Grace Kelly

So, I got introduced to a music artist named Mika last night at a BYU event. I really like his style of music. It's different from the main stream, and that's what I like. Anyway, I wanted to share my recent discovery with you (I heard that this song isn't the newest, but it was for me last night). I was told that Mika actually went to music school and studied to sing opera so he could sing the songs he sings now. Interesting.

Another Tally for YouTube!

This weekend I went home to Texas to see my brother and his wife, Adam and Rachelle, get sealed in the LDS temple in Dallas (for a little bit of info on the temple, click here). It was a wonderful event, by the way.

Anyway, I was there from Thursday to Sunday morning and noticed that when I'm home I seem to lose all self-discipline. Productivity is usually at an all-time low and not much is usually accomplished. I think the only time I was ever able to break that barrier was this past May. I was home for a week and actually got a lot of personal things done. However, that is the record thus far. This weekend my weakness was YouTube. I wasted practically a whole night looking at music videos made by BYU students that had been posted on YouTube. My argument was that I wanted to look at the videos to get ideas for myself, but knew that I would not want to use up any of my time while at school. So I spent my Saturday night in front of the glow of my computer screen, knowing I had two flights and a lay-over to catch up on lost sleep.

At any rate, here are a couple of pics from the wedding - maybe I should post my videos from this weekend on YouTube:

A Happy Birthday to Yours Truly

Yes, it's true. I've reached another epic moment in my life where I can say that I'm one year older and still single (yes, the writer is also aware that there seems to be recurring comments on singlehood...he will do his best to work on that).

So tomorrow, it being 10.10.2007, is my birthday, (not officially until 8:21 pm). Apparently, my mom went through 40 hours of labor just to get me out into the world. I'm a stubborn guy, I guess (hmm, I wonder where I get that from???). Anyway, this evening a friend of mine (if you talk to her she'll deny it) sent me on a treasure hunt of sorts through campus and parts of Provo. I must admit, it was a surprise, but a surprise I thoroughly enjoyed. It started off with me driving her car up 200 E, and as I stopped at the intersection of 2nd E and 8th N, this guy jumps out in front of me causing me to almost hit him. He comes up to my side of the car and motions me to roll down the window. Mind you, I've never seen this guy before, so I thought he wanted to yell at me for almost running him over. I roll the window down and he says, "Go to the botany pond. Feed the ducks, then go to the bleachers where you'll find a message. Of course, I immediately knew what was going on, yet excited for the adventure that lay ahead. I went from message that led to another message; and with each message there were little notes from friends and family. It was a great adventure!

There is one part of the night I wish to comment on specifically. A message led us into the library on campus (it read: "Go to the 5th floor and on the NW side of the building you will find a book at an unattended table. Put it in it's proper place and you will find the next message in a neighboring book." So we go up to the 5th floor and go to the north end of the building and start walking west. As we are doing so I spy a book on a chair of an unattended desk. I think, "Easy find." I go to pick it up and lo and behold, to my surprise the book is titled "Nude Photography Notebook"! Don't believe me? I have proof (I'm shaking my finger):

My friend insisted that this wasn't the right book, so we put the book back and went further west on the floor until we found a book in pink bound that read, "No Nice Girl Swears". Here's another pic for your gazing pleasure:



We read a few portions of it. It was...interesting.

At any rate, we put the book in its proper place, then found the next message that led me to another place. However, the note attached was my roommate's, which earned its right to be blogged on this site. Here is how it went, word for word:

