Colorado = "Colored Red"

... Who Knew? Not me, until I went there!

Jen and I had the great opportunity to visit my sister and brother in law with their two kids in Littleton, CO over Presidents Day weekend and Valentines Day. It was so fun and so nice to get away from Provo and school for 3 and a half days! We carpooled with Abby and Addison (thanks again Abby for driving! You're the best!) and it was an adventure to remember!

I know it's been almost 2 whole weeks since we got back, but it feels like it was yesterday. And posting pictures on the day after a trip is pretty dang good, I'd say!

Here are some highlights of the trip:

• Icy road conditions in Wyoming on our way out Friday night. Gad zooks! After about 10 hours we rolled into Denver unscathed. Thanks to Addison, I am alive today to tell the story!
• I changed a diaper!
  
• Made waffles Saturday morning with my sis. Lydia really loves sweets! If you asked her if she likes syrup, she might ask you, "Is it sweet?"... "then YESSS!!!"
• We went out to lunch at a Mongolian barbecue restaurant downtown, which was pretty good. It was also very fun (mostly for me) to see all the civil engineering stuff there. Great sports arenas, old buildings, winding roads, etc.
• After lunch, we hiked around Red Rocks amphitheater for a couple hours. How beautiful and impressive! See pictures below. I'd love to go to a concert there someday!
• Watched Olympics.
• Went to "vacation Church" (involves going to sacrament and ditching the rest to go visit with Brooke Theis, Kelsey Foster and Garrett Sens at the Theis home for a little dance party with Brooke's nephew).
• Made delicious food for our Valentine's Day dinner, along with the most chocolaty cake I've ever eaten!
• Russell getting ridiculously caked with the said cake.
• Exchanged Valentines (all you need to know is Jen is sweeter than chocolate cake!)
  
• Lydia giving me a scratch and sniff valentine, but getting mad at Jen and I when she found out that we were leaving on Monday morning.

Jordan and Michelle and the Ballantynes were such good hosts and hostesses and we are so grateful for letting us spend the weekend with them. Love you guys!

Love,

Daniel

"Moonlight"

I love this song.

When I listen to it I feel so relaxed, so peaceful... Like I can sleep easy tonight because I know everything is right with the world, or that it's going to be alright.

It was in my head and I wanted to make sure it stayed there and when it went away I wanted it to be able to return later. So I did some research to find its name and composer. But, the problem with songs without words is that you have to sing the portion you know out loud to describe it to people because you just can't exactly type the tune into google search.

Luckily I found it before too long, for you to enjoy. Here is Clair de lune, by Claude Debussy.

I also like this version with the music animation...

Wash Your Hands!

Of all the Low-Life's of this world (and this world can be a pretty ugly place) there are few, in my book, who fall below the guy who doesn't wash his hands after using the bathroom. Actually, worse yet is the guy who doesn't lift the toilet seat in the stall to do a "number one" and goes ALL OVER THE SEAT! But, this post is not about him..... ggggrrrrrrhhhhhhh! But, oh how I would love to smash the face of every guy who does that on the soiled toilet seat!

Today I witnessed a disgusting thing. I saw a professor (he's not civil engineering, but probably some sort of enginerd because this happened in the Clyde Building) do a number one, proceed to turn around and face the mirror to run his hand through his hair, and then totally bypass the faucet!

Now, I'm okay with choosing to use the hand sanitizer instead of the slightly more cumbersome soap and water option. However, Professor G (short for "Grossgusting") didn't even use that. I was appalled and my faith in humanity took a hit. A PROFESSOR! Someone who interacts with dozens of students and faculty on a daily basis... and someone with a doctorate degree no less... should be educated enough to know better than that!

We live in AMERICA people. Not the JUNGLE! We live in a place with the best opportunities for a sanitary lifestyle in the world. And yet, there still seems to be those first-class idiots who decide to take all of that for granted and ignore the health and safety of themselves and others. It blows my mind.

So please, just remember that Mother's counsel still applies when you're 55 and teaching college:

Always Wash Your Hands!

Pay Homage

I was recently reminded of a great song (All My Life) and got thinking about how awesome the music of my generation is! So, I just want to pay some respect to the fathers of R&B: K-Ci & JoJo, Boyz II Men, and also others like All 4 One and Seal. These guys perfected hip-hop doo-wop and gave us a fresh contrast to their fruity white contemporaries who got so over-played back in the day (e.g. N*Sync and BSB).

Without K-ci & JoJo, without Boyz II Men, and without All 4 One, there would be no R. Kelly or Brian McKnight or Usher or Neo or even Chris Brown. And let's face it, prom and our entire High School experience just would NOT have been the same! Just let the flood of memories of days gone by rush to your mind as you think about how your life would be different without these tunes:

All My Life

Crazy

I'll Make Love To You

On Bended Knee

I Swear

I Can Love You Like That

Kiss From A Rose

The "Art"(?) of Curling

Yesterday, I came home from school in the afternoon and decided I wanted to watch some Olympics. However, NBC decided that they wanted to save the good stuff for "primetime". Can you guess what they put on instead?

