I am no Katy Perry when it comes to a culture of followers, but I am seeking to expand the reign of my internet influence. Hit me up!
These aren’t my favorite posts, because they’re so sporatic, catching the public up on what’s been going down in my life, but it’s fun to experience so many different things all at once. Grab your popcorn and let those greasy fingers scroll!
Break has been awesome. I was able to chill, de-stress, and still get some work done (although obviously not as much as I planned for myself – not all bad, though). I was sure to work-out Monday and Tuesday, but got busy the rest of the week. I started watching Agents of SHIELD at the gym on my phone 🙂
VainGlory happened. It’s a League of Legends knock-off in the Apple Apps Store. It’s free, it’s awesome, it’s time-consuming. We checked out iPads from the library just to play all break 😉
One night, after a long day, and not wanting to leave the house, a bunch of people came over and tried to get me to leave. I wasn’t having it. So in order to show how unsocial I planned on being, I opened Netflix, went to foreign films, and found this gem in Asian action: Shaolin Soccer! It’s so funny to me. I can’t tell if it’s supposed to be a funny movie, but we’ve started watching weird kung fu movies. Iron Monkey was #2 🙂
Well, Thanksgiving didn’t go quite as planned. I was originally going to eat with Wendy and her fam. My roomie really wanted to eat with his family, but I told him I had plans. Then, a female comes along and invites me to eat with her family. Uh, okay! I tried to play it cool by saying I was popular this holiday season, but I could make an appearance. She was like, “Oh brother. Well never mind!!” Do people not know me and my sense of humor? I even included this GIF to help convey my tone:
But anyway, I called home and talked to everyone except for Robert (sleeping), then Facetime’d Connor. He wanted to hang out and just have me watch him play video games 🙂
I also skyped Megan, but only to talk to her super-cute niece. She’s like 3, and is, I’m convinced, the cutest toddler out there.
After all of that, I layed on the couch and fell asleep to Hitch. Super funny. I need to watch more Will Smith movies. I rewound it to watch what I missed, then watched The Avengers. I texted this chica asking if her family actually ate on Thanskgiving and she had understood that I was first going to Corden’s and that I was going to text her when I was done. She offered to bring me leftovers… Pass! Myles brought home X-Men: Days of Future Past instead. Finally! Now I only need to see Cap 2 to be caught up on the superhero movies I missed.
For those of you who didn’t know (or reject the reality thereof, such as my roommate, Corden), JJ is the greatest human being I know. My buddy, Connor, called him up to hang out, so JJ played big brother while I was gone and too him to Chick-Fil-A and the comic book store. What more can you ask for in a friend?
This is the first installment of a trilogy of posts relating to cities that have become my home. I have a broad audience here, so I figured it’d help to know what shaped me into who I am.
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I love everything about this
(Capitals Outsider)
Photo from Wikipedia
Lt. Col. Wales, who is the head of the Army ROTC department at not only BSU, but also NW Nazarene University, Idaho State University, and BYU-Idaho, spoke to us after FTX while waiting for the Blackhawks. He said a lot of things that caused me to reflect on how lucky I am to have this opportunity. Seriously though! This class has put me in a helicopter, gotten me tours of the mechanic bays of the Apaches, had me repelling off the Student Union Building, and sliding across the Boise River on a rope bridge. The stuff we do is so cool and totally breaks the mold of your standard student.
I can only really remember my dad saying it once, but I maintain that my father raised me with my top three priorities being to God, family, and country, and in that order. I think it was just one of those small things that stuck out to me, and I ran with it. Additionally, I always think back to all the war movies I watched with him. He’d take time to pause and help me understand what happened, why it happened, what I can learn from it, and help me to appreciate the magnitude of the sacrifice. I remember watching a Civil War movie where this guy was inspecting all these dead bodies on the field, when all of a sudden, one of them flipped over and stabbed him. Dad asked me what I could have done to make sure he was dead. My little 6-year old self (or somewhere around there), hesitantly suggested, “Shoot him again?” Dad was so proud! 🙂
Sadly, only 1% of America serves their country. Crazy to think about when you reflect on how strong of opinions people have about all the issues buzzing around. It’s their inherit right to be able to have that opinion, but it’s rather hollow when someone else is the one who fought for your opinion. “…the greatest challenge to our military is not from a foreign enemy — it’s the widening gap between the American people and their armed forces.” (Source: NY Times)
I love the idea of mandatory military service. It’s fairly common throughout several countries. I’m obviously partial to all things German. They serve at 18. I think it’s great. Think of a workplace where everyone has accomplished physical training, developed critical thinking in the stress of combat situations, and leadership and team-building courses. You’d have a healthier, smarter workforce, insurance would be lower because of their level of fitness (sidenote: insurance companies in Germany pay you to take health classes like yoga because it’s cheaper for them in the long-run), and you wouldn’t have to fund the annual go-kart trip to “develop unity.”
