Gosh

I just had a crazy night. It all started at 5:00 when my friend, Cora Owens, took me on a date. We went to Taco Amigo then went to see The Hobbit. When we got back to the car and she turned on the radio, we heard the words, "PG" and "Triple overtime." All thoughts of the beautifully written and emotionally moving film I had just seen left my brain. Pleasant Grove played against Lehi High School last night and won in quadruple overtime 109-107. I listened to the rest of the game and then called Trevor who was there. We talked a bit and it was great. Awesome job, Vikings.

But that was just the beginning. 

After I hung up the phone with Trevor, I get a text from my good friend and Pleasant Grove Sports Network's play-by-play commentator, David Brinkerhoff. It read, "Hey so Jeremiah Jensen from KSL wants us to edit the film for him.  Want to come to Russ' room and help us edit? Plus you can turn Kurt's music off." In my defense, Kurt's music is about as tasteful as this.

I was in my underwear watching Saved By the Bell when I got offered the chance to edit something that would actually go on television. I am not going to lie in saying that that is one of the coolest things that has ever been offered to me.

The only problem is that it was already 11:00 and I was planning on going to bed soon. Of course within minutes I was fully clothed and at my mother's bedside begging for her approval. She said yes as long as I updated her on how long I would be (I figured it would be two hours, tops).

After making a quick Wendy's run, we started into the work of editing the footage for a highlight reel. 

Five and a half hours I worked. 

From 11:30 PM to 5:00 AM I edited, searching through over an two hours of footage and separate footage for a total highlight reel time of 3 minutes. And right now, I am finally editing my masterpiece. 

This is my biggest break in the field of editing. Forget that Wednesday the school played the copy of Ferris Bueller's Day Off that I edited, this actually will have my name attached. I am going to make it big. Just watch.

I like work

My job is the perfect job. Good coworkers, good pay, free pizza, fulfilling work. I love it so much.

Average. Moderate.

"The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%."
-Andrew Carnegie

Dare to be the few and far between. You know I will.

Yeah I haven't been posting

Sorry. Kind of a crazy few weeks. ACT and end of term and filming football games and starring in a minor film and you know, I was a little tired of doing stuff. Like writing a blog. But I am back now. I am going to do what I can to start my mission papers. I am really excited for school and stuff. Also, I may be getting a car soon, so that is just the best. Right now I am texting a beautiful girl and watching Young Frankenstein with my parents.

I don't really know how to update you. Basically all my friends who never had a serious relationship are all getting into somewhat serious relationships and I am just 3rd (or 5th or 7th or 9th) wheeling. So that is great. Dear all the girls in the world, I promise I am not as bad as everyone says. They just see me when I am drunk or hung over, which is the only time I am mean. Basically I am nice when I am asleep.

Two Hundredth Post!

This is the post of two hundred. I am pretty happy right now, because I am sitting down, not working, and just relaxing. It is amazing. I don't know who I should ask to Homecoming. Should I ask that one girl, or just a friend? Will she want to go with me or would it suck because she would rather go with someone else? Is there someone who wants to go with me that I could ask but don't know about? It's just…you know. I know who I want to ask, but I don't know if I should. It's just the worst.

I would rather just fly out on the Millennium Falcon. 

And that's why I have a best friend

I haven't seen my best friend, Trevor Ward, since Sunday. It isn't just that we haven't seen each other, it's that our communication has become limited to two phone calls. Now I am sure that I sound like a clingy guy, but you have to understand. Trevor and I have seen each other almost every day for the entire school year and if we didn't see each other we were texting or talking on the phone.
I really feel weird without him here. I stopped shaving my face. I have not gone to bed before midnight, even if I had work at 6:30 in the morning like today. I started to take showers at night instead of in the morning (I actually have no idea if that means anything, but I bet it does).

You know that's right. He's Gus, obviously.

Trevor and I think the same things. Right now I have no go to evening plans. I don't have someone to spew my Space Center mission ideas at. I can't even enjoy good food. I have gained five-ish pounds in the past three days. I smell bad. I don't do laundry.
Goodness I sound pathetic. But I don't care. I don't think I have even actively pursued coming in contact with a person of my age all week.
On the upside I have made over two hundred dollars in the past three days, which totally rocks.








I really need to do some laundry. Seriously.

Suckishness

Sorry this has been the most boring blog in the freaking world lately. I have not really had the time to write that I wish I had. For example, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I was gone for fourteen hours. WIth the exception of 9 hours last night, I got a total of 15 hours of sleep. I have had math up the wazoo and it kind of sucks.

But I have had some good stuff in my life. I had an undying hatred for someone at the beginning of the week who I now love (not that I trust him, you can love somebody and still not trust them).  I also have been rocking it at work and tore apart more computers in two hours on Tuesday than I usually did all day when I started working there.

I also took a math test on Friday that I felt went really well. It was fun. Ha. Just kidding. Math is never fun. I made doughnuts (I don't like the other spelling, "donuts") from scratch on Monday. Devil's Food Cake and they were delicious.

