The Celebrity Playlist.

It does not refer to anything I intend to be, or a line of cruise ships that in part funded my summer here, or really anything in particular anymore. It is one of those titles that has evolved and taken on a new meaning, almost completely apart from the actual words. The Celebrity Playlist is an invention that I attribute to some of my best friends of the last 4 years, and we have taken the CP and made it ours. For those of you who haven't heard of it yet, don't feel left out. According to my memories, it came about during our freshman year in the dorms either in late 2006 or early 2007. Barret challenged some of us to create our ultimate playlists to share with each other, inspired by celebrities who had done the same and made theirs available on some Apple-run media service. The only limit is that it had to be under 80 minutes and be able to burned onto one CD-R. My first Celebrity Playlist was interesting because it represented a collection of years of music tastes leading up to and incorporating some of my freshman year at BYU. It required hours of painful trimming and selecting to reduce the massive group of songs that I loved and and wanted to put on my List to the correct amount, and then even more time constructing a proper sequence. By the time I had finished, I had grown considerably proud of it. I felt that it was mine, and it was. I put it onto a flash drive and shared it (legal debates will be put off for now) with all my friends who wanted it, and they followed roughly the same process. About two and a half years later, during my sophomore year, we resurrected the Celebrity Playlist, same rules, just that none of the songs used on the first List could be reused. Once again it was hours and days spent thinking, reordering, listening, and selecting to find a final product, but soon enough I had CP 2.0 ready to share. It was enlightening for me to see the progression of my music taste, the remnants of my past years, but between it all, another fine product that I found myself proud of and ready to share with those willing. This one was released in the early days of 2010, on a snowy night ride in the blue van, going to a stake party at some large livestock barn somewhere south of Springville. Once again, the songs each had a memory or a meaning or a feeling that warranted their inclusion in my 80-minute Dream Team of audio stimuli. So that is my history of the Celebrity Playlist. My mind is currently concocting CP 3.0, slated for release in September. I think it will be a considerable shift from past issues, but the reason for that is because I feel it has less songs chosen for their sentimental reasons, but more music that is highly pertinent for me know. There is less logical selection, but rather I am being guided by my ears and what they like. Fewer are the stories, and more relevant are the emotions tied up to each song in their current place. If this is highly pertinent to you, I invite you to make yourself present for my release. If this is new to you, I invite you as well and suggest you consider building your own Celebrity Playlist. I would love to hear it. To sit down with you and listen to it and hear what it means to you.

Looming.

I know I'm not the only one thinking this,
but I am very excited to return to school again.
I am so glad that I came to Alaska and got to be what I am,
to make the friends I have,
to learn what I have learned
and to see what I have seen.
I have had the chance to step out for a breath of fresh air,
regain my composure
and now I feel rested and relaxed.
I feel like I've become a better man,
and now I am ready to dive back in
and get back to my real life in Provo
[with a quick jaunt in San Diego first, of course].
I miss being academically challenged,
surrounded but experiences and opportunities and people.
I am excited to get back and be me.
I am pleased with how I feel.
I love the way I think and understand people and the world.
I am actually going to miss this place,
for it has been a place of growth.
Thank you to those of you who contributed to any of this,
whether you were here or there,
for it all takes part.
See you soon.
Or see you again someday.

Weekend Play.

Nate and Chad each thoroughly enjoy zip-lining, in their own distinct ways.

Abandoned mining tools and parts from a century ago, found along the beach.

Sarah, ready for camping, on deck of the S.S. Blondina.

Brian piloting an adventure cart on the lawns of Echo Ranch.

Abandoned pier on the Gastineau Channel.