Huckleberry Twain

But! crazy weather. Last week we were getting temperatures in the 70s and 80s and now it is snowing. Not quite in the valley yet, but there is snow pretty low on the mountain.

And when I went to go to work today, my car wouldn't start. It took a good half hour to find someone who could jump me and then I had to go get a new battery. So that is $90 that I wasn't expecting to have to spend, but not going to strain me.

New Stake

2011-04-18T00:22:00.002-06:00

So as of today I am no longer in the BYU 89th ward in the BYU 20th stake, I am now in the YSA 217th ward of the Provo YSA 15th Stake. And no, I didn't move. They did a massive reorganizing and created a new stake, they are doing away with "student" wards and will only have singles wards to clarify better where single adults will go. My ward boundaries changed. The Provo river is the western boundary of my ward now, whereas before it included a couple of places beyond the river. So I have a new bishop as well (my old bishop now presides over the ward across the river).

And, wonder of wonders, we now have a meeting house that is within our ward boundaries. (My old ward met in the Institute building on UVU campus.

Anyway, off to bed.

Terribly Excited!

2011-04-08T15:44:00.003-06:00

I am sooo excited. Earlier today Ish mentioned that in the upcoming season the Utah Symphony is going to be doing all 9 of Beethoven's symphonies. That is way too awesome an opportunity to pass up. I just bought myself a ticket for all 9.

For some reason they are doing them in reverse order--starting with 9 and ending with 1. I am totally excited. I got the Saturday series tickets because I'm really not sure what my Fridays will be like come fall, but my current work schedule would not allow Friday evening concerts.

And of course, each concert is not JUST the Beethoven symphony--there's Stravinsky Suites 1 and 2, Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto 2, a couple of Mozart pieces, Brahms' piano concerto 1, and more.

I think I'm in heaven.

In for the Long Haul

2011-03-20T23:30:00.000-06:00

So, in the past 48 hours, I have driven through Donner Pass in the snow, TWICE.

Ok, so technically it isn't Donner's Pass. It is called Donner's Summit on I-80 and is 2 miles north and about 150 feet higher than the historic Donner's Pass.

Here's why:

My roommate got married yesterday in the Oakland Temple. I took Friday and Monday off work to attend, as I was the Maid-of-Honor. The plan was this: Friday, drive to Oakland; Saturday, go to wedding; Sunday, drive back to Reno and stay the night; Monday drive the rest of the way back to Provo.

This is how it went: Friday morning we (Ish, myself, and Hillary's family) around 9 AM left Utah. We made pretty good time to Elko, Nevada where we stopped for lunch. However while we were stopped we heard that I-80 was closed because of an accident.

We figured we would continue on in hopes it would be cleared by the time we got there as it is almost 300 miles away. Well, we got to Reno and had dinner and discovered that it was an accident with at least 30 cars and multiple big rigs. Apparently one of the trucks involved in the accident was carrying liquid fertilizer and so they had to get a hazmat team to clean it up.

And it had started snowing.

The highway was, of course, still closed.

We looked up a map and found there is another way over the Sierra-Nevada Mountains--US 50. We took 395 down to Carson City and then tried US 50 West. It had started snowing pretty hard by that time, it was full dark by then, and the signs were saying chains required. We decided not to take that route. So we headed back up to Reno and booked a hotel for the night and hoped the highway would be open in the morning. However, I stopped at a WalMart in Carson City and bought a Tomtom; unfortunately, i'd blown a fuse in my car earlier in the day and the cigarette lighter, the clock and the stereo were non functional, so the GPS couldn't charge.

The next morning was the day of the wedding--at 11 AM in the Oakland Temple, 220 miles away. Ish and I woke up at 4:30 and were out of the hotel by 5:30. The highway had only been opened at 4 AM and it was still snowing and chains were required.

We bought and installed chains on my tires and headed over the mountains. It took 3 hours to go over about a 70 mile stretch on the mountains. It was still snowing and at points visibility was almost nothing. However, chains are awesome! I never had any problems actually driving, it was just slow going.

Of course once we got out of the mountain passes and to where we didn't need the chains we were still about 130 miles from Oakland.

Let me tell you though, I-80 has some quite gorgeous scenic vistas as you are travelling!

Ish and I pulled in to the Oakland Temple parking lot at 10:52 am. It was raining and I was still wearing my jeans. I changed clothes in the restroom in the lobby and was through the recommend desk at just about 11 AM exactly.

Luckily for me, the ceremony itself was a little delayed because the bride had gotten soaked in the rain and was having to dry off. Her sister-in-law was helping her so Ish and I and the rest of the guests were waiting in the sealing room.

then the bride and groom approached. It was a beautiful occasion. After the ceremony we did some pictures outside the temple--though there were some limitations on what could be done in the rain. The oakland temple can provide white umbrellas for people to borrow however. Hillary and her family had left later than us and got there just about ten minutes before photo time.

Next was the reception-2.5 hours away in Fresno. Ish, Hillary and I went to that while her husband took the kids to their hotel for the night. The reception was alot of fun--the bride and groom looked so happy, the food was great and Ish and I sang a duet ("When you say nothing at all"). The cake was amazing--it looked like Minas Tirith. The inside was chocolate though so I can't tell you how it tasted.

After helping to clean up from the reception a bit, we stopped at an auto parts store to see if we could fix the blown fuse in my car. A very helpful employee was able to find and replace the blown fuse for us-yay working GPS!. Then we drove back to Oakland. Ish and I stayed at her aunt's house near the temple (near as in, her meeting house is on the same piece of property as the temple).

We slept in there rather late and so all of us got going back to Reno around 11:30 AM this morning. We got to Auburn, CA about 2:30 pm and stopped for food. We discovered that I80 was closed over the mountains because there was zero visibility due to a storm front that was over the pass. We found out that US 50 though was still open. So we drove from Auburn down to Placerville along a very winding mountain backroad. When we got there and stopped at a gas station, we found out that traffic was being held on 50 for avalanche control and they didn't know when that would be open again, but I80 had reopened.

We decided to head north again and go I80. This time rather than take that winding mountain road, we took US 50 back west towards Sacramento and then cut north before we hit the city limits to go up to I80.

Once we got into the mountains we put the chains on, around twilight, and headed over the pass. The drive was actually better than it was on Saturday morning. It only took about 2 hours this time. We got into Reno and checked into our hotel around 10 PM.

I just took a soak in the tub and am now sitting on a queen bed on the 14 floor of a rather nice hotel. It was snowing earlier and we had a great view of it through the window.

Tomorrow, I plan to wake up early and take advantage of the pool and jacuzzi available to guests! And then we will drive back to Provo.

'Night.

End of an Era

2010-08-21T12:08:00.002-06:00

Well I am now officially moved out of Monticello. I will miss the large living room and dining/kitchen area (my new place will have a smaller kitchen/dining/living) but after 7+ years moving is good. To put that in perspective, when I moved in, Isaiah was younger than Tabitha is now and Gayle and Seth had only been married 6 months.

I'll be at Hillary's until I can move in to my place next week. New Address to come by email!

Not the best day ever.

2010-08-07T19:09:00.003-06:00

Well, I am moving out of my current place in two weeks, but I can't move in to my new place for another week after that. So I thought I would get a head start. I decided to rent a storage unit for a month in order to put most of my stuff somewhere and then live out of my suitcase for a week (Hillary has kindly offered to let me stay in her guest room--on the futon that I gave her no less :P )

So I packed up some boxes and made two trips to the storage unit. I even managed to get my ugly chair (it really is ugly--but it would match the "earth tones/early attic" type furniture I grew up with!) into my car.

On the second trip however I managed to get a box into the trunk that now I can't get out of the trunk. So I decided to leave it in there for now and maybe get some help getting it out somewhere.

Anyway as I was pulling out of the storage place, I misjudged the distance between my mirror and the gate code thing. So I busted and broke my driver's side mirror. And of course this is provo, there are no repair places open at 6:30 on a Saturday.

So I'll be up Monday morning early to get a reasonable estimate.

*sigh*

Haven't posted in a while

2010-07-14T13:16:00.002-06:00

Well, sorry I haven't posted in a while. As for updates on my life: I signed a contract for my new apartment last night. Lori-Ann and I will be roommates again--its a 5 bedroom (all private) three bathroom duplex looking thing. So I move next month. I'll get the address out to whoever needs it.

I also just save $200 on car insurance! (And I sound slightly like a commercial.) When I bought my car I had to get insurance immediately and they said the cheapest was Progressive. Well now that my six months on that are coming to an end I shopped around and found better coverage at lower premiums through State Farm--who I had years ago with my old car.

I also had a second interview today for an internal position that would be off the phones and instead doing writing and editing--just my style! Really really hoping I get it.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be better about updating here

By the Way...

