No Shave November

As many of you are aware, there is a trend that in the month of November people stop shaving, or here at at BYU it is grow your mustache November.  I have two friends who are participating in this., Chad and John, who shall be referred to hereafter as Chadrack and Johann (pronounced yo-hawn).

Now this is a pretty loose thought that I had, but it dealt with trends and why people do things.  A lot of times people do things just because other people are doing it.  They just go with the flow and don't give it a second thought.  With no shave November this is a pretty harmless trend, but there are cases where you hear of someone who is now in prison because they didn't want to say no to the group.

I know this is an extreme example, but it happens.  So my ending thought is that make sure that you think about the decisions you are making and make them because you want to and not because you don't want to say no to the group

Chadrack's description of his mustache:  The mustache gives power. The longer Chadrack has had the mustache the more dates he has gotten. He has also been asked to be dance partners with two different girls.

Johann's thoughts on mustaches: It is curious to me how easily symbolism is attached to facial hair. The arrangement of hair on one's lips and chin can send a variety of messages: it can connote either orthodox Judaism and anti-Semitic Nazism; it can give off images of manly, right-of-center libertarians like Ron Swanson or leftist hippies. To me, however, one's mustache or beard should not mean any more than the shade of eye shadow or brand of eye liner worn by a woman. When I grow my mustache, it is not a symbol of rebellion, but rather an simple aesthetic choice. I wish it would be seen that way.

Respect

As probably all of you know, Paris suffered a tragedy yesterday.  It is so sad and so awful that things like this happen.  I hope that everyone over there is doing as well as they possible could be after something like this.

This has gotten me thinking about how we view other people.  So often we make jokes about people of a different ethnicity, religion, age, whatever it may be.  Even though a lot of them are meant to be harmless, they still show disrespect toward whoever they are about.  I know that I am not blameless when it comes to these types of jokes (in fact I think my last one was a dumb joke about the French), but it is something that I want to work on to improve.  To make less of these types of jokes, no matter how harmless they appear.

YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!!

Tonight my family and I went out to a restaurant called Scruds.  Its a small burger joint in downtown Ogden.  Turns out they have really good burgers. Yay. Haha that't not the point I'm getting at, but they do have good burgers.  They have this one burger called The Scrud.  It is a 1 pound burger stuffed with cheese, onions and this onion garlic sauce then it has all the normal stuff on top.  It is massive.  Take a look!

If you finish the burger and the fries you get to write your name on the wall or ceiling.  I wanted to write my name on the wall, but I was worried about finishing it because I was sick today.  But my desire was stronger so I set out to do it!  15 minutes later I was done! And the burger was delicious!  Here is me and my brother adding our names. Well, me adding mine, him putting a "x2" because it was his second time doing it.

The whole point I'm getting at here is that if you put your mind to it, you can do whatever you want.  It may take some focus and straining yourself, but it can be done!!

Online Interview

For my MCOM class this week we had to do some sort of online interview.  It was an interesting experience.  Definitely different than being in the same room as the interviewer.  I found that I was more relaxed in certain aspects because without the presence of the interviewer in the room it made it easier on my mind.  Who would have thought that?  I did find, however, that I had to be more careful with what I said and how I said it.  Since most of my body was out of view I had to somehow transfer those non verbal communications to Peter some other way.  I made sure to clearly enunciate and speak in a tone that wasn't too commanding our loud (its always the worst when it feels like someone is screaming in your ear).

One thing that Peter told me would help me out is to make sure to try and make "eye contact" with the interviewer.  What I mean by that is he said it was weird to never have me looking at him (into the camera).  Its like I was always looking down while talking.  So he suggested that I look into the camera a little more to create that eye contact feeling.  I thought this was interesting, but a good point.  Even though that feels weird on my side, I can see how that could help.

Family

My brother received his mission call today!!  It is quite an exciting moment for our family!  He hasn't opened it yet, though, so I can't tell you where he is heading yet!  I drove home so I can be there when he opens it up.

Anyway, with the thought that my brother is going to be gone for two years, I have been thinking about family and the importance they have in our life.  All growing up my parents tried to create an environment where we all support each other, extended family included.  We always get together for the important things that happen in each other's lives.  If the extended family lives close, like one of my uncles does, we get together for the not so important things, too, just to show support.  I love the atmosphere that exists when we are together and how we all want to be together for life events.  That is the exact spirit that I want to pass on to my kids and family when I have them/one.

I'll let you know next where where my brother goes!!

The Little Things

Earlier today I went on a date.  I have been listening to a lot of Frank Sinatra recently and it made me feel slightly more classy.  So I wanted to act a classier.  I decided that I was going to bring flowers for her.  But not just any flowers... some apple roses!  Take a look!

I felt a little awkward bringing flowers on the first date, but I figured that it was socially acceptable at one point in time, so I was going for it! it turns out that she loved them!  She told me that she had never received anything like them and really, genuinely appreciated them.  I felt pretty good about that.

The point I am getting to here is that people still appreciate it when you take the time and give a little extra thought to do something nice for them.  So take the time out of your busy schedule and do something nice and thoughtful for someone!

Strengths and Weaknessess

For my Organization Behavior class we had to watch any movie and look for any OB concepts in them.  So I, along with my group, decided to watch the move Moneyball with Brad Pitt.  Watching this movie while looking for these concepts changed the way I viewed it.  The main thing that stuck out to me was that Billy Beane played to each of his player's strengths and let them know what they were.  He took a team of "nobodies" and made them one of the best teams in the league.

I was thinking about this and how I could apply it to my life.  I was talking with one of the guys in my group about each of our strengths and weaknesses.  As we were talking we agreed that to succeed in life that it is vital to know what your own strengths and weaknesses are.  If you are able to acknowledge your own weaknesses, you will be able to partner yourself with others whose skills compliments yours, making you an effective team.  Evaluate yourself, ask others who know you what yours strengths and weaknesses are and analyze them.  You may be surprised at what you find.