Ding Dong bin Laden's Dead!

Just a little diddy I modified from a familiar classic. I think the mood of this piece fits the general mood of all who are enemies of hate and terror, and all who love peace and justice, because after nearly 10 years of hateful acts of violence and terror preying on the weak or unsuspecting, the "wicked" Osama bin Laden is dead.

Bet he didn't think we'd pursue him this tirelessly and this doggedly. I bet he thought he was getting away with something; but really, all it got him was a life of fearful hiding and at last a swift bullet in the head, courtesy of Jack Bauer, a.k.a. the US NAVY Seals who courageously and expertly executed a well-planned operation.

God bless the USA!

Hope you enjoy it...

Americans (and all freedom-lovers)
Ding Dong! Bin Laden's dead. Which bin Laden? Osama bin Laden!
Ding Dong! The Wicked bin Laden's dead.
Wake up - sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed.
Wake up, Osama bin Laden's dead.
He's gone where the villains go,
Below - below - below, Yo-ho
Let's open up and sing and ring the bells out.
Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low.
Let them know
Osama bin Laden's dead!

President
As Leader of America, In the Country of the Land of The Free,
I welcome you most regally.

Attourney
But we've got to verify it legally, to see

President
To see?

Attourney
If he

President
If he?

Attourney
Is morally, ethic'lly

Father No.1
Spiritually, physically

Father No. 2
Positively, absolutely

Americans
Undeniably and reliably Dead

Coroner
As Coroner I must aver,
I thoroughly examined the monster.
And he's not only merely dead,
he's really most sincerely dead.

President
Then this is a day of Independence
For all Americans and their descendants
Yes, let the joyous news be spread
The wicked Old bin Landen at last is dead!

I am ashamed :..(

Recently, Jen and I have been spending a lot of money on stuff that's unavoidable (e.g. air-fare to siblings weddings, car payments, 6-month insurance premium, and so on... OUCH!). So I looked at our moneys and noticed I/we spent quite a bit on eating out, even just for a quick lunch by myself (despicable, I know). I decided that for one solid month I was going to go cold-turkey on eating out, with the exception of the weekly date, but that would NOT be spent on fast food but on good-tasting food. Because food should taste good. Am I right? Or am I right?

Anyway, we have been doing so good and I have been able to completely avoid eating out and we have gone on a dinner date a week for the past 3 weeks. Jen and I have been eating our own food bought from the grocery store, prepared in our own home, and it has been so delicious! Jen is such a good cook and home-made food is ABSOLUTELY the better way to go (for the record, I have always known this, but sometimes convenience governs the situation where you have to rush out the door and you don't have time to make a lunch). Here's a sample of our St. Patty's Day dinner from last night. Wish you could taste the corned beef through the blog... So tasty and yet so lean!

Such a colorfully festive meal!

...Jen insisted to take my picture as well

Today, however, I broke down and broke my perfect streak of no fast food. I bought Taco Bell at the CougarEat because I was famished and was planning on staying on campus for a while longer to work on my Masters project. And what I'm most disappointed in was not my failure to stick to my morals, but the food. I haven't had fast food in so long that I have been spoiled by the deliciousness of Jen's cooking. And so, when I ate my grilled-stuffed burro, which I know I used to like, I thought to myself, "this must be what they mean when they call is 'Taco Hell'"! So disgusting... I threw it away.

Jen, I will never cheat on your cooking again. My stomach will be ever-faithful to you.

Moral of the story:

Why cheat when what you have at home is far better than anything else you can possibly find outside of it?

Happy Fat Tuesday and I Love My Sister!

First of all,

Happy Fat Tuesday!

I would really like to go to the French Quarter in New Orleans in the Carnival season some year. How fun that would be! (I hear that there are "family-friendly" parts of the parades, so I wouldn't be too worried as long as Jen was with me!) Really, I'd just love to go there any time of year. But check out how cute my niece and nephew are! I laughed out loud when I opened my email from my sister Michelle; and no one was even around so I had to share this picture. They're in Mardi Gras masks they made! My favorite is Russ' expression.


