Earth-love

This weather makes me want to sleep outside.



Been thinking lately about the earth....
And I wish we treated her better.


When the last living thing
Has died on account of us,
How poetical it would be
If Earth could say,
In a voice floating up
Perhaps
From the floor
Of the Grand Canyon,
"It is done.
People did not like it here.''

These were the last lines of the last book Vonnegut ever wrote.
Thanks Kurt. Nailed it again. You will be missed.
So it goes....



Timp. One thing about living in Provo that I'll miss. That gorgeous mountain.

Grand Canyon State. I've switched mountains for desert stone.... Can't say it's a bad environment change. The sunsets are spectacular.

I can be a deep thinker too...

So after a long day at school, I realized that Ammon isn't the only one who can be a deep thinker. Although my thoughts aren't as eloquent, my words aren't spelled correctly, and my grammar is atrocious, here I go...

Teaching is a long-lost skill that is often taken for granted. I am taken for granted. I'm a good teacher with lots of things to say, but the whole class hour I am constantly disciplining students who are either too under the influence to know what I'm saying or too stupid to be allowed to reproduce so they like to act out in class so they don't have to face facts. :) Yes, I have turned into a cynical teacher. Not everyone should be forced to do math... it's wasting my good talents! If only we could tell students how we really feel without the fear of legal repercussions from crazy lawyers :) and nasty parents. I wish we were back in the good ole days of hitting children when they misbehave. Parents and administrators should be on the teacher's side on every issue because teachers are the only sane adults in the classroom, and most of the time they are the only adults whatsoever. I demand respect, dang it, and I will get it from everyone before I quit teaching in a public school and spend endless days at more fulfilling jobs... private tutoring and eventually parenting...

...here's to the future! Counting down the days until Ammon's done with law school! Who's with me?

Ashes and Lace

"How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless." ~The Sheltering Sky

27 is a magical number. Ask me about it in two years.

Clubhouse in the house...

First time going to the clubhouse last week (who's got the time?). I felt like a high-roller, strolling into the posh facilities, nodding to people with sweaters around their shoulders, everyone carrying tennis rackets.... "This is my kingdom," I said a little too loudly.

P.S....everyone is invited over.... Who needs a beach anymore when there's imported sand at the edge of your pool? I think I saw Jay Z there.

Here's a couple pics. (Jes is tired of me putting words on our blog).

View from the pool towards the lake

Part of that sandy beach I was talking about

A boat with a canopy, the lake, some flowers and shubbery, a few houses in the background, some ripples and waves, and a small section of grass

The park behind our house

Completely random thought from Jes: thanks to Stomp the Yard, Am and I might have to start taking up krumping lessons. I wonder if they offer those at the clubhouse too??? That show is highly recommended!

The New iPizzle

For those interested. Apple did a revamp of their most popular item: the iPod now has touchscreen. Also, 160 GB on the classic iPod. Eventually you've got to ask yourself: Is that necessary? I'm still trying to fill my 30 GB....

On Music

Someone asked me if I'd written any songs lately. When I replied I hadn't, he asked me why, and in a sudden spark of realization I answered, "because I'm happy now." I didn't understand my response until just recently. A lifetime ago before I met Jes, my musical and lyrical expression was a combination of melancholy, dissonance, wanting, and release (to pick four completely abstract terms). For whatever reason, I was compelled to play guitar to sweep out the dark corners of my universe. Once I met Jes...it all disappeared. It's strange how loving someone so intensely can reverse those feelings that were seemingly so fundamental--feelings I wrote anthems about and weaved into my persona. Let's face it...real music, I mean the music that some of us (or maybe just a few of us) listened to while lying on the floor in the dark, or heard for the first time and cataloged in our mind forever.... (Ex: I can recall the exact place, time of day, day of the week, and people involved the first time I heard the live acoustic version of "Mr. Jones"). That living music is inspired by some seriously troubled souls: from Mozart to Morrison to My Chemical Romance. And I totally get that now.

To clarify, I haven't stopped playing guitar or writing. I now have balance. I do however have some great drive-time to and from campus to experience new and exciting music. Two anticipated albums: Jimmy Eat World "Chase This Light," and Foo Fighters "Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace."

For some reason I really like lists and rankings. (I once tried to download all of Rolling Stones Magazine's 500 greatest songs...long story, but I now have an external hard-drive). So, here's my iTunes top 25 most played the last couple weeks. It's a good mix of the old and the new--obviously subject to change (the new single "The Pretender" will most certainly be rising up this chart)....

1. "The First Single (Cause a Scene)" The Format
2. "PDA (We Just Don't Care)" John Legend
3. "Bad Dream" Keane
4. "Someday" The Strokes
5. "You Have My Attention" Copeland
6. "Another Lonely Day" Ben Harper
7. "Crooked Teeth" Death Cab for Cutie
8. "Kick Push" Lupe Fiasco
9. "Morning Yearning" Ben Harper
10. "Let Go" Frou Frou
11. "Dig" Incubus
12. "Strange Condition" Pete Yorn
13. "Broken" Secondhand Serenade
14. "Well Thought Out Twinkles" Silversun Pickups
15. "You're All I Have" Snow Patrol
16. "Brick" Ben Fold's Five
17. "Failure by Design" Brand New
18, "You're So Last Summer" Taking Back Sunday
19. "Cupid's Chokehold" Gym Class Heroes
20. "Love Song for No One (acoustic)" John Mayer
21. "The Dolphin's Cry" Live
22. "The Ocean Breathes Salty" Modest Mouse
23. "Gold in the Sunset" Bob Schneider
24. "The Pretender" Foo Fighters
25. "Summertime" Sublime

"Without music life would be a mistake." ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche