A message of hope.

This post, like so many before it, begins with a story about a boy and a girl...

Last Friday I was texting up a storm, and during a conversation with a girl who goes to San Jose State something was said that shook the foundation of my world. Here is the pertinent part of our conversation.

Me: How do you feel about about college basketball?
Her: Never been to a game before
H: I'm down with going though
M: What?! Never been to a game? Well I assume you still know what March Madness is?
H: Um of course...What is it?

This is kind of how I felt...

 Initially I was shocked. Then I felt a little bit betrayed. Finally, I felt pity.

One of my peers, a college student, had never heard of March Madness. The single biggest (and greatest) college sporting event had somehow slipped by this girl and she had gone on living her life in ignorant bliss, thinking her life was complete. I felt impelled to, at a minimum, explain to her just what an amazing thing she was missing out on. I don't think she realized just how amazing it is, but I did what I could, I shared with her what I knew to be good and true.  March Madness rarely fails to a highlight of my year, so I cannot understand how a person's life could be complete without it...

This year has been no exception. For the most part the games have been nail-biters, the upsets have been many (and surprising), my bracket has been busted (still hoping my Gators can pull it off), and March Madness on Demand has allowed me and and millions of other responsible Americans to watch each and every game while at school or work on our laptops.

It has been an amazing ride thus far, and from experience I know that the last 7 games will not disappoint. For millions of Americans, the only problem with March Madness emerges once the champion has been decided, because, well, then what? There is no replacement, there is no substitute for the joy and excitement provided by March Madness and that is when the true "madness" begins. It's like being addicted to Oxycotin and trying to replace it with gummy bears. They are good, but not any kind of a substitute**. For me personally, I have never had a problem because baseball season usually starts within a day or two of the end of March Madness. But for the majority of Americans, baseball just doesn't cut it. And while the playoffs for both the NBA and NHL follow relatively close behind, we all know that they are sad and unrealistic substitutes. People try to find things to fill the void in their lives, but day-time dramas, court-room tv, and brownie fudge shakes physically cannot do the job. As a result there are sharp increases in depression, insanity, boredom, gambling debt defaults and obesity all across America.

It is a problem, and I don't know what the answer is. But it might  be as simple as picking up a good book, or by watching all 6 seasons of Lost in one month, or by simply using those hours spent focused on basketball by focusing instead on your family, friends, or even work. I hope you are able to deal with the withdrawals in an effective manner and that the "madness" doesn't drive you to hurt yourself or do something crazy. If you need any help or support, I am here for you, I will be a shoulder for you to cry on and a friend for you to vent to. But most importantly, I will teach you to love the game of baseball and permanently overcome the low in your life that is post-March Madness. 

** I am not addicted to prescription drugs if that's what you're thinking.

Switzerland

I could write at least 20 pages concerning my adventures in Switzerland for those 8 blessed days that I was able to visit, but instead I'll just leave you with two sentences:

1- Switzerland was amazing, miraculous, and expensive.
2- Returning to law school and responsibility in America is only one of those things, you guess which one.

Really tho, here are some pictures and uncut/unedited/low quality videos from our trip to show the highlights of the trip (anyone know an easy way to post HQ videos to a blog?).

Sledding in the Alps

Meeting our Swiss Families

Jo and I decided to go to church at the little Mormon branch in Interlaken and were both certain we would have a unique experience there, but if you told us that we would end up becoming friends with two families in the branch and staying with them for four of our eight nights in Switzerland we would have called you crazy. But that, nevertheless, is exactly what happened.

The Stussi family showed us around Interlaken Sunday afternoon and then had us over for some great Swiss food and let us hang out with them for the evening. Their son Terrance then extended his home to us and let us stay with him at his apartment in Bern for two nights.

The Kaufmann family invited us to come to Grindelwald for the day to hang out with their family and see what little ski towns in Switzerland are all about and then extended the invitation to stay at their chalet that they owned and rented out to visitors.

The Matterhorn

The food

The beauty of the country

The train rides

The good times

It was an amazing trip, and I honestly feel like I was supposed to go there. It sounds kind of cheesy, but I really feel like I was able to go to Switzerland for a reason. I'm not exactly sure what that reason is, but I do know that I made some amazing friends, saw some amazing sights, and realized again that God lives and loves me...now I just need to find a way to get a summer law internship there and soon.

The Madness

If you could marry one sport, which would it be?

Basketball, competitive eating, golf, skiing, football, soccer, baseball, skateboarding. tennis, poker, billiards, bowling, badmitton, croquet, snowboarding, rollerblading, or hacky-sack?  

