Awkward situations aka don't hang out with me

I don't know why it is, but I think awkward situations are really, really funny. And I purposely try to make them and watch how people react.

Some instances as of recent:

1. I'm in an art class and we make clay pots and paint stuff and draw and a lot of the projects turn out really dumb and I don't want them. I've already gotten an A on them, so now what? In between my art class and the class after that (a class about light and sound and how our eyes and ears deal with light and sound physically, biologically, and psychologically) I try and give my artwork away to random students. And no one ever wants it! I mean, yeah, it looks dumb they would have no use for it, but whats the difference if I was giving away a clay coil pot or an Xbox?

2. Today at work this girl came in to talk to one of the professors. I was manning the front desk and thi girl was just playing on her phone and I thought "Hey, maybe she's hungry?" So, I turned towards her (the view was blocked by an ivy) and said "Hey, do you want some candy?" She took about five seconds to look up and said "Uhh, are you talking to me?" "Yeah," I said, "we have lots of Christmas candy. Want some?" "Uhh, no thanks." Her loss; it was really good.

3. I've started raising my hand like it's all deformed like this or this with the back of the hand towards the instructor. People think it's funny but I do it to spice things up because class gets boring sometimes.

4. Ghosting people in between classes. I never get caught because I'm sneaky.

Yeah, and other stuff here and there.

I have a list of social experiments I want to do. Maybe as I accomplish them I'll let you know. Or not because for some of them I want to keep my identity a secret...

Baby Calvin and I will be millionaires

Everybody likes watching videos of babies laughing right? Well, they do, and so Baby Calvin and I decided that we're going to monetize his laughter and get rich by means of the interweb.

I recorded a video of Baby Calvin laughing, put it on my computer, uploaded it to the Youtube and now it's going to go viral and Youtube is going to pay us so much as a "Thank you" for bringing the internet yet another baby video.

So, I present to you the video that will make Baby Calvin and me millionaires:

...i hate technology...

i literally spent the last hour writing a really good post. and then it all went and got deleted.

Blargjshskdjxkdosnsbahqhaodjsh.

So here's a funny picture:

Per Anna's request - The $100 challenge

Anna gave me (and the rest of the world too I guess) a shout-out in her post asking what I'd do with $100. Of course, since I've been on a Harry Potter rush for the past few weeks, I've decided to follow the example of Leprechaun gold and only give myself a set amount of time (shall we say 24 hours?) and see what would happen.

...

I could be responsible and use it wisely like buy an actual full tank of gas or get groceries, but seeing as I'm almost 23 and single and independent, why not go crazy? Two words: animal shirts. Yep, I'd probably spend all $100 on animal shirts. At least five or six could easily be purchased. I own four animal shirts and sweater and honestly they get maximum complements. Like this one. I have this one ordered and am just waiting for its arrival = super excited.

But Nathan! Why don't you just go to DI and get a whole bunch for $2 a piece? It isn't that easy because they go like hot cakes. Or Twinkies nowadays. In all of my DI excursions, I've only ever found one shirt: my tan shirt with a print of an elk doing its call.

Also, I might hold off on a couple of the shirts and buy a pair of pants instead to wear for dates.

Also, I really like your idea, Anna, of incorporating art-links to specific words. Meow.

What I would realistically do with $1,000,000

We all are asked all the time what we would do with a million dollars, right? Instantaneously, thoughts of grand vacations and luxury cars fill our minds. And lots and lots of candy. Well, I was thinking about and thought, "How far would $1,000,000 actually get me and my 'dreams'?" Here's how I'd break it down (realistically):

- Sell LaFawnduh the Honda = + $2,500

- Buy Texas the Lexus = - $35,065

- Pay for my own school/rent = - $15,000

- Complete the travel section of my bucket list = - $4,000

And that's pretty much it. I'm left with $948,435. Of course, tithing is paid had I received the money cleanly, so that brings it to $848,435.

What to do, what to do.

Meh, probably I'd invest a lot of the rest. Or start a fur-trading business.

Also, that lots and lots of candy idea doesn't sound so bad either.

STEAL FROM ALISON HAHAHA

As you can tell, this NaBloPoMo thing and I can't really agree on a solid, steady schedule. I've been meaning to write something but I guess I'll attribute my lack of posting due to writer's block. And I hardly even consider myself a writer.

So I went over here this morning to read what Ali had posted and her line "Ooh maybe I will write about my bucket list tomorrow..." got me thinking about my own bucket list and what is currently on the list inside my head. Alison, as much as I dislike thievery, you got my creative juices flowing and for that, I thank you.

Ahem, may I present The Bucket List of N. K. Lewis (In no particular order):

       1. Go to Iceland.

       2. Go to Africa. (Yes, that is very vague but I mean like 3rd world Africa...)

       3. Travel around the Balkans.

       4. Sleep in a building on campus. OVERNIGHT.

       5. Swim in the pond in the middle of campus.

       6. Pull a meal (plate, fork, knife, cup, food, etc.) out of my bag and eat in the middle of class.

       7. ...

