The Wild Side of Chicago

Up until last night the only raccoons I'd ever seen were road kill in the "suburbia" of Chicago. I'd seen a couple of possums running across the road, and I even saw a coyote earlier in the week. Squirrels are everywhere anyway, and there are enough rabbits that I wonder if they have any predators. But the raccoons, they had been eluding me. That is, until about 7:30pm last night. I was walking down Shady Ln when I spotted the furry masked bandit. It stopped dead in its tracks, turned, and stared at me with its back arched in a defensive cat-like pose. So that was another first for me. First actual raccoon sighting, cool huh? On the drive home that night we saw a rather large coyote near the road. Coyote number 2. The rabbits do have predators it appears.

Toll Roads

Toll roads. Whose idea was it to make toll roads? Maybe I'll look it up (which means I most likely won't). They aren't maintained any better than the other interstates so why do I have to pay to use it? I'm sure there's a good reason behind it that I don't understand, but for now the tolls are something that I'm going to choose to not like. (Although, I will confess that I like slam dunking the coins into the little baskets at the unattended toll stations.)

Today while I was knocking doors I wrote this short poem about toll booths (based on true events that occurred this morning).

THE TOLL
Toll booth, next right.
The quarters in my hand,
The basket in sight.
The left hand toss,
The coins take flight.
One misses the mark,
!?:P - oh well,
I'll pay online tonight.

Linger Longer

There's a pot luck dinner every third Sunday after church in my singles ward. The Linger Longer they call it. I signed up to bring vanilla pudding, because I have a big can of instant vanilla pudding mix. Of course I didn't remember that I needed to make the pudding until right before we were about to leave for church so I had to do it quick (in an instant just like it was intended to be made). I made it in a big pot stirring it with a little spoon, which wasn't very effective, but we just don't have all the things I'd like to have in the kitchen. Basically it was still really lumpy as I was running out the door.

I recently received a calling in the ward to a committee that is in charge of the set up and take down for the Linger Longer. While I was setting up I overheard the sister that was putting the desserts out say that she wasn't sure if my pudding was a dessert or not. I'm not sure whether that was because my pudding didn't look like pudding, or the oven pot it was in made her second guess herself.
As my roommates Chris, Josh, and myself approached the dessert table at the Linger Longer my pudding had still been left untouched. Chris and Josh both said they'd pass, and I told them I'd just take the left overs home and eat it later. Just then, one guy at the dessert table asked one of the sisters that was helping serve what my pudding was. I kept my mouth shut and continued to watch. She responded that it was home-made tapioca pudding, and the guy proceeded to scoop some onto his plate. Well that one comment, as untrue as it was, had a snowball effect and before long my lumpy vanilla pudding went from untouched to cleaned out.
The pudding was an unsuspecting success that I think I'll bring again to the next Linger Longer, but if anyone asks it's tapioca.

I got the Bird...

...or the bird got me I should say. Yesterday I extended my hand to give this guy a paper to fill out, and plop! a bird doo-dooed right on my arm. It was rather messy and embarrassing. I didn't know if he had seen it happen or not so I wasn't sure if I should say anything. Then there was an awkward silence... and I realized that of course he had seen it so I said, "Wow, it looks like I just got pooped on. Hmmm, do you think I could borrow a tissue or something?" The man was locked out of his house so I couldn't go in and wash my arm off, but he was kind enough to let me use the hose. Anyway, the experience reminds me of a little video I made back in high school as an opener for the school news, X-Works. I dedicate this one to the bird that got me yesterday:

Grace and Works

I'm not a poet, but I do like poetry. However, during the sacrament today at church I felt the inclination to put my thoughts about the atonement down in verse. I've been reading Paul's epistle to the Romans this past week and thinking often about how grace and works relate to one another. I think a little bit of that made it into the poem that follows. I now share with you my frail attempt at poetry.

As in Adam all men die,
So in Christ shall all men live
Eternally; His grace enough
To lift us up. God's only
Begotten sacrificed for us.

Our gratitude and faith,
How will we show
Unto the Maker
Who loves us so

Tacos or Pizza? That was the Question.

