Hmmm... Does anyone check this anymore?

Dear friends,

As you know, I haven't posted anything on here recently. However, if any of you get updates, or check this...

Let me just say if you check this blog frequently then it's flattering and a little creepy at the same time. Especially since I never post anything. Just call me and we'll hang out if you really think I'm that funny or whatever you're thinking in your stalker head.

OK, anyways, assuming that no one checks this any more, but maybe someone gets an update. You should check out my other joint blog with my friend Alex. spitshake.blogspot.com

It's enjoyable, and updated on a more regular basis... ok so it actually does get updated. You get what I'm getting at. It's funny, we're are two morons who do dumb stuff when we are apart and super dumb stuff when we get together.

With that said. Thank you for reading this. You are an all-star, by far, if you even exist.

Much love,

the_Phil

(PS Bridget every time I use that name it's still a shout out to you)

High Fives for Lo-Fi

High Fives for Lo-Fi was made by myself, Jonny Pena, Chris Smith and Nate Noble. Here's the basic run down. Ever since I was 14 years old I have always wanted to record an album of songs that I have written and then give it out to friends and family. This year it happened. I have been writing songs for a while and have collected a fair few. Around November I decided that I wanted to actually record them and make an album to give out for Christmas. My original plan was to record them on my computer through Audacity and ship out a super Lo-Fi recording. However, I soon met Nate and found out that he and his Dad built a legit recording studio in his house. Ka Ching!!! So we set up a plan to record some stuff and see how it turned out.

I went over and threw down 9 guitar tracks in one day, and decided that it would sound better with some drums and base added in. I contacted my jamming buddies JP (Jonny) and Chris and asked them to be a part of it. They were super pumped and started working on some beats off the guitar tracks I gave them. The three of us only jammed together once and I jammed with each of them two or three times individually over the next two weeks. We came, we saw, we recorded. In about two weeks we had the whole thing finished off. It was ridiculously hectic because we had a deadline of December 17th (last day of finals) so that I could mail it off to some friends and family. Each of the guys were amazing and made sacrifices to get it done because we did almost all the recording during finals week. We cut out two songs that were originally recorded because we didn't have time to finish them, but we wrote and recorded the last track on the album in less than 24 hours on a whim. All in all it was a hurricane and I can best describe it as the most hectically fun thing I have ever done. It's not perfect, but we're all pretty proud of it.

Down Date

I wonder why we picked 'up' for the direction in "update." This one is dedicated to down. I know your under appreciated dude. It's aight' I got yo back.

Anyways, I am at Noble; it's going to close soon, and I am SICK!!!! of making dimensioned drawings of engine parts. So I figured I'd tell the tale of "BRO TRIP 2009!!!"

So it all started the morning before Thanksgiving. We were supposed to drive up to U-TA as a family and spend the time with other family members (you know, ones that live in Utah). Well turns out Father dear had to go and get sick that very morn, and so the fam. decided not to go.

However, A-Ron (my younger brother) and I decided that a family road trip could easily be transformed into a "Bro Trip." Done and done.

On the way up Aaron drove first since he had only slept four hours each night for the past two nights. On the way back I was in a similar condition and subsequently drove first. But I am getting ahead of myself. First off we did not tack Melvin of Yoko. Instead we rode up in my Dad's nameless Saturn, but not until I had adorned it with some bling from my truck. We roll deep.

The way up was pretty uneventful but the way back was not.

That's right. We got a flat in the middle of no where with no cell phone service. Time to make memories.

We looked for the wrench to break loose the lug nuts, and were unsuccessful. I had Aaron take a picture of me holding up this sign, then told him to make his own and look pathetic.

We're not that great at scoring sympathy points, but at least we try.

(Funny thing was once we finally got someone to stop I took a look at the jack and realized the handle worked as the wrench. That's when you just play it smooth and thank God that the guy who stopped to help knows nothing about cars. Man card saved.)

Needless to say we made it out. We had to limp along on a undersized spare for over 150 miles, but we finally found a place to get a new tire.

(NO! We are not high. That is just how we look. OK?)

The tire... well, tires usually don't do to well when the side wall blows out. Maybe she'll get to be the bottom of some eco-friendly sandal or something. Here's hoping.

Stay Sweet.

“He’ll be an engineer…”

This week I was tutoring a fellow engineer at my work. He was working on a statics problem, and asked me to help him figure it out. I am pretty good at statics, but because he is a civil engineer they take the whole "statics" thing a bit seriously. We went through the mathematical definitions of moments of inertia in his book, we looked through his notes and we figured it out. BUT, there was one portion of the solution that I didn't understand. He was my last tutee of the night; so after we finished I went home and forgot about it.

Then I went to sleep.

