Percussion!

Last Wednesday was Elizabeths first concert, since then I have been thinking a lot about Mr. Wolf, my old band teacher. He was so cool, he was the perfect teacher. He understands exactly how students will react to his criticism and compliments, plus he knows what he is teaching. I'm going to share some of my favorite Mr. Wolf memories.

In one of our last concerts of my 9th grade year, Mr. Wolf did an improv vibraphone solo for jazz band. It was so cool! He is amazing, his tie was flippin', hands flying, and veins bulging. He is always really modest in class, and that was the first time I ever got to see him really go at it. AWESOME!

Iron Cross. This was one of Mr. Wolf's favorite punishments. It involves: bending the knees until your thighs burn, extending your arms out, wrists up at a 90 degree angle, thumb and index finger in an "L" shape, back and neck straight, and pain.

One time we were practicing out in the hall, and got really bored, so (without thinking) we started playing flies up with our practice pads. Mr. Wolf came out...Iron Cross.

In 9th grade, our band had the chance to play in St. George in a big competition that was a really big deal. We worked REALLY hard. We had at least 2-3 two and a half hour rehearsals a week. We played really well in the festival, and we sent the recording in to a national competitions of Jr. Highs and High Schools. We finished in the top ten.

Mr. Wolf's favorite saying is "Good is the enemy of great." What a great life lesson.


"Good is the enemy of great"
Heath Wolf, "Wolfman"

Quotable Friday!

I've been sick all day, but I'm feeling better; however, if the quotes seem abnormally easy, blame my sick tummy.

Jimmy quit, Joey got married, shoulda known we'd never get far.

He might be okay, (Big explosion) Well, probably not now.

Despite the low comment numbers

Despite the small amount of comments, I'll trust that there are people still wondering about the two "Quotable Friday" answers.

I believe there is a time for meditation in cathedrals of our own.
Summer Highland Falls by Billy Joel. Really hard to say but this might be my favorite Billy Joel song, which means it might be my favorite song.

If you give me 99%, my job will be very, very easy.
From the movie, "Miracle" He is telling the players that they better give him everything they've got, or else he'll cut them. Great movie!

I HAVE AN A- IN AP EURO. EVERYONE CHEER LOUDLY! I HAVEN'T EVEN DONE ANY OF THE EXTRA CREDIT FOR THIS TERM YET! ("yet" being the keyword!)

"Peace of mind is not the absence of conflict from life, but the ability to cope with it."
Anonymous

Quotable Friday!

Hey, sorry that last post didn't work, I wasn't really thinking about what would happen when you all commented. But that last post did inspire me to start a new tradition:

Quotable Fridays!

Every Friday I'm going to quote 1-3 movie, tv show, or music lines and hopefully they will be hard enough that it'll work. We'll see. But first things first: (sorry, for some reason my computer won't let me italicize or bold anything so it might be hard to move from music line to answer)

1. This is 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, 50% pain, and 100% reason to remember the name.
Remember the Name by Fort Minor. This is a great "get pumped before a game" song, I know it from BYU highlight videos.

2. Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet, just a man and his will to survive.
Of course, Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, again, a great get-pumped song.

3. Join in the fight, that will give you the right to be free.
Do You Hear the People Sing from Les Miserables. I don't really like any other music from musicals, but I really like Les Mis

4. Lift me up so high that I cannot fall.
Flood by Jars of Clay. I really really liked this song for a while and now I'm a little burned out, still a cool song though.

5. You've got me stealin' your love away, 'cause you never give it.
Time For Me To Fly by REO Speedwagon. What can I say, I'm my fathers son.

6. I don't know what it is, but I have to laugh when she reveals me.
She's Got A Way by Billy Joel of course, I used to love the Rockin' Billy stuff (still do) but I'm coming to appreciate more his mellow classics.

7. Did you think that I would cry on the phone?
Swing Swing by All-American Rejects. Of the small array of newer music that I have, this is one of my favorites, I had to throw some in that you old-timers wouldn't know.