My initial reaction to this question would be by responding with baseball. Baseball is my love and from April to October, baseball is my life.

With that said, I have a confession to make. I may be cheating on baseball due to my current infatuation with College Basketball. Not only do I love following  my teams (Utah State, Florida, and Jimmer Fredette), but I love watching almost any college basketball game. This love makes the month of March especially wonderful. For starters, March has always been one of my favorite months since it is the month of my birth and because it marks the coming of spring. But over the past 10 years or so I have come to love it even more because of March Madness and the NCAA tournament. And about a week and a half ago I got my first taste of the bliss that is March Madness.

My Utah State Aggies played the Saint Mary's Gaels at Moraga, which happens to be about an hour and a half away from where I am living. I went with my brother and his son and we arrived about 30 minutes before tip-off. When we got there I noticed four things: 1- the gym was tiny, I felt like I was in a high-school or church gym (I think it seats around 3,500); 2 - there were almost no open seats in the general admission section; 3 - there were approximately 30 other Utah State fans sitting together on the other side of the court; and 4 - St. Mary's had the least attractive cheer leaders I had ever seen. Period.

We ended up finding some seats on the first row of general admission, right behind the students. This was potentially the worst place we could sit in the off-chance that the Gaels would beat the Aggies, and for awhile when the Aggies were down by about 10, we got a lot of yells, screams, and celebrations right in our faces. During those few minutes, it got pretty loud in that place and I was impressed with the amount of noise the crowd made. And that means something since I came from Utah State where the Spectrum is known to have one of the best, loudest, and most intimidating fans in the Nation.

Luckily my Aggies came back strong in the second half and beat the Gaels real good on their own court. It looked for a minute like the Gaels were going to mount a comeback with a few minutes left on the clock, but this amazing dunk by Brady Jardine shut up their offense and their crowd...it was so freaking amazing!

In the end the Aggies won by double digits, got a solid win against a solid opponent, and put themselves in a good position for the NCAA Tournament. And I got to gloat and bask in sweet, sweet victory as defeated Gael fans walked past, with heads low, not daring to look me in the eye. It was honestly the best game I have ever been to. I can't even begin to describe the rush that being in hostile territory and gaining a victory like that can give you, but just know that it was awesome.

Now I've just got to hope the Aggies don't make any stupid mistakes so that I get to watch them and 64 other great college basketball teams fight for the title....oh how I love March Madness!

Swiss Man-cation 2011

In about two weeks I will be experiencing this:

As many of you know, I will be embarking on a journey to Switzerland for spring break with my bestie Jo Olsen. If this trip were to have a theme song from 2006 it would be "Brothers on a Hotel Bed" by Death Cab for Cutie. As it stands tho, the year is 2011 and the theme song will likely be more along the lines of "Mouthful of Diamonds" by Phantogram, seeing that we are both in love with Sarah Barthel, a member of the band. We are also looking for a theme to the trip, we have thought of "Swiss man-cation 2011" and "European bromance 2011", but if you have any suggestions for either, please let us know.

As far as our plans are concerned, Jo and I have decided to leave much of them open. We are hoping that this will allow us some freedom to go where ever the wind leads us and result in us experiencing the real Switzerland and not just the tourist Switzerland. These are our plans as of today:

    March 5 :Arrive in Zurich, see the city, visit Zollicon (where my last name originated), party in Zurich
    March 6: Travel to the area of Thun/Interlaken and begin exploring
    March 7-12: Meet some hot European girls, truly experience Switzerland, (insert your ideas here)
    March 13: Travel back to Zurich, fly to San Fran

We have thought of possibly traveling to Milan, Italy and catching a flight via Ryan Air to another area of Europe for dirt cheap (like $15 each way), hanging out in Thun/Interlaken and really getting a good feel for the area, or traveling up to Munich, Germany. Now that you know our schedule and range of options, we would like to know anyone has any suggestions of things we must see or do in order to have a memorable experience.

All ideas (for theme songs, trip names, and agenda items) will be considered and discussed in great detail, so please let us know what you think. Your feedback is essential to Jo and I having a successful trip...ya, that is not true at all, but your ideas are much appreciated.

Switzerland won't know what hit it!

We are what we read

I have a friend here in California.

I know, it sounds ridiculous, but I'm pretty sure that it is true.

Anyway, this friend of mine, Joe Jeppson, (If you don't believe me, just go poke him on facebook, he would love it) really likes to read. This gives the two of us a lot to talk about and discuss since reading is one of my few passions in life. This past weekend we hung out in San Fran for a bit and after spending an hour or two in a sweet bookstore we got to talking about just how influential books can be/are in our lives. Joe said something I've been thinking about a lot lately, he said something along the lines that each book we read becomes a part of us or that we become a product of each book.