2010-05-24T10:06:00.001-06:00

it is SNOWING.

Yes, you read that right. It is May 24 and it is snowing. Not only snowing, it is sticking.

I'll post pictures tonight.

Random Question of the Day

2010-04-07T20:51:00.002-06:00

Question: why is it that almost ounce for ounce, women's deodorant is more expensive than men's?

Everywhere I shop for deodorant men's deodorant is almost ALWAYS less expensive for the "Men's".

Is there really that much of a difference?

Kate's Library

2010-03-20T03:33:00.012-06:00

I decided to inventory all of the books in my bedroom. Don't ask why, it just sounded like fun.

I then put it all into a spreadsheet with author, title publication date and any other notes necessary. For the most part the publication date is the print date of the actual edition in my possession, not the original print date.

Here is the first part, comprising the books that are not on any bookshelf, books that do not belong to me and books on my small bookshelf. I still have yet to inventory my two large bookshelves.
Update: Part of the Brown Bookshelf added

More to come!

Car!

2010-03-03T21:51:00.002-07:00

Finally posting these! Here are pictures of my car!

Snowing on my birthday!

2010-02-24T15:36:00.003-07:00

Thank you everyone for the gifts and birthday wishes!

I'll eventually post pics of my car. But right now I don't feel like going outside to take pictures.

I do love having a car though!

Today I took off work just because I wanted to. I then realized I had no idea what to do with a full day to myself in the middle of the week. So I asked Hillary if she wanted any help in packing and or moving. She accepted. And bought me some tres leches cake (yum!) on the way from the apartment to the house.

Came home and opened gifts. and Then at some point I'm going to pick up Ish and she's buying me a b-day dinner. I already got my b-day present from her--two weeks ago the Utah Symphony did Dvorak's New World Symphony and Mozart's 23rd Piano Concerto. It was fantastic!

Mama--thank you for the gifts! Can't say I have a use at the moment for a drill, but I have SOOO needed screwdrivers and ratchets many times. :D

Lynness--wheee! That DVD is actually one I just thought of and was feeling nostalgic over because it was the one we grew up with taped off TV. THANK YOU!

Gayle--Like I told you, I opened yours early because I figured it was the CD case but greatly enjoying having it in my car!

Love you all!

Happy Fourth!

2009-07-04T23:49:00.007-06:00

Happy Independence day! Last night I watched 1776. We made hamburgers and corn on the grill and went swimming. Then we watched fireworks--northwest corner of the Marriott center--GREAT view. I forgot my camera but here are some pics I got with my cell phone:

Voiceless

2009-06-06T17:31:00.003-06:00

So being sick is never fun. Earlier this week I was just plain miserable--its my annual allergies/spring cold or whatever it is. I'm feeling better right now, but I still have no voice. Or rather I do but it is very high and squeaky. Not fun.

Although today, more on a whim than on anything else, I got a hair cut. short and layered, just under my chin. It has been a really long time since I had it cut this short!

Hope everybody is doing well, I'd call some people on the phone if I thought you could hear me!

Summer Movies

2009-05-10T01:07:00.000-06:00

I am quite excited about a number of movies coming out this year. If you have read my previous post you can see I enjoyed Star Trek a great deal. I saw Wolverine last week and it was good.

Movies I am looking forward to seeing this summer:
17 Again
Up
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Terminator: Salvation (maybe)
G.I. Joe:Rise of the Cobra
My Sister's Keeper

I'm still deciding if I want to watch The Taking of Pelham 123 and Public Enemies. I'll have to wait and see what the reviews are like.

But! Today I saw something in the trailer for G.I. Joe that I hadn't seen before--Chris Eccleston! Yup, 9th Doctor/Claude "Invisible Man" from Heroes which got me just as excited to see it as the rest of the trailer did.

Warning: This post may contain SPOILERS!

2009-05-09T23:12:00.003-06:00

If anyone reading this is planning on watching the new Star Trek movie and doesn't want to be spoiled, please DO NOT read this post.

Is that enough space?

The new Star Trek movie is totally awesome! I watched it in hi-def on Thursday and I watched it again tonight. Such a great movie. The actors that were chosen were fantastic and held great resemblance to their predecessors. I had not looked at the cast list prior to seeing the movie and so I was completely stunned when Leonard Nimoy appeared on scene. I also thought that it was a rather well done explanation to re-write the series. They explicitly state in the movie that the time travel repercussions have created an alternate reality--a divergent timeline--so they are completely free to restart the franchise as a TV series or another movie because while all the previous series and films happended, they happened in a parallel universe. Which I think is a rather clever, or at least creative, way to quell rabid fans. I find the prospect very exciting.

I also hope that if they start a new TV series they keep with the Star Trek tradition of passing the baton, so to speak. The Next Generation started with an episode in which Bones made a guest appearance, there was also an episode of TNG in which Scotty appeared, as well as the two part episode in which Spock appeared. Deep Space 9's first episode had Picard, and Voyager's first episode had a stop in on Deep Space 9 before departing. I do not know if Enterprise's first episode had a similar thing, but this doesn't just happen in the TV shows, it happens with the movies too. Even though it took place after the end of TNG, Star Trek: Generations acted as a bridge between the movies with the original series cast and the TNG cast--Kirk featured heavily in that movie. The newest addition to the Star Trek franchise has this passing of the torch with the appearance of Leonard Nimoy. If this movie spawns a new TV series (which I hope it does because while movies make more money, TV shows last longer) I hope we see some familiar faces just at the start. I want it to develop its own identity as a show, but it also should keep this tradition.

Anyway, fantastic movie!

Left overs

2009-04-08T20:08:00.003-06:00

Very very random thought--for some reason leftover spaghetti never tastes as good as when it is made fresh.

No on to more relevant topics:

My job is going fine. Not my favorite job ever (if you're wondering--my favorite job ever would be the library) but not the worst (that would be BRG).

I have gotten a number of compliments from customers praising my patience so, go me I guess.

I just wish I had more time outside of work though! I don't have time to do anything else during the week and on the weekend I don't want to do anything else.

Anyway--hopefully I won't be so long between posts again!

Job!

2009-02-27T14:49:00.003-07:00

I have a job! I start Monday. Its customer service for a company that sells web design software. I'll be working full time.

Wehee!

Job interview

2009-02-26T18:28:00.002-07:00

Well, the job that was supposed to start three days ago fell through--I got a call last week saying the company had eliminated the position ( and found out through a friend who works there tht there had also been a number of layoffs as well). Ish heard something about jobs available at her company and so she talked to the hr people and then told me who to contact. I have an interview tomorrow morning!

Updates

2009-02-14T18:41:00.003-07:00

It snowed all day today. I stood outside for forty minutes waiting in line to re-sign my contract. I'd rather have the contract and then sell it than have to figure out I need it and don't have it. Then I went over to Chris' who was doing a Valentine's Day movie marathon--the fivr hour Pride and Prejudice. So much fun.

My job, which was supposed to start on Mondya the 16th won't start until the 23rd, which is kind of inconvenient, but I can live with it.

I was so hoping that winter would be over, especially since the last few weeks alot of the snow has been melting, but then the past few days we got dumped on again-really pretty an all, but I'm tired of snow!

White Christmas

2008-12-22T14:35:00.002-07:00

Well, I apparently have to go to Oregon to get a truly white Christmas. On the up side, it is beautiful. On the down side, I managed to wrench my left knee walking from Gayle and Seth's front door to their neighbor's front door (can't be more than 50 feet). On the up side, I'm having a great time with Gayle and Seth. On the down side, Lynness and family won't be coming to see us because the roads are so bad.

By the way, I took the UTA from Provo to the SLC Airport--the trip took three hours, which was actually longer than the flight itself. Oh well, can't complain if its free.

I can't wait to see Heather! Hopefully the roads will be okay when we head out to drive from here back to Utah.

Snow!!

2008-12-08T11:30:00.003-07:00

It is actually snowing!

This is the first real snow we've had this year. We've had flurries but nothing really substantial until this. I know that soon I'll be complaining about it and the sidewalks will be all icy and slushy, but right now--its just so pretty!

Fun Podcasts

2008-11-04T23:53:00.001-07:00

I don't speak German but I don't really need to in order to understand this site: http://klassik.podspot.de/

Free podcasts of classical music! I just downloaded Vivaldi's Four Seasons. The introductory material is in German, but the music isn't! (hehe)

Woot!

2008-10-29T12:44:00.002-06:00

I just discovered that Terry Pratchett's Nation is available from the Review Room! So I canceled my hold at Provo city for it and checked it out. Now if only I had time to read it.

Ankle update: still slightly bruised, but fine other than that.

