tampa tales 2007

lamest pick-up line: "You wanna be my mentor?"

stupidest thing I did in Tampa: Rode home in a car from Clearwater Beach to Tampa knowing the driver had had a cocktail and 2 to 3 beers at dinner.

most random experience: Over the past two years I have traveled to several conferences across the nation and have probably met someone from every state in the union (I just wanted to say that.) But it is a rare find to meet someone from Utah. It just never happens. This trip, however, was definitely an exception. Not only did I meet one person from UT, but I met about 8 others. And what's more is that probably 6 of them were from the Provo/Orem area. Now how random is that?

"what the..." moment: I haven't watched American Idol since Ruben battled it out with Clay several seasons ago. However with my own personal television in front of me, I thought I would check out what the rest of the world (OK, America) was watching. It was one of those "elimination" episodes so there wasn't much singing, which I was disappointed about, but I stuck it through still the same. It was down to the last 5 minutes and Ryan Seacrest had Chris and Blake on the stage. Like usual, he was keeping the audience in suspense and was dragging it out. Then just as he was about to let us know who was being sent home ALL of the TVs on the plane went blank. Almost everyone on the plane went "OH!" or "What the..." and I just had to laugh. I knew exactly what they were watching and why the outcry. Luckily, the TV was dark for less than 30 seconds and we were still able to see that it was Chris that went home. Then just as he was singing his farewell song, the captain, bless his heart, began his slew of final announcements. It seemed as if he was taking his sweet time; which under any other circumstance, I wouldn't have minded--but this was one of the only performances of the evening! Suddenly, I remembered why I didn't watch TV....oh, and I don't have cable.

tampa tales 2006

So I just got back from a work conference in Tampa. All in all, it came and went by way too fast. I didn't have as much opportunity to explore this time as I did last time. But circumstances were slightly different. Because this story has become famous in many circles, I will let you all in on the events of my frist Tampa experience.

Last year, our Regional Conference for the DOE Mentoring Grant was held in Tampa, FL. I had never been to Florida....except for a layover so I was pretty excited. Although the last layover I had there, I had to comfort a woman and her two kids who had just returned from Costa Rica from a family vacation where her husband had died in a freak accident. That was not pleasant at all and still think about her to this day....

Anyway, one participant, who happend to be from NYC and who happened to be in my shuttle from the airport to the hotel, arranged a harbor cruise. Not the kind that the stake offers and traps you for three hours, but rather a Dolphin watching cruise, lasting only two. Needless to say, I signed up. As the conference got under way, we all ran into each other (the cruise participants) at different workshops and such and began to "bond".

Nothing could really prepare us, however, for the kind of bonding that we would soon experience. We started on our journey, excited to be outside and on the water. The weather was beautiful and we were among "friends". We saw lots of beautiful birds, but from a distance. They were part of a conservation habitat so we couldn't get too close. Still no dolphins. The tour guide was really knowledable and we could ask her anything and she usually had a response. But other than bouys and birds, we didn't see much of anything else. Disappointment set in as we reached our halfway mark and began our journey back to the harbor. No dolphins, what a pity. Then suddenly, as if right on cue, we saw two dolphins rise to the surface, come up for air, and then dart back into the water. They may have done it one more time, but I was fumbling for my camera and didn't see it.

Still hoping to see more dolphins we all kept our eyes peeled for another sighting. Again, all we saw were waves lapping against the boat and bouys floating in the distance. When we were about 30 minutes from the harbor, I looked over the side of the boat and saw a weird looking bouy. I looked a little closer and it registered as one of those blow up dolls that people use for pranks and such. But then I looked a little bit closer and realized that it was a person...a dead person at that. Several of us yelled at the same time to stop the boat. My first instinct was to hide. I hate death. So I made my way to the opposite side of the boat.

The captain immediately stopped the boat, but left one of the engines running. He called for the police, the coast guard, etc. He couldn't reach a single person. Several of us with cell phones made calls as well, but to no avail. No one was hearing our "may day". Then to our dismay, the body started to drift towards the boat. The engine that was still running, was pulling it under. The captain turned off the engine, jumped down from his elevated post and grabbed a long spearlike stick and began to push the body away. Quite frankly, I was afraid the body would pop, it looked so bloated. Luckily it didn't.

As we had just stumbled upon the "scene of a crime" the captain informed us that we needed to stay put until help arrived. And because he didn't want the body to drift any longer, we had to bring the body on board. Luckily, there were lots of people who weren't as squeemish as I. They stepped up to the plate and became the heros of the evening. A few passengers, along with the captain, pulled the bloated and discolored body out of the water and onto the back of the boat. I couldn't bring myself to watch this part. And to this day, I am really glad that I did. I have the most terrible memory for grotesque looking things....meaning, I will remember them forever.