"I am glad that Michael sallied forth from the womb because he is a great proficient with the ladies. It could be said that his finding pool is well stocked and has been left in pieces for far too long. He is a frequent guest on the popular radio program such as Dating 911, as well as Marriage before Maternity. I personally believe Michael is an angel of music sent to us from an otherwise terrestrial locale, the Texas, which got a lone star rating in the Three Degrees of Glory Geological Survey. His work has been featured on the Billboard charts in Orem for the past four days consecutively, unfortunately causing gridlock. Richard Dutcher, director of Gods Army 2: States of Disgrace was seen filming the chaos for a piece in his new film titled Brother Brigham's Blunder: Perpendicular Paralysis. Michael's breakout hit single "I'm Trying to Feel the Spirit, Here" was only surpassed in number of downloads on DITunes by his juicy rendition of Sloppy Joe, which has become an inspiration to lunch professionals in two and a half US territories. This song is reportedly said to have been the catalyst for the creation of five thousand new jobs in Puerto Rican meat packing plants. Additionally, Michael is a grandiose bastion of hope to the obese community at large. His hugely successful protein diet APECS (All Puerto-rican Environmentally-friendly Cow Steak) has transformed hordes of the metabolically disabled into skinny winners. When asked about his diet's wide acclaim and his clients' ballooning success rates, Michael commented, "No Big deal, none of them are Big deals now. APECS is a lifestyle, not...a deli meat." In her recent stint with NBC's Cooking in the Big House, convicted felon Martha Stewart suggested adding a bun and some cheese to APECS in order to broaden one's options. Michael countered by saying of the cheese and bun, "Most people's 'options' are already too broad! That's the problem, you selfish girl! Are the vein of Philly to be thus polluted?!" Martha then promptly sold her 300,000 shares of APECS stock to Richard Dutcher, whose film was a runaway success in the south. Dutcher's success has been lauded by such notable politicians as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Sen. Hillary Clinton who each agreed that the film was "the most thought provoking they'd seen since Liar Liar." Sen. Clinton was also accompanied to the screening by her husband, former President Bill, who, in attempt to comment on the film, was hushed by the Senator from New York, who said, "That's alright, that's alright! You are far from where you started." He was later seen muttering to the popcorn vendor about "the one that got away." Don't fret. I'm sure the odds are very low that that one fell into Michael's finding pool..."

-Ty

Though I wasn't too fond about his Texas comment, I laughed pretty hard when I read it. Sure, pretty much everything in it were inside jokes (that's how this apartment operates...purely inside jokes), but I'm sure it made you smile.

So there you have it! My pre-birthday celebration. Plus, my friend got me the book "The Scarlet Pimpernel", a favorite movie of mine that came from the novel! Odds fish!

Dating 101: Lesson 2

So I overheard part of a conversation between a guy and a girl as I walked through campus today. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the whole context of it, however the girl talking said, “I’m not going to date until the Spirit pushes me to do so.” Mind you, I have no evidence of whether she was talking about herself or about someone else; whether she meant guys in general or a specific one; or even if it was a hypothetical statement – as already mentioned, the context is unknown. However, whatever the case may be, the case in point is a meaning I wish to extract from it: don’t date anyone until prompted by the Spirit. The point I want to make is that having this frame of mind is far-fetched, immature, and potentially dangerous on a gospel level.

Okay, so this lesson on dating has much involvement with the gospel. So consider this your Sunday School Dating class for the week.

First off, if you don’t date anyone, you will never know what you really want in a spouse, therefore, who you want your spouse to be. In conversations I’ve had as well as personal experience, I’ve noticed that before we step foot in the real world of wooing we have certain Expectations of the opposite gender we want met, which Expectations often demand near perfection. Hence, the girl gets shut down because “There’s someone better out there,” and the guy gets burned because he’s not going to be a doctor or a businessman. I presume there comes afterward (sooner or later, depending on the level of naivety one may have) a state of realization where a person finally figures out that who they marry will not be perfect. Then Mercy comes into the list of Expectations, giving potential significant others a chance they didn’t have when Justice completely dominated. And I’m sure life gets peachy after that.

