Mumbo Jumbo

Just Thought I'd Let You Know

2009-05-04T02:13:00.000-07:00

I am excited to come home.

Like I said, I am excited to come home.
10 Days!

Awards Schma-wards

2009-04-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

So a few months ago, I was at the lovely business of Hollywood Video where I went to go rent a movie. Every time I go there, they are having epic sales like 4 movies for $20, 3 for $9.99, or other deals that make it so you might as well buy them instead of rent them. So on one of the trips I made there, I purchased There Will Be Blood because it was highly reviewed by all the critics and I heard many good things about it.

Last night, Charlie, Austin, and I were bored so we popped it in to kill some time before attempting to sleep. It was about a man in the early 1900's who was trying to make a living by digging for oil.

It started of slow.

And finished that way.

I wouldn't say it was the worst movie I've ever seen, but I really don't feel it was very good at all. It was given so much hype and I just disagree with all the reviews for it. Hopefully the next movie I buy because of critical acclimation actually delivers.

There Will Be Blood
Derek's Grade: D-

Only If You're Bored

2009-04-23T02:10:00.000-07:00

Tonight I wrote my last English paper ever and I am pretty proud of it. If you are bored and wish to read it, I am going to stick it in here. Do not feel obligated to read it, it is about four pages. It is about the best topic ever, Harry Potter. I had to analyze something, so I chose to talk about how Harry Potter is the best fiction franchise ever. Here it goes:

Webster’s Dictionary defines fiction as, “something invented by the imagination or feigned” (1). Fiction has been one of the most popular types of genres since entertainment began centuries ago. Over time there have been countless fictitious stories but none of them have been nearly as successful as the literature monopoly known as Harry Potter. Harry Potter has been successful in all aspects of fictional entertainment: literature, cinema, and cultural impact.
Harry Potter has been one of the largest successes in history of literature, but had to be built from the ground up, just as any other novel. In 1990, Joanne “JK” Rowling had the idea for a story about a boy wizard who must save the world, while on a train ride from Manchester to London. She had finished the first book in 1995, but it was not published in the United States until Scholastic Books picked it up two years later in 1997. The books continued to grow in popularity until she set her first sales record with the fourth book, selling 3,000,000 copies in the first 48 hours. She continued to write until finishing the much anticipated seventh and final book; where wrote on a bust in her hotel room at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh saying that she had finished the seventh book in that room on January 11, 2007. In the beginning, critics were very open to Rowling’s novels; saying that it had the potential of instant classic, even comparing it to Roald Dahl’s work. These high acclamations helped launch the books into stardom. As the novels continued to pour out, the criticism began to build. The critics became much harsher on Rowling, but that clearly did not slow the fans from buying them or Rowling and Harry’s success either.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone brought us into a mixed world full of magic and danger. In the series there is the normal human, or muggle, world that we know and live in today. In addition to our world, Rowling added a complete new world that was unknown to muggles and could only be accessed by magical folk, such as witches and wizards. In the very beginning of the novel we are introduced to the idea that Harry Potter must save the world from the evil Lord Voldemort. Along with this thrilling story line come many different themes that almost all readers can relate to. Rowling has admitted that her main theme in the novels was death; a point underlined, as the series progresses, by one or more characters being killed in each of the final four books. It also adds to it with Voldemort’s quest for immortality. This theme of death teaches children and reinforces to the rest of us that death is inevitable but we should do our best with the time given to us on Earth. The books are not totally dark, and are written in a Sherlock Holmes sense of mystery. With the enchanting mysteries in each book, it also discusses other relatable themes such as love, oppression, survival, as well as overcoming imposing odds. With these different themes teaching all readers different life lessons, it is no wonder that the books have been so successful.
As with most literary phenomenon’s, Harry Potter was to be turned into a cinematic classic. In October of 1998, “Warner Brother’s Pictures pictured the rights to the first two Harry Potter films for $2,000,000” (2). A big reason these films have been so triumphant is the attention to detail. In early stages of negotiating contracts for the movies, Rowling made it clear that she wanted to be heavily involved in the making of the films. One of her principal stipulations was the films be shot in Britain with an all-British cast, which has been adhered to strictly and paid off as can be seen. Along with the all British cast contributing to the success, the reprisal of all main characters, except for the death of Richard Harris (Dumbledore), has helped immensely. Emma Watson (Hermione) had once debated whether continuing on with the films but then decided to renew her contract, saying she could not bear to see anyone else take the role to the end. With only 63% of the films yet released, the franchise has already become one of the top film franchises of all time, passing huge blockbusters like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. At one time, Harry Potter had been atop the list, but the mega franchise of James Bond has risen past it again with a whopping twenty two movies, to Harry’s five (3). The last two books have yet to be released into film adaptations, but the last book will be divided into two films, an idea that originally was tossed around during filming of the fourth novel. With these much awaited last three films, it will likely send Harry and his friends soaring past James and his ladies, at least for the time being.
With so many different aspects to this series, it is no wonder that Harry Potter has become the mega hit we have come to know and love. “Harry Potter is now a global brand worth and estimated at $15 billion” (4). It has even become a dominant part of our society. Webster’s Dictionary has even added words deriving from Rowling’s books such as the term for non-magical folk, muggle. Fascination with the novels prompted the New York Times to create a separate best seller list for children’s literature in 2000. As of June 24, 2000, the novels had been on the list for 79 straight weeks; before the children’s literature list was even an option. With her best selling and award winning books, Rowling became the first ever billionaire author. Although many franchises have gained attractions such as rides at theme parks, or conventions; not many have been developed into full fledged theme parks. On May 31, 2007, Universal Orlando announced that it had secured the rights from Warner Bros. and Rowling to bring to us The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The theme park is dedicating twenty acres to anything and everything Harry Potter, even the iconic Hogwarts Castle. The ground breaking began in 2007 and the completed project is expected sometime in 2010. With this exciting and anticipated addition, it is clear that up is the only place for this magical franchise to go.
With seven best-selling novels, five mega-blockbuster films, and a magical theme park in the works; Harry Potter is without-a-doubt the best fiction franchise this muggle world has ever seen. Not only has this series captured the attention and the hearts of young children, this pop culture phenomenon has exceeded expectations by almost anyone who gives it a chance. JK Rowling has done an impeccable job at creating a new world for anyone to enter, and anyone wishing to top her multi-billion dollar franchise is going to need more than just a flick of the wand.

Well there it is. If you made it to the end, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think I should add/subtract/keep the same.

Thanks.

Until Further Notice...

2009-04-19T17:25:00.001-07:00

This is a general idea of what I have been showering in for the past few days; and will be continuing to shower in until further notice.

Awesome, right?

False.

I have to walk outside and over to this stinkin' hot, basically, port-o-showers. Once inside it is like a sauna, so once I finish showering and am drying off, I start sweating; defeating the whole purpose of the shower I just took. ASU better get crackin' at this whole no hot water for my building thing, cause not too many people are too pleased at the moment.

Just Trying To Do Some Laundry

2009-04-18T01:28:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I was walking into my building yesterday and I noticed a note saying,

"Attention All PV East Residents: The hot water in the building will be shut off tomorrow from 4:00 am to 5:00 pm to fix a steam leak."

OK, sucks, but it is not the end of the world. I even went and swam after class this morning so I could shower at the gym and not feel gross all day. So I get back and am hanging with Charlie and Sineadh and I get a text from Austin:

"We don't have hot water until next week."

What? That is unbelievable. We go on Charlie's computer and there is an e-mail that reads(Sparknotes version):

"There have been some troubles with the repair of the steam leak and the hot water is not going to be able to be turned back on until further notice."

Until further notice? That is unacceptable! We have a few hundred people living in this building with no hot water! That means no showers, no water to wash your face, or even able to do laundry. They thought it would make up for it if they put two portable showers outside the building, kind of like a port-o-potty version of showers.

Austin, Charlie, Sineadh, and I were bored tonight so we decided to gather all our dirty clothes and drive around and find a laundromat. We went to four different laundromats and they were all closed! In a college town, how can there not be one decent 24 hour laundromat?

This day started out so productive, and ended completely ridiculous.

Days Are So Productive When Conscious

2009-04-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

Today is Friday, a beautiful day and it has already been extremely productive. Now when I say it has been productive, I am comparing it to most Friday's, in which I spend a very good majority of it sleeping.

12:00 a.m. Rage
2:00 a.m. E-mail Mother
2:15 a.m. Get a 100% on a Communications quiz
2:40 a.m. Bed
8:15 a.m. Wake up
8:35 a.m. Accounting 231 (In which I rocked the hell out of a worksheet)
9:40 a.m. Math 210
10:25 a.m. Walk to the gym
10:40 a.m. Swim 1.5 miles
11:30 a.m. Shower (The hot water in our building is being turned off from 4:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. today. I know, right? Retarded.)
12:00 p.m. Get home, eat, Facebook, Blog, wait for Charlie and Sineadh to wake up so we can go to Tempe Market Place

Now I am going to go read Harry Potter while I wait for the sleeping beauties.
Productive, right?

Photoshop

2009-04-02T01:24:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I downloaded a free version of Photoshop. I have been extremely bored in the past 24 hours and been playing with it. Here are some of my first creations:

Too Much Good Stuff con't.

2009-03-31T19:24:00.000-07:00

So the other day I told you about Yogurtland and In-N-Out going into the same parking lot. This is proof that I wasn't kidding:

Check out that little gem through the drive-through window. A man was currently putting up the sign you can see in this picture and he said it was probably going to open in a week or so. Lets hope he is correct.

Here is another picture of Austin, Charlie, Sineadh, and I at the Cubs vs. Angels game we went to today. Angels dominated.

Goldfish

2009-03-30T19:34:00.000-07:00

So the other day, my friend was trying to convince me that the goldfish catch phrase was something about moms letting kids eat them, but we all know that it is "The Snack That Smiles Back." So she went on YouTube and searched "Goldfish commercial." We were going through them, and found this.

I am not 100% sure what the heck it has to do with Goldfish, but I found it pretty hilarious. Sorry if you already saw this on my Facebook. Not my problem.

Too Much Good Stuff?

2009-03-28T19:09:00.000-07:00

Commercials for Am-Pm may tell you that you can never have too much good stuff; but I am here to tell you that, that may very well be a possibility. When I first arrived in Tempe, Arizona, I was delighted to find an In-N-Out about a mile away from my dorm building so I would be able to satisfy my craving whenever I needed.

Going home periodically told me that Tempe was missing a crucial part in their food/dessert industry.

Frozen yogurt.

A few months ago they put in a place called Yogurtini, but it is not nearly as good as Yogurtland, Golden Spoon, or even Cherry on Top. But, when I was at home for spring break, Charlie and I checked to see what time Yogurtland was open til in the K-Scope, and we found some amazing news. They are building a Yogurtland in Tempe!

Now I know what you are thinking, "Derek, you called this Too Much Good Stuff? If that is the case, why were you saying earlier that you wish they had one?" Whoa, cool your jets turbo, I am getting there.

I then proceeded to my trusty Google Maps to see where it would be located. I plugged in the address, 555 N. Scottsdale Rd. and got this image.

Thanks to Google Earth, I can show you that it is going in the top right of this image(which really in that picture just looks like a dirt lot). With the help of the Paint application on my laptop, I am going to use my artistic skills to show you the reason it is not such a good thing.

(Click image to enlarge if you cannot read captions)

As you can see from the image, Yogurtland is going into the same parking lot as In-N-Out. Normally I would have been ecstatic about this information; but the fact that I make $7.25 an hour at The UPS Store makes it quite the opposite. In-N-Out and Yogurtland are probably two of my biggest weaknesses, and now that they are in the same spot, how can I turn one down while enjoying the other?

