Pestilence

We ran into a bit of trouble Friday night. It was around 5:30 in the afternoon. Suddenly, and without warning, flies began converging around our kitchen area (the common housefly variety). They were merely irritating initially, but as their numbers swelled they became intolerable. After a few unsuccessful hand swats, I borrowed a flyswatter from a neighbor and started doing work on them. As the death toll mounted, I became alarmed as their numbers didn't seem to be diminishing. 10, 15, 20, the fly corpses piled up in the kitchen sink, and still no relief. With wonder and amazement, Dr. Z and I continued swinging. 30, 35. . . The swarm abated as darkness fell and the sink pile grew. We finished the night at around 50. A few stragglers remain and we have been unable to determine the source. We keep the place fairly clean; whence this plague of flies? Is it revenge for my work in Virginia? Perhaps we'll never know.

Glenhaven Apartments: All the Adventure a Man Can Handle

A Very Specialized Skill Set

I always yearned for notoriety, complete with full coverage by BYU's Daily Universe. I never quite knew in what form that notoriety would come. I wonder no more.

See this story.

Also, this one. Be sure to check out her blog. I'm #10.

Jae Clarke. Serial blind dater.

Let's Give It Up For The Coyote

Also, this is hysterical.

Overheard

Boy (dressed in white shirt and tie) to girl walking to devotional today:

"Yeah, I worked really hard at improving my accent. I'd read out loud, I'd do all kinds of stuff. I mean, it got to the point where people would ask, 'Are you from Brazil?'"

Clearly, she was impressed.

Boy to girl behind me in business law today:

"I'm the kind of guy that likes to push myself and try to be as good as I can. Where would you say you fall on that continuum?" I couldn't quite make out her answer, but apparently it wasn't motivated enough, so he launched into an attempt at convincing her to "go for it" more.

Clearly, she was impressed.

Sometimes, I hear girls complaining about guys who are arrogant. I never fault them.

Mischa Maisky

I'm relaxing on a Sunday morning. Mischa Maisky is playing Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 for me. The house is quiet, my room is clean. I slept deeply and well last night, but I didn't oversleep. Though there are exams on Monday and much studying yet to be done, that must all wait until the day is over. Today I will rest, I will worship, and I will serve. I will ponder strategies for personal betterment. I have been waiting for the Sabbath Day with anticipation, and now it is here.

Fantastic Shot

I'm not a Roger Federer fan, especially not since he started wearing black for night matches to "look intimidating". Please, Rog. You're built like a teachers quorum president. In any case, this is one of the most incredible shots I've ever seen. Enjoy.

Missionary Story

Ok, so this is a cool profile of a sister serving in NYC. I just think it's a beautiful profile and a very respectful way of reporting on missionary work.

NY Times Profile

Glenhaven Taglines

Some of you may not have visited me yet at my new residence. I live in one of the dowdiest apartment complexes in Provo. Come to think of it, I can't recall ever seeing one dowdier. I live in the undisputed dowdiest apartment complex in Provo! Anyway, one benefit of living in this place is the constant opportunity to think of ways to improve it. As I walked home yesterday, I noticed there is empty space on the name plate on the front of the building. My guess is that it used to say "New and Improved!!" or "Freshly Remodeled!!", but then they were sanctioned by Off-Campus Housing for posting fabrications and they just whited out the sign.

So I got to thinking: Wouldn't that be a great place for an apartment complex tagline? Something like "Glenhaven Apartments: All the Adventure a Man Can Handle!" or "Glenhaven Apartments: Mayhem Never Takes a Holiday, And Neither Do We!". I'll admit I stole the second one from an awful show i saw on TV last night. What are some other ideas? Maybe "Glenhaven Apartments: Go Unnoticed Socially for an Entire School Year!" I don't know. What are your thoughts? Stop by and visit some time if you're having trouble visualizing this place.

Hey, Money! Update

So I'm reading a paper today that was written by the professor of the Money and Economics class I'm in. He denounces the use of currency for money (and gives me yet another reason to continue using cash whenever possible for major purchases). Here's a delightful snippet:

"The effective result is that in today's world, large currency mediated transactions are prima-fascia illicit!"

I think "prima-fascia illicit" will be my new preferred way of describing myself.

Hey, Money!

Today, on a whim, I paid tuition. In cash. It's childish, I know, but seriously, I can't stop chuckling to myself about the thought of it. "How will you be paying?" an older gentleman asked me as I walked in. "Cash," I replied flatly. "Wow," he responded, raising his eyebrows slightly. He seemed impressed. I normally struggle to keep a straight face when I'm horsing around, but I must say I did a pretty good job at biting my lip as the cashier kid counted out the stack of benjamins (47 in total) and then tried to find change for a twenty. I think I'll be doing cash transactions from now on wherever possible. Cash: It's the new black.