I’m writing this post because Garfield wanted to say happy Halloween to everybody. ’tis a good day, I have to say.
Don’t die, it’s bad for you. Oh, and so is eating a ton of candy.
One other thing… If you donate blood on Halloween, they give you a cool pin that says ‘Holiday Hero’ on it, with a witch and all. It’s pretty sweet.
Anyway, that’s the end of my billions of random paragraphs. Have a jolly good day, everybody.
Today, while I was driving the last stretch of my journey home from Provo, I noticed something that I had never seen before. As we all know, this time of year, every couple of years, the world seems to magically fill up with signs bearing various names. For the most part, at least at the beginning, these names are unrecognizeable. But as time wears on, we come to recognize various signs, having seen them hundreds of times.
That’s the case with me right now. The signs have been up long enough that I could call out the names of nearly all the candidates for nearly all the offices, just off the top of my head.
But something that truly surprised me today was a new sign, one that I hadn’t seen before. But it was bearing a somewhat familiar name, one that has run for president in every election that I can recall, though his name has rarely been heard more than a few times. He even switches parties occasionally… Not that it really matters. We all know that there are two parties that hold the publicity… And the votes.
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, his name is Ralph Nader. Who knows exactly what drives him to keep running, but you’ve got to appreciate his perseverance. He’s always there for me, if I need someone else to vote for. Maybe, one day, he’ll actually get somewhere with that. Maybe. Though I suppose I probably shouldn’t get my hopes up.
Oh, and plus, I can’t vote for him now… As I’ve already voted. But I’m sure he’ll be there next election.
And I doubt I’d vote for him, anyway. I’ve heard people comment that it would simply be ‘throwing my vote away.’ And I’d have to agree. Plus, I don’t have the slightest idea what his views are. Maybe it would be a good idea to check that out.
But, the point is, through all my rambling, if you can’t stand voting for either McCain or Obama, you’ve always got Ralph. He’s there for you.
In the past few years, I have tried to remain a fencesitter in the constant duel between Brigham Young University and the University of Utah. But this neutrality seems to be coming to an end. Rather, I just realized yesterday that I’m not so much a U of U fan. Not to say that the U of U succeeding makes me unhappy… But just that it would make me happier if BYU were succeeding.
I realized this yesterday when I was invited by my good friend, Bufu, to attend the BYU game with him. I rather much enjoyed it, and while I was there I realized that I would not have held the same amount of optimism if I had been at a U of U game. I mean, at a U game, I would certainly root for the U (provided they weren’t playing against BYU), but I have decided that I truly enjoy the color blue more than red. It’s just a fact of life. Plus, since I attend BYU, I suppose that I have a duty to be a fan.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the game yesterday. Like the concert that I posted about awhile back, going to live events just holds a special something for me. I assume that it’s the same for just about everyone. I mean, just seeing it live makes a huge difference. There’s a different feeling at a live event.
I do, however, regret that BYU didn’t perform better against UNLV. I was especially disappointed when I texted ChaCha and received the answer that they weren’t even ranked. And yet, somehow, BYU barely managed to hold them off for the win. And do I ever mean barely…
But hey, it made the game more exciting. Had it been a shutout, I suppose that I wouldn’t have been quite as interested toward the end. Okay, I most certainly would not have been. So, in that way it was good.
Anyway, it was good fun. And don’t hate me for being a BYU fan. It’s just who I am.
Yes, that’s right. This weekend, I experienced the coldest day that I have in quite a long time. It was a day unequaled by any in Arizona. And therefore I am happy.
I like cold. I like snow. So, I was happy.
But, I was not here. I do believe that it snowed here. But I didn’t see the snow here. I spent this last weekend in a stunning part of Idaho, enjoying cold weather and preparing my family’s cabin for winter. It was glorious. Absolutely glorious. Plus, I found the perfect way to make s’mores when the only fire is inaccessible (or, rather, nearly so)… Believe it or not, a quality s’more can be made with a microwave. I’ll even include the recipe.
Ingredients: 1 full graham cracker, broken in half (to form 2 squares; 2 puffy marshmallows; some chocolate (an amount equivalent to 2 pieces of a Hershey’s chocolate bar)
Directions:
I hope that works for you. It worked beautifully for me. Tastiest thing ever.
While I was reviewing the candidates available for my vote in this coming election, I realized something rather ridiculous. You see, under the category for ‘Governor’ and ‘Lieutenant Governor’, I found a rather surprising name, that of “Superdell” Dell Schanze.
Am I the only one somewhat frightened by this? As I investigated further, I happened upon his blog. There, I found the wonderful statment, “
Depending on who becomes president I very well could be the last hope of liberty and freedom on earth.”