Dear UPS Store,

You can now feel free to re-direct my paychecks straight to In-N-Out and Yogurtland. There is just no need for me to even bother with them anymore.

Thanks,
Derek Gardner

Yogurtland: 1/2
In-N-Out: 1/2
Derek: 0

Chap Stick

2009-03-26T00:29:00.000-07:00

Back in high school I went on the drug Acutane for my acne and since then chap stick has been basically my best friend, we have been as inseparable as Timon and Pumba. Name a stick, and I have most likely tried it. I have been through just about every brand and flavor.

If you are an avid chap stick user, you may use one stick and then lose it and then get around to buying on at your earliest convenience. When you find a flavor that sounds good at the moment you may buy it on a whim.

I, on the other hand, am an intense user.

I don't lose chap stick; I run out. My lips get extremely chapped all throughout the day and night. I know the good kinds of chap stick, what works, what tastes good, and what gets the job done. I enjoy a nice Vanilla Mint Chapstic(holla Lisa), but have been unlucky in finding them here in Arizona. At home, I know I can find them at the Walgreen's off Santa Margarita Pkwy(like I said, I'm intense).

Today, I realized I am running low on my newest stick of Burt's Bees. Normally, it wouldn't be a very big deal, I would just go out and buy a new stick and move on. When I thought of getting a new one, something hit me. I bought this stick over spring break, which was barely two weeks ago. That is not good.

Tonight, I have made the decision to try and "detox" off chap stick. Yes, I am well aware of how freaking ridiculous this sounds. I have decided to follow in the footsteps of all those coke whores, alcoholics, and inspiring celebrities; and change my life. So keep me in your thoughts as I try and cut chap stick out of my life.

O-Positive

2009-03-25T02:03:00.000-07:00

I have to say, the human body is an amazing organ. Today, I had the pleasure of donating blood to the Red Cross. After I answered all the fun questions with topics such as paying for sex, paying for sex in Africa, or paying for drugs with sex; they proceeded to take a pint of my blood.

The human body contains on average 5.6 pints of blood at any one point in time. So it blows my mind that they can take out almost one-fifth of my blood supply and I can walk out of there as fine as can be.

Some other facts you may find interesting:
In one day, your blood travels nearly 12,000 miles.
Your heart beats around 35 million times per year.
Your heart pumps a million barrels of blood during the average lifetime.

Donating blood can save potentially up to three lives each time you do it. Along with the fact of knowing that you are one hell of a model American, donating blood comes with free grub. You are required to stay there 15 minutes after finishing and eat snacks and drink juice(if they ever have white grape peach juice, I highly recommend it).

So, go to redcross.org and find a blood drive somewhere in your area.

Orlando, Florida

2009-03-23T02:30:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was cruising the Internet, doing my usual Facebook-Blogs-Weather routine. I have recently started re-reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in honor of the movie coming out this summer and something dawned on me. A few months back I heard of a Harry Potter land coming to Universal Studios, Orlando. So I went and typed into my trusty Google search engine: Harry Potter Orlando.

All of a sudden, magic happened. Check for yourself: http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/

The only bad thing about this website is that it is extremely vague on when the resort is going to open. It says it will open in 2010. It fails to mention early, late, middle, any season, any month, anything!

Charlie and I have decided that we are saving up and going. So come along.

Curse You Arm & Hammer

2009-03-22T03:19:00.001-07:00

So tonight, I was trying to just brush my teeth like my mother taught me so well to do. She taught me to scrub twice a day for two minutes and floss, but she failed to teach me to fend off my toothpaste if it ever got the chance to strike.

I got out my Sonicare and Arm & Hammer Total Care and was prepared to take on some plaque. I put the toothpaste on my brush and all of a sudden, POW!

The bristles of my brush, along with the paste decided to double-team my left retina. It burned for a good thirty seconds. I was blind-sided.

This is an police sketch of the crime scene.

I will continue to plot my revenge.

Toothpaste: 1
Derek: 0

Really, Arizona? Really?!?

2009-03-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

So, for all of you that are not currently residing in Arizona; I have some news for you. I don't really know why I have waited til' now to write about this, but that is beside the point. I was just walking back from my math class and I saw about seven or eight guys in denim shorts. Now you may be thinking, "Well Derek, jean cut-offs are becoming quite stylish." Whoa, whoa, reader I know. Don't worry. These are not your typical jean cutoffs that you see all the indie kids wearing. These are legit I-went-to-a-store-and-bought DENIM SHORTS. I don't really know what the huge infatuation with them is, I am thinking maybe since it gets so hot here they don't get to wear jeans much, so they figured they would make up for it? Regardless of what they think, they look ridiculous.

But, really Arizona? Really?!?

Different States = Different Worlds

2009-02-22T23:21:00.000-08:00

Approximately three hours ago, Austin and I returned from a weekend trip to Utah to visit my love Aubrey, and do some snowboarding. We went snowboarding one day and then did some bowling and IHOP action. The next day, we just relaxed and hung out all day. That night, we went to a house party about half an hour away. At this party I experienced something quite hilarious.

Coming to ASU I was well aware of what I was getting myself into. Here, parties are typical of what you might expect out of college: red cups everywhere, beer pong, some music, people hanging out, dumps of houses, and getting busted by the cops. So going to the party that night I had no expectations of it being much different than that.

(Side note)
Utah needs to re-evaluate how they design their roads. Almost all of them are numbers, not like 1st Ave, 22nd St, 3rd Rd. They go up into the tens of thousands! For example, when you are driving down the freeway you pass streets like 9800 No. and 12500 So. How are you supposed to remember all those different streets? Then when we were driving to this party it was inside a little gated community. This community had normal street names, but one major flaw. They thought it would be easy to navigate by changing the second name in the street. The main road through the community is called Pepperwood Dr, and we were told that the party we were going to was #4 Pepperwood. So we drove up and down that street three times and couldn't find any sight of a party. Finally we got a hold of someone and they said, "Yeah, the party is at #4 Pepperwood Pointe." Sorry, what? We are on Pepperwood Drive. So we just drove around feeling like idiots for fifteen minutes because some incompetent people named the streets.
(End side note)

We got to the party and it was in a huge house. We got inside and it was one of the nicest houses I have ever seen. It was almost 10,000 square feet and was actually for sale for 1.7 million dollars. Inside the party it looked like your typical party. People everywhere, people dancing, drinking, and some food here and there. We went downstairs and there was a sick DJ, with tons more people dancing in the basement. When it started to die down, I realized that people were drinking, but there were drinking soda. People were dancing, but they weren't basically having sex while dancing. It looked like a typical college party at first but when you looked closer people weren't being the typical idiots that you find at parties. We found four beers during the whole time we were there, and the cops never came.

I wish more people could be like the people that were at this party. It was a great time and the people who owned the house were not nervous to open up their house to hundreds of kids. I'm not saying to not drink, I just think it would be rad if people could not be idiots for a change.

Where Did The Time Go?

2008-12-16T01:51:00.000-08:00

In a few short hours I am going to be finishing my last final of my first semester of college. I can't believe how fast it has gone, it seems like just yesterday I was moving in. I am already 1/8 done with my college experience(hopefully). I have made tons of amazing friends and had some great times. I can't wait to see what the rest of college has in store for all of us. Come visit!

However, I am so excited to be going home for a month. It is going to be a nice anticipated break. If you're reading this, we better hang out over Christmas.

Weird

2008-12-15T00:30:00.000-08:00

I am not too sure why I have waited til now to write about this, but it was super crazy. About four months ago I came to ASU and met all kinds of people. In the crazyness of it all I met this guy Charlie Thuente(Tent-ee). Austin, him, and I have become pretty close over the past few months and we have come to the realization that we are such good friends because we have virtually lived the same life over the past 18-19 years.

Our fathers both own their own company.(Victoria Cleaners and Your Neighborhood Plumbing)
Charlie swam and ran cross-country. I swam, and Austin ran freshman year.
We both have younger, red headed sisters who dance.
We both are from families of five.
We both decided to attend ASU, obviously.

Weird, right?

You're Never Too Old

2008-12-13T19:53:00.000-08:00

Don't you love it?

What The Heck?

2008-12-03T22:12:00.000-08:00

I have only been gone for barely three months. The other weekend was the beautiful holiday of Thanksgiving; and Austin, Charlie, and I were hanging around the house all week. When I left home in August I could walk around the house in the dark no problem. Now when I want to walk anywhere at night I have to bust out the cellphone flashlight. This sucks, what am I going to do when I go home for a month?

'Tis The Season

2008-11-16T21:42:00.000-08:00

I am aware I posted about Christmas being awesome and whatever just a few days ago, but hey, its my sexy blog and I do what I want. Today Austin, Sineadh, Mary, and I went to the beautiful thing that is the 99 cent store. We found it last night and decided we must go today. Once there, Austin and I found some glorious dollar decorations: a Christmas tree, lights, questionably good looking ornaments, and other various things, all for under a dollar each.

We splurged.

39 days.

Have Some Courage

2008-11-15T02:31:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER:
You may not find this remotely funny.
If not, I couldn't care less.

Don't you love the nights where you expect to do absolutely nothing, and it turns out to be an awesome time? Well, I do. Tonight at about 6:45 pm, I was not feeling hot and just wanted to take it easy, I was about to put in a movie and just chill the whole night. Then Kathleen and Cherise called, I almost didn't answer. She asked if we wanted to go to the basketball game or the lantern walk, neither of which sounded remotely appealing at the time. Eventually she talked us into going to get food then hitting up the basketball game.

Once at the game we sit with Natalie and some other people and start to watch in the student section. Eventually we are dominating and Austin, Kathleen, and I get kind of bored of standing, so we head up to the top where we can sit without being bothered. While up there we are just talking and watching ASU cream Mississippi St. and notice some kids walking around in the rafters. What the heck? Probably about 4-5 minutes later, we see cops walking around up there. A minute later, the kids are doing a walk of shame in front of us with their hands behind their backs, sucks, but funny.

After that we go up and hang out in the hall until we decide to go to Hollywood Video to rent a movie. We get there and go through all the old movies we watched as kids: Land Before Time, Homeward Bound, Aladdin, The Brave Little Toaster, and Jack Frost, just to name a few. Eventually we don't buy anything so we go over to In-N-Out. We get it to-go and eat it at a park. We only got one cup of Root Beer because we thought we could just go back inside and refill it a bunch of times. We get back to In-N-Out and decide we want to fill up Cherise's water jugs with Root Beer. I walk in and get a cup, then Austin goes and fills it, then Kathleen, then Cherise, and we all pour the Root Beer into the bottles. We are laughing so hard, "We just spent our Friday night stealing Root Beer and Dr. Pepper from In-N-Out!"

We decide to go back to our room and watch "What Happens In Vegas", but first we have to stop by Chevron for snacks obvs. So we go in and start talking to the lady at the register, she is nice, kind of weird, but nice. As we leave we are saying how we like her, and Cherise says, "Yeah, she is so... courageous."

....

What?!?!

Of all the words in the English language, she picks courageous? We laughed so hard, and that became the word for the rest of the night. We go back, watch the movie, and just hang out. We decided we are starting a band called Courageous. Our first single is going to be called Courage off our album, Can I Get A Fuck Yah? It is going to be epic. Our follow up single is going to be "Grow Some Balls."

Like I said, you may not even find this funny, but I laughed so many times tonight that I lost count, so I thought I'd share.

Who doesn't love good, clean, sober fun?
I know I do.

