Saturday, Nauvoo. Sunday, Bountiful. Monday, New York City. Tuesday, Bucharest.

Welp, I have arrived in Romania. My head is still spinning from all that has happened these past few days and I could definitely use some shut-eye--the two hours I got in Central Park Monday morning didn't quite count as a full night of sleep. And now I have two days of research ahead of me. (Back to school, back to school...)

Nauvoo was an amazing experience. I will never be the same again. It appears my hair won't be either.

As far as the LSAT, well, I got rocked. Not completely, but I was hoping for at least four points better than I got. That might not sound like much, but it is. So, now it's back to the drawing board. Take it again? If so, when? Maybe work for a year or two before going. Maybe apply to BYU and skip the 250 grand in debt...we will see. I'm trying not to worry too much about that right now. I have more pressing issues to figure out. For example: how am I suppose to make a documentary? It was one of those great ideas I had that I wasn't completely expecting to work out...

As for Romania, I feel at home again. I am staying at a member's house (Sora Gorzo) in Sector 3 of Bucharest--the same neighborhood that I started my mission in almost five and a half years ago. Wow, I am old. I am reminded of this every time a missionary asks how long I've been home.

And yes, Romanian food is just as good as I remember.

rock or be rocked

Tomorrow, Monday 16 June 2008 at 12:30, I will be taking the Law School Admissions Test. My scores are all over the board, and I'm sick, distracted, and scared to death but if Elle Woods can do it, so help me...

I can't help thinking of how nice it would be to have been recently dumped by some really hot girl for no other reason than I'm just not senator or senator's husband material. That's all I need--someone to stick it to. 

I wish someone would say, "What? YOU're taking the LSAT? What makes you think..." etc. But no, everyone I talk to has to be supportive. "I'm sure you'll be fine," they say. Sure it's comforting to know that other people, who don't know how up and down my practice test scores have been, have confidence in me, but I would really appreciate it if someone would seriously question and challenge my ability to do well, really point out the fact that I am up against insurmountable odds, like "Remember the Titans," "The Great Debaters," "Rudy," "Hoosiers," or the plus-size girl in "America's Next Top Model," and despite the odds, rise to the challenge and rock the LSAT, coming out of the testing center with "We are the Champions," or any other song by QUEEN, screaming in my head.

The truth of the matter is, if I come out with any sort of a half-decent score, the victory will have to be credited to Divine Providence.

here we go...

Westwater Canyon is considered by National Geographic to be the best one day white-water river trip this side of the Mississippi. The trip begins and ends with long, calm stretches of the winding Colorado River, banked by the usual red rocks of Southern Utah. Sandwiched between the two is an unbelievably intense section of white-water that makes even seasoned river guides loose in the bowels or, as is clearly recognizable by this picture, a little sweaty. As only Mother Nature could design it, the rapids are formed by a section of Vishnu Shist, a black, glossy rock that is less prone to erosion than sandstone and therefore compresses the river into a much narrower canyon and multiplies the speed and pressure of the water. Rapids such as Funnel Falls and Sock-it-to-me have stuck-it-to-me and many others. The most notorious rapid however, is Skull. This delightful rapid encompasses Skull Rock, Razor Rock, the Room of Doom and the Rock of Shock all in one clean package on a nearly ninety degree turn of the river. Looking down river as you race toward it, the river appears to drop off and dead end. If you row it correctly, your passengers don't even get wet and it simply blends in with the other rapids on a trip that they will never forget.

This week has me thinking of the river. And not just in the whiny, "I miss the river" sort of way. Somehow I have managed to compress more into this summer than ever before and time is flying by. This week is the last week of class and my last week to memorize everything for Nauvoo and study for the LSAT. Monday, June 16, is the LSAT and the first day of rehearsal for Nauvoo. Wednesday I take my final for Physical Science 100. After rehearsal ends on Saturday, I have three days to finish my proposal for my research in Romania. Then, it's off to Colorado for Nikki Wilkin's homecoming/road trip with friends. The day after I get back from Colorado, I fly out to Nauvoo. The day after I get back from Nauvoo, I fly out to Romania. The day after I get back from Romania, I have a training seminar on our new French 101 curriculum. Then school starts, work starts and law school applications start.

