Reading is awesome. I've always loved getting lost in a book. Now that school is out, I'm catching up on all the reading I've been wanting to do over the past year. Right now I'm working on the classics – American, French, English, Russian, anything I can get my hands on. So far, I've burned through the following books:
The Last of the Mohicans
by James Fenimore Cooper
It's nothing like the movie, but this is a great book. Mohicans a classic piece of Romantic literature, with manly men, noble savages, a helpless girl, a spirited woman, a rugged wilderness, and a villain with absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Some of the things Cooper has to say about the Native Americans could come across as racist, but by 19th Century standards he would have actually been pretty progressive. Again, it was an awesome read, and at the end I found myself wanting to read the rest of Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales. Maybe I will one of these days.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
by Victor Hugo
Did they really try to turn this into a cartoon for kids? Hunchback is a great book, but it's a fairly dark story. Fate (which Hugo says is the theme of the book) has placed all the characters between two extremes, and none can find happiness. Quasimodo is caught between man and animal, Dom Frollo between celibacy and love, and Esmerelda between beauty and class status. Without revealing too much, the book is pretty tragic, though it didn't end up being as much of a downer as I thought it might be. Still, though, I'd still recommend it as a great read. I enjoyed it.
Beowulf (I'm still reading this one)
Unknown Author
This is the oldest written story in the English language (or some semblance of it. The original version doesn't look like Greek to me, but it's close.) It's epic and thus pretty unbelievable – at one point, Beowulf talks about swimming through the ocean for seven days in a suit of mail and carrying a sword – but that's what epic poems are like. The kid in me thinks it's actually pretty cool. The poem doesn't rhyme in modern English, and the version I'm reading is still set in prose, but it's pretty fast reading once you get a few pages in. If you're looking for a novel, you might try something else, but if you want the coolest bedtime story ever, give Beowulf a read.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
BYU bathrooms + Women's Conference = ?
This was a couple weeks ago, but I didn't have Internet then....
You know it's Women's Conference when you see a sign like this outside the bathroom door in the Wilkinson Center:
Yep. In case anyone was wondering, this bathroom can still be used by the guys. (There were other bathrooms on campus that had been... transformed for the duration of the conference.) Thankfully this one is just down the hall from my office.
You know it's Women's Conference when you see a sign like this outside the bathroom door in the Wilkinson Center:
Yep. In case anyone was wondering, this bathroom can still be used by the guys. (There were other bathrooms on campus that had been... transformed for the duration of the conference.) Thankfully this one is just down the hall from my office.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
It could always be worse....
My last exam of the semester was scheduled for today, the last day of finals, at 5:45 p.m.
Blah.
But hey, at least my test was in the Joseph F. Smith Building, and not in the testing center; otherwise I would have had to stand in this line:
Yikes.
Blah.
But hey, at least my test was in the Joseph F. Smith Building, and not in the testing center; otherwise I would have had to stand in this line:
Yikes.
Monday, April 20, 2009
I'm still alive!
It's true. After another eight months of almost nonstop school, I'm still hanging on, and with my last final of the semester on Wednesday, I'm pretty sure I'm going to make it.
The past few weeks have been pretty crazy. I don't think I've gone to bed earlier than midnight for almost a month now, between writing papers, typing up a fake legal memorandum, churning out newspaper articles, and studying until I literally fall asleep. But for all of that, I've had some awesome things happen lately.
It started a couple weeks ago, when my boss asked me to be the new editor at the magazine (our current editor graduates this week). I'm really excited. I'll have some big shoes to fill, and a lot on my plate (in addition to being editor, I'll still be writing and doing layout and design), but I'm stoked for this new opportunity I'll have at the magazine.
Not long after that, I accepted a job offer from the Daily Universe to be the campus editor for spring and summer semesters. Yep, that's right. This summer from 8-12 every day, I will be the editor at Eagle's Eye, and from 12-4 I will be the campus editor at the DU. Crazy.