Watch for us when we hit it big:

Single: Courage
Album: Can I Get A Fuck Yah?
By: Courageous

41 Days

2008-11-14T01:17:00.000-08:00

It is roughly 41 short days until the best day of the year, Christmas. You may find yourself wondering, "Derek, how so?" Well, curious reader, let me tell you. The Christmas/giving/loving spirit is just so awesome and contagious in the preceding month that all you can feel is warm. If you believe otherwise, you are dumb. There is no other way around it. I cannot wait to go home over Thanksgiving and bust out the fake tree(embarrassing, right?). Last year Austin and I went out and bought a real one because we couldn't stand the utter sin that is a fake tree, and we will probably do the same this year. But, all in all, its going to be awesome.

'tis the season

Oh How I Miss It

2008-11-12T01:25:00.000-08:00

This weekend Austin and I went home to surprise and visit everyone. No one except Stephen knew, not even our family. It was such a blast to see the look on every one's faces. The one thing it made me realize is, I miss it so much. Just being able to walk into my pantry, crash on my couch, and just chill with everyone. I am sitting here wishing time would go faster until Thanksgiving. I cannot wait to see everyone then, gonna be a blast.

Also, how are some people so retarded when it comes to being a halfway decent person? I didn't think being a friend was that hard, but apparently it is for some stupid people.

22 Days

2008-11-04T00:18:00.000-08:00

3 weeks from tomorrow I am flying home for one of the nation's greatest holidays, Thanksgiving!!! I am so excited, I cannot even express it in words. I am going to spend time with my friends for the first time in three months and it is going to be epic. Hopefully a new friend may join us for his inaugural voyage to California, but we will see. I seriously can't wait anymore. These are going to be the longest three weeks of my life.

Get out and vote today!

Reliving The Glory Days

2008-11-03T00:35:00.000-08:00

As some of you may have heard, last weekend was parents weekend here at ASU. With going two months without seeing my family, they are feeling very giving. We told them how hard it was to remain informed without having a tv. They took us to Costco and bought us a tv that is ridiculously large. It is so unnecessary. To make this new addition to the Gardner room, we decided to buy a little gem. I went on eBay tonight and purchase a Nintendo 64!!!! It was $35 and will be shipped in the next 48 hours. We decided that we are going to buy two extra controllers, Mario Kart, Diddy Kong Racing, Golden Eye, Mario Party, and Super Smash Brothers.

It is going to be epic.

A Little Favor

2008-10-29T00:48:00.000-07:00

If you are not too busy, I was wondering if you could say a little prayer. I have just had about the worst week I have could have possibly ever imagined in my short nineteen years of existence. Tuesday, my best friend Shasta had to be put to sleep. That was one of the most aweful things that I could have imagined. The rest of the week I just looked forward to seeing my family. Then the weekend came, and it plummeted downhill. I do not want to go into what happened but my friend is going through a really rough time and it is affecting me, Austin, Mary, and my friend Sineadh extremely. Everything looks like it is going to be ok, but if you could just send a little prayer to help us out, that would be awesome.

If I haven't told you lately, just wanted to make sure you know I love you.

The Wonder Dog

2008-10-23T03:59:00.001-07:00

Tuesday afternoon, I am walking to class and all of a sudden I get a phone call from my sister. She is coming today to visit, so I figure that she has questions on what to bring or what not. I answer and she is hysterically crying. All of a sudden I hear her mumble, "Derek! Mom... and Dad... had to.. put down Shasta!!!". My heart stopped. "I will call you back in five minutes." I turned right around and walked back to my dorm. It took every ounce of my being to not lose it. Once I got back to my room I lost it, I am tearing up right now just writing this.

We got Shasta when I was barely three years old, I do not know life without her. She was the most amazing best friend a guy could ask for. Last night I just laid in bed thinking of all the times she has been there for me. She would rush to the door when someone knocked and would smile as she greeted them. Many people thought it was a snarl but it was a loving smile. She would walk outside and cruise the neighborhood while we were not home. Everybody loved her.

I got an e-mail from my mom. She said that she had been really struggling the past few months. Her legs would give out, she was getting sores all over, and her eyes started twitching. They brought her to a vet and the vet proposed a brain tumor. At Shasta's age of 16, what on Earth could they possibly do? My Mom said it well, "She was too good of a dog to suffer like that." She was so right, but I wish I could have just said good-bye. I miss her so much. That night everyone in my family called, and my Dad called last. He broke down while on the phone with me. One of few times I have heard this. He spent her last weekend with her at her favorite place in the world, the cabin.

I know it was her time to go, I am just so upset I couldn't say good-bye.

Shasta, may you rest in peace, and please know that I will always love you.

RIP
Shasta "The Wonder Dog" Gardner
1/9/93 - 10/21/08
What is a man to do without his best friend?
A house without a dog is not a home.

The Gardners lost a family member Tuesday, not a pet.

Everytime Without Fail

2008-10-21T02:30:00.000-07:00

So tonight, Charlie and Mary came in to mine and Austin's room to "do homework". I currently, was on a roll preparing to write my essay but was still happy to see them. We were talking having a grand old time when I decided it was time to get down to business. I can't concentrate when I can hear people talking so I put my headphones in and went to work.

I was writing an essay on how Facebook makes our relationships more superficial and deep, meaningful relationships basically are starting to disappear. I was killin' the essay for a good half and hour and almost done. I was making my last point, and wrapped it up with a nice quote. Now the conclusion.

Cricket.... Cricket....

I had nothing. Why is it every time, no matter how well you are doing, when you are basically done with your essay that you can't think of anything to say. I basically sat in front of my laptop and stared for a good ten minutes. Then Cherise and Jordan walked in.All hope is lost. I give up. I just started talking to Stephen and Amanda on AIM, and Kelsey on Facebook(ironically).

Finally, screw it. I completely BS'd it. My conclusion probably makes absolutely no sense. Now that I think about it, I should probably go back and go over. But I really know that I am not going to.

At least its just a rough draft. But lets get serious, I am not really going to change it for the final draft either.

Burn After Reading

2008-10-11T00:25:00.000-07:00

Tonight Austin and I ventured over to Tempe Market Place for dinner and a movie. I know, cute, right? We went to CPK and then saw the 9:40 showing of Burn After Reading. I went in, hoping it would be funny but not really expecting a whole lot. It was hilarious. I would highly recommend it. Brad Pitt is a freaking riot. It was so crazy and random, I think you all would highly enjoy it. Quite harsh language, but hey, what do you expect?

Burn After Reading
Rated: R
Now Playing

Go see it!

Happy Yom Kippur Everyone

2008-10-09T22:05:00.000-07:00

Today is the wonderful holiday of Yom Kippur, so Austin and I decided to celebrate. You might be thinking to yourself, "Derek, you aren't Jewish?!?!". I know, I know. As a college student, I want to try new things, experience different cultures, things like that, you know? So now you are probably trying to think of how we might have celebrated today. Fasting? Ceremonies? Temple? Psh! As if. Austin and I didn't go to class today in honor of Yom Kippur, then we went over to Manzy to dine in style.

Go us.

One Of My Only Regrets

2008-10-06T01:50:00.000-07:00

So this weekend Austin and I went up to San Francisco to visit some friends and go to the Cal/ASU game. Walking around San Fran the first day brings up one huge regret, why did I not apply to school up there? I love that city so much. I really like ASU but I think I would have absolutely loved going to school up there. One of my only true regrets in my life.

Do We Really Have That Bad Of Karma?

2008-10-05T04:57:00.000-07:00

So I am sitting in a lounge in UC Berkeley right now at 4:57 am, and waiting for the sun to rise. You might find yourself asking, "Derek, why are you doing that?", and I will tell you, oh boy, do I have a story for you! Austin and I flew up to San Francisco for the weekend to visit Katherine, Lisa, and Lindsey. It has been a ton of fun and have loved every second of it. We started packing tonight at about 3:00 am so we could just wake up and leave.

Austin and I are flying out of San Francisco airport, which is about a 45 minute train ride from Berkeley. So someone has the good idea of checking to see what time we have to leave to make our 8:30 am flight(why the hell did I book it that early?). So we go on and it tells us that the first train arriving at SFO will arrive at 9:17am.

Oh great, just enough time to be 45 minutes late! Uh-oh. So we go talk to Katherine's roommate Simone(from Oakland), to see what our best bet is on getting to the airport. She says we can either try and take a bus or a taxi. We call the taxi.

"How much is it to go from UC Berkeley to SFO?"
"About $50."
"Bye."

Lets try the bus. She looks it up for us and says, well, you are going to have to walk, bus, bus, walk, and then bus again. Oh great, two kids who have never been on a public bus in their life have to manage that at about 5:00 in the morning. I don't think so. Great, here goes another $50.

So we have to get in a cab at about 6:00 am to make sure we get to the airport on time. Austin and I decide that if we went to bed for an hour and fifteen minutes, we would be more tired than if we just waited up. So we are currently just sitting on our laptops killing time. Hopefully we make it home.

The world officially hates us.

Isn't It Just The Pits?

2008-10-01T02:15:00.000-07:00

Close your eyes and picture this; well I guess you need your eyes to read, so don't close them, but still picture this. You are taking a test, and you come to a question. For the sake of the argument, we will say it is #23.

#23. Number twenty-three isn't that hard of a question, and you are pretty sure once you look at the choices of answers you will know it for sure.
A. Not sure what this means.
B. Yes! I am pretty sure its this.
C. Never heard of it.
D. Is this even English?
E. All of the above.

Why do they have to do that? Once you get to "B", you are so certain that its that. But that God-forsaken "All of the above" just puts those little demons on your shoulders.

"It is totally 'B'"
"Well, it could also be the other ones"
"But I have never even heard of those"
"Maybe I just wasn't paying attention"
"Crap!"
"DGAF, its B"
"I hope"
"Dang"

Curse you Professor McCarthy and giving me a substantial amount of those situations tonight.

Please

2008-09-26T23:25:00.000-07:00

So as annoying as my little sister is, she is going through a rough time right now. She went to the doctor a few days ago because she has been having serious back pains. They x-rayed her and found out she has scoliosis. Degrees of scoliosis vary and my sister has it pretty bad.

Under 20 degrees, they don't worry too much and just kind of keep an eye on it.

Between 20 and 40 degrees, they keep an eye on it, but you are required to wear a certain type of brace.

And anything over 40 degrees, they take very seriously, and highly recommend surgery.

My sister, her first diagnosis, was told that she is already at 38 degrees. They never picked up on it because she is very strong and her body naturally corrects it when she is standing. She is going to have to wear a brace while sleeping for the next 2 1/2 to 3 years. Please just keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Concerned,
Derek.

Good Way To Start A Day

2008-09-25T01:21:00.000-07:00

So Tuesday morning I arose at approximately 10:00 to head off to English. I opened the laptop to do the morning e-mail/facebook routine. Yahoo is my homepage and it opened and I had 1 new e-mail. It was from Clinton Monson, took me a second to recognize the name. I opened it,

"Sorry for the last minute, but I am going to have to cancel our class today. Sorry if any of you don't get this in time."

Oh Clint, you don't have to apologize for anything! I think headed over to Manzy to have a substantial breakfast, which I don't do nearly enough these days.

Isn't college life grand? I am sitting, waiting, hoping he will cancel it again tomorrow.

Hopeful,
Derek.

I Love Multi-Tasking

2008-09-24T01:53:00.000-07:00

Arizona State University has an amazing gym, more commonly known as the Student Recreation Complex. Tonight at approximately 8:30pm Mountain Standard Time, Austin, Charlie, Mary, and I made our way across campus to it. There, Mary did some intense elliptical work while Austin, Charlie, and I headed to pump some iron. We did mainly chest and back, then I did a heap of abs. Then we parted ways so Austin and Charlie headed to the treadmill and I did the bike.

On the bike, as well as almost all the cardio equipment there are personal tv's. I enjoyed fifteen minutes of "Family Guy" and the first five minutes of "The Office", it is extremely motivating. After 5 painful and extremely sweaty miles, Mary and I finished randomly at the same time. We made our way downstairs to meet Austin and Charlie. We made our way over to them, where they were just walking, maybe a cool down?

