I was able to see him perform last Sunday, it was awesome. Truly awesome. He’s one of the best musicians I’ve ever seen live. Very fortunately Jan 15 was the version of Music and the Spoken word just before Martin Luther King, Jr. day and they did all spirituals and gospel music. So much fun, it was great. I’m not able to embed the entire show, which is a shame but I found one of the songs they did on you tube:
And here’s another that was kinda fun:
Also I sat by a guy from BBC! He was there because they were covering Mit Romney and wanted to know more about the Mormons. I asked him if he knew Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear and he said “I see him around the office”. Ha! Oh man I want to go to a filming of Top Gear so bad.
Snowboarding y’alls. It’s mucho fun. Especially when it’s fresh snow. I didn’t get to go a lot last year so it’s pretty great to already have gone twice. Gusta.
Paid Guy on a Buffalo is doing well. gotta love that
The beemer can only handle 2 boarders right now but it’s pretty great that it still can. Very fun to drive in the canyon. If some time I decide to get a roof rack it could do 4.
That means happy new anus. Yes it does. What a difference one little ~ can make, huh? If you want to wish everyone a happy new year in Spanish it should look something more like this:
Feliz año nuevo!
Yeah. And it is! My new year’s started slow but got more fun as the night went on. First my roomie had an amiga come over that has a few lessons to learn about trying to see the sunny side of life. We’ll leave it at that. So my beloved and very cool roomie was trapped with said amiga but I was trying to wait it out in my room listening to music and writing 2012 goals so he could come to this party with me. I couldn’t take it no moar so I done left.
On facebook lots of my friends said they were coming but few showed. Booo. Made new friends, danced some dancing, and drank some drank. Now it’s new year’s time. The clock is ticking, there’s like 5 min left. Who am I going to kiss? I’m not totally sure but I think I’ve only had like 1 new year’s kiss and that was with a high-school girlfriend. Lame. This year would be different.
Come 30 seconds before midnight I found myself standing next to the cute blonde from the dance floor. I work up the courage and ask for a new year’s kiss. Denied! Lame! What kind of new years partier are you? She was game for a new year’s hug. Psshhh. How depressing is that? The night only got better from here. Maybe it was the huge beard? dunno.
Then we lit off a bunch of fireworks which rocked.
Then we went back to my friend Jennifer’s house and made breakfast. Gooood foods. Bacon, pancakes, eggs, OJ. Yeuh. Next it was time for sharing our new year’s resolutions while I just happened to be cuddling with a cute roomate of said friend. And got a new year’s kiss. Ha! And then we went for a spin in my new ride. Fist pump! 2012 is going to rock.
I haven’t blogged in forever- that explains the lengthy length of this piece. I was reading my friend’s super rad blog again and I got all motivated to write.
This post is about the people who have shaped who I am. If I could be more like the following list of wonderful people I would be some kind of all-knowing super hero that shoots lasers out his nose into the sky, illuminating the world and spreading baby unicorns and peace roundabout the land, for the good thereof.
Here they are in order of appearance; besides the last two
Ammon Parker
My older brother has been my hero pretty much since I can remember. He’s never been afraid of anything and is always looking for his next adventure. As kids we were all over the place. We sledded of our roof, mooned innocent bystanders, caught snakes, grasshoppers, and praying mantises. We built countless model airplanes and cars, we blew these models up with illegal fireworks, set stuff on fire, and were never afraid to discharge a firearm whether doing so was a smart or thought-out thing. Home-made silencer. Enough said.
Ammon has always been such a baller. he lead the way on all these adventures and sometimes I felt a little like Chuckie from Rugrats thinking “I don’t think this is such a good idea” but as long as Ammon was there I pretty much felt safe and wasn’t worried.
Teenage years brought a little more gusto to the mix. By this time we had motorcycles that would triple the speed limit. We used to drag race them which was awesome. He then went into the Army to find some more adventure. I didn’t go with this time but I thought it was cool that we were fighting battles simultaneously, I was on a mission and he went to Iraq. While in the Army Ammon ninja threw a huge black guy trying to beat the crap out of him on his birthday, and did a cage fight. A little later he rode a bull. Yup. Here’s the cage fight:
Holy crap that video still gets my adrenaline pumping. He’s the one that wins. Chokes the dude out.
Two days ago Ammon and his wife had their first baby and Tate the Tank was 11lbs 4oz. The doctors said he was pretty strong for a baby and he already thinks he can roll over and hold his head up ha ha.
