Creating the world - Every day

I love to Design.

I feel like any chance I have to Sketch,
                                                               Design,
                                                                            & Model

Is a chance I have to Imagine,

                                                Inspire,

& Create.

Taking what is conjured up of hopeful thoughts, high ideals, & extraordinary vision and carrying it across the void that separates the budding thought from the sapling manifestation of it.

That is satisfaction.

We have the desire to create things. This desire drives us each to pick up certain hobbies, have certain goals, and develop certain characteristics. This is the same desire that drove me to study Mechanical Engineering.

And this summer, it became a little more real.

I was an intern at Telect, Inc. this summer, and I had PLENTY of opportunities to design. Usually I'd start with a sketch of what I was thinking, model it in 3D in SolidWorks, and then it would be shelved for future production. I actually got a call this summer with a question on a product I designed last summer. Some times it takes that long to get things into production.

Near the end of this summer, I was given the design project to create a machined plastic housing for a current sensor module and flex-circuit. I started with some sketches:

Then, the 3D modeling took some time, but I accomplished that as well. But this time, the parts were immediately put on order. The day came that they were to arrive, and I felt like a 5 year-old on Christmas morning! The boxes were brought to my desk, and I giddily opened them. I cannot describe the feeling I felt as I held in my hands something that I brought into this physical world that simply did not exist before. It was overwhelming.

They were just as I had pictured them in my head.

We all desire to create.

Not the creative type?? Think Again.

Sweet Summer Nights

I've been thinking a lot lately. About a lot of things. About life, happiness, seizing moments, communication, and so many other topics.

Mostly about happiness.

I remembered a long time ago when I really didn't have a clue what happiness was. I sat down and wondered what kinds of things could give you happiness. I remember taking this question to my Mom and saying "You know? Like what if the days I wear Blue I am happier. What if the color Blue makes me happy? If I knew that then I would always wear Blue." Apart from the irony of the color Blue making someone happy, I lacked some comprehension about external stimuli and their effect of the human mind, in stark contrast to the power of cognitive awareness and capability of choice.

When I'm at work I listen to podcasts. Yeah, I'm a hipster. Totally did it before it was cool. I listen to everything from workout podcasts to psychology podcasts. In fact, here is something I've been listening to a lot of studies about. Check out this video:





Unfortunately I had already heard the studies when I watched the video so I couldn't say whether or not it worked for me. Hopefully is was an eye opener to you! We often think that stuff out of the ordinary will catch our attention. That if a child runs out in the road our mind will automatically draw our attention away from our phone call and to it. Or, if we get put into a dangerous situation we will be level headed. Or, if we are in a crowd of people we will turn our heads when someone even whispers our names. This study showed me that it is quite to the contrary. How can people miss that Gorilla in the video and be so confident in themselves and multi-tasking? SO many interesting things to learn out there.
I also watched the first two seasons of White Collar. For the overwhelming majority, love it!
I get my stitches out tomorrow. I don't want to do it!
Started rebuilding the jeep engine tonight. hoping to get most of it done tomorrow.
Talk in church on Sunday? Yes please!!!
The flawed diamond is better than the perfect pebble. - Chinese Proverb
Back to happiness. I am doing plenty of personal studies with happiness. If you know me, you know it has to do with formulas, charts, excel spreadsheets, and plenty of analysis. I'll let you know what I find out but for now I'd be too embarrassed to say exactly what my approach is. It would reveal too much about who I really am :)
Oh, and so glad to have Monica on board writing for Overheard in Broadbent 23. She recalled a HILARIOUS incident from last year that you might have to read... (Click Here).

And there's no stopping us right now

Update of the century!!

Here is how B-Rizzle has stayed Fo-Rizzle. We're gonna do this high point/ low point style so try to keep up!

High Point: Saw the Avengers twice in the week. TWICE!

Low Point: Cut my leg in a yard working accident last Saturday. Recovery is coming very slowly. I'll post about it later.

High Point: letter from Tyler Crofts!!!

Excitedly holding Tyler's letter

High Point: Broski Brandon showed up for mothers day as a surprise and bought and drove home a 350Z. So jealous!!

High Point: Calling and talking to my brother Nick in Finland. He is coming home in July and then I can have a friend :)

Low Point: The Jeep died. The engine threw a rod. RIP buddy.

High Point: My Dad ordered a new engine for the jeep and decided that we would rebuild it together this summer. I am so looking forward to that!

High Point: Brett came to visit for the weekend! It was sweet to have someone to hang out with and do stuff.

High Point: Lilac Pirade! Nuff said.

Low Point: Being bored out of my mind

High Point: Pain meds. Oh yeah, pain meds.

Low Point: Pain meds. Now I can't remember what things I said or did. Hopefully nobody has any record of that...