Last Saturday I had a singular dining experience at a pizzeria named Bacci's. I was out knocking doors when the rain started pouring. After getting completely drenched I decided maybe it would be a good time to go get lunch, and hopefully the rain would stop in the meantime. So Jason, Josh and I went driving through Aurora looking for some Mexican food, but parking was scarce so we settled for a little pizzeria that looked tempting. Bacci's Pizzeria was completely vacant when we walked in and the one employee in the joint was sitting watching TV. He didn't seem in any hurry to serve us, in fact I wasn't even sure that he was really working there. After looking at the menu Jason and Josh ordered a jumbo slice and a soda. I opted out and got two hot dogs with fries and a soda. Hot dogs aren't always the best option especially if you're at a place for the first time, but I must have a fair amount of luck because the quality of the hot dogs far exceeded the pizza on this particular occasion. Jason got the worst of it. His pizza was burnt on the bottom and looked like it had been sitting out for a couple of days and then reheated in the microwave. Josh's slice (in the picture above) at least looked like it had been cooked that same day. Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse we tried the soda machine. It must have been broken because it came out with all of the ingredients except the carbonation. Root beer syrup is all I got in my little styrofoam cup. And it came to pass that it was exceedingly sweet unto the taste. Yea verily the flavor packed a powerful punch. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw the expression on Jason's face as he ate his Jumbo slice of pizza, or perhaps it could be better described as a giant saltine cracker with cheese. It really was a comical experience and we all laughed about it (Jason didn't laugh as much, but he did laugh). Moral of the story: if you ever find yourself in Aurora Illinois near Bacci's Pizzeria, walk a little farther down the road and get some Mexican food.

Welcome to the Windy City

Apparently size does matter. That's what I learned from my new roommate Josh Mangelson as we made the approximately 20 hour drive from Utah to Chicago (or Chi-town as you might like to refer to it). I was complaining about the seats in my '92 Corolla that started to make my lower back ache not long after we passed through Rock Springs, but Josh informed me that it couldn't be worse than being 6' 5" and sitting in a car for more than an hour. I'll confess, he had a point. I tried to stop complaining after that (or at least not as loud). Yes, Josh is 6' 5" and his feet do hang off the edge of his bed I've noticed. Yet another reason I don't complain about my height.

Well all the traveling was tedious, and it felt so good to actually arrive in Chicago. I wouldn't recommend traveling through 7 states over a couple of days without stopping to smell the roses, it's rather tiresome. Anyway, we hopped out of our cars at our apartment in Chicago only to find that our keys had somehow been lock in our apartment. The door was supposed to be left open for us but I guess someone had been sent to make a copy of one of the keys, and tested it on our door leaving it locked afterward. What luck! But at least I wasn't sitting in my car still. Now Josh and I were trying to break into our locked apartment so we would have a place to sleep for the night. Ironic, huh? Two guys in Chicago doing security sales trying to break into an apartment through the windows and sliding glass door. Our attempts at forced entry, however, produced no significant results and I was beginning to regret my decision to wear shorts and no jacket. In the end I ended up sleeping on the couch in another apartment until the next morning when someone could come unlock our apartment. No big deal. Experiences to make the journey more interesting, right?
By the way, Chi-town has been windy... in case you were wondering.

Bryce goes to Hawaii

The past two weeks I have been packing, unpacking, packing again, unpacking... only to pack and unpack again and again. After finals finished in Provo I had to quickly move out of my apartment and head home because we had a family vacation planned to Hawaii.
Hawaii was amazing and there are so many things I’d like to say about it. Like the snorkeling, digging holes on the beach, close encounters with sea turtles, attempts at surfing, big waves, the vistas, etc. Instead of elaborating, which I regrettably don’t have the time for, I’ll just post a picture:One day that we were there we went to the house of Ron Artis. His home was... the resurrection city of surfboards. Surfers with broken boards would give their boards to him and he would cut and paint them, and turn those battered boards into art that now decorates his yard and home. While visiting his home we listened to a concert performed by his family. Their music talent was quite remarkable and from what I understand you can look them up on youtube. They dedicate all their music and art to God, and are well aware that family really does come first. And if Scotty B needs any advice about having twelve kids he should just talk to Ron Artis, because yep, count ‘um, he has twelve kids.
Vacations don’t last forever. It’s too bad, but I did have to leave tropical paradise and come home, only to leave again the next day. This time I would be traveling to Chicago to work for the rest of the summer.