Umm, wow. That's all that's coming to mind. Travel and random things here at BYU-Idaho. In my defense, I just woke up about 30 minutes ago and it takes me a few hours before I'm socially functional.

Alison, sorry to have disgraced you by stealing your idea and totally being lame.

Stew and gingersnaps

I made my first stew of the season:

Behold.

I haven't tried it yet, so I can't say if it turned out alright. It actually kind of looks like throw up...but whatever.

EDIT: It is now 10:37 PM. The stew's been doing its thing for ~4 hours. It tastes marvelous. You all are welcome to Rexburg to sample my wares.

I'm also in the process of making a bunch of mini gingersnaps. They're each about 1 inch wide. Tomorrow is our Colonial Fair at the elementary school, so I'm making gingersnaps (I guess they ate those back in the day?) and I bought 25 lbs. of clay with which to make dice and marbles.

I still have a ton of dough so there's going to be a lot more.

Kershaw Intermediate School

This semester I'm in a preliminary student teaching class. For those of you that have yet to know, I'm studying Elementary education here at The Brigham Young University of Idaho. Taa daa.

Anyway, every Wednesday and Friday, the girl I'm partners with (Mom, Alison, Lisa, Katie, and Anna: she's married. Don't start.) and I go to Mrs. Zorbachonk247's (name has been changed) 5th grade class and work with her students. I finally got all of the student's names down today of which I'm very proud.

We teach lessons mainly about social studies and history. We are currently doing colonies and it's been groovy. I had to learn them myself as I never had to in Germany.

The school is pretty small when I compare it to Dogwood Elementary. That's where I went for Kindergarten and 1st grade and it was the only American elementary school I ever attended. It's in Sugar City (Kershaw Intermedate is, not Dogwood Elementary), the next city north-northeast of Rexburg. Everyone knows everybody in the town and I know some of the students sisters and cousins so... small world, eh?

I'm horrible at ending these posts so here's a funny video: (Right at 1:04 is something Mom would say)

Parenting: you're doing it right.

My job

So, since I'm here currently at work and I know I haven't been 100% diligent in posting, what better time to post than at work?

I work for BYU-Idaho in the Academic Administration office.

This is my official name tag. It's the same picture

that's on my student ID and yes, the mustache is real.

Yes, Chris, Bryan, and David, you may revel over its glory.

My job is actually super easy and laid back. My main job, I think, is to answer phones. As no one really ever calls my extension (twice maybe this semester?) this gives me lots of downtime. I mean, sometimes I'm asked to scan something or run something to another department on campus but for the most part I do homework, read the news, play games on my phone, make origami, and eat the candy from the candy bowls that we set out. Ahhhh, on-campus jobs.

This is my desk right now. I have yet to answer the phones

or do anything important today and I get off in 5 minutes. Winning.

I guess the only "downside" is that I have to wear a shirt and tie to work. And since I work every single day, I don't wear normal clothes all that often. Just Tuesdays and Thursdays when I have a few hours between school and work. All in all, it's a good job and the people I work for and the other students I work with are groovy so no complaints there either.

 This is me. In case you forgot.

Snorkels, Albuquerque, and Platypi

I gave Katrina over at here the opportunity to give a few words and I am going to attempt to tie them into my life.

1) Snorkels. This is easy: I've never been snorkeling. I've never been scuba diving. BUT, when I was in the fire department in high school we played with the scba's (like scuba but without the "u" part which stands for underwater fyi) and that was neat. Bam, scba's beats scuba beats snorkels.

2) Albuquerque. This is easy as well: I used to live there. Do I remember anything about it? Not at all. Well, I do remember going through Albuquerque to get to Philmont back in either sophomore or junior year of high school. We stayed in a hotel there for a night. Philmont was cool: 15ish boys hiking for 10 days without taking showers. Bam, Albuquerque.

3) Platypi. Now this one is hard. Fun facts: Platypi (is this the correct pluralization) lay eggs and have barbs on their hind feet. And they're mammals. And they still even lay eggs. Bam, fun facts.

Well, there you have it folks. Meh, family. You guys are my main audience. Peace out scout.

Back on the internet

Ok, well, that title, first off, is a lie. I've been on the internet for a while. What I mean to say is that I'm back to the art of blogging. Seeing as this is NaBloPoMo (and because Anna asked nicely), I'm going to start writing again.

School's going well. Classes are fun for the most part. Apartment's nice, friends are neat. Work is easy, I mainly just sit at a desk and do homework. Volunteering every now and then. That's pretty much my life up here in Rexburg.

My creative writing skills are pretty rusty and since I'll be posting every day, I'll post about something new/diferent/awkward that I'll have done that day. So here goes: today I bought dark chocolate and marzipan. Here's proof:

I was kind of worried but the chocolate was surprisingly really good for being so dark. The marzipan was good as well. When their forces combined, it was like a party erupted in my mouth and everyone had received a VIP invitation.

- Nathan