Monday, November 30, 2009
Yup
I was supposed to do something with a friend while I was down in Utah. We talked on Wednesday and planned to do something on Friday. Friday came, and I got a text from him in the afternoon saying he didn't realize his family had so much going on that day, but he asked if he could call me later. I told him yes and asked if he still wanted to do something later or if he was busy all day. I'm still waiting for a reply.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thankful for Thanksgiving
I had a great time in Utah, though. Here are some pics:
Saturday, November 28, 2009
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Friday, November 27, 2009
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Thursday, November 26, 2009
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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Things I Can't Wait for That will Happen This Year
- To get out of Rexburg tomorrow (and forever, but that comes later)
- To see my relatives
- Thanksgiving dinner
- Pie
- Thanksgiving leftovers
- The Christmas lights at Temple Square
- No more editing papers of people who shouldn't be English majors
- To inflate my Christmas tree
- Christmas!
- To be home with my family
- To drive my car
- Ping pong
Monday, November 23, 2009
Ghost Town
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Sunday, November 22, 2009
Youngest Child Syndrome
Ah, the youngest child syndrome. I remember when Josh was little and one of us would "barely touch him," which would send him dramatically flying across the room and onto the floor where he would yell until his assailant was punished. But I can't really remember how much of that is accurate.
I love my little brother! Look how much he has changed over the last few years:
He's working on his Associate's now, and then he's planning on transferring to a university. He's thinking about being a dentist, but I think he should be a graphic designer. I've always considered him artistic and creative, and I think he would be good in that field. But dentist is cool too--lots of perks and nifty gadgets. I'm excited to see where his life takes him.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Wish me Luck
Here are the things I have to finish in the next three weeks:
- Write a 10-page research paper on stereotypes
- Revise a 5-page paper on a psychoanalytical approach to Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game"
- Invent a new religion
- Organize and present an elaborate group presentation on my invented religion
- Write a 10-page paper on my invented religion
- Interview my parents on changes that have occurred in our family in the last three generations
- Write a 3-page paper on those changes
- Read about 120 pages of early American literature
- Write a T-analysis on an early American story
- Write a 5-page paper on an early American story
- Take a really long, awful write-on test about early American literature when there's no way in hades I'm going to be able to remember the billions of authors we have looked at since midterm
- Publish a literary journal
- Edit at least three 10-page research papers
- Write a résumé and cover letter
- Write/create a photographic essay
- Take an essay test
- White glove
Friday, November 20, 2009
I <3 Fun.
Yes, Nate Ruess wears capris (some people criticized him for that in their comments on YouTube), but he's Nate Ruess, so I say he can do whatever he wants. Every celebrity has their trademark, right? Plus, can I just say that he's really good looking? I don't think the capris are really an issue. Kirsten and I went to Fun's show in Portland, Oregon on my birthday a few months back, and it was pretty sweet. First, we went to Music Millennium to meet the band and get autographed copies of their first album, Aim and Ignite. Then we got pictures with Nate Ruess and Jack Antonoff once we got to the Hawthorne:
I have to say that Nate didn't seem very excited to be at the show, wandering around the venue with a long face, but he made up for it when he got on stage.
I really like the piñatas on the music video, but I'm not sure how I feel about all the girls chasing them. It just doesn't feel very original, and it doesn't even really seem to fit the song. I realize many music videos are completely random (No One Knows by Queens of the Stoneage comes to mind), but since they were clearly sticking with the "pretty girls" theme, it just feels off to have the band running away from all these girls when they're singing "I wish all the pretty girls were shaking me down." I was really expecting to see some chick decked out in '80s garb. And "all the pretty girls can't measure to you"--where's that girl? Oh well. I still enjoy the video, mostly because I love Fun, and I love watching them perform.
Fun has recently recorded a new song for the holidays called "Believe In Me." If they get 40,000 fans on Facebook by December 1st, we get the song for free! So click here to become a fan even if you aren't sure how you feel about them. You will love them. And if you don't, I still get a free song, and you can denounce your fan status on December 2nd. Call it your Christmas present to me.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
All Questions, No Answers
I miss summer and feeling like I'm part of something:
I hate being cold.
I have a zit forming just under my bottom lip.
Craigo's is having a $5.49 pizza buffet tonight. Nothing like smothering your worries with savory tomato sauce and artery-clogging cheese! You in?
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Fat Lard
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Where the Stupid Things are
The movie opens with a nice little tune hummed by a sweet boy
named Max, who suddenly transforms into a devil child in a wolf
costume running through the house, yelling, growling, and tackling
the poor dog! Later, Max stands on the table in his costume, folds
his arms, glares down at his mother, and shouts, "Woman! Feed
me!" Then his mom angrily chases him around the house, and once
she catches him, he bites her on the shoulder and runs out the door,
down the street, and through the woods. He conveniently finds a
boat near the water's edge, and he sails away to the Wild Things'
island. By this point, I was pretty confident this was going to be a
weird movie.
