Good? No Good..

Hello again! I think this will be my last post. I am not sad but maybe you are - probably not. Right now my roommate is arguing with my other roommate from Nepal. They have been talking loudly for the last 45 minutes and are getting absolutely nowhere. For the last 6 months we ( my five friends / roommates and I ) have been living in the stench of constant curry, smoke, raw meat juices, and general uncleanliness. I admit, we all can be a bit messy at times but cooking so often makes things gross. Anyways, My Nepalese roommate will not reason. Not one bit. They just keep talking and talking even as I type and will not get anywhere at all. Nothing will change and no future messes will be avoided. I wish they would stop. I can't study whilst hearing them as I can't help but listen and work is not getting done. That's why I am currently blogging about it right now I suppose.

What else? Oh, I recently became a Seattle Mariners fan. I have never really been a fan of baseball but I am trying it out. Most of my roommates (mostly the ones not arguing right now) like baseball so it is slowly growing on me. Most people around these parts seem to be baseball haters. Even though most don't know much of anything about the sport, it has become seemingly popular to express utter hatred towards baseball and how incredibly boring it was. I think it is kind of like Jonathan Tavernari. He was a good player (obviously, as coach rose played him often) but many fans did not support him and openly expressed their dislike. If they knew more about the game. That's all.

Conference?

Oh the joys of conference weekend! Eating tons of food for all meals, watching 10 hours of general authorities, and not doing much else. It is always excellent.

Along with conference and food, my group got together a couple times and we were able to knock out just about everything for our MCOM presentation. We looked at Kroger Foods and complaints that they had against them. I believe that my group is the best group. People say things like that a lot, mostly because they have a biased opinion, but it is true, my group is the best. I looked it up from a reputable source.

Since my group is the best, I will be bringing them carrots sometime soon. I promised to give each of them carrots and they make sure to let me know every time I see them. Don't worry group, I will have your carrots! I think it is silly of me to think that they might actually read this but it is possible I suppose. If you are reading this, I hope you now have a reassurance that you will indeed get your carrots. That is all.

No News is Good News

Hello again faithful readers! It is I, Shawn, back to write another blog entry for MCOM 320. So get this - I forgot to go to one of my group's meetings for MCOM last week. How embarrassing right? My home-boy Eric ran into me at a volleyball game and let me know of my irresponsibility and boy did I feel terrible. In response to my poor actions, I sent an apologetic email to my group explaining my circumstances and begging their forgiveness. I even offered each of them a candy bar of their choice, if they so chose to tell me what flavor. Being fictitious, as I tend to be sometimes, I threatened that if they did not respond with a favorite candy bar, I would bring them carrots instead.

No one responded. They must all hate me right? Wrong, I'm Shawn, that would be close dang near to impossible right? Turns out they all REALLY like carrots. I guess Vitamin A levels need to be replenished because my group wanted carrots and they made sure I knew it! Kinda silly how life is sometimes ain't it? Once again I am in the cross-hairs of my group getting ready to get rid of my very lacking assistance. Thank goodness they are good people else I think I might have to join another group and that would probably come at a high price.

Don't worry group, I will bring you carrots yet!

Victory

It's been 17 years since BYU's basketball team has had a NCAA tournament victory and this last Thursday they finally ended that drought.

The game aired on Thursday morning and I may have missed a class to watch it. If you watched the game, you know that whatever the opportunity may have been, it was worth sacrificing. Double over time! Who goes into double over time in the first NCAA tournament game of 2010? BYU does and they win! It was a nerve-wrecking game that had highs and lows but BYU pulled it out with the impressive performances of Jimmer Fredette and Michael Lloyd Jr.

I know that BYU lost Saturday to Kansas St., putting an end to our tournament run, but the 17 year drought is over! Jimmer and the rest of the team are coming back next year (minus Miles and Tavernari) and only good things can happen.

This year was BYU's most winningest season with 30 wins and they received a lot of national attention. With such success in both football and basketball this year, BYU is becoming a NCAA power and gaining a lot of hard-earned respect. With good athletic programs, recruiting becomes a lot easier and new-student athletes have greater incentive to come to BYU and play there. It's been a good year.

I'm not in Vegas

For those of you that are unaware, last night BYU played in the semi-final Mountain West Conference Tournament basketball game against UNLV. The tournament takes place in Las Vegas each year and this year was no exception. Unfortunately for BYU, and every team in MWC tournament, the tournament is a home game for UNLV.