I watched the edited version of IMDB's #10 highest rated film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I have yet to finish it, but I really like it. Great acting, great cinematography, and great directing. Jack Nicholson is a visionary with some of the scenes he made up. But don't watch it unedited. I could tell a lot of editing was done and I would not watch it if I did not have AMC's editing prowess backing me up.

I also went to Washington D.C. and Nashville, Tennessee last week for spring break. I ate so much food last Thursday and Friday, I almost exploded. Thursday night I had the bright idea to go running after eating beyond a normal person's capacity. I went into the hotel exercise room which had a whole wall with windows into the pool area, where there were a couple of teenagers.
After a quarter mile, I felt as though my everything was going to die, so I wisely stopped running as to avoid exploding ribs and smoked turkey onto the carpet. As I sat and composed my stomach, I realized that the teenagers had taken notice of me. But, the only thing they had seen was me running at a leisurely pace for a quarter mile that resting for a long time. Needless to say, I felt like a spaz. Then for a reason unknown to any scientific proofs or religious revelations or philosophical discoveries, one of the girls waved at me. I made sure she was waving at me (it had to be me because I was the only one it could've been), then awkwardly waved back. Cool story.

There is this girl I like who I haven't seen for a majority of the past two weeks because of vacations and stuff. She is just the best. This is going to sound super cliche, but she brings the best out of me. With her beautiful expressions (seriously, I have never seen anyone else who cannot contort their face into an ugly look, but regardless of what she does, her face is always beyond perfect), she really makes me want to be as perfect as she is. I am so grateful for my friendship with her and would not trade it for anything (except maybe a flying DeLorean with a flux capacitor). Seriously though, best person award goes to her.

This has been my life for the past two weeks. I have had a great time and a horrible time. I have wanted to sing, "Hallelujah," and I've wanted to shoot a burro. But all in all, I'd say it was a worthwhile time.

P.S. Also, I started a novel that I will be sharing soon.

Agencies

I guess if I want to get published, I'll have to do it without an agent. For my second novel they'll be flooding my gates. I still need an idea for the first one, though.

Work? Work is fun.

I work at a place called tamsolutions. I started working there back when Brock worked there and stopped working there at the beginning of the school year, with a few hundred dollars stuck in the bank. That money ran out last month. So back to work I go.
The money I am currently earning in going towards Sweethearts. I am very happy working. I come home with a grey shirt that started out as white. My snot is grey for days afterward (sorry, TMI). My head aches right now and it may be from the dust (it may also be because I've been awake since 4:00 this morning). I am so excited for certain activities that I am working for. It will just be the best.

Write of Passage

I am not an idiot. I know "write" is not the same as "rite." You'll get my point in a bit.

I love English. I love reading novels, writing stuff (hey, like a blog!), and just thinking about how to form a sentence properly. I don't just read a book, I study it. I make sure I get the full meaning of the text by paying attention to spelling and grammar. English is what I live for. So I have a chance to write stories and get paid for it. I really think that I could be good at that. When I write, I feel like my mind produces the text of my life. When I finish a paragraph, I am always completely satisfied with it. Otherwise, I would not be done with it. I find myself accidentally writing essays in my free time. I live to write.

I wonder if Kurt Vonnegut felt this burning passion to change the world through words. I wonder if this is how Harper Lee felt as she wrote what billions have read. I wonder what it takes to be great. Will the name "Duclos" appear as much as "Rowling"? Can I  become great? Can I succeed?

It has been too long.

Here we are again, me writing, you reading. We have been here before and we will come here again. It is a great place.

I haven't the time nor the urge (when I had the time) to write, but it is my duty as an author to write. So here is how my week was:

• Work. Lots of work. I am now an employee at tamsolutions. I work with my brother, Brock, and he basically runs my life. He doesn't like it. No one really does.
• Summer Seminary. I went and I sat next to Emilee Keele and near Kirsten Marquis. Brother Ellison taught about Leviticus, the most boring book ever. He made me see it in a new light.
• I got in a punching war with Brother Hillhouse. Nothing too unique.
• Saw Thor for the first time. Very cool. Something that is not cool is spelling "cool" with a "k."
• Gave Brock $50.00 for insurance for a product I do not own. The iPhone 4 will soon be mine. I hate when people say "45$." How can you pass the first grade with such a lack of common knowledge?
• I went to my niece's birthday party.
• I went to a Decemberists concert. Not that great.
• I went to a Fleet Foxes concert. It was the best.
• I watch enough Doctor Who to span at least one year. That show is really great, you know? If you have not seen it, Netflix it up.

So that was my week. People wonder why I am so busy. Just kidding, no one really cares. They have their own lives to run.

It is summer

If you look to the left of this wonderful text you will see the books I'm reading. I have too much time on my hands. I put in my two weeks notice yesterday. Sooooo happy. Goodbye Macey's, hello tamsolutions.

Why sit at home when you can be adventurous?

Today is the only day I don't have work this week. Here is how my day was supposed to go:

• Sleep in while I sit at home and do laundry while watching TV.

