Hey gang,

Well, I am now a college graduate!! It feels good to be done with this part of my life, and I am looking forward to the challenges that lay ahead. I will probably be somewhat lazy this summer before I make the move up to Spokane and begin my MFA program at Eastern Washington.

Also, my best friend, Mike Maile, will be coming home from his mission this next month from...Spokane! haha I've missed my bruh, and I'm freakin' stoked to see him! He has grown so much over the past two years, and I am truly humbled to call myself his friend.

Anyways, I have a reading coming up on Thursday, May 28th at 8pm over at the Sierra Tap House on West 1st St. in Reno. It's a little place on the river, and I'm very excited for this opportunity. I'd love to see you guys there! I hope that my words intoxicate you...but if by some chance they don't, there is a bar right there ;-).

I'm gonna bounce for now, but I have given in to the cult of Twitter, so you can follow me at: www.twitter.com/RostOlsen. Take care, and God bless!

Your brother,

-Rost

Update: 4-7-2009

Hey crew!

It's been awhile since I've been on here, but I promise I'll do better!! Anyways, a lot has happened since my last post...

I have been accepted to the Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing up at Eastern Washington University. It's a ranked, and highly-regarded program, and I'm quite humbled that they would be willing to put up with a punk-kid from Sparks, NV. I'm still waiting to hear from the MFA programs at North Carolina State and UN...umm...Nevada Southern :-), but even if I get accepted to those two schools, I'm about 85% certain that I'll be up in Spokane this fall.

Also, my boy Mike will be home from his mission in 10 weeks...from Spokane, of all places! We write and everything, but we've been tight since 1st grade, and it'll be good to see him.

Anyways, I'm off to bed...long day tomorrow! Stay up!

Your brother,

-Rost

P.S. I have finally gotten on Twitter! Follow me:

www.twitter.com/RostOlsen

Hey Gang,

Well, it has been a rough stretch, lately. A friend of mine, Blayne Tallent, has passed away after a hard, valiant fight against cancer. We had his services yesterday, and it was certainly painful to say goodbye to a beautiful individual who inspired me so much. But, nonetheless, God is truly good, and He will certainly welcome Blayne into His presence. What a blessing it was to know Blayne, and it is my prayer that we can look at and follow his courageous example.

Rest in Peace, Blayne Marshall Tallent



October 5, 1989 - November 26, 2008

Your brother,

-Rost

Thoughts on the election

Hey My People!

What a time to be alive!! The people have spoken, and overwhelmingly selected Barack Obama to be our nation's first black president. Although I disagree with the President-elect on some issues, I believe very strongly that he was the best candidate for the position, and I've believed that ever since I started supporting him well over two years ago (well before he even declared his candidacy for office :-)).

Now if the Niners would freakin' win already! That game against the Cardinals just about made me vomit!

Other than that, I'm just trying to get over the flu and become productive once again. I just got in contact with Mandie, a dear friend of mine who I haven't heard from since sophomore year in high school (that's over five years!!), and she's doing well! I'm extremely grateful to have her friendship back in my life again, and I pray that she'll continue to have blessings poured upon her.

So, I'm gonna continue to work and steadily improve this website. I'm still looking for a way to put a guestbook on here. In the meantime, hit me up on Facebook or Myspace! Holla at me!

God bless,

-Rost

Thoughts on the Veepstakes...

The early report has Barack Obama picking Joe Biden as his running mate for this November's election. Personally, I was pulling for Evan Bayh. I feel that with Bayh's wealth of experience at his fairly young age (he has been in the senate for 10 years, and is only 4 years older than Obama), he would be a great reinforcement of the charisma that Obama will bring to the presidency. Bayh's experience would also counter a lot of the Republican B.S. about Obama's lack of experience that "matters."

However, Joe Biden has been in the senate since 1973, and was elected at the ripe age of 29. Biden does bring a lot more experience than Bayh, but he certainly doesn't have Bayh's youth. Nonetheless, Biden is like Hillary Clinton in the fact that-whether you love them or hate them-he is a very powerful person that carries a lot of weight. Biden is either a powerful friend, or a powerful enemy. Even if he isn't your best friend, he is a hell of a bulldog to have in your corner. And its certainly a lot easier when he's with you than when he's against you.

It is also been reported that Mitt Romney will be John McCain's choice of running mate. They say that 95% of Mormons in Nevada caucused for Romney back in January. I take pride in that fact, as it proves that my I.Q. is well within the top 5-percentile among the Mormons in this great state.

Mitt Romney is your typical politician. He "adjusts" his positions at extremely politically-convenient times, claiming he's honestly had a change of heart. True, he is a business guru...but so are the majority of the filthy-rich bastards that Bush surrounds himself with.

Biden is strong-willed. With Biden, you know that a steamroller is coming. Meanwhile, Romney is still trying to figure out which opinion on the "when does life begin" issue will cause McCain to stroke out the fastest (do you HONESTLY think Romney has given up on attaining the presidency...soon?). Expect Romney to lose his pair within the first 20 minutes of the VP-debate. :-)

Decisions

After much thought and prayer, I've decided that I need to stay where I'm at. The bottom line is that I love what I do and the people I work with. What I thought was going to be an extremely complicated decision turned out to be nowhere near that. I've made my decision and I'm not looking back.

So, that being said, be sure to check out FontanaFitness.com soon, as there will be some phat changes to it!! :-)

But, I've also decided that I need to soothe the ache to compete that I've had ever since I stopped playing football. Since it's been 3 years since my last concussion, I've decided to put on the gloves and box. I might be crazy, but I feel that this is a chance worth taking. I still feel like I have something left in the tank, so I'm going to get after it. If you know me, you know that I'm the kind who'd rather try and fail than stay back and wonder "what if" later on.

Also, I've been getting into some new jams lately. There's this jazz guitarist by the name of Chieli Minucci that I've recently come across, and I love his stuff! If you get the chance, listen to his jam, "Kickin' it Hard." You'll love it! And "System," the most recent album from Seal is OFF THE CHAIN!! Make sure to give a listen to "If It's In My Mind, It's On My Face."

Trials and opportunity

Well, lately a couple trials have come my way that are causing me to reassess where I need to be heading. I'm not going to go into detail at the time being, but I will tell you that I have roughly 13 & 1/2 - 14 months before I'm leaving the Reno area for graduate school, so I need to take some time and gameplan the best possible strategy to get me there.

Since I'm not the richest guy in the world, funding is certainly an issue. I've been blessed with parents who have been willing to let me stay at home rent-free, as well as provide food!! So, it would be extremely unfair for me to ask them to fund my social life as well.

So, since I want to have something resembling a social life, I'll just leave it that I need to figure out the best path of action that will allow me to have that. Leave me a comment and tell me what ya think...