It's General Conference time again!

I look forward to this time of year every six months for a number of reasons:

• Hearing inspired words of counsel, affirmation, and testimony from living prophets of God.
• Listening to the music of Mormon Tabernacle Choir
• Sleeping in and getting to watch church at home in your PJs
• The male bonding of attending the Saturday evening priesthood session
• The fact that you can go out for ice cream after the priesthood session and it's not breaking the sabbath
• Watching everyone in the group fall asleep one by one during each two hour session, but trying to keep yourself awake and focused (which definitely doesn't always happen)
• Going home and spending time with family
• Listening to President Monson trying to pronounce the names of the worldwide General and Area Authorities.
• Not having to accompany the ward choir for a week (or three, if you happen to be going to Boston the following two weekends)
• The spiritual boost it gives me for the weeks and months ahead, especially when reading the talks again in the Ensign.

All I want for Christmas

That's not too much to ask for, is it?

USU Football (if you can call it that)

I did my undergraduate work at the George Washington University, a school with a great basketball team, but there was no football team at all. I always thought I kind of missed out on the whole idea of braving the chilly Fall weather, packing into the stadium dressed in school colors, and and rooting for your college team as they play some hard-hitting, smashmouth football. So I was looking forward to watching some good, old-fashioned college football when I moved to Logan a year ago.

Last year, I attended three games and Utah State won two of them (probably the only two games they won all year). So I wasn't too disappointed. This year, however, I have lost all desire to even attend a football game now that the team is 0-4, being outscored something like 144-7 total so far this year. And the only touchdown came from the defense. The offense has yet to score any points in four games!!

Maybe it was better that my alma mater didn't have a football team . . .

Video killed the radio star - My Top 10 Music Videos

Last night, Deidra and I started watching some music videos on YouTube and it totally brought back some great memories from my growing up years. After searching through numerous music videos and trying to rack my brain to remember my favorite music videos from over the years. I thought I would share the list I have come up with so far:

10. Genesis - Land of Confusion

The video is disturbing, but I can't pry my eyes away from the muppet-like caricatures.

9. Ok Go - Here it goes again

Can you really go wrong with synchronized treadmill dancing?

8. Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood

The idea of a band composed completely of cartoon characters? Brilliant!

7. Jamiroqua - Virtual Insanity

Such amazing effects. I think I saw on pop-up video how they did all this stuff. It's pretty crazy.

6. Foo Fighters - Everlong

If you ever wonder what I dream like, just watch this video. I swear it comes straight from my subconscious. And when the drummer sits up from the bed and it turns into his drumset ... possibly my favorite moment in all of music video history.

5. Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice

Whoever convinced Christopher Walken to star in this video is a genius! I love his deadpan, serious expression throughout the entire video.

4. Peter Gabriel - Big Time

Claymation at it's best.

3. Michael Jackson - Thriller

About a million Michael Jackson videos could be on this list. He was the king of the "short film" music video. But this one is just classic.

2. Coldplay - The Scientist

Probably the most heart-wrenching video I have ever seen. And the whole thing running backwards just makes it all the more intriguing.

1. A-ha - Take On Me

The first video I ever saw that I just wanted to watch over and over again. Too bad I had to watch hours of MTV in order to see it again ... what a wasted youth. If only YouTube existed back then.

What were/are some of your favorite music videos?

Chris's Favorite Lyrics #1

I am a musician and I also like listening to music. I particularly like clever and/or thoughtful lyrics, so I have a number of lyrics that make me smile, think, etc., that I thought it would be fun to share. And I am sure I will have similar posts in the future as old lyrics are remembered and new lyrics catch my attention. As for now, here is list #1:

"I'll never achieve greatness while I worship all this emptiness." - Adam Richman

"The only way I know to get to my goal is to sacrifice my psyche for the sake of my soul." - Seth Horan

"And I could forget the words here one more time and hope that no one notices." - The Refreshments

That's it for now. More to follow . . .

Numero Uno!

