I've quietly endured through TwiGate long enough.
The last thing I want to see at a gas station is a seductive slab of chocolate packaged in an Edward face.
I've been a proud supporter of a proud reader of the books. I read the first three books out-loud to my wife while she was pregnant last year--and I actually enjoyed them at the time. A bit mushy and fluffy but it was fun.
I would soon come to find the underlying truth. I enlisted in an army of 12 year old girls, the likes of which the world has yet to see. An unwilling soldier I dutifully paraded my wife Anna to the--I really like the name "Anna"--nearest theater to our apartment last year on the opening night of Twilight. Precisely one year later... history is about to repeat itself.
I'm not going to be attending the opening debut of Stephanie Myer's awkward bridge book between Tilight and Eclipse, dare I say New Moon, but I will be there front-row and attentive with my arm hooked on my wife's, chewing on twizzlers.
This year, I may consider bringing a pen and a pad of paper so I can jot down some tubular talking points. Just some topics to go over with my hunnn as I'm carrying her over my shoulder, barging out of the emergency door.
The fire alarm didn't exactly work out too well last year. Maybe this time I could act drunk and hurl Anna's purse (which I'll fill with cats before hand) at the screen while yelling "HANNAH LAZAAGNA, CHEESY MONTANA AND SHADOW OF THE MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
...repeated five times...
Oh. I'm not going to forget my favorite lip gloss either.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Radiation to Graduation
Josh Solomon graduated from UVU with a bachelor degree in Information Systems last April, after battling a rare brain tumor for half a decade.
In 2004 Solomon was living in Salt Lake City while pursuing an AS degree in General Studies at the LDS Business College. As the fall semester began he noticed that something wasn’t right.
“At first the headaches I was getting were just annoying. I thought maybe it was just stress.”
But the ‘annoying’ pain didn’t let up.
“[It] got to the point that it was just unbearable. Some days I wouldn’t be able to move. Other days I’d just be vomiting constantly.”
By this point, Solomon knew that something was seriously wrong. After a series of tests and numerous visits with doctors, Solomon finally received his diagnosis.
“My doctor explained to me that I had a grape-sized growth around my pituitary gland. My first thought was ‘What is a pituitary?’”
The pituitary, a gland situated on the base of the brain, is responsible for secreting growth hormones and controlling the secretion of other glands throughout the body. The expanding tumor was compressing surrounding brain tissue and altering the production crucial hormones.
Within a month of being diagnosed Solomon underwent a delicate operation to remove the bulk of the tumor, followed by years of radiation.
“Those first couple years were rough. The pain wouldn’t quit. I couldn’t keep anything down
I had lost over ninety pounds because of it.”
Eventually the pain would subside, though a portion of the tumor still remained, allowing him to enroll in classes at UVU.
“I decided on Information Systems because I love the idea of connecting the technical side with the business, or people, side.”
Graduated, Solomon is now the Senior Web Application Architect at ACR International in Provo, where he’s putting his ISYS degree from Utah Valley to good use.
Regarding his contribution to the company, David Garcia, Head of Development at ACR , says “He has been an excellent addition to our company. The solutions he provides—and the development as well—are innovative, creative. He just knows how to think things through.”
As a UVU alumnus, Solomon credits those traits in part to his education and accomplishments as a wolverine. Still, he stresses that the real accomplishment is his battle with a grape-sized growth at the base of his brain.
In 2004 Solomon was living in Salt Lake City while pursuing an AS degree in General Studies at the LDS Business College. As the fall semester began he noticed that something wasn’t right.
“At first the headaches I was getting were just annoying. I thought maybe it was just stress.”
But the ‘annoying’ pain didn’t let up.
“[It] got to the point that it was just unbearable. Some days I wouldn’t be able to move. Other days I’d just be vomiting constantly.”
By this point, Solomon knew that something was seriously wrong. After a series of tests and numerous visits with doctors, Solomon finally received his diagnosis.
“My doctor explained to me that I had a grape-sized growth around my pituitary gland. My first thought was ‘What is a pituitary?’”
The pituitary, a gland situated on the base of the brain, is responsible for secreting growth hormones and controlling the secretion of other glands throughout the body. The expanding tumor was compressing surrounding brain tissue and altering the production crucial hormones.
Within a month of being diagnosed Solomon underwent a delicate operation to remove the bulk of the tumor, followed by years of radiation.
“Those first couple years were rough. The pain wouldn’t quit. I couldn’t keep anything down
I had lost over ninety pounds because of it.”
Eventually the pain would subside, though a portion of the tumor still remained, allowing him to enroll in classes at UVU.
“I decided on Information Systems because I love the idea of connecting the technical side with the business, or people, side.”
Graduated, Solomon is now the Senior Web Application Architect at ACR International in Provo, where he’s putting his ISYS degree from Utah Valley to good use.
Regarding his contribution to the company, David Garcia, Head of Development at ACR , says “He has been an excellent addition to our company. The solutions he provides—and the development as well—are innovative, creative. He just knows how to think things through.”
As a UVU alumnus, Solomon credits those traits in part to his education and accomplishments as a wolverine. Still, he stresses that the real accomplishment is his battle with a grape-sized growth at the base of his brain.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Camera Eyes
Josh Wolf, a freelance journalist and blogger, was imprisoned for 228 days for not complying with requests from federal agencies. His time spent behind bars is far longer than that of any other journalists convicted on similar charges.
Wolf was covering a protest in San Francisco for an organization known as "Anarchist Action". The demonstration grew to be rather ruckus, escalating beyond peaceful rallying to vandalism. At one point a demonstrator allegedly attempted to set fire to a police car. This caught the attention of the FBI, leading to Wolf's footage of the event for answers.
Only Wolf wasn't so willing to handover the video to the scrutiny of the agents, fearing he would from here on be labeled as a government tattle-tale and not a journalist.
I agree.
Hmm… I don't know actually. Maybe I don't.
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