Home court advantage is a BIG deal. Oh, by the way, BYU lost last night to UNLV. Now, I'm not saying that the only reason why BYU lost was because it was a home game for UNLV; but at the same time, that's exactly what I'm saying. What a joke, right? Officially the tournament's location is on a 'neutral site' but everyone knows that couldn't be farther from the truth. Many people have suggested that the location be changed each year but that idea has been shot down many times and change does not seem to be on the horizon for the MWC tournament. And why should it?! UNLV deserves to have, by far, the most wins in the tournament's ten-year history with an 18-6 record. It wasn't home court advantage that has given them the most tournament champions -- certainly not.

Why is this important? Well I am particularly angered because BYU lost, AND, had they won, I would be in Vegas right now awaiting the SDSU vs BYU game for the 2010 tournament championship. Instead, I am writing this blog about not being there and that just angers me more. Home court advantage is a GIANT part of basketball and operates fantastically in the regular season. It should not be given, year after year, to the same team, letting them rack up all the big W's. It is wrong, but that's where the money.

So I Forgot...

Last week I didn't post a blog entry. There, I said it. I just didn't do it and am now one more point away from a good grade in MCOM. You see, each blog post is worth one point. One point isn't a whole lot of an incentive to do an assignment but when the class point total is only like 362 points, every single point counts. Seriously.

The problem was that I forgot. Every now and again throughout the week I will remember that I have a blog and think to myself, "I have a blog, I will definitely write a new post before Sunday". So far, with the exception of one week, this strategy has worked. It didn't work last week. Considering the ineffectiveness of my current method, I decided that right when I think about my blog DURING the week, I will write in it if time would permit. So here I am sitting in the Tanner Building on a Thursday morning writing a blog entry about blog entries. I cannot afford another point deduction from my grade as i have missed more than enough on assignments and tests already.

Now that that is said, I would like to talk about a very important subject. BYU basketball embarrassed Utah yesterday at the Huntsman Center. That event was probably the highlight of my week. The all-time basketball rivalry is all tied up at 125 wins a piece now between BYU and Utah and with almost all of our current team returning next year, things look very promising to get a good lead on those foul utes. May BYU always prevail.

Olympics Anyone?

So I would like to talk about the Olympics. They are awesome. The US hockey team totally beat Canada's hockey team today IN Canada! I know right? Right now the US leads the 2010 Olympic games with 24 total medals. We currently have seven gold medals, seven silver medals, and ten bronze medals. Currently the country closest to the medal race is Germany with 18 medals. Isn't it great to be an American?

Thinking of this, the song, "I am Proud to be an American". It goes like this, "I am proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free, and I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me". Doesn't that just warm your heart? It certainly warms mine. I think it is very important for us to support our great nation and have great love for it despite what it may or may not be going through.

I hope you share with me a love for both the Olympics and America. If not, look deep into your heart and, if you try, you will find it.

Beverage to a Stranger

So today is valentine's day so, of course, I gave a beverage to a complete stranger. I had initially planned on going to th Wilk and buying an attractive girl a drink - or perhaps some ice-cream. This idea was short lived as I did not have the nerve. That is definitely something I have to work on. Rather than embarrassing myself on campus, I chose to knock on a random apt door and give the person opening the door a beverage. This approach did not have the pressure that I felt the wilk scenario had. Upon a girl opening her door, I explained the situation and handed her the brand new beverage. Though hesitant at first, she graciously accepted and seemed thrilled that such a boy as I would present a beverage to her on valentine's day. It appeared that she was not with another boy, so that is good too! All in all it was a great experience that I should probably do more often. Meeting new people is not a strength of mine by any means but when I do do it, it is fun.

The day, other than that, was great. Dinner was made for me and I ended the day off with cake and ice-cream. Can't really complain huh? I guess having a specific date would have been a little better but there is always next year. Hope your valentine's day was as good, if not better than mine. seriously.

One for the Books

I know you have come to expect great things from my blog but this week I have a large number of things to do. Because of these things, the quality may not be up to par but I promise, if you're faithful, that I will improve. You have my word.

You know how when people have a lot to do, and they want to tell you all about it, and they think that you will say, "wow, that's the most I've ever heard"? I know I have. Well just so I'm not different from everyone else, I'm going to tell you everything I need to get done. I already apologized for this post so I don't feel another apology is necessary..yet.