That's right. After week #1 of fantasy football, it looks like ChrisHartwellDotCom is on top of the league standings with the highest point total. I played Chod, and he suggested that we make a friendly wager on the game. The loser had to change his avatar (i.e. online persona/team mascot) into a girl. I must say, Chod looks good with pink hair, makeup, and in a cheerleading skirt ... Actually, seeing Chod in that kind of get-up would probably scar me for life. But at least his avatar looks good.

Next week, it's a full-on war as Deidra and I (both 1-0) are on opposing sides of the turf. Anything you want to wager, my dear?

Short Days

It's kind of sad when I am looking forward to Tuesdays and Thursdays, which I refer to as my "short days." The name is something of a misnomer, however. You see, on M,W,F I work from 6am until at least 4pm without a lunch - a total of at least 10 hours per day. So on T & Th, when I work from 6am until 2pm without a lunch, I think that I am getting a break when, actually, I am still working an 8-hour day. And on top of that, after my "short day" at work, I will be running to the USU library and do the reading/assignments for my classes until Deidra gets off work at 5pm. And then I get to go home. So I actually get home later on my short days then I do on my long days. But somehow the thought of a "short day" makes it easier to bear, so I just let myself believe that's what it is.

9/11 ... A Look Back

This day always brings back a lot of memories and emotions. I still remember it like it was yesterday and it will always be a defining moment in my life. I found this email that I sent the day after 9/11 and I think it captures my anxiety and uncertainty during that time:

I am doing as well as can be expected considering the
events that have occurred. It was very chaotic here
in DC, which I am sure was nothing compared to NY. I
went up to the roof of my building yesterday and could
see the Pentagon burning only a couple of mile away.
School was cancelled and the city basically shutdown.
The skies were eerily quiet minus the fighter jets and
helicopters every so often. Armed military officers
still are posted on every few block throughout the
city.

I was moved to write yesterday. The mood here was
very somber and gloomy. I sat in front of the TV for
fourteen hours with a pen and paper in hand and these
were the only words I could find to write:

The tears of a nation collectively fall
Through the smoke, through the dust, and debris
That has clouded a once thought invincible land
And has forced us to fall to our knees

But the hearts of the people aren't broken
The voice of this nation is strong
United American spirit will carry us on

My heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with all the
victims and families and everyone throughout the world
who was affected by this tragedy. I am grateful for
the blessing of life and I know my life will never be
the same.

All apologies

So, I haven't been the best blogger recently. I apologize to all of those who depend on my wit and charm (or stories of stupidity) for entertainment. By way of explanation, I offer the following excuses:

1. School is back in session - That means being to work at 6am every day and keeping busy until I leave in the afternoon. Even as I type this, I am about a week behind in the work I am supposed to be accomplishing. Hopefully, eventually, I will get caught up.

2. School is back in session - This time, I mean my own classes. Taking two online courses this semester takes up a lot of the time on the days I get to leave work early and, true to the form of my previous college career, I am already behind in my schoolwork there.

3. I have been sick - As evident from Deidra's latest post, I have not been feeling to well as of late. In addition to the monster migraine, I am also battling a head cold, which makes me want to just take life easy when I get home from work. Thus, I haven't been actively blogging in the evening.

So my apologies that you have not gotten to hear all about the fun I had at the Wilkin's Family Reunion, or about the rockin' awesome mullet-man I have befriend as I have learned a little bit more about geocaching, or about traveling to SLC in the late night hours to be with Deidra's grandfather as he he was life lighted to the UofU hospital with severe burns. So it's not that life hasn't been interesting, I just haven't had the time to share it with you all.

Today is a surprisingly mellow Friday at work, so I am going to try to get a lot of actual work done. And if I have time (or get bored), I might actually pick one of those subjects and expound. So stay tuned!

Stay in school!

And I am not talking to the students, either. I am in charge of arranging substitutes for two school districts and today was a mad house! Granted, it is the Friday before a three-day weekend, but it's also the first full week of school. I would think that teachers would want to get their class acclimated for a couple of weeks before having to bring in a substitute, but apparently I am mistaken. In the school districts we service, we had a total of just over 100 absence for this week last year. This year, the number has reached well over 300! I shouldn't be complaining, because that equals more money for our company, which will probably equal more money in my pocket via bonuses, but it still boggles my mind. Maybe they need to get celebrities and sports icons to run a "stay in school" campaign for teachers like they did for students back when I was growing up.

