Ode To W-Hall

It's the end of an era.

The physical home of almost every single one of my greatest freshman year memories is being razed! As I stood and gazed at this dilapidated dorm be torn down, I mused on its importance in my life:

-I kissed a girl for the first time (no blindsides) in the lobby here!

-I opened up my mission call to the Ecuador Guayaquil North mission with my whole family watching in the lobby as well.

-I played Goldeneye and Perfect Dark for many an hour in the commons room on the fourth floor.

-I lived in rooms 408 and 410 the fall and winter semesters of my freshman year, respectively.

-I made some great friends here that I still associate with--Josh Campos and Sterling Haring.

-I ate ridiculous amounts of junk food that DiningPlus provided me within the cinder block walls here... A hazy sugar-induced image of a mini fridge packed with Martinelli's and root beer comes to mind.

-Every now and then, I also did a little studying here.

What can I say? My experience at BYU in this "tower" was nothing short of the most holistic dormitory living one could ever expect at a university! For that, I thank you W-Hall. You're little more than a pile of rubble now, but the memories you gave me will always be in my heart...and cerebral cortex.

Jello Bread

I made it all myself! (Under the tutelage of Meghan...)

Vladimir Putin...Batman?

This isn't a doctored image. I found it on the BBC. So maybe it was Batman who poisoned Alexander Litvinenko...

Purely For Decoration

Nothing beats making your own salt dough ornaments and painting them. It brings the whole gang together!

Look at all of those happy ornaments! Now that they're decorated with wardies and shellac they're ready to rock the holiday conifer! Note the "Feliz Navidad" tree feat. Ben Patron, the German blob from ATHF, Baby's First Christmas feat. Edi Bayles, the heart feat. the Bishop and his wife, and the heart feat. photos of Meghan and I when we were 6.

The Holiest of Wars

On November 26, 2006 I attended one of the greatest Holy Wars of all time at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. I had to initially dress up as a Ute fan so I could get into the game with a U student ticket that was given to me courtesy of my mission buddy Kyle Moon. I hung out in the student section where my ticket had placed me, but it was soon apparent that I was a "pilgrim in an unholy land." I shed the red exoclothing and quickly headed for the BYU fan section.

What can I say? After Johnny Harline caught that football it was all a blur... I ran down the stairs and jumped out on the field even before the game was officially declared over. I lingered and revelled in the victory while being surrounded by a silent sea of red. We won the Holy War my freshman year, and we won the Holy War my senior year. I just knew they would win this one. I could feel it the whole season. Although the margin of victory was smaller than anyone had wished, the Cougars' amazing last two final drives were a tribute to the talent and heart of this team. My attendance at this Holy War will always be one of my most cherished sporting event memories.

Turtle Power

The BYU home football game against New Mexico was to be our gang's last together as students. Therefore, everyone dressed up like ninja turtles (thank you Heidi Torgeson's sewing skills!) except for Dave, who dressed up like a gorilla. It's a logical connection--believe me. Congrats on your conference championship, Cougs!

Albuquirky II

I recently got a batch of photos from this summer from Lauren.

Maloni's b-day.

Eatin' pizza for Maloni's b-day. Notice the sweet shark hat we bought him.

These folks are the Walkers: Emily and Jeremy. Shortly after this photo was taken Jeremy made a crude comment and his wife slugged him.

CyFry, me, and Corn Derek during the oasis from selling that was the Sabbath day.

Party Island. I don't think Steve could have made a better investment in the morale of the office.

Garduños: real gringo Mexican food.

Dion's: the best pizza in town.

When we took Party Island down the Rio Grande we all turned as dark as Maloni due to the chocolate waters. Note Chris' D.I. short swimsuit.

Lauren and I dyed our hair a dark shade of brown together.

The birthday of Swag, our fearless leader.

One Sunday we had a picnic at a park in the mountains and watched the sun set.

Ready to roll on our first attempt to conquer the mighty Rio Grande.

Our automatic pump didn't work, so Steve's mighty trumpeter lungs blew up the raft.

Corned Beef Slash

Preprocessed meat tins can be a dangerous business... Just ask Zander and his 8 stitches. The funniest part to me about this is that the doctor that sewed him up was Irish and rebuked him for his cooking methodology...

Dang

Don't ya hate it when your flip flop breaks on campus in the middle of the day?

Blessed Baby Emma

Baby Emma was blessed on Nov. 5, 2006. I can't wait until she's older and we can tell her how Brother Diamond's whistling made us crack up all sacrament meeting long...

This is proud Uncle Buck holding her up Pride Rock-style post-blessing per LDS tradition.

Me Like Hockey

The Salt Lake Golden Eagles were Utah's hockey team when I was growing up. Were they any good, you ask? Let's look at the following superlatives:

• 1988 Turner Cup (IHL) Championship
• 1987 Turner Cup (IHL) Championship
• 1981 Adams Cup (CHL) Championship
• 1980 Adams Cup (CHL) Championship
• 1975 Adams Cup (CHL) Championship
• 1982 CHL Regular Season Champions
• 1980 CHL Regular Season Champions
• 1979 CHL Regular Season Champions

They were one heck of a team. You wanna know why?

They were fighters with their sticks and their fists.

