Random Pics 3-13-10

Some pics in commemoration of the first week of Finer Things Friday (which is a lunch group my friends and I plan on having every week at a culturally rich location) that was held at the Museum of Art at BYU and a couple from my time in Brazil which was referenced in my last blog.

Here we have a state of the art power outlet... very artsy!

Me and my Chevy. Yeah, that's a Chevy hood ornament.

I don't really have much to add to this picture other than mention that there was a mural on the wall of the bar that was pretty funny.

Artur (The Bookstore)

Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE fiction books. I have traditionally claimed The Hobbit as being my favorite book; however, it is probably more accurate to say that the Ender’s Game series has now become my favorite set of books. I get so into them that I finished three of those books during last Fall’s finals week at school and finished a fourth over Christmas break.

This week I finished the first of the Halo books. No, I’ve never really played the game much, but I love stories like that and I thought I’d give it a shot. I loved it. There are two other books in the series I’m anxious to read, but BYU’s bookstore conveniently doesn’t carry the next two books! Who does that? That’s like a crack dealer that only sells to you once! Anyway, it’s not that important.

One series I always wanted to read was the Chronicles of Narnia series. That’s what this blog is about. It also involves my old Brazilian roommate Artur. I was reminded of the story this evening as I was with my friend Jesse and we were relating some of the ludicrous stories we have involving Artur. Just for the record, though this and any following Artur chronicles feature a crazy Brazilian, let it be known that I love Brazilians in general, lived in Brazil for two years as an LDS missionary, made great friends there, and I have been fan of their national team for about 15 years. But I digress…

One afternoon, my old roommate and great friend Jesse and I were in our room after school. Jesse was probably studying in his bed and I was most likely playing NBA Live ’99 for N64 on my computer’s emulator while listening to Jock Jams as I usually did. That’s when, also as usual, our beloved roommate Artur entered the room swiftly and quietly without necessarily being invited in. He had been roaming the streets of Provo that afternoon, yet again as usual.

He started to tell us of his exploits as we tried our best to ignore him and make him feel as unwanted as his presence in our room was. Then, he said some something that caught my ear. Artur had been to a used bookstore on Center St. of Provo and purchased a collection of the Narnia books for about $5 or $6! As I said before, I had been interested in reading them and this sounded like a sweet deal to me.

Jesse recognized my excitement and interest and offered to give me a ride to the bookstore so I could purchase my own copy. Artur said he would come along and show us where he got it. I was incredible excited for the Narnia books and whatever other treasures the store might hold in store. I was practically bouncing up and down in the car and babbling on incoherently about books I had recently finished.

When we got to the store, I sprinted inside and began searching for the book I desired. I found what seemed to be the right shelf and searched it extensively. I found Lord of the Rings (which I already had), books by Orson Scott Card, and single Narnia series books. I couldn’t find the one I wanted though! T

That is when Artur strolled up behind me, after what seemed like an eternity of searching by myself for the book I wanted, to show me where he found it just an hour before. He walked right up to me, pointed to shelf on the stand I was looking at, and said in his accented English, “Dis is where I godit, it was di last one!”

… There was an awkward silence. Jesse and I looked at each other in shock, but not disbelief… well, we couldn’t believe that it happened, but we believed that if a situation like this were to happen, Artur would be responsible for it. One of us began to ask, “Wait, if you got the last one… why wouldn’t you say…” whoever, it was that started to ask that realized how pointless the question was. There wasn’t a good answer for that question. We stared at each other and tried to contain our laughter. I knew it was too good to be true.

We tried to salvage our trip by looking at the other books, but nothing caught our eyes. We settled on making fun of obscure sci-fi book titles and plot lines… which is always fun… but not as fun as reading the back of romance novels. To this day, I’ve never read the Chronicles of Narnia series. I almost feel like it wasn’t meant to be. I did get a fun story out of that experience though!

Random Pics 3-11-10

The first in a series of posts with random pics I've taken.

Yes, that is a Joseph Smith Sphinx. Only in Utah!

Better watch your kids at this restaurant!

No Walking on Water?

The Cougareat Adventures (Teriyaki Stix)

This has been an extremely sad week for me. My life changed forever on Monday around 11:00 am. I approached the counter of the restaurant Teriyaki Stix in the Cougareat only to find that they had changed their menu and no longer offered the meal that I have been eating everyday for the past few months. They no longer offer “Noodles.” Noticing the item’s absence on the new menu, I asked the cashier to confirm my greatest fear. She did so and I began to walk away defeated. That’s when a large man, who appeared to be a manager at Cougareat, who just got done ordering in front of me said, “But they have noodles. They have Chow Mein now!” It was a slap to the face! Baffled, I starred right back at him with what have must been the most disgusted look and said, “But they don’t have ‘noodles’ anymore!” All physical evidence pointed that this man knew his food, but apparently not. For the record, chow mein and the normal noodles formally offered at the food chain are VASTLY different!

Anyway, this is just one of the few marking experiences I’ve had with relation to Teriyaki Stix and it reminds me of an interesting series of events that occurred there about 2 years ago…

I wasn’t accustomed to eating at the restaurant, but for some reason I was craving Orange Chicken that day. I got in line and waited my turn. I had no idea the mystery that would unfold before me because of my decision to dine there that day. When I received my order, I noticed that the bottom of my bowl had a strange surface. It felt grainy. When I got back to my table with my friends, I looked under the bowl and found a small note: Have a great day ;)

I wasn’t sure how to feel about it at first. I guess I thought it was cool since it was the only thing other than the vending machine that I purchased Mike n’ Ikes from that told me to have a great day. So, I discarded the note and forgot about the incident until the next day.

I guess I liked the Orange Chicken because I found myself going back for more the same day. Things were pretty much the same as I ordered except the cashier seemed especially chipper and said that I could get free veggies on top if I so desired. I so desired. When I received my meal, I discovered an amazing piece of art. The cook had placed the veggies into a smiley face on top of my food. It was pretty cool!

I looked around to see if he did the same to the other orders before and after me. The cook hadn’t. That was strange to me. I got lucky I guess. I showed my friends back at my table and we started talking about it. Somehow, we came to a comical conclusion that the cook liked me since they gave me a note the day before and arranged my veggies in a special way that day. We laughed and I decided I would get my lunch there the next day to see if the cook was cute and maybe I’d slip her a note too.

The next day came and I returned and ordered the usual. At first, I forgot to check to see if the cook was cute. Then I felt a note under my bowl again and peered through the window to the back to see who this admirer was. I met a pair of eyes. Eyes that were bushy. Eyes with very defined bones outlining them. These eyes were man eyes! It was a dude! All the cooks were dudes!

I frantically looked around to see if others received such notes with their meals. They didn’t. I had been singled out… by a man… a man who liked to single out other men! I briskly returned to my seat and related my horrifying findings to my friends. They all laughed at my plight. But I was determined to set things straight… well, not necessarily the guy, but the situation.

However, when I returned to Teriyaki Stix the next day, the cook was nowhere to be found. Perhaps it was his day off, I thought. But, after that day, I never saw him again. To this day, my friends and I joke about this situation and say he got fired for flirting with his male coworkers. But, the mystery of the Teriyaki Stix cook will forever go unsolved.