5 People I'd Really Like to Meet

I've decided to continue with my 5 things theme from last Saturday and talk about 5 people I'd really like to meet. My criteria for this week is that the individuals are living, that they should be notable for some type of acheivement, and I wanted to pick people from a variety of categories (religious, politics, etc). So here's my list in no particular order:

Sports: If I could meet one person who's been involved in sports it would be John Wooden. I am so impressed with his huge achievements on the court, but even more impressed with his philosophies off the court. My favorite aspect of Coach Wooden are the impressive quotes I've read attributed to him. He has an incredible outlook on what's important - basketball is not important.

Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.

I can't imagine anyone who has gotten more out of the people he worked with than Coach Wooden. I would love to spend time around this great man.

Politics: I know that this won't be very popular, but I would love to meet Bill Clinton. I can't think of anyone else who has the ability to enter a room and immediately command everyone's attention like the former president. Even though he is a man with many character flaws and personal demons, I believe that his sincerest desire is to help people. Over the past month or so I've been listening to Clinton's book called Giving. It's been an incredible experience to listen to so many inspiring stories about how people can help one another. I truly believe that he's one of the people in this world who is trying to use his celebrity to help others.

Entertainment: Speaking of who uses his celebrity to help others, I would really like to meet Bono. U2 has to be the band of my generation and Bono is certainly the driving force. For so long U2 has been a band with a message, with Bono being the voice of that message. In the past decade Bono has done so much to try and alleviate suffering in the poorest countries in the world, it is truly inspiring. Not only he is a great humanitarian, but he is the lead singer of the coolest band of the past twenty years. It's good to be Bono and it would be fun to meet him.

Religion: How often do you read that two 90 year olds make someone's have to meet list, but how can you not include President Hinckley on a this list? President Hinckley is such an amazing man. He continues to lead the Church and inspire millions when most people his age are in nursing homes. I admire his moral direction and the witness he bares of his convictions. I appreciate his sense of humor, while he takes his calling seriously, he doesn't take himself too seriously. I know that's he's a man of God and my life has been blessed by listening to his counsel. I've been close to the prophet several times (in very large rooms), but haven't had the chance to meet him. I would love that chance.

Literature: This is the most obscure pick on my list, but I would love to meet Malcolm Gladwell. He is the author of two of my favorite books, The Tipping Point and Blink. Each of these books investigates how little things in our culture or within ourselves can make big differences in the world around. I love Gladwell's writing, as he can talk about deep subjects in a very down to earth manner. I have also enjoyed learning more about his personal interests,and he seems just as interested in basketball as he is in global change. He is truly a fascinating person and I would love to pick his brain.

Well, there you go. 5 people I'd really like to meet? How about you, who's on your list?

Who Needs Mommy?

All week long Tara has been running the Region volleyball tournament as part of her calling. As you can imagine we've needed a lot of help watching the kids. The Houtz and Covili clans have both stepped to the plate and taken turns each day or night that we've both been gone (thank you, thank you, thank you). Last night was my first chance to hang out with the kids - alone. Normally when this happens all I hear for the better part of the evening is: Where's Mommy? I was determined this would not be the case last night.

So, we started out by playing in the kids' room. Our usual routine is that I lay on the ground as Kennedy and Alex both take turns jumping on me. Since I've been a human jungle gym for most of my life this isn't anything new. Although, I can feel a few of those jumps a lot more than I used to...Ouch!

After a while we took our act downstairs and watched a bit of Monster's Inc. I guess I should say that Kennedy watched Monster's Inc. while I chased Alex around the room. That kid shows no interest in watching TV. I shouldn't complain about that fact, but it would be nice if we would stop moving for about 10 minutes once in a while.

I couldn't believe it, but around 7:30 Alex stared fussing like he was ready to go to bed. He's been a bit sick lately, so I'm sure he was worn out and ready for nite-nite. A quick change into jammies, a little bottle, and one child was down for the night.

My second fortune game when Kennedy also wanted to go to bed about 15 minutes later. We read a couple of stories, changing into her "bunny", and prepared to say prayers and brush teeth. Only one problem, within one minute of putting Kennedy into a diaper for the night she prompted declared, "I peed in my diaper." We're still not quite there with the potty training yet. We quickly changed the wet, put on the dry and the kids were both in bed by 8:00.

I was feeling pretty proud of myself as I sat down to watch some TV (The Office was just starting). I thought I would make it for the rest of the evening as Super Dad, and I was almost there, until Alex started to cry right as Tara walked through the door. So who needs Mommy? I do.

Flashback: 1977

I don't normally like to include emails I receive in the blog, but this was too good to pass up.


Last weekend I put an exhaust fan in the ceiling for my wife's grandfather. While my wife's brother and I were fitting the fan in between the joists, we found something under the insulation. What we found was this:


A JC Penney catalog from 1977. It's not often blog fodder just falls in my lap, but holy hell this was two solid inches of it, right there for the taking. I thumbed through it quickly and found my next dining room set, which is apparently made by adding upholstery to old barrels:



Also, I am totally getting this for my bathroom:


There's plenty more home furnishings where those came from, however I'm not going to bore you with that. Instead, I'm going to bore you with something else. The clothes.
The clothes are fantastic.