Ankle

2008-10-20T14:48:00.003-06:00

I think I just twisted my left ankle. I was walking down the steps to the first floor of the book store and missed a step or stepped wrong--either way I landed badly on my ankle. It hurt! I think I crouched at the bottom of the steps for a minute to catch my breath. I'm fairly sure I lost all color in my face. Then I got up and managed to limp out of the store. Anyway, I can walk on it but it hurts like crazy to rotate my ankle.

Fun quote from a professor

2008-10-08T15:10:00.001-06:00

One of my professors said this the other day and I thought it was amusing:

"Plagiarism is worse than padding, but padding is worse to read."

Books to read list--update

2008-10-01T15:54:00.001-06:00

There are too many books that I have been wanting to read that I just forget about so here's my list-in no particular order.

Affluenza--just found out it is available at Provo City
Race-Reading--bah had to return it before I finished it, I'll have to check it out again
Superior Saturday-Read--fast and fun
North & South--Requested hold--the Provo city library has more copies than BYU!
First Among Sequels--Read--where's the next one!
An Anthropologist on Mars
Nation--Have checked out
The Lovely Bones
Empire--Now this one is an odd situation to be sure. I own the book but have yet to read it (what can I say, it's OSC and it was $6 for the hardback)

My reading list of late (or, to be honest, for the past two years) has been comprised of mostly children's and young adult literature, which isn't surprising given my job, but I should probably branch out a bit.

...Will probably be adding more books as I hear/see titles that interest me.

Book suggestion for anyone and everyone:
The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes--and Why I found this book COMPLETELY fascinating. In fact, I think I'd like to buy it.

Food Experiment!

2008-09-28T16:20:00.003-06:00

I made up a recipe today which turned out to be absolutely delicious. I sliced up a tomato and dipped it in egg and coated it with bread crumbs. Then I wrapped the sliced in bacon and fried it up. It tastes GREAT! When I ran out of bacon I just fried the coated tomatoes in what was left of the bacon grease in the pan. Equally delicious!

I like experimenting with food. I made a peach sauce from scratch the other day that tasted great over scones. (Peaches, cornstarch, water, nutmeg, cinnamon, almond extract, sugar--skin and mash up the peaches mix it all up and simmer until thick, stirring occasionally.)

I like cooking and and baking, and I am rather good at it, if I do say so myself.

Subtitles

2008-09-27T01:40:00.002-06:00

Why do I find so many mistakes in subtitles? I'm watching LOTR: Fellowship at the moment and sometimes the incorrect subtitles are completely puzzling.

In one of the extended scenes, Aragorn is singing the Lay of Luthien, and says "'Tis the Lay of Luthien, the elf-maiden who fell in love with Beren, a mortal." The title of the song is "Lay of Luthien" and that really is what he says, yet the subtitles have him saying "'Tis the lady Luthien..."

Why? Why is it so difficult to get subtitles right?

And I don't only find it here of course. I watched Bride and Prejudice with the subtitles on and sometimes the subtitles are so wrong they are completely hilarious. (My favorite one is a line which is supposed to be "My mother can be a little abrupt" is rendered in the subtitles as "My mother can be a little grub.")

But why are subtitles sometimes done so badly?

Can you get a job editing subtitles for movies? I don't think I would mind that.

Pet peeves

2008-09-18T12:53:00.002-06:00

Argh--I get so annoyed ( and a bit depressed!) over the state of language when I'm online. In casual chat or such I don't mind mistakes and improper grammar, even in more formal postings typos are fine, but over and over I see the same mistakes which are rather alarming.

Number 1 most annoying mistake:
Should of/Could of/Would of: apparently people no longer realize that these phrases are contracted forms of should have, would have, and could have. It went from should've to shoulda to now should of--which is a logical progression from a morphological point of view (at least somewhat) but so completely annoying and so completely indicative of thoughtless ignorance. I see this one even with people who are otherwise competent writers. Spell check/grammar check in Word even catches this one, and suggests replacing "of" with "have."

Another mistake I've seen a few places recently is with the phrase chock full. This one is a bit more understandable because the word "chock" survives only in this single phrase (I think anyway). People have no idea what "chock" means so they use the next closest word that has meaning to them: "chalk". So the phrase is slowly becoming chalk full--which makes no sense really, but that's language.

Hooray!

2008-09-18T12:28:00.002-06:00

My nose has reasserted its rightful purpose among my five senses!

I haven't been able to smell or taste anything for a week. I can smell a little bit now, and I could taste the cinnamon in the cinnamon roll I had for breakfast. (And I am so going to copy Marie's cinnamon roll recipe!)

And double hooray! I bought my plane ticket for Christmas. It's official, I'm going to Oregon. My last final ends at 2pm on the 18th of December and my flight is at 9pm that night. I'll spend that week with Gayle and Seth and hopefully the Hawkes will come down from Washington while I'm there. Ohh, maybe I'll see Enoch and Julie too! I hope so. Then Gayle, Seth and I will all drive from Oregon to Utah on Christmas Eve and spend another week in Utah. Yay!

Now that I can taste again, I need to go grocery shopping. When your taste buds are out of whack, it doesn't really matter what you eat. Marie made this lentil and artichoke soup the other day, but she didn't really like it, so she offered it to me. I tried it. It tasted fine to me, needed a little salt. But I'm not sure I'd like it now! All I could taste were the textures (if that makes any sense) and it filled me up so I didn't care what it tasted like.

I'm on Claritin right now which is working fine for my nose obviously, but I don't believe the box when it says non-drowsy! Or perhaps I react to Claritin non-drowsy like I do to Nyquil--the opposite of normal people. The one time I took Nyquil I had insomnia all night.

Everything is more expensive

2008-09-03T22:40:00.002-06:00

BYU health insurance has gone up--again. It is now just over $200. And bus passes almost doubled this year ($70 last year to $120)--though that can be blamed on the rising cost of fuel.

I really miss my car sometimes! And I find myself looking longingly at scooters. Do scooters require a license or insurance? Just curious.

Going to sleep now--I have an 8 AM class (blech!).

Ohhh! Fun!

2008-08-29T18:22:00.002-06:00

Scott introduced me to Ticket to Ride last week which I thoroughly enjoy. I discovered today that you can play Ticket to Ride online! Because I do not have a subscription (you get 6 months free with the purchase of any of the games) I cannot create games or see my rating, but I can play games. I definitely like Europe edition over USA edition. And the Switzerland edition is also apparently an option though I have yet to play it.

Fun!

Movies

2008-08-26T19:03:00.003-06:00

So, I was thinking today about movies I grew up with. Those classics that thinking of them brings back good memories and nostalgia.

This is a list that I can think of off the top of my head.

The Phantom Tollbooth
The Last Unicorn
The Hobbit

Which is a pretty pathetic list but all that I can think of right now. What were some other ones?

Conversation with Gayle highlighted these ones:

5000 Fingers of Dr. T
Carebear Nutcracker
Blues Brothers (taped off TV so cleaned)
All Dogs Go to Heaven

Textbooks

2008-08-25T16:48:00.004-06:00

Ah, its that time of year.

I went to the bookstore today to see what books are required for my classes and to price them out. If I buy them all from the bookstore, I will have to spend anywhere from $240 to $320, depending on how many I can find used. Pricing them on bigwords.com comes out to something like $150. The only problem is buying them online takes longer, and since I don't get paid until Friday I won't have any of my textbooks the first week of classes.

Oh well, c'est la vie.

And it's HOT in my apartment and for some reason my roommates keep turning the swamp cooler off.

Wishful thinking: If I somehow get my hands on $600 with no particular destination before I graduate (yeah, right) then I want to buy the Adobe CS3 Master Collection. I love educational pricing--considering the actual price of the collection is 3 to 4 times that amount.

Rambling

2008-08-19T15:22:00.003-06:00

You know summer is almost over at BYU when Education Week starts! It is no longer roving bands of 14 year old EFYers, but adults who have no idea where anything is on campus. Though, I do have to say, I much prefer the adults.

I went to see the new Star Wars Clone Wars movie last weekend. It was just mediocre. The music was strange and I'm not quite sure how it fits into the established timeline of events. It really wasn't worth the matinée ticket price. Wait for it in the dollar theater! Would have been better as a TV movie.

Gayle and Seth bought a new car yesterday! Congrats you two. Come visit me to show it to me. :P Just don't forget to email me pictures. And let me know what the verdict is on your truck.

My roommate Drea has moved out and Kelsey has moved in--she switched apartments within the complex so she moved in last weekend. The other new roommate (who I have never met) will be moving in next week sometime.

Shayla Matthews is moving back into the ward! And don't I feel old for still being around.

Well, I am most definitely not graduating in December but if I can get all my classes for Winter, then I will graduate in April. Not that I actually plan on walking or anything, but I have no idea what I'm going to do immediately post graduation.