8. It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time.
Time Of Your Life by Green Day (actually I just found out that they didn't write this song, but I've never heard the original and I don't know who its by) one of my favorite songs.

9. We should get jerseys, 'cause we make a good team.
Must Have Done Something Right by Relient K. This is another song in my small "newer" collection. Awesome song.

10. I think sometimes you forget where the heart is.
Empty Apartment by Yellowcard. I like this song, but not as much as most of the songs on here.

(I am really enjoying this, so I'm going to do 5 more)

11. Reaching ever upward to the light, no growth for them has come with ease.
Constance by My Uncle Jesse (hmm thats going to sound like it's the band name) no really, it's by my uncle, whose name is Jesse. I think it might bug him or crack him up (correct me if I'm wrong Jesse) but I still like his older stuff)

12. I'm your only friend, I'm not your only friend, but I'm a little glowing friend, but really I'm not actually your friend, but I am.
Birdhouse in your Soul by They Might Be Giants. If you like comedy style music (like Weird Al) you have to listen to They Might Be Giants.

13. Move like a jellyfish, rhythm is nothing, you go with the flow, you don't stop.
Bubble Toes by Jack Johnson. Currently, this is in the 18 way tie for my favorite mellow song.

14. What will it take till you believe in me, the way that I believe in you?
Just the Way You Are by Billy Joel. What can I say about Billy, he says it all in his songs.

15. Have you ever heard the sounds in the shadows of a song?
Every Ship Must Sail Away by Blue Merle. Blue Merle holds like 5 of the 18 top mellow song slots, they're awsome.

Hard to say who the winner is, Matt got all but 3 (in the comment I deleted) but he googled all the ones he didn't know and I don't totally trust that he knew all the ones he said that he didn't google. I hope that was fun though!

Quotable Friday Mystery Quotes:

I believe there is a time for meditation in cathedrals of our own.

If you give me 99%, my job will be very, very easy.

Music is Great

In case anyone hasn't been able to tell, I think a lot. And I love things like quotes or songs that me think and get inspired/excited. Today I'm going to write some of my favorite lines from some of my favorite songs and you guys see how many you can name the song or artist.

If I had money to burn, I would offer some kind of prize, like a gift certificate or something, but unfortunately I don't have money to burn so your motivation is how happy you'll make me by commenting.

1. This is 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, 50% pain, and 100% reason to remember the name. (for those of you who know this one, don't worry, I listen to the clean version)

2. Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet, just a man and his will to survive.

3. Join in the fight, that will give you the right to be free.

4. Lift me up so high that I cannot fall.

5. You've got me stealin' your love away, 'cause you never give it.

6. I don't know what it is, but I have to laugh when she reveals me.

7. Did you think that I would cry on the phone?

8. It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time.

9. We should get jerseys, 'cause we make a good team.

10. I think sometimes you forget where the heart is.

(I am really enjoying this, so I'm going to do 5 more)

11. Reaching ever upward to the light, no growth for them has come with ease.

12. I'm your only friend, I'm not your only friend, but I'm a little glowing friend, but really I'm not actually your friend, but I am.

13. Move like a jellyfish, rhythm is nothing, you go with the flow, you don't stop.

14. What will it take till you believe in me, the way that I believe in you?

15. Have you ever heard the sounds in the shadows of a song?

After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.
-Aldous Huxley

P.S. Sorry, I didn't think about how you will all be able to see what other people guessed, so just write the ones you know (i.e. I know 3 for sure, and I'm pretty sure about 12, 4, and 8) and tomorrow I will reveal the answers.

Juggling

I know I've already mentioned it in several posts, but I L-O-V-E soccer. The uniqueness (is that a word) of the game, the conditioning it takes, the feeling that you must play as a team and yet one person can make a difference in the game.

