Tip #13

Tip #13: Never put ice cubes in a pan of hot oil.

This one was actually learned fairly recently. One of my roommates was making some taquitos by frying them and also made myself and my other roommates some homemade chips (or crisps as called in England). He warned us beforehand that it was going to be a bit smoking and smell greasy too. I was used to this smell and even liked it a little bit because the smell reminds me of when frybread was made inside of my family house until we got smart enough to cook it outside. I digress. Anyway, Nick (the roommate who was cooking) just finished everything and decided to put ice cubes inside the pan to help cool the oil down. He did not expect when the oil started bubbling. Soon, it started sizzling really loud and had a similar reaction to Mentos and Diet Coke (much like the video above ^).

Colby, Nick, and I just stood there and watched it for a good five minutes (it was still going) until it finally stopped.

We have a few theories as to why it reacted that way, the more likely theory being the air bubbles in the ice cube somehow reacted with the oil.

All in all, just keep your ice cubes AWAY from the oil.

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Tip #12

Tip #12: Pay tithing. The Lord blesses those who give back what is His.

So this one is pretty much a no brainer. Sadly, there are those who have trouble keeping themselves out of debt, myself included. From what I've observed, whenever we get money from a job or by other means(...), we quite often have a tendency to immediately spend it on what we want or what is needed to be spent on, such as bills. It's really not that difficult to pay tithing when you know what to expect.

For you LDS readers, we of course know what the end result is when we pay tithing. It states somewhere in Doctrine and Covenants (it'll come to me later) that blessings will be poured out from heaven and you'll have so many blessing that you won't know what to do with all of them. I sure as heck believe that because of several examples:

One: I really didn't have much money to spend on groceries so as you can imagine, I had nothing to eat. The last time I had a decent meal was approximately around Thanksgiving. Since Thanksgiving, I've been living off of Ramen and cold cereal, rarely eating in order to preserve whatever food I had left. It sucked, true, but I made it work. I told one of my co-workers about my situation, believing it was going to be in the strictest confidence. At one point she tried to offer me a $15 gift card for the grocery store I work in, to which I promptly refused. Then she pulled in the big guns: my head supervisor. The supervisor called me over and handed me $20 to buy myself groceries with. I was about to protest when she said, "Drew, don't argue with your boss." I walked away slightly muttering to myself, yet inside, I felt loved.

Two: For those who follow my Facebook know of this little story. I was working the day after the above-mentioned event when another one of my supervisors calls me over. Me, being me, assumed that I did something wrong and figured it probably had something to do with the floor sweeps. To my surprise, they told me that some woman came by and gave them an envelope with my name on it and a little message that said: "Drew, have a great day! :) (smiley face included)." It struck my curiosity, which turned to amazement when I discovered a $20 bill inside. How about that?

If my stories did not convince you of what tithing does, go find others. I'm sure they have plenty of stories to tell, besides myself. But in all seriousness, give tithing a shot and see what blessings are poured unto you, should you choose to accept them ;).

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Tip #11

Tip #11: You're an idiot if you think you know what love is while still in high school.

Now now, wait a second. Before you start your angry protestations and dark, brooding thoughts about pummeling me into the ground, I just got say that this is from MY point of view. I am in no wise saying that you, the reader, doesn't know what love is. I'm sure some of you got lucky and probably understand it more than I ever could, but just hear me out.

In the past, I have actually single dated (yes I know, shame on me for you LDS readers). But to be honest, I don't regret it. I have learned many lessons from each experience I've had with the girls that I went out with. Each girl, I have said the "I love you" spatch. Have I meant it? Course I have. A philosophy that I have is to love with an open heart. But what does it really mean to love?

I have watched my friends' relationships with their girlfriends/boyfriends. Each one is more/less different from the other. Yet, from my side, I am left puzzled. From here, it looks like they know what it is, yet they can not explain it either.

In the past, I have often asked my parents what it means to love. I still have not gotten a clear answer. The logical thinking of me is that love is an inexplicable feeling. Like that will do me any good. Which raises the question, how will I know that I am in love? How do I know that it is not just my hormones?

We as teens sure believe that we know but the truth most likely is, we don't know. We often believe that love is when a person can not leave your mind, when almost everything you do reminds you of that person, or whatever song comes on, reminds you of that person. Our hearts may even race a little bit when we think of that special someone or we get butterflies in our stomach. We may even feel happier whenever we're around that person. We often naively suggest that we can not live without that person in our lives or we'll stay single for the rest of our lives because this person no longer sees you as an important part in her/his life.

Such naivity. We have much to learn.