And then the plot thickens. As the body was pulled from the water, they discovered that the man had shackles around his ankles. Immediately, we all assumed foul play and began to speculate how and why and where. Had this been a How to Host A Murder party, this might have been fun. But I couldn't shake the image of this poor man's bloated legs hanging off the end of the platform in the back. I could see the shackles and I could even see the hair on his legs. One more image that I cannot seem to erase.

The night ensued and so did darkness. We still hadn't been able to reach the police or the coast guard and so we just sat there, in the darkness, drifting in the ocean, among "stangers" with a deadbody on board...which happened to be next to the restrooms.

Finally, after about an hour of darkness, the police arrived. They had the awful task of transferring the body from our boat into theirs and securing it in a body bag. Again, I can't understand why I didn't turn away. I saw the whole thing. The ride back to the harbor was eerily silent.

Upon arrival at the dock, right outside our hotel, we weren't allowed to disembark. We all had to write down our personal information and were forced to stay on the boat until the list was completed in its entirety. We then exited the boat one by one and were immediately sent to 1 of 7 police officers for a brief interrogation. I wanted to really be interrogated like they did in the movies, but my questions were really simple and I didn't get anything interesting. I didn't even get to speculate what I thought had happened. Rather disappointing.

By that time several local news stations had acended upon our hotel. Bright lights, camerman and ladies in short business suits were anxiously awaiting an interview with a few of us. Me and my new friend Rene were interviewed. Rene went first and then I followed. We all decided to get dinner/drinks...well, I didn't drink, at the hotel restaurant. Conversation was a bit subdued and I don't think that any of us really ate that much. But it was good to be together. I don't think that any of us wanted to be alone. We then all gathered around the tv to watch our news debut. We ordered Death by Chocolate and it was absolutely heavenly (no pun intended).

The next few days we followed the news and little information had been discovered before we left. A few weeks later, someone in the group sent us all an email about an article that ran in one of the Tampa papers. The police had ruled it as a suicide. Apparently, they had found his abandoned car and a suicide note. I'm still a little suspicious if you ask me. But that was my first Tampa/Dolphin Watching experience. Yes, it was eventful, but not the kind of eventful that I was expecting...

bears, beets, battlestar galactica

Oh, how I LOVE The Office!

"Identity theft is not a joke Jim! Millions of families suffer every year!"

dad

For the last week or so, memories of my Dad have been floating around in my mind. Some come from triggers, others just as randomly as the weather here--but memories still the same. Sometimes the ache is intense, causing me to loose my train of thought or forcing me to pause. Other times it is fleeting and distraction takes me away.

I constantly struggle with "what if's" and "should have's" but know that I should not. They are pointless and counterproductive. But I still think them.

I just realized, as I am typing this, that I have no digital photos of my dad. Suddenly digital photos seem so impersonal. Maybe I'm trying to fool myself into believing that they are impersonal. It distances me from the distance that separates me and my dad; a coping mechanism, if you will. The last picture I have of him is over 7 years old. Seven years is a long time...too long, sometimes. And I have years and years ahead of me. Eternity seems a long way off.

There are a lot of things that I don't understand about life. There are a lot of things that I don't understand about my life. But I am grateful for the gospel and for the knowledge that it provides...especially the promise of eternal families. That should really suffice, right? Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn't. Luckily, my testimony, no matter how strong or weak, always prevails.

patty griffin

I am a new fan of Patty Griffin. I just went to her concert last week at the Beacon Theater and I had such a great time! I loved her voice! I loved her songs! I loved how everyone on stage was having so much fun. I was envious and inspired at the same time. Hillary was nice enough to invite me when her sister couldn't make the show. And boy am I glad!

http://www.pattygriffin.com/site.php?content=music

During the show the following thoughts kept running through my mind:

1. I want to be a singer/songwriter/performer too!
2. I love her bright red hair! I want to do something dramatic to mine.
3. See, you are not the only one to think of depressing lyrics/poems/writings...

And so I left with the following resolutions:

1. (a) I am going to buy a stand for my guitar so that I will see it and think to play.
(b) I am going to try my hand at writing lyrics...music will come after...way after.
(c) I need to sing more often--not just in the shower, while on the computer, or when washing the dishes.
2. I will settle for a trim.
3. I will try to see and understand the other side.