See that's a metaphor, no wait, a simile

Today I was sitting next to this guy in Chemistry and he was wearing a very sharp cologne. Not offensive, just... sharp. It made my nose sting and my eyes water. Could I possibly have a negative response to pungent cologne? Yes. It was a truly painful experience. And it made it very difficult to focus on dear, sweet Dr. Brown's lecture. We have the same computer, he and I. But he has an Australian accent and I don't.

On a similar note, this weekend was amazing and deserves to be documented. So Friday, I was just chilling in my apartment with my roommates. I had already accepted the fact that I would spend the better part of the weekend working on lab write-ups. But my friend Jules said she had tickets to see The Format opening for some band she didn't know. I like The Format. But it was in Salt Lake. It was already 5ish. The gig started at 6. Was it worth it? Eh, sure. So my roommate Kelly and I hopped in my car and were off. We called the girl with the tickets, still debating, thinking we were going to miss The Format anyway because we were running so late. But she told us that there were actually 4 bands playing, and she thought The Format would be later. And also, that the main band performing was Jack's Mannequin. Well what were we waiting for?!? That was just the motivation we needed. So with the JM cd already playing in my car, we headed for the SLC.

Fast forward. We're at the U and rxBandits is finishing up their set. Perfect timing. The Format played, just the two guys, acoustic. Amazing. With his deep scoop neck shirt and vest and hat and hunched-over stance. They finished up and then people went nuts in anticipation for JM. It was like the indie version of Chain Reaction in Anaheim. I suffered minimal battle scars; just a bloodied toe and smashed feet in general, plus a mysterious scratch on my arm that I'm not sure exactly how it got there. All bruises are generally not severe/visible. And well worth it. Anyway, Jack's Mannequin was absolutely amazing. Fantastic. Words cannot even describe. What a wonderful alternative to a weekend of paper-writing.

And then we got slurpees. Mine was orange cream, blue vanilla, banana. It was delicious.

Welcome to the OC

So I realize that the class for which I started this blog is successfully over, but I think documenting is still a good idea, and since I finally went home for a semi-extended period of time (longest stay since Christmas), I have some tales.
For the break between Summer and Fall terms, I went home to California, "right back where I started from." Ah, state songs, gotta love 'em. Anyway, I digress. Tyler came down a few days later to visit me and the fam. We went to Downtown Disney where he got his first glimpses of the Happy Kingdom in about 20 years. We went to Laguna Beach and my brother introduced us to Chronic Taco... sounds appetizing, I know, but it's Chipotle-esque. And I had my first real burrito. I took him to the shopping wonders of the Irvine Spectrum, where I purchased this very computer that I'm on from the Apple store. Yes, I've converted to Mac. So far, so good. And it's pretty, although I'm super paranoid about getting smudges on the screen. Friday was a harbor cruise on my Grandpa's yacht. We ate cheese and crackers and talked about politics. It was all very yacht-ish. It was my first experience with the boat, and a rather successful one at that. Plus then we got to show Tyler the famous Surf City USA aka Huntington Beach and dine at Ruby's on the pier after watching the local fishermen. That night was followed up by a delightful Angels game in which the Angels beat the Blue Jays 3-0. Plus, Friday means Big Bang Friday so the game was followed by a high-budget fireworks show. Tyler didn't cheer for the Angels and got some weird looks for wearing his Mariners hat. To no avail. Angels are amazing.
Saturday we spent the day in LA. We went to Graumann's Chinese Theater and the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the La Brea tar pits (this was mostly for my sake) and UCLA campus and the Getty museum. Okay, the Getty museum has become a personal obsession of mine since my first visit my junior year of high school. I absolutely love it. The atmosphere, the architecture, the view, the gardens, and of course the art. It's just such an incredible place and I simply love everything about it. It has become an almost annual tradition now. Whenever I'm home, I always want to go to the Getty.
Anyway, back to the trip. Sunday was Church, of course, and a much-needed day of rest. I also discovered Tyler's love of ping pong while on this trip. He was always challenging me to a game. I beat him a few times. Monday was Disneyland day. We fulfilled a childhood dream of Tyler's by going on the Matterhorn. And I finally got to go to California Adventure. The place was nuts. It's an entire amusement park themed to the Golden State. I was impressed with Disney's recognition of her majesty and greatness (her being California). Also there was a giant orange with swings inside. That is all about that. Tuesday we took the yacht to Catalina Island. I haven't been over there in years, but not much has changed. We roamed around and played a round of mini-golf with my brother. It was actually pretty intense. We were on a tight schedule so it basically turned into a game of extreme speed golf, and we managed all but hole 7 on the 18-hole coarse. Wednesday we rested. Thursday was South Coast Plaza, the largest and chicest mall in Orange County. Friday, we drove back to good old Provo. It was a really busy break. But that's how we do it in Orange County.