Mission camera

 I just bought a new camera to take on my mission. It is the Panasonic Lumix and is way too fun. So today I have been playing around with it to get a feel for it. Here is what resulted:

Basically an awesome day. And an awesome camera.
PS: Two new suits!

Just a quote

Not the torturer will scare me
Nor the body's final fall
Nor the barrels of death's rifles
Nor the shadows on the wall
Nor the night when to the ground 
The last dim star of pain is hurled
But the blind indifference 
Of a merciless, unfeeling world.
-Roger Waters-

I don't have anything funny to write tonight (always open to suggestions!) but I came across some more of Mr. Waters' wonderfully penned poetry tonight and felt like I should share it! Happy Monday, let's make this week better than last week.

"Some people die by the drop"

My blog was very attention starved, as I neglected it for the entire month of May. My post from the other will clearly show you that the month+ break did not give me anything worthwhile to write/read. This was until yesterday of course, when the wonderful Christine wrote a post I am totally stealing the concept of.
I know everyone that reads my blog, I think. At least to a point. But now I am going to tell you 3 things about myself that you may not know. You have to return the favor by telling me 3 things about yourself that I may not know. You can comment on mine, send me a message, or even follow in my footsteps and write your own blog post to share the love and facts.

1. If you know me even a little, you will know that I love good food. What less people know is my super power to remember meals long past. I actually remember major life events by recalling the meals surrounding those events. I remember places much better if I had a meal there. For example, the other day my sister asked if we had ever been to Bethany. I struggled to remember, but finally went "Oh yes, we stopped at the McDonalds in Bethany on the way up to see Coldplay last summer!" It wasn't until later that I remembered my several trips there for different high school functions. If you doubt this super power, just ask my family. It is kind of a game we play sometimes. I don't think I have ever lost.

2. As mellow as I try to be, I am a serious over-thinker. I prefer email to phone calls because I can meticulously edit an email 12 times before sending it. Conversations are planned out in my head over and over before they actually happen. Sometimes I have to ask people if a conversation ever really took place. I spent an entire year of school with a huge crush on somebody and specifically planned to explain it on at least 6 million different occasions, but never did. Sometimes things wander into the ridiculous, like when I find myself particularly bored in the library and I start to wonder how I would Jason Bourne my way out of a situation if needed to (which furniture to throw through which window and such.) I have on at least one occasion wondered how I would Red Dawn my way out of a situation as I was falling asleep at night. Answer: Hide out in the field until the dirty soviets get comfortable in my house, then come in and go all Swayze on them.

3. I never cry.

Okay, I rarely cry. But I am easily moved and get goosebumps over lots of things. Sometimes I feel a little guilty because I will get goosebumps one night while watching the end of Return of the King, and get the same goosebumps the next morning singing my favorite hymn at church. Dark Side of the Moon gets me more often than not. Seeing Jack White jump off stage in the middle of "Carolina Drama" to lift a passed out girl over the safety rail gave me some serious goosebumps.
Actually, the entire concert being about 15 feet away from Jack gave me goosebumps.
The series finale of Lost DEFINITELY got me. Almost to tears, but not quite.

Now you know a little more about me. Maybe you understand me a little more or less.
Your turn to 'fess up.

Rambling for my sake more than yours

I haven't been on here in a while. I don't really have anything profound to say. It is summer and my brain certainly knows it. I have been down to Dallas twice in the last 2 weeks (drove down with mom, flew back solo, drove down with family, drove back up with family and mom [who is also family.]) There, I met and became completely best friends with Jackson Seth Jones. He is pretty much definitely the cutest baby nephew an uncle like me could hope for. Pictures are on facebook, as are all of you. Yes, you.
I've read a few books. Mostly Vince Flynn novels, but also A Hero of Our Time. It was excellent, and you should read it. Yes, you. I promised a blog post with my favorite excerpts, but now that I find myself on my blog my dad has the book because I told him to read it. And he listened to me.
I bought two pretty legitimate new albums. "Brothers" by The Black Keys and "Sea of Cowards" by The Dead Weather. I have been looking forward to Brothers since I heard about it and bought tickets to see them in Kansas City on June 4th (this friday!) It definitely did not disappoint. The second I was hesitant to buy, but that was foolish because Jack White was involved and I have never been disappointed in any of his albums. This one is funky, dark, and experimental. So I don't bore you to tears with my reviews, here is an article I found which happens to be about both albums:
http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2010/05/30/indie_rockers_plumb_the_depths_of_neoblues/
What else? I'm getting very excited for my mission. It is quick approaching. My computer tells me it is now officially June 1st. Weird.
Also weird: sometimes I miss school. Maybe it is just the very limited social life I enjoyed very much in Provo (as opposed to the zero social life in Gallatin.) I think it is a mix of that and the fact that I miss challenging myself. My mind gets pretty lazy in the summer, no matter how much I promise myself that I'm going to read stimulating books and run 600 miles every day. The fact is that I wake up, do all the stuff I need to, and not do much else that requires any physical or mental effort. Maybe I'll do something crazy. I tell myself that every day, and it still doesn't really happen.