High Point: BTA?? Yes please. I will post a special edition of Between Two Arms online soon!

The Stories Continue

Part II: In the spotlight

I started a project when I got home. I decided to turn all of my home videos into digital files on my computer. I am working with old VHS tapes, 8mm video cassettes, and mini DV cassettes.

Small Cassettes

My Setup. Who still has a VCR??

VHS Cassettes

That has been really fun. Sometimes we have gathered as a family watching the videos and laughing or reminiscing about the past. Its a fine line between appreciating the past and living in it. Most of the time I try to appreciate it but every once in a while I let go and do my best to relive it. Here is a clip if you're up for watching :)




Ah, what a fun age :)

My really close friend Jordan and his love Shelby got their engagement photos. Aren't they awesome?

Nerdfighter Engagements

I'm so proud of Jordan.

I read the 3rd book of the Hunger Games series. Severely disappointing. If I could go back, I would not read that book. It's awesome until the last like 5-10 chapters. Don't do it.

I started work at Telect, Inc. last monday. I worked last summer for them as an intern and they let me come back again this summer. They are a great company with plenty of opportunities to learn and grow. Last summer I designed an enclosure for them, and last week they asked me to build one that was based off of my design that they had ordered in. It was insanely hard to put together!! 947 parts.

I hadn't done anything like it before. I sliced open my hand while I was using the rivet gun, which I had never used before. They had me wire the thing up for electricity too! I'm pretty proud of myself even though they had to lead me through it step by step. It's going to be a great summer working there!

ONE LAST THING I HAVE TO SHARE!!

The Jeep Wave.

Driving a jeep has it's benefits. One of them is the brotherhood of Jeep drivers that you become a part of. Whenever you see a jeep driving in the opposite direction you give each other the "Jeep Wave." I'm not making this up. This actually happens to me at least once a day. And I love it. People see us do it and laugh, but they just aren't cool. That's it.

Here are some closing quotes:

A guy at work was telling me that Engineers can get lost in their studies. He told me about an acquaintance of his that got his PhD in Grass Seed and was the foremost expert in the field on grass seed. He then told me "You don't need a PhD to grow grass. You need water to grow grass." Pretty profound.

Saw a quote at work: "If you want to be unloved and forgotten, be reasonable." - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Peace.

8 Million Stories

Ok, so now that everyone knows how MANLY I am after dedicating an entire post to a disney princess, I have no problem saying that my mom just gave me an iTunes gift card and by the end of the day I will probably be the proud owner of one or more One Direction Song(s).

This is going to be like a picture book, because I just have so many pictures that I'll let them tell the stories. If you have your 3D glasses readily available, please put them on and enjoy a pop-up book. If they aren't readily available, and I mean readily available, then don't worry about it. They don't actually work.

Let me start with this guy:

Tyler David Crofts

Tyler chose to become a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints yesterday. He will be serving in the Hermosillo Mexico mission from May 2010 to May 2012. Its a lot of commitment, especially for Tyler and his promising career in the entertainment business, which makes this decision even more respectable. Tyler and I had a lot of good moments and memories:

Yeah, we did it all. Played life by nose. Lived it up pretty good too. I know you all are grateful to Ttyler for something he did to change your life. If you don't think he hasn't then go here: Overheard in Broadbent 23, find a video, watch it, then look in the mirror and without breaking eye contact try to tell yourself that Tyler hasn't changed your life. Yeah, I thought so. You all should take a couple seconds and write Elder Crofts a couple sentences about how awesome he is. Here is how you do it.
1) Go here: http://www.dearelder.com/index/inc_name/mission_selection.
2) Select "Provo MTC" from the drop down menu.
3) Click "Write a Missionary."
4) Enter your real name or a creative psuedonym to conceal your identity.
5) Write your address just in case Tyler decides to write you back.
6) Leave "Elder" in the drop down menu and enter "Tyler" in the first box, and "Crofts" in the second box.

7) In the last set of boxes, Enter "233" in the first, "MEX-HER 0626" in the second, and I really don't know when Tyler is leaving the MTC but I think it is somewhere around June 13th so put something around then. 

8) Enter your email address
9) Fill out the box with as little or as much as Tyler deserves, then click send letter. We'll all be glad that you did.

There, just 9 easy steps to happiness.

Now that that is taken care of, I want to show you all how good I've gotten at DrawSomething. Seriously, I rock. But judge for yourselves :P

Yeah, I guess you can start a game with me if you like.

There have been some things that I've had to adjust to coming home. For starters, I don't live with 58 awesome guys, or have hundreds of friends within 1/8 of a mile of my apartment. Instead I have this:

My backyard

Yeah, its cool. Its different, hard to get used to, but awesome. Oh and there's the tree house. Has two fold-out beds and is wired up with electricity. Come visit! I've had to get used to these roommates too:

One thing that didn't take very long to get used to?

