a positive blog

I don't know what is more shocking, the fact that I'm posting two blog posts within an hour of each other, or that this one is actually going to be positive. Quite positive, in fact. It's about the most positive thing that has happened to me in awhile.

So, I have this girlfriend. And she's amazing. And she's going to be totally embarrassed about this and tell me to delete it as soon as she sees it. It came as a surprise even to me (maybe more so to other people), because a few weeks/months ago I decided I didn't really want to have a girlfriend, I just wanted to date around and get to know people and have fun. Which I did - I did date, I did get to know some amazing people and I did have so much fun. But turns out the girl I really wanted to date I had known for months now. I met Emily this past January in our Physical Science class, which I think was a miracle in itself, because I was truly blessed. I started the first class sitting near the back of the class next to a friend I knew from freshman year, Jason DeLange. The problem was, he dropped the class and that left me with nobody to sit with! So I sat the next few classes in the very back row. After a few days I figured this was ridiculous - it's my first semester off my mission, I should meet some people, right? So I decided that the next day I'd wait until a few minutes before class started, then walk in the front of the class (amphitheater class of 150 or so) and find a cute girl, and sit next to her. So I did - I walked in the next day and saw this really cute girl sitting by herself on the right side of class, and I went and sat - not next to her, but one seat away. I never want to come across as a total creeper, you know? Anyways, I started a conversation asking her if she had done the reading, and she said no - total embarassing moment for her, since she always does her reading. Anyways, we talked, laughed, and I kept sitting by her until I asked her to come to a basketball game with me, and the rest was history. It's just one of those boundaries that once you cross, things are never the same, you know?

Anyways, it's been a long time coming, but I can say that right now I'm really happy. She is just great, and she always knows how to make me feel better. She's smarter than me, more dedicated, more in control, funnier, and a whole lot better looking. Talk about getting lucky for me and compromising for her. I won't say any more so I don't embarrass her, but you get the idea ;)

But yeah. This is one of those things I love.

psych...

Psych. not like the tv show. Although that is currently the single greatest show on television. Episodes seriously cant come fast enough - and one comes on tonight? Tomorrow? woooooot

My point is that I only ever feel like blogging about things that bother me or problems I see in society - not the greatest habit to be sure. I cant help but feel an urge to troll on other peoples self pitying/ambiguous facebook status updates because come on, this isnt myspace. For instance, I was on Pandora just now (meaning I AM on pandora) and the song "Like a G6" came on, which in my opinion, is one of the worst songs of all time. I see nothing in it that is worth listening to, and the artists themselves said and have been quoted saying that they don't even know what a G6 is, just that Drake mentioned G4 pilots and they wanted to one up him. Anyways, next to the song was a little bubble that said "Your Friend _______ likes this." And I couldn't help but wish that I could click "dislike" and have it pop up on other peoples pandora saying "Your Friend Zack dislikes this," just so that person would sit and actually think about why they like that song - which hopefully will result in no ideas.

But i think that has to be a fairly unhealthy attitude right? I'm sure that tons of psychiatrists and psychoanalysts and other such psych-related people (hence the "psych...") would have interesting things to say about that. Sometimes I just wish that I could go sit down with those people and see what they have to say about me - and see if those things are true about myself, maybe I could learn a thing or two, you know?

Anyways, back to the music. I honestly think that several songs in the top 40 right now are horrible, and that they only get playing time because of a previous hit of the artist. So people say hey, new single by this artist and I loved their last song so much this new one must be fantastic too! And they end up listening to a horrible song and thinking its fantastic. For example:

Katy Perry: California Girls --> Teenage Dream --> Firework (hoooorrible song. good message, horrible song.)
Kesha: Tik Tok --> We R Who we R (soooo lame, and "R?" seriously? Thats not even cool)
Black Eyed Peas --> lots of good songs --> The Time
Justin Bieber --> Baby --> Pray

Anyways, the list goes on, but the point is that a lot of songs that in the top lists right now I swear would not make it if they were the artist's first song and not one that has only come after their previous successes.

