My friend J___ in Germany

A few years ago I was at a bar and ran into a friend who had a girl, J___, with him that I absolutely KNEW I knew from somewhere. So I asked if she went to the U and thought perhaps we had a class together. Her response was a disdainful, "I am at least ten years older than you." Well, having the same group of friends, she and I saw each other pretty regularly and then one night, another friend of mine used her last name. I remembered that name! The next time I saw her, I asked if she played soccer and if she had ever coached a Nike Soccer Camp up in Park City? It turned out that J___ was my soccer coach when I was 13 years old up in Park City. So, we figured out that she's eight years older than me, not ten.

Now J___ lives in Germany. We talk for an hour or so almost every day. Yesterday, Jenn called a few times and we probably spent 2-3 hours on the phone. She kept putting me on speakerphone so that her roommate could hear all of my stories. Apparently, I have a lot of funny stories because her roommate made the comment that she understands now why J___ and I spend so much time talking and laughing on the phone. Of course, her roommate is from Minnesota so during one of the calls, J___ put her on the phone so that I could hear the Minnesota accent. It was pretty funny. At least as funny as the fact that I could hear J___ laughing HYSTERICALLY in the background while her roommate was doing the "voice" for me.

Currently listening...

1. Above & Beyond - Can't Sleep
2. Above & Beyond - Sky Falls Down (Armin Van Buuren remix)
3. Above & Beyond - Good For Me
4. Above & Beyond - Alone Tonight
5. DJ Spiller feat. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Groovejet
6. Freemasons - Vacancies
7. Armin Van Buuren - In and Out of Love
8. Oceanlab - Satellite
9. Amber - Sexual
10. Tiesto - Honey (Chicane Club remix)

I saw Above & Beyond a couple of weeks ago. Amazing. I am so so glad we went. I had a great time with good people, new friends, and awesome music. Of course, leading up to the show, I started listening to tracks I knew I already liked by them, and finding new ones. Can't Sleep was an instant favorite. Sky Falls Down and Good For Me took a few listens before they grew on me but I can't get enough of both of these tracks now. Justine Suissa has such a pure, ethereal voice. I wish she had been here with Above & Beyond, but it was a great show even without her.

Alright...I'm feeling quite lazy and don't think I will write about the other songs. Just know that they are good (well, if you share my musical taste)!

Currently listening...

1. Deadmau5 - Arguru
2. Cerf, Mitiska & Jaren - You Never Said (Dash Berlin remix)
3. Deadmau5 - Not Exactly
4. Deadmau5 - Brazil
5. The Script - BreakEven
6. Gianluca Motta feat. Molly - All Alone (Deadmau5 remix)
7. Fall Out Boy - Thnks fr th Mmrs
8. Chris Lake feat. Nastala - If You Knew
9. Tim Davison feat. Stacey Kitson - Deliver Me (Hush remix)
10. Newton Faulkner covering Massive Attack - Teardrop

Clearly I've been on a Deadmau5 kick since I went to see him for my birthday. The first time I found Arguru on YouTube, I knew Christian had put it on one of his sets. Well, I found out this week that it's on TWO of his sets; "Deliver Me" and "Global" (which also has You Never Said). I'm really into Deadmau5's sound right now and have been leaning towards a little harder trance tracks.

Some of my favorite lyrics I have ever heard come from You Never Said. "I'm right back where I started out, not a lot to show just memories." That's how I have felt for the last couple of years. I don't really have anything to show for what I've been doing with my life, but I would not trade the people I've met, and the experiences I've had for anything in the world. Not even my medical degree (beside the point that I don't actually have it yet).

The Chris Lake track is on Skip's Picks Vol. 2 and is my ABSOLUTE favorite on that disc. It is nice and dirty and has awesome piano and gets me groovin every time I hear it!

Deliver Me is the last track on Christian's "Deliver Me" set. When I looked it up on YouTube, the Hush remix was just the first one that came up and it happened to be the right mix. I listened to the original, but it wasn't the one that I knew from Christian's set. This one, again, is a bit harder but I'm really into it. I could listen to this one over and over.

The Massive Attack cover is by an artist that a girl at work pointed me towards. I can't remember the song she sent me to, but I saw that he had a cover of Teardrop, so I listened and ended up really liking it. When I have some more time, I think I'll check out more of Newton Faulkner's stuff. He could be worth finding out about.