Temples and rock walls

Today, in priesthood meeting, we had a lesson from President Kidd, former president of the Logan Temple. He talked to us about the importance of temples and it was a very enlightening meeting. One of the things he mentioned was that the temple helps us to remember an eternal perspective and appreciate our spouse (especially when we attend the temple as couples).The following experience from this past weekend illustrates that point:

As part of this past weekend, Deidra and I went to an early session at the Timpanogos temple on Saturday. It was a great session, the temple was beautiful, and it just set a good tone for the rest of the day, which was a good thing. Later on that afternoon, I was backing out of my aunt's driveway (where we had stayed the night). Their home is on a hill and we were parked in such a way that we had to turn pretty sharply to back into the street. Well, I didn't quite turn sharply enough and, while I thought we were still completely on their driveway, I soon found out that I had turned a little too widely and, as a result, I backed over a small rock wall that they had at the end of their lawn. Luckily, it didn't do much damage to Nelly (our car) and we were able to kind of put the wall back together. But I still felt pretty stupid about it and I knew that Deidra would probably be really annoyed with me. But she just laughed at me and kind of shook it off. A little bit later, I asked her why she wasn't upset or annoyed at me and she said, "I think it's because we went to the temple today and it makes me realize that I love you and that some things aren't worth getting upset about." So I very much appreciated her for that attitude in helping me dismiss something that could have very easily been a source of contention. I told her that we should go to the temple every day, but perhaps that's not so much of a reasonable goal. Anyway, I am grateful for the temple for what it teaches and the spirit that it can bring into our lives if we are open to it. And I am grateful for my wife and for everything she teaches me and the spirit she brings into our home.

And in other news ...

Here's an article from Meridian Magazine about the LDS Music Fest that I am playing in this weekend:

http://www.ldsmag.com/churchupdate/060823music.html

If anyone is in the Provo/American Fork area, come on out to the show. It is free and should be a lot of fun.

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you all . . . I'm famous!

An interview that I did a year or two ago for a newspaper in Washington, DC, finally got printed last Friday. You can find the link here.

One year down, eternity minus one to go ...

So, the other day, I wrote quite the amazing blog about the happenings of last weekend. As I was getting almost done wrapping up the Sunday happenings – believe me, it was quite long – Deidra came in the room and, while trying to push the computer plug further into the wall (I guess she was afraid it was going fall out), she actually lost the connection and the computer shut down. That’s right, folks, the entire blog GONE as I stared into the dark black monitor in disbelief. I somehow managed not to say any curse words … at least not out loud … well, at least not the whole word. I was more like “What the he…where the … it’s gone … shhhhhaaaaaaaaaafffffffeeeeeggggrrraaaaahhhhddddaaaaaarrrr.” Deidra apologized profusely, but I almost had to hang up my blogging shoes right there. Luckily, I bounce back easily and I am ready to give it another go. So here goes …

Friday night was our one-year anniversary and it turned out pretty well. You can go to Deidra’s blog to learn more about it, if you would like. We spent the rest of the weekend spending time with friends and family.

Saturday morning we woke up early and got out the door a little after 7am to travel to Burley so that I could take part in a little paintball action at 9. It was a lot of fun and, for once, I came away without any welts – probably because Karisa wasn’t there shooting me at point blank range (don’t worry, I was shooting back). But I do feel sorry for the guy that walked right past me while I was lying low in the brush. I pegged him a couple of good time right in the arse from fairly close range before he even knew what was going on. Sorry Kenny! Anyway, it is the same place we will be paintballing for the family reunion over Labor Day, so now I have a clear vision of it and can start strategizing my battle plans.