This is what really happened:

• Woke up early and ate pancakes.
• Mowed and weed-wacked the yard.
• Went to the store and bought my niece a present (I also bought Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade).
• Came home to do laundry and to watch said movie.
• Ran down to Discovery Park to play volleyball.
• Played volleyball with Nate Crosland, Sam Norton, Marci Johnson, and Kevin Fonseca.
• Got a wife-beater sunburn from said volleyball.
• Ate hotdogs for dinner.
• Took shower #1.
• Went to mutual.
• Wrestled Taft Robinson for about a half hour.
• Took shower #2.
• Went to Josh Brown's house for night games.
• Ran from Josh's house to the Stake Center (about one and one third mile, uphill).
• Ran halfway back (I got caught).
• Walked home from Isaac Major's house.
• Stopped at Emma Busby's house to hang out with her and Seth Crandall.
• Came home and drank half a gallon of water.
• Started blogging.
• Turned on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

You can't plan days like this. I had too many overlappings and spur of the moment moments for a while. I just want some food and some sleep. I should try to relax on my days off.

And that is how I quite my first job.

I haven't quite managed to quit just yet, but it will happen soon. Stuff like this weekend must come to an end. It's ridiculous that I am only scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. I mean, seriously. Then stuff like last night. After finishing a seven hour shift, I check to see if I may go home. No, because that would be WAY to convenient for me. I have to do go-backs (basically putting stuff back that people brought to the register and did not want to buy). With a full cart of go-backs, sore legs, and my father waiting for me, I was not a courteous Courtesy Clerk. Such a joke. Luckily, with the help of my dad, I managed to finish in a half hour. Once tamsolutions tells me I have a job, I will two-week-notice my butt out of there.

From what I just wrote, it may seem like the worst to work at Macey's. However, there are some highlights. Like my favorite guest ever. As a fat lady passed in front of her car, a woman rolled down her window and asked me how many points she would get if she were to hit the large woman with her car. She totally made my night.

Another highlight is this: cream. Not just any cream, but the cream for strawberries and cream. It is nice to be able to eat strawberries and cream for dinner whilst on my break. I had to pay $11.00 extra because I needed Lactade pills (due to my intolerance to the sugar in milk), but it was so worth it.

Macey's may pay well and have strawberries and cream, but let's face it, on a Friday night I would much rather be with a girl.

Top 5

I have been busy with work, school, and partying, so sorry for being less diligent here. To make it up to you, here are some of my top five lists:

Top 5 Reasons I Haven't Blogged
5. School. It was killing me. I mean tests until Friday? Come on!
4. Work. I am pretty sure I get scheduled the worst times possible for about 4 hours at a time. Whenever I want to blog, I am at work and have 3 more hours.
3. Lazy. I just never got around to it.
2. Partying. I mean, school is basically over.
1. Working with my family. I got seven or eight hours in yesterday. Then I had work for 5 more hours.

Top 5 Reasons Why Strawberry Days is the Best
5. It is the longest running celebration in all of Utah. Obviously everything gets better with age.
4. It is in the summer, which is the pinnacle of my existence. Thinking of Strawberry Days brings to mind staying out late, sleeping in and wearing shorts constantly.
3. It is in Pleasant Grove, the best city in the world, by far (with the exception of Lindon, which is a pretty close second). Can you imagine Strawberry Days of American Fork? That would suck so bad.
2. The rodeo and the parade. Just so much better than every other rodeo and parade. It is the only place where one can watch little children ride sheep.
1. Strawberries and Cream. The best food in the world. If I were rich, I would eat that everyday. It is amazing! If you have not tried it, do.

Top 5 People Who Want to Be Mentioned on My Blog (Whether they know it or not)
5. My aunt, Karie. She hasn't ever said anything, but she loves my blog. She is actually one of my favorite people in the whole world, and the reason why I hug a lot (she tells me I give very good hugs).
4. Mardi Thomas. She is so awesome though, I do not think I am allowed to do this without permission from her agent.
3. Katie Clark. Every time I see her, she asks if I wrote about her again.
2. Kellee Walker. The woman who gives me rides. She is awesome and deserves more than what I wrote about her before.
1. Delanie Doyle. She gets mad at me for not posting about her. Heck, she is even willing to go on a date with me just to be on here. That is dedication.

Top Ten Reasons I Do Not Want School To End
(In no particular order)

• Kati Briggs
• Zach Hulsey
• Zach Harris
• Cailey Haynie
• Mandi Madsen
• Jessie Marquis
• Sam Norton
• Kassie Hymas
• Marissa Smith
• Evan Kirby

Top 4 Most Disappointing Movies
4. A Series of Unfortunate Events. The worst.
3. Eragon. COME ON!
2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I don't need to elaborate.
1. Avatar: The Last Airbender. As a supporter of the television show, I hated the movie. I can understand if it was a book and you pronounced the names wrong, but in a TV show, IT'S RIGHT THERE! THEY ARE SAYING "Avatar" NOT "Ovetar"! I hate it so much.




I love this video starring Cameron Tribe!