Classes are starting soon and I have that customary anticipatory/dreading dichotomy going. I am excited for my classes, but I know that within a few weeks I will miss the freedom of summer. Luckily my class schedule isn't too bad. I have one class on Tuesday/Thursday, and two on Monday/Wednesday/Friday and I have a class on Monday/Wednesday that doesn't start until second block (Oct 22). I've never had a block class before.

Guess What's Going on my Christmas List

2008-07-31T16:56:00.000-06:00

THIS!

I wish it were available sooner!

New HP trailer

2008-07-30T18:11:00.002-06:00

I just watched the trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince--and despite the fact that the movies have all been sub-par so far, I am reluctantly excited by the trailer. It does look rather good.

What does everybody else think?

And another post

2008-07-21T18:51:00.003-06:00

Well, this is something I haven't done in a while--two posts in one day!

I was poking around on the Hawkes Family Book Club blog and found a link to FreeRice. It is addictive!

I missed my seventh word (picquant) but continued and had a great streak of 28 correct until I missed claque.

Try it, have some fun, test your vocabulary skills, and help solve world hunger all at once.

Fanfic translations

2008-07-21T18:18:00.004-06:00

So, a couple of years ago I wrote a fanfic that was very very popular (a Harry Potter fanfic titled Betrayed). In fact, I still get reviews for it (currently the review count on FFN is 3030). In the process of writing though I got people asking me if they could translate it into different languages. On my profile at Fanfiction.net I have links to those translations (I think some of them are unfinished). There are translations into German, Russian, Italian, French, and Spanish. I thought it was pretty cool that people wanted to do that.

I finished writing that story just over three years ago (literally--I finished it on July 15, 2005) and today I got an email from someone asking permission to translate it into Polish.

You have no idea how flattering it is to have someone ask if they can translate something you wrote just because it is something they want to do.

The translator even offered to email me translations of any reviews it received.

I believe I am officially tickled pink.

Been a while--random meandering thoughts

2008-07-12T13:28:00.004-06:00

Sorry, it has been a while since I posted here.

I've recently gotten into Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series which I am quite enjoying. Although it has made me think about the strange phenomenon of book series with seven books. Why seven? I mean with the Keys to the Kingdom series it is obvious--one book for each day of the week. But why do the Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter have seven books? Even Stephen King's Dark Tower series has seven books. Seven just seems such an odd number (no pun intended!).

And speaking of seven, why are there seven deadly sins? (Ok, that wasn't entirely random--in the Keys to the Kingdom each of the Trustees exhibits one of the seven deadly sins.)

Huh, how strange. I just looked up the number seven on wikipedia. This article reminded me that not only are there seven days in a week but in the classic rainbow there are seven colors--red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. As well, I learned that with very few exceptions, all mammals have seven neck bones.

Seven is also the neutral point on the pH scale. Heh, I'd forgotten about that one--it has been way too long since I did any chemistry.

There are the seven wonders of the ancient world, seven notes in the musical scale, folklore surrounding the powers of a seventh child, and seven dwarfs that Snow White meets.

And I'm a little weird for going into this aren't I? Oh well.

Anyway, I do recommend Garth Nix.

And right now I am incredibly tired for reasons I cannot fathom.

Prince Caspian

2008-05-16T11:05:00.004-06:00

I went to a midnight showing of Prince Caspian last night--let me tell you it was fantastic!

The accents of the Telmarines kind of bugged me but I can deal with it. There was a bit of tweaking with the plot but the most important bits were left unchanged.

Personally I think this is a better movie than The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

They had just the perfect balance for the religious connotations too--it was subtle enough that you don't have to acknowledge it if you don't want to but for those who look it is there.

Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy all did fantastically. All of them have grown up a little. Peter has lost a lot of his childish looks, and Edmund's voice was obviously changing. Lucy is a little taller and has lost some of the babyfat in her cheeks, and Susan has a more womanly figure. Not that these things are anything the movie producers or directors could really influence but they certainly did a great job in picking the actors.

My first thought at the end was "I want to see that again" and the second was "When does Voyage of the Dawn Treader come out?".

A wonderful movie! I don't even mind being really tired as a result of coming home around 3 am.

And now I want to re-read the books but I unfortunately don't have my books. I believe the Sinclairs still have my set.
:(

General Conference

2008-04-06T17:40:00.003-06:00

So yesterday, I was incredibly tired when conference started. I watched the sustainings and then went back upstairs to sleep.

I remember growing up, my parents didn't make us watch conference on Saturdays, we didn't have to be in the same room or anything. But we did have to be in there for the sustaining. I'm glad they instilled that in me. Ish told me yesterday that she didn't even realize that Saturday sessions existed until she was in college.

This morning I woke up at 6am and my friend Danny picked me up at 7. He had invited me up to conference but there was a catch--he didn't have tickets. So I had to be willing to stand on the corner by the Conference Center and ask people if they had any extra tickets.

We got in to both Sunday sessions. :)

For the morning session we sat in the balcony, third row from the front, all the way to the left (right from the speaker's perspective). And by all the way, I mean all the way--there was the wall, then the stairs, then some guy and then Danny and me. We had a wonderful profile view of all the speakers.

For the afternoon session we were in the balcony again but this time we were a little right of center (left from the speaker's perspective). That was a better view.

Conference was cool. I really liked President Monson's talk at the close of this morning's session, and I liked Elders Holland and Ballard this afternoon.

I'm going to read/listen to yesterday's sessions later this week when they are posted on the Church website.

Strange thought

2008-03-17T12:19:00.002-06:00

I had a strange thought the other day--

If I were a vegetarian then I would like to live on a starship--a Star Trek ship to be exact--any meat you eat is replicated so there is no actual cruelty to animals.

I am very odd.

MREs

2008-03-15T00:28:00.002-06:00

So, I don't have much by way of food at the moment and I was wondering what to eat when I saw the MREs I got for christmas in my cabinet. I thought Ok, why not?

All in all, it didn't taste too bad. It just reminded me of canned soup--where all the flavors and textures run together so you can hardly tell what's meat and what's vegetable. I added some pasta to it. Really wasn't bad.

The crackers in the package on the other hand were really gross.

To all my bookish friends

2008-03-10T20:29:00.004-06:00

I just finished reading Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars.

Two words:
Utterly brilliant.

It really does deserve the Newbury Honor it got, and, perhaps, if it had been up to me The Wednesday Wars and Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! would have switched places.

Any of you people reading my blog who enjoy books--read this one!

Oh boy, now I've got a sick Ish making herself even more sick from laughing so much at reading this book.

Woot!

2008-02-28T01:44:00.001-07:00

I am so excited! I just got an email from my sister--she and her family are coming to Utah! Wohoo!

Even more fun--they'll be here from March 25-April 1.

My old roommate Gillian will be visiting from Marsh 25 to April 2.

::BigBig Big Grin::

Me happy!

Looks like that will be a fantastic week.

Library Tour

2008-02-21T12:04:00.003-07:00

Today for training at work we had a tour of the lower level of the library. I'd never been that far down--we took the elevator in the atrium down to level 0 and took a look at the air filtration, humidification and distribution system, the water pipes and sewage pumps.

No. 1 interesting fact that I did not previously know--the library goes through 4.5 miles of toilet paper each day.

We saw the Inergen tanks--probably about 2 1/2 to three dozen--that are connected to special collections. Inergen is a gaseous blend of carbon dioxide, argon and nitrogen that can be pumped into the room to reduce the volume of oxygen so that a fire will have no fuel.

Another interesting fact--we were probably 50-60 feet underground and all the sewer pipes from the library go down to that level so it then has to be pumped back up to the level of the city sewer system.

The HBLL is the single most highly insured piece of Church owned property in the world--more than temples, the church office building or granite mountain. (This one I knew, but it is an interesting fact all the same.)

As we were leaving I noticed that one elevator had a down arrow the other had an up arrow. The only choice on the elevator button was down but it took us up anyway. I believe there is actually another level below where we were that is probably the tunnel access.

It was an interesting tour!

Conversation this morning

2008-01-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a conversation I had this morning when I got to work.

Debbie in receiving: Hey did Lloyd Alexander die?
Me: Yeah, about six or seven months ago.
Debbie: Oh, that would explain why his office is sitting in the hallway.
Me: It's HERE! *squeeee*

So our Lloyd Alexander collection is actually physically here now!

Book Awards!

2008-01-14T10:32:00.001-07:00

Call me a nerd, but for the past week I have been eagerly anticipating this morning for the simple fact that the ALA announced their literary awards. First thing I did when I woke up was check the ALA press releases. I think this is the first year that I have actually already read both the Caldecott and Newbery Medalists. The Caldecott went to Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret I hadn't actually considered it for the Caldecott--I was more thinking a Newbery Honor, but when I look at it now, I think it's perfect. The Newbery went to Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! a book of short dramatic skits about the Middle Ages which I reviewed for the CBPR a few months ago.

