So the sound stopped working on my computer. No, it's not a problem of whether or not the speakers are plugged in (I do know a tiny bit about common sense and computers)...it is broken. My brother in law, who decided to study computers for a living (I think he's crazy, but it's great for me because I can go to him with my computer problems!) says that it sounds like something went bad on the sound card and he'll have to take a look at it. He can do so on Saturday, possibly sooner...but unfortunately, with no computer sound, no iPod, no working CD player, and no roommates around to play their music (I'd even deal with "All The Single Ladies!!"), I am music-less and online video-less for at least two days. Hopefully no more than that, I'm really hoping my brother in law can fix it. Why do such unlucky things happen? It was working last night! All I wanted was to turn on my music so I could have something to listen to while I organize my room. Sigh.
Things keep breaking on my computer, or it slows down, or it gets really full of crap (it only has 40 GB), and I freak out that it's going to crash on me and I'm going to have to buy a new computer. It's probably inevitable. Well, I am still using a desktop, and it's at least five or six years old...and I'm about to start grad school. You'd think it'd be time for a new computer anyway, and it is. Unfortunately, where am I going to come up with the money for a new computer? And even then, what kind should I get? What's the best option for a new computer for me? A laptop would be really nice to take notes on, but is it worth it? I have no idea where to begin here, it's very overwhelming...any advice would be greatly appreciated! I'll just be sitting here, with a movie thrown in for some background noise while I attempt to organize my room...though I'm really standing and hitting my head against the wall.
Maybe I'll rename my computer Maher-shalal-hash-baz. I'll call it Mayhem for short.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
An Unfair University Expulsion (not mine, don't worry)
WARNING: This will come out pretty impassioned; I have strong feelings on the subject. If your feelings are opposed, I support your decision to tell me so, but I hope that no one will be rude in what they say. I am trying to be fair as well.
What right does a university have to expel a student based on his or her beliefs? It's one thing to do so if the belief is in terrorism, imprisoning Jews, or something like that. But what right does a university have to expel a student for refusing to support a lifestyle he or she disagrees with?
I just read an article about a federal judge upholding a university's decision to expel a counseling student who opposes homosexuality (click there to read). The girl was a graduate student in school counseling who was expelled because she refused to counsel homosexual clients. "The university contended she violated school policy and the American Counseling Association code of ethics." I understand that they believe she is unlawfully discriminating against people who are doing nothing wrong but living a different lifestyle. But by them ruling against her, THEY ARE DISCRIMINATING AGAINST HER for refusing to support that lifestyle.
As a school counselor, you are supposed to counsel or advise students in what you feel is the best course of action for them. As someone who is opposed to homosexuality, chances are that they will feel the best advice they can give is to change their homosexual lifestyle. By refusing to counsel homosexual clients, I feel that this student who was expelled, while upholding her views against homosexuality, was in fact also trying to prevent potential homosexual clients from being offended by advice she would give that would be contrary to their lifestyle. Since when did it become unethical to refuse to counsel someone you can't honestly counsel? Say she was forced to counsel homosexual clients, and the only counsel she felt she could give was against their lifestyle. Say she cannot, according to her ethics code, counsel them in that way because it is offensive to their lifestyle. Is she supposed to lie to them and offer advice she doesn't agree with? Is that not also unethical? Isn't the best option for her to be able to refuse counsel for such individuals?
It really bothers me that a university would expel a student for something like this. If this spreads, what might happen next? Jeremy Tedesco, legal counsel for the conservative Alliance Defense Fund, said, "Public universities are imposing the ideological stances of private groups on their students,” he said. “If you don’t comply, you will be kicked out. It’s scary stuff and it’s not a difficult thing to see what’s coming down the pike."
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Bucket List
Here is my bucket list, started last November and continued today. Some of the things I wrote down are not necessarily practical or things that are likely to happen, but all of them are things that I would like to do (and have not yet done) before I die.