Later that week I was inducted into Kappa Tau Alpha, an honor society for journalism students. Mom and Caitlin came to the induction ceremony, and since they were on campus, I took them on a tour of my work and the Daily Universe. It was pretty fun. Thanks for coming, guys!
A few weeks before, I had found out the communications department had awarded me the Scripps League/N. LaVerl Christensen scholarship. The day after my induction I went to a luncheon with the donors and some other important people to receive my scholarship. I ended up sitting next to Jim Wall, the publisher of the Deseret News, we ended up having a really interesting conversation about the future of the newspaper industry. I know that sounds nerdy, but it was really cool. Someone in the department also got the idea to put up plaques in the hallway with the names of past and present scholarship recipients. It's a little weird to walk down the hall on my way to class and see my name up on the wall.
Wow, that's a lot about me. But at least you know what I'm up to... and that I'm still alive.
The past few weeks have been pretty crazy. I don't think I've gone to bed earlier than midnight for almost a month now, between writing papers, typing up a fake legal memorandum, churning out newspaper articles, and studying until I literally fall asleep. But for all of that, I've had some awesome things happen lately.
It started a couple weeks ago, when my boss asked me to be the new editor at the magazine (our current editor graduates this week). I'm really excited. I'll have some big shoes to fill, and a lot on my plate (in addition to being editor, I'll still be writing and doing layout and design), but I'm stoked for this new opportunity I'll have at the magazine.
Not long after that, I accepted a job offer from the Daily Universe to be the campus editor for spring and summer semesters. Yep, that's right. This summer from 8-12 every day, I will be the editor at Eagle's Eye, and from 12-4 I will be the campus editor at the DU. Crazy.
Later that week I was inducted into Kappa Tau Alpha, an honor society for journalism students. Mom and Caitlin came to the induction ceremony, and since they were on campus, I took them on a tour of my work and the Daily Universe. It was pretty fun. Thanks for coming, guys!
A few weeks before, I had found out the communications department had awarded me the Scripps League/N. LaVerl Christensen scholarship. The day after my induction I went to a luncheon with the donors and some other important people to receive my scholarship. I ended up sitting next to Jim Wall, the publisher of the Deseret News, we ended up having a really interesting conversation about the future of the newspaper industry. I know that sounds nerdy, but it was really cool. Someone in the department also got the idea to put up plaques in the hallway with the names of past and present scholarship recipients. It's a little weird to walk down the hall on my way to class and see my name up on the wall.
Wow, that's a lot about me. But at least you know what I'm up to... and that I'm still alive.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Glass and Irony
Weird experience of the day: My roommate CJ and I go home teaching after church. The girls we home teach are sitting on the couch, and we pull up a couple chair and sit across from them. Before we start the lesson, one of the girls jokes about how it feels like a teacher-student setup, so I move my chair off to the side a little while CJ offers to sit cross-legged on the floor. We have a good laugh and go on with the lesson.
When we're done, CJ asks the usual question, "Is there anything at all we can do for you?" They say, "No." Just at that moment, their light fixture falls out of their ceiling and shatters to pieces in the exact spot where I'd been sitting at the beginning of the lesson. This light fixture is not the paper-thin kind we have at my apartment; it's shaped like a punchbowl and is at least a quarter of an inch thick--and unlike my light fixture, this one seems like it had my name on it.
When the shock has worn off (as you can imagine, none of us really saw that coming) we clean up the shattered glass and try to figure out what went wrong. The glass is hot enough to burn skin and there's an faintly acrid smell in the air, like something has melted. We don't figure out what made the light fixture fall, but we decide it's pretty ironic that we ended up with something we could do to help our home teachees.
When we're done, CJ asks the usual question, "Is there anything at all we can do for you?" They say, "No." Just at that moment, their light fixture falls out of their ceiling and shatters to pieces in the exact spot where I'd been sitting at the beginning of the lesson. This light fixture is not the paper-thin kind we have at my apartment; it's shaped like a punchbowl and is at least a quarter of an inch thick--and unlike my light fixture, this one seems like it had my name on it.