No.

Not when "The Office" is on, anyways.
Mary and I: "Are you guys ready to go?"
Charlie and Austin: "Well we were."
MI: "What?"
CA: "Well, we finished running, then started to leave, and realized 'The Office' was on, so we came back to the treadmill and just started walking and watching."
MI: "Hahahahahaha"

We then proceeded to walk on the treadmill and watch the remaining twenty or so minutes of "The Office". I walked a mile while watching one of the funniest shows on tv. It was a good night.

Accomplished,
Derek

Sicky Gnar Gnar

2008-09-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

So I am sitting in my dorm room with a cold.
My mommy is not here to make me better.
This is officially not cool.

Sickly,
Derek.

Green Street Hooligans

2008-09-13T01:41:00.001-07:00

I just finished watching Green Street Hooligans, and I think it may have just settled in the spot as my favorite movie ever. It is so good and has a good mix of things going on in it. It reminds me that no matter where I am in the world, I always have my guys back home that will always be there for me, no matter what. It is quite violent but I still think everyone can enjoy it.

Check it out.

Postal Service

2008-09-08T23:43:00.000-07:00

The Postal Service is one of my favorite bands, but I also love the US Postal Service. You should take advantage of it; draw a picture, write a letter, take a picture, and send it to me! I don't care what it is, I love mail.

Derek Gardner
711 E. Lemon St.
# 1227 HAV
Tempe, Arizona
85281

Why ASU is better than your school

2008-09-07T15:49:00.001-07:00

I hope I don't make you feel to inadequate...

1. We kill people in football

2. We have Sparky

3. We are 1000000 times more spirited than you

You could probably transfer.

100th Post

2008-09-05T02:08:00.001-07:00

So in honor of my 100th post, I am going to do 100 random facts about me, not too sure how this will go. But I am going to try my best not to repeat or anything, so here we go:

1. I like Arizona
2. I love California
3. I like when I understand math
4. I love driving down PCH with the windows down
5. I love going to In-N-Out and getting a #1, spread only
6. I love back massages
7. I like buying new things from Urban Outfitters
8. I love taking/looking at pictures
9. I hate starting a new pencil
10. I like pens more than pencils
11. I love Disney Land
12. I miss my Disney Land pass
13. It's all about Old Spice - After Hours
14. I have come to the conclusion that I love swimming
15. I enjoy blogging
16. I think The Office might be the best show ever, correction, it is
17. I hate Sociology 101
18. I like my new friends
19. I miss my old friends
20. a lot
21. I can't wait to go to San Francisco in October
22. I love college
23. Ensenada was the best time of my life
24. ASU is the best college in the world
25. I love my dog Shasta, and hope I will see her again at Christmas
26. My favorite food is PB&J
27. The best place in the world is Whistler in Vacouver, Canada
28. The best CD ever is In Between Dreams by Jack Johnson
29. The Postal Service comes in a close second
30. I loved High School and kind of miss it
31. Everyone should do ASB
32. I don't get cigarettes, and never will
33. I wish I lived in Palo Verde East
34. I hate when pedals fall off your bicycle
35. I love going to dances
36. Football games are the greatest
37. Watching ASU kick butt is even greater
38. Drunk people are my favorites
39. I wish I had my car in Arizona
40. 1000 Steps is the best beach in the world
41. Swimming is the best workout ever
42. I wear Acqua Di Gio by Armani, smells pretty good
43. I am a fan of a nice V-neck
44. Easy-mac is my friend
45. Microwaves are even better friends
46. Planet Earth is the one of the best series ever recorded
47. Best movies ever are as follows: Green Street Hooligans, Fight Club, and Dumb and Dumber
48. I plan to go to South Africa with Austin and Stephen in June, 2010 for the World Cup
49. You should come
50. I just bought my first plane ticket on my own
51. I am excited, yet sad to grow up
52. UPS might be one of the most boring jobs in the world
53. PhotoBooth is one of my favorites
54. I think I might minor in Religious Studies
55. PF Changs is pretty delish
56. The best holiday by far is Christmas
57. I miss my iPod thoroughly
58. I can't wait to go to San Francisco
59. My sociology teacher showed us a video where a guy said, "Teachers can't talk in a monotone voice for an hour, in front of a chalkboard."
60. See #59 for story of my Sociology teacher's life
61. I want to go snow boarding
62. I miss the weekend cabin trips
63. I plan to attend a Buddhism ceremony of a project, which I am stoked for
64. Disneyland is the Happiest Place on Earth
65. I should be in bed
66. I am glad I have friends who like me for who I am
67. I am glad I am happy with who I am
68. I love to text ChaCha
69. Arizona could cool down a bit if it wants to, that's okay with me
70. I live for mellow nights
71. I wish I could attend Hogwars
72. I don't care if you think that's weird
73. I am extremely upset with Warner Bros. right now
74. Secondhand Serenade just came on the radio and really makes me miss everyone
75. My last travel trip was my favorite, and I am so grateful
76. I miss my El Pollo Ranchero, no tomato
77. Now Chris Brown came on and made me miss the cabin
78. I miss my swim team
79. I wish I could go to open gym again
80. I want to go skydiving more than life itself
81. I love how Arizona doesn't have Daylight Savings Time
82. I have to be at work in 7 hours and I haven't gone to bed
83. I Kissed a Girl is the dumbest song ever
84. I bet you guessed that song came on the radio, if you are even reading these still
85. If you are, you deserve a pat on the back
86. I am excited to be 19, it seems so old
87. I love finding money in my pocket
88. Vanilla Mint is the best Chap Stick
89. I love my "Religions of the World" class
90. I just bough some clothes from U.O. which I am excited about
91. I am excited to see my parents over Parents' Weekend
92. Rainbow Sandals are second to none
93. I am extremely bummed YogurtLand is not a nation-wide thing
94. If you ever come to Tempe, AZ, be sure to check out Hippie Gypsy
95. Be sure to come to Tempe, AZ
96. I love being immature
97. I like inspirational sports posters
98. Road trips are grand
99. I need some sleep
100. A song just came on and I teared up a little for the first time since getting here, I miss you all so much.

Love all of you guys.

I Didn't Even Know It Was Possible

2008-08-29T19:04:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, Austin and I were on our way to meet Charlie and Lauren for Sociology, the most boring class of my life, on our bikes. My bike is already a piece of crap, it is brand new but the seat won't tighten, makes a ton of noise, just a hunk of junk. So I am on the sidewalk and I went to go off the curb to get in the street to try and avoid all the foot traffic. I was luckily sitting on the seat, had my feet just kind of resting on the pedals and went off the curb and, "POW!".

My pedal fell off.

Yeah, seriously. I didn't even know that was freaking possible. So I ask Austin to hold my bike while I walk back for the piece of crap pedal. Then I get a text from Lauren, "Hey I didn't see you, so I just went inside." I have only met this girl once, so after telling her, "Sorry, my pedal fell off my bike", she probably thought I was the biggest retard ever. So now I am in the 100 constantly degree weather, bikeless, and frustrated.

As much as I am pissed off about it, I still recognize how effing hilarious this is, so feel free to laugh as hard as you want, because it is quite funny.

October 2-5

2008-08-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

Tonight I just felt much older than I have ever felt in my life. October 4th, 2008, the mighty Sun Devils are taking on the pitiful Cal Berkeley Golden Bears. At 9:30 I booked myself a round-trip flight to San Francisco! I feel so old, it says nothing about Renee and/or Randy Gardner. I did it all on my own. Woot Woot! And by the way, my 19th birthday is 3 weeks from today(that feels old too), so mail me something at my new address!

Derek Gardner
711 E. Lemon St.
#1227 HAV
Tempe, AZ 85281

Hello Tempe

2008-08-20T08:54:00.000-07:00

So it is 8:54am and I am sitting in a hotel in Tempe, Arizona. Yesterday we had the unpleasent job of saying good-bye to all our friends and packing our life up and coming here. I am very excited but miss all of you guys. I am extremely bored so I am kind of just typing away right now, without anything really in mind of what to say. See, I don't even really know if what I am typing is making any sense what so ever. I just want to make sure you all come out and visit us when you get a chance. Hopefully moving into the dorm today so I will keep you posted.

Peace.

You Should Come!

2008-08-19T02:10:00.000-07:00

Austin, Stephen, and I decided today that we are 100%, for sure in June 2010, we are going to go to the Soccer World Cup. It is amazing, and being held in South Africa. I have never been to another continent, and I am so excited. You should come along!

Another REALLY Cool Thing

2008-08-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I said there was 205 countries in the 2008 Olympics. Where I found that, WikiAnswers. It is so sick.

http://wiki.answers.com/

Type in a question and it will try its best to answer it. Or, if you are feeling saucy, you can browse other peoples' questions, and answer those.

I love it.

USA! USA! USA!

2008-08-09T15:24:00.000-07:00

I seriously think the Olympic Games are one of the coolest things ever. Just to see 205 countries from around the world come together for one common event, blows my mind. Knowing that so many countries have issues with others and the fact that they put those aside for 17 days to try to beat each other in various sports amazes me. Going to the Olympics, to me, is one of the highest honors you could ever reach. You just know that you are one of the top competitors in whatever you do, and if you win a gold, you know that you are the best.

Go USA!

p.s. My tv isn't working, so if any of you want company to watch some of the games, I am positive Austin and I would be more than happy to oblige.

Hiatus

2008-08-08T11:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the hiatus. My laptop got a virus so it was taken away from me for about a month to get "fixed". Apparently when laptops get "fixed", that means all the music on them has to get deleted. Fun, right?

So if anyone has any cd's that they want to pass onto me that would freaking rock.

Thanks.

Last One

2008-07-09T21:42:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow morning I leave for my last travel trip with the Gators. We are going to go up to Clovis, Cen-Cal(not 100% sure if anyone says that[but hey, this is my blog, I will say it if I want]). Hope its going to be fun, and probably the most fun part:

Thursday: 113 degrees
Friday: 109 degrees
Saturday: 103 degrees
Sunday: 99 degrees

So it is obviously getting cooler, but still.
Oh well, see ya Monday.

Summer Adventures Part 1

2008-07-04T01:29:00.000-07:00

Every night this week, Austin, Tyler, Eric, Me and co. have gone on a midnight fast food run. It has been so unhealthy but amazing. Monday, we went to Oso Jack, then every other night this week we have graced Foothill's In-n-Out with our presence. I would suggest midnight In-n-Out runs, they totally hit the spot.

08. 08. 08.

2008-07-03T01:01:00.000-07:00

Seriously gives me chills.
Every time.

I freaking love the Olympics.

I Have Had The Time Of My Life

2008-06-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

So Wednesday afternoon, at approximately 5:45 pm, I became a high school graduate. I never in a million years thought that it would come. It feels like just yesterday I was at freshman orientation meeting my mentor and finding that Shea and Kelsey were in my advisement class. Then in a blink of an eye I was spending the last minutes of freshman year in the pool with Babcock. Next thing I know, I am at Winter Formal with Butcher, and the most random group of people I have ever known. After a few minutes passed we were dancing on the Homecoming Float as people from Candy Land then I was at my Junior Prom. One more breath and its my 18th birthday. Then, what do you know, its Senior Prom and Graduation! Seriously, time has just flown by and if I had to do it all over again I would, in a second. I wouldn't change any of the experiences or any of the people. To any underclassmen: Enjoy it while it lasts, because you don't realize how much fun it is until it is all over.

