Archive for November, 2009
Rivalries & Competitiveness
November 30, 2009
On the heels of this weekend’s big game, and its eventual fallout (Hall’s comments, backlash to those comments, his apologies, etc) I have come to a conclusion about what has been bothering me about it all … rivalries and competitiveness usually brings out the absolute WORST in people.
It was intense competitiveness, taken too far, that fueled:
- the post-game comments Max Hall made
- the actions of those Ute fans at last year’s game in regard to Hall’s family
- the phone call Spencer got at work from people complaining that they sold U of U themed flower arrangements (along with the BYU themed ones). They said: “We support BYU here in Provo. I don’t think I can shop somewhere that supports the Utes.”
- Spencer’s rude (but understandable) reaction to this phone call. He said: “I actually really don’t care. I hate BYU and hope the Utes beat the crap out of them.”
- the varying ridiculous Facebook statuses and comments pointing out how Ute fans are (essentially) evil, and how BYU fans are morons
While competition can be mostly fun, if taken too far, it does nothing more than rip people apart… turning one against the other. It festers negativity, resentments, conflict, division, anger, and even hatred. Is this really what this world needs!?
This is the main issue I have with politics of today, and how it is handled (Fox News). They do much more damage than good by polarizing both sides of issues and igniting one side more angrily toward the other resulting in (again) negativity, resentments, conflict, division, anger, and even hatred.
“You’re taking this whole thing way too far, Luis. Rivalry and competition is harmless.”
Sure. Like I said before, competition is usually fun and exciting, but more often than not it is taken too far, and has the potential to spiral completely out of control. Go ahead, enjoy your rivalries and competitions, but remember to keep your head on straight, and not to get lost in it all.
“Yeah, Luis! Those Ute fans… they take the rivalry way too far!”
And so do you, average Cougar fan. So do you.
Shrac Friday
November 28, 2009
So yesterday was the infamous “Black Friday,” and Natalia and I decided to check out Target at 7AM, hoping the murderous, blood-sucking, step-over-your-mother-for-10-bucks-off-a-DVD mobs would have dissipated. Unfortunately, there was still very much of a line inside the store to check out, so we left empty-handed.
Somewhere between squeezing by people in the aisles, stepping over merchandise that had been knocked onto the floor, or watching people stuff their newly-purchased wares into the backseat of their SUVs was when I came to a conclusion about THIS post-Thanksgiving phenomenon… it’s just NOT worth it.
“But Luis! I got DVDs for 5 bucks each!”
“But Luis! I saved a bundle on toilet paper!”
Ok, so you saved about 15% on your crap, big deal!! I’ll take sleeping-in, relaxing with family, and eating leftovers comfortably, over the 30 cents you saved on whatever piece of garbage you wrestled away from Betsy down the street.
i wish i liked football
November 28, 2009
As Luis and I drove past this massive University of Utah tailgate on our way to work today, I couldn’t help but think how fun it must be to be so enthused about something that everyone else around you loves too. It must be fun to get all decked out in your school’s colors and go celebrate with a bunch of random strangers. I wish I had the desire to make a bunch of fun game-day food and invite people over to sit for hours and hours cheering and booing.
Luis: While it would be fun, I don’t see us becoming football fans any time soon (or at all for that matter). Even though I don’t like or understand the passion or fervor behind football (but most specifically, BYU football), I still try to respect the fandom of my friends. But the mere fact that the game today is dubbed “The Holy War” makes me want to vomit in my shoes … May the best team win!
Our 2009 Christmas Lists
November 27, 2009
In honor of today being the very epic Black Friday, we decided on posting our Christmas lists for this year:
Luis: My Christmas list this year consists of the following:
- Chuck – Season 2 DVD
- Friday Night Lights – Season 3 DVD
- Pushing Daisies – Season 2 DVD
- Electric razor/trimmer
- 1TB external hard drive
- Dorm Life – Season 1 DVD
- A wireless mouse
- An iTunes giftcard (to buy iPhone apps)
- A Wii Points giftcard (to buy Virtual Console games)
- Wireless Gamecube controllers
- Lots of random movies that are on sale ($5 and under)
- Chili’s giftcard
Natalia: I don’t know if I necessarily believe in making lists. I kind of think people should just get you what they want to get you and you should be happy that you’re being given a gift in the first place. Last year I asked for nothing and got some pretty great gifts including cold hard cash (which we were desperately needing at the time), a beautiful cake stand from Williams Sonoma (which has gotten a ton of use throughout the year), and a surprise sewing machine (which I finally took out of the box last week). I’m hoping that if I ask for nothing again this year, I’ll get new some jewelry and maybe some fun kitchen gadgets.
