Been a long time

Hey there sports fans! Yeah, it has been since I think the summer of 2012 since I've posted on here. That was when I was home from college and hadn't the faintest idea of what to do with my life.

What has changed?

I've got a direction. I know where I want to go. Shouldn't that make me jump up and down screaming, or run down the street singing while everyone hits the back-up vocals? Yes. It should.

But I get complacent.

And I'm not sure why. I have a goal and a direction, yet the future seems so very far away. I get depressed when I wake up and feel like I am not going to make a meaningful impact on the day ahead of me. I just recently heard a TED talk about the difference between your future self and your present self, and dealing with that gap. Although there weren't many action items discussed, or ways to bridge the gap, the talk was about the necessities of understanding that there is a gap. Your future self should play just as much of a role in your decision making as your present self.

Can you merge the two? Can you make your present self and future self become some quasi-future self that makes decisions that benefit you in both time frames? Seems tough. Odysseus seemed to do it when his present self really wanted to hear the Sirens' song, but his future self wanted to live to see another day. So, he tied himself to the mast of the boat and filled his crew's ears with wax. Are there always creative solutions to be found to situations that cause us to choose between the two?

These are the things I think about.

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.