So both the Caldecott and Newbery awards go to unusual titles. I think this might be the first dramatic publication to win the Newbery and Hugo Cabret is definitely the longest Caldecott medalist ever.

As for the other awards announced this morning most of the titles were unfamiliar. The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis looks interesting and it received both a Caldecott Honor and the Sibert Medal (awarded to the best non-fiction material for children).

Take a look at the ALA's press release to see what else won.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Ruth is adorable and Isaiah is so cute and so smart. I think Lynness liked the new book ocllection she now has except for the fact that she has no place for them, apparently Nathan needs to buy her a new book shelf.

I saw Heather briefly today, we should be able to hang out a bit later this week and perhaps go to a movie, except we haven't decided on whihc movie we want to see yet.

Anyway, I hope you all had a great Christmas and have a wonderful New Year!

Books, books, books

2007-12-18T18:54:00.000-07:00

In my family for the past few years we've done a name exchange for Christmas among the siblings and siblings-in-law. Well, I got Lynness's name this year (and last year too, come to think of it) and on her list is two items one of which is this: "Classic literature, especially children's books." (Huh, I just looked at her wish list again and there are now more than two items--but she only posted them three days ago so she's still getting books.) I've decided it is a dangerous thing for anyone to tell me they want books, I go a bit crazy. It doesn't help either that it is Lynness--we're both pretty like-minded when it comes to books and we are both voracious readers. So Lynness is definitely getting books this year.

And I would post the titles here except for the fact that Lynness is the only one of my sisters who actually reads my blog.

Christmas a week away!

Merry Christmas!

Wheel of Time

2007-12-13T23:52:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has been in my vicinity in the past two years and asked for a book recommendation has gotten the title Elantris by Brandon Sanderson as an answer. Sanderson's first novel was a wonderful success. He has now published four novels in total and has more in the works (I think he is working on three trilogies simultaneously...).

I think that Brandon Sanderson is a fantastic author and has a great career ahead of him. However, I'm never quite sure how in line my opinion is with the prevailing sentiments of an author. But apparently my opinion of Brandon Sanderson is now vindicated--Robert Jordan's widow has chosen Brandon Sanderson to complete the final book of the Wheel of Time series.

Big, big, big, big, big kudos to you Brandon!

I've never read the Wheel of Time series, but I just might take them up now.

Funny

2007-12-03T16:07:00.000-07:00

Over the summer there was a lot of noise and work going into a walled off study area in the library and I saw a sign being made in the sign shop (where I worked custodial over the summer) for the "Honors Reading Room." This fall the new area was opened for use.

A couple of weeks ago this Letter to the Editor appeared in the Daily Universe:

Honors Reading Room
As I entered the library today and saw the new "Honors Reading Room," I was once again not impressed with BYU's use of funds. Maybe I'm missing the point, but all it seems to me is a room exactly the same as the room next to it where students can go and make their status as honors students known instead of casually dropping it in conversation.
Naturally, I invited myself in (after all, I had taken an honors class freshman year). After looking around I could tell I wasn't the only non-honors student there. If I were an actual honors student, I would be displeased to see the likes of me and other non-honors students in my space. Perhaps they could increase student employment and hire someone to keep people like me out -- or have a $20 fine for found in the honors reading room without proper credentials (that seems to be the magic number for fines). Just some ideas.
Although I did feel more intelligent, it just wasn't enough to compensate for the months of power drill noise that we had to endure over the spring/summer terms during construction of the new wall of segregation, or the large amount of money it must have cost. I would rather them spend the money to replace the anti-honor code 1970's gym mini-shorts provided in the RB. But hey, that's just me. You can all go give it a try and see what the new Honors Reading Room does for you.

Nathan Money
Payson

Today when I walked over to that area I noticed the "Honors Reading Room" sign is no longer there and there is a sign in one of the windows that says "Quiet Study Area, Everyone Welcome."

I was greatly amused.

Edit: ok, the Honors Reading Room sign is actually still there, but the sign in the window does welcome anyone.

Ah, Carols

2007-11-29T22:11:00.000-07:00

So, I was reminiscing today about Christmas carols and remembering the version my sisters and I came up with of "Good King Wenceslas" eg. "Good King Wenceslas' car backed out on a piece of Stephen"
That reminded me of "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" and "Joy to the World the Teacher's Dead" and other such things you learned in Elementary School.

Then I remembered Dana's version of "Angels We Have Heard on High" which I find hilarious and goes like this:

Angels we have heard on high,
now are falling from the sky,
as they tumble to the ground,
we can hear the strangest sound
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Kersplat
No more angels singing,
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Kersplat
No more angels singing.

Yes, I'm weird. and I've been listening to Christmas music all day. FYI my new favorite place to listen to music is Pandora.com--its kind of like Yahoo's music station except there are no commercials and you can create multiple stations based on themes that you choose. I really like it. Except sometimes it does manage to pick some weird things...

MadLib

2007-11-17T18:12:00.000-07:00

To those of you that I haven't told, when I was younger my mother made "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" into a madlib. I decided to turn it into a webpage form. Here it is if you want to do your very own Night Before Christmas madlib.

Experiments in food

2007-11-13T01:57:00.000-07:00

Well I didn't really have many options for dinner tonight and so I got a little bit creative.

I mixed some egg with maple flavored creamed honey and dipped small pieces of chicken in it then coated them in bread crumbs and then fried it in butter. It was absolutely delicious.

I also tried it with toasted almond flavored creamed honey and orange flavored creamed honey, but the maple tasted the best.

I'll have to do it again sometime.

Red Sox

2007-10-09T14:51:00.000-06:00

So I watched my first ever baseball game last Friday. It was an exchange between me and Ish--if she wrote me a Harry Potter story, I would watch a Red Sox game with her. If you want to read the story it is here. It has three chapters so far and looks like it will be a great story.

But back to the fact that I actually watched a baseball game. Ish was very good about it and never made fun of me that I had to ask what things meant and what was going on, so go Ish! And I totally kicked her trash at Red Sox monopoly.

And I want to plant a pesky pole in my yard. It was rather interesting watching the game and I do understand a little more about baseball now than I did before. And I might even ask Ish how the Red Sox are doing once in a while. No I'm not a die hard baseball or Red Sox fan now (sorry, Ish, I don't think you'll ever convert me that far) but maybe I won't tease Ish so much about her obsession anymore....

Or maybe I will,

:D

Yes, I'm evil. But I did have fun that night Ish.

New website to explore

2007-09-25T16:24:00.000-06:00

I found a new website that looks like fun! Librivox is a website where people can volunteer to help create public domain audio books. All the books are long past copyright and so the creation of free audio books is completely legit. Maybe I can finally get around to reading the Tolstoy, Chekov, Austen and Orczy that I've never had time to read.

Everything happens in twos and threes...

2007-09-16T23:11:00.000-06:00

What is it lately with big name authors dying? First Lloyd Alexander in May and then last week (okay ten days ago now) Madeline L'Engle and today Robert Jordan.

Ok, I never did read read the Wheel of Time series, but I know who he is. But Lloyd Alexander and Madeline L'Engle? I grew up with their books. HUGE names in children's literature. It was really sad to hear of their passings.

Why do things always happen in twos and threes?

The top ten things you relearn at the beginning of the semester

2007-09-06T17:23:00.000-06:00

10. Campus is insanely busy especially the first week.

9. All the obvious restrooms are absolutely disgusting by about noon. Go hunting for the more out of the way ones.

8. Everybody walks on the grass.

7. Textbook prices are excessive and should be considered extortion.

6. Your classroom is never where you think it should be.

5. The best time to buy used textbooks is either three weeks before school starts or two weeks after (when those who have dropped the class have gotten a refund and returned the books).

4. Recently remodeled buildings are very pretty but entirely too confusing to figure out.

3. There is always someone handing out fliers for something.

2. Don't count on finding a place to sit for lunch in the Wilk.

1. You really wasted your summer when you should have been doing something productive or worthwhile in all that free time.

Holy Cow

2007-07-21T07:29:00.000-06:00

Holy cow, holy cow, holy cow!

WARNING: This post does contain spoilers for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

My feelings on this book are, to quote Ish--NO FREAKING COW!

DUDE. Deathly Hallows is SOOOOO AWESOME. (Sorry about the caps.)

There were somethings that I had predicted myself and had seen floated around as theories in various fanfics that occurres, but as a whole? There were things I was totally NOT expecting.

I tried to stay spoiler free but I accidentally saw a bit of a post on a Yahoo Group I belong to and it said that Lupin and Tonks are both dead-- I had hoped that it was not a real spoiler, but alas it was. And Fred's gone too. And Mady-Eye..And Dobby... And Hedwig.... :(

But...