New Experience

2008-06-14T01:44:00.000-07:00

So the other day, I got a text from the lovely K.B., "Wanna go to sushi?". For many of you that know, sushi and I have never had the pleasure of being introduced. I was always for it but whenever it came up, I was starving and didn't want to need to eat it if I was hungry and didn't like it. So I was moderately hungry and went. We went to You & I and had some all you can eat. It was quite delicious. Crunch Rolls: Oh my gosh!

So if you are ever planning on going to sushi, I am down.

And today was my last day of high school, unless for some reason I decide to go on Monday, but that will be a blog in itself. It is such a weird feeling, it hasn't hit me yet.

One Last Dance

2008-06-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

I can't believe last weekend was our last dance. It was the best dance I have ever been to. At the time, I didn't think it was that special, but now looking back on it, Prom 2008 was epic. There was no drama, that I heard/cared about. It was just an awesome night and I loved every second of it. Great date, great group, fun limo, and a great after party. Lisa: Thanks for being one of my best friends, and an awesome person to go with. Kellie: Thanks for opening your house to us, it was a great end to the night. Piranhas: Thanks for being there and making it such a fun group. Everyone else: I <3 You.

I Have Decided

2008-06-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

My favorite ride at Disneyland is Thunder Mountain Railroad. It is so fun. Aubrey and I both blew off 6th period today(nothing new) and went down to D-land(something new). We got there at about 2:00 just for the afternoon. We went to California Adventure and hit the must see's: Tower of Terror, California Screamin, and Soaring Over California. Not only those but since we are Annual Passholders we were privleged enough to try the new Toy Story ride(similar to Astro Blasters). It was awesome. And then, we headed over to Disneyland. We hit up the likes of Astro Blasters(I pummled her in both interactive rides, by the way), Roger Rabbit, Pirates of the Carribean, and of course Thunder Mountain. To start off, we were lucky enough to get put in the front of the ride(as well as on Pirates[where some silly girl thought that we would be dumb enough to switch rows with her, idiot]). It was sweet, then we took off. We were trying to take pictures the whole time, and then as soon as we came out of a cave ready for a photo op, my camera died. So we used Aubrey's iPhone, and that camera needs to be extremely still, so all the pictures look like we recently saw The Ring. We laughed hysterically the whole time.

I love Disneyland, and Thunder Mountain Railroad.

So Weird

2008-06-05T22:09:00.000-07:00

I just got back from my senior year swim banquet. It is such a strange feeling. The thing that made this whole graduation phase seem real, was the senior slide show. It is creepy how I remember last years banquet like it was yesterday, I am truly going to miss swim so bad. It was a blast and our senior class was so freaking awesome you have no idea. I never actually thought this would come and now that it has, I am not sure how I feel about it. One thing I know is that the ride has FAR exceeded my expectations or dreams.

2 Months, 17 Days

2008-06-03T23:52:00.001-07:00

August 21st, is the day I move into ASU. Austin, my mom, and dad went out to Tempe, Az this weekend for orientation. It was quite a jam packed weekend. We cruised the town Saturday night and Sunday. Then Monday we were at the campus bright and early at 8 am. There, we got our ID cards, picked all our classes, then me and Austin changed into the business school, and changed our classes again.

As it stands right now, I am majoring in Business Managment at the W.P. Carey School of Business. My schedule I have to admit is quite amazing, and that is a reason I am counting down and extremely excited to get started:

Calc- MWF 10:45-11:35
Religions of the World- MW 2:00-3:15
Computer- MW 3:30-4:45
English 101- TTh 10:30-11:45
Sociology- TTh 1:30-2:55
ASU 101: Wed 9:40-10:30

This is going to be glorious, I don't have class until 10:30 everyday, except for Wednesday and ASU 101 is just a group of 19 freshmen that meet for the first 5 weeks of school and we learn things to do, everything ASU offers, and basically getting a good connection with 18 other people. Then the computer class is basically CECA all over again, learning how to use Microsoft Office and stuff like that. The other classes might be somewhat difficult but I think I will manage. Not only do I have late mornings, but I have a time each day for lunch/sleep/whatever.

Its going to be glorious.

Top 08 Memories

2008-05-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

In honor of graduation of the class of '08 being exactly 3 weeks from today, I have decided to brainstorm my top 8 favorite memories from high school. These have been an extremely amazing 4 years and I am so sad to see them end, but I also can not wait to head off to Arizona. Woot woot, here we go:

#8: Disneyland '04- Back in freshman year, a group of us went to Disneyland for the day. Looking back now it was the strangest group of people that I have ever hung out with. We were just being dumb freshman the whole day but it was such a blast. The main people I remember were Austin, Lisa, Mel, and Katie. We ran around all day having a ton of inside jokes that no one else will never understand, and some of them are: "We're not worthy!" "Doosh It!" "Oh, followers!" "Go home!" "Good thing I brought this ladder."

#7 Tennessee '04- This was, by far, my favorite travel trip I have ever been on. I could seriously write forever what went on those couple of days. The people who went were me, Megan Mc, Robbie, Megan Arnold, Becca, Chelsey, Andrea, and Rod. It was fun, mainly because there was so few of us and we were still just getting to know each other. We broke so many of the rules laid out for us and I don't think we went to bed before 2 am each day. Some of the best parts were the fire alarm at 4 am, Parthenon, The 5th Element, Resident Evil, Gaylord Operyland, Mall

#6 Senior Scooter Day '08- I will not make this long, since there is a previous post. But it was so fun riding around all day, even though I got caught before my first class. One of the best parts was Janelle(the proctor) came up to me a couple days later and said, "Hey, I thought you guys were so awesome doing that. In fact I went home and told my daughter to have Seventh Grade Scooter Day." How cool is Janelle?

#5 Whistler '06- This was the week where I decided that Vancouver, British Columbia was my favorite place in the entire world. Whistler is probably the best ski/snowboard resort in the world(my blog, your opinion doesn't mean crap). It is miles and miles and miles of just amazing terrain. If you want snow, obviously you can do that. If you want shopping, there is the city of Vancouver which is so fun to cruise around. And in the summer, there is just as much activity to do, not to mention Whistler is on a glacier so you can ski year round! We have bought a quarter ownership apartment sort of thing, and I can not wait to put it to use.

#4 Winter Formal '07- This was by far the strangest dance group I ever went with, but I think it was the most fun I have ever had at a dance. It was basically me, Austin, and Lisa that were having a good time. To show you the excitement of the rest of our group: Baby Got Back came on and obviously Austin, Lisa, and I are singing every word, and the rest of them didn't know a single word. Wow. But at the dance, I didn't have a date, which means no commitment. It was so fun not worrying about anyone and being able to dance with whoever and going wherever I wanted to. To this day, it was still my favorite dance.

#3 Senior Knott's Day '08- Going to Knott's Berry Farm with the senior class was a serious blast. Running around and basically always seeing someone you know was the best. The first ride we go on, Silver Bullet, we maybe waited 20 minutes. Can you ask for a better day? Going on a bunch of great rides with all of your best friends, I think not. Not only did we go to Knott's, but that night about 15 of us went to the Angel Game. We went without tickets and ended up scalping all of them and barely getting in. We just sat up in the nosebleeds and cheered, we even got the wings from Angels In The Outfield going. Then we met a drunk guy that said he would hook us up with front of the line passes at Six Flags. Great Day.

#2 ASB Camp '07- Nearly the funniest 5 days of my existence on this planet. I know you have all heard the stories, and many of you have even claimed to have been there, but you seriously don't even understand. I have never laughed so hard in my entire life. Get 6,000 ASB kids together and throw in spirit awards and such, and get the craziest, most riled up bunch of people you have ever seen. Dances, spirit tunnels, volleyball competitions, it was a blast. Best moments: Quarter, dances, Titan TeePee, Aubrey "farting", and the list goes on and on.

#1 Ensenada '05, '06, '07- For those of you who have been living under a rock or just unaware, every spring break I would go down, with about 400 other high school students, to Ensenada with Saddleback Church. Each year it was by far the best week out of the entire year. We would go down and there are no showers, so no one is worried about how they look or what other people think about them, or if they did think that they had to get their priorities checked. But it was so awesome to get down there and see all these students teaching kids bible stories, about Jesus, songs, and awesome other things. There is just so much chaos, but amidst all of it, I feel more connected to God than any other time in my life. Even if you are not a spiritual person, it would probably be some of the best memories you will ever walk away with. We would all just get so connected and become each others best friends for a week. The countless van rides, bargaining for random objects, gauntlets, gallon challenges(started by Austin and Christine), trashcan jumping, mix cd's, Bufadora, and the amazing taco stands. This year, since the Mexican government is basically falling in under drug dealers, we were unable to go. It seriously bums me out that it is not happening, and I would give almost anything to be able to sing "Anque No Marche" or "Yo Tengo Gozo" one more time.

Better and Better

2008-05-26T22:21:00.000-07:00

As the year is beginning to wind down, these weekends just seem to get better and better. I am sure that the fact they are more than two days has something to do with it, but who really cares. Not me, that's who.

Friday:

Went to school until 9:30
Capo's Mock Crash
Afternoon with some awesome people
Crazy leg sesh at the gym
Andie's Birthday
Hung out with the boys
Helped Austin and Casey ask Christine and Mary to prom

Saturday:

Batesole's Birthday
BBQ at Lano's
Jacuzzi sesh til 4 am

Sunday:

Some good movies
Made Mac & Cheese with Gahooshafawlson
Dress up Tennis/ButtsUp/Silent Football
Wendys
Brownie making/Celebrity at my house

Monday:

Some more movies
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Helped finish announcements

This weekend has been so grand. Not only was it great, but it was our last 3-day weekend, weird. There is only 3 weeks left of high school and I am in shock. I can't wait, and also am sad its over.

Sincerely,

Derek.

I Can't Wait

2008-05-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

I can't wait to go to Arizona, and not compromise all my morals.
Some people here are so dumb and immature.
Most of you, I will sincerely miss.

Just chillin,
Derek.

Stupid Weather

2008-05-24T01:11:00.000-07:00

I am well aware that I just recently blogged about how much I was loving the weather, but my opinion has changed. Sue me. Not only has my opinion changed, but the weather has done a complete 180 degree turn. Last weekend, Kevin asked if Austin and I wanted to go skydiving for his birthday. Well, duh! I was all stoked to go, and today I get a text, "Skydiving has been cancelled because of the rain. We're rescheduling."

Ugh!

This weather is so schizophrenic, and I wish it could be just a tad-bit consistent. What happened to April Showers Bring May Flowers, in case the weather forgot, it is now May. You had your chance to rain, and you straight up blew it! We were also supposed to have an awesome BBQ/Pool party tomorrow, but now it will probably be changed to a Lets Cook In The Kitchen Party.

A little bummed,
Derek.

Dear Letter "J",

2008-05-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

I think you are by far, the most awkward letter in the alphabet.
I have to write from right to left every time I have to write you.
You are unique, keep it up.

Sincerely,
Derek.

Visitors

2008-05-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

We all know how frustrating it is to have guests in our house. My, I guess he would be my second cousin, but more like an uncle, and grandpa are in town from Canada. They are here to visit for a week and a half. They got in last night and are staying 'til about next Wednesday or so. Now the fun part!

Since they are here for so long, they are obviously going to need somewhere to sleep. Where, you might ask. No, not in our younger sister's room, they each took one room. One in mine, the other in my brothers! Its not like President Bush came to visit, c'mon. So my sister is slumbering away in her own bed, while I am cooped up in a sleeping bag on the floor in the bonus room. Outrageous!

From the floor,
Derek.

I Love This Weather

2008-05-16T18:11:00.000-07:00

Since we have basically a five day weekend, and the best weather we have had in a long time, I have been taking full advantage of it. I have been to the beach twice in the past 3 days and I am going again in the morning. The only reason I didn't go yesterday was because I was way to busy:

8:00 am- Bruegger's

9:30 am- Knotts

7:00 pm- Angel Game

11:00 pm- Ice cream

Some lovely pictures:

Thanks for caring.

