Tribute to an Old Friend

Many weeks have come and gone, and yet there is still no writings on EFY this year. Trust me, they are coming. The weeks have certainly not been without incidents....

On this day, Wednesday of 7-8-09, the Martin family witnessed the end to another era in this now quiet house deep in the swamps of Texas. I personally watched as my good friend of 18 years breathed his last breath today. For quite a while he had been on the decline, suffering blindness and near deafness, as well as labored breathing due to a struggling heart which in turn complicated things for his lungs and that in turn did not supply his brain with enough oxygen to the point where it would go into periods of shut down, leaving him temporarily comatose and always disoriented. As a family, we had decided that it was time.

It's strange how it seems that not too long ago we laid to rest our dear sister, and though this instance we did not say good-bye to an actual family member, it's about as close as you get. Even so, at that time when Ally left us, shortly thereafter we celebrated the birth of new life in my niece Elizabeth, and now we celebrate new life in that great nuisance of a kitten running amuck now. Timing...

Good-bye Fang. You were not the best of cats, but you were the best of friends. I was with you until the very end, and I hope you'll remember that someday when we meet again.

Back In Texas... for the Third Time this Summer

Ahhh, the fireworks, the giant LCD screens, the muggy air, and the smell and sounds of alcohol. Must be an Astros game! And in case you are wondering what alcohol sounds like: "Hey you! What you doin after the game? Strippers and steroids?!"

This was a tight one too: Wandy vs. Verlander, down to the eighth, and the tying run just walked home... Tejada gets the go-ahead run in with a sac fly to right field, just feet away from where we are sitting!

Of course, the Stro's are almost at the bottom of their division, so playing the Tigers, this game has relatively little consequence. This has been an all around BAD year for sports. Well, any year that the Lakers win a championship is a bad year. The triumph of ego over sportsmanship.

Anyways, I am back in Texas now. I just flew home for the third time this summer. Currently, I am blogging, but tomorrow I head out to San Antonio to work my fourth session of EFY this summer in San Antonio... not my fourth IN San Antonio, like my fourth session of EFY overall. My previous three were in Provo. Someday maybe I will write about those weeks.

So I walk out of the airport this past Thursday and my first impression was that I was standing in the exhaust of some overheating vehicle. Turns out it was just 100 degrees outside... literally. Add the humidity and this place feels like a different hemisphere than Utah (and people were complaining about how hot 76 was up there!). It could be worse... I could be walking around outside all day in long pants and a polo with complaining kids. Wait...

So, apart from the wonder of global warming (which is apparently a taxable threat now), I am enjoying going back country! Look at them boots, a new kind of suit, and back to my roots! It's a song.

The End of Temporary Insanity

So, for the last three weeks or so, I've been chillin in Texas just doing work for my pops. Ha, chillin... ya right. Ain't nothin chill about this state. Just a lot of... sweatiness...

In fact, as soon as he walks in this room, I will abruptly end this post to go help him turn the shed into his very first man-cave workshop. This is what my dad does for fun. He takes breaks from church work and university work to do yard work. 

So it's been a great stay. After yet another semester of so-so grades, my spirits have been lifted spending time with my family who seems to appreciate me regardless of my utter lack of progress. 

Highlights of the stay in Texas:

1. HOME COOKING! I'm up to 150 lbs! 

2. How sweet it is to be in an environment with other Rockets fans! We celebrated going further than anyone in this world thought we would go, together. And you know what, if the Lakers don't win a championship, their season is a failure. FAILURE! The Rockets already had a successful season. Imagine what would happen if we didn't have so much adversity with player health? We probably wouldn't be as good. 

Anyways, I want Denver to beat the Lakers just to show David Stern that God is still in charge. 

3. I am sporting a sweet stache for May's mustache appreciation theme. Unfortunately, I've got EFY next week and I don't think it'd be a good idea to show up looking like a pedophile. 

4. I went biking at Brazos Bend and almost ran over an alligator on my bike. My nephew is witness to that. 

5. Speaking of nephews, there are always great stories going along with the familiar phrase, "Kids say the darndest things." I was discussing with one of my nephews what a 'swirly' was, and he was like, "I put my finger in the toilet... TODAY!" 

6. Yesterday for Laurel's birthday, we went to Cici's pizza. Today, I can't take enough Immodium. It's funny cause about this time last year as I was driving around Heber City... did I post about that little incident? I hope not.

7. And the BEST part about waking up in Texas is.... oh wait, I gotta get back to work.

I'll be takin the story back to Utah come Saturday. Until then.... I need to change my pants.

Maybe I Am Just Lucky...