But I’m derailing the conversation. If you don’t date anyone you will never know who you will want to have as a spouse. And if you decide to only date someone the Spirit prompts you to date, you might be waiting a long time (unless He finally does so out of sheer pity for you, which might be more condescending than we really want). Someone with that frame of mind is immature because it is not congruent with principles of the gospel. “For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward. Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; for the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.” (D&C 58:26-28) “Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.” The following is an excerpt from the talk “Revelation” by Dallin H. Oaks at Brigham Young University on 29 September 1981: “I once heard a young woman in testimony meeting praise the spirituality of her husband, indicating that he submitted every question to the Lord. She told how he accompanied her shopping and would not even choose between different brands of canned vegetables without making his selection a matter of prayer. That strikes me as improper. I believe the Lord expects us to use the intelligence and experience he has given us to make these kinds of choices.” I can give numerous other examples, but I think you get the drift of what I’m trying to get at.

The purpose of this life is not to constantly be told what to do and when. If that happened, we’d all be spoiled brats whining and moaning (and “weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth”) until we were pointed in the right direction. We’d be those people who are thirty and still living at home. We wouldn’t grow up. There would be no point to this life, for how could we progress save we were given to “act for [ourselves].” (2 Nephi 2:16) The Lord expects us to gain knowledge and wisdom and learn how to use it properly. As Joseph Smith so candidly put it, “You have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p 346, 1976 Deseret Book Company)

So after all of my ramblings and standing on my soap-box, the lesson to be learned is this: don’t sit around and wait for the Spirit to tell you to do something (in this case, don’t sit around and wait for Love to come knocking on your door). Do all things in your power and when direction is needed, direction will be given.

Nice Guys Finish Last

Back in the early days of high school, I loved watching "The Mask", starring Jim Carrey. In it, he mentions a book or newspaper article (I can't remember which now, and frankly, it's not relevant anyway) he wrote entitled "Nice Guys Finish Last". How true that title rings in my ears and in my life!

Let me tell you a simple story: There once was a man who had a piece of coal. One day a good friend of his came by to visit. He told the man how he was in search of a precious diamond of great worth. The man told his friend, "I have here a piece of coal I have been holding for a while now. It has the capacity of becoming a diamond. I know not the means of turning it into a diamond. However, you are my friend. Therefore, I will give you this piece of coal." At first, the friend objected; yet, the man insisted. So the friend took the coal, thanked him and went on his way.

After many days the friend came back and showed the man the diamond. The man was happy for his friend, yet deep down inside he regreted the chance of having something of great worth, which could have been his.

Eine Erinnerung an Deutschland

I've always loved the fall. The cool, heavy, damp air. The barren trees. The bland colors. The reds, oranges, and yellows of leaves on the streets and lawns, as they silently fall from branches above. The pumpkins on porches. The autumn breeze that twirls in gusts. The clothing and jackets. The gray, low-lying clouds. I love everything about fall! Now, ever since I've been back from Germany, fall seems to have much more meaning to me, at least here in Provo, Utah. The weather and feelings of fall remind me of fall in Germany.

I don't know what it is about Germany, but when I lived there, I always felt claustrophobic. It always seemed like the sky was falling on you and everything was trying to squeeze in on you. Coming from Texas, I'm used to the openness of everything. The sky seems far up there. The land is flat and broad. Houses and buildings are spread out. Everything is open. In Germany, it's the exact opposite. And I feel that way in the fall.

It's interesting how certain situations will give you those nostalgic feelings that bring back memories. For example, whenever I listen to Green Day's Nimrod CD, I think of my junior year in high school, in the basement of our house, working out on the bench; because everytime I worked out I listened to Green Day's CD, since it was about 45 minutes. During the summer, when days would turn especially hot and humid, I think of my summer a year ago, when I was outside, selling pest control; because it was always hot and humid. Those are just a couple of examples. The same holds true with the feelings of autumn. They conjure up a nostalgia that transports me back in Germany. On top of that, I'm taking a business German class this semester, where we are constantly speaking in the German tongue. Have you ever been somewhere or had an experience in the past that seemed "once in a life-time" and you loved it so much, that you wish you could relive it? That's how I've felt since I came back from Germany; however, with fall being here AND taking this German class, those feelings are stronger than ever. Memories flash in the front of mind of walking down the Fußgängerzone, passing small shops and clothing stores, crossing cobble-stone streets. I think of the Weihnachtsmarkt in Mannheim, drinking Kinderpunch. I picture myself in the Bahnhof, eating a Nutella-banana crepe, as I wait for the train to Kaiserslautern or Heidelberg. I miss the Döner Kebab! I often imagine being in an ICE again, traveling from Duisburg to Frankfurt. Frankfurt! I loved the crazies out in the Marktplatz at Hauptwache und Konstablerwache. I miss the clothing and the pointy "elf" shoes the German city women would wear in the winter time. I remember the people I met, served, befriended, and came to love. I miss the culture, the food, the houses. I miss how it all felt medieval and modern at the same time. I miss the way people would look at me funny on the street, when I would ask them how they were doing. I miss their brutal honesty. Overall, I miss the experience of Germany.

