Untitled 2, 2009.

I suppose there are times when one just needs to vent a little. This is one of them. I think my thought might come out a little jumbled, but they have been rolling around in my head for a while, and so they probably got out of order in the process, much like socks losing their partners in the dryer (on a complete side note, I did laundry last night and as I was putting away my socks, I only found ONE of one of my most comfy pairs (yes, mom, it's the moose socks you gave me for Christmas :) ). I got down to the bottom of the hamper, and - still only one moose sock. The thought of having lost the sock was nearly as bad as the thought to go back to the laundry room and look for it (hey, it was cold and I was tired). I picked up my sweatshirt that had been in the laundry and shook it. No sock fell out. I picked up my freshly-cleaned towel and shook it, too. No sock. I shook it again (for good measure), and... SOCK! I was very happy. So were the moose, I imagine). Ok, that was an unusually lengthy side note. Onward.

The situation at the present time is that two of my 5 roommates are likely to be kicked out of school. And while part of me feels sad for their situation (it is a strict punishment), part of me can't even try to feel sorry for them. They have been messing up all semester and have been given warnings, but ignored them. Now they are getting the consequences, and suddenly it's all "unfair". I was at home for a couple hours today and all I (over)heard was conversation about how angry they were with our Bishop (for those unfamiliar, the Bishop at school has the authority to make these types of decisions, after counseling with the Dean of Students), how they are going to "get back" at him, and how stupid the whole thing is. It was sickening.
I'm not quite sure what to do about things, and I realize that there may not be anything I can or even should do. I guess I'm just trying to deal with it and not let it bother me. But it really does. It's hard to describe all that I have been feeling about this (and other things like it) this semester, and in a way it's been a real eye-opener. I have never met people like this before (I have left a lot of things out... partly out of laziness, partly because I think that writing it all down would only make me feel angry again), and have been learning a lot. One thing I have noticed is that parents' attitudes really do rub off on children. And I am even more grateful for my parents! They are people I can be proud of, who try their best to do the right thing and to live their lives based on principles of kindness and respect. They are very selfless and care about others. I am so glad that I have been able to learn from them. I don't think my roommates have very good relationships with their parents, or their parents never bothered to teach them about respect and honesty (or, a third option, their parents did teach them all this and they were just brats about it). It's so sad.

I think one thing that just gets to me is their attitude of deserving everything without having to work for it, and not appreciating the work that others do for them. They don't understand principles of gratitude or humility. A quotation (don't ask me who said it first) comes to mind: Don't expect the world to give you everything. The world owes you nothing; it was here first. I know that I haven't always been the most grateful person, and some of the experiences that I have had over the past year or so have really gotten it into my head that nothing can be taken for granted. Every day that we have good health, we should be glad for that. Every meal we are able to have, we should be glad for that. So many people have much less. I learned an interesting statistic this semester - about 73% of our tuition is paid for by tithing of the church (meaning, the amount that I stress about having to pay every semester is only about 27% of the actual cost of my education). That is a whole lot of money being paid by people I have never even met. And I think that we owe it to the members of the church to treat our educations with respect.

Anyway, I think I have exhausted today's frustrations, and I'm doubtful of my ability to even try to add in another jumbled thought.

Plus, I should really be studying for a test right now.

Untitled, 2009.

So, I was recently informed (and by "recently", I mean approximately 2 weeks ago) that my parents have been pretty awesome for a while now. Which is true. But it was meant as a subtle (sort of) hint and reminder that I haven't exactly updated my blog in a long time. So... here goes. I'm all rusty though. Might not have any witty remarks until next time.

I'm taking a ceramics class this semester (just for fun), and I'm enjoying it, though I'm definitely at the shallow end of the artistic talent pool in that class. There are a lot of amazingly creative people there, it's fun to see each other's work and style. We had our first assignment this week - we had to make a piece using coils (which is a fancy artist term for "rolled-out snakes"). Here is mine:



It's about 12 inches across. I suppose it will be good for holding fruit... or socks... or maybe a LOT of jelly beans! :) I took the picture with my phone, so it's not the best quality, but you can see what I made... you can also see a bit of Josh's castle and Maiko's sculpture.

News Update

I have the coolest parents in the world.

Thought you all should know.

That's it for tonight.

Reasons to Love* Rexburg #2

The University Bookstore has lots of cute signs like this one, all with happy, bubbly, idealistic thoughts: "Always Kiss Me Goodnight", "All Because Two People Fell In Love", etc. You know the types.

And don't get me wrong, these are good things. It's good to remind ourselves of the goals and philosophies we want to incorporate into our lives.

But I have to draw the line with this one. "Live Simply", cut out of sheet metal, with a star and twine for decoration. Yours to display in your own home for only $20.

Um... wait.

$20 for a sign that reminds me to "Live Simply"? Isn't buying the sign a violation of the very lifestyle it encourages? If you're so in love with the concept of Living Simply that you want to buy a sign to remind you to do it, then I think you may have missed the boat.