While we were paintballing, Deidra and her mom went shopping and, upon passing a yard sale, decided to buy a gun case for $4. When we got a call that we need to pick up the gun case on our way home (since we had the bigger vehicle), I was more than a little confused. A gun case?!? We don’t even own any guns! Turns out that it was a rather tall and slender wooden case that Deidra envision putting shelves in and turning into a hutch/display case.

So we picked up the case and then headed into Burley, where both Warren (the father-in-law) and I got haircuts from Deidra’s aunt. Then it was home to the Parish house, where we ate lunch. Warren and I had a little corn on the cob eat-off, and while end supposedly ended in a tie, I hold to the fact that I had a few bites from an additional ear of corn and thus I should be crowned champion.

After lunch, we hitched up the boat and went down to the river, Deidra’s favorite place to go during the summer. She water skied a couple of time and did really well. I tried to get some good pictures/video of her during her last run, but they were on Tameka’s camera, so who knows if we’ll ever see what actually came of it. I got in the water for my usual wakeboard fiasco, but at least I actually got up a couple of times for long enough to look around and think, “Hey, I made it up! I’m pretty much a professional.” This thought was usually followed by a loud splash as I forcefully found the river with my face.

Then Deidra and I traveled to the Hartwell home and spent some time chatting with my parents. Upon finding that they had already eaten, I promptly bummed some money from my old man (since I never carry cash these days) and we went back to Burley to find some dinner at the Cassia County Fair and Rodeo. (More information on dinner can also be found at Deidra’s blog … mmm, pizza and an Italian sub.) The rest of the night was spent cruising the fair and running into every person Deidra has ever known … or so it seemed. By the end of the night I was admittedly a little ornery, tired, and ready to go home and go to bed.

The following day (Sunday), Deidra’s “good friend” (a.k.a. old boyfriend) got home from his mission, so we went to listen to him speak at church. Then we went to a different church to hear a couple of her other friends speak and perform a musical number. After that, we went to a luncheon at the home of her “good friend,” where we chatted it up with all of her high school friends. Not awkward at all, right? J Actually, it wasn’t that bad – I like her friends and they at least pretend to like me, so it all works out.

Then it was back to the Hartwell abode where we met up with my parents, younger brother, Aunt Judy and Uncle Denny, and my dad’s cousin, Mary Lynn. We drove out to Elba, where some of my ancestors settled for a while. We saw their old home (erected in 1901) and spent some time talking to the cute older couple who own it and are restoring it. They knew a lot about the history of the home and of the area. My great great grandfather (Thomas Taylor) was the first bishop in Elba and his son was the first bishop of the neighboring town, Almo. If I ever get a chance, I’ll have to add some pictures in their own little post when I have more time.

We made a brief stop after that to visit another of Deidra’s friends that lives in Elba, and then it was back home to Logan to get ready for another week of work. So there you have it, the second draft of what we did last weekend. If it sucks, you can blame Deidra, since it’s her fault that the first draft was lost.

The Miracle of Scout Camp

I taught the lesson in priesthood last Sunday. The topic was "Living by Faith." As I was preparing for the lesson, I was impressed to read through one of my old journals, where I found a story of faith that I had since forgotten. I shared it in that meeting, and I also wanted to share it here, just to illustrate how faith can have an impact in our lives, and the lives of those around us.

As a little background, this experience took place when I lived in Washington, DC, and was over the young men (ages 12-18) in our congregation. This is taken directly out of my journal:

Tuesday, June 29, 2004

I am here at Scout Camp in the woods of Maryland - Broad Creek Camp, about an hour north of Baltimore. When we (the Capitol Hill Branch) were integrated into the Suitland MD Stake, we found out that Scout Camp was coming up on only a few short weeks. So we did quite a bit of planning and were planning on having three Young Men come out here to camp. Well, as time for Scout Camp neared, all three boys developed excuses and/or conflicts that they used to say they couldn't go to Scout Camp. President Degn [our Branch President] and I talked to the their respective parents and re-committed them all to come again. The day before Scout Camp (Sun. June 27), two of the young men called to say they could not attend camp. At this point, I was ready to throw my hands up and wash them clean of the mess, having done all in my power to encourage them to come. But, in talking to my roommate, I felt a strong impression that Scout Camp would be a valuable learning experience and a good memory for them. I came to realize that Satan didn't want them to go. I called President Degn, and he tried to get in touch with the boys and their parents. When that ended in lukewarm reception, I decided that I would stop by each boy's place anyway to see if they were ready - at 4am on Monday morning! I prayed a lot about it Sunday night, called my parents and asked for their prayers, and received a blessing from my roommates. The Lord certainly worked a miracle, as all three boys were up and ready to go to camp Monday morning at 4am.