Essentially, we are what we read. It got me thinking about what books have played a role in creating me. Having read hundreds of books over the past 20 years or so, the list would be fairly long, but I just want to mention a few of my favorites and how they are a part of me.

1- The Book of Mormon (9). I consider myself a religious person and this is the book that created that part of me, it has literally changed my life and continues to change my life as I read it everyday. I consider It is by far the most influential book in my life and I recommend it to anyone and everyone, so if you want a copy, just ask me.

2- The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis (2). CS Lewis is a genius and by taking a different view on religious principles and and taught me how to be a better person. Pure and simple.

3- The Alchemist by Paulo Cohelo (4). Taught me to follow my dreams. I have since lived my life in a different manner, I am more grateful for my everyday experiences and do my best to learn from everything.

4- The Road by Cormac McCarthy (3). Many see it as a depressing book, but for me it was uplifting and powerful. It has taught me that despite the terrible condition of the world around us, people can still be good. It taught me that I can be a good person and have an impact at a time in my life when I doubted it.

5- A Long way Gone by Ishmael Beah (2). An easy read, a hard read, but most of all, a gratifying read. This book taught me just how grateful I need to be for the life I have been given and for the situation in which I live. I am a pretty lucky guy.

There are so many books that have had an impact on me and played a role in creating the person writing this blog. Even simple things, like my style of writing are a result of the books I have read. I would encourage you to look at your life, and recognize just how influential books have been in your life and then I would encourage you to read more. I believe that reading is one of the most important things we can do and I am sad when I see just how undervalued and unappreciated it has become in our society.

So do me a favor. No. Do yourself a favor and read a good book and become a more diverse person.
 

2011 GREAT SUCCESS!

Well, despite my somewhat discouraging words earlier in the week, the year of 2011 can already be described as a great success. I finally beat Whoswayne in words with friends after approximately 15 strait losses (give or take 5), I did not get an e-mail asking me to join the class for "struggling" students (although, I guess I still could...), I just bought tickets to Switzerland for spring break ($600 round trip), and I finally got my music blog up and running.

It is titled "But Also Mostly" and is a combined effort with my best friend and communications expert, Jo Olsen. The purpose of the blog is to help proliferate quality music in the hopes that it will have a positive impact on those that choose to listen. My portion of the blog is titled "Premium Musics" and each week I will showcase a song or artist.

So please, if you like music, check it out. Support Jo and I. Save yourself. Enjoy Life. Peace.

FAIL 2011

Christmas break was a bittersweet experience for me this year. I had the opportunity to go back to Utah for about 3 weeks and for the most part I got to spend a lot of quality time with my family and friends. That encompasses the sweet part.

The bitter part came in the 2 days before I came back to California when I received my grades from law school (that were substantially lower than I had hoped) and I had "the talk" with Natalie that ended our 14 month on-and-off relationship. I was able to stay pretty positive while I was in Utah amongst my family and friends, but soon after I returned home to California, everything began to settle in. During the week that followed I felt like my life was falling apart at the seams and I hit some serious lows concerning my self-worth and happiness as I began asking serious questions about myself, my potential, and where my life was going.

But I was soon lifted up as I remembered a principle that has guided my life over the past few years; I remembered that happiness is a choice. We as humans don't have a lot of control over the circumstances and events in our lives, but we do have exclusive control over how we react to those events and happenings. If we choose to look at events in our lives with a negative perspective, then a lot of bad things will happen to us during our life spans and we won't be happy. But if we choose to have an optimistic perspective then the exact opposite will occur.

So I realized that these seemingly terrible things that happened aren't all that bad, and in all likelihood are actually great blessings. There are a lot of life lessons to be learned from failing or from falling short of our goals and expectations. In fact, most things we learn in life are due to the moments in which we fall. Those are the moments in which we learn who we are and prove ourselves to God.

I have already learned a great deal about myself, and about life from the past two weeks and I know that there are many more great lessons to be learned as I move forward and progress in life. And at the moment, the lesson I have learned is that my happiness is my choice. This was reconfirmed to me this evening as I read a verse in the New Testament that quotes Paul as saying "...I have learned, in whatsoever state I am in, therewith to be content." - Philippians 4:11

I know that we will all have experiences and trials that will seem to be terrible and burdensome, but I also know that things happen for a reason and we don't have to let those moments get us down. Rather, we can choose to learn from those experiences and we can choose to be happy. Life is great, so let's all be happy.

Also, this makes me happy.

 

Special thanks to Steve West.