Here's how to get your a** kicked in elementary school:


Just look at that belt. It's like a boob-job for your pants. He probably needed help just to lift it into place. The belt loops have to be three inches long. And way to pull them up to your armpits, grandpa.

Here's how to get your a** kicked in high school:


This kid looks like he's pretending to be David Soul, who is pretending to be a cop who is pretending to be a pimp that everyone knows is really an undercover cop. Who is pretending to be 15.

Here's how to get your a** kicked on the golf course:


This "all purpose jumpsuit" is, according to the description, equally appropriate for playing golf or simply relaxing around the house. Personally, I can't see wearing this unless you happen to be relaxing around your cell in D-block . Even then, the only reason you should put this thing on is because the warden made you, and as a one-piece, it's slightly more effective as a deterrent against 'prison love'.

Here's how to get your a** kicked pretty much anywhere:

If you look at that picture quickly, it looks like Mr. Bob "No-pants" Saget has his hand in the other guy's pocket. In this case, he doesn't, although you can tell just by looking at them that it's happened - or if it hasn't happened it will. Oh yes. It will. As soon as he puts down his matching coffee cup.

Here's how to get your a** kicked at the beach:

He looks like he's reaching for a gun, but you know it's probably just a bottle of suntan lotion in a holster.

How to get your a** kicked in a meeting:

If you wear this suit and don't sell used cars for a living, I believe you can be fined and face serious repercussions, up to and including termination. Or imprisonment, in which case you'd be forced to wear that orange jumpsuit.

How to get your a** kicked on every day up to and including St. Patrick's Day:

Dear god in heaven, I don't believe that color exists in nature. There is NO excuse for wearing either of these ensembles unless you're working as a body guard for the Lucky Charms leprechaun.

In this next one, Your Search For VALUE Ends at Penneys.

As does your search for chest hair.

And this -- Seriously. No words.

Oh wait, it turns out that there are words after all. Those words are What. The. F***. I'm guessing the snap front gives you quick access to the chest hair. The little tie must be the pull tab.

Also, judging by the sheer amount of matching his/hers outfits, I'm guessing that in 1977 it was considered pretty stylish for couples to dress alike. These couples look happy, don't they?


I am especially fond of this one, which I have entitled "Cowboy Chachi Loves You Best."



And nothing showcases your everlasting love more than the commitment of matching bathing suits. That, and a blonde girl with a look on her face that says "I love the way your junk fights against that fabric."

Then, after the lovin', you can relax in your one-piece matching terry cloth jumpsuits:

I could go on, but I'm tired, and my eyes hurt from this trip back in time. I think it's the colors.

That said, I will leave you with these tasteful little numbers:

Man, that's sexy.

Maybe I laughed so hard because some of these looks were a little close to home. I remember a family photo were Jason and I were wearing those green leisure suits.

Utah Fails IQ Test

So the results came in yesterday and the people's voice was heard. Vouchers lost with 62 percent of the vote in opposition to the controversial referendum. I found it interesting that the most outspoken person from last night's election was Patrick Byrne, Overstock.com CEO. I can't believe some of the crap he came out with last night. Take a look for yourself.

From the Salt Lake Tribune
Voucher supporter Overstock.com chief executive Patrick Byrne - who bankrolled the voucher effort - called the referendum a "statewide IQ test" that Utahns failed.

"They don't care enough about their kids. They care an awful lot about this system, this bureaucracy, but they don't care enough about their kids to think outside the box," Byrne said.

From the Deseret News
"I'm ashamed of Utah that this could even be a close vote," said Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, who has donated millions of dollars to support vouchers. "This is parents looking at their kids getting a third-rate education and other kids getting basically a death sentence and saying, 'That's OK by me."

Just so you know, I'll never shop at Overstock.com again.

Lost in the all the school voucher debate was another local vote to disband the Jordan School District into two separate districts: East side and West side. There's one big problem with yesterday's vote, only the East side got to vote. Naturally, they chose to disband the district and let the West side deal with their own building and growth.

I can't believe how elitist the East side of the valley has become. Rather than recognizing that all areas have population peaks and valleys, they've decided that since their kids are grown up, let the West side family pay for their kids to go to school. I don't know what this is going to mean to all my friends who teach in the defunct Jordan School District, but I think this is a real black mark on our community.

I Voted, Barely

Even though it was a very lean year for local elections, there was only two things to vote on for residents of Holladay, I was determined to get out and vote against school vouchers. I had a fairly limited window of time to vote before I had to go to Bishopric Meeting tonight. Of course, everything worked against me casting my ballot.

Taking the bus home was another one of those kinds of bus trips. The bus arrived 15 minutes late and it seemed like every stop slowed our progress. I was about 5 minutes from the polling place when the bus inexplicably stoppped. It appears that a passenger boarded the bus and needed the driver to help him figure out his trip. Ninety percent of the drivers would tell this guy that it's his problem, but my driver stopped the bus, pulled out her schedules, and spent about 10 minutes helping the guy to find his way. I can't believe I'm complaining about a caring bus driver, but we were already late and we were getting later by the minute.

I ran into the elementary school and entered the polling room...and stood in a twenty person line. The lines were divided according to the alphabet A-M in one line, N-Z in the other. There was one person in the other line, as I stood and waited for my fellow A-M voters. About 15 minutes lated I finally got my voting card and cast my two votes. It may have been at the last moment, but I Voted!