Hugh Gregson
In the Missionary Training Center Hugh was my branch president, or bishop. He is 6′ 8″ and not small in stature. When I first got into the MTC he said “Your mission has STARTED” and everything changed for me. He finally made being active in the church cool for me. For some reason I never really felt I had met a compelling example of gospel obedience up to that point. People in the church always seemed pretty nerdy or two-faced to me. Hugh was different. He had loads of self-confidence and knew exactly who he was and what he wanted at all times.
Knowing him caused me to re-evaluate what I wanted out of life and make some changes. I decided that I was going to be active in the Church and live what that really meant. I decided to read the scriptures which I had never done with much consistency up to that point. I felt that this was such an important thing that I stayed up till the wee hours of the morning pretty much my entire stay at the MTC reading. I finished the Book of Mormon then read through the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and the New Testament for the first time. It was great. I really felt like a new man.
Hugh was part of the biggest turning point in my life up to now.
Janie Thompson
Janie is one of the most amazing, talented, hard-working, inspirational, loving, listening, aware people I have ever met. She is simply a wonder. To know that people like her exist really makes me feel better about the planet and life itself. It’s also motivating. I have a whole topic on this blog about her. Here’s how we met. She started BYU’s Young Ambasadors and Lamanite Generation, now known as Living Legends. Early in her life she sang with Tony Bennett and personally knew Mickey Rooney. She also served on the Young Women’s General Board for 16 years.
Seriously one of the coolest people ever. She called me today and it was so great to hear from her, I usually go visit a few times a month. I have so many great memories of Janie since I’ve lived here in Provo and consider her one of my closest friends.
Rosalind Hall
I met sister Hall in January of 2007 when I was fresh off the mission. I saw Men’s Chorus do a dress rehearsal of some Disney songs and it totally rocked. 200 very talented guys rocking it out and having tons of fun. I tried out for the BYU Men’s Chorus. After getting past the graduate student screening it was time to meet my maker, the Welsh-accented lovely sister Hall. I was nervous about auditioning so I had my friend Kip give me a crash course 2 days before. Under “experience” on my application I put “one hour with Kip from Singers” to which she replied “what makes you think you can sing in the Men’s Chorus???” ha ha. I looked her square in the face and said “because I want to”. She said “do the University Chorale (an unauditioned choir class) and come see me in the fall”. That’s exactly what I did. Oh yeah and did I mention I was extremely sick for that first audition? Yes I was.
Men’s Chorus was an amazing experience I wouldn’t trade. I got to hear from her 5 days a week which was like a motivational speaker mixed with an LDS general authority every day. I also got to sing in General Conference in April 2008. Look for the guy on the end with a wicked sun burn from snowboarding. Men’s Chorus totally rocks. Here’s them doing a flash mob. I wasn’t part of this but you get the idea.
Nerd power. Men’s Chorus rocks, if you’ve never been to one of their shows it’s a must.
Mike Zevallos
Winter semester 2007 I was taking a Spanish class and a couple kids came in asking for volunteers to mentor kids. They espcially needed people that spoke Spanish to help out with the kids whose parents spoke Spanish. I was feeling really lucky at the time because I was able to quit a crap telemarketing job because of some financial from my sister. I needed to study extra hard so I could get into the accounting program at BYU. I decided to be a mentor.
I worked with a kid over the summer then got paired up with Mike in September. He was 9 years old and super cute kid. His biological father left when he was 3 and passed away in prison when he was 7 years old. His step father who pretty much raised him had three more children with his mom and they split up when Mike was 8. You wouldn’t know it from getting to know Mike, though. He has always been a very happy, smart, and motivated kid. I feel lucky to know him.
We try to see each other every week and do something fun whether it’s play frisbee, soccer, get Jamba Juice, go to a football/basketball game, or go on an unexpected crazy snow hike. Mike has greatly enriched my life and I’m so grateful for him. He’s the closest thing I have to a son and he has made me look very much forward to having children of my own.
Last and anything but least are my parents, Don and Tish Parker.