Secondly, I love my sister Annie! She's getting married in just 18 days to Awesome Kenny and I couldn't be more happy for them both. Annie just went through the temple recently and had her bridals taken as well. Here is just a sampling for your viewing pleasure.


Isn't she gorgeous!?! For serious.

Also, I obviously love her because I'm missing this to go to the wedding:

I got this special invitation through my civil engineering class to personally come view the placing of the longest bridge moved using Self Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs) in the western hemisphere! Cool right! Yeah, let me just admit what I know you're probably thinking right now... Nerd... Yep, it's true. I just love this stuff. In fact, I wish Jen was driving every time we pass a construction site because I want to slow down and take a good look at what's being built.

Really, it doesn't even compare to witnessing my sister's wedding, but it just goes to show either (a) how much I love my sister by what I would give up to come, or (b) how much of a nerd I am (or the obvious (c) which is both).

What can I even do?

What on earth is a guy to do when I'm here in the computer lab and someone across from me has his head phones in his ear while apparently doing his homework and is singing along to who-knows-what-song(!?!) because whatever he is singing more than likely does not even remotely resemble what he is listening to.

In fact, I have no idea if he even knows that he's singing at all.

It sounds like an even more whispy and airy version of radiohead because he's singing under his breath, but it's somehow higher than falsetto. Whatever the 'h' it is, it's annoying the 'h' out of me!

I plead with you all, if you EVER hear me singing like that in public, please please please throw something at me to at least make me aware that I sound like a dying fairy. I would then stop singing immediately before I continue to make a fool of myself and annoy everyone within earshot of my faint whispery voice.

...the way commercials should be

I feel like a fat kid on free dessert day when I watch this commercial! (for the record, in case that's offensive to you, I'm actually talking about myself)

Just a sampling of some commercials I like from this years superbowl... Enjoy!

Could I be dreaming?

I have a confession: sometimes I wake up in the night in a panic because in my sub-conscious mind's eye I have a horrifying recurring thought/fear that...

(pause for dramatic effect)

MARRYING JEN WAS JUST A DREAM!

(you may gasp out of terror now)

...That the beautifully pivotal day last June was just imagined and that I am just kidding myself that I could ever get such a wonderful woman to marry me! (Seriously, what an incredibly awesome best friend to have, with whom I get to spend almost every day)! I'm so grateful for her and I love her so much! Let me count the ways...


I don't know another person who knows how to live life as fully and as richly as she. She loves it. I will probably never understand her ways or be able to duplicate her methods. But she does her own thing, and I love it, and I love being with her when she's doing it.


Jen loves good food. A true foodie. I'm so glad we have that in common! She's so happy and good and true. She loves with her whole heart and it's such a good heart. So pure. She is passionate and dedicated and consistent. Count on her to do what she sets out to do. And you can take that to the bank.


She is gorgeous. It's hard to believe sometimes that such a dame would ever consent to be seen with a nerd like me, let alone MARRY HIM! I'll let the picture do the talking on this one.



This was my first impression from over two years ago of who would eventually become my wife. What a babe! And to top it all off, as much as I love her, she loves me too! What a Valentine's Day miracle! Happy Valentine's Day, Baby!

"Lazy Sunday"

Here's just a little Sunday "joy" for you. A little Andy Samberg goes a long way.
True that. Double True!

Gold Nugget of Wisdom... SONG!

I heard this song on the radio today and kept listening because of how different it is from the same 14 songs I hear every time I turn that thing on. I'm glad I did. It turns out it's a speech from some graduation in '99 put to a beat and some tunes (the tunes aren't too bad, but not nearly as good as some of the advice!)

No, it's not too long and yes, it's totally worth listening to. Trust me.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Do all star wars nerds love Volkswagens?

.....'Cuz this one sure does!

How did they know?

Well anyways, this nerd also LOVES this commercial!

"You Got Jimmered!"