I sure hope not. If so, I may as well drive a limo filled with explosives off a nearby cliff. It would make for a good show, and then I wouldn’t have to worry about ‘the last hope of liberty and freedom on earth.’ That would be far too frightening for me to deal with. The thought alone makes me shudder.
Thankfully, however, I am rather sure that the people of the State of Utah are more intelligent than to believe him.
Today, whilst I enjoyed a lovely session of my biology class, a wonderful thing happened. You see, we had just finished a nearly two-hour lecture when the teacher abruptly stopped and said, “I suppose it’s time for the quiz.”
Now, I knew the whole time that this had been coming. But I also knew that I was not completely prepared for it. I hadn’t had sufficient time to complete the study guide, and therefore hadn’t reviewed all the necessary information to get a good score on the test.
But what occured approximately 10 seconds after the instructor’s statment was nothing less than a sign from heaven. A loud whining erupted from the wall behind me. Simultaneously, strobing flasehs lit the room. After several seconds, a calm voice began to say, “An emergency has been reported in the building. Please evacuate calmly. Do not use the elevators.”
With our lives at stake, we had no choice but to leave the building. Because class was nearly over, we quickly packed our things and departed before any of us suffered painful deaths by fire. Actually, I’m pretty sure that there was no fire at all, as I saw no plume of smoke erupting from the general vicinity about 20 minutes later.
Thankfully, I still live. But even more miraculous was my escape from the quiz. Woot.
Who wants to pay $90 to get applyclan.com back? Any volunteers? Because I know that I sure don’t. And guess whose fault it is? I’m blaming godaddy.
The reason that I am doing so mostly relates to Godaddy.com’s lovely assumption that no one would ever want to change services to someone else. I mean, why in the world would anyone ever rather use another registrar? The very thought is preposterous! Rather, so it seems to Godaddy.
They’ve made it awfully difficult to move a domain name registered through them to someone else. And that, my friends, is the reason that they now want me to pay $90 to get it back. But alas, I do not feel so inclined. And therefore, goodbye applyclan. That is, unless they release it to public registration soon. Then I will be able to register it again at a much more reasonable price – $8.95.
Let’s hope, shan’t we?
Yesterday I made a rather sudden decision to change webhosts. I realized that I was getting tired of the old host. I mean, they served me well for quite some time, but then I noticed that other services provided much more space and whatnot at a lower price. So, I made the switch. The other one will still be there for quite awhile, (nearly a year), but I’m switching almost completely over to the new guys.
Anyway, that’s my story. So, as you may have noticed, you’re at http://russ-taylor.com, not rt.applyclan.com. It should be a good switch, I hope.
I recently realized that I had completely forgotten the joys of going to live performances. Luckily, this week I was blessed with an opportunity to go to one, and therefore have refreshed my memory of the beauty of concerts and whatnot.
Last night I was able to attend the O.C. Tanner Gift of Music concert at the Conference Center downtown. It was pretty spectacular. When you’re somewhere hearing stunning music live, there’s just a depth and quality to the music that isn’t there when you’re listening to mp3s or CDs.
The guest performers were amazing – Denyce Graves and Bryan Stokes Mitchell. Especially Bryan was incredible. I mean… I was just about in paradise. Anyway, to sum it all up, it was a great night, the Tabernacle Choir and Utah Symphony did a great job, and I am sure to go more concerts soon, because they’re amazing. Even if they’re not for rock bands, they’re still enjoyable.
Anyway, I’m tired now, and my brain hurts. So, that wraps it up.
Oh, and there are still some problems I’m trying to work out with the site. So, please be patient. Thanks!
The ferocious Gabon Duiker, also known as Cephalophus leucogaster, is an animal known to inhabit parts of Africa. It is related to the antelope, though it is much more dangerous. Its venom could kill an elephant in a mere three minutes.
If I were to tell the truth, however, such would not be the case.
This Gabon Duiker is stuffed and has been living for quite awhile in the Bean Museum on the BYU campus. Yesterday, during my sketching class, we spent a few hours there sketching random animals, such as the Bat-eared Fox, some crazy mountain goats, the Wahoo (a surprisingly dangerous-looking fish), small deer with fangs, a large weaselish thing called a Civet, and, of course, the Gabon Duiker, along with all his other Duiker friends.
Maybe it’s just me, but I found many of the names hilarious, not to mention the animals themselves. This particular Duiker had what appeared to be a rather deformed head with huge eyes. The classmate next to me, drawing another species of Duiker, commented that Mr. Duiker (my name for this Gabon one) had an expression on his face that seemed to say, “Please, come eat me!”
I had to agree with her.
Anyway, it was a rather interesting field-trip. While my sketches didn’t turn out quite as well as I had hoped they would, it was a very entertaining time. Maybe I should consider going in to anthropology…