They are amazing. I can’t imagine what it would be like to raise 6 children. Three boys, three girls, and we’re all doing great raising our own families or preparing to do so. My mom and dad are super cool. They have certainly allowed me to make my own mistakes and be free but at the same time have given much-needed guidance at the right times. I owe them a ton. They always paid for sports I did as a kid and came to all my games. They paid for me to serve a mission, too, which is something not all parents can do. Since I’ve been at college they always came to my choir concerts and come down here often to do fun stuff or take me out to dinner and buy me groceries and things like that. It’s awesome. Couldn’t ask for better parents in college. It’s kind of nice that they moved up here to Utah from AZ, too. And nice that my dad introduced me to the joy that is late model BMWs, ha ha. Theirs is way cool and they let me drive it a lot when they first bought it. Yea, even to LA where my brother and I left for our super sweet cruise last summer.
I shant leave out my other siblings. My younger brother Eric has been my best friend for a long time now. We share a ton of interests and no one can make me laugh like him. We were in a band together, rode motorcycles together, and have been roomates for the past 3 years. Eric rules. It’s his birthday soon! My sisters rock, too. Emily is fun because we can talk about BYU and music and stuff. She’s brilliant and I love her personality, she funny, too. Ahlena is like Yoda. She’s a great listener and she’s always very interested in what you are doing and what you have to say. If she gives advice it’s always from the heart and is timely and usually needed. My youngest older sister Anna is super cool, too. She owns a dance studio and is always lotsa fun. Her daughters are super funny and I love hanging out with them. I got to go there earlier this year for a trade show, soooooo nice to stay with them and see them instead of staying in some lame hotel. They might be moving out west some time soon which is super exciting!! It will be awesome to have Anna and her family nearby.
AHHHAHAHHAHAHH the days of beloved Jetta are coming to a close!!! As I type this the eBay auction has 2 hours left. This car has been an integral part of my life for these reasons:
# 1 It brought my Dad and I back from my mission. It was lovingly given to my by my 2nd cousin who lives in Valencia, CA. They drove it to Ventura where the mission home was and we drove it back to Kaysville, UT.
# 2 It was purchased by my great uncle in Cedar City, UT brand new in 1986 and has been owned by family members ever since.
# 3 This is the first car I’ve ever owned and also my first vanity plate: “PLAN IT”. I get a lot of laughs and compliments about that. I figure it’s motvation to succeed with ma business.
# 4 This is also the car I gave my first ride to Janie Thompson in. I can end a sentence with a preposition if I want to. Lotsa memories, lotsa memories.
# 5 The Jetta has prevented me from marrying a gold digger. I go to pick girls up and they have to love me for who I am
# 6 I took it on a 3,000 mile road trip in the summer of 2007 that completely rocked. It was Provo to Phoenix (sister) to LA to Santa Barbara and Santa Maria (mission) to Sacramento, CA (cousin) to Portland (grandparents) to Jerome, ID (mission buddy with many moo tows) to Kaysville, UT (parents). I found out on this trip that a) I’m kind of crazy in a car by myself as evidenced by the crazy videos I took b) the car can do 515 miles on one tank of diesel and c) I ain’t afraid of road trips and doing what I feel would be fun/good.
# 7 Some value other people’s possessions very highly as evidenced by the $2,225 price right now on eBay. It’s still got 1 hr 50 mins at this point. Kelly Blue book is $750.
Here’s the little you tube video I took to help sell it:
I just checked google analytics and it looked like traffic was a little down for the blog. I must post more often.
The title of this post are famed words from our beloved Rebecca Black. One day the unsearchable mystery that are her lyrics will be revealed to all and the world will rejoice.
So I auditioned for BYU’s sketch comedy group Divine Comedy. It was pretty crazy. I underestimated people’s preparation and talent. To those who got in it would seem like comedy is something they have deeply ingrained in them and it wasn’t their first time ever auditioning for something comedic or theatrical in their entire life.
Here’s the cast:
Yes while that silhouette could have been me I lacked the practice and polish to really pull it off. It’s ok, though, it was super fun and people laughed a good one at my stuff.
You might remember a couple people from this crew in the super popular (for mormon culture) video spoofing Katie Perry:
Kudos to DC for actually being funny, I’ll still go to their shows fo’ sho’.
Also Eric and I have been watching lots of 30 Rock lately. That show is freaking hilary. Yes, hilary is a new term for hilarious. No one uses it yet. I’ll stop using it when it becomes too mainstream. Tina Fey is one funny cat and Alec Baldwin is the quintessential business man. He’s truly amazing in that role and even reminds me of one of my old roomates .
