family. Every time I call home, Sam's voice gets deeper and deeper. I bitterly notice that mine stays the same. It has taken me about 23 years to get my voice where it is. 23 years! It has taken Sam less than 15 to best me. But he is wise to not rub it in.

I remember very vividly the times just following my return from serving as a missionary. Sam was pivotal in my assimilation. Sam was the one who got me introduced to current music, cool movies, panago pizza, etc. I think I am a lucky guy to have a brother like Sam. He is a scholar and a gentleman, and he is my brother for eternity.

I consider myself to be very blessed in the brother category, cause lets be real here, both of mine are either an extreme sports enthusiast, or an international athlete.

Just for good measure, I will include another favorite picture of Sam:

Oh wait, thats me... lets try that again

And yes, I will openly admit, I miss Sam, and cant wait to see him again and push him in the snow.

To my Brosef, Joseph

Wanted to take a few minutes to say good job to my little brother. For those who dont know about him, he is an international athlete who went and competed in the Arctic winter games, winning three awards for sportsmanship, and placing in the top five in his races.

If you look closely, you can see the little tyke in the lower right corner lookin innocent, but we know he was really dukin' in his pants.

And here we have the infamous Captain Morgan stance the day after I came home from serving a mission. I will remember that day for the care and compassion that Joseph showed to me. Always one with a big heart, he is cool younger brother, even though he dwarfs me. And if you read this Joseph, know that I am still gonna kick your butt when I see you again, so look out. Love you buddy.

The Case for Warm Weather

Today, while walking home from school, I was caught in a minor storm. The snow was blowing, ice and snow in the face, complete with biting cold. I was reminded of a warmer time.

Reasons why the cold sucks:

Snow, ice, snow covered cars, iced over windshields, pain in face and other extremities, runny noses and sometimes totally frozen boogies, also whenever you go out side, you need layers, and it takes forever to get ready.

Reasons why heat is always better:

Sun, happiness, flowers grow, no pain in face or extremities unless you dont put sunscreen on and you get burned, no frozen boogies, less clothes, sunglasses, shorts, football, baseball, beaches, more happiness, bbq, frisbee, walks at night, etc.

I am mostly sure that hell is like this:

and heaven is more like so:

Combustible Ice

While looking for an article to share in my Environmental Stewardship class, I read about combustible ice.

"Combustible ice, or natural gas hydrate, is mainly found in deep seas and atop plateaus. Approximately one cubic meter of "combustible ice" equals 164 cubic meters of regular natural gas."

Another cool thing about the ice is that because its "ice" it has very low levels of impurities. About 100 countries around the world are looking into the possibility of using it on a wide scale.

China alone, in the territory of Tibet (So, in reality, Tibet owns the ice) China has enough ice to power themselves for 90 years. (Tibet can power its self for upwards of 400 years.)

New Tunes!

So far so good. I am on a roll with more frequent postings. Today was great, I got an email from i tunes telling me I had to use 5 bucks, otherwise they would take the credit away. (I waited too long to use a gift card), so I bought 5 songs.

Lynyrd Skynyrd's I aint the one,

The Raconteurs three of their songs, and one

White Stripes song. If Joseph or Sam or dad wants a cd with the tunes on it, just ask.

Another Day in Paradise

Today is sunday. I've been able to attend church, eat pancakes, nap, study some, update the blog, visit my home teachees, and now make a new post.

Right now, I am watching the Oscars while posting. Its been funny to learn about these movies that I never saw get all these awards. I wonder where I have been. I realize that I have been immersed in American Epidemic. Thus far, learning about things like ATP and how its made, insulin and its process in the blood, cells, etc. Also about Diabetes type 1 and 2.

Some of the blog followers may be noticing the new pics. They were taken by a friend of mine. I like them.

A special shout out for my mom and dad. I was looking at past postings on the family site, and I read how my dad kept mentioning how he wanted me to work, go to school, and he mentioned dating about a thousand times. Glad to report that I am indeed going on dates. I will not say with who, but we will see how it goes.

I also am glad to say that I got my package from home. Inside were slippers, shoes, my other skate, and most importantly, a big box of Red River!! Since then, I've been eating it. For those who are not familiar with the hot cereal, it looks and tastes like bird seed unless you add the goodness of Apple Butter. Anyone who wants a taste can stop by and I will make you some.