Reasons to Love* Rexburg #1

The David O. McKay library has a bit of a tradition. A daily ritual, if you will. Every night at 11:20, an announcement comes over the P.A. system: "The David O. McKay library will be closing in 10 minutes. Please take all materials to be checked out to the circulation desk." This announcement is especially annoying when it comes on when you are on a roll with whatever project you're working on. Knowing that by the time you pack up, walk home, and get everything set up again you will have forgotten that brilliant idea to add to your essay adds to the sense of urgency. Like you're a spy working against a tight deadline, and have to transmit some important information to HQ before the building blows up. Or something like that.

So if it weren't bad enough that you have to rush to finish your thoughts, it's made worse by The Music. As the announcement ends, a song begins to play. It's a different song every night, but they all have the same quality: they are so incredibly obnoxious that they make it impossible to think, thus rendering the last 9 minutes of possible productivity completely useless. Sometimes the songs are so bad you want to run out of the library. Which I suppose is a fairly decent strategy for the students who work in the library and probably want to go home and sleep.

But tonight was different.

After the usual announcement (on a side note, I realized tonight that they never actually say that you have to leave the library and go home. Just to take all materials to the circulation desk. Hm...), a song began to play. But it was not like any other library closing I had heard before...

Hakuna Matata- What a wonderful phrase! Hakuna Matata- ain't no passin' craze!

Best. Library. Closing. Song. Ever.

And I couldn't help but want to dance as I walked down the stairs, through the East and West wings, and out the door. I did manage to call Teags, and left what I can only imagine is the World's Coolest Message on her phone. Because cool things like this just don't happen every day. And that's why this is a reason to love Rexburg.

*in this series, love may or may not be the actual emotion felt, depending on the level of sarcasm of the day.

Reason to Love Washington #14

Out-of-Date Police Car Scanners!

I was driving home from a friend's house on a Sunday night around 11:45. Listening to music, I got distracted, and sang along (which takes talent when the music is orchestral, but that's why horn players are cool). I turned (nearly home now), and noticed a car following me. Which was strange because the main street was nearly deserted to begin with, and what would the odds be of the one other car on the road also turning down the same street? Weird. I turned onto my street. The car still followed. Double weird. The car suddenly had flashy lights on it's roof. Red and blue ones, brightly illuminating the otherwise dark street.

Crumbucket.

I pulled over (conveniently, I was already in front of my house). Cop came out. Apparently I had been going 36 in a 25 zone.

Double crumbucket.

"Have you ever had a ticket before?"
"No, sir, and I'm feeling pretty stupid right about now."

Especially since I wasn't even in a hurry. It would be one thing to have a dramatic story to tell the officer, explaining why I was in such a hurry ("I'm in labor!" "My sister called, there's a family emergency!" "I left the oven on!" "I have to pee!"). Any of these would have been better than mine: "Well, I was listening to some music, and there was this great horn line, and so I was singing along to it, and kinda got lost in the moment... and it's not like there are other cars on this road at 11:45 at night or anything, and even when there are, no one keeps to 25 anyway!".

So I chose to not say anything.

Apparently, this is a 120$ fine (speeding, not silence, which is ok now because of the 5th amendment). Have I mentioned I don't have a job? He asked for my license. I passed it over, and explained why it looks weird (it's Canadian!). He looked at my plates. They're from Idaho. Cop was confused as to why I have a Manitoba license, driving a car registered to my name from Idaho, and speeding in Washington. I don't blame him. It took a little while to explain it all. He took my papers back to his car. I assumed a somewhat fetal position, banging my head rhythmically against the steering wheel while muttering: "stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid...".

Cop came back.

I looked up.

He handed me my papers.

Explained that the scanners in his car wouldn't recognize the Manitoba license format, so he couldn't register the ticket.

He eyed me warily, as if to peer into the depths of my soul.
"Watch your speed."

"Yes, sir."

And he was gone.


So, I feel badly for speeding, but I'm very glad that I didn't get a ticket. But I also think it's weird (in an advantageous-to-me kind of way) that their scanners don't recognize Manitoba licenses. I mean, I know that not very many people from Manitoba probably make their way to Washington, and even fewer are dumb enough to speed, and fewer still dumb enough to get caught, but you would think they would have the equipment to deal with that.

Not that I'm complaining. :)

Reason to Love Washington #15

Mount Rainier!

On overcast days, you can't see anything.

But on non-overcast days, you can see it peek through Washington's ubiquitous evergreens (they didn't name it the Evergreen State out of sarcasm, that's for sure). It's cool, because sometimes I forget it's there, and then I'll take a turn while driving, come around the corner, and have a beautiful vista open up in front of me. Ta-da! It's a mountain! And it's awesome. And I'm sure people can tell I'm not from around here because sometimes I just have to pull over so I can gaze at it and take a picture. Or look around to see whether there is a better vantage point nearby. I've found some pretty good ones.... The mountain always catches my attention.

Mount Rainier. Sunrise. View from my window. Sweet.