Perhaps there's a small part inside of us that already knows what love is. Maybe even some of us know it, while others are still trying to discover it within themselves. I know that I'm in that second category. I am only eighteen and just a freshman in college. My life is only beginning. But I can not help but wonder. It is human nature after all, to ponder about the inexplicable, to find an explanation. What if I already experienced it and I did not even realize it? What if I have yet to experience it? Questions, questions, questions.

To you, my adult readers who are either married or engaged, my hope is that you will hopefully find some sort of explaination as to what love is and what it feels like, so that I can have some sort of clue. I need something other than, "I just knew/know he/she was/is the one."

To you, my fellow peers, may we figure out what love is and pray that it's not just our hormones talking. If you're not concerned with love, then more power to you. You guys don't have to suffer as much as I do and as others in my predicament. If you have indeed figured it out, help the rest of us out, eh?

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Tip # 10

Tip # 10: Mistakes can be a great teacher.

I struggled with this tip. I really did. But you know, I'm not the only one who did. There are many others, even now, that don't appreciate who they are, either due to mistakes they've made in the past, mistakes they are making now.

Mistakes are a fascinating little paradox. They are our building blocks and at the same time, our stumbling blocks. Yet the tendency towards all is to focus upon how mistakes are the stumbling blocks in our lives. To the perfectionists, it is particularly discouraging because we (yes, me included) try so hard to be perfect and every time we fail, the more we begin to loathe, even hate ourselves. This is particularly dangerous, because this feelings quite often lead to self-misery and sometimes depression, because we cannot reach our goal. We often question "why," "what am I doing wrong," and "what's the point." For those of us who aren't as strong in religion, we question our Maker and even go as far as blaming Him for making you as you are, instead of something like Hollywood-ized men and women. But really, the mistakes that we make should not be seen as stumbling blocks. No, in fact, they should be seen as the complete opposite. I know what you're thinking. "Psh, this guy expects me to see mistakes as building blocks. Is he daft?" But speaking from experience, I began to see why I should see them as building blocks. There is a particular quote from a show called How I Met Your Mother that I am particularly fond of. One of the main characters, Lily, is talking to Ted, the other main character, about making mistakes. Be warned, this is a little bit difficult to follow.

Lily: There are certain things in life where you know it's a mistake but you don't really know it's a mistake because the only way to really know it is a mistake is to make that mistake and look back and say, "Yup, that was a mistake". So really, the bigger mistake would be to not make the mistake because then you'll go your whole life not really knowing if something is a mistake or not. And da[rn] it, I made no mistakes. I've done all of this: my life, my relationship, my career mistakes-free. Does any of this make sense to you?

Ted: I don't know, you said 'mistake' a lot.

You follow this? For those who don't, essentially Lily is saying there are moments that will be the ultimate life changing factor. If you don't take that step, you'll never know if that moment would've been worth it.

I have looked back upon my life and I noticed a pattern involving the mistakes I've made. They have all led me from Point A, to Point B, to Point C, and so on and so forth. If I have never made those mistakes, I wouldn't be where I am at now. I wouldn't know the things that I know and I wouldn't be able to help others with the knowledge that I possess. Each mistake taught me something important. It sure as heck may not have seemed like it at the time, but looking back, there are lessons that have been given.

My suggestion to you: Look back at your mistakes, failures, and blunders. Instead of cringing at the memory, look and find a lesson. Figure out how that mistake led you to where you are now, whether it be a happy mistake or a...not so happy mistake. You'll most likely have a startling epiphany.

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Tip # 8 & 9

Tip # 8: A good laugh cures almost anything.
And...
Tip # 9: Stay away from the rubber cement.

There's an old saying that says that laughter is the best medicine. There is hardly a soul in the world that will deny that saying. And some even say that to beat the devil, you laugh in his face. Course I'm not certain about the truth in that statement but it's worth a shot, right?

Anyway, like everyone else, I had times where I felt like crap and didn't really want to talk to anyone. Seemingly nothing could bring my spirits up, until I turned on some comedy shows and looked for some funny scenes from movies on Youtube.

One of my personal favorites is from the show The Big Bang Theory when Leonard, Raj, and Howard are camping out and get some cookies with "special" ingredients from some hippie middle school teachers (Warning! If you have a problem with suggestive humor, I will post another clip that is more appropriate. If not, then enjoy =D):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R73yElC2BDc&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1

After watching this clip, I was rolling on the floor, nearly bawling my eyes out because of how well they did. I must admit, I felt a little off myself as I was watching them.