Sorry for another negative post but...




P.S. Lil' John ruins every song ever

Things I Love #1

So to take a break from my mini-rant on common courtesty - though its not much of a break since i havent posted on it since that first one anyways - here's something I do love. Flash mobs. Musical ones. Awesome ones. When I'm rich and don't have to go to work every day, I'll spend the rest of my life setting up things like this because hey, thats what makes life fun.

Man, I love that.

Love and Hate combined

So this week I've been both irritated and grateful for several things that all boil down to one simple phrase: common courtesy. I think it's something that's becoming increasingly lost in a society that has so many personal gadgets (phones, mp3 players, computers) that people get lost in their own little worlds. Most of the common courtesies take almost no time at all, some are just a matter of respect, but all need to be respected. So after having a frustrating day due to people not observing basic common courtesies, I'll give several examples of some, starting with those that so bothered me yesterday.

#1 - Sitting in someone else's seat in class.

Yes, girl in my humanities class, I know that theres no assigned seating. But I also know that I've sat in that chair every day for the past 6 weeks, and I know that you know it. So the fact that I showed up 2 minutes later than usual does NOT mean you can take my chair and loudly remark how funny it is when you sit in other peoples chairs. Seriously?

#2 - Looking where you're walking

This might seem strange, but its becoming increasingly annoying as people become obsessed with their phones. I was walking down the stairs in the library next to the railing, when a girl that was looking at her phone walked all the way across the hallway, across the stairs to the railing, and proceeded to walk right up into me. PAY ATTENTION

#3 - Talking in the Library

Ok, this isn't bad in all circumstances. It's generally acceptable on the 5th floor and in the NoShh zone, but when I'm at a table by myself on the fourth and you come sit at my table with your friend, can you try not to spend the next 45 minutes talking non stop about your dating lives? I'm trying to study. Thanks.

#4 - Letting somebody use your Jacket

I think this is a fantastic thing to do. I was at my friends soccer game freezing without a jacket (ironically because I had given my jacket to somebody else) and this girl that I didn't know let me use her husbands jacket for the duration of the game. Thanks, unknown girl and special thanks to her husband. It's annoying though when I try to let somebody use my jacket (girls) and they refuse. Why? You'd seriously rather sit there and freeze? I'm a boy, I can handle it.

#5 - The little hand wave used when driving

I love this for some reason. It's one of my favorite parts of society. When somebody lets you in, stops to let you go, waits for you to cross the street, what do you do? Give them a little wave. Hey, thanks man, that was really nice of you. The wave is universal and has infinite applications. When you don't use the wave - rude. But it makes my day when people use it.


So, this is a post to be continued. There's too many common courtesies to mention right now and hey, it'll give me something to blog about for the next few days. Enjoy. Especially you, Lauren.

Things I Hate #1

So I decided to change my style a little bit cause i've realized the only things i feel like blogging about are things i think are awesome or things that just bother the heck out of me. Sad, right?

Anyway, part one of things that I hate - when people start packing up to leave before the class is over (annoyingness x 10 when its at church or a religion class). It's just rude. I can't stand when I'm in Sunday School and the teacher starts to bear his testimony and suddenly everyone starts packing up. Seriously? Where do you have to go in such a hurry? I have Elders Quorum just like you do, but theres no point in packing up early, especially when you're killing the spirit brought by the teacher's testimony.

Even in a non religion setting, it's annoying. There's this girl that sits next to me in humanities that doesn't pay attention the whole class, then a full minute before class is over starts packing up her stuff noisily, so the rest of the class follows suit, and our poor professor has to just end class without finishing what he's trying to cover because nobody's paying attention. People just need to be a little more respectful.