(P.S. If I ever find the picture of our scout camp "troop," I will be sure to scan it in and add it to this post)

Fantasy Football - last call!

Today is the last day to sign up for fantasy football with the awe-inspiring, and mediocrely-competitive WEPCO Yahoo! Fantasy Football league. So far it looks like Nikkala, Chod, Deidra, Whit, Jeff/Jolyn, myself, and two of my friends (Aaron and Jeremy). It should be lots of fun. Instructions on joining the league are found at my previous fantasy football post (scroll down to the bottom). That is all.

Sometimes biking to work sucks!

I've been meaning to make this post since the fated bike ride incident occurred yesterday morning. I was running a little late for work and, even though my wife offered to drive me to work and drop me off, I thought I still had enough time to make it to work. Besides, if I was a few minutes late, I should still be okay.

I began the journey like I normally do, though maybe pedaling a little bit faster than usual. As I got to the hill that I usually climb during my morning bike ride I saw an orange construction barrier that said "This road closed to pedestrian traffic." I knew the city had been working on the road at the top of the hill, but I chose not to heed the sign (I mean, technically, I am not pedestrian traffic, right?) and began my ascent up the paved path.

Because I was still running late, I stood up off of the seat and pedaled hard the entire way up the path. As I neared the triumphal apex of the miniature mountain I was scaling, I saw only one piece of heavy machinery rising on the horizon, and it was working well down the road from where I was. Good, I thought, they're working on a different part of the road. I should have no problem crossing through. Boy, was I wrong. As the road itself came into view on the horizon, I noticed a row of dirt probably five or six feet high that ran along the entire length of the road and left me nowhere to go and no way to cross. It reminded me of the huge mound of earth that Moroni and his people built around their city so that they could not be attacked ( see Alma 49).

Being extremely disheartened and exhausted from my hard work of getting up the hill, I turned around and went back down the same hill I had climbed with such determination. At the bottom of the hill, I dismounted my bike and walked it up the dugway (an even steeper and narrower hill, with the additional obstacle of automobile traffic) since there was no way I was going to make it up that hill riding my bike.

By the time I made it to the top of the hill, I was panting and sweating, and already late to work. I mounted my bike once again and rode the rest of the way to work as quickly as I could. I arrived about ten minutes late, with my first appointment already there waiting for me. Thankfully, I had called ahead and let the office know I was going to be late, so they had informed my appointment and he was in no particular hurry.

I stashed my bike in the back room and went into the restroom. My head was dripping with sweat and my mouth was filled with that bitter, thick saliva that you get when you go a little too hard working out, playing basketball, running, or biking. It was nasty! After cleaning myself off, cooling myself down, making my self presentable, and drinking a glass of water, I was able to resume the rest of my day. But, oh, how I wish I would have taken my wife up on the offer of giving me a ride. It would definitely have made my morning commute much less of a hassle.

Mouse update

Since the last "mouse" post, we purchased a couple of traps and got one set up where we saw the mouse before. Since it had never tripped and we hadn't seen the mouse (or any signs of the mouse) for a few days, we thought maybe it had moved on to brighter pastures . . . until Sunday. As we were sitting down for breakfast, I was taking toast out of the toaster when I saw the mouse dart out from under the refrigerator and quickly scurry around the wall into the front room. And from there it got out of sight quickly.

I went online to learn more about trapping mice and then reset the two traps with new bait - one with peanut butter and one with the cotton end of a Q-tip dipped in vanilla. Apparantly mice are just as attracted to possible nesting material as they are to food - that was news to me. Both are now set perpendicular to the wall.

