RIP dear blog. You have been replaced by Twitter. I am sorry. I'll come back to you when I have something to say that requires more than 140 characters.
@Jon_Shipley
@SelectBankcard
Today I learned a valuable lesson. Really, it all started last year when I went to vote. I arrived at the voting booth and, as is typically the case, there were all kinds of offices up for vote that I was ignorant to. I asked the lady running the booth if she had any information on the candidates. She did not. I was stuck wondering the basis on which I should vote. The candidate's name? Their party affiliation? The sign I saw on the road to work? Instead of voting the party line, I decided I would withhold my vote for the races on which I was uniformed. I figured it would be a disservice to those running to cast my vote blindly.
Today, I was better prepared. Before heading to the booths, I looked at the sample ballot and researched my preferences in each case. On a side note, as crazy as it seems, many of the candidates for some of the low profile races don't even have a webpage, so this online researching effort is only successful to a point. At any rate, this morning, I watched a good portion of a debate between the candidates for Utah County Commissioner - Gary Anderson and Joel Wright. It didn't take long for Joel Wright to win my support. It seemed that Anderson was campaigning to keep his cush job while Wright was campaigning to make a difference. Anderson seemed to represent what is wrong with the government and Wright seemed intent to change that.
I watched the polls closely tonight and was disappointed to see Wright lose. My guess is that if more people would have been exposed to the candidates, Wright would have won. People, such as my former self, seem to vote for the incumbant or the candidate that the party leaders are endorsing.
At any rate, the lesson that I learned is that a good citizen should research their vote prior to election day so that they can actually give support (beyond their own vote) to their preferred candidate's campaign. I have done this on the high-profile elections, but have neglected the lower-profile votes (which probably make a more immediate impact on my life). I wish I would have known about Joel Wright two weeks ago, so that I could have thrown my support to him when it would have made more than a one-vote difference...
After some minor negotiations with our wives (with the exception of the 2 minors) Rob, Dave, Mike Beam, Drew, Drew's friend Mitch, and I set out to descend Yankee Doodle Canyon in the Silver Reef area. Here are some pics (click on them to make them larger):
Rob on the first rap:
Some genius wearing his helmet on the wrong end:
Drew and I on the second 80' rap (this is why we come folks):
Dave and Drew on the first stemming obstacle:
Some creative teamwork to bypass a pothole full of water (it was a bit too cold for a full dip):
Drew on his last stemming adventure, which ended badly as he fell ~8 feet into the shallow pool below. Glad the worse that happened was some hurt pride.
Thanks to the wives for letting us go. It was a lot of fun. Hopefully we converted a few into the addiction that is canyoneering.
Note to future self (ala Bill & Ted's): Try combining the first two rappels by using the big tree above the two drops (or possibly the anchors). Bring a 25' rope to partner assist the obstacles after the rappels. Don't exit until after the pothole (there is a first exit, which isn't the right one). When scaling the exit, the path starts on the left side.
My Dad, brothers, and I travel to a destination hosting the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament each year. It has been 11+ years. The last three years, our weekends were ruined by watching BYU blow their first game of each respective tournament in person. I knew BYU going to OK City while we went to New Orleans could only mean good things for both of us. I was right.
Matt and I started things off right, going to Bourbon Street on St. Pat's. Our biggest mistake of the night: not bringing a my camera. After witnessing the craziness happening on that street, I was feeling pretty good about the relative magnitude of our mistake. Here is a low-class mobile phone pic.
Thursday, we watched ball for about 13 hours. 3 of our 4 games were great...and wouldn't you know it...BYU won in double OT. The hall crowd in the stadium huddled around the TV and most were pulling for the cougs along with us (probably out of hatred for Florida). It felt great to get that monkey off our backs.
Today, we had some beingets (Cafe Du Monde coming tomorrow)...:
..., went on a swamp tour...:
...and topped it off at Preservation Hall, which was super rad - Preservation Hall is basically a historical Jazz hall (if a room so small can be considered a hall) where a great New Orleans Jazz band plays each night. It was awesome - I thought a lot about my sister Holly during the concert...she would have loved it. Even to those ignorant to Jazz and what it takes in general to play those instruments, it was an incredible atmosphere and the talent of those playing was impressive. Walking out of the hall (capping off the intake of the Jazz culture after listing to the many street performers over the past few days), my nephew Preston told my brother Matt, "When I grow up, I want to be a street performer." New Orleans will make you think things like that. Today definitely sold me on the French Quarter...so much history. The culture is almost tangible. I will definitely make my way back here. Here are some pics of the hall:
The Buffalo Sabres.
