The Austen Life

Studying for my advanced fluids test has not been my favorite part of the day. So I won't talk about that. What I WILL talk about is my recent explorations into the female psyche. What is it that women really want? What are they hoping for and dreaming about? I decided to consult the ubiquitous source of women's dreams and hopes- Jane Austen. More specifically, Pride and Prejudice. Actually, that's a lie. Not the Jane Austen part. The part about trying to understand girls. Its not true. I really just wanted to read the book. And as sad as it is to admit this, I love it. I play the scenes out in my mind as I read, trying to imagine the expressions on their faces, their dancing feet, and their rooms of conversation. The worst part is, I am struggling with it right now, not because I tire of its intricate details, but because I can not wait for Mr. Darcy to make is first proposition to Miss Bennett and her subsequent rejection. I am just dying to read it and feel the violent emotions of the moment.
Well, I need to go to bed now. 7am isn't coming any later than it did that fateful first day of school. Quick update on that, we are doing well with the super-mileage car. The final fuselage design has been finished. The foam blocks for the model have been cut, and tomorrow we start carving them to their proper form. After that will be a mold made from fiberglass and then the actual car from carbon fiber. Things are moving! Goodnight faithful followers.

80 lbs- 3.5 horsespower- 1,000 mpg

Intrigued? This is the pac car II, built by a team in Switzerland. And no, it does not get 1,000mpg. It gets 12,000 MPG!!! It is the most fuel efficient car in the world, and we are going to copy it. Well, not exactly, but the car we will build for the SAE Super Mileage Competition in June will be similar to this car, as will the rest of the competitors' cars. To be in the top teams, we will need to get over 1,000mpg, so that is what WE are expecting. I am so excited to be on this team and be a part of the design and building process, and of course, BEING THE DRIVER!! Being the driver, however, does have its drawbacks, first and foremost is maintaining a low weight. At our first group meeting, our faculty coach brought breakfast cake for everyone. We all introduced ourselves and explained our place on the team. When it came to my turn, I said, "Hi, I'm Eric Hardester, and I am the driver". Dr. Tree, who is helping us with choosing engine modifications, immediately reached over and took my breakfast cake away! Oh well, it takes sacrifice to do cool, meaningful things, right? (He gave the cake back a few seconds later).

The other exciting news of my life, the Return of Ryan. This kid is a beast, and its so awesome having him back. He is living with my cousin and me at our apartment and is constantly writing new beats and jammin' on the piano. Its pretty sweet. Here is one of his latest piano covers. The more you listen to it, the more you'll find that it will never cease to blow your mind with awesomeness.

(Here is another one by Ryan- Best Love Song Piano Cover)

Summer Nights

Ok, first off, for this post, you need to be listening to this song while you read it. Click on the link.

Ok. Now you can continue reading. SUMMER ROCKS!!! There is so much fun stuff going on all the time. But before I get into all the fun stuff that happens in the summer, let me give an update on my schooling life. I am an official research assistant for my professor now, which means I have a job! Still studying bubbles, but not having to count them anymore, and I get paid so it doesn't really matter what I'm doing anymore. Also, I got the driving position for the super-mileage car! That means for my senior capstone project I will help to build this car, learn to drive it efficiently, then actually drive it on a track so that we can measure the gas mileage it gets. It should be pretty awesome! (And since you're listening to the song, ISN'T RASCAL FLATTS PRETTY AWESOME TOO??)

Alright, onto summer fun. We've been doing some sweet stuff here in Provo. I got a second longboard so I can take friends/girls down provo canyon on the river trail. Blair, Evan, and I got river tubes to float down provo river, which we have done multiple times in the last few weeks. Also with extra tubes for friends/girls. SO FUN! And ps, we rent life jackets everytime, so don't anyone get all nervous for our lives or anything. We do it the safe way. There have been constant fireworks over the past month. Multiple firework shows, and for those who don't know, Utah legalized aerial fireworks this year, so when I say firework shows, I mean REAL firework shows. And, last but not least, RYAN IS COMING HOME IN 4 DAYS!!! I am super excited, just so everyone knows. He has been serving a mission in Guadalajara Mexico for the past two years, and I have only had about 2 hrs with him in the last 4 years. I got home the same day he left, so we had lunch together and that is all the face-to-face contact we have had since 2007. So yes, I am excited for him to come home and we can chill for reals again.

Anyway, just wanted to post a summer update for everyone. Hope you all are having a good summer. PEACE!

17 Years and Counting

Happy Birthday, Claire! Its my sister's birthday today, and I am so happy for her. She rocks my socks. She blows my mind with her awesomeness. She... She is always on my side. I tell her I took a girl on a date, and she instantly loves the girl. I tell her the girl said no to a second date, and she instantly hates the girl. I can always call her and know she will side with me. Its good to have such a dependable source of support in your life like that. Seventeen years have gone quick. I still remember the day she was born. I remember the exact moment, actually. Mind you, I was not there in person. I think that sort of experience would have been too much for 5 year old Eric. BUT, I remember where I was when I was told Claire had entered our familyI was outside in our backyard running around doing who knows what kind of mischief, when my Grandma Hardester came outside to tell me that Claire had been born. I was so excited to have a sister that I yelled, "YEESSS!!! YEEAAAHH!!" and did a cart wheel. It was a sweet cartwheel, too. Best I have ever done, probably. And she deserved such an awesome cartwheel, definitely.

