Manual Dexterity

So in my Psychological Testing class we did this really great test for Manual Dexterity. It is simple test that you do with your mouse that tells you how dextrous you are. Pretty cool! Check it out here. Make sure the sound is up and let me know how you did!!

Lou Holtz Pep Talk

I wanted to post some stuff to commemorate the beginning of the college football season.  Here are some classic videos of pep talks courtesy of Lou Holtz.  This ought to get you fired up for college football, or well, anything.  Enjoy!

The Summer of Andy

Well, I'm back.  I took the MCAT yesterday and it was crazy.  I am glad that it is over because now I finally get a summer vacation (for three weeks)!  I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who has been so kind to me during the whole MCAT studying process, and especially all of the kindness on or around test day.  Thanks for all of your prayers, text messages, phone calls, emails, priesthood blessings, blog comments, "good luck"s, etc, etc, etc.  I really appreciate it and I feel like I have the best family and friends a guy could ask for.

I also have the best wife in the world, who has been so patient with me and so willing to sacrifice her weeknights and weekends so that I could study for this test.  I am glad its over now (not because I didn't actually enjoy studying [which I definitely did]) because now I finally get to let my hair down and enjoy my time with her.  Thank you Suzy, for everything.

Now, I am looking forward to NOT studying at all for three whole weeks.  I haven't had a summer vacation yet, so I am going to party hard.  Its been about 18 hours since I finished the MCAT, and we've already gone to Chick-fil-A, I've watched National Treasure, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Preseason NFL Football, and started reading Angels and Demons.  I am not only going to veg out and watch movies, but it has been nice to finally relax.

So, in honor of George Costanza...."I proclaim this the Summer of ANDY!" (well, what's left of it anyway)

Pretty Sweet

Check this video out...it is the Seinfeld theme on the bass. This guy rocks. I've always wanted to learn this...

Something You May Not Know...

Hey!! I have a few BIG things going on in my life right now, and I just wanted to BLOG about them because they are like all I am thinking about lately. It could also be that you didn't already know this about me, so I figured it might be fun to share.

The first thing is that I have been asked to write a chapter in a book that will be on methods in microbiological and medical research. I was asked to do it a couple of months ago, and have been working like crazy on it. It is a pretty big task, but I am moving along quite well now. The professor that I do research with at BYU is known across the country for his expertise (among other things) in the field of antioxidant microbiology. I have become quite proficient in the assays that we run in the lab and about antioxidant microbiology/biochemistry in general, so he asked me to write this chapter for a book that he was invited to participate in. Anyway, it is pretty challenging, but good. I am learning about how much I really don't know through all of this! The most exciting thing about this, though, is because it is a publication in such an important book (as it will be a reference guide for microbiologists/biochemists/medical researchers), it is really going to help me come time to apply for medical school. I am also excited because it means that it will be cited by other people as they write papers and do research. Can you imagine, they will say "According to Garrett (2008)....." CRAZY!! Anyway, I am supposed to have the chapter done by the end of July, and the book will be coming out at the latest by early next year.

The second thing is that I have begun to study for the MCAT (medical college aptitude test), which is one of my major admissions factors for medical school.  The test is on college level general and applied physics, general chemistry, organic chemistry, biology, and verbal reasoning.  It is crazy hard, and what makes it worse is that it is like a five hour test, but you have like one minute per problem and you can't use a calculator.  It is going to be nuts.  Starting at the end of my spring term, I am going to be studying for it around the clock, so I might not see anyone for a while.  But I'll still be alive, just in my "nerdery" (which is pretty much like my fortress of solitude, or Bat-cave, if you will) studying 'round the clock.  I take the test on August 7th.

Anyway, just as proof of my nerdiness, it is saturday night at 8:00, and I have been working on this chapter and will be working on it the rest of the night.  I also worked all night friday night (woo hoo!!).  Anyway, I'd better get back to what I was doing.  Hope to see you all soon!!