It's like a dream that became real, but then you wake up and find yourself back home. You try to go back to sleep and have that same dream again, starting where you left off, hoping that those feelings and that the reality of it will come back. But it doesn't. These images inside my head seem to be the imaginations of a distant fantasy world. Then, one plane flight obscures the intense feelings of how tangible that experience was and turns it all into surreal thoughts and mental pictures, transparent and off-focus. You get off the plane back home and it's like leaving the magical world of Narnia and finding yourself back in the wardrobe of an old man's house.

And so each falling leaf in autumn represents a memory of the Vaterland. Each passing gust of wind is an emotion that swells inside my soul - a yearning to go back and relive a dream of once was. And in each sigh and thought is the ever-growing determination to fulfill that dream to return to a people and culture I grew to love - a place, in which I lost my heart. Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit für das deutsche Vaterland!

Fundamental Economics & Dating 101

Are you familiar with the phrase "opportunity cost"? It's one of those economic terms. According to one definition, it is "the value of the next best alternative that must be given up when a choice is made." For example, the opportunity cost of writing this entry is the sleep I could be getting right now (which I'm sure I'll regret in the morning when I wake up for classes).

Tonight, the thought occurred to me that dating is full of opportunity costs. It's been said that guys have a problem when dating; that it's often hard for us to get in a steady relationship with someone because we wonder if there's someone out there who might be a better match for us. While that may be true in certain instances (by the way, I think it holds true for many girls as well), I personally think it's mostly a devil's tool to keep us from making those progressive steps toward an eternal destination. But that's beside the point I'm attempting to make. The point I'm trying to make is, that as we make those desicions of who we want to date, we are making opportunity costs. In the competitive game we call "dating" many of us have our eyes on usually more than one person. We keep our lines out in the water, waiting for a snag. When we finally get one, and if it's the fish we desire, we reel in and put away the fishing poles. However, many times we analyze and wonder to ourselves, "Hmm, but I wonder if a better fish might come to one of the other poles." But how long until that fish finally breaks loose from the hook and leaves us still with nothing?

It's interesting how decisions affect outcomes of events and even relationships with other people. The decisions you make in one instant presents opportunity costs as well. For example, if you buy a meal at a fast food, you give up that much that could have gone toward a date or some other social event. Consequently, every decision you make brings a sacrifice and a loss of something, somehow. Dating holds to the same principle. I don't think there is one specific person out there you are supposed to marry. That is fate, or destiny, and that takes away our agency. The only fate or destiny I believe in is the kind that we create for ourselves through our choices.

Choices do create consequences and so it is with dating. As mentioned previously, there is not one specific person out there. There are many, I feel. This is where opportunity cost also comes in. With any of those "potential spouses" comes a kaleidoscope of experiences. If you were to marry one person, you would have different experiences than if you were to marry someone else. Not that a specific set of experiences would be better than another. It would be because the circumstances are different. You are still set out toward your eternal destination (hopefully for us all, that is to be with our Heavenly Father, since we should have righteous goals in sight). And so, when we choose to be with someone, the opportunity cost(s) is the choice of being with someone else that could have also been a great match. That choice, in turn, affects the outcome of our relationships with the other "potentials" around us, as well as the experiences we will have with them.