One of my favorite aspects of soccer is juggling. The concentration that it takes and the way it really does improve your performance of the field facinates me. I still remember when I first started juggling:

My dad and I would go out in our back yard at our old house, and juggle between us. We would keep track of our record, but we allowed one bounce. (I hope that made sense to everyone.) I didn't really like it at first, it was hard and my dad was better than me and I was usually the one who screwed things up. I think our highest record was 13, and when we got it we were ecstatic!

I beat my personal record again on Friday, now it's 710. Although I know I should be thrilled with that accomplishment, I'm not. The biggest reason is this: Another kid on my team is also really good at juggling, although we aren't super competitive, it is always my goal to beat his record when his is higher than mine and vice versa (sp?). Reubens record is 721. I missed it by 11. Ya, frustrating. But it's ok, Reuben is Columbian, he's better than me by birth :-)

Anyway, as I have been thinking about juggling lately I have realized how similar to life it is; no matter how good I get, I still drop it sometimes. Sometimes I make a really bad mistake, I juggle for 710 times, and all of a sudden, I drop it!

Sometimes in life we think we've got it all figured out, left-right left-right thigh-thigh left-right right-left. We've got a great rythm going and then...BAM we drop the ball. We screw up.

It can be frustrating when we realize we're never going to juggle for our whole lives, we're going to drop it, no matter what, at some point we're going to drop it. But the great thing is that when we do, the ball will always be waiting for us to beat our record again, and we get better every time we try.

The ball is always waiting
- Josh Crowley

Daniel Powter

Bad Day. More like a bad mood, but it's kind of a bad day too. My blog won't let me customize anything, I'm getting agitated with people easily, I have a slight headache, and I don't really want to go do my chores. So I'm going to try to write my emotions all out onto this blog and be happy for the rest of the day.

It is the drive when you can't go on
It is the strength to stand when you know you will fall
It is the power when power is lost
It is the force that lifts you through the blood, sweat, and tears
It is the intensity in the veins of a winner
It is the concentration required for the victory
It is the knowledge acquired after hours of intense practice
It eats Wheaties for breakfast
It lays awake at night
It knows no boundaries
It hears no whistle
It dwells deep in the heart of a champion
Waiting to be called upon
What is it?
It is will
It is determination
It is desire
It is passion
It is ardor
It is love for the game

Joga Bonito-The Beautiful Game

(I want a really sweet soccer picture right here, but unfortunately I'm on dial up)

I beat my juggling record last night, 564.


"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will."
Vince Lombardi

P.S. If you like to read my incredible blog, but I don't know you, SWEET! But I would like it if you told me if I should know you or if you just happened to come across my blog and you like it.

The Amazing Mr. Woo

Thanks For Commenting even though it was misleadingwhen I saw that there were 7 comments because thomas and matt both posted twice

Fine dad, I won't be *just* like you. I'll only be *mostly* like you. Jk, thanks to everyone who commented.

I wrote this in 9th grade.

Oh What Fun It Is To Water-Ski

I hear the zipper and now I’m awake
My muscles are sore and I’m starting to quake
Soon I remember, the sooner the better
Quickly goes on my black, hooded sweater

A little hot chocolate I quickly sip
And I try to forget about my sore hip
After a bite of muffin, we’re on the lake
And the feeling I’m getting is sweeter than cake

I slip off my shirt and I want to dose
A whiff of smoke softly brushes my nose
I remember last night, with the music and laughs
A little more sleep could’ve helped my calves

I quickly dive in, and catch my breath
The soreness in my muscles now feels like death
I surface the water and slip on my ski
Ah! Now it’s warm, I just went pee

I’m on top of the water and it’s smooth as glass
No boats to see, no boats to pass
This feels like heaven, I’m totally free
My soreness forgot, I don’t feel so achy

With freedom of motion, I zig and I zag
The tighter the turn, the less the sag
As I make a cut, my body moans
I’m gonna hit the water, I feel it in my bones

I hit the water, as hard as concrete,
Again my body and the soreness meet
I was just getting dry! Now I’m all wet
I search for my ski, which I swim to get

I’m limp and tired and back in the boat
Oh, how grateful I am that it can float
“Give me a rest!” is my body’s plea
Yet oh what fun it is to water-ski


"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

My 100 things

I am going to attempt to think of 100 things about myself.