I even filmed a video in it. I LOVE that Jeep.





So much more to talk about!!! We'll all have to wait for part 2 of this picture book. Coming soon.

It's T-Day

And we miss Elder Tyler Crofts already.

In-despicable Me

So, there are some things about me that most people just don't know. For example, I didn't get my driver's license until I was almost 18, or when I was 12 I had this beanie baby chameleon that I would take EVERYWHERE, or I used to get so nervous before my wrestling matches that I would get sick and sometimes not be able to compete. BUT. You are about to get the mother of all unknowns about B Boy.

I like Belle. You know, the girl from that Disney movie? Gets kidnapped by the beast guy and even though the best-looking guy in town wants her she ends up falling in love with the beast because he rocks on the inside. Yeah. Belle.

Ok, so I more than like Belle, I have the biggest crush on her. Yeah. And I'll tell you why:

She's beautiful, and she doesn't know it.
Belle is so beautiful. Even when she doesn't try to be. She never once says anything about How she looks because she is so humble about it. Her good looks combined with her humility = beauty.

She takes chances.
After she was kidnapped, she took the time to get to know who the beast really was. She learned of his strengths and his weaknesses. And then, she took a chance. She took the chance that even though there were some things she wasn't sure about, about herself, her relationship with the beast, or especially the beast himself, she chose him. Where others would have opted out she went forward. They didn't know each for very long either. I'd say it worked out well on both sides.

She is solid in what she knows to be true.
Belle is playful, happy, and carefree, but when it comes down to it, she sticks by her beliefs. The whole time they were in the castle she tried to see the world from he beast's perspective, but never sacrificed her own. She really felt like she was just misunderstanding him. That's pretty dang cool.

Cares for people when they're sick.
When people are sick, she takes care of them, analyzes their pain, makes sure they eat well.

Gives great hugs.
She gives the best hugs, the kind that you just keep holding on to. Watch for them when you watch it.

She loves her family.
This is such a major turn on, when a girl loves her family. Belle definitely does. That's why she convinced the beast to let her go find her dad. In fact, she's got such great family relationships that I'm jealous of them sometimes. I mean, people she doesn't even know have blogged about her family. That's how tight they are.

She sings like an angel.
Belle's voice is so soft and gentle, it's like it's rocking a child to sleep and soothing its cares and nightmares away. That voice has the potential to reach inside of you and rip out your heart. You could cry at any instant. But it never does that, just makes you happy. But she doesn't act like she knows how good her voice is either. Which makes it 10 times better when you get to hear it.

That's why I like Belle so much. Tell your friends. It is no longer a secret who Bryant likes, it's out in the open. So come at me bro.

Trying to Study for Book of Mormon

Its finals week. I was just trying to study for Book of Mormon using a google doc and two people started chatting it up. I highlighted each person separately to make it easier to read. Here is what they said:

Anonymous user 1669: I love the Book of Mormon.
Anonymous User 1664 has opened the document.
Anonymous User 1583 has left.
Anonymous user 1669: I said, I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON.
Anonymous User 1682 has opened the document.
Anonymous user 1669: Hello?
Anonymous User 1682: Oh Hi!
I am a lover of the book of mormon too!
Anonymous user 1669: Anonymous user 1669 here.
Are you L.D.S.?
Anonymous User 1682: Anonymous user 1682 here.
Anonymous user 1669: As in Latter-day Saint.
Anonymous User 1682: Yes I am! We already have so much in common!
Anonymous User 1630 has left.
Anonymous User 1682: SHould we maybe meet?
Anonymous user 1669: Wow. So...what's your name? are you single?
Anonymous User 1682: I apologize for that capitalization error. I am Alma. Yes, single and LOVING IT!!
Wait, are you?
Or are you unhappy in a current relationship?
Anonymous user 1669: I don't think is really the place to talk about this....
Anonymous User 1682: Ok, your place or mine?
Anonymous user 1669: Mine
Anonymous User 1682: OK SEE YOU SOON! BYE
Anonymous user 1669: YOU DON'T KNOW MY NAME
or where I lice
live.
Anonymous User 1682: Anonymous user 1669. Or is not?
lice?
I have a google map tracing your exact location.
Hope thats not creepy
Anonymous User 5415 has left.
Anonymous User 1682: Why do people keep leaving?
Anonymous user 1669: They're jealous, probably.
Wait. are you a boy?
Anonymous User 1682: No are you?
Anonymous user 1669: ...........
Anonymous User 1682 has left.
Anonymous user 1669: wow
Anonymous User 1697 has opened the document.
Anonymous user 1669: this is awkward...

