Ah, fall.

I had grand plans about blogging today, but it didn't happen. I was at home and then I left and got back in Provo about 5:00. On my drive I was amazed at all the huge patches of red on the mountainside--simply [there does not seem to be an adequate word to describe it]! Then I unloaded my stuff and cut out the letters "G E T  D O W N  G O B L I N" to put on my Jan Terri picture, and then my roommate wanted me to go hometeaching with him since my other roommate (his companion) wasn't home. Then tonight I had a visitor named Carissa while I was putting up Halloween decorations in my apartment. I was glad for her ideas; I hadn't planned on putting any lights outside the door.

It was just another fairly ordinary week. At work (BYU Studies) we finished some final proofs for an issue and then one of the editors told me to start working on book notices. That means I'll actually have to write something instead of just editing it. That makes me nervous. He told me that one of the other editors hired me based on my writing skills--so now I have to deliver. It's a little unnerving that I, a lowly undergraduate intern, will have to write something for a magazine about scholarly religious studies!

(This week I did, however, read a BYU Studies article from 1999 that, although scholarly, was incredibly stupid. My editing professor used to be an editor for BYU Studies, so the bulk of our material for the class comes from past issues. One of the options we had for an assignment this week was an article comparing Joseph Smith and Herman Melville. I thought it sounded interesting, so I read it. Boy, was it stupid. So stupid that my professor said that when it was in the process of being published she refused to edit it--I think it was the only one she ever refused. It seemed fairly obvious to me that this scholar was like, "Hey, I like Herman Melville, and I'm a Mormon, so why don't I compare Herman Melville and Joseph Smith?" You could compare anyone to anyone! You could compare me to ol' Hermy Baby. Moby Dick has a chapter about fossilized whales; I like fossils. Herman made a lot of biblical allusions; I like the Bible. We even share the same last name! I was embarrassed that my job would consider publishing such a ridiculous article, even if it was thirteen years ago. The author had a brief section talking about references Melville made to Mormons--I think that would have been a much better topic for a nineteen-page article.)

On Friday night, I went home.

And then...

It came! One of my favorite days of the year--September 15, my arbitrary date to start the Halloween season. Some people believe it's too early, but I find it reasonable enough. I added my Halloween music to my playlist (consisting of the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack, a few versions of the "Great Pumpkin Waltz," a little song called "Ghosts," and, of course, "Get Down Goblin"). I started eating Halloween candies. I brought out decorations.

It was a good Saturday for other reasons, as well. My parents took me clothes shopping for my birthday (since they don't know if they'll have time closer to my birthday). I went in the backyard and picked grapes so we could make grape juice. Homemade grape juice is one of my favorite things about September. It's amazing that something that tastes so great is entirely natural. My mom also made a peach pie (if you recall, I can eat desserts made with one's own produce); it was perhaps the best peach pie we've ever had.

The BYU/Utah football game went on, but I have no interest in sports. I support BYU academically because it's my school and I'm proud it's my school. One article I proofread this week compared nine religious universities. While most universities get more secular, BYU gets more religious (although I'd say that's debatable). We have no problem bringing gospel subjects into topics that in other places are seen as anti-religious, such as classes about Dinosaurs! that lived millions--not thousands--of years ago. The article compared tuition at these schools. BYU's tuition for a year is in the $4000 range. The average for the other eight universities is $38,000! Basically I'm saving $34,000 a year, and even more than that with scholarships and grants. I'm so glad to belong to a religion that values education.

I'm glad to be at BYU. And I have nothing against the U. I only have problems with the rivalry itself.