1. I love the rain

2. I catch myself thinking about thinking, which I then realize is really thinking about thinking about thinking, which I then realize in thinking about thinking about thinking about thinking, then I realize tha-oh you get the point.

3. I love to write poems, but they usually aren't that great.

4. Today in computer tech, I hit 78 words per minute! I think thats a high for me. (Of course, it was just typing a pretty simple sentence over and over, but hey, I'll count it.)

5. Along with eternity, my mind cannot comprehend how people can't see that BYU is the best school ever (ok that sounds a little over the top, but I'm serious, it doesn't make sense to me)

6. One of the best feelings in the world to me is right after you've thrown up when you're sick, it feels so relieving.

7. I'm maintaining a B+ in AP Euro!

8. I really hated 7th grade, every aspect of it

9. I believe in this quote from a book I just read called "The Alchemist", "When someone is striving to reach their personal destiny, the whole universe combines to help them achieve it"

10. I think a lot.

11. I really love my Crowley Family

12. I really love my Nilsen Family

13. My jr. high band teacher is one of my heroes.

14. I always plan celebrations that I'm going to do when I score a goal, but when I score, I think about it and I always think it would make me look way braggy, so I just get this dumb little smile on my face.

15. If I could go back in time, I think I would first go to my grandfathers shop when my dad worked there

16. Then I would see what my mom was like

17. Just recently, several people have told me that I am the most easy-going person they know

18. I don't think I am easy-going

19. I LOVE my new 30 gig white video ipod

20. Last night I decided that my new favorite song is Bubbly Toes by Jack Johnson

21. I think my dad is really cool.

22. I don't know if it's really called Bubbly Toes, on our itunes, we have it listed as bubble toes, but he says bubbly toes in the song, but I don't really care, it's just a cool song.

23. I don't really view myself as a disobedient teenager even though I think I sometimes am.

24. I keep going back and forth between putting periods at the end of each of these and then leaving them off

25. Am I really only 1/4 of the way done?

26. One of my favorite feeings is being in a tent or a car while it's raining really hard.

27. I think that a soccer or BYU football highlight video with a good song and good clips is worth my time, anytime.

28. I hate it when I put in extra information in parentheses and then continue on with my sentence afterwards like you're supposed to but it doesn't make sense unless you go back and read it without the parentheses.

29. My soccer juggling record is 515 (if you don't know what soccer juggling is, you should get on YouTube and look up Mr. Woo's halftime show, he is mostly doing juggling tricks, but juggling is simply keeping the ball in the air without your hands, which you can tell by watching that clip).

30. Whew, those parentheses were really long

31. I can get really nervous around cute girls.

32. I sit by a really cute girl in ceramics.

33. Maybe that's why my projects don't look good.

34. I got away with working a whole summer at a car shop without knowing anything about cars.

35. My Grandfather is one of my heroes.

36. My Grandma cracks me up, I think I crack her up too.

37. I don't know much about my Grandma Nilsen, who I never met, but I can't wait to meet her.

38. Occasionally, I get choked up thinking about my Grandpa Nilsen's funeral.

39. My cousin Gary is one of my heroes.

40. I have lots of heroes.

41. Jim and Dwight are also among my list of heroes.

42. I love the scriptures.

43. "The Contender" is one of the best books I've ever read.

44. Even though I don't wrestle, I hate it when people say that they think wrestling is creepy, and it really lowers my respect for them. (I know, that's horrible)

45. As much as I love my extended family, I think I will have a really hard time getting into geneology (sp?) when I get older.