1. Get married in the temple
2. Go on a real honeymoon, stress free, away from everything
3. Have close, strong relationships with my kids
4. Adopt (I may not do this if I get married and have kids of my own, but it has been something I would like to do)
5. Have twins…I’d like to have a boy and girl
6. Have a son grow up to be taller than I am…I know that’s kind of random, but I would love for my son (when he comes home to visit or something) to pick me up and swing me around…yeah, it’s silly
7. Serve a mission with my husband when we’re older and our kids have all grown up
8. Go to all the countries in Europe (okay, well, at least most of them, like all the UK, Scandinavia, go back to France and Italy, Greece, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Germany…)
9. Cruise major European cities (particularly Paris) by night
10. Climb the Eiffel Tower. Up the stairs. It may take several hours to do it, but I want to do it someday.
11. Kiss my man, out in the rain, in Paris, preferably in front of the Eiffel Tower
12. Become comfortably fluent in French and Italian
13. See Raphael’s exhibit, especially School of Athens, which was closed when I went last time to the Vatican Museum.
14. Visit Jerusalem, the Galilee, Gethsemane, follow Christ’s ministry
15. Go somewhere on a trip without planning it—spontaneous departure, spontaneous experience, maybe even not bring anything and just buy stuff there
16. Visit the Seven Wonders of the World
17. Go to Australia/New Zealand
18. Go to Hawaii
19. Stay in a Vegas hotel for at least one night
20. Live abroad, probably in Italy, France, or somewhere in the UK
21. Read read read lots and lots of amazing books that I’ve started reading and want to read
22. Find joy in a career that I really love
23. Go hang gliding!
24. Go parasailing or paragliding
25. Become competent in at least one sport…but I’d have to be taught by a VERY patient person that I wasn’t at all embarrassed to play sports around, because I am really that terrible. And he/she would have to force me to do it.
26. Become a good runner
27. Learn to ski/water ski
28. Learn how to ice skate
29. Learn how to dance. I took beginning ballroom at BYU, but I’d like to learn more.
30. Go on a cruise
31. Go to an Olympic (summer or winter) event
32. Go to a concert of one of my favorite bands/artists
33. Go to a concert at Carnegie Hall
34. Study music at the professional level
35. Perform in a musical
36. Perform as a major role in a musical
37. Perform in a real concert (anything from community level to London Philharmonic)
38. Conduct a real orchestra or band
39. See all the musicals in the world, at least the good ones…and the ones that aren’t ridiculously scandalous…haha
40. See a musical on Broadway and in London, preferably Phantom of the Opera or Les Mis or another really amazing one
41. Own a house with a wraparound porch and a turret, and a weeping willow tree in the backyard
42. Have the rooms in my house be professionally designed, or at least designed well
43. Have a “library room”, for all the books
44. Have my master bed be a four-poster with canopy for extra privacy
45. Own a really nice grand piano (preferably Steinway or Mason&Hamlin) and have time every day to play it
46. Own a boat, or have a rich friend or relative to take me and my family out on their boat regularly
47. Own, or just be able to wear once, a really expensive but beautiful evening gown and the accessories to match (shoes, jewelry, purse)
48. Own a pair of Christian Louboutin or other amazing designer shoes
49. Own the X-men comic books
50. Own the complete Calvin and Hobbes comics
51. Streak my hair with purple or blue or something, just for fun
52. Learn to cook from scratch
53. Have enough money to eat healthy, natural foods and to have a balanced diet every day
54. Be healthy and fit, and truly comfortable with my body
55. Publish academic articles that I’ve written or contributed to in academic magazines, get my name out there
56. Publish a book that I’ve written, or enough poetry to compile into a book
57. Publish a musical piece I’ve composed
58. Knit and crochet clothing items to wear or items to display
59. Find the names of some of my unknown ancestors and get their temple work done
60. Write my autobiography to pass to my descendents (whether they want to read it or not is their choice).
"We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round." -- from the trailer for 'The Bucket List'
1. Get married in the temple
2. Go on a real honeymoon, stress free, away from everything
3. Have close, strong relationships with my kids
4. Adopt (I may not do this if I get married and have kids of my own, but it has been something I would like to do)
5. Have twins…I’d like to have a boy and girl
6. Have a son grow up to be taller than I am…I know that’s kind of random, but I would love for my son (when he comes home to visit or something) to pick me up and swing me around…yeah, it’s silly
7. Serve a mission with my husband when we’re older and our kids have all grown up
8. Go to all the countries in Europe (okay, well, at least most of them, like all the UK, Scandinavia, go back to France and Italy, Greece, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Germany…)