MVP

I just wanted to brag a little about my 'little' brother Mark. He had a great year in baseball this year, helping his team win the Region and do awesome in the state playoffs. Mark played in three different all-star games (and one other was cancelled) after the season ended, and even had a home run and a double in one of those All-Star games, earning himself the MVP of the game and a sweet trophy. He was also on the Deseret News 4A First Team of All-Stars just recently. He had a .430 batting average (which is incredible), 35 RBI's, and a ton of home runs on the season (the bottom picture is one of those homers against Orem High). Way to go Mark!! We love you!!

Home Alone

Now that Suzana is home, a lot of people have been wondering about what I did while she was gone. Well...I think this about covers it. Enjoy!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Jessandra Wedding

We went to Jesse and Leandra's wedding on saturday in Salt Lake, and it was awesome.  Here are just a few of the pics.  If you want a high quality copy of any of these, just leave a comment or email me, and I'll e-mail you one.

NBA Draft

I think that next wednesday is the last day for college basketball players to declare themselves eligible for the NBA Draft.  So, "I declare myself eligible!!!"

I'm not really planning on the NBA, but if you're the GM of an NBA team, and you make me a good offer, I just might acquiesce.

I'll be posting again for real very soon.

Hilarious!!

You've got to check out the Suzandy Blog--there is a hilarious video on it.  You can't miss it! Click here.  I'll be posting again very soon.

The Truth About Truth Claims

There are those in the world today (and there have always been these people) who claim that there is no such thing as absolute truth. 'What is right for you is right for you, and what is right for me is right for me--all truth is relative', they say. While this claim is self refuting (i.e., if their claim is true, and all truth is relative, then what they just said is only relative, and hence irrelevant and meaningless), it is also untrue. There must be absolute truth. Allow me to explain.
Let us suppose that I come home and find an orange sitting on my kitchen table. This orange was not there when I left, and I really don't know who's it is or how it got there. Lets suppose that I am so concerned about his orange that I call you over to my house to help me investigate this orange, and how it got there. You're happy to come over, and we end up spending the afternoon rubbing our chins, scratching our heads, and pontificating about the origin and destiny of this unexplainable orange on my kitchen table.
Then let's say that you come up with a theory about the orange--that it was placed there by a neighbor of mine who brought it over to our house as a gift. But I'll have nothing of it, and propose a theory of my own: That somehow the orange was brought to us by heaven's divine design, and that the orange should never be eaten, but should be put under a glass case so that people can file by and admire it.
After discussing our theories and failing to come to an agreement about the truth of the orange, you and I decide to invite others over to look at the orange and vote between our theories. Your theory is the overwhelming winner of votes, as the people that we invited considered it the more 'rational' of the two theories. We even perform careful scientific analyses on the orange, and all of the evidence seems to support your neighbor theory. Someone who comes over even reports to have seen someone carrying an orange outside, and walking into my house with it.  All of the evidence points to your theory.  Finally I acquiesce, and admit that I believed your theory was right all along. We have a good laugh about it, and finally you head back home.
Then Suzana comes home, and I explain to her all about the orange, and where it came from. Then she tells me that she brought the orange home from school--that it was given to her by one of her teachers, and she placed it on our kitchen table between classes.

I immediately call you and tell you about what Suzana told me, and you believe that what Suzana said was true.  We then call everyone who helped to decide on the truthfulness of your theory, to let them know what really happened.  None of them believe us though, and continue to believe that one of my neighbors brought us the orange.

This story, while admittedly a little corny,  can help us learn about truth, and the necessity of absolute truth. Although you and I came together and did our best to find out what the truth of what happened was, we were flawed in our methods because we couldn't know the truth until Suzana came home and told us. The orange didn't come from one of my neighbors, it didn't come from the sky, it came from Suzana.  And no matter how much hypothesizing we could ever do, no matter how much evidence points to the contrary, the truth of the matter is that the orange was placed there by Suzana.  And although everyone in the world may believe otherwise, that is not what happened--it is not the truth.  The truth is that Suzana placed it there.

