I find the contrast between the two powerpoints I'm making today quite humorous. They also illustrate the idiosyncrasy of my education--I pretty much only write about things I'm interested in. To hell if they don't match other people's conceptions of classic English major subjects.
And now to write my 20-page medieval exegesis of T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets." Sigh.
Courtesy of my wonderful friend Marisa, a huge chapter of my life is now available on Google Video. All those whose hugging skills need improvement, weep no more! Witness the Hug Video in all of its tripartite glory:
The Hug Video: World of Contact
From the cheesy National Geographic music to the dictionary hug, this is an instant classic. Who's Joe, you might ask? Joe is the inspiration for the hug video, whose prolific dictionary hug skills led my roommates to offer him hugging lessons. Trust me: some people need them.
Hug Video 1 Bloopers
The birth of Marisa's child and some lovely background shots of me knitting my Quidditch socks.
The Hug Video Part Dos
You may remember that I spent most of finals week winter 2006 editing this video. It's not as crisp as the first one, but we love it none the less. The invalid hug is great.
Someday I'll get around to making our final movie--the Paint Date. 50 bouncy balls, several bottles of paint, and lots of plastic wrap meet a college kitchen.
Why are all of the Google ads on my DailyLit email of Anna Karenina about pole dancers? Oh the scandalaciousness of those Russian balls!
Speaking of experimental reading forms, I've been reading a short story called "goodcaptain" (based on "Benito Cereno" by Herman Melville) on Twitter all this semester. Basically, the story comes out a few sentences each day. A good twist on the old serial novel, and it's surprisingly easy to follow. The story's reaching a climax, so you still have time to subscribe on Twitter or Google Reader. It's free!
I'm considering writing a top 10-20 highlight list for this blog. Is this appropriate since I've sort of let it die? On the upside of this, my husband has threatened to make me a new blog over Christmas break, on our own server space and everything. Shiny. I think my New Year's Resolution will be to get back into blogging. All in favor, say aye.
The following comic proves my geek theory--people are just jealous of us:
I'm just glad I didn't do this back when this post was on the main page. It's apparently rated R. I suppose that makes sense. The best part about that post was that it caused my blog to be blocked by the firewall at George's parent's house. :D (Hat tip to Times & Seasons.)
I'm walking home
reading Tess of the D'Ubervilles
with Lesile Norris' poetry in my pocket
and Nibley on the Timely and Timeless in my bag
along with a heavy organic chemistry textbook
which is causing a pinched nerve in my neck.
I stub my toe on the steps
as I shortcut through the administration building.
I look down and see
red blood seeping onto black flip flops
and think
I'm going to blog about this.
Okay, this article on why we procrastinate is officially the coolest thing I've seen today. You all know my propensity to explain things through pretentious mathematical equations. Well, how about a mathematical equation to explain why I'm sitting here typing this instead of reading more Hugh Nibley.
You'll have to read the article to find out what it's supposed to mean, but I just had to laugh at the description of procrastinating a college term paper:
To help illustrate these characteristics, the following prototypical example is put forth: the college student’s essay paper. A college student who has been assigned an essay on September 15th, the start of a semester, due on December 15th, the course end. This student likes to socialize but he also likes to get good grades. The figure below maps the changes in expected utility for him over the course of the semester regarding his two choices, studying vs. socializing. Since the reward for socializing is always in the present, it maintains a uniformly high utility evaluation. For writing, its reward is temporally distant initially, diminishing its utility. Only towards the deadline do the effects of discounting decrease and writing becomes increasingly likely. In this example, the switch in motivational rank occurs on December 3rd, leaving just 12 days for concentrated effort. During this final hour, it is quite likely that earnest but empty promises (i.e., intentions) are made to start working earlier next time.Amen, and amen.
“To Open the Last Dispensation: Moses Chapter 1” was a very different essay from what I’m used to reading. The comparison between Moses and other apocryphal accounts of confrontations with Satan was certainly interesting, but hard to follow because of the two-column format. It’s interesting to see that the Lord has spoken to men in the same pattern since the beginning of time: they receive a manifestation from God, are tempted by Satan, overcome him, and receive a vision of the eternities as a reward for their faithfulness.
I wonder how this model might be compared to Joseph Smith’s experiences with God. Clearly, the First Vision doesn’t quite fit into this pattern—Joseph is attacked by Satan before receiving a witness from God—but I sense there are some similarities. It really disappoints me when people in recounting the first vision avoid mentioning the evil spirit that nearly overpowered Joseph, as in the Church’s recently released video on the First Vision. For it seems to me that an encounter with evil is almost as important to becoming a prophet as a revelation from God because realizing the reality of Satan is important in being able to adequately warn the people of his tactics. As it says in the Book of Mormon, one of Satan’s greatest weapons in these days is to convince men that he is no devil, for there is none. There is a imminent danger in denying the reality of evil in the world.