9. Cruise major European cities (particularly Paris) by night
10. Climb the Eiffel Tower. Up the stairs. It may take several hours to do it, but I want to do it someday.
11. Kiss my man, out in the rain, in Paris, preferably in front of the Eiffel Tower
12. Become comfortably fluent in French and Italian
13. See Raphael’s exhibit, especially School of Athens, which was closed when I went last time to the Vatican Museum.
14. Visit Jerusalem, the Galilee, Gethsemane, follow Christ’s ministry
15. Go somewhere on a trip without planning it—spontaneous departure, spontaneous experience, maybe even not bring anything and just buy stuff there
16. Visit the Seven Wonders of the World
17. Go to Australia/New Zealand
18. Go to Hawaii
19. Stay in a Vegas hotel for at least one night
20. Live abroad, probably in Italy, France, or somewhere in the UK
21. Read read read lots and lots of amazing books that I’ve started reading and want to read
22. Find joy in a career that I really love
23. Go hang gliding!
24. Go parasailing or paragliding
25. Become competent in at least one sport…but I’d have to be taught by a VERY patient person that I wasn’t at all embarrassed to play sports around, because I am really that terrible. And he/she would have to force me to do it.
26. Become a good runner
27. Learn to ski/water ski
28. Learn how to ice skate
29. Learn how to dance. I took beginning ballroom at BYU, but I’d like to learn more.
30. Go on a cruise
31. Go to an Olympic (summer or winter) event
32. Go to a concert of one of my favorite bands/artists
33. Go to a concert at Carnegie Hall
34. Study music at the professional level
35. Perform in a musical
36. Perform as a major role in a musical
37. Perform in a real concert (anything from community level to London Philharmonic)
38. Conduct a real orchestra or band
39. See all the musicals in the world, at least the good ones…and the ones that aren’t ridiculously scandalous…haha
40. See a musical on Broadway and in London, preferably Phantom of the Opera or Les Mis or another really amazing one
41. Own a house with a wraparound porch and a turret, and a weeping willow tree in the backyard
42. Have the rooms in my house be professionally designed, or at least designed well
43. Have a “library room”, for all the books
44. Have my master bed be a four-poster with canopy for extra privacy
45. Own a really nice grand piano (preferably Steinway or Mason&Hamlin) and have time every day to play it
46. Own a boat, or have a rich friend or relative to take me and my family out on their boat regularly
47. Own, or just be able to wear once, a really expensive but beautiful evening gown and the accessories to match (shoes, jewelry, purse)
48. Own a pair of Christian Louboutin or other amazing designer shoes
49. Own the X-men comic books
50. Own the complete Calvin and Hobbes comics
51. Streak my hair with purple or blue or something, just for fun
52. Learn to cook from scratch
53. Have enough money to eat healthy, natural foods and to have a balanced diet every day
54. Be healthy and fit, and truly comfortable with my body
55. Publish academic articles that I’ve written or contributed to in academic magazines, get my name out there
56. Publish a book that I’ve written, or enough poetry to compile into a book
57. Publish a musical piece I’ve composed
58. Knit and crochet clothing items to wear or items to display
59. Find the names of some of my unknown ancestors and get their temple work done
60. Write my autobiography to pass to my descendents (whether they want to read it or not is their choice).
"We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round." -- from the trailer for 'The Bucket List'
Friday, July 9, 2010
A Little Fall of Rain
Whenever it rains, I go outside and just stand in the rain. I would dance in the rain if I had somebody to dance with, but for now, I stand alone. I love the feel of raindrops falling on my hair, my face, slowly drenching my clothes. I could stay out in the rain for hours. I probably enjoy it so much because I didn't get much of it growing up, and I don't get much of it now. I don't think I love it enough to want to live in a place where it rains every day, because I love the sun too much for that, but I still love it when it rains here. I got to go outside in the rain twice today, and it was glorious. The second time was during a thunderstorm, which adds a lot of excitement to the experience--dark night sky, random streaks of lightning that light up the storm clouds, crashes of thunder echoing off the mountains, all with raindrops pelting the ground, the trees, and me. Unfortunately I have no one to enjoy the rain with, and as it is, people walk by looking at me like I'm weird or crazy for standing out in the rain with no jacket, no umbrella, and no boots, for no apparent reason. Maybe I am crazy for doing that. I don't care, I just love the rain. I hope that one day someone will grow to appreciate my love for the rain and join me outside under the stormy sky.
Don't you fret, Monsieur Marius
I don't feel any pain
A little fall of rain
Can hardly hurt me now
You're here, that's all I need to know
The rain can't hurt me now
This rain will wash away what's past
And you will keep me safe
And you will keep me close
I'll sleep in your embrace at last.
The rain that brings you here
Is Heaven-blessed!
The skies begin to clear
And I'm at rest
A breath away from where you are
I've come home from so far
Don't you fret, Monsieur Marius
I don't feel any pain
A little fall of rain
Can hardly hurt me now
You're here, that's all I need to know
And you will keep me safe
And you will keep me close
And rain will make the flowers grow.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Prisoners on Independence Day?