No pressure, right? I love economics and enjoy studying and analyzing relationships people have with others. I enjoy taking those kind of things and seeing how gospel principles intertwine in our everyday events and lives. Opportunity cost really is a gospel principle when you think about it. Choices and consequences are other gospel principles as well. But it's getting late and way past my bedtime, so those discussions will hold for another day. If this entry makes absolutely no sense, then you can count them for nothing but the ramblings of a sleep-deprived college student who is trying to make sense of the senseless world around him.

And thus I close this mini-dissertation: if there are those, whose life I've made a bit more troubling and stressful with "making the right decision", I offer these gentle words of comfort: you only have to be at the right place at the right time, making the right decisions. There. Now doesn't that put a load off?!

A Thought or Two On Church Callings

During my mission (for those who don't know, I served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where I shared our beliefs about the gospel of Jesus Christ), I always wondered how I would be able maintain the Spirit when I got home. I always figured it was possible; otherwise it would have to contradict the whole plan of salvation, and God would then “cease to be God” (and He never will, so don’t worry); I just imagined it being really hard.

When you are on this side of the mission and take a step back, away from the grand picture, you see more clearly (or at least I do) how the mission (in all simplicity) was a calling that required magnifying. Please don’t misunderstand or misinterpret that previous sentence. I do not mean or intend to undervalue the mission. I do feel that the mission is a unique calling; and it was the best experience I had had up to that point. I gained more from those two years than I might have during this lifetime if I hadn’t gone. I love my mission experience. In fact, not a day goes by (and I’ve been back for a year-and-a-half now) that I don’t wish I were back in Germany sharing the gospel with those people, with whom I fell in love. I feel sorry for those who come back from their mission with a bad taste in their mouth. They missed the whole purpose and point. I wasn’t perfect, but I was the best I could be at that time.

So please don’t misunderstand what I’m trying to say. I only mean that the mission was a calling in the Church and we were to magnify our calling. Then we are released and it’s time to move on and magnify our callings that are given to us thereafter (and it does help to apply what you learned from the mission – in fact, I don’t see how one can magnify a calling after the mission without applying the knowledge and wisdom gained from that experience). Yes, it is one of the few callings that is actually a 24/7 responsibility (while other callings are balanced with work, school, family, etc). It’s the simple principle of magnifying a calling I’m trying to emphasize and focus on. It’s like one of those eternal laws we read about in the D&C. If we magnify our callings, the Spirit is with us, guiding and teaching us, and we feel a greater peace in our lives. Our “confidence [waxes] strong in the presence of God” (D&C 121:45). I would even go out on a limb and suggest the possibility that the returned missionaries who don’t realize this basic law and think the mission is everything are missing a key principle that exists within the Church. If you magnify your calling, you will be blessed! I really feel that is one lesson missionaries learn effectively, which becomes a great asset in future Church leadership.

Another Giant Leap for Mankind

As another example of my “underdeveloped sense-of-shame” ;-) I have subjected myself to the internet-based society, in which we live, through what you now read – this blog. Welcome. I am determined to utilize these ones and zeros we call “free web space” in portraying thought and reflection. I will admit, however, that this is all new to me. It’s been a while since I’ve really written anything (journal included until recently – sad day, you know) and I’ve never blogged before (if it wasn’t a verb before, it is now; I’m from Texas and therefore am permitted to make up words as I go along).

As a first blog to be blogged by yours truly, I would like to dedicate this site to certain people: first of all to my senior AP English teacher, who put up with me and my friend, as well as the rest of the class who, at the time, where less than fans of Michael Deagan; to those who know what the number one rule in life is and live it; to those who actually find interest in what I have (and choose) to say; and lastly, but certainly not least (this is actually where the real dedication goes to) to my summer roommate, who inspired me to create my own blog. Handsome guy, by the way. Ladies, as soon as he’s available (if the day ever comes) I’ll let you know.