Confession time: It was sophmore year in Chemistry class. Around that time, my sense of smell was particularly heightened that day, no idea why. Anyway, we had to glue some papers into our notebooks when, by accident, I caught a huge whiff of the rubber cement glue. It was a very strong scent, so much that I coughed a bit until I settled down. Then the weird stuff kicked in. Within 5 to 10 minutes, I had my very first experience of being high. The results were thus: Everything was funny. Everything my teacher said was funny and everything my lab partners' said was funny.  I couldn't go 5 minutes without laughing and crying. Thankfully, my lab partners were actually stoners so they didn't make too much fun of me but they said I was hilarious. I must admit though, I was in a very cheery mood for the rest of the day.

Important lesson besides the tip that I gave? Keep your nose away from the product below.

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Tip # 7

Tip # 7: Pick up your pencil.

As I'm certain most of you are aware, this month is indeed November. It is the month of fall leaves, and making that almost unnatural transition from summer to winter. It is also the month where art takes the most inspiration, ranging from photography to writing. If you haven't caught on, I'm refering to the NaNoWriMo writing event. Now what this event is all about, the idea is to start a novel and have at least by November 30th at 11:59 p.m. It's essentially a self(ish)-motivator to write a novel. It's quite a feat to do, seeing as though I cannot write to save my life hahaha, with the exception of this blog. 

Why "pick up your pencil?" There are endless possiblities within the human imagination and endless possibilities when you pick up your pencil. With a pencil, incredible stories have been written, important documents have been made, music has been given physical form, pictures have been captured and plucked from imagination, and emotions have been expressed. Simply all at the movement of the hand and a simple idea that evolved within the brain.  I stress the fact that there are endless possiblities because it is so true! However, there are many that doubt that they can even draw a stick figure or even write a simple sentence. To you I say, you never know until you try.

Take me for example. I couldn't draw at all. The only thing I could draw were stick figures that somewhat attempted expressed emotion. I was quite frustrated, especially due to the fact that my kid sister had my dad's artistic ability and could sketch a rather realistic cedar berry tree. It wasn't until my freshmen year in high school when I discovered that I do have some artistic talent. I was in my geometry class at the time and we were supposed to use geometric shapes to make something artistic. I started off with a simple hexagon and then I completely zoned out the world around me. Approximately 45 minutes later, this hexagon evolved into something I never even thought possible. This new found talent would, in later years, become an escape and a defense against the world. It was also then I found that I could draw music into my own unique form, with these geometric shapes.

Whether you be an artist, a photographer, a writer, a musician, or none of these, just pick up a pencil and try to create. You'll find that you are actually more capable of creating than you realize.

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Tip # 6

Tip # 6: Miscommunication should always be resolved face to face.

Typically in olden days, communication was limited to face to face or letters that would take weeks to months to reach a person. Nowadays, we have telephones, IMing, e-mail, and other various forms of wireless communication. The one I would like to point out in particular is texting. Don't get me wrong, it's a very useful but also a bit dangerous. Now if you give me a second to stand on my soap box....

Now then. Approximately one month ago, a friend of mine and I were kind of, sort of, not getting along. He said one thing that I thought meant something else entirely and vice versa. This caused us both to not speak to one another for quite a bit. Eventually, it appeared that things were getting better and it actually was. Until that one Sunday where the miscommunication was at its worst. In which

I overreacted by telling him to stop talking to me and to have a nice life. It is something I am not proud of. However, thankfully, we decided to talk it out face to face to clear up any misconceptions we had.  I came, fully prepared to do my part to fix it, but was a little unsure of what to expect.  It's a good thing though, that we decided to talk it out. Everything turned out great, everything got resolved, and we're friends again.
Lesson learned? I hope so. We'd be idiots if we repeated this experience again.

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Tip #5

Tip #5: You can't help someone if you yourself refuse help.

This tip is one of the lessons I hold near to my heart. Well, it's a lesson I'm still trying to learn. You see, I am a person who wants nothing more than just helping my friends in any way, shape, or form. It's not only my friends either. It's whoever seems to be in trouble or hurt. I just want to help, that's all I want. I don't care about myself or the crap that happens to me. I always put someone else's problems before my own and do all in my power to help them. Unfortunately, that nearly became my downfall.

