Music and Lyrics

Dear Readers, You are important. If you are reading this, is it highly likely that you care about the future of America. I care about the future of America. That is why I care about the officials who run this country and, more importantly, who they are and what they stand for. In my mind, the best leaders are those who don't want to be in their position, but find themselves taking the role because of a lack of good leadership or because they feel it is the right thing to do. Admittedly, that determines my vote sometimes. However, the most ideal situation is when I find a candidate that I can actually support. This doesn't mean that I agree with them on everything. I have never found a candidate that meets that criteria. That is why I will be voting for Evan McMullin in November. Hearing him speak once was enough to catch my attention as a candidate for public office. However, I like to research further into candidates and their campaigns, like every citizen should. ...

Dear Reader, Deck the halls with lots of students! Fa la la la la, la la la...way too many students. Here is your fun fact for the day: the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University becomes one of the busiest places in Utah during December. Students at the University are studying for finals, meeting up with their groups for the final projects and getting those last minute tips from their tutors. They are all in the library. Today I could not find a spot to sit! There is no need to fear, faithful reader. The floor can be a great place to write, as long as there is a wifi connection that provides communication with you. I realized that this Blog was visited for the 8000th time this week. What a great Christmas present! Thanks to my mom for the 7999 visits! Thank you, dear reader, for the 8000th. I figured that between this milestone and the Christmas season, today is a good day to share my view on Christmas and the reason for the season. So go ahead students, take a break fr...

Dear Reader, Today's lyrics come from a song we learned in Elementary school during Halloween. Ever since I can remember, my feelings have been mixed about the holiday that supposedly has to do with death and darkness. However, this year my opinion of Halloween has become more solid. We will see this through a few pictures from the past couple of days. First, on the right, we have Belle from Disney's Beauty and the Beast.  I kid you not, she was reading a book as she was walking across campus. Granted, she was actually studying for a test, but it was very appropriate to see her walking around just like the movie "with her nose stuck in a book." (If memory serves correctly, the book was something about anatomy or physiology). Where else would Belle work  other than a library? Who else did I also run into? Well, check for Belle again! This time she was dressed formally for work. Where does Belle work? In the library, of course! She was very accommodati...

Dear Reader, I ran into Cosmo on the first day of classes. Yes, it's Saturday. Sue me. It just seems like a good idea today to give a quick little update on my life, especially since we are concluding the first week of classes at Brigham Young University. It has been a fun-filled week and it may be on the list of most productive weeks in my life. Whether or not it is actually on that list, I feel fulfilled this week. The Lord has definitely helped get everything done and keep up with my schedule. So, without further delay, here is a summary of the week in no particular order. Classes started! Yay for being back on campus all the time! One of the biggest changes is going from seeing only people in my ward to seeing basically everyone I know on BYU campus. I kid you not: I ran into dozens of people I had not seen for 5 months or more this week. Some had come back from missions, others had transferred to BYU from other schools and still others popped out of the woodwork to ha...

Dear Reader, Today I'm feeling patriotic, but not because of any huge holiday or celebration. Today I experienced a little thing that made me proud to be a citizen of the United States of America: listening to the National Anthem on the Campus of Brigham Young University. This twice daily occurrence is something that I believe should be done at every appropriate opportunity. You see, at BYU there is an American flag outside the administration building that is put up every morning and taken down every evening whilst the "Star-Spangled Banner" is played over loud-speakers across the entire campus. I have walked across campus several times during the evening when they take down the flag, giving me the chance to stop and think about the meaning of our flag. It is rare that I am ever on campus early enough to hear the National Anthem while it is put up, but this morning was different. Whilst running around campus making food deliveries (I started work at 5:45), the regu...

Dear Reader, Dating. Dancing. Dating a dancer. Dancing on a date. Dancing with a dancer on a date in the dance hall that is meant for dating. Ok, that's the last one. Right now I am attending a beginning social dance class and the comparisons between dancing and dating seem never-ending! That is what I want to share with you today: what things I have learned in dancing that can be applied to dating/relationships/marriage. Obviously Dale is not an expert in either of these areas, but hopefully you can get a couple of laughs. Guys should take the lead . It's not illegal for a girl to lead, it just is not very complimenting to the man. In dating, it seems to work out better when the guy is assertive and works hard to take care of the girl. Guys should not try anything the girl doesn't want to do/isn't ready for. In dancing, a really good leader can take a girl through lots of dance steps she doesn't know or is not prepared for. Likewise, a gentleman always ta...