I have many things to do: I have to read 1st Corinthians 11-16, take a quiz regarding 1st Corinthians 11-16, read my business writing book chapters 4-5, do the questions at the end of the business writing book, write a Shakespearian sonnet regarding a chapter in the Book of Mormon, Read from the writings of Bacon, Descartes, Newton, and Pascal, read chapters 33 and 34 of my History of Creativity book, take a quiz regarding Bacon, Descartes, Pascal, and chapters 33-34 of my History of Creativity book, and that is it.

I know you probably have the same amount, if not more, of stuff to do so I am not expecting you to feel sorry for me. If you do feel sorry for me, please don't. Save it for those people who tell you THEIR list of things and perhaps they will be comforted that THEIR list is the most you have ever heard. That's all.

Some Water

Dear dedicated audience, I, Shawn Schlosser, am a fan of water - like the kind that tastes really good. For much of my life I was unaware that water could have taste. Water was water and tasted like water. Well within the last several years of my young life I have come to realize that all water is not created equally. Being raised in beautiful Medford, Oregon, I was blessed with crisp, delicious tap water. Since this fantastic upbringing, I have lived in Arizona and now in Utah; both states do not share the high standards Oregon water instilled in my young mind. Now I know a lot of you are all like, "Is this guy for real? I lived in a crazy country for a million years and the water smelled like broccoli and if you drank it, you were on the toilet for seven hours". I know some of you are thinking that but I'm not talking about that - I'm just talking about US water. So I have become kinda picky in my water. Not necessarily about where it comes from, but more of how it tastes. If I am stuck with what I deem to be bad water, I have to make it very cold with ice. If I don't, I say, "gross this tastes bad," cause it does taste bad.
Water is absolutely essential in staying alive and since I have to drink it of necessity, I figure I might as well enjoy it. Though water filters and bottled water may be viewed, by some, as an unnecessary expense, I find them worth every penny. That is all.

Stories (Cont.)

...and an obligatory string of "uh huh"s and "yeah"s ensues. That's when the "You had to of been there" crutch is leaned upon and the event is robbed of its potential glory. For this reason, I find it very important to work on story telling skills. You may have to exaggerate, stretch the truth a bit, or even blatantly lie. You may have to be extremely detail-oriented, or raise and lower your voice to give more of a dramatic feel. Whatever it is your stories may or may not be lacking, try out something new and see what happens. Be conscience of your audience and what may spark their interest. These things can do nothing but help and I encourage you to do such. The one exception to all story telling rules occurs in the event that you are reminiscing with an acquaintance of a prior occasion in which both parties were present and thus share similar feelings of possible joy or remorse. In this case, it does not matter in the slightest how poorly or charismatically the story is told. As long as the memory is recalled, both parties recreate their own stories and are content. So go ahead, practice some new story telling skills and see what happens. It might be fun huh? Actually, I don't really care if you work on storytelling at all as long as I am not the direct or indirect victim of one of your terribly boring stories. Hopefully though, for the general betterment of society, we can all improve and create a better, more entertaining world. That is all.

Stories

I would like to talk about stories. A story is an account or recital of an event, or a series of events, that is either true or fictitious (Thefreedictionary.com). A good story needs to be told. I believe the world has a right to know about it in its full and complete form. Whether it be an outrageously comical mishap or a traumatically terrifying event, it needs to be told. Unfortunately, it seems that too many good stories get discredited everyday because of poor storytelling. Have you ever used the phrase "I guess you had to of been there"? Of course you have, right?! When you are telling a story and you perceive that your audience is getting bored or anxious that's the phrase you jump to. Despite how incredible, horrific, or humorous the event was to you, it is seemingly not even worth two minutes to the person you are explaining it to...

I Will Be Victorious

I would like to welcome all of my friends, fans, and anyone who is scholastically obligated to read my awesome blog. My current English class requires all students to create and maintain a blog on a weekly basis, and I have taken upon myself a personal challenge to make the best blog, far surpassing the efforts of my classmates. Though a daunting task, I feel confident in my ability to outwit, outplay, and outlast each and every one of my competitors. Please feel free to give feedback regarding personal incentives which I can provide to win your vote; no cost is too high, no notion too extreme. This entry is the first of many messages that will encourage, inspire, and promote feelings of happiness and good cheer. Please be aware, if you know anyone who is in cahoots with my opposition, direct their attention to this blog as it will undoubtedly win them over and unequivocally enrich their lives. Thank you and goodnight.

-Shawn