An interesting parallel as a missionary was to have everyone thanking me for my service. One time, I got into an elevator with a serviceman in uniform. I thanked him for his service, and he retorted with, “Thank you for your’s.” It totally caught me off guard. I get placed fairly frequently in similar situations when I’m in uniform. On Friday, we marched as a unit in the Veterans Day Parade downtown, and I was early, so I stopped off at the gas station to snag a hot chocolate. She only had me pay for the cup, since I was in uniform! On the way home, I got 4 small hot chocolates and a little chocolate-covered maraschino cherry all for 90 cents! Best roommate ever?
The parade was great. It reminded me of marching band. I loved it. We did a lot of standing around, since we were early. It was around 40 degrees, too, so we were all freezing in our two-layered uniform. Someone shouted my name a few times as we rounded a corner. I think it was a member who’s ward I served in.
BSU Color Guard at the Veterans Day celebration yesterday (souce: BSU)
As much as I hate poetry – in fact, it’s on an extensive list of over 200 things I hate (especially when they don’t rhyme) – I think this poem illustrates the overall point I’m trying to make:
It’s the Soldier
It’s the soldier, not the reporter who has given us freedom of the press.
It’s the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It’s the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It’s the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It’s the soldier who salutes the flag, serves under the flag and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives the protestor the right to burn the flag.
~Father Dennis Edward O’Brien, USMC
This past weekend, per usual, was a much needed break from the pressures of school. My MTC (missionary training center in Provo, Utah) companion, Abel Birk, came up for the weekend to go to the BYU vs. BSU game. Yep. As much as it kills me, he’s a Cougar. Too bad we slaughtered them.
Too be fair, to not sound totally ignorant, they would’ve killed us if it wasn’t for a few injuries. Also, a team who puts 55 points on the scoreboard shouldn’t have let 30 through. But it goes both ways. Without their MVP, suddenly they aren’t in the same league.
It was awesome to catch up with Abel, though. He’s very similar to JJ, so we became instant friends on the mish, and it was so good having him around. Just someone to laugh about nothing with, ya know? And he came up just in time to fill that ominous void that was the lack of having close friends here. We watched a lot of The Office (his fav), went to a baptism, and got lunch with some members he likes. The husband, Geoffrey Krueger, is a sick painter, and he showed us his studio – carefully hidden in an old hardware store. It reminds me of Michael Weston’s apartment in Burn Notice.
He’s having trouble making a name for himself, even though his talent is phenomenal. He started painting every day, after seeing the success that Julian Merrow-Smith was having with his online gallery, Postcard from Provence. Geoffrey was one cool guy and has an amazing talent. Check out his blog, Daily Dose of Painting! He also got me thinking as to how I can better market my familiarity with social media. Something to think about.
Saturday, as I’m sure you all know, was Katy Perry’s 30th birthday. We celebrated with cupcakes, her music video for “Birthday”, and watched Katy Perry: Part of Me. Strangely enough, it was only my second time watching her movie…Even Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 78%, which is fairly good, considering the target audience of the film.
This weekend, along with other experiences has made me realize that times past and experiences had will never be the same as they used to be. Going home to Virginia, friends matured, siblings grew, and buildings went up. I often think about whenever I’ll have the chance to visit Germany again. I think back to my two little host-sisters, Hannah and Barbara, who were only five and four years old when I left. If I were to go back right now, they’d be eight and seven! So different! And my friends and fellow exchange students wouldn’t be there to complete my experience. It’s just odd to think about. But rather than getting all wrapped up in the past, I love thinking towards the future and what will come of it—what I’ll make of it.
This week has been refreshingly invigorating and motivating on an onward and upward slope. I have several things to share.