This was the taunt the cougar-faithful were chanting to the SDSU Aztecs by the end of a gloriously exciting and also nerve-wracking adventure at the Marriott Center tonight in what many in college basketball were saying was purported to be the biggest game of the season in the nation up to this point. Two top-10 teams, hacking it out for the number-1 spot in the conference. And I was lucky enough to actually be in attendance at this blessed event! I'm SO lucky, and SO blessed! So I thought I'd blog about the experience. Also, I'm seriously high as a kite right now from the win and I need an outlet for my excitment. I'm looking online to see what is being said about BYU and by who because I'm just reveling in the glory of the moment. I have to admit I get a little depressed when my team lets me down, but when they win, oooh buddy! I win too! I'm just so proud of my boys-in-blue and so proud to be a Cougar myself. Blogging about it will either calm me down so I can get to bed, or it will just stir me up again and I'll be wasted tomorrow. So I guess we'll see what happens...

Here's a re-hash of the events of the evening:

First half: Daniel almost poops his pants and half of his nails are bitten off from elevated anxiety levels on account of the game being so evenly matched. A very low-scoring, very defense-driven game. Jimmer worked well with the double-team by dishing it off to teammates who were equal to the task of sharing the load. The refs let the guys play by not calling a lot of ticky-tack fouls and calling it pretty evenly on both sides... at least for the first half. The Aztecs definitely threw the Cougars off their normal game plan, forcing us to slow the pace and playing just as good defense as we did offense. And even though they kept us from playing our usual fast-paced score-on-you-when-you-blink can't-stop-Jimmer-any-better-than-a-freight-train style, we were doing a great job keeping it close. Jimmer ended the half with 20 points. Not too shabby. Not at all.

Second half: The Cougars come out running, but so do the Aztecs. When we started to pull ahead they would put a stop to it and come back again. In fact, I read on espn.com that there were 15 lead changes throughout the game. Then there were the refs. There were multiple blatant fouls committed by the Aztecs that otherwise would have led to probably 20 points from the free-throw line. But the Mountain West, it seems, has it out for the people in Provo. They would allow gross fouls when we had the ball on one end, then call the most controversial fouls on the other end against us. Not equally called. It was a very good thing I wasn't within 15 rows of the court because I definitely had a moment of rage when I was screaming myself hoarse and, given the chance, quite possibly may have aimed a full water bottle at the head of one of the officials. This continued until about the last 2 minutes when we pulled ahead by 6, at which point my heart rate started to slow down a little. SDSU made a few critical errors... like fouling Jimmer Fredette, who, as we all know, MAKES. EVERY. FREE-THROW.

By the time we closed out the game with a 13 point victory I was able to just soak in the moment. My first game attended at the Marriott Center this season was not a disappointment, but an incredible triumph. My team did it. Despite having played a very intense, very physical, and not to mention very lop-sidedly called game, my boys-in-blue came out on top and we all walked out the building with our heads held high.

What's that you ask? Was it worth the slight tickle in my throat that will more than likely lead to no voice at all tomorrow? Most definitely.

Here are a few facts for you on the game tonight:

• BYU came into the game No. 9
• SDSU came in No. 4
• Mountain West conference has never had 2 top-1o teams
  
• Sold-out crowd of over 22,700 fans
• There were more blocks (5) than fouls (3) in the first 14 minutes of play
• Jimmer ended up with 43 points on the night
  
• The rematch in San Diego is already sold out

And last, but not least, my favorite factoid comes from a man named Kevin Durant. Ever heard of him? Yeah, leading scorer in the NBA right now. Tonight KD tweeted, and I quote, "Jimmer Fredette is the best scorer in the world!!"

'Nuff said, I think.

I love being a Cougar!!!

Well, I guess the verdict is I think blogging about all of this has gotten me re-psyched out again, but I think I'm so tuckered out from all the excitement, I just might actually get some sleep tonight.

Powerhouse Quote

Teddy Roosevelt was an alright guy.
This powerhouse quote of his is an example why...

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910