Finally, The Script. BreakEven is a song that N___ gave me saying that she couldn't stop listening to it over and over and over and over. I listened, and liked the lyrics a lot. Then the tune got me. I'm with her 100% on BreakEven; I LOVE IT! Well worth listening to, at least a couple of times.

Update #3

A lot has happened in the last few months so I thought I would do another "Update" post.

I am still living with G___ and her two girls.

I have an AMAZING job with the Utah State Bar that I love and has incredible benefits (which are worth at least as much as my salary).

I'm back on my insulin pump. My A1C in January was 8.1% and I go again next week (April 1st) and am incredibly anxious to see how I've been doing.

I have a boy in Kansas and things are good. Even though I'm not entirely sure our "status" I feel like things are progressing. He is good for me and I love him.

I just recently figured out what to do with my life. And that entails finishing my Bachelor's degree in Chemistry and then going to medical school. K___ (in Kansas) is someone that has been inspirational in recognizing his dreams and then taking the necessary steps to actualize them. Since making this decision, I have reapplied (and been reaccepted) to the U and am SO excited to finally get my life started...hopefully by the time I'm 35 :)

I turned 25 on March 15th and had the best birthday ever! We partied at S___'s house and I wore my party dress and saw Deadmau5 and had breakfast at Porcupine and hit a bucket of balls and had Sunday Funday and kicked off summer, according to Sh___. It was wicked fun!!

Just like the last "Update," I have never been as happy as I am now. It just keeps getting better!

Quarter Century Mark

Whew, I made it! I will be 25 on Sunday and I am so excited for my birthday. We are going to see Deadmau5 (yay!) on Friday out at Saltair (boo) to start the celebration. G___ did such a good job planning my party last year that she said she would take care of everything and I should just sit back and relax. Which I fully intend on doing. I will post an update of the weekend's debauchery, I mean...festivities sometime next week.

I love my birthday. Even if there isn't a whole lot going on on Sunday (my actual birthday) I still just love it!

Every year I give a birthday present to myself, and this year it is a plane ticket to Kansas. I was talking to K___ on Monday about it and decided that it would be the best birthday present ever. The flight I'll be on lands in KC at 10:45pm on the 19th so when we were texting on Monday, I asked if he was okay picking me up that late and his response was:

Yes, any time is fine with me if it's you.

My heart melted a litle bit more for him when I got that one. I'm going to have a hard time waiting several more months after this trip before seeing him again.

Currently listening...

1. Gabriel and Dresden - Enemy
2. Oceanlab - Miracle (Martin Roth vocal remix)
3. Eurhythmics - Here Comes the Rain Again (Freemasons remix)
4. Chris Lake - Only One
5. Oceanlab - On a Good Day
6. Treitl Hammond feat. Dominique - Little More (Manendra remix)
7. Goldfrapp - Black Cherry
8. Nightmares On Wax - 70s 80s (RJD2 remix)
9. Robbie Rivera - Float Away (Dubfire remix)
10. Chris's Last Words

Eight of the ten songs listed remind me of Christian. Unfortunately, the last song listed is one that I may never know the actual title or artist because it's part of one of Christian's sets. S___ titled it "Chris's Last Words" so I'm going with that but won't be able to truly share it.

"Enemy" is on the same set and it is my new favorite song. My favorite line is "incremental changes and incidental highs". But really, all of the lyrics in this one are very meaningful, at least to me.

I remember the first time he played "Here Comes the Rain Again" for me and G___. We were at a house party down in Provo in September and S___ came and brought us to the dance floor to hear it.

The two Oceanlab songs and "Little More" are on Skip's Picks: Vol. 2. "Little More" is nice and dirty and fun to dance to. Oceanlab helped me and my family get through the days just following Christian's death.

I remember Christian talking about "Only One" and "Float Away" with G___. And that's how most of my music is. It reminds me of him because I can hear what he said about it. Or I remember the look on his face the first time he played a song. Or how excited he was about doing a remix. Thank you, Christian.

Following suit...

I was reading the blog of a friend today and he said:

I am deciding to make this blog, more blog like, with humor filled stories from my day to day. It’s more for my prosperity than anything else.

Now, I know he meant "posterity" instead of "prosperity" but it made me laugh so I decided to quote it directly. Anyway, the point is that after reading that, I decided to try and follow this paradigm. I'm not sure how many funny stories I have in my day to day, but I laugh a lot so that must mean I have some.

Of course, nothing funny has happened today since I have a MASSIVE hangover. But I'll get back to being funny soon enough and start posting the funnies for everyone's (or at least C__'s since I know she reads this) enjoyment.