This idea is especially relevant in relating morality to ethics because so many people claim that their own beliefs are what govern them, and that their concept of 'true' is independent of whatever truth may be, so they can do what they want. This form of retreating back to egoism is dangerous, and is at the heart of some political platforms.

My point is this: Truth of necessity must be absolute.  There cannot be "what's true for me and what's true for you."  There can only be one truth of the matter.

This idea will be especially important for my next post about evolution and its implications.

A Thought About Thinking

Not long ago I was at my sister-in-law Stacia's house, and we were talking about a few different things that have been going on lately in the family, world, etc, etc. She said something very interesting that I have been thinking about ever since. She said: "Isn't it funny that we never speak up about anything unless we're against it? No one really ever speaks up about an issue unless they have a problem with it, and its kind of sad that rarely do we hear what people think--we only hear about what they don't think."
I have been thinking a lot about that lately, and I think she's right. At least from my own part, I rarely let people know about how I feel about things--regardless of whether I agree or disagree. So I am going to use this as a means to periodically say what I think about certain issues, and just share my opinion--even if no one acually reads it anyway :-)
Its just like Eddie Vedder once said: "If you donn't stand for something, you'll fall for everything." I'm not the most articulate person in the world, but I hope some of my thoughts may be enough to at least get us to think a little bit more about some things.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Hey everybody. I wanted to post something for Saint Patrick's Day--so here is a great movie from Who's Line is it Anyway. I love the song and think it's great. I hope you like it too. Just don't pay too much attention to the part after the commercial break is all. Enjoy!!

Captain James T. Kirk

As you all may know, I am NOT a "trekkie" (a Star Trek fan), but I saw this poster on the outside of a physics professor's door at BYU, and I think it is hilarious. I hope one day I'll also have a sound of being awesome.

Soldier Hollow

Two weeks ago Suzana and I were able to go tubing at Soldier Hollow with my work. It was really fun to be with everyone, and for those who have never been before, we had a really fun time tubing down the HUGE tubing hills they have there. If anybody remembers, Soldier Hollow is where they had the cross country skiing and biathlon events. Well, they still do cross country skiing there, but they've converted a section of it into a huge tubing area. You get to ride a little tow rope on the way up, so you don't have to climb up the hill, and then there are HUGE tubing lanes to go down. (I have video of Suzana and I going down together, but I can't upload it to YouTube and I don't know why. Has anybody done it that might know?? It is about 50MB, is that too large??) Anyway, here are a few pics in the meantime until I get this video thing figured out. Enjoy!!

My Valentine

I just wanted to make a special Valentine's Day post about my Valentine Suzana. Suzana and I have now known each other for over 5 years now--ever since my senior year of high school--and we have been best friends ever since. I fell in love with her quickly, but my love for her has only grown as these years have gone by. I can't even begin to express how deeply she's changed me for the better, and I truly couldn't imagine what my life would be without her. She is always so patient with me (even when I do dumb things), and she constantly is inspiring me to be better--even though she doesn't realize it. I could't imagine anything better, and I feel so lucky to have her. She truly is the girl of my dreams.
I am especially grateful that she took a terrible chance on me by marrying me. But she has made me the happiest fella in the world. :-) I hope that I can make every day a dream come true for her, like it is for me.
So, Suzana-banana, I just wanted to write this little post to tell you that I love you, that you are everything to me, and that you are everything that I could ever hope for. Thanks for being the best wife in the world. I love you very much, and Happy Valentine's Day!!

Macbook Air's Thin Obsession

I'm back!! It's been forever since I have updated my blog. I hope that people still check it. As many of you know, Apple recently came out with the new Macbook Air laptop--the ultra thin, ultra chic next generation notebook. This video is a hilarious parody on what other laptops must feel when they see this new, thinner Macbook. Enjoy!!