I know. I am not happy about it either. Dave's argument was convincing. I have thought about it a lot since. I think my only chance at becoming an NHL fan is following a story that I care about. It will be difficult to pick up any kind of dedication towards a team without some kind of connection. I tried it with the NFL as a junior high student: I thought I could become a Browns fan. That didn't work at all. Soon, the Eagles were starting Ty Detmer and my love for the Eagles stuck. So, Ryan Miller, you are to blame for this. When your contract expires in 2014 (yes, I looked up his contract to make sure I wasn't committing to a team only for Miller to leave in the off season), I reserve the right to switch teams. For now, it is the Sabres (I guess). I'll try to be more excited about this after watching a few games.
Also, I will try not to think of Dunder Mifflin's new parent company when I say Sabre.
If you haven't been watching the Olympic hockey games, you probably have already been told: you are missing out. Luckily for me, I have been watching the games because (1) the USA played Canada last Saturday and (2) I listen to Jim Rome and the discussion for a number of days leading up to that game was USA vs. Canada smack. So I was lucky enough to watch an incredible game last Saturday and a few good games sense.
The problem is this: I have been thinking that maybe I would parlay my recent excitement about hockey into a reason to begin following the NHL...only...I have no team to follow. My first thought was to follow the team Ryan Miller, the USA's goalie, plays for. Two minutes later after looking him up on ESPN.com: The Buffalo Sabres. The Buffalo Sabres? Are you kidding me? No thank you. I have no idea which teams in the NHL are better than others, but I can already tell you where the Sabres sit. Moreover, do I really want to rope myself into liking a team that would require me to visit Buffalo to see them? Again, no thanks.
So, I am turning to you blog stalkers...please find me the NHL team that I should follow. And please...don't give me the Red Sox or Yankees of the NHL. Something promising, but not too popular please. Please provide a good argument for me liking your suggestion.
Thank you.
For the past five+ years, I have been fighting a losing battle against social networking. I am proud to say that I do not have a myspace, facebook, or linkedin account. Despite this, I have a dark secret...and its name is Twitter. You see, it all started a few months ago when I was battling for season Jazz tickets. To be able to answer one of the day's question for season tickets, you were required to follow the 1320 staff on Twitter. I did the unthinkable that morning...[t][w][i][t][t][e][r][.][c][o][m]...I felt like a democrat at a tea party. The first few weeks were innocent - trying to win the radio contests while following Ocho Cinco and Shaq. Then my first few tweets happened:
Going to timp cave. I think I licked the salt/pepper shaker last time @ ~10 yrs old.
10:57 AM Oct 17th, 2009 from mobile web
My second visit to Hicksville. Hicksville? It is just south of Muttontown.
9:08 PM Nov 3rd, 2009 from web
I dare u to name a 5 hr drive more boring than the drive from slc to boise
2:35 AM Nov 25th, 2009 from mobile web
Pretty soon I was hooked. It has the advantages to blogging, but it can be done from my best friend not named Jess - my mobile phone. It was a match made in heaven.
Now you know Liz...there is a reason my blog has run dry. As to update you on the last few days of my life, here are my latest tweets:
Remind me again why I can't watch Lebron and D Wade in the 4th? Oh yeah, we are recording Grey's Anatomy (and The Office).
about 1 hour ago from mobile web
Beck after Ira knocked down his domino office building for the fifth time: "he is not my brother anymore"
about 1 hour ago from mobile web
@insaneinidaho In 6 months, you will be glad to have and extra driver and sad to pay the insurance and repair bills.
about 4 hours ago from web
One minute after downing a full dose of Nyquil: "Jon, I think my water broke"
1:00 AM Feb 3rd from mobile web
Don't worry, it was a false alarm. For further updates, see Jon_Shipley on Twitter. A shout out to my current Twitter follower (my sister Holly - @insaneinidaho).
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