Sunday, June 22, 2014

I've Graduated!!!


Observe, my victory pose:

I walked out of the testing center after taking my last final, ever! During my victory march when leaving the testing center, I decided to walk along the beautiful vegetated trail on the south side of campus. I took this photo there, despite the small group of people standing nearby staring at me. (June 18, 2014)
I have officially graduated from Brigham Young University with a B.S. in Computer Science and an Associates in Management. My first semester was Winter, 2009, totaling about 5 1/2 years of studying.

Me just before going in to take my last final.
After leaving the testing center one last time, I decided I would walk around in order to reflect the countless emotions I've felt at various parts of campus. While doing so, I walked through my favorite part of campus, the trail on the south part of campus which is filled with beautiful vegetation (see victory pose photo).

There are very few people on this trail at any given time. I used to spend a lot of time walking here during school. Whether I just needed time to unwind, time to see the sun, a moment to prepare for a test, a quick stroll to relax after a test, or just a casual walk to celebrate turning in a big project, this trail was always there for me.

So what's next? I have a job and start pretty soon. I'm pretty excited about this next chapter of my life.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Free Time

I'm taking one class this term. My last class of my undergrad career. Music 202. Beethoven was the man.

My class is held but twice a week and I have little to no homework. Thus I have a lot of free time. What do I do with that free time? I shall tell you.

Music
    I've been writing, transcribing, arranging, covering, recording, mixing, and mastering.

    I'm trying to get better at arranging music, so what better than a super short primary song to arrange? While I'm not a fan a belting out names of deity, this clip shows kind of my style when arranging strictly four voices.

    Now here's a short song some friends and I made on the spot. We were just goofing around and having fun. Each of us only did one take in front of the mic, hence its random lyrics, harmonies, and rhythms.
    Now here is the song I released this past week on my YouTube channel. It's a song I've loved since high school. I wrote a brief blog about it here.

Play
    I've been hanging out with my awesome mom!


    I've been going to Seven Peaks water park a bit.





    Google Plus has been making these videos automatically when my phone automatically uploads its pictures and videos. They're kind of fun.


    And then I went to an art museum with my friend. It was edifying.

This statue was scalding hot.
    I've been trying to make DDR cool again.
      I've been putting forth effort to get more involved in my ward. It's been a lot of fun and very rewarding. Here I am with my Elders Quorum President, who is also my home teaching companion. I also home teach one of the girls. 


I love this picture. What's on the screen and our facial expressions say it all hahaha!!!

    Here is another video Google Plus made for me.

    I've been making a Mormon themed game for Android with my best buddy Nozomi.

    We got trapped in an elevator.
    We made a camp fire in Provo Canyon.
    After we took the bottom picture you see here, a raccoon came and took the entire bag of hot dog buns we had on our table. My phone/camera was still propped up on the table at the time, but I really wanted to video the little dude! I slowly crept towards the table/raccoon to get my phone, but it quickly grabbed what it wanted and ran away. It would have been a hilarious video.

Tyrells face is black for some reason hehe.
    I escorted my friend Tyrell as he purchased a new car.





That's pretty much all that's been going on. Things are pretty dang chill at the moment. I'm trying to make the best of these last moments here in Utah and I'm definitely going to be missing a lot of people, but I'm extremely excited for what's to come. :)

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Will I? (song/video) -- Another Song That's Helped Me Through

I remember the first time I heard this song. One day during my high school years I was sitting on a couch at my mom's house watching a movie that featured this song. My buddy Colten was on the couch next to me. After the song finished I said out loud, "That was amazing." To which Colten responded, "Yeah it was."

I've loved the song ever since.



As I was living in my confused state of not being consciously gay, love songs never spoke to me. Instead, only music that held particularly beautiful harmonies, obscure dissonance, or a special personal meaning to me made it onto my playlist. This song was one of them.

Even though I'm now in a very good place, I still hold strong to the music that helped me through the years. The music I've been writing, recording, and covering still has a bit of a downcast feel to it despite me having moved on from those rougher times. I've discovered that expressing to you such deep parts of my life through the songs that gave me strength has had a liberating effect of me. Each song is a journal entry and I need to write them down, or rather, sing them for you.