A Year of Reading

It's that time once again to reminisce upon the many books I have read this year. I hope I can remember them all.

The Name of the Wind-Patrick Rothfuss
The Wise Man's Fear-Patrick Rothfuss
Billions and Billions-Carl Sagan
Wingnuts-John Avlon (for an English paper)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone-J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets-J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azcaban-J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire-J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix-J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince-J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-J. K. Rowling
Pillar of Salt-Chris Peck
Slaughterhouse Five-Kurt Vonnegut
Leviathan-Scott Westerfeld
Behemoth-Scott Westerfeld
Goliath-Scott Westerfeld
Mistborn- Brandon Sanderson
The Well of Ascension-Brandon Sanderson
The Hero of Ages-Brandon Sanderson
A Short Stay in Hell-Steven Peck (coming soon March 2012)
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians -Brandon Sanderson
Myst: The Book of Atrus-Rand and Robyn Miller
The Scholar of Moab-Steven Peck

I very much enjoyed reading all the Harry Potters again one after the other. I had forgot how good they were. I'm tempted to read them again this year. My Dad's new book was also one of my favorite's. it's very creative and a fun read. All the books I've read this year were good reads and I would recommend them all!

Farewell Doc!

This past week the family dog Doc passed away. She was getting old so we knew it would happen eventually but it was seemed to happen too fast. Doc joined the family in 2000 and was with us for more that 11 years. One of my earliest memories of her was playing tug-o-war with my stuffed soccer ball. She was a happy and playful dog when she was young. I also enjoyed playing fetch with her on occasion.
One time in sixth grade one of my friends gave me a whole bunch of candy bars for letting borrow some books. I walked in my room the next day to find all the candy bars gone and the wrappers strewn about. Doc did have her naughty moments, though I'm glad she didn't die earlier from consuming all that chocolate. She would eat anything.

Doc loved walks. That was something we had in common. Whenever I needed to think or even just get out of the house for a bit (or both) I could always count on Doc to give me a reason to go out for walk. We have been on many walks together.
It was also fun bringing her on the beach trips and watching her run around and explore.
We knew that her time was coming for a while and one of my biggest fears was that she would just be thrown away. I was happy to hear that Dad took her on the dear hunt into the woods to bury her. I feel she deserved a proper burial.
Doc will be greatly missed by all of us. She was a good friend and family member

so I thought she deserved a tribute. Farewell Doc!

Adventures in California

I've been meaning to write about our California trip but I keep forgetting or I've just been lazy. The drive was long as usual but listening to Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan made it go a lot faster, it was a good book too. Just like last year I stayed at Tim and Jess's house and got to watch cool movies like The A team, Shooter, Live free or die hard, and Battle Las Angelos. It was also good to see little Kingston again, he's a hilarious kid with many expressions. It was his second birthday party. We did lot's of shopping, Mom was nice enough to get me some new shoes which were much needed. Cousin Alexie was nice enough to let me tag along to some of her friends fun activities. We also ate at some good places like Alberto's and squeeze in. I really liked that super burrito. It was sad to leave. On the way back we listened to the second Leviathan book called Behemoth. Here are a few pictures of the event.

We swam in Aunt Maureen's pool a lot.

Me and Em with Tim and Jess's birds.

Kingston liked getting really close to the camera.
Jess's cool cars cake.

The Three Jaron's

In celebration of the sixth season of Doctor Who coming out, I decided to have my own time traveling adventure. And since the doctor brought himself along on his travels in tales such as 'The Three Doctors' I decided to bring along two of my former selves in an adventure that I have entitled 'The Three Jarons.' Through matters I won't discuss here (some of which not being necessarily legal) I obtained a time machine. I first went and got my 19 year old self from Hawaii, he was a little reluctant to come with it probably being against the rules but after convincing him that the white handbook didn't say anything about time travel and that it would be a chance of a lifetime he decided to come. I next went and got my 5 year old self who decided to just tag along thinking his imagination just ran away with him.

We first went back in time to see how the pyramids were built. Turns out aliens really had nothing to do with their construction although the daleks did try and prevent them from being built thinking they were weapons to that would help the timelords destroy them. Luckily we were able take a dalek from behind, steel it's metal casing and my 19 year old self disguised himself as the dalek and convinced them they were harmless. And since the pyramids were in fact built they had no choice but to listen to him.

