Monday, February 26, 2007

romantic experiences


Is it possible to have a romantic experience with someone that you are not in the least interested in romantically? Apparently it is for some people. I had such an experience once (at least the person I was with at the time had such an experience- I'm not sure what kind of experience I had). It all happened one moonlit night in the ancient city of Alexandria, Egypt. I went out to eat with a group of people at a Chinese restaurant on the roof of a fancy hotel. Afterwards, one of the ladies with us (who was over twice my age and at least twice my size) asked me if I would like to go on a quest for juice with her. In Egypt they have these really cool juice bars where they make fresh juice from whatever kind of fruit is in season at the time. We walked to a nearby juice bar and I believe we each drank a strawberry juice. Then my companion suggested that we try a different juice bar that she had heard was spectacular and compare the juices. This particular juice bar was situated along the coast out towards the peninsula where the ancient lighthouse used to stand. Neither of us was exactly sure where this juice bar was exactly so we just started walking and kept walking and kept walking and walked some more and then we walked even further. Just when we were about to give up and turn around there it was. It was like we had stumbled into a tropical paradise: there were bananas and watermelons and mangoes hanging from the ceiling and piled up all around us. The only problem was that they didn't have any strawberries. But that was ok, cuz the watermelon juice was better than any strawberry juice I'd ever had. Anyway, we sat there and sipped on our juice and listened to the waves crash along the shore and had a nice conversation. Then, my companion noticed the horse drawn carriages that kept going up and down the road along the coastline. Nothing could be more romantic than a carriage ride along the coast in Alexandria (that is if you ignore the traffic and the honking and the yelling and all of the people staring at you because you're white). So caught a carriage and proceeded to ride along the coast towards the old fortress of Qait Bay and then back down to the Library of Alexandria. The mosques were all lit up in bright white and green lights and the library was a bright glowing blue. The moon sat in the sky above us (actually I have no memory of there being a moon, but it adds to the romantic feel of the evening). My companion looked over at me and said "Isn't this romantic." Then she added (to my relief) "You know, you don't have to be with your beau to have a romantic experience." In the end the evening was very nice and I had a good time- but it would have been nice to have had such a "romantic" experience with someone that I was romantically interested in.

more flimping

Apparently ice cream isn't the only thing being flimped lately. Mint has also been flimped.

Monday, February 19, 2007

more political stuff

Here is a quote by Barack Obama:

You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil through an energy policy that doesn't simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil.

Those are the battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair

I think he hits it right on the head here. After spending some time in Egypt I can attest to the fact that the oppressive government there drives its citizens into terrorism. We claim to fight terror at the same time that we support the Egyptian and Saudi governments. How much sense does that make.

The most recent flimping

My roommate J.R. (yes, that's an alias) has been flimping ice cream lately on a fairly regular basis I believe. This is the most recent flimping that I am aware of.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Politically minded

Well, I've been doing really good at staying away from political issues in my blogging, but most people who know me very well, know that I tend to have somewhat strong political views. After looking at the candidates who are running for president in 2008 I've decided to support Barack Obama as the best candidate for president. Some of my fellow Mormons may be disappointed that I'm going for Mitt Romney, but with his latest appeals to the "Christian" Right, he lost my vote. I consider myself a Democrat, usually, although I try to avoid labels. I've heard before that you can't be a good Mormon and a Democrat, but I will argue that I am a Democrat because I am a Mormon. I strongly believe that Mormon values are more in line with the principles of the Democratic Party. I'll write more about this later, but for now I've added a link to the Mormons for Obama blog- its got some good stuff, including a blog about why the Iraq war is not in line with LDS teachings.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Falling in love

I just talked to my aunt Jamie- the one who is arranging my marriage. I'm going to Malad on Saturday to have the date of the century. I called Jamie to tell her that I would be there at about six o'clock. Her response was: "What?? We were expecting you a lot earlier than that. Don't you know that you can't fall in love on a short date? It takes long dates!!" I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into. She eventually made me agree to be there by five- which was still later than she was planning for. I guess when you live 4 hours apart it takes long dates to fall in love.
A friend recently told me that blind dates are for the birds. I'm afraid she might be right.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Why I Believe in Fortune Cookies

If you have read my previous blog entitled "My Fondest Dreams" you will know that I tend to put more faith in fortune cookies than I probably should. This all started about three years ago. One rainy fall afternoon I locked my keys in my car over on the west side of town (Rose Park). I found a cop and asked him for some help, but he said that he couldn't help because of liability issues. So I found a phone book and called a locksmith. He said that it would cost about $80 for him to open my door. Then I called my mom because she is a genius and can solve any problem in the world. She had a fantastic idea: she would call the dealership in Preston where my car came from and get the code for the key. I didn't even know that keys had codes. Well, it worked. She got the code- I called a locksmith and gave it to him- then I called my friend Danny, who always rescues me when I'm in trouble, and he agreed to pick up the key and bring it to me. In the meantime, I walked to a nearby Chinese restaraunt to get out of the rain and wait for Danny. I ordered some chicken or something and had a nice meal. Then came the moment that Chinese restaraunts were invented for- the opening of the fortune cookie. I carefully cracked it open (actually I probably just bit half of it off and started chewing), I unfolded the paper, and I read these words: Doors that have previously been closed to you will soon be opened. Within a few minutes Danny arrived with my key- and my car door was no longer closed to me.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Glasses

I've had the same pair of glasses for about six years now- which might be a world record. I've never had any troubles with them until just recently I noticed that one of the screws is loose. So today I was messing around with it and popped it out, which wasn't supposed to happen. The screw landed on the floor and is now lost among a jungle of carpet fibers. Considering the fact that glass frame screws are only slightly larger than a protazoa, I gave up after only a few minutes of searching. I can't really live without my glasses so I stuck a staple in the hole and twisted it around pretty good. I would really like to get lasik so that I don't have to worry about glasses troubles anynmore- and so that I can enjoy the luxury of wearing sunglasses whenever I want to.