Youtube Merengue Dog.

So another semester of school started and it is looking like it should be a pretty good semester for me. I have my schedule set in a way where I am excited for my early class and this should help me actually wake up! Who loves getting credit for playing soccer every day? This guy!


Godzi-RR-a!

Also, it has been brought to my attention that I have reached a new peak of nerdery. If anyone has suggestions on spelling of "nerdery" please let me know because spelling and grammar are not high on my skills list. But Spirit, Cunning, Combat and Honor are!!! Uhhhh.... Like I said, I have reached a whole new level of being/embracing my inner nerd. Are you all ready for this? Count me in as a board game nerd! Now before you all start picturing this guy in your head...

you need to let me explain myself. First, I am not talking about RPG, Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer type games. Second, you won't find me playing at the Dragon's Keep on a Tuesday night during Board Game demo night, although that is the place where I buy my games... Third, I am not online posting and commenting on board game forums. With those points being stated you can cut me some slack now and not judge me to hard. However if you ever hear me saying things like, "...it's okay, you can just head back and camp at town and move the shadow tracker back D3" in conversations go ahead and shun me for a moment. In my defense, until you try on of these games you can't knock me for playing them. Who wouldn't want to massacre a ton of zombies with a hunting rifle that has a baseball bat attached to it bayonet style?!?! Or how about a chainsaw attached to a machine gun?

This guy knows what I am talking about.

So Chelsey just came over and needless to say I will now be distracted so until next time.

I'll end on this picture that was sent to me. Enjoy.


~Bracken Rawlings

P.S. Oh Snooki....

This next time, I want two Dragons!

Hello to the the one or two other person that actually gets on and reads this besides my mom. Its been a long, fun and sadly at times boring past two weeks for me. But backing up even more it has been an awesome summer thus far and I predict that this trend will continue. I am having difficulties really remembering things I have done since I last wrote anything so I will just try and spit things out as I remember them.


First off, Go Dutch! Prior to the World Cup starting I had made it widely known that the who I was cheering for was as follows; #1 The United States of America! They are my home country and I will cheer for them forever. The home of the free and the brave! #2 The Dutch. Why you ask? Two reason originally but more and more since I have watched them play. The first two reasons were that my favorite player Van Persie plays for them and second because they have legit orange jerseys. The list has grown since the World Cup has begun and now that they are playing Spain in the Finals on Sunday I am way stoked. And the 3rd team I was cheering for was any African Nation. It would have been awesome to see an African nation win on home soil but European soccer is still to dominant for anyone to compete with.


Aside from spending more time than I should watching the World Cup I have been wasting time watching other shows as well because we have a DVR at my new place and I am taking full advantage of it. My list include Wipeout, Hell's Kitchen, So You Think You Can Dance, Tosh.0, Pawn Stars, Mythbusters, etc. So without going into much further explanation, I spend my time wisely. But so does Chelsey because she spends the same time with me watching the same awesome shows.

Which brings me to my next item, Chelsey. Enough said.

And don't you worry your little heads I have been keeping up on Zombies as well by buying the greatest board game ever. It is quite simply called Zombies!!! (yes with 3 exclamation points). If you EVER want to play it just holla atcha boy!


Ummm, OH! I have picked up reading again and read the first two books in the Hunger Games series. They are really fun books and real quick reads. I'm currently reading World War Z and it is way cool too.

~Side note: I just got a text from ESPN saying LeBron James will sign with the Miami Heat barring late charge. Uhhh D-Wade, Chris Bosh and the King all on one court. Yeah, that will be one heck of a team. Sadly for me Amar'e has left the Suns to play out in New York, YUCK! As long as we got Steve we still got a chance! Keep the dream alive.

Well folks I think that is all for me tonight. Just had to get on and spill a few of my thoughts onto this so I could fell like I am slightly keeping up on it. Night.

~Bracken Rawlings

p.s.

Did you know dolphins are just gay sharks?

First:


Suns dominate.

Second:



Coheed & Cambria concert, life changing.

~Bracken Rawlings

p.s. Starting Monday if you are a Lakers fan do not talk to me.

They have midgets on their team! And girls!

'tsup!

So it is official, I am done with school and finals and it feels grrrrrrrrrreat! Tony stole that catch phrase from me by the way, silly tiger, trix are for ME! But seriously, eat Wheaties Fuel. So yeah, the feeling of being done is great but the anxiety of waiting to see how much I actually messed up is killing me, slowly....over it. Phew, that was rough.