Snape is Good! (Although he is dead.)

Oh and before I forget--anyone who has seen Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End. Go look at page 625--Harry's "Is this the moment?" comment set me off cackling because it reminded me of the wedding scene...

I LOVE DUMBLEDORE. Dumbledore could have easily been just like Grindlewald and Voldemort but he recognized the danger and chose to follow a different path. Which emphasizes once again one of the most powerful themes of the books--choices. I have even more respect for Dumbledore knowing he recognized his own weakness and chose not to tempt himself. It reminds me of a scripture actually--Which I can't seem to find at the moment...

I think this is my favorite out of all the books. Everything just comes together--clues and ideas dropped sporadically in previous books come into importance.

Not too sure I like Harry using the Cruciatus and Imperius curses like that...

Unanswered questions:
Is the Dark Arts job still cursed?
Did Harry, Ron, and Hermione ever do their seventh year?
What happened to Umbridge?
Neville is the only one whose career we find out, what do Ginny, Harry, Hermione and Ron do for their careers?

But, boy oh boy does it leave plenty of room for fanfic! With the last chapter and the epilogue being 19 years apart...you can bet there will be plenty of stories popping up about that!

I was right that Harry was a Horcrux ( go me!) --an unintentional Horcrux that Voldemort didn't even truly understand that he had created.

Kind of scattered, but now I am REALLY tired.

Oh and I started reading somewhere around 1:30 (maybe) and finished at 7:30 AM. Ish and I finished at the same time.

Discworld

2007-07-20T01:58:00.001-06:00

You scored as Carrot Ironfounderson, You are Captain Carrot Ironfounderson of the City Watch in the greatest city on the Disc--Ankh-Morprok! A truly good natured, honest guy, who knows everyone, and is liked by all. Technically a dwarf, but only by adoption. You'd rather not be reminded that you are the true heir to the throne, but that does explain why people naturally follow your orders!

Carrot Ironfounderson

81%

Lord Havelock Vetinari

63%

Greebo

63%

The Librarian

50%

Commander Samuel Vimes

50%

Gytha (Nanny) Ogg

31%

Rincewind

25%

Death

25%

Esmerelda (Granny) Weatherwax

25%

Cohen The Barbarian

Which Discworld Character are you like (with pics)
created with QuizFarm.com

I am 45% Utahn...

2007-07-05T19:31:00.000-06:00

Copying this from BRH (I'll post more about my trip to Virginia tomorrow):

Put an "x" in the parentheses if it applies and put your total where it says total!!! When you're done, multiply your total by 5. This is how Utahn you are.

(x) You know what the U is
(x) You know what the Holy War is
( ) You have eaten funeral potatoes
(x) You leave out the "T" when you pronounce the word "mountain"
( ) You know what sluffing is

Total: 3

(x) You know what fry sauce is
( ) You know you can't buy liquor in the grocery store
(x)You were an aunt or uncle before you were out of high school.
( ) Your family considers a trip to McDonald's a night out
( ) As a kid you looked forward to going to Lagoon every summer.

Total so far: 5

( ) You can make jello salad without a recipe
( ) You never have missed school because of a snow day
( ) You wear shorts and T-shirts if the temperature barely rises above 32 degrees
(x) You own/ed a minivan
( ) You own/ed a pick-up truck

Total so far: 6

( )You went to a junior high that started with 7th grade and ended with 9th grade.
( ) Camping is one of your favorite past times
( ) You love to be outdoors
(x) You have a Mormon as your next-door neighbor
( ) You are republican

Total so far: 7

( ) you lived/lived across the street or next to a farm or barn
( ) you have a huge family
(x) you make your own fun
(x) you wrestle with your brothers and sisters
( ) you have too many animals

Total so far: 9

Add them up, multiply by 5, and repost as "I am % Utahn" Try it even if you don't live in Utah it's pretty funny

In Virginia

2007-06-27T18:55:00.000-06:00

Well, I finally arrived in Virginia about 12 hours after I was supposed to.

First we were late leaving Salt Lake but we got to Dallas/ Fort Worth only an hour late. So this was 4:15 Texas time. My flight from Dallas was supposed to leave for Richmond at 6:35 but it was delayed. Then we got sent to two different gates and they kept pushing back the flight time. It wasn't until 9:30 pm that ther airplane that was supposed to go to Richmond finally got in to Dallas. Then there wasn't enough crew to go to Richmond so the flight was cancelled. So, I got on standby for a flight to Virginia for this morning. The only thing was the first available flight to Virginia was into Norfolk. But I was ready to take anything. So then I got to spend the night in the airport. The airline provided a whole slew of Coleman folding camp beds and airplane blankets to anyone who asked (most flights were cancelled last night so hunderds of people were stranded at the airport). So it turned into a shanty town of campbeds. People were sleeping everywhere.

I didn't go to sleep because I was so tired that I knew if I fell asleep I wouldn't wake up in time for the 6AM flight to Norfolk. Luckily I met a friend at the airport (a girl who was in my ward years ago) and we kept each other awake all night. It was interesting watching the people walking around. There were people in night clothes and bare feet--and most had a red blanket drapped around their shoulders (airports get cold at night!) it was an interesting new fashion.

At 5 AM we found out that the gate had been changed for the flight to Norfolk so we trecked down from gate A16 to A36. At around 6AM attendants finally arrived at the desk and I found out that I was number seven on the standby list for the flight. At around 6:30 I boarded the plane and we waited for a while while the baggage was loaded. I slept the entire flight. I woke up as we jolted on landing in Norfolk. Daddy picked me up in Norfolk. Unfortunately, my luggage still hasn't made it. I am hoping it will turn up in Richmond airport at some point. Right now I am borrowing some of m sister's clothes because I needed to wash what I had been wearing for two days.

There's my adventure! I'll post pictures of the campbed shanty town and the fashion wave of red blankets later.

Old titles

2007-06-06T02:46:00.001-06:00

Ok, I just want to keep a record of old titles I've had for this, for posterity:

Subliminal Characters...are a filament of your imagination.
And the towel smote the carpet.
Sherbet nightmare.
Something about in love with the toaster oven...
Express train to Naples
The Artistic Spine

Tetris!

2007-06-04T01:22:00.000-06:00

When I want a distraction, am bored or have time to waste, I like to play N64 Tetris. This evening I was playing one player, opponent off, marathon style and I got my highest score ever--1007.

I was very proud of myself.

Funny!

2007-05-31T01:48:00.001-06:00

I found this on one of my Yahoo Groups, I thought it was hilarious.

Subtitles

2007-05-29T22:00:00.000-06:00

I went back and looked once again at the "Backstroke of the West" and this time I looked at the fully ripped subtitles. Here is my favorite exchange from it:

277
00:30:31,443 --> 00:30:36,403
Return my baby

278
00:31:35,941 --> 00:31:40,878
You is missing what

279
00:31:40,912 --> 00:31:44,313
Nothing important

Leslie and I spent about half an hour cracking up over the subtitles.

Ish just got back...

2007-05-28T23:55:00.000-06:00

Ish just got back from Star Wars C IV.

What did she bring home with her?

Recognize her?

2007-05-28T20:20:00.000-06:00

So I was watching Season 5 of Voyager and in the episode "Dark Frontier" I noticed the Borg Queen was not Alice Krige (sp?). However it wasn't until I watched the end of season extras that I realized who she was.

Here are a couple of shots of the Borg Queen from that episode:

Recognize her, Guin?

How about here:

(Sorry about the low quality.)

I started giggling like mad thinking "Gibbs is dating the former Borg Queen!"

And I got this one from BRH...

2007-05-11T19:21:00.000-06:00

What American accent do you have?
Created by Xavier on Memegen.net

Midland. The Midland (please don't confuse with "Midwest") itself is the neutral zone between the North and South. But just because you have a Midland accent doesn't mean you're from there. Since it is considered a neutral, default, "non-regional" accent you could easily be from someplace without its own accent, like Florida, or a big city in the South like Dallas, Houston, or Atlanta.

Southern. Love it or hate it, your accent says you're probably from somewhere south of the Ohio River.

Take this quiz now - it's easy!

Got this idea from Mia...

2007-05-09T19:31:00.000-06:00

Oh and it looks to be an interesting movie adaptation--I might actually see it even though I didn't care for the books.

LJ vs Blogger

2007-05-06T01:47:00.000-06:00

Livejournal vs Blogger
Which is better?

Well, according to Googlefight "blogger" or "blog" wins hands down in all cases over "LJ" or "livejournal."

However, though fun, googlefight is probably not the best thing to base a conclusion on. So, where does that leave us?

In a comparison of services Blogger allows more features and without advertisements than LJ does on free accounts. In blogger I can access and manipulate the source code for my blog directly whereas on LJ only paid accounts can have that level of control. I can also upload more pictures to blogger than I can to LJ free accounts.