I will spare you the details on how unprepared I am for all of this and simply say that I am going to enjoy every minute of this summer.

This, correctly filling in little circles with a No.2 pencil, is what my life hinges on. Sound overly dramatic? Well, my score on the LSAT, which I am taking June 16th, will determine which law schools will even consider my application. The school I attend will then determine my career prospects. And in a certain sense, my career will map out the rest of my life.
A perfect score is 180. If I want to go into international law, I need to go to a top ten school which means, with my GPA, I need to get in the lower 170s to even have a chance. I haven't gotten there yet, but if Reese Witherspoon can do it, I can too gosh dangit.
To give you a little taste of what I am dealing with, here's a sample question that comes from the analytical reasoning section of the test, most affectionately called "the games" section because it's so much fun!

Three folk groups--Glenside, Hilltopper, Levon--and three rock groups--Peasant, Query, Tinhead--each perform on one of two stages, north or south. Each stage has three two-hour performances: north at 6, 8, and 10; south at 8, 10, and 12. Each group performs individually and exactly once, consistent with the following conditions:
Peasant performs at 6 or 12.
Glenside performs at some time before Hilltopper.
If any rock group performs at 10, no folk group does.
Levon and Tinhead perform o different stages.
Query performs immediately after a folk group, though not necessarily on the same stage.
(that's all prologue to the questions)

If Query performs at 12, then which one of the following could be an accurate ordering of the performances on the north stage, from first to last?
a. Glenside, Levon, Query
b. Peasant, Hilltopper, Tinhead
c. Peasant, Tinhead, Glenside
d. Peasant, Tinhead, Hilltopper
e. Peasant, Tinhead, Levon

If a rock a group performs at 10, then which one of the following must be true?
a. a folk group performs at 6
b. a folk group performs at 8
c. a folk group performs at 12
d. a rock group performs at 8
e. a rock group performs at 12.

family, isn't it about freaking time?

Before devoting my life to the LSAT, I went to visit my brother Tony and his beautiful family. Just a few pictures for your enjoyment. Well, more to remind of what life was like before the LSAT took over, and what it just might be like after.

my ace

This is an advertisement found on the website of my LSAT prep class, ACE. I find several things to be funny. First, doesn't he look dapper? So committed to "acing" the LSAT! Well son, being the white, middle-class young man you are, you will have to ace the LSAT if you want to get into law school. Second, I met Nick Thompson a few years back. I was studying abroad in Paris and he was in the process of choosing which law school he wanted to go to. He never came out with his score, but I knew it had to be good, considering he had his pick of Yale, Harvard and Stanford. Well, now I know. Third, that isn't a picture of Nick Thompson, despite its close proximity to his quote and name. Why not a picture of Nick? Well, you see Nick is a red-head and marketing surveys show that advertisements employing photos of red-heads evoke feelings of inferiority, linked, no doubt, to the red-headed step-child phenomena.

Dancing Dirty

At my dad's wedding, almost two years ago, I danced with Grandma. Mention of that dance has surfaced in every conversation we have had since that day and an enlarged, fuzzy picture of the event is proudly displayed in her living room beside the other most memorable moment in her life, her second wedding. Before my cousin Karly was even engaged, Grandma's usual reminder of our dancing began to hint at the future possibility of re-enacting that special night. She was thrilled when she found out that my brother Matt was renting a white dance floor for the event and was seen polishing it on her hands and knees after it arrived.

The night of the wedding, I found myself in charge of the bar. While I was busy mixing mocktails and Italian sodas, I could feel Grandma lingering around the bar with her eyes gleaming, waiting for our dance. When the line slowed and we ran out of pineapple juice, I seized the window of opportunity to grab Grandma and we headed onto the dance floor. Voici, the result:

The video requires some explanation. First, we happened to be the only people dancing at that time and I was painfully aware of the fact. My discomfort at being the center of attention was increased by the cameras recording every minute of it. Hence, the awkward smiles. Second, if you notice that I'm going a little fast for Grandma to keep up, that requires a confession: I didn't have much time and I figured that if I wore her out a little, one dance would be enough and she would be satisfied (not that I've ever had to worry about satisfying women). Third, yes, I almost dropped her. When I told her I was going to dip her she simply went limp and fell back.
All told, we're lucky she's still with us. Love you GRANDMA!