Whilst I was in the magical world of sleep, I began to dream about the problem. In my sleep I finished solving the problem. Yes, I have begun to legitimately do math in my sleep. Oh brother!

In honor of my recent accomplishment I have decided to share this video. May heaven help me.

Adam Is My Brother

I got hit by a truck named weather this week and went straight under. (I got sick, and it made me have a sad face.) It turned out to be quite the inconvenience for multiple reasons. There was the usual loss of money from missing work, loss of knowledge from missing class and loss of comfort from infectious invaders who inhabited my respiratory system. However, the one inconvenience that I was not expecting was that it would cause me to miss another epic

Sakievich Family Gathering!!!

My older brother and his wife live in Tucson and so family gatherings are usually dictated on when they decide to drive up from the belly of hell where they live. I live a bit more than half way between them and my parent's house so it is pretty easy for me to head on over to Mother and Father's when Adam and Emily drive up. Easy when I'm not ill that is. Our family is the most fun when we are all together so we can be in full swing. There is usually a large amount of bantering, including but not limited to personal insults, reminiscent recollections of childhood and wrestling in the pool.

One of the main keys to making these gatherings a success is putting my brother Adam and me together. Adam and I are the two eldest children. We are 18 months apart and were roommates from the day mom and dad moved me out of the laundry basket until the day Adam left on his mission. We have a long childhood history which Adam likes to sum up in this catchy phrase,

"I beat him often, but he beat me well."

As the years have passed and the scars healed we came together. Needless to say we can't be described by the phrase "two peas in a pod," but don't let that fool you. If I am a Yin then Adam is a Yang; we work perfectly together and nothing could tear us apart. Today I was reminded of that yet again.

As stated earlier, I was not able to make it to the family gathering today, but my family didn't leave me out to dry. They came out to see me tonight. They brought dinner, cinnamon rolls and the Sakievich family touch. Here's what I mean: my Mother ended up cutting my roommate's hair, my Dad read my business proposal, Adam reached over and changed the song whenever he thought it was odd (it was my "art" playlist) and we were able to harass Aaron into playing the bongos while I played the guitar. Perfect.

Eventually Mother, Father and Aaron had to leave (the young ones didn't come on this trip), but Adam and Emily stayed for an extra hour to hang out. We just sat and talked about several different things, but I think the most memorable subject was when we discussed having days to do nothing. These are some quotes from Adam (he's a philosophy major and a genius if the quotes don't give it away).

To me: "I admire your ability to go after your goals with such dogged determination and Spartan mentality."

To me: "Isn't it counterintuitive that you need to expend effort to organize your time so that you can have more time to do nothing?"

"I probably spend too much time doing what I want to do. I'll often be reading a book instead of doing something I should. Like going to class…"

To Emily: "I like being quoted. This should happen more often! You should carry around a little book and write down the things I say."

To me: "That is where I am different from you I find my joy in life outside my goals."

That really sums up a lot of Adam and me. Where I need to relax he needs to tighten up and vice a versa. I think part of the reason why our bond is so deep is because we each get to emulate and be the emulator at the same time. Cynically speaking, I get to look down at him while looking up to his example, and I am sure he enjoys the same experience.

Adam: "I am getting a reptile for Christmas! Or an amphibian."

Emily: (Rolls her eyes and puts her head back)

Philip: (Looks at Emily and says), "How does it feel to be married to a five year old?" (Mocking voice) "I want a reptile and a pineapple* for Christmas!"

Group: (Laughter)

End Scene.

*Every year for the past five or so years Adam has asked for and received a pineapple for Christmas, his birthday or both.

Law Student VS Engineering Student: Episode 1

For those who are unaware, my roommate James is a student of the law, and I am an engineering student. Countless hours of joy are found as we share knowledge and engage in battles of wit. A good deal of our mutual amusement is founded upon our different perspectives of the world. The following tale illustrates this perfectly.

When the weather cools down James and I like to open the window and place a fan in it. It seems like a pretty normal thing to do right? I thought so, but James informed me when I first moved into the apartment that the neighbor beneath us is a smoker. When he smokes it drifts out through his AC unit, up the wall and into our room. It never really bothered me, but someone might as well have been pumping mustard gas into the room with James' reaction. When summer came the window stayed closed so the AC stayed in, but the issue recently resurfaced with the cooler weather. James was venting his frustrations to me the other day, we laughed for a bit and I candidly shared an observation of mine. It went something like this:

"You know we could always turn the fan around so the air is getting blown out rather than into the room."

His response:

"Oh… (pause)… yeah, that would work."

Then he laughed and said:

"I was considering setting up a verbal contract with him where I would pay him a monthly fee to not smoke during certain hours of the day. I guess this is easier."

Law Student 0 Engineer 1

Phil's thought for the day.

Today I was reminded why I live in mortal fear of sneezing while consuming carrots.