46. I love listening to music, plus, music is one of the ultimate conversation starters.

47. Of all the people I really got to know at all in jr. high, probably the 3 I like the most went to Davis.

48. When people try to explain to me why they like Utah more than BYU all I can do is laugh.

49. Both of my little brothers are heroes of mine.

50. Halfway there

51. My mom is one of my biggest heroes.

52. I couple years ago, the Christensens (as in Jim, sorry if I spelled the last name wrong) gave us a DVD of my dads ward growing up, I think I could watch that dvd all day long.

53. I have a lot of respect for those guys who run the 100 meters in like 10 seconds, that's freakin' amazing.

54. I love to drive.

55. A couple weeks ago I drove all the way down to provo!

56. I LOVE HOT CHOCOLATE!

57. When I waterski, I feel like I'm on top of the world.

58. I think that for me, spirit paradise might be Lake Powell.

59. Addition to list of heroes: My uncles James and Jesse. They amaze me.

60. My mom is really funny.

61. I can probably fall asleep faster than anyone reading this.

62. I fell asleep in AP Euro today, falling asleep in an ap class, is that like double sin?

63. My 9th grade seminary teacher brother west is one of my heroes.

64. You are my hero for reading my blog!

65. Some of the kids in my new percussion class make me want to cry with their technique.

66. Why didn't Ronaldinho play well in the world cup? That makes me very sad.

67. Sometimes I convince myself that my fan status changes how BYU plays.

68. Pretty much the only people that I have no patience for are those that do things because they know it will get them negative attention.

69. When I make omelettes, I think about what I'm putting in and how I think it's going to taste...it never tastes that way.

70. I know I've said it once, but Nate is one of my biggest heroes. He's so cool.

71. Mr. Wolf my jr high band teacher had a way of making me feel good differently that anyone else.

72. I can kick a soccer ball up, catch it on my neck, take my shirt off, and put my shirt back on while the ball is still on my neck. (Sorry if that sounds really braggy)

73. I need to figure out a way to get more people to read my blog without making it sound like the world revolves around me. Because it doesn't.

74. I've gotten stitches twice in pretty much the exact same place.

75. I can give myself shots pretty easily.

76. I cannot watch other people get shots, I hate it.

77. Sometimes when I try to think of 100 things about me, it's really hard.

78. Once when I was at Lagoon, I lost my moms cell phone (actually I asked my cousin thomas to keep it with him while I went on cliffhanger and he lost it on wildmouse)

79. We got it back.

80. As much as I hate to admit it, I love to pop zits like my mom. Not because she likes to, just because I think it's weird =, and yet, it's so fun and rewarding and addicting.

81. I love to hear other people's stories, that is, if they're interesting of course.

82. Sometimes I am suprised that I get along with some of my friends.

83. My friend sterling was really fast when we were little. He was on my soccer team and he could probably outrun (is that one word) anyone in our league. Since then, most of us have caught up to him, he's still fast, but he's not leaps and bounds (no pun intended) ahead of everyone else. I think thats how I am with brains, I used to be really smart, way ahead of most kids my age. But now, I'm just a pretty average, maybe a little above average student.

84. I finished my eagle project last saturday!

85. I like my name.

86. If I had to change my name, I would change it to rick.

87. I used to say that if I could do 1 thing to change the world I would cure diabetes. I don't know if that's what I do now.

88. i right alot pf tYPos.

89. I hate high school musical

90. I hate pretty much every disney channel show or movie.

91. AP Euro is really hard for me.

92. I love Christmas music, like my dad.

93. Probably my favorite book series is Harry Potter.

94. I think I'm breaking the 2nd Commandment. I worship the Office.

95. I know the whole dance to "My Little Buttercup"

96. An ancestor of mine founded Farmington.

97. I lost my first tooth in an dunking for apples booth at a ward party. I didn't know I had lost it, but I found it in the bottom of the bucket later that night.

98. I want to be just like my dad when I grow up, that includes occupation-wise.

99. Soarin' Over California is one of the coolest rides ever! Probably the coolest ride I've ever been on.

100. I'm pretty freakin' cool!

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude."
Denis Waitley

That took me 2 hours and 8 minutes.

Thanks for reading!