Man, I hate that.

music

Is the funnest thing ever. I should do this more often

its a sad day when

the friends you used to play soccer with until 3 in the morning and stay up late with watching movies in a random park suddenly don't feel like being all that exciting anymore. they dont answer your calls/texts, or have other things to do. seriously? you can live one night with 5 hours of sleep. live a little.

it makes weekends not as much fun.

sleep vs school

Dear Sleep,

Apparently I need to decide what the purpose of the weekend is. Is that my time to come and visit you and make up for the sleep that I lost somewhere during 7am work and doing homework till 1am? Or is it to have fun and actually enjoy life since I spend the whole week running around trying to get things done and not fail all my classes? Well this weekend was definitely a fun weekend, and its the antithesis of the other weekend possibility, which is the possibility that I really wish I had taken now, because itll be another week before I have another chance to come visit. 

So now i'm falling asleep in class. And I may or may not have set a chair in a hidden remote corner at work so that I can see you for a half hour or so. And I'm seriously considering taking a power nap after school today, and maybe we can have some sweet flying dreams, but that has way too high of a possibility that i end up hanging out with you untill FHE.

Well, I hope you know that I miss you. Have a fun week without me and give my best to your neighbors Rest and Relaxation.

Your long lost friend,
Zack

never thought that would happen...

So two things happened today that I am still in shock over (and no, making this blog post is not one of them. Maybe i should count three things...)

The first was a mind-blowing realization that happened in my New Testament class, of all places. Come to think of it, that was probably the most natural place for it to occur... anyways, we were talking about our reading from the night before. It was Luke 1-3, which was a-MAZING. Luke 1 is now one of my favorite chapters in the world. I spent over a half hour reading it - i didn't even finish all my reading, and it was only 3 chapters! That's how long I spent on Luke 1. Anyways ( i need to find new words to start my sentences off with, or i should just stop getting sidetracked. so anyways...) when we were in class and we were discussing the chapters, I had SO much I wanted to say and talk about, but hey, in a class of 45 people I can't exactly take up all the time, and i usually comment too much anyways (there that word is again). So then it hit me - I wish I was married. Now this might not be the mind blowing realization that you were waiting for, but you don't quite understand. I don't wish I was married because i'm lonely, or because thats what the prophets said that i should be doing, or because im dating someone and just want to take the next step. This was a totally different feeling. I want to be married so that I have somebody to read the scriptures with. Weird, right? But seriously - somebody I could talk to about Luke 1 until we had analyzed every verse in the scripture. Somebody I could read with and talk about with, set goals with, work with, stretch myself with, and progress with - somebody that I could grow old with, all the while growing stronger in the gospel. It was kind of a revelation as to the meaning of when God told Adam that it wasn't good for him to be alone and that he would make a "help meet" for him. So I have this totally weird new longing to be married, because I can see that I can't really continue my spiritual growth (well i can keep growing, but not as fast) until I take that step. Weeeeeird. But cool. But don't worry, im not about to go run out and marry somebody haha. Not even close.

Anyways (that one was for fun) the second thing is on a completely different tack from the religious/marriage standpoint. This one was something I haven't done since high school. Nope, not ditch class merely for the sake of ditching, nor was it eating Mexican Food until i cant walk - I went running. AND I timed myself. Whaaaat? Something about New Testament class and listening to Brother Smith talk about running a marathon made me feel like i could do anything, so I went out and ran. I felt sooo out of shape I couldn't breathe all that well, and my arms got all weak and I felt like I was going to pass out. And they say running is healthy..... anywho (got you there, didnt I) I was actually surprised at how well I did. I did a warm up lap and then a timed mile - 5 minutes, 58 seconds. YEEEEEAH! felt like a 10 minute mile, so that was fantastic. Followed that up with a 7:45 cool down mile, and then one last mile for time - 5:54. Oh. Yes. Get. On. My. Level. Although that might not be on the level of the more serious runners, it was a miracle for me.

What a day. What a overly long blog post. What I can't feel my legs. What?