Provo has concerts on the roof of a parking garage in the summertime. They are AWESOME. There was this band called The Vibrant Sound there that totally rocked. MAN. They did some Michael Jackson covers and even a Marvin Gaye! I was impressed by how together and blended they sounded live. Vibrant they were. Their originals were great, too. I knew a couple people in the band, which always makes it a little more fun. Met some cool people there, too.
Here’s the Gaye cover:
Tonight my ward had an activity where Eric and I made tie-dye shirts. This is what they look like in a plastic bag. We’ll see how they turn out in the morning!
The world needs a new acronym. I give you FEGF. Friend’s Ex-GirlFriend. This last month I ran into and almost took on a date like 4 of these people! What? August has turned out to be an interesting month.
On an unrelated note Eric and I went and played some basketball tonight and after getting packed twice by this 6′ 5″ dude I scored on him with a fadeaway jumper. Take that tall dude.
On a car note I have decided what I will buy in the coming months. A BMW 328xi. Yes, folks the B’mer of balance. Fast, reliable, 4 doors, good in snow, bump in stereo, chick magnetism, FREAKING AWESOME. And not too outlandish. If you’ve never driven a late model BMW I assure you of their ability to alter your opinion on whether nice cars are worth it.
That’s Spanish for August. Just like El Niño is Spanish for The Niño.
This picture made me laugh:
Maybe it’s because you eat dessert when you’re stressed, or making dessert stresses you out, I’m not sure.
I went to Phoenix last week with my brother Eric and we had a great time. My dad let us borrow the BMW again which made the trip super great. On the way back we stopped by my brother’s place in St George and went for a hike.
CHECK – Thank my brother for the sweet book
CHECK – Test drive 2011 BMW 335i DOUBLE CHECK. I was rippin’ around a roundabout and the salesman said swear words ha ha ha
CHECK- Get haircut from Molly at Sport Clips
CHECK- Make progress on my wonderful business
CHECK- Eat at a fancy pants restaurant with my parents
CHECK- Hang out with my buddies down here in P-town a.k.a Provo
WORKING ON IT- Buy myself a Piano if I don’t have one by the end of the day Ha!
Today two things occurred for the first time: I worked on a car with my mom and my brother-in-law got to drive our BMW.
For the past month my brother and I have had the fine privilege of driving my parents’ 2006 325i down here in Provo. It’s been awesome. Man that car is posh, it’s like riding a bull made of velvet. Here’s a pic of such a machine:
I love the speed, the stereo, the quick and quiet freeway cruising, and I LOVE the way it handles. Yeah I could go on. Did I mention one of my childhood dreams is to write my own automotive column or for a magazine? I digress.
Today was the day to return the ‘Bavarian Princess’ (as dubbed by my dad for it’s high maintenance woes) back to its owners and crush my hopes of taking a girl on a date with the black (dark blue) beauty. It’s ok, though.
Now time to drive ye olde pick up home. It’s still a fun vehicle, all things considered. I went to crank it up but Le Silverado was dead. After a jump from my Mom’s Pontiac Vibe it started fine although I noticed the battery terminals were pretty corroded. I told my mother about the trick where you pour water mixed with baking soda onto the corrosion and it bubbles off (coke works, too). We did that and brushed away the goo while re-securing the battery back into place. That involved some sweat and my mom holding a flashlight while cheering my efforts to get the hard-to-reach bracket back on the battery.
Pretty funny. So many times have I been the flashlight holder for my dad and/or older brother while they worked on their stuff. It was pretty great to be out there with my mom. We’re A+ material. I kind of miss working on cars like that, I find it very fulfilling to build and fix things with my hands. Too bad my welder is up there, too. Soon enough, sweet tools of mine. Soon enough.
So my brother in law Cooper got to drive the BMW today for the first time since we bought it last year. He liked. It’s so fun to give people a ride in that car and take a corner at like 40 mph. They get this “oh crap!!” look on their face and then smile when it’s over.
This blog is called “Living the Dream” but I’m not sure I’ve shared what my dream is. Funny, that. I’ve written for almost two years so it’s time I reveal what this is all about.
A friend defined his dream like this:
Happiness, not necessarily fun.
Impact, not necessarily riches.
Influence, not necessarily power.
I like this. Wish i came up with it myself.
My desires aren’t necessarily unique, but I feel I am much more likely to achieve them if they are recorded, reviewed, and shared.
When I say “Living the Dream” I mostly mean living the life of an entrepreneur. While my whole dream includes much more than money I hope readers following this blog are part of a rags to riches tale.