Curling!

It has got to be the strangest and most boring sport ever invented! And yet, I found myself glued to the TV. I watched this spectacle for a solid half hour. I felt like Brian Regan when he was watching fishing... even taping fishing! There's just no sinking much lower than that.

Well, after my experience yesterday, I can say that watching curling gives watching fishing a run for its money! I have been trying to find a suitable place where curling stands among the ranks of other odd sports and after much consideration, here's what I got...

1. It's below bowling because you cheat! It's not just you out there, you have not one, not two, but THREE other teammates helping you and guiding the stone the entire way down the alley! Plus, at least bowling requires some physical ability.

2. For the same reasons curling also lies below the sports of shuffleboard and bocce ball. I love bocce ball by the way...

3. Slightly below cheese rolling due to the fact that there's absolutely zero risk of injury, let alone all the broken limbs and things that can happen in that crazy hill rolling activity.

4. Pool is very similar, but it has a just a slight edge on curling because you're all by yourself and I think it takes more coordination to sink 8 balls into the table pockets.

However, I believe it does sit slightly higher than the following sports/games:

• darts
• paper football
• checkers
• connect four
• I don't know the name of the game but trying to see how close you can slide an object to the edge of the table without it falling down
• and dozens of other crazy games people might play when they're drunk because if you're drunk while playing curling there's danger of stumbling and getting a concussion on the hard ice.

I just feel sorry for those poor announcers who have to cover that sport. What is there to say other than, "Well, he shouldn'a thrown it like that"?

Commercial Genius.

I just finally saw these commercials for the first time today. I think about a bajillion other people have seen them already, but in case you haven't,

YOU GOTTA CHECK THESE OUT!!

Olympics on ESPN

I think ESPN would do a much better job covering the Olympics than stupid NBC!

Can't I please just get some "sportscenter highlights" of the Olympic Games? Some Top 10 plays of the day in Vancouver? An analyst talking about an athlete and his or her struggles and what to look for in their upcoming performance? Or what about the "keys to the game" for various events?

Nope, because NBC is stupid and doesn't do anything cool like that. I know there are events going on all day, but they make me wait 'till prime time to see any of it. And even then, they leave stuff out!

.....Stupid!

In the meantime, I can just dream that someday the greatest sporting event of ever will get some decent coverage.

Chrissy Mooney, Provo's Next Shining Star!

Breaking News!!!

After months of waiting (really, it's been years, as you'll see later in this post), my amazing baby sister, Chrissy Mooney, who undoubtedly hates being referred to as the "baby," just today was finally accepted among the ranks of the truest, the bluest, the BYU Cougars!

Here she is!...

This is us at a quarter past silly on Christmas at Grandma's house
(Chrissy is the "baby" on the front left, along with Annie, Joey and myself)

A longtime Mooney tradition: Spiderman Undies
(Chrissy is the one with the Donatello all over her extremely hard-core game face)

Even as a High School Junior she came to Provo to spend her Fall break

Destined for BYU greatness when she became "true blue" well before even finishing high school!

BYU Football! Once again, she's still in High School!

...I just like this picture of her (sorry Chrissy, I couldn't resist)

Look out Provo, here she comes!

I mean seriously guys, I fully realize that she's a hawtie pa'tawdy and I am a very protective big brother if you know what I mean!

'Nuff said.

So, there you have it folks. My wonderfully talented, athletic, smarty-pants, happy-go-lucky, fun and funny sister, Christine Jean Mooney (her fake middle name), is gonna spend her first semester of college at BYU at the same time I have my very last one! Oh, it's going to be a party and a half!

Love you Chrissy and I can't wait 'till this Fall!

Calling All Utah Drivers

This is in response to a blog post by my friend, Ashley Jones, about those drivers who foolishly slow down to balk at accidents or even any sort of distraction while driving 70 mph in dense traffic. I hate that too!

While this behavior may be a problem in most if not all 50 states, I would like to say that there are certain driving tendencies that recur frequently in the state of Utah that annoy the heck out of this "California-driver."

1. First, the "Utah Roadblock." I googled this term that I frequently use and it turns out that Urban Dictionary actually has it defined, perfectly accurately too. It says it's "when you and your friends take up one whole side of the road with one car per lane going as far under the speed limit as you think you can get away with." And although U.D. defines it as a sort of intentional prank, this phenomenon happens inadvertently all the time by unsuspecting Utah drivers who are afraid of appearing too aggressive by passing the other car that happens to be going the same speed (usually below the speed limit). This practice prevents other drivers from passing safely on the left.

2. The other thing is the tendency of some Utah drivers to automatically drift into the left lane as soon as they get on the freeway... just because its their default lane of choice. This is a problem because it is customary to pass on the left, and its a little hard to do that when there's an old lady going 55 in the fast lane!! That's why they have signs like these posted all throughout Utah!