We all make our own luck in this life, it's true... but some things just happen. Take my phone for instance: every now and then, it just has its monthly period, where it wigs out and goes upside and backwards, and that's on a good day. Lately, I open it and don't even get a screen, just some purple lines. Yesterday it was upside, backwards, and the color was inverted! Silly phone!
Today I was playing basketball, just a simple pick up game, two on two with my roomies. I was guarding Justin as he drove to the basket, and a crash of drums and a flash of elbow and as good ole Yogi put it, "It's like deja vu all over again!"
My cleaning check for check out is tomorrow. I have job six, which includes the following: vacuum the entire apartment, dust the entire apartment, clean out every storage closet, sweep the patio, wash every window, and wash the doors and walls. Oh yeah, and make sure jobs one through five are done also, which nobody has touched our bathroom yet so I will have to do as well. I have yet to pass a cleaning check on the first go-round here, and this time I don't get a re-check. And the new guy is moving his stuff in, so it's all over the floors. And the fee for failing is much higher on check-outs.
At least school is over, right? And I have a whole summer full of EFY to look forward to because I should get all the weeks I applied for because returning male counselors are few and far between. Oh wait...

I Lost My Optimism Somewhere And I Can't Find It

So my plan for EFY this summer didn't work out when they didn't offer me any more contracts. I have just the one in mid-summer, so I may as well go to school and find a way to apply for the Communications program, which looks pretty dismal considering I am 22 credits over the limit and every one will count against me in the process.
Then again, now the 211 class is full and 239 isn't even offered in the summer. So scrap that plan, I guess I'll just work full time.
I took my books back today from last semester and this one... BYU didn't buy any of them back. So, perhaps I'll have some ceremonial burnings... "I'd like to burn this textbook, I hate this stuff so much!"- It's from a song.
Then I came back to my car after 45 minutes on campus and found a parking citation on it. I thought reading days counted as Saturdays. EXPLETIVE!
So, as minuscule as all these rejections are, I still can't help but be baffled by it all... where did I go wrong? Perhaps it's just time to welcome Murphy into my life with arms wide open, knowing that if there is a possibility today that my pants will catch fire, then they definitely will.

On a positive note, the ward talent show did happen. I was the MC, and the singer for the closing act. It actually went well! This is another reason I'm going to miss my roomies so much.
If you want to see it, just check my facebook account, it's called "The Todd Martin Experience".

Book of the Man of Little Consequence

Chapter 4:

1. And it was the end of the third month of the second year since the return of the man of little consequence. And the end of the semester drew nigh.
2. And this is a time of great stress; of weeping and wailing and gnashing of papers and chewing of pants and random bouts of loud laughter.
3. And the man of little consequence did howl and leap about the room, and spittle fell down into his beard, for he had not shaved in many days.
4. Three was the number of papers he had due, and the number of papers he had due were three.
5. Four was not the number of papers he had due, neither had he two excepting that he then proceeded to three.
6. Five is right out.

7. Then came the time for the man of little consequence to make decisions of great consequence.
8. But he shied away, for he was not ready to make great decisions, nor was he known for such.
9. And he continued to await the sign in which the miraculous delivery system (or, as some say, gmail account) would read, "EFY contracts available".
10. Behold! Twice has the sign appeared, but the second time was for a week far into the summer, isolated by surrounding undecided time as Gilligan's island.
11. For this his excitement was naught.

12. And it came to pass that he ate hamburger that had been opened in the fridge for nearly forty days, albeit forty is a bit of an exaggeration, though an accurate one.
13. And his stomach was wroth, and his head did spin.
14. And he spoke to the hamburger helper, "Almost, thou persuadest me to be a vegetarian".

15. And it came to pass that the man of little consequence did not complete his home teaching by the end of the month.
16. And it seemed as if he were cursed and his milk and ice cream became slippery to him.
17. But such was not so, for he only consumed such in vast quantities and forgot the joy shortly thereafter in the ensuing nausea.
18. And he left this blog for a time to consume the last of the cookies and cream.

19. And this law he kept above all others in the third month of the second year since his return- thou shalt be frugal! Thou shalt not shop when thou art a hungered, nor shalt thou spend frivolously thy time on video games.
21. This he kept in his heart as he enjoyed the day's third bowl of ice cream.
22. And the cookies and cream were no more.

23. The man of little consequence went forth to play basketball.
24. And an aquaintance, yet not a friend, of the man of little consequence was poked in the forehead so that he writhed and convulsed on the floor.
25. And the man of little consequence did ask, "What, wast thou indeed raised from thy childhood by pillows?"

26. And when he had returned from his date, his roommates did enquire of him, "Didst thou lose thine virgin lips?"
27. And he answered them in a parable saying:
28. "Which is more likely, that the man of little consequence would kiss a woman, or that he would one day go to school without wearing pants?"
29. And they answered, "The second".
30. And the man of little consequence replied, "Neither do I answer your question. Go now, and torment me no longer..."

31. This is the account of the third month of the second year of the man of little consequence.
32. And it is a somewhat altered version of truth, for this book is not a perfect book.
33. And the man of little consequence did grow hungry for his fourth bowl of ice cream, and feared making the keyboard exceedingly sticky, so he left off his record for a season.

Wired Hamsters

Here's your energy crisis solution America!

Cheeese!