Cliche or not, the rest of the dream includes chasing down a beautiful and talented woman, marrying in the temple, and raising children in a happy home.
What is it that is up my people’s. Today I embark on a new journey to a foreign land. I journey to a place narry inhabited by a Parker since the late 1990’s. I journey to college dorms.
But why? Why you ask? I’ll tell your curious soul; worry not old friend.
You see my sisters lived in the dorms long ago but my brothers and I did not. I’m going to be an EFY counselor this week and will be living in Heritage Hall for 6 days. I’m really looking forward to it. EFY can be a crucial turning point for a lot of youth that may not have had testimonies. I know I needed it as a youth and for me that big change happened in the Missionary Training Center.
I’m so pumped for it! We had an all-day training yesterday on campus at BYU that was enjoyable. This is a very special place. There is absolutely nowhere like BYU in Provo. No better place for youth in the Church. The other counselors I’ve met are great people and I feel fortunate to be able to associate with them.
Oh day, glorious church day! Man I love Sundays. I went to church early for a meeting then came back and made pancakes for my roomates followed by a glorious nap on the couch. Ahhhhhhhhhhh yes. I hope your day is filled with diamonds and mythical creatures prancing about while they bestow hope and good fortune on all.
As they say in Southeast Asia, peace out and love someone,
Howdy Y’all it’s been a while. Did you know New York is also known as Gotham? I thought it was just Batman.
The last few days of my life have been mind-expanding and literally life-changing. I recommend travel to places that are in every way different than what you’re used to. You grow, you learn, you love people more, you earn a respect for life and those who have more/less than you, and are given a vision of the sacrifices of literally millions of people who have gone before whose efforts improve your life at the current moment.
New York City is all that and a bucket of chickenchips. It’s the real deal. I love this place. The people I’ve encountered are so genuine and dedicated. The food is amazing. This is in part because if they don’t perform they’ll go out of business almost immediately and then it’s someone else’s turn to dish out mama’s recipes to the masses. Talk about economics. In this place it most definitely is survival of the fittest.
The Nation Stationery show has been fun. I love trade shows; meeting and working with like-minded people is so fulfilling. The first day we only made one sale, but I got to use my new credit card reader from Square! What a cool company; they have truly changed the world and how it does business. I can’t think of a more useful or empowering tool for small business in 2011. The buyer was a small family-owned bookstore. Benjie and I talked to a ton of people, nearly everyone that walked by. Very little immediate success compared to the last show. We were pretty darn discouraged.
(double-stick taping planners to your head is lowest of the low, folks)
It’s times like this where you wonder if all your big dreaming really was for the birds. Hard not to feel like the kid standing in front of a borrowed Ferrari with his eyes shut.
We made another sales board like last time and even lowered the number we had to get for everyone’s 20% discount. Only 100. For a show with something like 8000 buyers that should be nothing, right? Turns out stationery stores rarely carry planners. And the ones that do are hesitant to buy something in a declining market. There you have it. A super fun trip to New York scorned buy a lame-sauce kick off to what should have been our most successful business venture yet.
Is this the end of Parker Planners as we know it? Does the train run over the beautiful damsel? Will Benjie and Ethan be able to dig deep and pull from their car salesman genius and football beast roots?
No, yes, and yes. Too bad about the damsel but we kept on keeping on and were rewarded in the form of conversations with some of the largest retailers in the world. I can’t post here which ones or what they said but suffice it to say we have a few conversations to finish when we get home. I was shocked today at the show. I have a page full of business cards that, if we struck a deal with any of them, Benjie and I would be able to live anywhere we wanted and drive whatever we wanted.
Bigger risk, bigger reward.
Ok here’s a great NY story for you now. Hold on tight ’cause this one’s pretty dope-a-licious if I may be so nerdy.
Sunday. First day of the trade show there’s a hotty two booths down. She’s got the kind of looks that make her virtually unapproachable by most men’s standards. Bombshell. Why try?
Monday. Benjie and I got to know the people around us a little better including hotty McHotstuff. Turns out she lives in LA right now and has had a fairly successful career in film, TV, and commercials. She’s done theater and soap operas in NY, commercials and movies in LA, and a some modeling. Probably a jerk? Wrong. Cooper is way cool. Surprisingly cool, actually. We got a picture.