First off, I’m really struggling in school. My problem is that in high school, I never had to study. I would retain enough info to pass my tests. I literally don’t know how to study, and that doesn’t fly at a university. I sit down, skim over my notes, get overwhelmed, and then I’m done. Leave some tips in the comments! I’m getting the hang of it, though. I have good ideas as to what I need to do, but now it’s buckling down and doing them. Plus, finding time will be tricky.
I work at the library on campus. I originally got the job because I thought I could just do homework. That is not the case. But lately, our library decided to clear out one of our rooms and open it as some kind of exploring room. I don’t really understand it, but I think it’s an online college (not Boise State) that will take over this room in helping patrons explore different fields they might be interested in as they relate to science and technology. 80% sure that was a lie, but it could pan out the way I remember it. Anyway, that room was full of micro-fiche, which are old newspapers, etc printed on translucent film. You throw it in a machine that looks like a microscope and voila – an outdated PDF! So to make room for this new venture, we’re getting rid of the micro-fiche…all of it. And the library wants to be environmentally friendly, so we’re recycling it all. For us peons, that means sitting down for hours and “husking” the film out of their paper envelopes, separating and recycling. Anyway, I put on my charm and got my boss to let me use headphones. Then I turned up the charisma even more and got him to let me have my laptop on to watch videos. Corden, my hipster of a roomie, showed me this video that obviously caught my attention. It’s called Billionaire Elon Musk: How I Became The Real ‘Iron Man’. It’s amazing. He’s my real Tony Stark role model! Interestingly enough, Robert Downey, Jr. on his Reddit “Ask Me Anything” replied to a fan saying that if he got to spend more time with anyone, that it’d be Elon Musk. The seed was planted. Then when Corden presented me with this video, I saved it in the back of my head until I would later get paid to perform menial labor while getting my brain flowing with all sorts of new ideas. Elon Musk sold his first company, Zip2, at the age of 28, became a millionaire, then started and sold PayPal. Now he is the CEO of Tesla Motors, SpaceX (his personal venture to Mars), and Solar City. Very much worth checking out. If Steve Jobs was of any interest to you when it came to futurism and the advancement of technology, Elon Musk is your man. Another worthy mention is Elon Musk: 5 Areas That Will Have the Most Important Effect on Humanity.
I also started listening to The Richest Man in Babylon while “husking” the micro-fiche. It will take 5 hours to finish, but that’s easy with the task at hand. I need to be better at managing my expenses. I’m excited to implement saving 10% of my earnings and living off the 90%. I’m really good at preparing myself to make good decisions, but I’m balancing so much right now, I feel like I don’t get anything on my list done. But figuring out expenses will cut a lot of the college-related stress.
ROTC has been super cool. The week before last, we went to Gowen Field (the military base shared by the National Guard and the Idaho Air Guard near the Boise Airport) and worked on some obstacle courses. They weren’t you’re typical barbed wire crawling in mud courses, but rather problem solving and working as a team. This past week, we re-learned how to tie the Swiss seat harness, then hooked onto a rope bridge we had stretched taught across the Boise River and shimmied across. Sick!
Per usual, I never know what I want to do. Of course, I’m going to be Tony Stark, but the problem is that everything interests me and I feel like it’s derailing me from my end goal. I want to be an engineer, I want to own my own company, I’d like to learn programming, I want to work in Germany, I love art, etc. My dilemma precisely. So right now, I am double-majoring in German and Mechanical Engineering, double-minoring in Military Science (ROTC) and Industrial Engineering, and earning a Certificate of Technical Communication. Where will business fit in, you ask? Well, I’ve always been entrepreneurial. I plan on getting an MBA and a Masters in some sort of engineering, but I’m wondering if I can work business in now. I’d love to start a company while I’m in school. I guess that’s what’s so cool about the future. It’s always so suspenseful!
It was Friday afternoon. I got home after school, ready to chill. I asked my roomie Myles what he was up to that night. He casually informed me that they were to depart for Las Vegas in an hour. My heart stopped. I turned back to Myles. “Vegas?! Dude, I’ve been trying for months to figure out how I’m going to get down there to visit my best friend, and you just didn’t even tell me?!” “You should come, dude.” So within an hour, I called and got my shift covered, packed, and called Megan. We ran and got the rental car and an insufficient amount of Twizzlers, started on our SnapStory, and set off!