However on the issue of post security options LJ far exceeds blogger. In LJ you have the option to make posts, private, friends only or public however you please. This allows greater control over what information goes to whom and what doesn't. Though I don't know how effective those security measures are, as in I don't know how easy it would be for someone to hack an account and read private posts etc.

Edit: Apparently Blogger does allow security but only for an entire blog. The blog can be set to public, friends only or private; however, it doesn't allow for seperate settings for each post like LJ does.

LJ is also more userfriendly to individuals with less coding knowledge and makes adding friends etc. extremely easy.

I think though I prefer blogger because of the number and quality of features I get without having to put up with advertisements or having to pay.

Wedding Reception

2007-05-05T21:29:00.000-06:00

Tonight I went to Annie's wedding reception, it was great and the guest list read like a 26th ward yearbook. I guess that happens when you live in the same place for seven years. I walked in and the first person I saw was Dave McKnight. He hasn't lived in the ward for probably a year and a half. Then as I was getting a drink I saw this guy who looked familiar for some reason sitting at one of the tables I got a little closer and saw who was sitting next to him--my old roommate Sarah (who has a ten month old kid now though he was with an aunt for the evening). Then Reed and Cindy showed up and after I greeted them and sat down this other guy came over with his little girl and said "You must be Gayle's sister"--Gayle's old boyfriend Michael.

Apparently Bishop and Sister Larson had been there earlier in the night but I missed them.

All in all it was a great reception.

Finals...

2007-04-25T19:44:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm done with finals thank goodness, but I just got off work and walking down from campus, I saw the longest line I have ever seen at the Testing center.

Here it is:

If you can't read it, sorry. But it stretched from the back door of the Testing center to the Brimhall, around the corner to the area between the Brimhall and the JSB and the back to the McKay building and around the corner of that building. I'm not sure where it ended on the other side of the McKay.

And don't forget that it probably winds around on itself in the testing center as well.

Whew! I'm glad I didn't have to wait in that line!

And we're back to quizzes

2007-04-23T12:23:00.001-06:00

You paid attention during 97% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

Finals

2007-04-20T10:44:00.000-06:00

Well, finals are finally upon us!
This morning I had my web design final. We had to choose three of ten tasks to complete. I chose two easy ones (code for a timed redirect in javascript and a linked popup) and one that was more difficult (create a javascript guessing game for a random number between 1 and 10).

For the guessing game, I got the code for a random number in and my conditionals for the game and after a prompt from the professor I got it to correctly retrieve the number input in the text field. I just couldn't get it to properly input the response for the number (eg, correct, too high, too low, invalid input) I think I figured it out though as I was walking out of the building--I had the reference wrong (doh!). Just my luck that. But he said he'll give partial credit, so hopefully I'll do okay on it.

Tomorrow I'm going to study for my religion final and do my take-home for editing.

Oh rats, that reminds me that I need to email a couple things to my voice professor.

April Fools

2007-04-04T16:16:00.000-06:00

So I like fun and funny April fools things, not mean ones. I still think Ish's joke about the whiskey was brilliant. Anyway, fictionalley.org is a Harry Potter fan site that runs a monthly fic challenge and the month of April's challenge celebrates April Fools day with the "Slightly Skewed Crossover Challenge."

Even better you can get your very own challenge by going here and clicking the little button to have it generate one for you.

I am enjoying myself quite a bit with clicking to see what it comes up with. Here are a few of my favorites:

Firenze got a kidney stolen by Buffy
HarryPotter delivered roses to StephenColbert
ArthurWeasley got kidnapped by HiroNakamura GranLongbottom got caught in a blizzard with WonderWoman
RowenaRavenclaw has a sneaking suspicion that Clark Kent is really PeterPetrelli
ViktorKrum robbed a bank with MrBennet
MariettaEdgecomb 's baby looks suspiciously like CommanderRiker
MillicentBulstrode thinks Voldemort isn't half as scary as SamWinchester
MadamRosmerta stole a lock of hair from Data
LunaLovegood got kidnapped by DeanWinchester
DedalusDiggle wrote a song about Worf
Voldemort exhumed the partially-decayed corpse of Sylar
MundungusFletcher got trapped in another dimension with CordeliaChase
ColinCreevey got stuck in the dreams of a comatose DavyJones
CorneliusFudge got swallowed by a whale with CommodoreNorrington

April Fool's Crossover Challenge
from Fictionalley & TheRogue.net

Ok, so slightly more than a few, but I find them hilarious...

::Pouts:: I just realized they don't have Star Wars included...come on, why isn't there a Darth Vader or Princess Leia or Yoda?

Check it out!

2007-03-29T21:05:00.000-06:00

If you like Star Trek: TNG...

Games I want

2007-03-24T16:30:00.000-06:00

There are a lot of games that I want to buy eventually and so I start a list:

Hoopla
Settlers and expansion packs (especially Cities and Knights)
Bohnanza
Apples to Apples
Ninja Burger

I'm an Aunt again!

2007-03-21T14:08:00.000-06:00

Well Lynness had her baby last night! I have a niece now.

Ruth Eve Hawkes
Born March 20, 2007 10:25 PM (Virginia time)
Weight 7lbs. 10oz. Length 20.5 in
I'm so excited.

Ruth's first photo!

Ruth with her big brother Isaiah!

Ruth and Lynness. Look at how red her hair is!

You can congratulate me now

2007-03-19T23:36:00.000-06:00

Today I drove a car with a manual transmission for the first time. Ok, so I did stall out twice in the middle of the road and Gillian starts smoother than I do, but I can shift while driving pretty well.

But it will be a very long time, if ever, before I prefer a manual over automatic.

The Best Part of the Oscars

2007-02-28T23:33:00.000-07:00

So I really didn't watch very many movies this year, but there was one utterly fantastic part of the oscars: the shadow puppets!

Oscar Idea

2007-02-11T01:01:00.000-07:00

Well, this is the only place I can think to put this that I won't lose it.

This year's Oscars--Gillian directing--a music video to Jonathan Coulton's "Re: Your Brains" Now it's a zombie song so this can be really fun.

Pre music opening shot Tom and two co-workers (one female and one male) playing World of Warcraft or something in their cubicles (use a TA lab!). Some shot will indicate they locked the door before they started playing
Music starts as someone knocks
Lyrics start "Hey Tom, it's Bob" (or someone could lock the door on this line.)
Shot pans starting with "things have been okay for me" Tom and coworkers leaning ageanst the door listening at the door pans to Bob on the other side of the door who is a quentissential zombie.
Hall starts filling up with other zombies in office garb. Start hitting on the wall/door. Bob clears them out and pulls out a key. Bob opens the door and nobody is in the office.
Then we see Tom and the other two running through the building. People start to peek out from various offices as they pass--they're all zombies.
Cut back to the office. Bob has picked up a paper. "Is this really your plan" Bob is following them behind.
Cut between Bob looking at the plan walking in front of a group of zombies and shots of Tom and co making a "I'm running away from home" frantically gathering supplies to escape. Gathering junk food, staple gun, trying to get out of the building.
"Make the call" Bob's underling hands him a cell phone. Cut to Tom picking up his cell.
Three of them split up. Second chorus zombies dancing in a large main hallway. (Tanner building stairs--visual think Anakin attacking the Jedi temple.)
Bob is closing in on Tom. "Technically I am" dictionary or corporate honesty policy.
"Sure appreciate the way you're working with me" Tom is throwing chairs, threatening with the staple gun.
Guitar solo: Zombie guitarist cut with zombies dancing--two (Tom's former allies) are doing the "Thriller" dance and get smacked in the head for it.
"Table this for now" Tom and Bob running around the table.
"When I bash your head open" Tom actually hits Bob in the head with something.
"Maybe we can compromise" Tom's finally made it outside and he's running but the zombies are closing in. Right at the last lyric he wakes up in the meeting. Nobody notices he has been asleep. But Bob...is he still a zombie?

BFD

2007-01-15T21:47:00.000-07:00

I'm upset with Steve Jackson Games! Bavarian Fire Drill still isn't available.

A new Apple product

2007-01-07T23:40:00.000-07:00

In this article it describes a product that would allow users to stream movies from the iTunes software to a box hooked up to the TV to allow for viewing on the TV screen.

It says:

As Apple launched online movies, Jobs showed off a gadget that streams high-definition videos, selling for $299 starting sometime in the first quarter. Analysts believe the demo was of the prerelease version of the iTV that could be introduced at Macworld, venue for many of Apple's monumental product launches over the years.
$299? Are you kidding? Just for the convenience of not hooking a few wires
up?
Until recently (when I lost my cables) I could hook my laptop up so a movie
on my hard drive could be played on the TV. This operation required:
A Y-audio output cable (mine were color coded red and white, some are
not)
An S-video out cable (yellow)
Tri-color connector
This product has all of those components in one. So lets weigh it out. $17 for connecting your computer to the TV via wires. $299 without.
You take a guess at which one I'm going to use!