I never cared about what happens to me. I still don't. I guess, in a way, I get some kind of sick pleasure from my own suffering. Like, I don't know. I guess I feel like I deserve every bit of it. For every stupid decision I've made and I'm just "enjoying" the consequences that result from those decisions. For example, when I was twelve, I made the biggest mistake that would forever change my life, that nearly brought my own death during my junior year in high school. That day, I became an addict. I fought it and failed many times. I tried asking for help from my God, but they were empty prayers. I just didn't believe that He was listening to me. Because of that, I never asked help from any of my family members or my religious leader. I never told any of my friends because I believed they would turn from me and leave me in the dust. I figured they would just judge me and keep their distance from me. For the longest time, I believed that. And for the longest time, I suffered in silence. This suffering continued to escalate until one night in December of 2009, it nearly reached its peak. I couldn't take it anymore. Depression had its most powerful grip on me that night, so much that it felt like hell was already on earth. Everything was dark, I felt empty and hollow. Nothing more than a shell. I wanted so bad to end this feeling. I found my dad's revolver and pointed it at my right temple. Now, I told those closest to me that I almost pulled the trigger. That was a lie...the truth is...I pulled the trigger. Fortunately, there were no bullets for the gun. I dropped the gun and sobbed harder than I ever thought possible. Every day I cursed myself for becoming addicted. Every day of my life, I loathed myself for becoming addicted. Even today, there are some days where I hate myself; however, not on the scale of that night. Since that night, I have sought help from my family, my friends, my religious leader, and my God. I haven't been disappointed.

Just this last June, I sought help from a psychologist who specializes in addictions.  I am still recovering. There are still hiccups every now and then, but I'm doing much better than I ever have in the past. Someday, I'll be rid of that plague. Hopefully, it'll come soon.

Like I said in the beginning, I'm still learning that lesson. There is another lesson I learned from this whole thing as well. One that many should be familiar with:

Suicide is never the answer. It never will be.

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Tip #4

Tip #4: Never be shy to say hello.

This one was a really tough one to learn for me.  You see, I have always been a rather shy child and when you live in Southern Utah for much of your life and then move to California at the ripe old age of 14, it's quite a life changer. For one, I knew no one there at all, no friends that were close to my age so I had to open up rather quickly, much quicker than I'd like, I may add. 

Quick story. So for a drama class in California, we had to do lipsyncs for an assignment. There was this one girl, super cute, did a lipsync and she got right up in my face, all seductive like. I tried really, really hard to keep a straight face. I think that was probably the only time in my life that I have ever blushed that hard. I learned that day that I should be more open, so I can be prepared for something like that again. That day, my personal bubble disappeared. Nearly.

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Tip #3

Tip #3: Drop everything and read once you have found a good book.

Books that really speak to you, I've found, are the ones you can read over and over again and never get bored of it.  Take me for example. The books I absolutely love are the Harry Potter series, The Giver and its sequels, and the Lord of the Rings series.  What happens is, once I start, the rest of the world disappears and I enter into a new world that was created by the book. It's a wonderous place and you can get to know the characters almost at a personal level and relate to them in some way. It's also an escape from reality, for those who need to get away a while. What more can I say?

Try it yourself.

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Tip #2

Tip #2: Always have a recent photo handy. It'll be useful in the near future.

I know somewhat what your're thinking. "A photo? Are you kidding me? Why would I want to keep a photo of myself when I look so hideous in it?" Now, now. There is a legitimite reason. Find an old photo of yourself, like when you were in middle school. Then, look at a very recent photo of yourself. Tell me, do you find that your middle school makes you look a whole lot better by default? Now do you see the wisdom in this?



Behold the evolution that is me. Yeah, I definitely look hotter than my sophmore picture...

P.S. Definite self-esteem booster.

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Introduction (Tip #1)

So begins my new blog! Originally, I had one but it was rather depressing. I decided it was time for a change. Instead, I will start posting lessons that I have learned from my life. Some will be funny, others may be a bit disheartening, and others will be thought prevoking. Why? Because the original Black Notebook is starting to look...a bit worse for the wear, I'm afraid.





Yes, it's looking rather sorry there. Anyway, my plan is, I will post the contents of this notebook before I lose every last one of it due to some unforseeable event. This may take a while because I am currently up to 953 tips... So it'll take me about 2 and a half years to finish. Ah well, the journey is the fun part, right?

Tip #1: Get the homework done

Well, this is rather self explanatory. You see, as a child (and still kind of now...), I was a procrastinator. I was the stereotypical person who did things at the last minute and it drove my poor mother insane. Many times, there would be long nights of homework due the next day and many nights where I would be arguing with my mom or she with me about some sort of problem. Still though, I love her to death because she has helped me out so many times that I can't even count.  Even with my personal kryptonite: the essay. I write good essays, I really do. It just takes me a really...really...really long time to come up with ideas and longer still to have them take shape. Will that be a problem in college? I sure as heck hope not but I've been wrong plenty of times before. And this time, Mommy's not going to be able to help me out. Crap.

Well anyway, be sure to do your homework because your life will be so much more easier and less stressful on you and your mother (if you're still living at home or in any school lower than college). Stress causes zits so...beware...

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