The occasion was the wedding of Myles’s sister. She’s 21 and now married to a fifty-something year old dude. The family wasn’t even invited to the wedding until the week before when some of the siblings got to prying. In the three years they’ve dated, no one has ever seen a picture of the guy, and they moved to Oregon to get away from her family. Super strange situation. To top it off, he took her last name. A dude with a maiden name…? So yeah. Really awkward and uncomfortable, but I love those situations. It’s my roomie’s sister, though, so that was just to fill you in, not to be judgmental. I wish them the best and hope it works out.
We drove down to Myles’s brother’s house in Utah, spent the night, and set out in the morning. Sleeping on the couch/hardwood floor doesn’t set you up for success when it comes to long road trips, but we managed.
Saturday, we grabbed In-N-Out Burger (double-double, animal style, protein style) and stopped by Myles’s sister’s house to grab her husband’s forgotten sleep apnea machine. We showered, stole their cool Nerf guns (all Myles), and forgot the machine…So we added an hour to our trip going back to get it (we were only out 30 mins, but still).
As soon as Vegas was in sight, we blasted Elvis’s “Viva Las Vegas” on repeat until reaching the hotel. We met Myles’s family real quick, then went to Chili’s on the Strip to meet the lucky groom. First of all, we went to the wrong Chili’s, so that was weird. Second of all, when in Vegas, eat at Chili’s? False. So I got outta there! Megan came and got me. It was so good to see each other again. She looked so grown up! When I knew her, she was just a junior in high school. Now she’s a college sophomore!
So not only had I not seen my best girl friend (“amiga” from here on out) in 3 years, but, on a whim, I make it to freakin’ Las Vegas on her 21st birthday! As you can imagine, however, she wasn’t in the best state of mind upon our reunion 🙂 She had gone out the night before and hit the clubs as soon as the clock struck midnight. She was hung over hardcore, so we went home, I got to meet her mom (super exciting), we ate some Japanese ramen, then went to bed.
Sunday morning, we woke up, got ready, and I went to work with her. She works at the Ciel Spa in the SLS Hotel and Casino on the Strip. They have security guards in their elevators! I just sat there in the lobby working on my laptop, submitting résumés to a few different employers and internship opportunities. Everyone was like, “Uh, why didn’t you go walk around…? You were in Las Vegas!” But to me, I was just complacent just being around her. It was like the routine JJ and I had when I got home from Germany: gym, Xbox, then read comics in silence sitting in his room. Occasionally, we’d chuckle and share what we just read, but it was “fun” just sitting there in the same room. Nothing had to be said. Myles and Corden came and got me, we went to the wedding, ate cake, then headed out. Coolest pastor ever.
It was one long drive home. 9 hours straight through Nevada. And how much you wanna bet I had service? Here’s a hint: I have Tmobile. But it was good. Aside from seeing Megan, the coolest part of this trip was the bonding with Myles and Corden. One of the hardest parts of being out here in Boise is not having a best friend. I don’t have my “Bdubs group” out here yet. My group of friends I can call on a moments notice and say, “Hey, let’s do something.” So I’m working on building those stronger relationships still, and it’s been tough. That trip was just what I needed!
One of the highlights of the road trip was our playlist. Here’s just a sample:
I have been crazy anxious to fill the masses in on my weekend. I went up to Idaho City (the former, thriving, gold mining metropolis of Idaho turned redneck-inhabited nature getaway) with ROTC for a Field Training Exercise (FTX) last weekend.
It was a blast. We met at BSU at 5:30am, bussed up to Idaho City, then marched up to camp. We busted open an MRE, then got ready to split into our squads. We had 6 “lanes” or courses altogether. We were “fighting” a made up enemy – the South Atropian Peoples’ Army (SAPA) – for an enhanced reality to it all.
High Angle Rescue
We learned how to tie a few knots, along with a Swiss Seat, which is making your own harness out of rope for repelling.
Recon
This was a map and scouting exercise where the bulk of us held down a secure position while two teams circled around the left and right looking for a hostage.
