The MAN Expo!!!

So yesterday, Adam and I had the opportunity to participate in "THE MAN EXPO"! It bragged to have all things MAN, and since Adam and I fall under the the category of "MAN", we decided to check it out.

It had all sorts of MANLY things there. They had motorcycles, sports cars, remote control helicopters, a jousting arena, cage fighting, a mechanical bull, eating contests, arm wrestling contests, weight lifting contests, paintball range, basketball contests, football contests, and even a cage where you can smash up cars with a baseball bat.

Why must he always 1-up me?

As fun as cage fighting sounded, Adam and I opted to participate mostly in the Gaming Tournament, playing Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Adam and I have played this game. He owns it. We enjoy having a little bout every now and again. Heck, we're the best players in the family, so we thought we could do pretty well in something like this. What I am about to describe is not suitable for all levels of gamers:

It hurt. A lot. These guys handed my spleen to me on a silver platter! They were using moves that I couldn't even dream were possible! One guy was pulling bombs out and juggling them like they were apples, and they always seemed to end up landing right on my head. My brain doesn't even move as fast as those guys, let alone my fingers! It had been a long time since I had such a humbling experience. I lost every single match. I didn't win one. I never even came close! They slaughtered me, every single time. One guy was playing against me while carrying on a conversation with the guy next to him! Adam did considerably better, although he also lost most of his matches. However, he gave them a run for their money every time.

While feeling down on myself, I decided to take a step back and look at the big picture. With all due respect, most of the guys there, although the best in the state at this game, looked like they were in their mid twenties and probably still living in their parents basement without a job. I am getting a college degree, have a really good job, and have a beautiful girlfriend. I may not win at the game, but I win at Life!

In the end, Adam and I were able to get some quality MAN time in together. He even said he grew a few chest hairs due to this experience. If that's the case, than he is ahead of me. I guess he's more of a MAN! Aw MAN!

Super Easy Mode

There are some games that really needed modes like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZRLpc2egoQ

Wheel of Fortune?

At the end of every semester, it's one of my favorite times of the year.... TEXT BOOK SELL BACK!!!!! This is the time of year when the University tries to ease the aches and pains of rising tuition and outlandish textbook prices by giving you 5 bucks for every textbook you give them back.

The bookstore at the U is extra sensitive to the feelings of their starving students, and provides another way to ease the pain, stress, and sorrow. They have this big wheel set up, in a wheel of fortune fashion, that students can come and spin to get some kind of prize. Some of the prizes were gift certificates, or another 5 bucks, or candy bars, T-shirts, Hats, etc., etc. Anyway, hoping for another 5 bucks, I went up and spun the wheel. My heart raced as I realized that a minimal amount of my fate rested on the final result of the wheel's circular dance. As it began to slow down, as they usually do, I was able to get an idea of about where it was going to land. I figured my best bet was the wedge labeled "Candy", so I started cheering for the Candy Bar! Much to my eventual confusion, it landed on a wedge titled "U-Turf." What is U-Turf you ask? Well, so did I.

The people running the wheel got very excited and said "YOU WON THE TURF!!!!" One of the lady's reached behind the table to a stack of wooden boxes, grabbed one, and handed it to me.

"What's this?"

"It's worth a hundred dollars!!!!"

So, I walked off with a wooden box worth 100 dollars. Upon later inspection, I realized that the wooden box had a seal that said "Rice-Eccles Authentic Stadium Turf." I opened the box to reveal a piece of green and white astro turf! The label on the back of the lid informed me that this was a piece of the field where the Runnin Utes went undefeated... TWICE! I decided to do a little google-ing to find out exactly how much my new box of fake grass was worth. KSL apparently did a story on it. According to the story, it really is worth 100 bucks!

Well, I still haven't decided what to do with my box of plastic grass... any ideas?

Scholarship!

For those of you who don't know already, I applied for a really nice scholarship several weeks ago. Turns out, I GOT IT! It's the Kennecott Scholarship and is worth $6000! Yeah, I'm pretty stoked! This will pay for almost an entire year's worth of tuition.

Anyway, earlier this evening I attended an awards banquet for all of the scholarship recipients. There were about 20 total. They took pictures of us too with the president of the University and other VIPs.

Well, as we were sitting and eating, I noticed a lot of people socializing. I saw a group of people wearing name badges that said "Kennecott" on them, and I became curious. I have been told time and time again how important it is to Network! I thought "Gosh, this is a perfect opportunity to Network." I had never really considered a career with Kennecott, but hey, they're giving me free money. The least I could do is learn what it is they do.

So I went up to a group of Kennecott employees and introduced myself as one of the scholarship recipients. They all began to introduce themselves... Head of Publicity... General Manager.... VP over something... and the President and CEO of Kennecott! Despite being totally outmatched, I felt oddly comfortable around them. They asked me about my schooling, and when I mentioned I was an EE major, the general manager said "Oh good, we can use all the EE's we can get!" I started asking them what kind of jobs they offer for EE's, and the kind of work they do on a day to day basis. That's when the CEO piped up and said "You know, I do inspections of the plant every so often. Why don't you give me a call this summer and I'll take you with me and give you a personal tour. I can introduce you a few head engineers and they can show you what it is they do."

Well, after leaving that conversation with a plunder of business cards, I am now a convert to networking. I now understand what all of they hype is about. Still not sure if I would want to pursue a career down that path, but gosh, I like the way they treat little students like me! :D

I'm Famous!!!!

Alot has happened to me in the past few months, so I will be throwing a few more updates on to cover for it. Anyway, first item of business is how my mug was in the newspaper!



I'm the one on the left.

Here is a link to the article where you can read all about me.... and the others in the play.

Awesome

Guacamole

Last night, 3 of my little brother's best friends were "kidnapped" at an amusement park when the rides they were on continued in an endless loop, and the mechanism to turn them off was stolen. I was asked to find and catch the evil doer.

After walking around and interrogating several people, I received information as to where the perpetrator may be hiding. On my way there, I met up with a few friends I hadn't seen in a while. We proceeded to an abandoned shack, and inside were the evil doers, but the mechanism was no where to be found.

The head evil doer lady informed me that the mechanism was hidden underground and showed me a trap door leading to the underground lair where it was hidden. I asked my friends if they wanted to come with me, but they all declined, when suddenly out of nowhere, an African American female archaeologist walked in and agreed to assist me. Before entering the door, the head evil doer lady gave me a flash light and a butter knife and told me I would need them.

Upon descending the staircase, the archaeologist and I found ourselves in a room with about 20 other people. After walking around a bit, we realized the other people were all reflections of ourselves, and that the room was full of mirrors. Exploring the "lair" further, we came across a walking talking 10 foot bronze statue who, although very polite, informed us he guarded this "lair" and we would have to fight him to continue. I then proceeded to have a knife fight with the statue, who was also armed with a butter knife.

With absolutely no help from the archaeologist, I defeated the statue, who then warned us that far more dangerous creatures lurked in the "lair". One such creature was a giant and incredibly fat and dangerous chicken, also made of bronze. It's one weakness was that it was ticklish. I then proceeded to tickle the giant chicken until I once again became victorious.

I then woke up and swore never again to eat guacamole before going to bed.