Alas.

Last thing: rockstars shouldn't get to hurt their backs and have emergency back surgeries and cancel certain concerts in 2 weeks. Yes Bono, this means you. I am thinking mean thoughts about you. But get better and stuff. Don't worry about me, who will be a little busy on the date you rescheduled the show for. Next year. Dislike.

This summer is...

• Going to bed before 11, waking up before 7
• Outside. Lots and lots of outside.
• Working with mom to finish all of her landscaping/misc. projects. Basically using a shovel in countless ways.
• Driving around in the Jeep
• Counting down the days until I enter the MTC (90) and Sweden (153...I think) and trying to read The Book of Mormon (following along in Mormons Bok) before then.
• Golf
• Grilling hot dogs and watching an episode of Star Trek (the Original Series) with mom during our lunch breaks.
• Rummy/movies with the family
• Dogs. Lots of time with the sheepdogs :)
• Leaving my blackberry/laptop unattended for long periods of time. It is like weaning myself.
• In a word: excellent.
• In two words: most excellent.

When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse...

Wow it has been some time since I have posted anything on here. So what is new in the life of Jon Youd?
First and foremost:

I finally retired my laundry hamper! It has served me well for two years, but there isn't much left.

As a side note, I've been called to serve in the Sweden Stockholm Mission as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

So that is pretty cool too :D Cool enough to make me use a smiley face. Yeah. I can't express how excited I am to serve the Swedish people and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ for two years.

I'm all done with school for two years. It is weird, I haven't taken this much time off school...well since before I started preschool. Kind of mind blowing. Kind of makes me step back and admit that I LOVE being a student and learning and all that stuff. 

Headed back to the homeland in a few days. Packing up kind of makes me sad, no matter where the destination. I am a homebody who gets attached to wherever I call home. I want to see/experience the world; I just want to come home to a hot meal and comfortable bed at the end of the day. Not as in every night, but I think that those of you who actually read this blog are intelligent to understand what I'm talking about. Y'all are pretty smart.

Saying goodbyes for two years/forever are kind of not my strong point. I'm trying to be honest and casual about it, which is hard in an environment like BYU where most people are taking the exact opposite approach. I've watched two years of goodbyes in freshman housing complexes and seen (twice) approaches to the situation which are rarely honest or rational. In my best Spock impersonation, they are "Highly illogical." *raises eyebrows*

Anyways. There are a few solid paragraphs of rambling to make up for my month absence. I'm just weaning you guys. Unless you write me on my mission (hint: you should.)

Youd out.

My inspiration for this (crappy) week

 "Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed.
Most putts don't drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise.
Life is like an old-time rail journey -- delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.
The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

(Quoted by President Gordon B. Hinckley)

Counting down the days until summer!

One, two, free four.

As the sands of time continue to chip the paint off my car, my blog has kind of fallen by the wayside. Sorry, buddy. It isn't that I haven't had anything to say. That rarely happens.
Life has been...life. I'm just in the busy routine and haven't had too much time to let drama enter my mind or anything like that. Just keep going from one day to the next. I'll hopefully get my mission call sometime in the next few weeks, which means other than a short summer, I won't have too much downtime to let drama get me down. Not until I talk to other people about my mission do I even consider how unique it is for me to "put my life on hold" right in the middle of my schooling like this for 2 years. I'm stoked.
...but I feel pretty old.

"Life is a short warm moment
And death is a long cold rest
You get your chance to try in the twinkling of an eye:
Eighty years, with luck, or even less."
 Free Four- Pink Floyd
Thanks for the morbid reality, Roger.

A comprehensive strategy

A few ways to get rid of the gloomies:

Sleep in
Cut my long, shaggy hair and look like a respectable citizen
Laundry...all 4 loads of it
Intense cleaning
Read a book...just for fun, not for scholastic purposes
Write a friend
Work on my mission papers
Driving around the block to finish a song before I get home
Music music music
But most importantly:
Peanut butter, nutella, banana sandwich and Vanilla Coke Zero

How does it feel?

Tonight, I am:
Tired after going all day on about 4 hours of sleep
Full from delicious Indian food
 Appreciative of good music with good lyrics
A little less sure about everything than when I woke up this morning
Mostly comfortable with who I am, just not enough to go out on any limbs
Afraid of letting others down
Deciding to not take my physics test tomorrow, but to procrastinate until Monday
Really sleepy
Listening to my stranger music
But mostly just
In one of those funks.

P.S. Happy 50th post, Mr. Blahg.

Привет из дома

Hi, I'm Jon and this was the sunrise this morning. Standing in our yard, by the picket fence we built this summer. And Yuki is in the second shot. It is completely beyond me why I leave this place. 