Call me crazy, but I expected a movie based on a children's book
to be a little more upbeat, but it seemed like every five minutes,
there were angry monsters or people throwing temper tantrums,
yelling, and, in one instance, ripping the arm off a giant chicken.
But don't worry--they replaced the arm with a stick.
I think the weirdest part is when Max is running away from an angry
Wild Thing, and KW, the only happy Wild Thing has Max climb in her mouth, where he hides in her stomach until the angry one has left. KW and Max then have a touching conversation while Max is still in her
stomach. Finally, KW pulls a slimy Max out of her mouth. How
tender.
I have to admit that I laughed during some of these strange moments, but mostly I was just in shock. As we were walking out of the theater, I overheard a conversation that went something like this:
Girl 1: Oh, you saw Where the Wild Things are? Was it good?
Girl 2: I really liked the cinematography.
I think that's polite for "The movie really sucked, but I should
probably say something good about it."
I rate this move: bizarre and depressing.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Twitterpated
You are in the library, surrounded by people trying to do their homework. Maybe you didn't notice. The library is busy during this time of day, and people often struggle to find a free computer. The two of you are taking up two computers, but, rather than looking at the screens, you are gazing into each other's eyes. You are facing each other, knees touching, hand in hand, faces three inches apart, whispering about how attracted you are to each other, and occasionally reaching up to stroke the other's face. You are also sitting five feet away from me--just on the other side of the table. Please stop.
Sincerely,
Me
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Stumbling
Second of all, I don't know what to write about...
Third of all, have you ever heard of StumbleUpon? Basically, you check your interests on this site, click the "Stumble" button, and it finds random websites that you'll hopefully like. Here was something I stumbled upon today:
I'm going to have to try that someday. It reminds me of certain friends of mine who used to stare at the ceiling with feigned interest to see how many people they could get to look.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Meet Cloud Nine
Make your Stick Figure Family at FreeFlashToys.com
Friday, November 13, 2009
The Way Wii Are
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Baby Hands
This year, Burger King came out with a new commercial that, for us, was very nostalgic:
Would you date someone with baby hands? Let me know on the poll!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Phattest Kids on Campus
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tower of Terror
Monday, November 9, 2009
Banana
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Distant Dreamer
Saturday, November 7, 2009
What not to Wear
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Friday, November 6, 2009
Bad Day to be a Terrorist
Here's the article I read: http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-fort-hood-shootings6-2009nov06,0,4341651.story?page=1.
In a meager attempt to explain the shooting, the article mentions that this psychiatrist, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, was about to face his "worst nightmare"--being deployed to Iraq. I admit I don't know that much about the military, but isn't there another way of getting out of an assignment? Excuse my morbidity, but if nothing else, he could have shot himself. Why kill all those people? Yeah, you don't have to go to Iraq, but what you're about to face for shooting up the world's largest military base. ... Man, I'd hate to be in your shoes. I'd be wishing the lady who shot me had better aim.
I also read this article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33712858/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/, which is more comprehensive. It says Hasan was being deployed to Afghanistan, not Iraq (I don't know if that changes the story at all). It also says that witnesses reported Hasan shouting "Allahu Akbar," which is Arabic for "God is great." I watched a video on radical Muslims in my Religion and Society class this week, and while most Muslims are normal people, these radicals are a very angry, hateful group who think America wants to take over the world--Islam specifically--and they want to destroy us for Allah's sake. Supposedly, God wants them to spread Islam. They teach their children to hate western civilization and that it's an honor to die for this "Jihad," which involves killing the enemy, aka all non-Islamic people or even Muslims who get in their way. So the fact that Hasan was shouting "Allahu Akbar" before he began shooting makes me very suspicious. Why would he yell that if he wasn't a radical? Does he have any idea how pissed off the U.S. gets at terrorists?
He got shot four times and is still kicking. Sucks to be him.
Here's a clip from the documentary we watched in class. If you have time, you can watch the whole thing on YouTube. It's called "Obsession," and it's pretty crazy.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
A Lesson in Happiness from Nathanial Hawthorne
I must admit, I accessed my fair share of SparkNotes that year. Actually, now that I think of it, the only book I remember finishing in that class was Of Mice and Men. I was such a good student. I can't remember all the books we were supposed to read, but I remember being bored out of my mind. The most dreadful book, by far, was The Scarlet Letter.
Now I'm taking Early American Literature, and I'm reading The Scarlet Letter once more. It still isn't my favorite book, but I must say it's more tolerable than I remember. I think I can appreciate it more, or at least understand it, now that I am better acquainted with the stylistic usage of language common in nineteenth century literature. High school students should really be reading something a little more action-packed. I mean, I'm nine chapters into this story and so far a woman has been publicly scorned as an adulteress, and her child is kind of weird. I did find something interesting today, however.