That's also why there are websites dedicated specifically to teaching this safe practice such as this:

http://www.slowertraffickeepright.com/

and this...

http://californiakeepright.com/

It's not the "I'm going the speed limit" lane.
It's not the "I'm going fast enough" lane.
It's not the "you can go around me" lane.
It's not the "cell phone use lane" lane.
Have you ever had any of these thoughts while in the left lane?
Well, then you need to
GET OVER to the RIGHT!

http://www.circlemp.com/stkr/stkr.html

I like this visual for all my friends who don't quite have a testimony of this principle. As you can see, there is a car in the left or "fast lane" and what you can't see is the car is labeled, "Rude Jerk (60 in 65). So, don't be a jerk. You may think that you're just being safe by going the speed limit, but if the flow of traffic is going faster than that (hint: your sign for this may be when dozens of cars speed past you on the right whenever there's an opening) then you need to get over to the right to make their passing of you safer. Thank you.

3. The last thing I'm going to say that annoys me is the drivers who think they're being considerate when they stop for the single pedestrian who hasn't even gotten to the curb yet! In fact, one day I was going to be picked up from campus and I was waiting for my ride to arrive. I was standing a good 5 to 10 feet from the curb. Standing, not walking. I obviously had no intentions of crossing the street. Then some driver stopped to let me cross and even waived me on! I then insisted that he keep going by waiving him on. Okay, of course there is the other extreme of jerky drivers who swerve around pedestrians as they're crossing the street as soon as there's room to squeeze their car, nearly hitting people as they go. To those people I am very tempted to give the finger! But the drivers who stop needlessly and naively for would-be pedestrian street crossers, all the while, holding up 5 cars behind them when all the cars could have easily gone by before the walker got to the street... they need to get off their "nicer driver than thou" high horse and just drive sensibly!

In conclusion, I admit that I'm a recovering road rager. What I have to realize is that I'm not a perfect driver either and I make mistakes. The point is, let's all just resolve to be a little bit better and a little bit safer on those roads out there so that we can all get on with the road of life a little bit faster.

It's NOT a Zit, I Swear!

This weekend I went to Church with this on my face:

And I just want to make something absolutely clear... ok, two things, my face being one of them... the other is that this is NOT a zit! I was shocked at the fact that a mere 2 more people than zero asked about it at Church. And one of them actually had the courage to say, after asking what it was, that he wasn't going to ask at first because he thought it might be a pimple! This made me realize that perhaps that's what everyone else thought. I mean, you can't very well miss it! Here, just look at it:


No, it's not acne, but it would still be cool if it was because I would totally brag about having the a Guinness world record hugest zit known in the history of mankind!

It is even cooler than that! It's a battle scar obtained playing basketball on Saturday! You see, one kind of blemish guys aren't ashamed of is scars. They're proof of toughness. Manliness. Built-in bragging rights. And possibly best of all is that they're a great conversation-starter!

OK, I won't keep you in suspense any longer. Here's the short and sweet, because I know you've been dying to find out... So there I was, under the hoop. When in a flash, out of nowhere a guy 40 pounds my larger came barreling into me, knocking me to the floor. I don't remember much other than that in one second I was shooting the ball, and the next, my body was being hurled into by an opposing player and sent straight to the floor, without even enough time to stop my chin hitting first. Sadly, I didn't make that particular shot, but I went back and humbled that guy I was guarding the rest of the game, shutting him down, successfully making sure not to allow him to make any shots after that point. In fact, he got so frustrated with himself that he yelled out a couple times, and when after the game I went to say good game, he said nothing in return. What a punk huh!

Thank you for letting me tell the story that I apparently was dying to share.

The end.

Lost Art of the Compliment

Recently, Jen found this article on msn.com and shared it with me. I was really touched by this man's determination and quirky interest in bringing a little happiness into peoples' lives.

I love the feeling of having either given a compliment that is well-received, or receiving a good genuine compliment from someone. It is a gift to be able to bestow such elation in only a moment and it is my goal to master this art!

Here is the link to the article and below is just a snippet from it. Please enjoy this warm, inspiring tale which is the perfect theme to kick off this month of love!

The Lost Art of the Compliment, by Tom Chiarella

"If a worthwhile compliment needs anything, it is the weight of realization behind it. So I fell back, watched people go about their jobs, the quality of their interactions, the way they looked at their reflection as they walked the street. I registered. And I learned, or started to learn, that a compliment is a partnership, because the pleasure of giving it lies in its effect upon the person receiving it."

Change...

Here it is, Freburary the 1st, and I realized that I have neglected my blog a bit. I only had 3 posts in the entire month of January... pretty weak considering all that has happened in my life of late.

So, here is my resolution: Change. I vow to change, and to blog more. I know that's almost as vague as Brett Favre's resolution to retire, but I can't commit to blog more than I have time. But I do promise to blog MORE.


I just like this picture. That's all.