Dad would take me to at least a couple games every year so I would be indoctrinated into the magical sport of hockey. In fact, he even got us tickets to the Golden Eagles' last game in '94. It was the most intense sporting event I have ever attended. People were throwing enormous paper airplanes onto the ice they'd fashioned from complimentary posters that had been handed out at the doors the whole night. At the end of the game, which was a close victory for the Eagles, the crowd literally exploded. A torrent of popcorn, soda, and beer flooded onto the ice. For a 10 year-old, this was an impressionable group dynamic. As a said before, that was their last game in Salt Lake City. Larry Miller had sold the franchise to Detroit. To this day, I refuse to buy a car from "Larry Miller the Eagle Killer." He robbed Utah of its amazing hockey franchise and me of part of my childhood. The Grizzlies are an OK team, but I will always remember the glory days of the Eagles and their graceful yet violent ballet on ice that ranks as one of my fondest childhood sports memories.

My Favorite Holiday

Halloween is, and always has been, my favorite secular holiday (even more than Armistice Day or Arbor Day!). Why, you ask? Two words: sugar and costumes. Few human celebrations have the potential to bring us closer to our existential base natures--for during this fiesta of the macabre we get tripped up on candy and parade around in fanciful facades! All Hallow's Eve '06 delivered on all of these crucial elements. Watch yourselves, Halloween haterz... Do you realize who you're messing with? The bonafide crypts and bloods! Not to mention vampires, werewolves, pirates, witches, ghosts, nerds, and ironing boards...

Meghan and I dressed up as Jim and Pam from the Halloween episode of The Office. Folks either got our costume or they didn't. The most common guesses amongst the ignorant about my costume were a domino, a musical scale, and a polka-dotted man...

Katie and Will made quite the nerdy team. Let's leave the rumors that this photo spawned for another occasion, shall we?

"Who ya gonna call?" Shirley and Rachel, of course.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Heidi and Molly. Props on the costume sewing skills!

Swag was none other than fellow wardie Shirley Escobar through the power of her trademark glasses, apron, oven mitt, and missionary copy of the Book of Mormon.

The pumpkins Meghan and I carved. I was a typical former geography major and fashioned the gourd's features from political boundaries dear to me. The eyes are Michigan and Utah. The nose is Ecuador. The mouth is Virginia. Meghan went with a more traditional "normal" look for her jack o' lantern. I guess it's a personality test of some kind... We toasted the seeds afterwards. Tasty!

Mom showed off her mad domestic skillz by creating this haunted chocolate gingerbread house complete with a brownie graveyard and an internal fog mechanism.

Megs has nice teeth. But this juxtaposition really isn't needed to underscore that fact.

This is why Katie Deibel should be kept away from sharp objects when she's in the presence of rotting gourds...

Baby Emma was a CareBear. Ain't she darling?

To Wong, From America

This is Wong (more or less). He does not play into the many Wong stereotypes.

He is not a Chinese restauranteur.

He is not a detective.

Nor is he a deified Kung Fu master.

He is a driver.

And he's been doing it for a long time...

Wong recently ended his employment for the ex-patriot Deibel family in Shanghai, so we took these pictures to show him great university founded for glorious honor of revolutionary hero Brigham Young...

Great indigenous peasant leader Massasoit honored for work with the people's agriculture.

Katie gets special classroom at university...

Just Police Beat It

Every Thursday the Police Beat in The Daily Universe never ceases to amuse me. Our fair university is rife with gross disorder and wanton disregard for the law! I therefore present to you the best of law and order, Provo style.

Criminal Mischief
Nov. 4- Three vehicles in a Heritage Halls parking lot were vandalized using ketchup, mayonnaise, hot dogs, salad dressing and tomatoes. The vandals used ketchup to write vulgar messages on the hoods of the cars.

Assault
Oct. 23: An assault was reported in R Hall of Deseret Towers. One male student threw a bug on another male student who retaliated by spraying shaving cream on the male that threw the bug. Shaving cream got in the eyes of the first student and the argument quickly escalated and became a physical confrontation.

Communications Violation
Oct. 25: An employee in the Widtsoe Building reported receiving a suspicious telephone call. The female employee reported a male calling and rambling about Mormons and his alcohol abuse problem.

Criminal Mischief
Oct. 13: Officers responded to the report of a suspicious briefcase in the Eyring Science Center. Upon investigation officers found someone had simply misplaced their briefcase.

Nuisance
Oct. 13: A student reported two male students throwing acorns off the bridge near the law building on East Campus Drive, hitting another student. When questioned, the male students said they were throwing acorns into the tops of trees to see the reactions of students who thought animals were making the noises in the trees. The students were asked to stop throwing acorns.

Theft
Oct. 13: A student reported cash stolen. The student sent a letter containing cash to Eastern Europe. When the letter arrived at its destination the cash previously put in the envelope was missing.

La fiesta de la calabaza

Glory be! Look at all of those pumpkin-related foodstuffs! Happy birthday, Renny!

This was my contribution to the party, pumpkin swirl cheesecake. Mad skills being manifest, my friends! Get the recipe here. It must have been good, because it was consumed faster than a steer in pirahna-infested Amazonian waters...