When the shock has worn off (as you can imagine, none of us really saw that coming) we clean up the shattered glass and try to figure out what went wrong. The glass is hot enough to burn skin and there's an faintly acrid smell in the air, like something has melted. We don't figure out what made the light fixture fall, but we decide it's pretty ironic that we ended up with something we could do to help our home teachees.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Pomegranate ponderings
For years, pomegranate salad has been a Thanksgiving dinner staple in my mom's family. I don't know exactly how it got started, though I know my grandmother made it, and I suspect her mother might have made it as well. But for the longest time, I was under the impression we were some of the only people who even knew what pomegranates were. Which brings me to my question: Have I just been out of touch all along, or have pomegranates become a new fad?
Earlier this week, my roommate brought home a pomegranate cocktail mix (we regularly mix virgin drinks in our apartment). It was amazingly good. A few days later my coworker was telling me about a pomegranate chewing gum she'd tasted a few days before. Just a few minutes later we walked down to the candy jar at the receptionist's desk–where we found a pomegranate Tootsie Roll Pop. Then on Friday, my editor at the Daily Universe offered me some gum. You guessed it. Pomegranate.
Maybe pomegranate flavor has become the new rage. Maybe it's just a coincidence. But either way, I'm really enjoying the taste!
Earlier this week, my roommate brought home a pomegranate cocktail mix (we regularly mix virgin drinks in our apartment). It was amazingly good. A few days later my coworker was telling me about a pomegranate chewing gum she'd tasted a few days before. Just a few minutes later we walked down to the candy jar at the receptionist's desk–where we found a pomegranate Tootsie Roll Pop. Then on Friday, my editor at the Daily Universe offered me some gum. You guessed it. Pomegranate.
Maybe pomegranate flavor has become the new rage. Maybe it's just a coincidence. But either way, I'm really enjoying the taste!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
One crazy week
Has it really only been six days since school started? It feels more like six weeks. This is a good thing, in the sense that I now feel more or less like I'm back in the swing of things, but this is a bad thing, in the sense that it's still the second week of January, and school's not out until April.
In addition to going to class and working part-time, I spent almost 20 hours at the Daily Universe this past week. This would have been awful a) if I had never spent extensive time in a newsroom before and b) if I didn't love what I was doing. And what was I doing? Well, on Tuesday I had an interview with a microbiology professor, but really I spent most of the day playing phone tag with BYU's head spokesperson, trying to get some information about a hiring freeze at BYU. When I finally did get to talk with her, I found out she was also getting me a statement from church headquarters because the hiring freeze is church-wide. Surprise!
I got the church's statement on Wednesday, and my story ran on the front page on Thursday. Another story I wrote ran in the campus section. Thursday was also the day Print Services delivered our new magazine. I guess when it rains, it pours, right? Anyway, between my story running on the front page and Eagle's Eye being delivered, I was pretty dang excited.
Thursday's Daily Universe and Eagle's Eye magazine
Friday I covered "Sing for Your Books," a competition sponsored by BYUSA that was a lot like American Idol, minus the cruel remarks. And minus the bad singers. And minus the big contract at the end. Instead, the first-place prize was $350 for textbooks; second place was $150. The winners were announced a little after 1:00 and I had a 2:00 deadline, which gave me just enough time to run up to the winner, thrust my microphone in his face, and get a quote before running across campus to the newsroom where I finished the article and submitted it to my editor. All in a day's work.
In any case, it was a crazy first week, and now I'm looking at another week that promises to be just as insane. So far, though, I'm loving it.
Bring it on!