Reverend Dimmesdale's health is failing, and he refuses medical treatment, insisting he would rather die and leave behind the earthly woes of his sins, taking the spiritual woes to the judgement bar than to have the doctor, Roger Chillingworth, waste his skills by healing him. Chillingworth misunderstands, assuming Dimmesdale is simply eager to be reunited with his Creator. Dimmesdale corrects him, saying, "Nay....Were I worthier to walk there, I could be better content to toil here."
I found that simple, yet profound. If you are living a moral life, you are happier. Wow. Now that's deep. And while I sound sarcastic, I'm not. That's the most beautiful sentence I've read in The Scarlett Letter so far.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
I'm a Machine!
Obviously the church supports education--a great deal of tithing money goes to supporting church-affiliated schools, and General Authorities clearly urge all, regardless of gender, to seek higher education. The importance of a woman's education is specifically addressed; however, more often than not, I feel like I am being urged to get married and make babies. Families are wonderful, and I am very excited to have my own someday, but sometimes I wish that, every once in a while, someone would get up in a Relief Society meeting and talk about careers and how women can make a difference in the world in ways other than being a wife and mother. Maybe they do, but it doesn't happen often enough if I can't think of a single instance. It seems like every visiting teaching message, if it isn't about appreciating Relief Society, discusses the importance of motherhood. I completely agree! But what am I if I'm not a mother?
For a while, there was a poster on campus that I saw every day on my way to class. In big letters, it said, "Preparing for the Future..." and it had pictures of a young woman playing with her baby and another young woman planting a flower. What about the unmarried women who graduate from BYU-I? What about the LDS woman who never marries at all? What is her role in society? I'm sure she can plant flowers too, but why can't the school add a third woman who is dressed in a business suit and holding a clipboard in her hand? In my FHE group alone, there are twice as many girls as there are guys. Only two of those guys are neither engaged nor dating someone. A similar ratio has existed with every BYU-I approved apartment complex I have lived in. Chances are, a significant amount of women will leave BYU-I without rocks on their fingers, and those women are not any less valuable because they are not yet mothers. In fact, they will have many opportunities opened to them because they don't have families to care for.
I guess my main point is that I am more than just a baby machine. Do I want to fall in love and have a family? Of course, I do. Do I feel like that is all I'm capable of doing as a woman. No. I have no intention of sitting around on my hope chest, waiting for Mr. Right to come along. I hope he shows up someday, but until then, I'm excited for my post-grad adventures of finding and working a "real" job and finding my own way to contribute to society.
P.S. My title is a tribute to Buster Bluth and his hand.
Check out this video too. It's an amazing Buster montage, but it won't
let me embed it. Lame.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJqjLN9wAmU
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
A Cop, Bearing Gifts
On Sunday night, I went for a walk around campus with my roommates Natalie and Megan. As we were crossing a particular street, a police car turned the corner and cut us off halfway through the sidewalk. A police officer poked his out the window and said to us, "Good job; you guys are walking inside the lines of the crosswalk. Are any of you soccer fans?" Of course my natural reaction is panic. When does a cop ever stop to make chit chat without an ulterior motive (i.e. "Nice weather we're having. Do you think it'll snow? By the way, you parked nose first instead of backing into one of these weird parking spaces we recently invented in Rexburg. Enjoy your ticket.)? We were walking after dark, and we are girls, and people seem to think that's a bad combination even in Rexburg where the cops spend the majority of their time writing parking tickets and coaxing herds of cattle off the road, so maybe he would mention that. Or maybe he wasn't a real cop at all. I had just watched Hocus Pocus the night before and the kids were trying to tell this cop about the Sanderson sisters' terrorizing the neighborhood, but the cop just scared them off. Then his girlfriend came out of the liquor store and the couple laughed at the naive children who thought he was a real cop.
So the police officer asks if we like soccer. Natalie's response: "Well, we'd like to get out of the middle of the road." Great. Now we're smart-mouthing the cop. Surprisingly, he just said, "Well, I was going to give you a soccer ball, but never mind," and started driving away. He turned around when he heard Megan protesting and yelling at Natalie for losing our prize. When the cop came back, he somewhat sarcastically asked us if we were afraid of cops. I politely reminded him that cops write tickets. "Not today!" he said.
Apparently, the Rexburg police were promoting pedestrian safety by giving away soccer balls to people they saw doing good things, like properly using a sidewalk.
We were pretty excited to have a shiny new toy and happily finished our walk. When we got back to Cloud Nine (Apt. 9's nickname, if you didn't know), our other roommate Cari was standing outside talking to a friend, and Natalie thought she would demonstrate her soccer skills by kicking the ball it high into the air. From where we were standing, we thought it landed right on top of Greenbrier's flat roof. We all cursed Natalie's name as she laughed hysterically. Full of doubt, I ran around to the other side of our apartment, meeting along the way a couple of love birds who were rather impressed that we were able to kick a ball over the building. Phew! We still had our ball, and we didn't kill the couple who happened to be walking by.