We need more of this in our lives.

Making a Difference

“To live for results would be to sentence myself to continuous frustration. My only sure reward is in my actions and not from them.”Hugh Prather
I presented my research paper this morning. I included it below (I won't feel bad in the SLIGHTEST if you don't read it. It's pretty hefty):



The Cover page graphic was distorted in the PDF above. ANYWAY, It struck me today that the class I presented my research paper to was intrigued, but that's where our connection stopped. I sensed that they did not share, in the slightest, MY view of how much this can change the world. This WILL make a difference someday. I realized then that its all about how I feel. If I honestly felt like pursuing this course of study and research would change the world, which I do, then not doing so would destroy a part of my soul. I'd always wonder. It's not about whether or not I make a difference, its only about whether or not I try.

Incidentally, I got an iPad last week. I got the Draw Something app on it. Turns out I'm a pretty good artist:

Just sayin'

Also, I can do accents really well now that I watched several youtube videos that basically teach you everything you need to know. Here is a video Carlie and I watching and learning from the youtube videos. Enjoy :)

This has gotta be the good life!!

I ran a 10K two saturdays ago. With these people:

That was a lot harder then I thought it was going to be. But that was two weeks ago.

K, rockin week last week!! I had a rough draft of a 20-page paper due on Tuesday and I had to write a computer program to make a robot do something awesome.  

So this is our robot Jimmer. He follows the black line on the paper until it leads to a box. When he touches the box he stops until you clap your hands, then he catapults the red ball over the wall. Then you clap because he made it and he says "Cecil!" Jealous much?

So school was just insane. I pulled an all-nighter writing my 20 page paper called "A comparative analysis of the four main pain rating scales used in hospitals." Its a pretty revolutionary paper in my opinion. I'm gonna change the world. Remember my name.

I finished the first hunger games book on Thursday and decided that I HAD to go see the premier. It needed to happen. So I posted on Facebook:

cuz friends don't let friends miss the premier of Hunger Games. I found a ticket!! So I went and had the freaking best time ever. It rocked. You'd think the awesomeness would end after a midnight showing of the Hunger Games right? I mean, you can't possibly fit anything else awesome in a day. WRONG! That's just when we got started. I got picked up by Madi, Nadine, and April from P80 and went to IHOP. I'm amazed at how when you think that you're close to people you can break through and see another side of them and get even closer. I spent a crazy amount of time P80-ing this last weekend.

After playing a grueling game of Truth or Cartwheel/Somersault/whatever we ended up waiting in the Krispy Kreme parking lot for their Hot Now sign to come on at 6AM.

That night rocked.

Then guess what? Guess what? The next night I went to Winco with Madi and Carlie. Oh man that was amazing. Ever been? You'll need a tour guide. Or two. I have some I could recommend.

That night also rocked.

Then guess what? The next day we all went to the Festival of Colors.

Not pictured above, the miraculously magnificent Madi and the curiously charming Carlie.

Oh yeah, and bought GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!

Did you hear who is going to sing at my wedding? Oh, Brigham Kmetzsch.

To top it all off, I got this note and it was not signed. BUT, I keep ALL of my nice notes, so I have PAH-LENTY of handwriting to compare it to. And guess what?? I found a match. It was another anonymous note. Ugh. I figure now that I know RMs are scary I just need to get married to the first person that offers. That's probably the right move. 

See ya lates!

Tyler Mails a Letter: A Children's Story

Once there was a child named Tyler.

Tyler learned from his parents how to write a letter. Apparently they forgot to teach him how to clean his room. 

After struggling for some time, Tyler finished his letter. It was his letter of denial to the county against their accusations.

He was a happy guy, that Tyler!

Tyler knew where to find the mailbox where he could mail his letter. He had scouted it out beforehand.

After leaving his apartment, he found himself in the lobby. He kicked open the lobby door with all his might!

Locating the "outgoing" box, Tyler began to push the letter into the slot.

It got stuck and needed to be pushed harder. "It will be worth it," Tyler said.

After he got the letter into the box, Tyler began to walk away, but looked back longingly at the box. He missed that letter already.

Suddenly, thousands of people started to run up to Tyler. The must have recognized him from his show "Between Two Arms." All of them wanted pictures and autographs.

But Tyler only waves.

He opened the door and went into Broadbent 23 where he lived. He was momentarily distracted by the flashy colors on the door.

Tyler felt happy of himself. He did it! He had mailed a letter! He had done what so many people couldn't do; only wave to a group of Paparazzi.

But mailing a letter is no big deal for Tyler. He does exciting stuff like that every day! Someday maybe he'll go on a real adventure like a safari in Africa. Until then, Tyler has these memories.

I love you P80!