Luis: Apparantly, my wife didn’t follow the rules and ended up making me look like a materialistic ogre… meh, it’s nothing new though. :D
Thanksgiving day, hour by hour
November 27, 2009
10:00am-11:00am
Luis: Well we started off the day with a delicious breakfast with the Rogers, before Spencer headed off to work.
Natalia: It wasn’t all perfect the way I wanted it to be, but everyone ate everything so I guess all was well.
Luis: And so begins my wife’s perfectionism-induced modesty…
11:00am-12:00pm
Natalia: It thoroughly amazes me that any second of downtime we are given, Luis and I always RUN to our computers.
Luis: While this is very very true, I was in the middle of finishing a favor for Sherry. It was done lickety-split!
12:00pm-1:00pm
Luis: We’re cruising down I-15 to Kaysville for the Redd Family Thanksgiving extravaganza!
Natalia: You have no idea how difficult it is to get a decent picture in the car.
1:00pm-2:00pm
Natalia: We finally arrived at the Redd residence for a fabulous meal.
Luis: Brent Redd himself, opening the door upon our momentous arrival! (shoutout, sm)
2:00pm-3:00pm
Luis: Pre-eating countdown.
Natalia: This is the part where Luis and Brent were being entertained by Brent’s nephew.
3:00pm-4:00pm
Natalia: This is me focusing too hard on trying to not have a double chin in front of my piles of food.
Luis: I really had to restrain myself in an effort to save some appetite for the Rogers Thanksgiving later that evening…
4:00pm-5:00pm
Luis: Returning back to Provo.
Natalia: I’m so glad you can’t see that I’m singing girly music at the top of my lungs.
5:00pm-6:00pm
Natalia: Oh, if I’d only known how so not worth the trouble these pies were going to be…
Luis: …Tell me about it… (perfectionism)
6:00pm-7:00pm
Luis: Here I am, updating our Thanksgiving Day adventure thus far..
Natalia: This is all he thought about all day…
7:00pm-8:00pm
Natalia: Thanksgiving dinner (round 2) at “La Maison Rojay.”
Luis: Everyone was making fun of me for trying to make honey-butter. I accused them all of being nay-sayers, and Spencer literally said: “Naysay! Naysay! Naysay!” So I didn’t share any of it with anyone.
8:00pm-9:00pm
Luis: Oy! Deciding on our evening activities was a definitely a low-point. Here we all are (Spencer, Amy, Natalia, and I) sprawled out on the bed, looking up movie times, while trying to coordinate things with Karina who was on the phone at the time.
Natalia: I’m glad that bed didn’t collapse underneath us.
Luis: Who am I?… “How’s that bed holding up!?!”
9:00pm-10:00pm
Natalia: This is me “hanging” myself because the banana cream pie didn’t turn out the way I wanted
Luis: Perfectionism strikes again. After Natalia thought she had ruined the pie, she TRIED to throw it away… but then soon thereafter ran to the bedroom, which is when THIS photo was taken.
All-in-all, we had a tremendously memorable Thanksgiving holiday, which finally ended with us going to watch 2012.
thanksgiving goals
November 26, 2009
Natalia: Goal #1: Wow everyone with a delicious breakfast
Luis: Goal #2: Sit around for hours and hours on my laptop
Natalia: Goal #3: Make a banana cream pie for Luis
Luis: Goal #4: Sit around for hours and hours doing nothing productive
Natalia: Goal #5: Eat Thanksgiving dinner and gain back the 5 lbs I lost in the last few of weeks
Luis: Goal #6: Sit around long enough to get hungry again
Natalia: Goal #7: Take pictures of everything so that I can blog about it later
Midnight burger run
November 25, 2009
There’s a new burger joint in town where you can get a quality late-night burger. Perhaps you’ve heard of it?
Spencer texted me two nights ago, proposing we head to this place after he got out of work at midnight, and figuring the crowd would be small, I figured: why not!? We got there, and the crowd WAS small– at least, in comparison to how over-packed it’s been since it opened last week. Our wait time: a meager 15 minutes. Here is what we had ordered:
I will give props to this place for serving some high-quality burgers, but is it worth all of the hype? Was it worth the 3.5 hour drive some people would take just to have one?! My answer: While it IS delicious, and quite possibly one of the best fast-food burgers there is– it is definitely NOT worth all the hype.
Recent Comments