Tuesday (today) was a great day at the show and Benjie flew home (less great, you can’t leave the booth with just one person there plus he rocks). Because I was all by myself after that our buddies next door offered to bring me along to have dinner with them which was so kind. They are some of the most interesting and and generous people I’ve met in a while. We went to a great Greek place in downtown Manhattan. That restaurant was for real. Greeks ran it and the food was very very good. Oh so yummy and my hosts even offered to pick up the tab which was like rain from heaven. They called it my “celebration dinner” for starting conversations with those big-box retailers.
Wow I just love life right now. I love how you think you know what you want until something way way better happens. Can’t live without a certain thing in your life? Can’t be happy until X or Y happens? Wait until the big man upstairs gives you A and B and you’ll wonder why you ever wanted the first thing.
Cooper is so awesome, we happened to have about a 40-min bus ride (probably traveled 2 miles) from the convention center to Times Square-ish where we got to chat. She knows a lot about show-biz and was really engaging to talk to. One interesting fact I learned was the soap operas are filmed with virtually no practice. Because they’re on nearly every day of the week you get the lines the night before and just spit them out the next day, usually in one take. it’s what makes them so goofy. I think she was on As the World Turns for a while.
Yeah, not every day you hang out with well-cultured and mega-beautiful actresses. She plays some mean violin, too. It was an attention-grabber for their booth at the trade show (as if she wasn’t already).
OK so back to some NYC fun. Benjie and I tried to save on expenses where we could so lodging of course was one area where we got creative. The first two nights (for Benjie anyway. I missed my flight in SLC so I took a red-eye and got in at 6am Saturday morning) we stayed with a friend of a friend who lived on the 6th floor of a building up on 174th street. pretty nice place, fun. Sunday night was a mystery until Saturday night so we booked a Super Motel 8 in NJ across the river from the convention center because it was only $109 per night instead of $200 like the cheapest place in NY. It was a bit of an adventure in and of itself.
We took a shuttle thing through the Lincoln Tunnel under the river and popped up in North Bergen where our delightful hotel was. Plus side: hot shower, ironing board, two beds, complimentary breakfast, shuttle back to NY, etc. Strange/Needs Improvement Side: wireless internet didn’t work so we asked the front desk what was up. They came to our room with their own laptop, showed us that his computer was working, denied any claim (changed the subject) that the laptop was modified at all and refused to let us check any other room for a signal. I don’t know about you, but when when an iPhone 4, an iPad 2, and a new gen Macbook can’t get wifi it may not be our devices.
Strange/Needs Improving Side (cont): The internet worked in the lobby so we went out there to do some webbing. While there several people came in asking for hourly rates. Yeah I’ll let you figure that one out. Plus the bed sucked.
Good times, New Jersey. Thanks! In defense of NJ I did meet a couple very nice ladies from Princeton at the trade show.
and . . . it’s not even over yet. Here I lay on my airbnb.com bed typing away through some nice high-speed internet in East Villiage New York. It’s like a dream. I wonder were I’ll be when I wake up.
As a grande finale of the whole thing, a special dance number performed impromptu in Central Park filmed by my never failing business partner Benjie.
Yes. Here are some positives: I changed my flight time out of SLC on Delta with no extra fee. I’m charging my phone and computer and using wifi at no cost. There is a sleepy service dog next to me and food nearby. The less-goods are that my first plane left at 5pm and I really thought it left at 7pm. oops. So here I be:
Talking to Benjie on the phone, he’s already landed in NY and I’m a little jealous. Oh shwell. Here’s the sleepy dog:
His name is Charlie. He didn’t bite me. Or my finger.
My poor dad had yet another serious accident last Thursday. I visited him in the hospital before I came to the airport today and he’s doing much better. He was riding a motorcycle when a slow-moving car pulled out in front of him leaving no time to stop. He broke both wrists, his ankle, and had some serious internal injuries requiring him to take have a significant blood transfusion. Thank you if you’ve ever given blood. I say yet another accident because he was hit while riding a bicycle a year and a half ago and required reconstructive surgery on his leg. A year before that he broke his ankle stepping out of a car on some ice and has had a shoulder surgery recently. Yeah, I’d say he’s had enough of that stuff for a while.
You have to say it like that song “try to loveagain” “the first cut is the deepest, blah blah . . . blah blah”. Yeah, you know.
So I recently discovered a friend of mine is a pretty good writer, she’s funny. I also discovered that another friend needs to blog more! He hasn’t posted anything on his funnyblog in over a month. Dude, we need the funnies. Now I know what it feels like when my brother in law tells me his >:[ levels slowly rise when I haven’t posted in a while. In the name of posting! A post.