Today was the first day I worked at my new store in American Fork. The store is about 6x the size of my previous store which is comparable to a center for ants, so yeah, times that by 6 and you do the math. Pretty big. But believe it or not one detail stood out above all others today at work, highlight of my day. I even texted a few people letting them know just how excited I really was. They have scanners that work!!! I can not tell you how truly excited that made me. I just sat there scanning things amazed at how effortless it was. I am excited for work, haha. They also had a Chewbacca bobble head there but instead of holding his bowcaster he had a generic blaster so I couldn't justify buying it. I will stick with my Darth Vader, Stormtrooper and best of all Boba Fett bobble heads for now.

So I was bored last night and started doing random searches on google, this happens a lot, and the culminating event, after maybe an hour of search after search was this picture:

Yeah, Mexican stormtrooper. Don't ponder too long on how I ended up searching for Mexicans and Star Wars, I can't control sometimes how my brain works.

I also then spent about 30 minutes watching videos of Kevin Brewer dancing, dude is SICK! Don't believe me? Believe this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_8Q1pno6Yw

Don't ever doubt me again, thank you.

Well it is time for my awesome Zombie Update. AMC has announced a new show called the Walking Dead. It is based off of a graphic novel series, yes that is a fancy comic book for all of you people who are ignorant to your inner nerd, that has been on going since 2003. The pilot will begin filming in May and the Series itself will start in October. The first season will only consist of 6 episodes, but it will hopefully be 6 episodes of pure delight. p.s. I have the graphic novels and love them, so yeah, too legit too quit!

Until next time, I'm Kenny Powers, you're OUT!!! and I'm IN!!!

~Bracken Rawlings

P.S. But I hate getting punched in the chest!

All my single ladies, all my single ladies!

Life rocks! I have gotten rid of a TON of things and people that have been dragging me down for months and I couldn't be happier. So if I am still talking to you then feel privileged that you have not lost me as a friend, because those who have are missing out. Not pride, just the truth. So I really don't recall exactly in what order everything has happened this past month but it has been a great month and I can not wait for summer to begin!

I have been putting together a summer "bucket list" and I know just who to ask to help me knock off everything on the list. As I said, this summer will be amazing and I am seriously looking forward to it.

So last night I went to a Salt Lake Real game and it was SUHHHH-WEEET! We got there about 10 minutes late and when we got in the stadium Real was down 1-0 to the Sounders. But you need not fear because we came back and scored off a sick header from Will Johnson to tie it at 1-1 in the second half. About 15 minutes later the Sounders put in another wussy goal off a stupid free kick. I was beginning to think all was lost because come the 90th minute we were still down and awarded 4 minuted of stoppage time. In the final minute of stoppage time we got a corner and this was it, last chance to score and wouldn't you know it we DID!!! Amazing equalizer header off the corner, the place went NUTS! So awesome, I lost my voice a little from screaming so much. Never thought I would be so excited over a tie game but that's what soccer does to me now, I love it and can not wait for the World Cup. Go USA! and go Dutch! haha.

So in less than a months time guess where I will be? To be specific guess where I will be May 10th at 7:00 pm? COHEED AND CAMBRIA CONCERT!!! Oh my, this will be the single greatest moment of my LIFE! Seriously, think of something awesome I have done and promise you this will top it. AND to make my anticipation even better the Year of the Black Rainbow comes out tuesday and believe you me, I will be listening to it soooo much when it arrives.

So I know I have done a TON of other awesome things as of late but because I have been out and about and having so much fun lately everything is blending together and I can not really remember it all! Haha, kind of defeats the purpose of going out and having fun if you are doing and having so much fun stuff you begin to forget exactly everything you have done.

Well all I know right now is that I want to get some sleep and I will try and recall this past month of awesomeness at a later time and date.

~Bracken Rawlings

p.s. I really hope you are happy, because I am! Boom baby!

'Till I Collapse

I will not fall, I will stand tall
Feels like no one could beat me down.

Herro! So my daily blog became a weekly blog is now an every other week blog. Oh how quickly some things can fade. A problem I have been facing all too much lately.

First things first, I am having a "painful" deja vu experience at the moment, which is probably why I can not fall asleep tonight. They say scent is the sense closest tied to memory, right now I would agree.