In addition to going to class and working part-time, I spent almost 20 hours at the Daily Universe this past week. This would have been awful a) if I had never spent extensive time in a newsroom before and b) if I didn't love what I was doing. And what was I doing? Well, on Tuesday I had an interview with a microbiology professor, but really I spent most of the day playing phone tag with BYU's head spokesperson, trying to get some information about a hiring freeze at BYU. When I finally did get to talk with her, I found out she was also getting me a statement from church headquarters because the hiring freeze is church-wide. Surprise!
I got the church's statement on Wednesday, and my story ran on the front page on Thursday. Another story I wrote ran in the campus section. Thursday was also the day Print Services delivered our new magazine. I guess when it rains, it pours, right? Anyway, between my story running on the front page and Eagle's Eye being delivered, I was pretty dang excited.
Thursday's Daily Universe and Eagle's Eye magazineFriday I covered "Sing for Your Books," a competition sponsored by BYUSA that was a lot like American Idol, minus the cruel remarks. And minus the bad singers. And minus the big contract at the end. Instead, the first-place prize was $350 for textbooks; second place was $150. The winners were announced a little after 1:00 and I had a 2:00 deadline, which gave me just enough time to run up to the winner, thrust my microphone in his face, and get a quote before running across campus to the newsroom where I finished the article and submitted it to my editor. All in a day's work.
In any case, it was a crazy first week, and now I'm looking at another week that promises to be just as insane. So far, though, I'm loving it.
Bring it on!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Stop . . . er, start the presses!
Today my boss and I got a phone call from the people at Print Services inviting us to come up and give the magazine covers a final thumbs-up while they were on the press. Turns out they were just how we wanted them. After we gave the okay, the printers offered to show us around and let us watch the covers as they came off the press.
A four-color printer like the one at the University Press Building
A four-color printer like the one at the University Press BuildingOne of the guys took me up onto the printer and showed me how it works. At the top of each tower is a trough of dye (either cyan, magenta, yellow, or black). The ink runs down into the press and is printed on the paper in tiny dots--take a really strong magnifying glass to a colored page and you'll see them. All the colors on our cover come from dots from those four different colors. Pretty sweet.
We watched a batch of our magazine covers go through the press, saw several pallets of "True to the Faith" covers, and watched the workers spiral-bind the missionary planners (apparently Print Services produces at least some copies of "True to the Faith" but only does the binding on the planners).
It was a cool, unexpected field trip. The people at Print Services told us they'd call us when the magazine was being stitched together, so I might even get another one if I'm around for that. In any case, Eagle's Eye should be completely finished by the end of the week, and I'm pretty happy about that!
We watched a batch of our magazine covers go through the press, saw several pallets of "True to the Faith" covers, and watched the workers spiral-bind the missionary planners (apparently Print Services produces at least some copies of "True to the Faith" but only does the binding on the planners).
It was a cool, unexpected field trip. The people at Print Services told us they'd call us when the magazine was being stitched together, so I might even get another one if I'm around for that. In any case, Eagle's Eye should be completely finished by the end of the week, and I'm pretty happy about that!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Back to school
The Brimhall Building. Most of my classes will be here from now on.Today was the first day of class. My schedule went something like this:
6:30
I wake up and do my daily routine. I'm out the door and on my way to the bus stop by 7:35. Even with my coat on, it feels like I'm inside an industrial refrigerator.
7:55
I drop by One Stop before work to rent a locker. Outside the room there are a few people sitting against the wall in a row.
7:56
I realize the row of sitting people is part of an enormous line of students waiting to storm the room when it opens at 8 a.m. Since most of them are wanting to add or drop classes, and not get a locker, I decide to get in line.
8:00
One Stop remains closed. The pregnant girl in front of me tells me she feels like she's going to pass out and asks if I'll save her spot in line so she can go sit down. I oblige her.
8:10
One Stop is finally open. Inside, I find that there are several stations set up to accommodate the add/drop people, but only one line for lockers.
8:40
I finally get my locker and head to work, where my boss is understanding and doesn't mind that I'm late.
11:00
My first class. There are about five girls for every guy in the room. One more good reason to be in the Comms program.
