Lucky...or not...

Date Number:

The girl: M
The connection: We both know my brother.
The setting: The WV Hales.
The plot: We went to Fiddler On the Roof at Hale Theater. I have a few friends in the show, and know a few people at the theater, so that was an interesting experience for a blind date. I realized a ways into the whole Hale experience how arrogant it might seem to take someone unknowingly into a situation like that. Probably not something I'll do again. However, M played it off with panache and understanding - suggesting that we should have worn VIP badges so we could get free soda.

M went to SUU and met my bro in the fraternity/sorority circles and they became fast friends, so my bro decided he should line us up. M is currently student teaching and hopes to either teach 1st or 4th grade next year. That gave us plenty to talk about and we had a great time. She's a great conversationalist, and one hilarious person. She also happens to live in the SE corner of the valley, so I didn't get home from this date until almost 11:30. Woot! Gotta love that.

Favorite moment: M randomly busted out a pop quiz on me. HILARIOUS!!! It was only one question - which I can't recall at the moment - but I vowed then and there to start giving people pop quizzes. So be prepared. :)

Note from a student

"please make us do more math. but a tip not to much cause then my head well die."

Noted.

Um....uh....B! B!

Matching game!

1. Distributive Property of Multiplication

2. Associative Property of Multiplication

3. Commutative Property of Multiplication

4. Identity Property of Multiplication

5. Identity Property of Addition

6. Zero Property of Multiplication

a. 7 X 1 = 7

b. 0 X 4 = 0

c. 8 X 7 X 2 = 2 X 8 X 7

d. 16 + 0 = 16

e. 6(9 + 3) = (6 X 9) + (6 X 3)

f. 5 X 4 = 4 X 5

Yep. Now try teaching that to an 8-yr-old.

Or a moment like this...

Int. Classroom. Mr. B sharpens pencils whilst Mrs. L prepares small group math materials at the back table.

Enter Mrs. D with child (J) in-tow. J was cleaning scuff marks off the floor in the hallway for some minor indiscretion and was caught by his mother - Mrs. D.

"Mr. B, I am sorry for what J has done."

"Oh, I didn't tell him to clean..."

"It's okay. J, come here. Sit on my lap."

Mr. B continues to sharpen pencils.

Mrs. D proceeds to spank J.

Mr. B continues to sharpen pencils, at a loss for what to do as he is taken completely by surprise.

And.....scene!

Possibly the most awkward moment of my short educational career. I don't presume to know much about parenting, but I'm fairly certain that's not the best disciplinary strategy...

A moment like this...

Me: We're going to read "How to Eat Fried Worms" then, if you get more points than me on the scoreboard we'll watch the movie, and I'll bring fried worms for everyone to try.

M: I'm allergic to worms.

Me: *eye roll*

J: I'm allergic to soap.

R: I'm allergic to Journey! *air guitar*

One Dozen!

Date Number:

The girl: B-wo. Dancer, actress, vocalist, student, and all-around hilarious person.
The connection: See date #7
The setting: O-rem
The plot: B came to my show Saturday and afterward we traveled on down to UVU to join some friends of ours and see a another friend from Dolly in a production of Urinetown. Honestly - top 5 funniest shows I have ever seen. It wasn't just the show itself - which is riotously funny - but the direction, the design, and the performers were all incredible. B and I were both laughing our heads off. It was great. We went to Applebees after. I think I spend too much time at Applebees. Just sayin'.
Funny: The show. Also, the fact that the hostess at AB sat us down, but forgot to inform a waiter that we were there. We had to wave one over.

Inner Geek

Sometimes I'm kind of a geek. But who isn't at times? I find this intensely fascinating and completely mind-boggling:

The 11th hour...

Date Number:

The girl: M
The connection: She's my cousin! Now before you freak out and think I've gone all British Aristocracy on you, I made a concerted effort to find a non-immediately related girl to take, but ended up not being able to, so I took my cousin instead. It's a cousin-date, a "stale" date as my friend puts it, but a date nonetheless, I'm counting it.
The setting: The SLC
The plot: We went to the Olive Garden for dinner and had some delicious food, then to the Opera! Carmen was playing. My friend works for the Utah Symphony and Opera doing their publications, so she hooked me up with some sweet tickets down in the orchestra. It was pretty awesome. It was the first time at the opera for both me and M, and after 4 acts, 2 intermissions and a short set-change break, we ended up rather enjoying the whole thing.
Funny: All the people at the opera. Old women dressing like they're not-so-old, lots of sparkles, pharmacy professors with their spouses, the man with the extremely bad dye job (a lady overheard me commenting on it and said "That's where bad shitzus go to die." Laughter ensued.)
Funny, but awkward: I saw a friend of mine there and smacked his butt to get his attention without him seeing me. He didn't react at all. Then he finally turned around and kind of seemed like he didn't recognize me, but he laughed about it anyway. I had to run to get parking validation, so we couldn't talk long and it was kind of awkward. We ended up catching up after the show, but still - awkward.

Hamilton

Date Number:

The girl: G.
The connection: Family friend of a theater friend of mine.
The setting: P-town.
The plot: This was kind of adventurous, but more on that later.
We went to the CES fireside at the Marriott Center with all those crazy Mormons down there. It was a pretty good fireside. Elder Anderson spoke on spiritual upkeep. I mostly just watched all the crazy people around us. I tend to do things like that when speakers aren't absurdly engaging. Anyway, after the fireside we went to my friend K's for brownies. K doubled with us with a girl from his ward.
G is a native of Indiana, and is here debating studying musical education, or musical therapy. I think that's pretty cool. She's a youngin' so she's just getting going on that whole college experience. Good times. She's also not used to Utah winters, and is in for quite a surprise when the snow lasts until May.
Anyway, the adventure came as I called G to get her address just before the fireside and she didn't answer. For a minute I thought I might be going solo with K and his date.
Now that I read through that it was a lot more adventurous in the moment than it is in writing.
Gross: The view of the Salt Lake Valley shrouded in, as a good friend of mine refers to it, the "hellacious soul-sucking inversion" as I rounded point-of-the-mountain.
Fun: Looking at the fun snowflakes that K's absurdly talented artist roommate made. He might be putting out a book someday, so look for that.

Georgia on my mind, along with some other stuff...

-Why would a bus ever think it's ok to drive in the fast lane?

-I may, at some point, experience an emotional breakdown sometime before June. If this occurs, and you happen to be with me, please just laugh.

-I like the concept of easels, but I don't know that I'd ever utilize one.

-I prefer showering in the morning.

-I've been craving a sweet roll.

-I forgot how expensive college books can be. :(

-I like motivational quotes.

-I think it's absurdly important, when one is busy, to make sure and have some relaxation time. Even if it's just a little bit.

-I think it's awkward to shorten the word "vegitate". How does one spell that? Veg doesn't work, and I think vej is confusing. What's a boy to do?

-Syllabus is a funny word. It sounds like a fun mode of public transportation.

-I wonder if I went to the Mac store and pretended to be debating between a regular macbook and a macbook pro - even though I'm really planning on the macbook pro - they'd throw in a free nano or something just to sway me...