Next we went into the future and landed aboard a spaceship headed for the nearest star. There was just one problem, with the long voyage came division in the crew, some wanted to go home and there was a rebellion which the rest of the crew was able put down but not without serious damage to the ship. That is where we came in. I suddenly knew what to do. I went about fixing the flux capacitors and the fusion drives. I restored the oxygen factories and baked a cake while I was at it. How did I know what to do? How could I have fixed such and advanced futuristic ship? I was because I remembered what I did when I was a five year old, and then again watching myself fixing it as a 19 year old. By the time I was my 22 year old self I knew what to do.

After the adventures I returned my selves back to there proper places in time (after accidentally bring my five year old self five years later then he should have been (My parents probably were wondering why I was acting like such a child)), I got some well deserved rest and watched Doctor Who.

Change Time

Yesterday I watched the classic film 'Witness for the prosecution' which is about a lawyer who just after having a heart surgery, comes to defend a man accused of killing a rich widow. I was stunned to silence by the way he passionately defended the accused, as well as the dedication to the case. Because of that I have already began watching other law shows like JAG and Law and Order. I am also almost a quarter of the way through the book Crime and Punishment. It inspired me so much that today I went to the law school and changed my major to Law. My new dream is to be a professional lawyer and defend those who cannot defend themselves using the art of law. I see myself in the court room emotionally shouting my objections and loudly arguing my evidence. I will also be making a lot of cash like most lawyers do. It thrills me every time I think of going to work in my nice suit every day; I'm also planning on bringing the wigs back into style as they represent what it means to be a lawyer. So if you are hurt in a car accident or if you slip and fall on your way to the super market, I'll be the one to call.

In case you haven't already realized... April Fools!

School and Stuff

This has probably been my most challenging semester yet. Who knew that there could be so much homework? Even though it's tough and I'm consistently doing homework, I'm enjoying my classes. My toughest class is probably physic, it's had me think in ways I've never thought. I'm really starting to enjoy it although most of my learning comes from the T.A.'s and out of the text book.

I think this preparing me for whats to come in future school years. With my major in engineering I going to have to get used to all this work. My roommate with the same major is constantly busy.

I'm looking forward to future classes and and actually starting the engineering program. And, in fall of next year I can start taking Astronomy classes. That will be great fun! Well, back to work.

Books I Have Read This Last Year

The books I've read this last year are as follows:

(In no particular order)

Anathem - Neal Stephenson

Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay - Suzanne Colloins

Graveyard Book - Neil Gaimon

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Phillip K. Dick

The Giver - Lois Lowry

A Short Stay in Hell - Steve Peck

Fablehaven - Brandon Mull

Sabriel - Garth Nix

Books I plan to read this year:

The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss (already done)

The Wise Man's fear - Patrick Rothfuss

Billions and Billions - Carl Sagan

Relativity: A very short introduction

Anathem - Neal Stephenson (again)

Harry Potter Series- J.K. Rowling (again)

The passing of the techno mages - ???

There will probably be more to come as the year goes on. Stay tuned.

The New Year

Wellp, It is the new year. I suppose I should start it off right and set some sort of goals. Goals.......goals........goals.....well I suppose I could probably give this blog more attention. I've been neglecting it lately. I'm going to also going to try and spend much more time on school work. I also want to become less shy. I luckily had marching band last semester to help me make friends but I won;t anymore until the next fall. I hope to see my friends between then, too. So that's a start for the new year.

Looking back over the last year I have to ask myself: what have I learned? The answer: lots of stuff, I spent most of the time in school I better have learned something! But I have also learned many life lessons like: being myself, my family rocks, and making food takes more effort than previously expected.

What do I want to accomplish this next year? Well first and foremost (as it's been for a while) I want to finally start working again. That way I can establish some sort of permanent residence in SLC. I could actually afford somewhat nice things like ground beef, real butter and maybe a book here and there.

Ss i guess that's a start. We'll see what happens as the year unfolds. So far so good, nothing has gone wrong yet! I should probably get past the second day, though. wellp, here we go.