And there we have it. I would like to get a few more traps bought and set up if we don't catch him soon. More information as it happens . . .

Real vs. Real

On Saturday, Deidra and I drove to Salt Lake City, where we were volunteering to work at the biggest Real soccer game of the year, Real Salt Lake vs. Real Madrid. On our way down, Deidra submitted to my desire to stop at the Guitar Center in Roy. I have this dream of building my own recording studio, so I love to go there and check out speakers, amps, mixers, software, keyboards, percussion instruments, microphones, and so on. Even though I know I can't afford anything there, it gives me ideas of what I could do in that always off in the distance "someday" - you know, the one where somehow you have all the money you need to do anything you want.

After that, we proceeded to Salt Lake, arriving a couple of hours before we were scheduled to start working. So Deidra suggested visiting the new Salt Lake City Public Library, which was awarded the honor of the Library Journal's Best Library for 2006, a title that I think is well-deserved. The architecture is really cool - kind of a sleek/modern feel to it. They have shops lining the outside of the library, amazing art, sculptures, waterfalls, and quotes almost everywhere you turn, and the actual library itself it huge. Deidra and I like to go to the Logan Public Library and check out DVDs. It's free and convenient, but the drawback is that there are a limited number of titles to choose from. The Salt Lake library, on the other hand, has shelves full of tons of DVDs. I don't know why anyone would go to a video store in Salt Lake. I think you could find almost any movie you were looking for right there at the public library ... except maybe the newest releases, and that's what RedBox is for.

Finally, we made our way to the Olympic stadium (aka University of Utah stadium - aka Salt Lake Real stadium) and found a place to park about two blocks away. We walked to the stadium and arrived about 30 minutes before we were even scheduled to be there. But they put us to work right away. The first thing that we did was blow up these inflatable play areas for the kids. One was a bouncy house and the other was a huge soccer goal where the kids could kick balls and tray to get it into one of the holes at the end of the goal. Then we were stationed with two others at gate D (the main entry into the stadium) to hand out free "souvenir" tickets to the crowd as they came in the door. We had a whole box full of them, and I thought they would take forever to give out. But we actually completed the box within about 30-45 minutes, whereupon we returned to the workers' base station, thinking that we were done. Unfortunately, since it was still about an hour until game time, our supervisor made us go back to the gate with a small number of additional souvenir tickets to hand out. When those were done, she showed up at the gate with even more tickets that she had taken from the volunteers manning the other gates, since they were not as busy as our gate was. We made quick work of those and returned to the base station, thankfully seeing other volunteers that were also done.

They had dinner waiting for us - burritos and chips from Bajio, and cake from Sams Club. The burritos were huge and surpisingly good, considering that they had been sitting out for a while and were only slightly warm. We took our dinner down to tables behind glass panels that looked out onto the field. We were directly behind the south goal of the stadium, right between both lockers rooms. So we saw the players up close and personal, both on the field and as they entered and exited their locker rooms. This included arguably the most famous soccer player in the world, David Beckham, who plays for Real Madrid.

We got to watch most of the game, only having to spend one 20-minute shift overseeing the inflatable play areas at the beginning of the second half. David Beckham did not get into the game until the second half and it was so awesome to watch a million camera flashes in the crowd go off every time he kicked the ball, especially corner kicks. I guess he's quite the celebrity. We also found out after the game that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were in attendance, as they are good friends of Beckham's. Of course, that fact that they were there at all was kept under wraps until after they had left the stadium.

After the game, we took down all of the inflatable play areas and went onto the field to take down all of the advertisements that surround the field. Finally, we left the stadium at about midnight and drove back to Logan. Deidra didn't last too long before falling asleep and I just listened to the final disk of The Silver Chair (one of the Chronicles of Narnia) on CD on the drive home. We arrived home and got to bed at about 2am. Luckily, we don't have church until 1pm, so we got a good night's rest despite our late retirement.