Home!

2007-01-06T23:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back in Utah! My flight was rather delayed but it was also rather short and rather empty.

And I love MiaTieska!

As she was just going out the door of my apartment I said "be careful crossing the street, it's a bit icy."

She responded, "Yay! Frogger!"

TV shows

2006-12-22T21:33:00.000-07:00

So, just wondering, what high school actually has their prom dance in the school auditorium?

I mean really, how cheap can you get. Yet every single TV show focusing on high schoolers has the prom in the school auditorium!

Just one more way in which TV is unrealistic!

Ok, yes, I'm weird.

HP and US educational philosophy

2006-11-18T15:35:00.000-07:00

I was wandering around Mugglenet and stumbled onto a page listing all of Dolores Umbridge's Education Decrees. I haven't read Order of the Phoenix in a while, but I've recently been primed on educational philosophy with discussions with my roommate who is an elementary ed major. Educational Decree number 26 says this:

Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information that is not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach.
The above is in accordance with Education Decree Number Twenty-six
Signed by Dolores Jane Umbridge

Now, Delores Umbridge is the character you love to hate in OOtP and her educational decrees become more and more strict and confining. By the time you get to decree 26 you know this woman is off her rocker and all of her decrees are bogus and stupid, and would never occur in real life, right?

Not quite. Dolores, please meet President Bush, you might find some educational philosophies in common. As a result of various education initiatives, more and more teachers are facing classroom environments where they are not allowed, by their schools, school systems, or curriculum guidelines, to address any topic or teach any lesson or have any activity that does not directly coorelate to the state or national standards for what is supposed to be learned in that grade level or class.

Pretty scary.

Next time your teacher addresses something that is not directly in the syllabus remind him or her than Dolores Umbridge will be by later to discuss this breach of the rules.

Off to Tennessee!

2006-10-12T23:38:00.000-06:00

Well, tomorrow I fly to my family reunion. This is the first family reunion I have been to for my Dad's side of the family. I don't think I ever remember my two aunts and my dad being in the same place at the same time! I don't even know most of my relatives on that side of the family. My cousin Beverly will be flying in around the same time as me and so she will be driving me to my aunt's house, but there is the slight problem that I really don't remember what in the world my cousin looks like.

And I bought a digital camera! I bought a Canon PowerShot A530. It seems like a pretty cool camera.

My next post will be after I get back. I'll post pictures!

Back to School

2006-09-05T17:44:00.000-06:00

Well, today was the first day of school! I only had two classes today. The first was Political Psychology which I think will be fun. Definite plus: no textbook!
The other is CHUM 283--Computers and Print Publishing which I am really excited about. It is basically a class where we learn about design and layout for publishing media. I'll be learning how to use QuarkExpress this semester and we also have three class periods devoted to using Photoshop CS2. The class requires a lot of time though and I'll have to spend significant amounts of time in on campus computer labs. Oh and our classroom only has Macs so I will become very Mac compatible by the end of the semester.

I'll post tomorrow about my other classes, but this semester is shaping up to be fun!

Summer of Reading

2006-08-30T12:30:00.000-06:00

I was thinking today and I realized that I have read a lot of books this summer, but whenever I try to recall what I have read I draw a blank. So from now to the end of summer I am going to post what I have read here in my blog. I think at the end of the summer I'll do a total page count. Page counts are according to Amazon.

Keep in mind I work in the Juvenile Literature section of the BYU library so I will be reading *a lot* of books from my area. Added to that I have made it my goal to read all of the Newbery Medal books. Then I'll move on to the Newbery Honor books.

I will only post a title as I finish it.

Books completed list
Starting July 26, 2006

1. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane 228 pages
2. The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread 272 pages
3. The Little Island 48 pages
4. The Biggest Bear 88 pages
5. Olive's Ocean 224
6. The Whipping Boy 96 pages
7. Mira, Mirror 256 pages
8. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler 176 pages
9. Wayside School is Falling Down 192 pages
10. The Dream-Maker's Magic 272 pages
11. Fray 216 pages
12. Superman: Birthright 314 pages
13. The Giving Tree 64 pages
14. The Missing Piece Meets the Big O 104 pages
15. Mufara's Beautiful Daughters 32 pages
16. Joseph had a Little Overcoat 32 pages
17. They were Good and Strong 72 pages
18. The Boy who Stopped Time ? pages
19. Water Shaper 192 pages
20. June 29, 1999 32 pages
21. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH 240 pages
22. Racso and the Rats of NIMH 288 pages
23. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 32 pages

11-30

2006-08-19T12:28:00.000-06:00

11-30

11. My mother was in the Navy
12. The worst punishment my parents ever came up for me was to ban me from the library for a month
13. One of my favorite books of all time is Ender’s Game
14. I read Machiavelli for fun.
15. My heart stopped and my lungs collapsed when I was seven years old because of an allergic reaction
16. I love the smell of Scotch brand tape
17. I still can’t color in the lines
18. I have read the unabridged English translation of Les Miserables in its entirety.
19. I was 21 months when I finally learned to walk
20. The four of us girls shared one big room for a number of years and then it was two and two, and then Heather and I shared while the older two got their own rooms. I didn’t get my own room until I was 13 or 14.
21. I’ve been on TV twice.
22. I grew up without a TV in my house
23. I would get in trouble for sneaking into Gayle’s room at night to talk. I don’t know why I would always go to her room rather than her coming to my room.
24. My mother was a “cafeteria lady” at my elementary school.
25. I took one year of voice lessons.
26. I have the unique talent of being able to fall over or trip without any apparent cause
27. I love the feel of a freshly made bed with crisp clean sheets on it.
28. My feet are short and wide with a small arch that is too far back, making shoe shopping very hard and very expensive.
29. I have oddly shaped toes, and my second toes are both larger than my big toes.
30. The first book that ever made me cry was Mama, Let’s Dance

Females in media

2006-07-19T13:39:00.000-06:00

This is a fantastic speech by Joss Whedon for Equality Now.

I really like a lot of the things he says, Such as the "the question is why everyone else isn't!"

Recently Shannon Hale had a discussion on her blog about a similar topic. Found here.

Funny you think you've had the sexual revolution and all and yet we are still stuck in the same stereotypes...

Miss Breed

2006-07-12T20:33:00.000-06:00

Today at work I read Dear Miss Breed a non-fiction work about the World War II Japanese internment camps and a librarian named Miss Breed who corresponded with a number of the children there. The book itself, while not a literary masterpiece, is well researched and provides a stark look at a time and situation in US history for which there is no justification nor excuse.

There are skeletons in the closets of US history that get glossed over in social studies in favor of re-learning everything you already knew about the Revolutionary War. As a member of the LDS church I was well aware of the darker bits of history in the US long before my history book had a one paragraph summary if the persecution of the Mormons. But there is so much that is just ignored in schools today. I don't think I ever heard of the internment camps that Americans of Japanese ancestry were forced into until I was in middle school or perhaps even high school. And none of it was as detailed as this book that is now owned but the children's section of the library.

The book really got me thinking about America. I noticed in some places the author quoted from an article Clara Breed had written in The Horn Book magazine entitled "American's with the Wrong Ancestors" written in 1943. I found out which volume of it had been printed in and then went downstairs to the periodicals section (after I got off work) to find it. All bless the BYU library! They have bound copies of The Horn Book since it first started printing. I located the correct volume (from the fun moving shelves!) and read it.
I have come to the conclusion that Miss Breed was a phenominal lady. I wonder how many people read that article--I wonder how many listened to what she was saying.

And then I think, Who are the Miss Breeds today? What are they saying? Am I listening? Is there something that I can do?

I found another article in The Horn Book by Clara Breed written in 1945 "Books that Build Better Racial Attitudes" that is still as pertinent today as it was sixty years ago. She said a lot of important things in the article about portrayals of race in fiction but the most profoud thing she said was in her last sentence--

"...the United States, the democracy which is not finished but still in the making."

And another video

2006-07-12T05:00:00.000-06:00

Another fun one!

I just found this on YouTube...

2006-07-12T04:46:00.000-06:00

Interview with Summer Glau and Sean Maher

More Cool Software!

2006-07-05T00:26:00.000-06:00

I just downloaded Google SketchUp which is free 3D rendering software and I've been playing with it. This is a screen shot of what I have so far.

I am especially proud of the stairs. They were rather hard to figure out how to do uniformly. (And how to erase parts of the floor so that you could actually use the stairs rather than bumping your head on the first floor ceiling.) But this is some really cool software!