Hugh Nibley’s humorous skit on BYU, “Shalamar,” was almost as hilarious today as I’m sure it was back then. The comments about the student’s dress—modest in name only—were dead on to attitudes I see sometimes on campus. I find it frankly amazing that people took themselves lightly enough in that day to be able to put up with Nibley’s cutting humor. Now at BYU, it seems as though we have to worry about everything offending someone; we take everything ten times more seriously than it was meant. One thinks of the recent disaster of the Cougarettes' dance to “Come Thou Fount” which sparked a contentious letter campaign in the reader’s forum of the Daily Universe. In fact, the editorials of the DU are a perfect example of what can happen when we take ourselves more seriously than the gospel. People are always becoming offended, accusing the other side of being the devil even on such non-issues as parking or rolling backpacks.
We all could learn from Nibley’s balance between taking the gospel seriously and laughing at gospel culture. I love watching the skit comedy group on campus, Divine Comedy, but several people I’ve taken to the show have been quite offended by their humor. Particularly, there was a skit about an overzealous return missionary going on a date with a girl which really offended my friend. In the skit, the missionary refused to drink Sprite (“don’t you know they’re owed by Coke?!”) and wanted to have a table facing east (“just in case”). My friend was certain that this was completely blasphemous, making fun of the Word of Wisdom and waiting for the Second Coming. I’m not so certain. These things aren’t doctrines, but cultural practices. One of my favorites is the skit making fun of Sacrament meeting talk clichés and improving upon them. When I watch it, it doesn’t make me pay less attention in Sacrament meeting. Rather, it makes me think of all the conventions we have to keep us occupied, that perhaps prevent the inspiration of the Spirit from getting into our lives. Humor is a way of waking us up, saying, “is this really what you believe, or are you just doing it because everyone else is?” It separates the culture of Mormonism from the doctrines, which allows us to keep our focus on what really matters.
Today I went to the game with my dad, my grandma, and my brother, and the coolest thing happened. My brother and I were sitting the student section, and between plays, this guy five people down from us turns to me and says, "You work at the Writing Center, right?"
"Um, yeah. I thought I recognized you from somewhere."
"You helped me write a really awesome paper last semester. I totally got an A on it. You guys rock!"
"Thanks."
"I just figured you'd like to know, since you guys probably don't get a lot of feedback on the results."
I love my job.
I've also decided I really enjoy football games. I don't know why, since my knowledge of the sport is limited to what a down is and that it's good to move forward and not back. I just like watching it. Football and basketball are the two sports I can actually stand to watch for their entire duration. If I wasn't such a cheapskate, I would probably buy the all-sports pass just for the football tickets. :D
And did anyone else think that all the fans waving little white towels sort of looked like they were doing the hosanna shout, like at a temple dedication? . . . Okay, maybe that's just me.
Ah, humor is all around us. Check out this NPR interview with the guys who do the voice-overs for political attack ads. I really like their 'negative' readings of the nursery rhymes. :D Humpty Dumpty is indeed a waste of tax-payers' dollars.
And from the do-it-yourself page at Despair.com, some words of truth:
When I was in high school, I had a half-hour commute to school. I would always listen to KSL's news program in the morning and Sean Hannity in the afternoons. (Don't worry: I've since repented of my Sean Hannity addiction.) I really enjoyed it because it took no extra effort and I always felt highly informed. I really miss the news now that I walk to school instead of driving. It felt so . . . productive.
I've been trying to revive my audio addiction with podcasts. This would probably work better if I actually went out and bought an Mp3 player, or at least some memory for my cell phone's audio player. (Hey! Black Friday is coming. Maybe I'll buy some this year, if the sales are good enough and I don't sleep through my alarm.) But there's some pretty good stuff out there, even if it's hard to find. Here's a run down of my current must-listen list:
No, really.
Okay, it's a slight exaggeration, but Google did save me from being stuck alone on the highway for several hours, which is a small portion of my life.
To start from the beginning: I went home to Salt Lake City for the Easter weekend. It was lovely: friends, family, candy, and all that. On Sunday night, I left for Provo at about 9:00 pm. About half an hour down the road, I started to smell smoke in my car. Not good at all, so I pulled over to the side of the road. My brakes didn't appear to be working too well either. I managed to stop, but it took forever and I nearly ran out into the on-ramp.
So, now that I was stopped, I needed help. I really had no idea what was wrong with the car. I don't know that much about them, and all the problems I could fix myself (flat tires, overheating) didn't appear to be it. I hopped back in the car to call my dad for help, but alas, dead cell phone battery. Shoot.
I sat there for a while, trying to figure out how in the world I could get a hold of my dad. Then I remembered that my laptop was in my backpack. I pulled it out, fired up Windows, and *tada* got a wireless internet connection from a nearby business.
Now I was connected to the world, but no one on my instant messenger lists was online, so I had no way of instantly getting hold of someone. On a whim, I searched Google for "free text messages," hoping I could send one from online. Lo and behold, Google SMS has a free service that you can send text messages from online. I was saved! I sent a message to my sister, who called my dad at home. Soon after, Katherine later came online on MSN, so I had her call my dad too, just in case. Thanks Katherine! My dad came and fixed my evil-van-of-doom. Turns out the fan belt on the brakes was totally dead, so it was a good thing I stopped.
Moral of the story: Don't secure your wireless network. You never know when it could save someone's life. (Just Kidding!)