Like I said in that other post about the Pre, that phone needs to be on the network for anything to work. All I want to do is get my pcitures/videos and use the calendar so I can brutally copy it while creating our iPhone app for Parker Planners. Today I activated (got a Sprint contract, ha!), jailbroke, overclocked, removed the pictures from, and then promptly deactivated (when they asked why I just said “it’s not working out”) my beautiful little Palm Pre. We’ve had a lot of good times, that phone and I. It’s spanned two girlfriends and much traveling. I was looking at all the pix today and there are some fun ones. The phone lasted almost exactly one year before its untimely death inside my pocket during a bout of breakdance. Enjoy some pictures from the past with me:
While at the Olive Garden, Eric got suspicious.
Why buy anything else from the grocery store??
Our crazy art project on display complete with namecard that says “hope”.
My mom has degrees from both places, weird that they made this hat; twas a burfday present.
Here’s Eric and I at one of the many football games we’ve been to. We love to scream our guts out; it’s the only way.
Here’s a pretty great Utah-ism that I saw on campus at BYU one time. Just set down and enjoy the show.
Ye Olde Plam Walk at ASU. Great school, learned a lot.
No, not the Mexican beer, that’s Dos Equis. The chromosomes. There are individuals in my life with these that have made it so much better.
Number One brought me into this world and I had a very pleasant conversation with her the other day. I just called to get some advice on some leek and potato soup as she is an expert, even an artist. She offered some much appreciated encouragement and as always it was great to talk. She brought up three totally rockin sisters of mine who always have my back.
Number Two is a close friend named Janie Thompson who has a category on this blog. I visited her two days ago and we did our usual sit on the couch and chat for a while. Her sister passed away about a month ago which was sad but also a release because she had suffered from alzheimers for so long. Janie is a bright spot all the time. She could have gone on for a while about what she suffers from physically but instead, as always, chose to tell me some great stories. Janie has sung with Tony Bennett, personally knew Mickey Rooney, and started BYU’s Young Ambassadors. She is such and inspiration and I love chatting with her.
Numbers Three are all the great gals here in Utah Valley. Many they are and their greatness is great. Every once in a while you find some that are refreshingly honest and real. I like those kind.
I saw this movie tonight called RED with Bruce Willis. It was great. I liked it a lot. It was almost like a romantic comedy with lots of explosions and guns. Something for everyone I guess. Those movies are hilarious, I love the fights where every blow would incapacitate any human being in real life but there they go, getting up and giving more at every turn.
Eric and I went to Nicoitalia today. The best pizza place in the Universe. You just have no idea. Owner: a dude named Nick from Boston with a saw-weet accent. Cannolis: ridiculous good and CHEAP. Wings: off the chain and come with Newman’s Own ranch dressing- that crap is not sold in any store- I’ve checked. Pizza: don’t even try to tell me you’ve had better. I’m going to NY in May if you think they can beat it then give me a name, and address, and a dang-well written piece of prose explaining yourself.
Ever heard of that? Yes, you have it’s on Back to the Future (dig the plate). I saw one in the Provo Temple parking lot today and snapped this with my iPhone. I really don’t think I’ll ever buy another point and shoot camera, smartphones have great cameras now. I would like a Canon SLR though.
In case you didn’t know, one of the most hip things out there right now are QR codes. My friend at BYU started this company called QR Code City and has an iPhone app to go with it. They are like UPC codes but cooler. If you download the app it opens up your camera app and can scan the code really fast. From there it could provide a link to a website or other stuff I don’t understand yet. Yes! QR!
Here’s MY QR code!
So if you have an iPhone, go get the free app “Scan” by QR Code City and then hold it up to your computer screen! It will automatically read the symbol and go to my website!! Here’s their website.
I went to see a band play last night at someone’s house on the hill in Provo and got to show off the primitive version of the Parker Planner for iPhone to a few people. I’ve been getting a really positive response. Good hear feedback from people, I really hope it develops into something very useful.
The band totally rocked, though. They are called the Whits and honestly their vocalist is better than most. I mean like most, as in anyone you’ve heard. Some of their songs are just so darn catchy. If they get lotsa votes they get to play at the Stadium of Fire in front of about 45,000 people! Vote for these cats, they’re good. If you see the music video, just know that they have lots of variety and the guitar sounds WAY better in person.
Parker Planners