Dear Reader, This is a rare post when I can tell you about music one of my friends wrote. Taylor Miranda, a friend and coworker of mine, got together with her friends and wrote this great song called " Live or Survive " for their song-writing class at Brigham Young University. The thing is, the song is really, REALLY good. So, they decided to make a goal to put said song into the upcoming Hunger Games film, "Mockingjay, Part 2." A phenomenon started. People on Youtube have already started using the song for their video montages of the "Hunger Games" films. They have had their song played on different sites and the group, TREN, has been interviewed by KSL News and highlighted by LDS Living . As of late, they have also made a spot in the Deseret News ! If you don't know a whole lot about the "Hunger Games," the series is a story about a society with a terrible infrastructure and corrupt government that rules with fear. The story de...

Dear Reader, I have been hiding something from you. It is a terrible thing for me to do considering that the thirteenth article of faith from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints states that  "if there is anything virtuous, lovely or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." What I have been keeping from you, loyal reader, is someone who fits all of the above categories. This lovely lady has been one of the biggest occupants of my time lately. Why? Because she is worth the time. Meet McKenzie. She is brilliant, beautiful and very athletic. We have been spending a lot of time together. I may like her...just a little bit. We have been dating for almost a month and the time is well spent. Our conversations are enlightening for both of us and almost always filled with laughter, too (mostly her laughing at how bad my dad jokes are). She is studying Statistics here at Brigham Young University, which she enjoys a lot. She tries to teach me a litt...

Dear Reader,  I am in the process of applying to the Brigham Young University School of Music right now. As part of the application, there are a couple of essays about my motivations for wanting to teach music. I wanted to share my response to this question because I want to make it clear how I feel about music. Just the other day, I was walking down the street with a friend, talking about careers when I realized that I don't talk much about how much I want everyone in the world to be able to participate in music. As an experiment, I started singing. Sure enough, my friend started singing along with me.  With that in mind, here are the question and my response.  An analysis and discussion of your motivation to teach. Why do you want to teach classroom music as a career? The principle reasons for wanting to teach classroom music come from experience both inside the classroom and out. Music educators have so much power to influence the lives of everyon...

Dear Reader, Today I'm experiencing a little bit of writer's block. Thus, Mary Poppin's wise word came to mind: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. She said you will have a lot to say when you summon up that word, right? Well, I know it is a lame excuse for not having much to say, but I'll just go straight to the pictures from this our trip this week. The Brigham Young University Spain group left Spain...to go to Portugal! The following are highlights of our trip, some with explanations, others to be interpreted how you desire. :) We started our trip with a stop in Trujillo, just a short way outside of Badajoz, Spain. It is a nice little town with a castle on top of a hill. We were only there for an hour, but we took lots of good pictures from the top and in the small shops in the main square. I took advantage of being so close to the bell tower and rang it three times. It probably doesn't have the same effect as ringing the bell we saw at the Alhambra en...

Dear Reader, Bonus points go to whoever can name what movie today's song title comes from. Comment below to submit your answers. Today I wanted to give you an update on the great " ALS Ice Bucket Challenge " that is taking the internet by storm. What started as a small campaign to raise awareness and funds for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease) has grown and caused thousands of people to dump ice or ice water over their heads. That is how it works: one person nominates another to the challenge. That nominated person then has 24 hours to either donate $100 to the ALS foundation or have a bucket of ice dumped over their head. I would like to think most people are both accepting the ice bucket challenge and donating to charity. I won't judge, though. With all of this publicity that the ALS campaign has received, it made me think of other fads that people participated in during the 1920s and 1930s. Did you know that people regularly participated...

Dear Reader, Every public transportation system in the world has its own ins and outs. These little tricks and tips are well-known by the locals, especially if public transport is their only means of getting around. I am fascinated by these systems and the people that use them. There are people from many different lifestyles, going to varying events. It is usually a pleasant surprise to find out more about these people after chatting with them for a few moments. This week I have been commuting between Provo and Salt Lake using the UTA Frontrunner, Trax and local buses.  Between these trips and all the time I used the bus system in Chile, I have been chatting and getting to know several people on my trips. Here are just a few of them that have caught my attention. During Education Week at Brigham Young University, I rode a good portion of the way to Salt Lake with a man named Nephi. The conversation started, as it most often does, with questions about the bus routes and...