Oh, How I Love...

2008-05-13T15:54:00.000-07:00

Being a senior is one of the best things ever. For whatever reason, seniors do not take the STAR tests, so all you juniors may rejoice once they are over. This week my school is taking the tests so we have a pretty weird schedule. Monday and Tuesday were pretty normal, run of the mill block days. Wednesday through Friday is where we get crazy. The underclassmen are taking the STAR test in the morning, so seniors are not required to come to school until 12:30. Because of this, each day we only have two classes, W: Per. 4/1 Th: 2/6 F: 3/5. So our stupid administration was smart enough to make the classes after lunch even though most of us leave at 12:17 since most of us have no 5th or 6th. Why would we want to come to school for an hour of school you ask? I have been asking that myself, I guess administration thinks that we will "Do the right thing", as Dr. Burch always says.

As if.

On top of all this madness, Thursday is our senior picnic to Knotts Berry Farm! Because of this joyous day, we are not required to go to 2nd and 6th. So if those classes are that optional, why not make the rest of them optional? So here is my revised STAR test schedule:

Monday: Math/ASB
Tuesday: English/Economics
Wednesday: Beach
Thursday: Knotts/Angel Game
Friday: Senior Pictures/Beach/Disneyland?

Oh, how I love being a Senior!
Thanks for caring.

What A Grand Weekend This Was

2008-05-12T19:50:00.001-07:00

This weekend I had one of the best weekends I have had in a long time. From Friday to Sunday, it was just go-go-go and fun-fun-fun. Brace yourself, its long, and here it goes:

FRIDAY:

CIF in Long Beach with Nano
Watching Robbie, Erica, and the gang swim like crazy
See two guys go under 20 seconds for a 50 freestyle, for those of you that are swim-illiterate that means swimming down and back the length of a pool under 20 seconds
L' Opera for dinner, I would extremely recommend and thanks to Nano's Dad again
Toilet Papering Mel
Watching her come out to her "gift"

SATURDAY

Swim Meet at SM with only 6 of us
Watching yet another slide show on the kitchen computer
Trying to convince someone to go to my prom, which he better change his mind
Lisa's Senior Presents

SUNDAY

Swim Meet again
Telling someone to go to my prom, TELL HER NO!
Yet another grand Gardner-Mielke-Sandison Family get-together

All in all it was a fabulous weekend and it will be a tough one to beat. On a happy note, I decided to stick with swimming over the summer. I will probably only be going 3-4 times a week though, so I will still have tons of time to do absolutely whatever!

Thanks for caring.

We All Can Relate...

2008-05-08T22:56:00.000-07:00

You all know that it has happened to you although, most of us have long forgotten it. Remember back to your elementary school days... When you would be at some epic birthday party and you get ready for the best part, The Pinata! Well everyone is on edge, and then you have the big tall 10 year old freak, who could give a senior football player a run for his money. Its his turn, he takes a swing, and in an instant you think all your dreams have come true! Psych! Only about 3 or 4 pieces of candy have flown out of the top, but amidst all the confusion people are pushing and shoving, and hair is getting pulled.

Oh, you remember those days now. And let me tell you, I have so not forgotten those days.

Thanks for caring.

Dear Nano,

2008-05-06T21:23:00.001-07:00

as well as fellow Gator teammates. Nano asked me to do this, that is why he is getting special treatment. I will truly miss all of you a ton and here is why:

Nano: You are one of us that always swims in the slowest lane. It basically rocks watching people like Kendall and Natalie lap us. I will never forget Arizona and putting your mattress in the hallway and all the other crap we did. "I swear, if you are not out of my bed by the next commercial, I'm getting naked!" For as much as we put you through, I still <3 u.

Andrea: As much as we may have bickered it was fun having you around. I will always remember having to pry you away from the stupid tv in Nashville. "Attention Andrea, we are leaving! Finals start in 30 minutes!"

Martin: You were always there to give us all a little laugh, whether it was a good situation or bad. When you missed your event in Arizona, oh man, I don't think I have ever seen Louis so mad in my entire life.

Courtney: You are one of the kindest, nicest, studliest people I have ever met. I don't think you have ever said a mean thing to anyone. Never forget, if he breaks your heart, give me a call and I will break his neck.

Jason: Thanks for always giving me a hug whenever you saw me. Except for maybe one person, I don't think I have ever seen someone skip so much during practice. For anyone wanting to become someone who can be a stud swimmer and get away with stuff, you should be their idol.

Julia: You were always my sprinter/backstroke buddy. I still remember when you started passing me because you are such a freaking stud. I love how you always know how to make things fun and make all of us laugh. I will never forget how when almost every single one of us got sick in Arizona, you managed to win High Point Award, can you say BAMF?

Scott: I will never forget all the crap we put Nano through on that travel trip. We were the only two our age on that trip, and in my opinion, I don't think it was nearly as awful as it could have been. From hiding Nano's tv remote to swimming that 1500 at Olympic status level, it was still a blast.

Erica: Oh, man. What a couple years. I just will always remember you, Alia, and I waiting to swim that damn 1650 in the 90 degree water. You were always my long distance buddy until you had to go and get fast behind my back. Like the one time at AA's when we drew Louis on your lap counter. Or how about remember when we convinced a certain someone that the dog was a distant relative of the orangutans, or that the koala has 12 toes. "Yeah, I heard that on animal planet!"

Chelsey: I parked today at about 3:55 and was remembering how we used to get to practice about 20 minutes before practice and just sit in one another's cars talking. Wow, we kind of had no lives. The times going out on your boat and going wakeboarding were a blast, we will have to do that this summer even though I won't be there, just give me a call, and while your at it, give Ms. New Booty a call.

Robbie: Every time we roomed together we seemed to have the strangest extra roommate. I'll never forget Arizona, when we shared the elevator in our speedos with some random guy. Or in Tennessee when I don't think we went to bed before 2:00 any night. You and your damn poison oak freshman year, making me share a bed with Rod, asshole. I want a rematch in Scrabble, you know I was cheated out of a win.

To all of you guys, you have made these past four years bearable and even fun at times. As much as I hate to admit it, I am going to miss swimming and all of you guys.

Thanks for caring.

New Room

2008-05-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, the Gardner family put an addition on their house a few years back. With this new addition, my parents got a new room, allowing my sister to take their old room(completely unfair, but irrelevant to this story), and I took Amanda's room so Austin and I wouldn't have to share anymore. For about the past two years that I have been living in this room, it had had the same paint job since basically my sister's birth. It had a garden sort of scene, with butterflies, trees, flowers, birds, and you get the point. I'm not sure if I have a picture of it, but I will try and find one eventually. So a few months ago, Mel, Casey, and Mary were over and we were bored, so we decided to paint my room. We had this sick idea to make silhouettes of people and what-not, and after we got it all painted white, we realized that we were way out of our league. So I just left it white. Then, it dawned on me, I asked my aunt to paint it because she is an amazing artist and painted Austin's, Amanda's, Stephen's, and her sons' room. So I decided that I wanted to get the iPod silhouette people painted around my room. On one big blank wall I wanted the big four-square of people, and then on some skinny-tall walls, some full length people. My aunt began it and then totally forgot about it. Now, about 3 months later, it is basically finished.

I am quite content.

Thanks for caring.

It Was Worth It

2008-05-03T13:33:00.000-07:00

Getting up at four in the morning,
in the cold we all would sit.
The sets may have been long and dumb, but
it was all very much worth it.

Yard after yard my muscles hurt,
no amount of Advil could save it.
Every night dreading what would come next,
it was all very much worth it.

I may have complained to no end,
even when people didn't want to hear it.
People thought I was crazy but,
it was all very much worth it.

During those long and cold meets,
for those 500's we'd throw a fit.
The competition was tough, but
it was all very much worth it.

Traveling across the country,
wreaking havoc on whatever could stand it.
Breaking every rule in the book,
it was all very much worth it.

Picking on each other all practice long,
we would just let everyone have it.
Since we all knew how to make each other laugh,
it was all very much worth it.

We know each other better than our families,
my family, they are now a part of it.
Since I don't regret joining it at all,
it was all very much worth it.

The friendships I have made,
test of time, they will stand it.
I wouldn't trade the experience for anything, because
Swimming was all very much worth it.

Thanks for caring.

Outrageous

2008-04-22T23:20:00.000-07:00

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sportSkills?sort=total_rank#grid

ESPN is on crack.
Swimming after sports like basketball, rowing, badmitton!?!?! It should be 44 spots higher!

This is unbelievable.

Thanks for caring.

Old People Are So Awkward

2008-04-22T22:34:00.000-07:00

So today was an awesome day. I thought the highlight of my day would have been when Tesoro Boy's Swim beat Mission 93-77! Yes, believe it. Not only did they lose, but today was the first time apparently in history that they lost two meets in a row, and to who? Tesoro, I know, hold your applause. So, since today was the last dual meet ever for the seniors, some of us decided to go to the movies, considering we have late start tomorrow.

Stephen, Kimmy, Megan, Chicago, and I proceeded to go see the widely popular move, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It was an awesome movie, but you might be wondering why the title is about awkward old people. Well, let me tell you.

We get to the theater, and I have to pee like a race horse so I get my ticket and bolt inside. All I want to do is give the guy my ticket and run. And what do you know, an old man is taking tickets and he decides to greet every person, and give them a little speech on what they are about to see. On any other occasion, this would be oh so precious, but when your bladder is about to explode, not much is funny. Then he proceeds to ask Megan Atkins if she is old enough to see this raunchy movie. It was hysterical, but nevertheless awkward hearing this 70 year old man say "raunchy". But what can you do, we moved on.

So we watch the movie, have a few laughs, and head out. And as we are leaving, we see the old man and we wave to him, wishing him a good night. Get ready, what happens next, may God strike me dead if I exaggerate this at all. Mind you, he is pushing 75-80.

Us: "Goodnight Mister! Have a nice night."
Him: "Goodnight everyone. Did you enjoy the movie?"
Us: "Yes, it was very funny."
Him: "Oh good,(then with some very provocative hand gesture) did you learn some new ways to do it?"

WHO SAYS THAT!?!?!!?!

It was so awkward, none of us said anything, we just all kind of mumbled, "Oooohhh yeahhh?" Then once we are outside we all bust out laughing out of the hysterical, shock factor, and just the unbelievable-ness(word?) of this situation. And, did we look like that big of hooligans that we were going to go home and practice our new "techniques"? Don't answer that. This was one of those things that you see in the movie, that never happens to you.

Probably the best part of the movie(probably won't think it is if you haven't seen it):
Sarah Marshall: "Boshit, boshit, boshit. Get me some cranberry. No drinks for me. Boshit, boshit, boshit."

Thanks for caring.

Almost Over

2008-04-21T21:55:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my last High School Dual Meet ever. It is kind of weird, and I am bummin. It has been a great 4 years and I will always remember HS Swimming. Diablos: You are going down!

Backstroke

Me and Mike DGAF'n it

Favorite Picture EVER

Seniors '08

Tallest 2 on the team

We are more awesome than you will ever know

The proud Parentals

Thanks for caring.

Stick It To The Man

2008-04-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

So unless you were living under a rock on Friday, or go to a school besides Tesoro, or a combination of the two, you would have noticed that Tesoro Seniors designated Friday and the unofficial Senior Scooter Day! It was a complete blast. Not only did the word spread by word of mouth, but Sean Gavin took it upon him to make a full on event of it on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=11599832069
So Friday morning I get to school, and about 10 of us ride up on our Razors. We get into the halls and are just cruising around, and then you hear over the P.A, "Attention Seniors! Put your scooters back in your car, they are NOT allowed on campus!" Haha it was hilarious, all these random seniors cruising around, so I get to my locker and get ready to head out with Kristy for Math. We take off toward class and we are so close then we hear, "Hey! What are you doing with those?!" Then we see this lady, extremely mad, running over to us. Crap.

