5 Things to Do

5 Things To Do (in no real particular order):

1.  Trim beard

2.  Watch Lost

3.  Begin unpacking my stuff

4.  Write a real blog post

5.  Start reading something

My New Hobby

My blogging output has declined considerably over the last two months.  In January and February I was posting nearly every other day for a total of 27 posts.  Then in March I blogged just six times, and this current post will be the third for April.  That's pretty sad.  I'm going to do better.

I've recently taken up a new hobby:  disc golf.  For those unfamiliar with the sport, it involves throwing discs (similar to but slightly different from your typical frisbee) from the tee to a basket usually more than 300 feet away.  Trees and other natural obstacles make each hole a unique challenge.  Here in Provo we're lucky to have Bicentennial Park, an official disc golf course, not too far away.  

My first time disc golfing took place about a month ago.  I borrowed a couple discs from friends and did my best, which wasn't very good.  However, I had a very enjoyable time, and other than having my keys fall through a hole in my pocket and being forced to re-walk the entire course to find them, it was a very positive experience.  I was pretty much hooked from the beginning.  Unfortunately, the weather most Saturdays after my initial disc golf experience was poor, preventing me from trying my hand once again.  Last week, after the snow and cold early on, the weather turned quite pleasant.  I was able to go again on Saturday, that time using my own discs that I purchased the day before.  I did better than my first time, but there was definitely a lot of room for improvement.

With the beautiful weather we've been enjoying up to the current day (it's going to get rainy again), my friend Jared and I couldn't help but take advantage of the sunshine.  We decided spontaneously to go throw the course, and with just the two of us it didn't take long at all.  We went Monday and Wednesday, not going Tuesday only because we went to Salt Lake to attend the glorious Franz Ferdinand concert.  Each time I've gone I have improved noticeably, and I think I'm finally getting a feel for my distance driver.  Yesterday my score for the sixteen holes was 60, but it very well could have been 57 were it not for a couple of unfortunate bounces out of the basket.

There's just something soothing about tossing a disc around.  My mind always goes back to the summer of 2002.  I had just graduated high school and would be starting at BYU in the fall.  All of my best friends were in still in Vernal, and we would often go to the city park.  We'd toss my bright orange Life is Good brand frisbee back and forth, running barefoot through the perfect green grass, working on our trick catches (through the legs, behind the back, etc).  Throwing the frisbee became our thing.  Whenever we'd get bored of sitting around our older friend Britt's apartment, with nothing good on TV or just whenever a certain restlessness would kick in, we'd drive over to the park and spend an hour or two tossing the disc back and forth.  Man, that was a great summer.  I spent a fantastic week in Boston with my family, got to hang out with my best friends virtually every day, had some interesting and overwrought relationship drama, spent a lot of time listening to music and conversing with my closest friends, did some crazy (but not too crazy) stuff, and just lived it up.  It was really a singular summer.  Never again would I live in the same town with my best friends after that summer.  We all went our separate ways; I went to BYU that next year and then to Brazil for two years on my LDS mission.  Thinking about the summer of 2002 makes me nostalgic and, honestly, kind of sad.  A lot of things have changed since then; people, relationships, just life in general has changed.  We keep growing older, more and more becoming responsible adults, and our paths seem to keep diverging.  The simple joy of living, the thrill of freedom, the excitement of being on the brink of adulthood, never were those feelings more abundant than that summer.  And throwing a frisbee with my best friends seemed to encapsulate everything about those amazing months.  (This paragraph got a bit more serious and introspective than I anticipated).

Friends located in or near Provo, I invite you to give disc golf a chance.  You're more than welcome to join me anytime I may happen to go.  I have a feeling that there will be many opportunities in the near future.

In other outdoors/sports news, I really need to get out and run more, whether that means playing soccer, basketball, ultimate, or even just plain running (boring, I know).  I need to get into better physical shape.

SOFA 2009!

Last summer I mentioned my desire to organize a movie-watching group with a cool name - PIMPS (Pseudo-Intellectual Movie People Society) was the best I came up with.  Unfortunately, PIMPS was not meant to be.  It never even got off the ground really.  I did, however, form The Book Club, which, depending on who you ask, was a minor success.  My desire to organize a society of people to watch good films recently returned, with a decent name to boot.

I hereby announce my intention to organize and administrate, on a trial basis, the Summer of Film Appreciation, or SOFA.  People interested in joining this group must have one thing only:  an appreciation of good film or at least a desire to learn more and expand your knowledge of film.  SOFA, as I envision it, will not devote itself to watching trivial popcorn blockbusters; instead SOFA will seek out the films that have significance, either historical, social, or cinematic.  SOFA will aim to recognize films of high artistic value, wherever they may be found.

Having taken two film history college courses, my eyes were opened to the vast expanse of films made throughout the hundred plus years of motion picture history, both American and foreign.  It seemed that I would leave every class period of every film class with at least five more films or names of actors and directors to check out.  This lead to my Netflix queue steadily growing until it hit the 500 film limit a few months ago.  I hope that SOFA will be able to create a similar learning environment for others, where their film knowledge will be expanded.  This is not merely an attempt to give others the chance to say, "I watched a silent black and white film, or an obscure French film - look at how cultured and smart I am."  While SOFA members would likely be able to brag in such a manner, I envision different results.  SOFA will seek much more substantial film-viewing experiences by watching films to expand our sympathy and understanding of other people, to create lasting and unforgettable emotional experiences, and to generate insightful and meaningful discussion.

Anyone interested is welcome to participate, and I mean absolutely anyone.  Were SOFA to be successful this summer, I'd be willing to expand its lifespan, renaming it the Society of Film Appreciation.  Let me know if you are interested and willing to reserve at least two hours a week to watch films worth appreciating.

I have what I think to be a pretty cool idea for selecting the films we will watch, but I'll write more about that once the level of interest in SOFA can be ascertained. 

Everything is okay.

Sometimes all that's needed to make everything alright in the world is a strawberry cheesecake pie shake from Sammy's.

For the time being...