So I last left off the day before the big 2-4 birthday. One whole year away from having a quarter life crisis! It was surprisingly one of my more memorable birthdays, just had a few of my closest friends meet up with me at Red Robin and had a blast. Got the ever favorite Whiskey River BBQ burger which I will forever state is the greatest burger there, I don't care what anyone else says, its the king. I also got one of their specialty lemonade/limeade drinks and ended up making the rounds and trying all 4 flavors which were all incredibly delicious, the blueberry pomegranate one was the best though. My man J-Hep got my back and covered my bill for me, what are best friends for right? And to top it all off Sarah made me a BOMB homemade carrot cake! Like I said, what are best friends for. I know what you are all thinking, but Bracken! why carrot instead of your ever favorite funfetti cake? don't worry, there is always next year children. That was about all I did for the day of birth celebration but it was all I really wanted to do, get my friends together for a meal, can't beat that.

note: there will now be no logical order to the madness that will now spew from my brain...

So after working at Blockbuster for 9 months now I have as of late hit that point where I no longer desire to watch movies very often and have converted to watching TV shows. I have grown to like them more because they offer more than 2 hours of entertainment and they can develop characters and plots in much greater detail. Also I have seen just about every movie I want to see in our store... The shows I have recently been watching are 30 rock and Dexter. I have a new crush now from watching Dexter. Ever since I stopped watching the Office my love for Jenna Fischer has dwindled, only a little but my new love is Julie Benz! Oh yeah.


Look where she is at too! Comic Con ! What a woman.

I have also been trying to get into Supernatural because Sarah and Courtney have not stopped telling me how much they love it. Pretty sure they are just in love with the two main dudes. Anyway, I have had a desire to go back and re watch Band of Brothers sometime soon because it has been a long time since I watched it and its a really powerful series. Anyone in?

So a few weeks back my good friend Sarah Goff sent me a text early in the morning enlightening me to the fact that the greatest rock band EVER will be in Utah on May 10th, so as any sane people would do we counted down the hours until the tickets went on sale and GOT THEM!!! Ladies and gentlemen, I, Bracken Michael Rawlings, will finally be seeing Coheed and Cambira and Circa Survive. It will be glorious. I just hope Sarah and Courtney are as excited to go as I am. p.s. I pre-ordered the deluxe hardback version of their new cd, Year of the Black Rainbow and can not wait until April 13th to listen to it!

So jumping back to the topic of birthdays, February is a fantastic month to be born because J-Hep was also born this month, later then myself, but still in February thankfully. To celebrate this joyous occasion we shall be hitting up Brighton for some lovely night boarding that night. I havent been all season so I am SO ready to go.

Moment of silence now if you will...................a few nights ago some children in my elder's quorum asked to borrow our Rockband set for a little party they were throwing. We willing let them borrow it because we are nice people. Well unfortunately when it was returned to us the bass drum pedal was cracked in half so I have not been able to rock out for quite some time now. Sad day. R.I.P. little buddy, you were a great drum pedal.

On to the Olympics. So I have been watching quite a bit of the Olympics lately and it was been rather entertaining, well about 25% of it at least. Some of these "sports" are just too boring for me to watch BUT the 25% that I have enjoyed have been FAN-freaking-TASTIC! Watching Shaun White DESTROY the half pipe was unbelievable. Go USA! Defeat the WORLD! Glad he is riding for us because the man is unstoppable. But even more exciting than that was watching the US men's hockey team run head on into Canada in hockey. Holy cow! I have never been a big hockey fan because I just never had it in me to watch a game but after watching that match the other day against Canada I am hooked! We play again tomorrow at 1 against the Swiss I believe. So ready to cheer them on again.

Speaking of Hockey and awesome people Steve Nash had a hilarious interview discussing him and the Canadian Olympic hockey team. My favorite quote was, "You can not be this ugly and not at least be considered for the Olympic team." Oh Steve. Nash is my homeboy. Or at least the shirt I am wearing says so!


That's right everyone. I own that shirt. SO beautiful.

Well, I better at least get some sleep tonight so I can get to class, then do some Maakoa work from 2-5 with J-Hep at UVU then get to Blockbuster and work the rest of the night. Busy day for me tomorrow. Night!

~Bracken Rawlings

Koopuwa, its tasty. Drink it!

So two weeks have come and gone since I last threw out some random pieces of my life's new found brilliance! The weeks continue to get better and better and more and more fun. Let me keep this trend alive!