Move to Contact
We marched a little over one kilometer, cresting 5 giant hills, to were we expected enemy contact. We started up the 6th hill, when the enemy comes in behind us. We run down into a ravine where there’s lots of cover and take them out. As we were moving, all of a sudden I just drop. I fell knee-deep into some kind of natural well! I was soaked. Wet boots and socks for the rest of the weekend -__-
Key Leader Engagement (KLE)
This one was the most fun. It added a very real dynamic to all our training. Basically, we walked into a village where there was a village elder and his two sons. He was upset because the US Army had bombed his village fighting SAPA. We were there to follow-up and build his trust again in the Army. Essentially, our squad formed a 360-degree security perimeter, while our squad leader and one other were in the middle talking to the village elder. The Atropian people (and Muslims in general) are known to be touchy. So sometimes the sons would come up and give us a hug, etc. It made me super uncomfortable, knowing they could be the enemy and that I had a firearm. Super funny, though…one of the sons asked our squad leader to come and see his goats. He declined, saying he was talking to the son’s father, but one of our guys, thinking to help the situation, says, “I’ll go and see your goats.” Well, they wander off, and the son comes back without him. He stabbed our dude. One of our guys yells, “Blazek’s down,” and our squad leader, mid-convo with the head honcho yells, “WHAT THE F***?!” One of them ran for an AK, so we off’d them. Stressful! It gave me a very real appreciation for our servicemen out there on foreign soil doing these exact things.
Disabled Vehicle
We pushed the ROTC Chevy Silverado up a hill in neutral, in addition to bringing two tractor tires, two telephone poles, and two water jugs with us. Ridiculous. It was an incredible team-building experience, though.
Patrol
Sunday, as our last lane, we went out on a one-kilometer patrol through the mountains. Every once in a while, one of the Cadre (ROTC leaders) would yell, “INCOMING,” and we’d dive down, drop our rucksacks, and assault up the hill. We’d get to the top, to find that the enemy had fled, so we’d go down, get our gear, and pursue. We’d also get reports that one of our guys had been killed, so we’d have to carry them with their gear back to where we had established security (back to our 360 perimeter with leadership in the middle).
It was an awesome, physical, intense weekend. I loved it. Aside from being able to eat whatever I wanted, due to the strain of all we did, it gave me a greater conviction that the military truly is something I want to pursue.
To close out the weekend, we ruck-marched (marching with all our gear in rucksacks) pretty dang far to a helipad, where the Idaho National Guard picked us up in Blackhawk helicopters. So sick. If the Army is where I’m headed, I either want to branch Armor (tanks) or aviation (helicopters), so it was almost like a job shadow for me 🙂
There isn’t a word that carries more hope in my opinion than opportunity. I had always thought the concept silly. I’ve always had the misconception that there’s so much help out there for people to succeed that there’s no reason for them not to, besides their own personal limitations. My eyes are being opened to a newer reality. To some degree, we are slaves to our circumstances. In others, we decide our future. There are, however, far too many who go without opportunity. As much as I disagree with how the guy runs our country, Obama’s “change” and “hope” campaign really resonates with us as humans on some subconscious level.
I actually feel greatly blessed for this opportunity to aspire to a higher education. Good gosh is it difficult. I’m taking 20 credits! Here’s the breakdown:
Currently, I have a double-major listed in Mechanical Engineering and German, a double-minor in Japanese and Military Science, and a certificate in Technical Communication. Who needs free-time anyway? I met with my advisor this week, and she said I might graduate in five years if I take summer courses haha. But one of the things Dad told me is that college is about broadening my palette. I doubt I’ll keep the Japanese minor, but it’s fun to explore my first year.
My classes are as follows:
Post number two will carry us through the 11 action-packed, surreal days I spent back in Nova (see definition here).
Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for me to establish a consistent internet presence with a little depth to it! As most of you are well aware, I returned to civilization and the land of social media only a short couple weeks ago having served a full-time, two-year, voluntary mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Communication was limited, which allowed for focus. I always joked that I was disappearing for two years like Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins – honing my caped crusading portfolio of capabilities, expertise, and ingenuity. You’ll never know…
Anyway, the point I was trying to illustrate was that correspondence was limited to archaic forms of weekly messaging. It suited its purposes, though, as I lead an adventurous lifestyle and it was a pleasant outlet for my thoughts in an attempt to clue you all in on what makes Jonny, Jonny. And I developed quite the fan-base. So here you are!
This will serve a double-purpose: to keep you all updated on my day-to-day and to replace a journal on my end. Enjoy! Updates on my life to be expected every Sunday~
