Cunning *

Innocence **

Zeal

*From an '80's Dance
**Prize-Winning Costume--"Most Festive"

This is another pic from Fontenelle Forest. I believe we were the only Mormons in Mormon's Hallow at the time.

Speaking of Bugs

This picture contains two of the 12 ladybugs that decided to settle me yesterday as I was walking through Fontenelle Forest, 25 minutes south of Omaha. I hear that ladybugs are attracted to good character or something I would like to believe like that.

I have a safety lesson to give this week: What To Do When You Find An Unknown Drunk Man On Your Living-Room Floor.

1. Do not panic.
2. He may snore louder if you make sudden movements, but it doesn't mean he's awake. It's sort of like in the movies.
3. Call your roommate. It might be his friend.
4. Do number 3 especially if your cell phone is dead because your roommate probably left a message about it, you just haven't gotten it yet.

It may happen to you or it may not--A lesson for those of us who are still alive.

No More Eency Weency Spiders

Part of the reason I didn't post to my blog at ALL was because there weren't ANY spiders in the shower last week. Ever. There used to be spiders every time I took a shower. I would make efforts to spare them on occasion so that they could go back and warn the others that the shower is a trap. Of course I would consider this a blog worthy subject, because shower time is my most lucid time of day.

Needless to say, I've been thinking a lot about the Eency Weency Spider. Is this a song about persistence or learning from your mistakes? I would like to talk to Mr. Weency and see what he has to say. "Mr. Weency, why do you commit this near insanity? Why don't you give up your spout climbing? Is there a message you want the world to hear?" Of course, the spider would say nothing. "I see. Resolve forbids you to speak, or even hint at a response."

I know that I've already mentionned programming, and I probably will several more times, but programming feels like near insanity to me.

Eency Weency Aaron worked the program out.
Down came the bugs and stressed poor Aaron out.
Out came the nap time to rest poor Aaron's brain,
So the Eency Weency Aaron programmed once again.

This is me at the Conagra Foods Heartland of America park in Downtown Omaha. Conagra makes lots of foods that you know about like Peter Pan Peanut Butter and Swiss Miss Chocolate. They have also been providing my lunches--both Marie Calendar and Healthy Choice brands. All of my foreign student friends have been exhorting me NOT to eat frozen dinners. Perhaps they think to themselves... no wonder he is so short for an American, he eats like that. No, it wasn't the frozen dinners. I'm short because when we chose body sizes, they told me that I wouldn't have to bend down as far to tie my shoes.

This park is about 20 minutes from my apartment, just like everything else is. Church is 20 minutes away, the Winter Quarters Temple is 20 minutes away, Rosenblatt Stadium (home of the College World Series), Henry Dorrley Zoo, the Lauritzen Gardens, Mahoney State Park, as well as the North AND South Poles are all 20 minutes away. However, if you try to get anywhere by bus, even if it is ten minutes away, everything takes two hours. Perhaps they should start showing movies on the bus.

Another Bearded Wonder

Last week I probably spent close to 20 hours working on programming. This is a picture tells what happens when you program too much... you lose track of all grooming habits and you get a daised look on your face. This picture is actually from the week before last week. I shaved off my beard so that I could stick my Gandalf beard on with spirit gum. Spirit gum works really well by the way.

Part of the reason I spent so much time programming was because I had to learn to Program in C++. When someone is programming in C++, they are actually saying that he or she wants to progam in a way that will earn a better grade than a C+ on a programming assignment. C++ is an artisitic approach to programming. You actually make arrows out of text to "point" from one part of data in your program to another. Behold the specimen:

->

Just imagine what it would be like to think about what the implications of one of those arrows pointing at something would mean for hours and you'll have a little bit of an idea of what my week was like last week.

I've also done some amazingly silly things under this stress. Ever tried closing one of those automatically closing umbrellas over your head? You will get a surprise. I also thought I was zipping closed my scripture case when I was actually zipping it open today when I got out of the car in the church parking lot.

This week should be a lot better. There are approximately 7 working days (Saturdays included) until my next programming assignment is due. Programming is something you cannot procrastinate-your mind can only handle so much. Be grateful for the times when your mind can function normally

Gandalf as a PhD Student

Gandalf gave a presentation on facilitation of meetings today. Facilitation comes from the french word facile which means "easy." So he gave a presentation on making meetings easy. Just use your imagination. Gandalf has retired from being Gandalf the White, and is now Gandalf the Brown. He was tired of trying to keep his robes white.

Two of my neighbors got arrested last week. Things are a lot quieter around her now. Correlation or causation? You be the judge. No one has yet to arrest the cicadas for disturbing the peace all summer long or the squirrels for repeated jaywalking.

I'm reevaluating the innocent image I have of squirrels. A good friend of mind told me about how a squirrel insisted on using her bicycle seat as a storage space for food. Repeated duct-tapings of the squirrel's excavation didn't deter him. In fact, the squirrel left something besides food.

This blog would have been longer, but I had to write it twice due to technical difficulties. But this means that I only remembered the good jokes I had. Bad jokes take longer to write actually. So... if I ever write a bad joke, just think of the effort that went into it.