To start let me back it up 2 weeks and talk about a freakin' dope murder mystery party that Sarah, Brett and I did! Ok so maybe I just handed them the box and they did all the planning and such but those are just minor details... Anyway it was a seriously legit 90's themed mystery, however no murder was involved so you need not worry about that, we keep it classy. I was given the character of Spence DeMonet (spends the money, eh eh, get it?) I was the rich popular kid with the hottest girlfriend in school, what was her name you ask? Her name, Juanita Greenecard. Let that sink in for a minute... My boys J-hep and Riley also joined in the festivities. J-Hep was the local nerd, Duncan Flushwater, and Riley was Fletcher Bycepps. So here is the breakdown, I was pretty much Zack Morris, J-Hep was Screech and Riley was A.C. Slater. We are super cool. Turns out in the end I was the one who lit the school on fire and stole the test scores, and I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids... It was a fantastical night and we are actually planning another one for the near future, this time it will be 1920's themed and murder WILL be involved, muhahaha...

The night after the murder mystery J-Hep and I drove up to Salt Lake to see the Suns take on the stupid Utah Jazz, who likes the Jazz? No one, exactly. We got free tickets to a suite from the company we both work for now, Maakoa, it is a freaking sweet company so ask me about it sometime and I will hook you up. Anyway the game didn't turn out as I had wished, the Jazz ended up winning which was lame. But all the free food and drinks in the suite almost made up for it, haha. We ended up going back up to Salt Lake again the next week to watch the Mav's try their hand at beating the Jazz and again by some random fluke of nature the Jazz won, no comment.

So this last weekend has been more awesome than me drinking a whole carton of Simply Orange without pulp, and that is saying something because it literally just happened and was pretty awesome. I am not going to go back and fix that last statement because that is how I roll. So saturday was an extremely great use of my day. Woke up early to go to a test review for which the TA didn't show up so I just came home and cleaned the apartment then went over to Brett's to make a pizza with him and Sarah and kick it watching Food Network for 3 hours, one of my top 5 channels on t.v. Once Sarah left for work it was man time! Brett and I single handedly rid New Orleans of the Zombie infestation and then went on to save Las Vegas from the terrorist attack that was taking place. You are all welcome. Around 10:30 we were enticed to leave and get some left over cake from Megan's baby shower which was rather delicious cake. THEN we went to Denny's for our ritualistic midnight weekend meal. Let me just say that if you were at Denny's this last Saturday night then I apologize for being that "loud crazy table", ok, never mind, I am not sorry at all, it was hilarious. For the 2 hours that we were there they did not seat anyone near us and the people that were originally sitting by our table up and moved somewhere else, beware, we are heading back again this next weekend...

Time for SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! Although my Charger's were not in this Super Bowl I was really excited to watch it this year. The last few years has really been me just cheering against a team (i.e. Steelers, Patriots) instead of actually cheering for one, which I was able to do this year, Go Saints!!! I was pleased with the outcome of this rather quick Super Bowl. I still am upset that we traded away Drew Bree's a few years back, the man is amazing! What can you do though.

So last night, Monday, J-Hep invited me to join him and his ward at Nickel City for some quality good time. Yes, quality good time, you read that correct. So I am not sure if any of you have been to Nickel City before but if I were to average out my nickel spending I would say that anywhere from 2-4 dollars is plenty to last a good hour or two. Well an individual that will not be named, really just because I don't know her name, decided that 40, forty, 4 zero dollars would be the amount she would spend on the night, thats 800 nickels!!! And yes, she accomplished the feat in a little under 2 hours and amassed 3,202 tickets. That is right around the range of a Dora the Explorer Roller Backpack or an Airsoft Gun. Definitely worth 40 bucks...or not. So back to ME! I had an awesome time there, did a little racing, a little shooting, a little ticket winning but my most impressive feat of the night was dominating the Deal or No Deal game. And by dominate I mean failing miserably. I paid 8 nickels to play and walked away with 1 ticket! I don't think you can fully grasp just how bad that is unless you were there to see it happen.

p.s. James Taylor just started playing on my iTunes, I am a happy man.

So yeah, that was pretty great to get stomped at Deal or No Deal. The rest of the night was great. Got to hang with my man J-Hep, met some cute new girls and spent my tickets on a snow leopard snap bracelet.

Well kids, I should get back to studying for my Math test that I have to take, I mean fail, in the morning!

Until we meet again. (imaginary tip of the hat)

~Bracken Rawlings