Crazy Psycho Lady(CPL): "What are you doing with those?"
Me & Kristy(MK): "We are just going to class."
CPL: "Well you need to put them back in your cars."
MK: "Ok, well we will after class, we can't be late(like we really care :])."
CPL: "Well, then come with me and put them in the front office."

Crap.

MK: "Ok."
CPL: "You, know this is a really dumb idea."
Me: "Oh, yeah? Why?"
CPL: "Because scooters are not allowed on campus!"
Acutally Crazy-Psycho-Lady, as well as the rest of administration, needs to get their facts straight: Bikes, Skateboards, and Rollerblades are not permitted on campus. Nothing was ever mentioned about scooters.
MK: "Well we just thought it would be fun."
CPL: "Well just put them here."
MK(while running away to class): "Happy Senior Scooter Day!!!!"

So the rest of the day, I am missing my scooter and just laughing while other people are getting caught, avoiding admin, and just cruising around. Funny thing is, Janelle the proctor, shockingly as well as Mr. Mac, thought it was a good idea.

So my brother has to go talk to Dr. Burch about the upcoming blood drive and heads to the front office. He walks in:

CPL: "So, did you come to apologize to me?"
Austin: Who the hell are you?!?! "Uh, no?"
Mac: "He has a twin brother."
CPL: "Oh, well be sure to tell him I am expecting an apology."
Austin: "Yeah, sure."

What the heck am I supposed to apologize for? Go back and read our conversation if you want, there is nothing for me to apologize for, I did nothing wrong. So as we are leaving, we go pick up our scooters and head out, walking them. And who do we run into? Crazy-Psycho-Lady!

CPL: "What are you doing with those?!"
Aubrey, Kristy, and I: "We got called out of school so we had to come pick them up."
CPL: "Well make sure not to ride them on campus."

Yeah, Whatever.

CPL: "Well I apparently ran into your twin, and told him that I was waiting for an apology from you.
Me: "Well, I really don't see what I did wrong that you could possibly expect an apology for."
CPL: "When you were running away, you shouted something at me."

I had no idea what she was talking about.

Me: "Well, I don't remember what I said, but I honestly don't think I have anything to apologize for."

For those of you forgetting, like I did. What I was supposed to be apparently apologizing for was saying, "Happy Senior Scooter Day!" Yeah, like I am going to go back and apologize for that.

One of the best parts of this day was, Kevin, Jordan, Daniel, Aubrey, Bree, Christine, Kristy, and I went to take promotion pictures for Prom at the Newport Dunes. Kristy had the ingenious idea of bringing our Scooters! So in some of the pictures that we are going to put up will have Scooters, to remember the day we all prevailed in Sticking It To The Man!

Thanks for caring.

R.I.P. 11/2/2006-4/15/2008

2008-04-15T23:19:00.000-07:00

I will miss this show terribly, I think it is easily the funniest show on tv. If you have not been watching it, you do not know what you are missing out on. To Rob Dyrdek and Christopher "Big Black" Boykin: I loved having you in my tv room every Tuesday night, and will miss you immensly.

Thanks for caring.

I Genuinely..

2008-04-15T00:08:00.000-07:00

Love This Picture. I just thought you should know.

Click for larger image.

Thanks for caring.

Sun Devils Pt. 2

2008-04-13T23:24:00.000-07:00

I am going to ASU! Austin and I just had a long talk with the father, and he said the money situation will be rough, but do-able. I am so excited. And shoutout to Mary: I am so ancy, why not antsy you might ask yourself. I had to explain this to her as well, everyone and their dog gets into ASU, so I am from now on entitled to misspell any word I feel like. But for all you know, I just used spellcheck, which is likely the case.

Go Sun Devils!

Thanks for caring.

Sun Devils

2008-04-12T01:21:00.000-07:00

My brother, Mary, and I went out to ASU on Tuesday, and I just have to say, it was MAGNIFICENT!! I absolutely loved the campus, the atmosphere, and just about everything it had to offer. Some other things I loved:

Pac 10 Sports
Dorms
Amazing Gym
Surrounding area
Beautiful (NOT COLD) Weather
They have this system that you just put all the titles of work you used for a paper and it writes up your Work-Cited page for you!
Semi-Close to the river/Lake Mead
Not across the country

I just absolutely loved it all. The only problem: $29,500/year is a tad-bit expensive. So we are going to have to talk to the parentals but I hope in a few days that I will be able to say I am a future Sun Devil!

Thanks for caring.

Way To Be Positive!

2008-04-12T01:17:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say I think it is really awesome how some people in this world seem to find the downside about everything and/or everyone around them. Why can't we be a little positive and keep the negative comments to ourselves? Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.

To those who this is about: You know who you are and I don't want to hear your lame ass rebuttal to this, so save your breathe.

Thanks for caring,
and listening to me vent.

Gobble Gobble!

2008-04-05T17:26:00.000-07:00

So last night was a good one, Austin, Lisa, Kellie, and I decided to go bowling. It was a nice change of pace from the usual not doing anything. We met at Rubio's and had some glorious Mexican food and chatted it up. The main topic of discussion, how depressed we are not to be getting packed for Ensenada; I can't even begin to tell you how sad I am, but there is nothing I can do to change it so we will move on.

We headed over to Saddleback Lanes to blow it up. Once there we ran into Anna, Brianna, Heidi, and Schmidtty. It was quite funny and we talked it up for a few minutes. Then we proceeded to put our name in, and the man said it would be about a half an hour wait. Not too bad for a Friday night. So we sat and waited and laughed as we did some nice people-watching. About 20 minutes later, the man comes over the loud speaker and says, I kid you not, "The parties of Fabio and Derek G, your lane is ready." We had quite a little giggle from that. Then we tore it up on the floor and got a solid two games in. This family that shared the conjoining lane with us had their probably 4 year old son and 3 year old daughter. They were by far two of the funniest kids ever. The boy, was the most serious 4 year old(or however old he was) bowler I have ever seen. Mind you, they were playing with bumpers, but still; he would hit at least 7-8 pins down on average every roll. If it was your turn with him next to you, you were shaking in your boots because of his intimidation factor. Each time he didn't get a strike it might as well have been a waste of a throw, it was hilarious to watch.

Now on to the "Gobble Gobble!". For those of you who are unaware, in the last frame you get your normal two bowls. But then, if you get all the pins down, you get a third roll. In the last frame, if you get a strike, then another one, then manage a 3rd strike in a row, it is called a Turkey. I do not know why, I am just relaying the information onto you. So somehow on the second game I managed to get 2 strikes in the last frame. Then I was on my third bowl, extremely nervous, and got 7 or 8 pins down! It was such a bummer, but fun none the less. I was so close!

Things To Do Before I Die
Bowl a Turkey

Have a great spring break!

Thanks for caring.

A Glorious 10 Days!

2008-04-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

It is pretty much officially spring break! If you want to get technical, I really have one more day, but this is my blog not yours, so it is spring break! Why, you ask I am not counting tomorrow. Well curious reader, as you may well know I am a senior, and tomorrow is a block 1-3-5 day. And on those days the only classes I have are Intro to Stats(aka the easiest class ever) and ASB. So now do you see why I don't count tomorrow? I'm glad. So this week is going to basically be insane:

Austin, Mary, Mel and maybe Callie and I are going to the river for some intense sea-dooing, wakeboarding, etc. It's going to be a hoot-and-a-half. This weekend there is talk about going clubbing, although I am doubtful about that happening it would be fun. Saturday morning we have Mission Invitational, which I, contrary so most people, really enjoy. I am just unsure if I will be able to do very well, but we will find out soon enough. So I will keep you updated on how spring break goes, either as it is happening or once it ends.

By the way, Tommy's Burgers was fantastic; and I'm not much of a chili person, so if you like chili, I am sure you will love it.

Thanks for caring.

Lunch Tomorrow?

2008-04-01T22:35:00.000-07:00

I am so excited, I am going to the brand new Tommy Burger! I haven't been to one in forever. I think the last time I went was about 10 years ago and it was up in LA. So I will let you know how it is.

<-I will be eating that at approximately 1:00pm tomorrow, minus the mustard and pickles.

Thanks for caring.

Blaaaahhh!!!

2008-03-31T22:44:00.000-07:00

Its basically April and I don't know where I'm going to school next year.

Help me.

Thanks for caring.

A Quick Thanks

2008-03-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about life a lot lately with the whole college thing going on, and I have just been realizing how freaking amazing my life is and that I have nothing to complain about. I know that I am truly blessed to have the people around me that I have around me. To each of you reading this, I just want to make sure you know that I appreciate you and am scared that the rest of my life will not live up to how amazing my life is right now.

THANKS for caring.

So Much Fun

2008-03-29T01:46:00.001-07:00

Being sick sucks ass-mar.

Today's events:

Math Test
Doctor Appointment
Watched Across The Universe
Ate some food
Watched Hook
Watched some of Amanda's Dances
Watched She's The Man(for all of you girls out there that are in love with that movie, it makes completely NO sense what-so-ever!!!)
Watched The Perfect Storm

And now it is 1:48 in the morning and my head is about to explode. Today was dumb, why couldn't I just have remained unconscious?

Thanks for caring.

Funny Quote

2008-03-26T22:30:00.000-07:00

A funny little thing I heard someone say on the radio on my way home tonight:

"If I can put the seat up, she can put it back down."

So all you ladies out there, look before you sit! Your dryness should not be men's responsibility.
Haha

Thanks for caring.

And It's Over Once Again

2008-03-26T22:19:00.000-07:00

Last night I stayed up until 1:30 am because I was for the second time captivated by JK Rowling's amazing work. I had about 200 pages left of the 7th Harry Potter book and I couldn't put it down. It is easily my favorite book ever, I just wish I could read faster, so in turn I could read it more. The miraculous feat took me almost exactly 2 months. All HP fans: re-read the series if you have not, it is so fun and amazing.

Funny side note:
This weekend I was sidelined because of my post-op status. So I was reading, about halfway done, so I was in the zone, and I got a text from the lovely Aubrey. And she was absolutely dumbstruck that someone could spend their Saturday reading Harry Potter(but in all honesty, what else was I going to do?). I am praying that someone will help her from the error of her ways and realize how amazing the books are; and for those of you haters out there, you are stupid. There is nothing more to it.

Next Victim:
Fight Club
By: Chuck Palahniuk

Thanks for caring.

I Will Never Ever

2008-03-24T23:04:00.000-07:00

Understand how planes fly.

You cannot truly tell me that you completely understand how these monstrosities stay in the air for hours, while I struggle staying up for two seconds. They must have Harry Potter on their side.

Explain to me as much as you want, I know air line owners are really wizards(or witches for you feminists out there).

^^ Get real, like any human could keep that in the air.

Thanks for caring.

Reader Discretion Advised (Gross)

2008-03-22T01:26:00.000-07:00

So for those of you unaware, I had this big abscess on my leg that was really nasty, it was basically a big cist. On Thursday I had just arrived at my meet in Huntington Beach, and I had realized that it totally got cut open. So my mom came and got me and we went on our merry way to the doctor. The doc gave me three options:

1. Leave it and try antibiotics, but it will come back eventually

2. Cut it and help it drain a little, it will come back eventually

3. Cut the whole thing out, and it wont come back

So my mother and I weighed our options and chose choice 3, because he said that I would probably have to stay out of the water 3-4 days, big deal. So we proceed to numb half my leg(hurt so bad I almost passed out), and then cut it out, one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen in my life. So at the end instead of sewing it back up, which seems to make sense to everyone except the doctor, he decided to just let it heal naturally. He stuffed a bunch of gauze in it and just wrapped it. Psycho! So I have this gaping hole in the side of my leg, and I am thinking I will have to take the gauze out everyday and replace it, but no! He said I should just take it out the next day and put a band aid over it. What?! This guy is on drugs. So in the 24 hours after the surgery I had to replace the bandages twice it was bleeding so much.

