An Attitude of Gratitude

This is the season of being grateful and I think I should contribute. However, the typical listing of things one is thankful for is just too linear for me. I hope you can appreciate my alternate format:

Radiators are great because they don't hate;

I am grateful for the fact that I got out of Salt Lake City last night. After being de-iced the workers fitted our plane with Nordic skis and handed the pilots ski poles. I believe they used them to poke far-away instruments and buttons in the cockpit- sort of as a remote. As we skied onto the runway in our jet there was (no joke here) at least two inches of snow on the tarmac. Never have I ever taken off in such adverse conditions as were extant in Snowvember 2010. Not to mention that I was literally on one of the last planes out of Salt Lake City before the rest were canceled indefinitely. And by indefinitely I mean the entire Delta fleet blew away shortly after I took off. So not only am I thankful that I made it out before the storm but also that we didn't get blown away by the snow machines they brought in to bring about the effect of a winter storm;

Almost because charity demands extra fanfare, Gratitude heavily I justify; kin, lovely mithridates, noodles or pasta, quietude, rustic scenes too (ultimately visible xanadus- your zeniths). Do you recognize the significance of that sentence?

Thanks be in order for banks, hanks, and trancs(ulizer) guns that take down large, mean animals like obsessive e. coli bacterium or over-sized salmon. 

I'm grateful for Thai babies in funny straw hats that used to look at me while I slept in my child's size trundle bed with fire trucks on the mattress (see photo above).

Yep, this is certainly a fantastic season and a great holiday. I have much to be thankful for in deed and in thought.

Three Terrific, Tardily Tangential Thoughts

I think maybe AirBud is the only one who has tried harder than me to get an intramural champion shirt from BYU.

It's been said that the three most sought after and prized blessings to leave BYU with are:

1. A spouse
2. A degree
3. An intramural champion shirt

At this point I'm thinking the spouse thing is not going to happen so to make up for it I'm getting two degrees (straight Mathematics and Mathematics Education). To me the number three is more important than the things the three represents. But as for the intramural shirt, well, I'm still in contention here in my final semester in Provo. I have been on more than several teams in my nine semester career here, including inner tube water polo, volleyball, coed basketball, men's basketball, tennis, and tennis doubles. This semester alone I have done men's doubles tennis, coed basketball and coed volleyball. My tennis season came to an end after a 1-2 record but my other teams are still alive. I think my partner and I would have done better if he hadn't eaten three donuts before our match, leading to a rather phlegmatic effort. My basketball team lost the last four games of the regular season (there's only five games in a season) but then came out strong and dominated the first tournament game. It helps a lot when you poke their star player in the eye and then go on a 28-0 run. Our basketball team is now 2-5. A single loss will end the season for good, but it's not going to happen. And then there's volleyball. Our team has a surprising 3-2 record ending the regular season with our first tournament game later this week.
There was one night this semester when I had a basketball game and volleyball game at the same time, and, seeing no other options, I played in both. I would substitute out of one game, run down the hall to the other gymnasium, switch my jersey, and substitute into the second game. I did this several times until my basketball team was down by over twenty points and then I just stuck with volleyball. Everything worked out except when I called a volleyball player out for a double-dribble and the tried to spike the basketball into the hoop on a 'serve.' I'm pulling really hard to get that meritorious shirt. I'm thinking if we developed some sort of idioglossia on my basketball team we would be more successful, but when I suggested it to my captain he thought I called him a 'glassy idiot' and benched me during the timeout.
P.S. I looked up some synonyms for the word 'throes' on www.thesaurus.com and they suggested I search for the phrase: "What are the Germans experiencing while in the throes of Shadenfreude?" Do yo have an answer to that puzzling question?

R.I.P. Baseball Season 2010

This time of year is, as you may know, my favorite season. One of those reasons is the fantastic quality of baseball games. October baseball is enceinte with fantastic plays and competitive games. Unfortunately, this year my predictions were colder than Cruelle Deville in a meat locker sucking on an ice cube while sitting on a steel bench. Every team I rooted for lost (except in the Yankees/Rangers series). When the San Francisco Giants won on Monday night there was a loud caterwaul heard coming from beneath my pillow. You may have thought it was my mouth, but really there was a cat stuck under there. I have no idea how he got there. Now that the season is over it's time to chafe inwardly about the past season. If you don't like the inward chafing you may stop reading now.
One highlight of this season is that I was successfully able to think of one instance when I would root for the Yankees, much to my brother-in-law's cheeky grin. Here's the scenario: If I was at the game with my sister and brother-in-law (legit Yankees fans from NYC), at Yankee Stadium with my baby niece Ruby on my lap, and the Yankees were playing the Los Angeles Lakers- I would root for the pinstripes; but only once. I might give off a "Go Yankees" but just the one time. And it might be mumbled under my breath. And I might throw the word 'candle' in at the end. But, I feel it's a starting step toward baseball reconciliation with 'that side' of the family. In 2011, however, we will all be living in D.C. and have decided the Washington Nationals will make a great peacemaking team.
The other highlight of this season was going to a Red Sox game on Cinco de Mayo. My BoSox didn't give me much to cheer about this year, but that game was pretty sweet. That picture was taken before I went to Thailand.