The Daily Universe newsroom: My new home away from home
12:00
Time for my first Daily Universe lab. We new 321ers meet our advisers, Kaye and Rich, and take a tour of the newsroom. It is everything I hoped and more. I talk to the editors at the Campus desk and they give me a press release about a salt irrigation study to work off of for my first story.
12:15
Rich walks by as I'm working on the story and I ask him about how writing at the Campus desk will affect my chances of getting a good internship or job (print majors are encouraged to write for the Metro desk, but you need a car, which I don't have). He says I need a good beat and puts me on the student government/clubs beat on the Campus desk. Then he gives me a really interesting story to write. I work on both of these for the next few hours.
3:00
My Research Methods for Journalism class. Our professor tells us he will give us 20 extra credit points for joining his Comms 308 group on Facebook and 5 extra points for adding him on Twitter (he's conducting a study). We also find out we will be attending a legislative hearing and a district court trial this semester. Sweet!
4:00
I leave the Brimhall Building for the first time in five hours and find myself in the middle of a snowstorm. Do not let the picture deceive you. There is no sun or grass to be found today. I slip and slide my way to the Joseph F. Smith Building for my persuasive writing class.
4:45
My persuasive writing class gets out early. I go back through the storm to the Brimhall, where I work on the salt irrigation article and wait to hear back from someone on the really interesting story.
5:15
I call it a day and walk home. I look like a snowman by the time I get back to my apartment. Home evening is cancelled because of the storm. I sit down to write a blog entry and do homework.
6:30
I wake up and do my daily routine. I'm out the door and on my way to the bus stop by 7:35. Even with my coat on, it feels like I'm inside an industrial refrigerator.
7:55
I drop by One Stop before work to rent a locker. Outside the room there are a few people sitting against the wall in a row.
7:56
I realize the row of sitting people is part of an enormous line of students waiting to storm the room when it opens at 8 a.m. Since most of them are wanting to add or drop classes, and not get a locker, I decide to get in line.
8:00
One Stop remains closed. The pregnant girl in front of me tells me she feels like she's going to pass out and asks if I'll save her spot in line so she can go sit down. I oblige her.
8:10
One Stop is finally open. Inside, I find that there are several stations set up to accommodate the add/drop people, but only one line for lockers.
8:40
I finally get my locker and head to work, where my boss is understanding and doesn't mind that I'm late.
11:00
My first class. There are about five girls for every guy in the room. One more good reason to be in the Comms program.
The Daily Universe newsroom: My new home away from home12:00
Time for my first Daily Universe lab. We new 321ers meet our advisers, Kaye and Rich, and take a tour of the newsroom. It is everything I hoped and more. I talk to the editors at the Campus desk and they give me a press release about a salt irrigation study to work off of for my first story.
12:15
Rich walks by as I'm working on the story and I ask him about how writing at the Campus desk will affect my chances of getting a good internship or job (print majors are encouraged to write for the Metro desk, but you need a car, which I don't have). He says I need a good beat and puts me on the student government/clubs beat on the Campus desk. Then he gives me a really interesting story to write. I work on both of these for the next few hours.
3:00
My Research Methods for Journalism class. Our professor tells us he will give us 20 extra credit points for joining his Comms 308 group on Facebook and 5 extra points for adding him on Twitter (he's conducting a study). We also find out we will be attending a legislative hearing and a district court trial this semester. Sweet!
4:00
I leave the Brimhall Building for the first time in five hours and find myself in the middle of a snowstorm. Do not let the picture deceive you. There is no sun or grass to be found today. I slip and slide my way to the Joseph F. Smith Building for my persuasive writing class.
4:45
My persuasive writing class gets out early. I go back through the storm to the Brimhall, where I work on the salt irrigation article and wait to hear back from someone on the really interesting story.
5:15
I call it a day and walk home. I look like a snowman by the time I get back to my apartment. Home evening is cancelled because of the storm. I sit down to write a blog entry and do homework.
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