It gets to 24 hours after, and I decide to get in the shower to take out the packing. It had proceeded to stick to the sides and after I finally got it out it bled like crazy. So much so I have probably been through 20 feet of gauze. It now hurts more than before, considering it didn't hurt before. No lie it looks like a bad bullet wound, so I am still curious why I didn't get stitches. All I have to say is I have no idea how I am going to be able to swim with this, and if I am out for the rest of the season I am going to be beyond mad.

Sorry if I grossed you out,

I had to vent.

Thanks for caring.

Swimmer's Only Savior

2008-03-17T21:37:00.001-07:00

Ok so what are the odds of thunder and lightning storms in California? Lets say its little, ok? Ok. So this weekend I was at another glorious swim meet , what a surprise. And as many of you may have noticed, there was thunder and lightning on Sunday afternoon. What you may not be aware of is that a swimmer's only savior is lightning. So when we first heard the glorious thunder, we were overjoyed; but that was before we realized it wasn't close enough to get the meet cancelled. So the meet kept going, even though it was freezing and lightning was clearly around us. Eventually there was a strike so close that they got everyone out of the pool immediately. They made an announcement, "We are going to delay the meet for 30 minutes, and if there is another strike of lightning the meet will be cancelled." So we are rejoicing because there has been so much all day. What do you know, that was the last of the lightning for the day, of course! So we just sat in the rain for an extra 30 minutes just to wait for our race. Nearly every one of the other teams left, because our coach is psychotic. But it was all good, because overall, it was a really fun meet.

Thanks for caring.

[Check out those clouds, it was freezing]

Ehhhh....

2008-03-13T20:33:00.000-07:00

I officially have no idea where I am going next year. I went up to San Jose with Austin and my Dad, to check out SJSU. I liked it but didn't love it. It was nicer than I expected and the city is okay. One great thing is it has a pretty big/good football team. It is pretty spaced out but not too much. One major downfall, is the gym. From dreaming of going to San Diego(one of the biggest gyms I have ever seen) San Jose was down right pathetic. But other than that I couldn't find any notable flaws. I liked it but I didn't love it, so I don't know what to do. My only other option really is ASU, and unless you're completely oblivious, I'm not the typical candidate for that school. So I might go check that out. Regardless, I'm sure I will be in San Diego in two years so its not like it will be forever wherever I go. But I seriously need to figure this out, I am losing major sleep over it!

Some pictures from our adventure:

1. [Freshmen Dorms- Quite Nice]
2. [Bowling Alley in the Student Union]
3. [Their Amazing Library- Biggest One West of the Mississippi R.]
4. [An Entrance To SJSU- Awkward Angle]

Thanks for caring.

Thank You ChapStick

2008-03-03T21:17:00.001-08:00

I just want to shoot out a "Thank You" to ChapStick for creating the best lip balm ever.

Vanilla Mint.

For those of you disagreeing with me right now, you either haven't tried it or you are stupid, yes I am calling you stupid. Why? Because this is The Mind Of Derek!!!! not the mind of whoever you are.

So thanks ChapStick, for making my lips feel great with the best tasting lip balm ever!

Thanks for caring.

Wow, You Are Lame.

2008-03-02T01:14:00.000-08:00

So tonight, Melanie, Lisa, Anthony, Callie, and I are hanging out trying to figure out what to do. We find out that Blake, Mel's brother, has an inflatable black blow up doll. So we decide to take Tyrone shopping, because we don't want him "walking" around the Magnus' household all nay-nay and what-not. So we take him over to trusty WalMart to get him a brand spankin' new git-up.

The moment we walk in, we are given very shady looks by everyone; okay, I totally understand where these are coming from, 5 teenagers pushing an inflatable doll in a grocery cart through WalMart, bad news. So Lisa is following closely documenting our outing with her camera, and we hear, "You can't take pictures in WalMart(short version)". Okay, whatever will help you sleep at night. So we cruise to the back of the store and are in the shoe department and get Tyrone some Crocs, he looked so fly. Meanwhile, Callie is busy texting up a storm, and all of a sudden Mr. Happiness-Is-Overrated(Mr H.I.O.) walks up.

Mr. H.I.O.: "OK I told you no taking pictures!"
Callie:(Showing Him) "I'm not, I'm texting."
Mr. H.I.O.: "OK well that was your 3rd warning."
Us: "OK, whatever that means."
Mr. H.I.O.: "Well, lets go. You have to leave!"

What?! For what? We did absolutely nothing wrong! First of all, we were not aware of this whole 3 strikes and you're out rule in WalMart. Secondly, we were not aware that we were ever given a warning in the first place. It was outrageous, we were not causing any problems, we were just some kids trying to have some good clean fun on a Saturday night.

So for that, WalMart, "Wow, you are lame!"

After that, we went over to In-N-Out, where they don't discriminate against race in the blow-up doll community. Thank-you Katie for being an awesome cashier!

Thanks for caring.

Just Kickin' It

2008-02-25T15:08:00.000-08:00

So as you may re-call from a previous blog, my coach kicked me out of my swim group for 2 weeks, I am still oblivious how this is a punishment for not going to practice. But that is beside the point.

So Friday was my first night back and that night we went for a short run and then played Ultimate Frisbee. It was going good. So as we are playing someone is running right in front of me and they trip. While falling forward, their foot flies backwards; I, still running, accidently kick them in their heel. Instead of hurting them, their foot basically forces all my toes back into my foot. It hurt so bad. I automatically get to thinking, "Oh my god, swim season starts Tuesday, I can't swim!" "This sucks, my first day back!"! So I ice it and proceed to get in the pool and continue to practice only using my left foot, much harder then you could imagine. My left leg felt like it just ran a marathon after practice.

So I go home and rest it and just chill with Harry Potter and wait to see if it is any better in the morning. The next morning is our school's intrasquad meet and I wake up excited for that but quickly realize that I will not be participating in it because my foot hurts much worse than the night before. I ask my Dad if he will drive me over to the doctor and we go. He takes me and I get an x-ray and what not, ends up just being some bruising on the bone. Tells me to continue to ice it and it will be fine in a couple of days.

Phew. That would have sucked if swimming just ended like that.

Note to self: Do not kick anyone in the heel, hurts like hell.

Thanks for caring.

I Am A So-Cal Select, Are You?

2008-02-15T10:43:00.000-08:00

I freaking love having a Disneyland pass, it is right up there with having your own car. Callie and I are gonna head over to the happiest place on earth in about an hour. It is amazing having a pass because it pays for itself in 2 visits. And you can go whenever you are feeling a little happiness in your life.

I'm excited.

Thanks for caring.

Punishment?

2008-02-12T14:25:00.000-08:00

So my swim coach might have reached a new unknown level of dumb-ness. A few weeks back he told everyone that if you weren't averaging 7 workouts for two weeks he would kick us out of the Senior group and make us swim with the Junior group for two weeks. So as being a senior, probably not swimming next year, and having better things to do, I failed that on Monday. So as I am leaving for swim practice, my sister says to me, "There is an e-mail for you." So I read it, and it proceeds to tell me that I must practice with them for the next to weeks to be able to move back into the Senior group. It is so dumb.

Senior Group:
9 practices a week
Each practice at least 2 1/2 hrs
2x 5 am practices/week

Junior Group:
4 practices a week
Each pracitce is 1 1/2 hours
Zero 5 am practices

I mean I am not a rocket scientist but it seems like I am being rewarded for not going to practice, with having to go to less practices. Not only that but the practices are beyond easy, so what the heck is the point? Only downfall is, the practices don't start til 6:30 everyday, what am I supposed to do from 12:15 to 6:30?!?! Homework? Ha, good one!

Thanks for caring.

Harry Potter Update

2008-02-06T14:12:00.001-08:00

So as usual, on Tuesday nights, I lag on getting to sleep because of late-start Wednesdays. As you may have read previously I am re-reading the Harry Potter series, and loving every second of it. Sunday I finished the first one and began the second one and was powering through it. Since I had nothing to do, finished watching House, no homework, blah blah blah, I decided to read. I had approximatley 80 pages left to go and at about 11:00 I was 40 pages away from finishing. Instead of being reasonable and just going to sleep, because I was exhausted from practice. I mean, honestly, how could you stop when Harry is about to go down into the Chamber of Secrets and fight a giant serpant? I know, right? Impossible. So at about 11:45ish I concluded the 2nd book. Now I just need to go out and buy the 3rd book, because for whatever reason, the Gardner's failed to ever own it. The series is so good, I would highly recommend re-reading it.

Can you say BAMFs?

Finished:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Currently Reading:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Soon To Come:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Price

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Thanks for caring.

Winter Formal Oh Eight

2008-02-02T15:34:00.000-08:00

Winter Formal 2008 was incredible. It was by far the best group I have ever been in, and it was a blast. To start off, our group was huge, 50 people in all, and we never even got around to taking a full group picture. It is okay though, because I got pictures with all the people that mattered most. We met at Brett Boval's house to take pictures, he had a freaking suit of armor at the entrance of his house, it's kind of a castle, hence the suit. After an hour of taking pictures, we were off to BJ's in Tustin; we drove farther to dinner than the actual dance(hence the reason we only got a charter bus, $22/person :]). Dinner was a blast and a half, where we were throwing onions across the restaurant, harrassing the other tables, we had five, and of course the delectible food. After the amazing dinner it was time to get our groove thang on. We got there fashionable 1/2 an hour late and danced our hearts out for a solid 3 hours. It was awesome. After that we went over to Chase's house for about 30 minutes where there was shuffle board, jacuzzi, ping pong, kareokee(I still don't know what the hurry was to get out of there) and food. The tortilla wraps(or whatever you call them) were the death of me, seriously. I had five and the rest of the night I felt so sick, I ended up leaving Mary's at 3:30 a.m. All in all, sickness aside, I had a freaking blast and hope our group is this good for Prom.

Thanks for always being so fun, Winter Formal, I will miss you dearly.

[The dates]

[Mary & I looking as cute as ever]

[AVC: Arroyo Vista Crew, Throwin' up the AV]

Thanks for caring,
hasta la bye-bye.

I Am So Loving Life

2008-01-28T21:47:00.000-08:00

A couple days, I was talking with one of my good friends, Stephen Luna, you may know him. This is just a minor detail if you don't know him, feel free to continue. We were chatting, and I was talking about how I felt like re-reading the 7th Harry Potter book because it was so dang good, and then he said how he was on the 2nd book; as he was re-reading the complete series over.

Can you say, "inspiration"?!?!?!

So I was searching the house last week and could not find the first book, what a sin! So on Sunday afternoon, it was quite gloomy with finals approaching, I made my way over to my local borders and purchased the gem of a novel, Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone. I then proceeded on with my day of studying with Mary, and watching my aunt paint my room(but that is a whole 'nother blog in itself :]), and other various activities. Once I finished all my studying for that night, I cracked HP open and began my quest.

I have only read the first book once, and it was back in third grade. I have completely forgotten the magic that J.K. Rowling overflowed this book with. I have seen the movie countless times and it so does not do it justice, but in all honestly, do movies ever compare?

So after a good hour and a half I am 5 chapters in and in love.

I will keep you updated on my quest, my goal is to finish the series by graduation. I'm sure it will be done before that, but baby steps.

Thanks for caring,
hasta la bye-bye.