I've been doing some indexing today for FamilySearch, and the sheet I'm working on right now had me a little bemused. For those of you who don't do indexing, all that you do is type up handwritten census records so they can be used for temple work. The first column you have to copy is the "family number", which is how census takers used to keep track of which houses they'd been to already. So for this one I'm working on, the first column is left entirely blank the whole way down (for 50 records), and I'm thinking, they can't possibly all live in the same house. Then I see written on the side, "All on sheet are at such-and-such address". My first thought is maybe it's like an apartment building, and then I think, whoa, what a fraternity... So I mark the first column blank for every single record and then start filling out the rest of the information. When I get to "Relationship" (basically, house standing, as in, Head, Wife, Son, Daughter, Servant, Employee, etc.), I see that it says "Prisoner." What?? I look down the list and see that every single record has the word "Prisoner" written underneath the Relationship column. Apparently I'm indexing a census record taken at a prison. Either that or some crazy person kept 50+ people prisoner in his house. Interesting. You don't do that every day. That also means I get some more interesting first names, like "Speed"...hmm. I wonder how he ended up in prison...
On another note, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, USA!! .
On another note, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, USA!! .
Remember why it's important and remember just how many have fought and continue to fight to keep our country safe.
Happy Fourth of July! Try not to lose your hearing with all the fireworks crackin' around...Hope you had a good one!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Twilight Mockery
I came across these blog comments on a Seriously, So Blessed blog entry about the Twilight Saga. Oh, so true.
PERSON ONE --
Just for giggles I thought I'd look up the actual definition of saga. A long story of heroic achievement, suggests one source. Twilight is certainly long, mostly because the actors stammer their lines so painfully slowly and far apart it adds about four hours to the movie. I wouldn't describe it as heroic achievement though -- more like angsty buildup to confrontation that is either uninteresting or non-existent. I'm thinking of books two and four particularly with that. We push to a climax! only to have the situation painlessly diffused with only the loss of minor nameless characters!
Another definition focused on the Scandinavian and Germanic origin of the term, particularly about Viking voyages. Clearly absent here, nothing hirsute, intrepid or germanic about our heroes. Tales of worthy men? No. Tales of the painfully awkward undead...
...I can't wait to see it with rifftrax...
PERSON TWO --
"Person One", you are sooooo wrong about Twilight.
You probably don't like it because you were a popular mean girl in High School. People like me moped, pouted, sat in the corner and could never figure out why guys weren't drooling down my modest tank top.
So Twilight is my chance, my only chance, to pretend that I was popular in high school and get over the resentment that has been lurking at the back of my mind for years and years. I just wish all the smuggies would realize that Twilight is about pain and pain makes you totally deep.
It also sends a good message. When a girl asks her boyfriend for some self-esteem, he'll give it to her if he really loves her.
DISCLAIMER: I have read the Twilight books and I have seen all the movies (including the one that just came out). However, as fun as they can be, I also like to mock them mercilessly. Don't take it personally. =)
PERSON ONE --
Just for giggles I thought I'd look up the actual definition of saga. A long story of heroic achievement, suggests one source. Twilight is certainly long, mostly because the actors stammer their lines so painfully slowly and far apart it adds about four hours to the movie. I wouldn't describe it as heroic achievement though -- more like angsty buildup to confrontation that is either uninteresting or non-existent. I'm thinking of books two and four particularly with that. We push to a climax! only to have the situation painlessly diffused with only the loss of minor nameless characters!
Another definition focused on the Scandinavian and Germanic origin of the term, particularly about Viking voyages. Clearly absent here, nothing hirsute, intrepid or germanic about our heroes. Tales of worthy men? No. Tales of the painfully awkward undead...
...I can't wait to see it with rifftrax...
PERSON TWO --
You probably don't like it because you were a popular mean girl in High School. People like me moped, pouted, sat in the corner and could never figure out why guys weren't drooling down my modest tank top.
So Twilight is my chance, my only chance, to pretend that I was popular in high school and get over the resentment that has been lurking at the back of my mind for years and years. I just wish all the smuggies would realize that Twilight is about pain and pain makes you totally deep.
It also sends a good message. When a girl asks her boyfriend for some self-esteem, he'll give it to her if he really loves her.
DISCLAIMER: I have read the Twilight books and I have seen all the movies (including the one that just came out). However, as fun as they can be, I also like to mock them mercilessly. Don't take it personally. =)
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