        This also brings up a bitter sweet moment. I am going to graduate this April! I decided that last week, got permission yesterday, and signed up for the senior classes last night. Now, this is awesome. I will be done with school; free to go off and work on sweet things in sweet places, or go learn more sweet things at sweet schools and get a graduate degree. However, this also means I will not be going to school with Claire when she comes to school here in a year after her NEXT birthday. There's the bitter part. Claire, if only you had been born one year earlier. Actually, that's not your fault- Mom, Dad, you should have had Claire a year earlier. So unless I decide to stay at BYU for my Master's, no school sharing. We'll see what happens. A lot can happen in a year ;) . Anyway, the other cool part of that story is that with this senior class I am signed up for now, I will have a year long project working on a real engineering problem. Got an email this morning about a particular project that will involve designing a super efficient car. They need someone who is short and not too heavy to be the driver for the car, someone between 5' and 5'6" and 130lbs or less. For once, my vertical challenges may actually end up working to my advantage. I sent an email back to let them know that I fit this criteria and would love to be a driver for such a car. We'll see what happens! Life is AWESOME. and again... HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAIRE!!!

          

Fiery Attraction

      I took a chance this week. I went for the gold. Actually, I went for the Smokey Joe- I bought a Weber Grill! Last weekend, many adventurous souls took the opportunity to go camping, and everyone knows, camping is really just an excuse to sit around and play with fire. A few of us not heading out into the woods got to talking and decided that you don't have to go camping to play with fire; in fact, we could play with fire in front of our apartment with a fire pit. So, we searched ksl and craigslist that afternoon to no avail. However, on a warm wednesday afternoon, nestled between two random foreclosure houses for sale, I found what I was looking for: a small portable Weber Grill. I called the current owners and quickly made arrangements to become the new owner. And within a few hours, it was mine.
       Now for the gamble. I had a feeling that if I just lit a small fire in that thing in front of my apartment, anyone and everyone within the smell of the smoke would join in staring at the mesmerizing flames with me. And guess what? THEY DID. That night, just like the bugs that hover around our porch light, people began climbing out from behind trees and under rocks to get close to my magical source of light, warmth, and entertainment. Soon, there were 20 people, marshmallows, and a guitar. What did I decide after that moment?

Fire=Instant Party

       This has proven true yet again, when my cousins and brother returned from watching "Limitless" (which, by the way, was an awesome movie and made me feel pained for the seconds wasted at the traffic light as we waited for it to turn green) at the dollar theatre to have our own little fire. And Evan, being the survival man he is, wanted to start it with lint from our dryer and his flint and steel kit. It TOTALLY WORKED! I did help it with lighter fluid though, not completely trusting the lint. Sure enough, within 5 minutes of the fire starting, we had 4 more people emerge from the shadows, and at the high point, we had 10 people, marshmallows, and a laptop with a playlist of requested songs. So I state it again- Fire=Instant Party.  So, anytime anyone wants to be a part of these magical moments, just let me know and I will be glad to satisfy that fiery attraction of yours.

And here is the trailer for Limitless, and yes, it is as cool as the trailer.

Alcança- Achieve Anything

We did it! We finally got a permanent name for our company! Alcança ( [a']l-kän-s[a'] ). It is Portuguese for "reaching" or "achieving". It came at about 12:30am last Wednesday. We needed to come up with a name we could stick with so that we could design some sort of logo for the upcoming Y2K race on Saturday that we were making shirts for. I tried a thousand different names that never quite felt how we wanted it to feel. And Blair, while I'm drifting into a splendid slumber, sleepily tells me, "Eric, I got a name. 'Alcança'." I told him it sounded awesome, then fell asleep. The next morning, it still felt good, so we kept it! We made waterbottles with the logo on it, we put the logo on the shirt, and all was well with the world. 

              Now what is the Y2K? Only the greatest race ever conceived and accomplished in 1 month's time. My friend, Hank Taylor, being the entrepreneur he is, realized that there are many races in Provo, but none that tackle the Y trail. So he made one that does, the Y2K. It is a 2k race from the bottom of the trail to the top (yep, comes out to 2k's). It has a 1076ft elevation climb and a recently recorded time of 15:21 to beat. Up for the challenge? Start training because there will probably be another one in August. 

Here are pics of the shirt and of the race. All the other sponsors were all of Hank's other business ventures, Red Haiku, Disc Golf Guru, and one which should have also been included, the Provo Monster Mile. Also check out Aerobic Workout Music, which has instrumental hymn arrangements that are perfect for working out to. In fact, the MTC plays it at its gym for missionaries to listen to while they have gym time. And I can't forget the shirt we made for "Clash at Demonhead", an ultimate frisbee team that wanted team jerseys. Check it out!

My Start Over Day

How often do you think you have a bad day? How often does that bad day start with a terrible morning? I had a terrible morning. Both of the sports teams I am on lost last night, I didn't get to sleep on time because of homework, and woke up with no time for breakfast and ate a tortilla on the way to class. I felt tired, defeated, and hungry. Now, I did not want to have a bad day, so I thought to myself, "Hey, why don't I just start the day over??" So that is what I did! I came home from class, baked some delicious blueberry muffins, and in a few minutes, I will be off to bed to take a nice nap! The day already feels so much better just from the fact that I have eaten 6 scrum-didily-umptious muffins and decided to take a sleep. This is going to be a great day yet!

Also of note, this weekend Dinan Apparel filled an order for an ultimate frisbee intramural team (my team) and they look sick. The color of the shirt is called "safety green" and yes, the shirts are self-luminescent. We were hoping the shirts would add to the all important intimidation factor of frisbee, but alas, we still lost (contributing to my terrible morning). Our team is Team 15, hence the 15 on the shirt. Enjoy! And special thanks to Cameron, Chelsie, and Courtney in helping with the shirts this time.