Day 2: Black and White

Simply photos. Day 1: Color

Over the next week I will post my favorite photos from the past year. 10 each day.
Why am I doing this in April?
Who knows.

To the moon...

8 months ago I wanted to build cars for a living. I wanted to work for a small, high-end car company that produced rockets disguised as cars. That was 8 months ago. Now I want to build rockets. No disguises.

A rocket competition changed it all. 

Here's the story: I was perusing the halls of the Crabtree building after class. I stumbled upon a bulletin board with poorly designed flyers sprawling across it. One of them was for a rocket competition. I was intrigued. Rockets. 

The competition was a team event so I recruited Conner and Payden to do it with me. Each team would design and build a rocket around the same motor. The goal: maximum altitude. Another goal: recover the rocket. We went to work. Correction: I went to work. Conner and Payden were busy with chemistry/girls/rock climbing. So I designed the rocket. Then I built it.

As the launch day approached I was lowkey stoked out of my mind. Well, they canceled it. So we waited for the next launch day. It approached and I was lowkey stoked out of my mind. Well, they canceled it. They moved the launch to the next month. In the meantime, we decided to upgrade our rocket fins. Wood to carbon fiber. Yeah. Carbon fiber. We were gonna win this business. Finally the launch day came. It wasn't canceled.

We met up with all the other BYU rocketeers that morning to go over some last minute specifics. And to get our free t-shirts. Yes. Then we drove an hour out to the launch site. We were launching at a UROC event. They were the real deal. They had an arsenal of missile-sized rockets. The almost-friendly UROC folks checked in our rockets and had us load them on the launch pads. Then the time came for the launch. 

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

gone.

Our rocket went sideways. Not ideal. Check out the video.

We searched and searched. Never found it. We realized that we doomed ourselves from the beginning when we named our rocket Elijah's Chariot. It's not like they found his chariot after he left. It didn't float back to earth with a bright red parachute. Only 2 teams out of 5 recovered their rockets. And only 1 had an altimeter reading. The thing is, their rocket also went sideways. No way did it go as high as some of the other BYU rockets. But they recovered it and have the only altimeter reading. Technically they should win. A winner has yet to be announced though. Sort of anticlimactic. Well, at least I got some decent pictures.

The search pose

The post-search pose

Instead of finding their rocket, one group found a balloon and a golf club.

Scooter Problems.

I drive a scooter. Its name is Monty (short for Montgomery). Lately it has had some issues. It wouldn't start on Monday. It started yesterday but something smelled like it was burning. So I decided it was time to take it in to the shop. So I asked my friend to follow me in his car and away we went. I putted up the street. Looking in my mirror I could see this white cloud of stinky exhaust spurting out the tailpipe. I turned left onto a long straight road. Suddenly my friend zoomed past me. I thought he was just being funny trying to race me. I kept putting along.

Soon I looked in one of my mirrors and saw that the white exhaust hadn't stopped. And it wasn't this wispy haze that dispersed a few seconds after Monty gushed it out. It was this long, thick cloud of white exhaust stretching all the way down the street. The cars following me were engulfed in it. Mercy on their souls for how bad it must have smelled. But I was not to be deterred. I kept putting along. Every so often I would look back over my shoulder, see the chalky fog chasing me, and chuckle at the whole situation. I was a menace to the neighborhood but kept putting along.

One car followed me for a solid 15 seconds before swerving down a tiny side street to escape the great white stink. I take this moment to publicly apologize to that person. I also want to apologize to the biker that rode through the smog, you probably should go get screened for something.

Nutshell: I felt like one of those fighter jets with the smoke trails that perform acrobatic stunts in airshows...except I was maxing out at 28 mph and only made 4 turns.

That's me in the middle.

Thoughts

Obstacles

               are opportunities to amaze

               are opportunities to see

               are opportunities to stretch

               are opportunities to learn

               are opportunities to become

               are opportunities to prove them wrong

Opportunities

The Next 4 Days.

Finals.  They have returned.  I didn't even see them coming.  Alright.  Maybe I did.  Maybe I saw them on the syllabus back in August. But only maybe.

This semester I am in a photography class.  Artsy classes have the best final.  AKA they don't have one.  They have final projects instead, which is a blessing and a curse.  Blessing: no studying old material trying to remember stuff you sort of understood back in September.  Curse: spending way more time on a project than you would studying for a normal final.

Well this morning I presented my photo final.  What a relief that it is over.  And good thing my opinion doesn't count for my final grade because personally, I didn't think it was that strong.  My professor and class thought it was great though.  Christmas miracle.  Hallelujah.  So here it is, my project in all its glory.  The theme was adventure.  It is a series of pairs of photos, the first being a boring, everyday, non-adventurous moment, the second being an adventurous moment.  Ah, just see for yourself.

This one is a bit of a stretch, but on the left he is doing physics homework and on the right he is writing a novel. 

       

One final down, four to go.  Let's do this.

Advice Column

My blog is hugely successful. Just ask my mom. Naturally, people leave me lots of comments. Sometimes they even ask for advice. Today I aim to answer the question that I am asked most often: "My best friend has a new girl/boyfriend and now never hangs out with me, what do I do?"

Let me answer this with a personal anecdote. I once had a friend named Conner. He was what some people call a best friend. I made the mistake of introducing Conner to a friend I met while working as an EFY counselor this past summer. They quickly hit it off. Soon(ish) after they were dating. Then he disappeared. Missing in action? Treason? I've heard it both ways. We searched for him. Our text messages to meet up went unanswered. Our calls to check up went ignored. We were devastated by Conner's disappearance. We waited two months for Conner's return. Alas, he was gone.

We did the sensible thing, we held a funeral to honor Conner's memory. We invited his friends and family to participate. We purchased some flowers, found an urn, and even contacted his family for a nice photo to place next to his last remains. Since Conner's body was never recovered we filled his urn with Life cereal, his Life cereal to be precise. A cruel irony.

The funeral service was beautiful. His sister offered an eloquent eulogy. His cousins offered a gift to his grieving roommates. His friend consoled all present with an uplifting musical number. It was a sublime occasion. Enjoy the photos and video below.

I sincerely hope this personal experience helps all who are facing a similar situation. Remember you are not alone in this. Hope on.