All in all, it was a really fun experience and I am glad Deidra was there to share it with me. She made it even more fun and enjoyable. You can check out her blog for more information about the game, as well as pictures (including Beckham with his shirt off), when she gets her post completed.

Rockin' the Cache County Fair

Last night, I participated in the Farm Bureau Talent Competition at the Cache County Fair and Rodeo. We arrived at the gate a little before 6pm and the security guard called for a Mule to help us pack our stuff. So we unloaded my keyboard, the stand, the stool, and the briefcase containing cords and CDs from the car and proceeded to wait around for about 10 minutes before Deidra decided that she would go park the car while I was waiting. Well, 10 minutes later, she comes back and I am still waiting for the stupid little Mule. So we decided just to pack it all to the stage instead of waiting longer. So I grab the long, awkward, heavy, expensive keyboard in one hand and the stool in the other. Deidra grabs the metal keyboard stand, which is also extremely awkward to carry for any extended amount of time, and the briefcase. We walk down a ways until we find the stage and we set all of the stuff on the ground and take a deep breath.

After searching for a while, I finally find the person I need to check in with and then I search out the stage manager to know what I need to do with all of my gear. Upon seeing my keyboard and other items, he says "Well, if you want, you can just use the Clavinova digital piano that is already up on stage." Piece of crap! You mean Deidra and I just lugged our heavy gear halfway across the fairgrounds when we didn't even need to bring it in the first place? I'm glad nobody made me aware of that when I registered for the competition over the phone. Deidra and I decided that we would stash the gear backstage anyway, since we didn't feel like lugging it all back to the entrance again right then.

After we go that taken care of, we sat down on the grass to enjoy the program. I was told that I was in the "Senior" division, and they were starting it off with the "Beginners." Well, actually, they had a couple of little high school punk bands that were performing as we first arrived. There's nothing like hearing little punks with cracking voices trying to muddle through Alice in Chains' "Man in a Box," which just happens to be one helluva long song anyway.

Anyway, they started with the Beginner division and it was a bunch of probably 3-6 year olds hula dancing, singing, and clogging. At this point, I started thinking: Maybe this is just for kids and I'm going to be the one old man competing against high schoolers. People will think to themselves 'Who is this lame-o old guy?' After the Beginners, they moved on to the Intermediate group, which looked to be about 7-12 year olds. At about this time, Deidra's cousin, Whitney, showed up to offer support as well. (Which, by the way, means that it's possible that you'll get three different blog versions of this experience.) After that group, they began the Advanced group, which were high school-aged competitors. As this group of performers started, they asked for the Senior division to meet backstage to get us all ready for our turn. I was still a little nervous about being the lame-o old man, so I kind of sheepishly went backstage to check out my competition. When I got there, I saw what I thought could be a young adult woman with a pretty formal black gown on, and soon realized she was a performer in my division. She still looked fairly young, but as soon as I saw a wedding ring on her finger I realized that if she was married, she was most likely a full-blown, out-of-high-school adult. My fears subsided and I prepared for my five minutes of stage time. There were only a total of four people in the Senior division (two ladies singing, one lady singing/playing piano, and myself) and I was the second to perform. I performed my song "Keep Me Down," and I thought it went pretty well, though the competition was stiff! All three ladies had beautiful voices and I was impressed with everyone’s performances.

When the judges had tallied their votes, the awards were handed out. They began with the younger children and I soon realized that there was a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place award. Oh Great! I thought. I am going to be the one loser* that doesn't even get an award in my division. But instead, I was awarded 2nd place (which I was happy about) and I got a nice ol' red ribbon and $30. Not a bad payday for singing one song ... even if we did have to pack all of my gear unnecessarily. Combine that with the $75 that I made last week at my Raspberry Days Festival performance at Bear Lake, and I think my music career is really starting to rake in the dough! (Looks like I may not need any chickens after all, Warren.) Maybe I should quit my day job. I think we could make a living on $100/month, couldn't we, Deid?

* No offense to the young lady who didn't win a ribbon in our division or any other performers who were shut out in their respective divisions.