(Especially when there are puppies falling asleep on my boot.)

 More pictures tomorrow, probably with a real camera instead of the cell phone.

Surreptitiously

That is not a fun word to spell, and I have no idea how one would go about saying it.
Have you ever hit a complete brick wall with your school work? I'm not talking about "I really, really don't want to do this junk" kind of wall, but sitting down and being completely unable to accomplish what you set out to do? 
Winter semester blows. Sometimes (when I'm not thinking about the possibility of losing my scholarship) I wish I was the kind of student that could just not do work and still sleep at night.

LAS, failure isn't in my blood (the last time I had it tested.) Failure doesn't run in my family, though I do have the same obnoxious mole on my neck that my mother and her mother have. Failure isn't stamped across my forehead- that would probably be against the dress and grooming section of the honor code. Failure isn't my middle name - Alan is. "Tramps like us, baby we were born to run" is not my personal motto, it is just a line from a Bruce Springsteen tune. Sure, sometimes I imagine how I would escape every building I enter in case of a large, stylized fight sequence, but the team of doctors insisted that I'm not really an ex-spy with amnesia, I just live a really average life. Most importantly, this time could most definitely have been spent doing homework, but blogging is just so much more fun.

That's it. I'm unplugging the router. 

What is and What Should Never Be...

This was on a note that I found in my scriptures and subsequently hung above my desk.
It was a note I made about ways in which we can "waste the days of our probation" (2 Nephi 9:27) that included things like "worrying about all you can't control," "living in the past," and "watching clocks."

Doctrinal? Largely, no. Valid? Absolutely yes.

Cold Hands (Warm Heart)

Not a bad weekend (as far as weekends in Provo go...maybe it is because we left Provo!) Me and Kaitie went up to Salt Lake, braving both my lovely city driving and the mammoth snowstorm on the way home to see Brendan Benson do a free acoustic show at the Graywhale. I decided a few things:
1. Graywhale is awesome
2. Brendan Benson's solo stuff is nice and light. Even though my favorite band is extremely mellow, I'm not sure that you could call Pink Floyd "easy listening." It is nice to have this in my music library to switch things up.
3. The Raconteurs really, really need to get back together and make more excellent music.
4. Good music makes you appreciate the goodness of life. I have a good life. It rocks, really.

Somebody uploaded all 3 songs he did onto youtube in super high quality. This is probably my favorite one that he did.

Four things you should know

1. It is the weekend.

2. "Community" is the new "The Office." Meaning that it is now a lot more amazing than new episodes of "The Office."
3. I am listening to "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" by Barry White

4. This post started out entitled "Two things you should know," which was then changed to "Three things you should know," and then "Four things you should know," and when I decided to not share the fourth thing I also decided to make this note. And so it remains four things you should (and now do) know.

(They Long to Be) Close to You

Today is a rainy day AND a Monday, and I'm feeling like a Carpenter. Though it is MLK Day, so there is no school.
Even when I'm not in class, I still try my best to learn something new everyday. Today's lesson?

Don't use a plastic fork to cook bacon.

Unless you want a really good laugh at 9:30 AM

The only thing better than one blog...

Is two blogs? For Russian 202 we have to create a Russian blog, so I just created a second one on this profile instead of starting a new profile. In case you are wondering why I have switched all of my profile from a single Pink Floyd lyric to a whole rambly Russian paragraph. Either that, or I am KGB (as my fluent, broad vocabulary would suggest...)
Being back at school isn't too bad. Minus one meltdown on Saturday that resulted in me doing some laundry and staring at the TV for the entire day (neglecting my weekend assignments,) all has been pretty good! I only have four classes, though I feel almost as busy as my 18 hour mega semester last semester. Which I somehow survived with a wonderful GPA (miracles happen!) I'm enjoying my physics class (as it is simple thus far,) trudging through Russian (as I always have,) struggling with calculus (...no comment...) and loving mission prep.
Oh! I started my mission papers last week. Completely stoked about that. I am going to list my availability date as June 15 (so I can meet Baby Jones!) so I can't turn them in until March 15. Yet the night I could start, I spent 2 hours filling in information. I kind of regretted this the next morning, but I was on one of those "EFY/Freshman at BYU" highs I so adamantly try to avoid. That makes me sound a lot worst than I intend, but hopefully you understand...
I am going to start blogging all of the funny/ridiculous things I see and overhear at BYU. This will require a pocket notepad because I am usually so overwhelmed by the end of a day that I forget all of the wonderful things. We are indeed a "peculiar people" (in this case I mean "hilariously odd at times.")
After that set-up, I actually can't think of any good stories right now. So here is a picture I took last week.
Jon out.

The printer then proceeded to sing "Don't Stop Believing" and shoot flames. It was pretty weird AND a reason to beware. Thanks for the heads up, Front Desk Attendant.