Meme mania

Sometimes I will come across memes or images that really speak to me, and I save them to my phone.

It was a slow news week in my life, so I thought I would share a bunch of the things I have saved from the internet, with some commentary. (I also realize that it might be hard to see all the images if you're reading on your phone, but you can click on the images to see them bigger.)

OK, this first one isn't a meme, but yesterday I was cleaning the church gym, and I was amused that in the center of the gym floor, there was this sticker that said "Tell me about my pioneers." I'm really interested in how pioneers are remembered and commemorated.

Story of my life.

My sister suggested I buy a bed for Reggie, and then I came across this perfect explanation of why I won't.

A New Year's Eve meme.

This gave me a good chuckle on Christmas.

I had to show this one to my therapist, because it's so accurate.

Aren't cats the greatest thing ever?

Yep. I mean, yip. I have two stories below the image.

Back in the early 2010s, I had a lot of pressure to date, and old people would tell us that it was bad to ask girls out via text. But I think texting is more polite, actually. I would call girls just because I was "supposed" to. Actually, the very last date I went on with a woman, I texted her, and then at the end of the date, she implied that she would have preferred calling. So then a year and a half later, after COVID, I called her and left a message. But she never responded. I would have preferred a simple "no," because it meant I couldn't make other plans. Oh well, it obviously wouldn't have worked out anyway.

Also, back in the day (circa 2013), I thought, "One day my wife will be pregnant, and it would be fun to make that announcement by using the video of the yip-yip aliens singing 'Yip, yip, baby, yip, yip, family'!" But in the back of my mind, I knew that was unlikely to happen, which made me sad, so the aliens also made me sad. But now I don't plan on that, so it doesn't make me sad anymore.

So endearing tho.

Yes! I am a big fan of the serial comma, commonly (comma-nly) called the Oxford comma.

After a year and a half, I have my last therapy session this week. Also, my goal for 2024 is to get rid of something every day, but those are literal things.

So accurate! 

People tell people to take a buddy, but that's easier said than done.

Once when I had a calling as elders quorum instructor, a high councilor suggested that I could break people into small discussion groups. I vowed I would never do that.

I find that if I'm talking to someone and then another person joins the conversation, suddenly I feel apart from the conversation. (Isn't it wild that "a part of" and "apart from" have opposite meanings?)

Pretty much how I feel, and I'm fine with it.

In group therapy last fall, I said I felt like I was a jerk, and one of the guys said, "The only person you're a jerk to is yourself."

Yep. Also, sometimes I will say hi to people or ask them how they are, and it seems they don't notice me or hear me. Sometimes if it's someone I don't know super well, I will say, "How are you, [name]?" and they think I'm saying, "Are you [name]?" So then they say yes.

Most writers I work with are open to suggestions, but not always.

Hey, I am a published academic! But I do have more ideas to write about, but I don't want to have to get into the research.

Charles Schulz was a genius for illustrating the human experience, but in a humorous way.

Once on my mission, my companion was clearly not happy, so I said, "What did I do?" And he said, "Why is it always about you!?"

Cat toys are a waste of money.

A year ago, I felt like everything I wanted to do was on Tuesday. I had therapy and swim lessons on Tuesday, but everything else was also Tuesday.

Yeah, I don't have a best friend.

700

Hey! This is my seven hundredth post!

I guess an even hundred post is appropriate to mention that I'm starting another new job. I will continue my job with Utah Historical Quarterly, which is basically my dream job but only part-time, so I'm happy to have another one. Back in February 2014, the managing director of the Church History Department at the time hired me as an editorial assistant. I worked for him until the end of 2017 (with a year where I worked in a different division in the department).

In 2019, he began serving as a mission president. Because of the pandemic, he had some extra time on his hands, and he paid me to do some freelance work for him in 2021. When he returned from his mission in 2022, he began working at BYU.

After my latest stint with the Church History Department ended at the end of December, he called me and invited me to work for him again. And I said yes! I will be an independent contractor, which means my paychecks will come through BYU but I am not a BYU employee, so I can keep my beard and date men. With my two jobs, I will once again work forty hours a week. 

I just read this journal entry from five years ago, where I said I probably wouldn't work for him again. I just thought it was funny to read that right after he hired me again! At that time, I still had no intention of grad school. So much has happened in the last five years!

It will be good to get my hands in more projects and more opportunities, but I was looking forward to the extra free time. But I will still have more time than I did last year, especially since I don't have as much commuting. I still have some assignments to do for Faith Matters.

Now that I'm recovering from my illness (though my voice is still a little off), I've been glad to get back into physical activity. Two days this week, I hiked in the snow. On MLK Day, I was dressed warm enough, even too warm, except when I got on top of the ridge. There, the wind was so cold it froze my sinuses. I had thought about hiking farther, but once I felt that wind at the top, I couldn't. 

And Wednesday, I went hiking in the dark. There was even another group hiking the trail in the dark. I have been surprised at how many people go hiking in the snow, since it hasn't been something on my radar until the last five years or so, and even then it's not something I do that much.

A year ago, I took swim lessons, and the instructor told me I could join the recreational swim team as a beginner. I went a couple of times, and then in December, I happened to be at the pool when the team was practicing, and the coach recognized me and invited me to swim with them. So I decided to attend their practices Tuesday and Thursday this week. I feel so dumb with my poor swimming skills, but the coaches are supportive. I will have to decide whether I want to officially join the team. (It would be to improve my swimming, not to be competitive.) 

And I was glad to finally get back to running after a four-week hiatus, due to the holidays, weather, and sickness. Unfortunately, my knee started hurting sooner than usual. I like to run on streets that take me near the foothills, even if I'm not on trails themselves in the winter. 

The new North Canyon parking lot

And it's always interesting to make observations in the neighborhood. For example, a neighbor has these Nightmare before Christmas decorations still up. How dumb! First of all, Christmas was four weeks ago. But second, Sally was very much opposed to the whole Christmas thing, so there's no way she would be happily holding the monstrous wreath! And she only reluctantly made Jack's Santa suit, so she would not be wearing a festive dress! Like, did they even see the movie?!

And I was also surprised to see this hornet's nest just a couple houses down. I have passed that tree many times, but I never noticed it when the leaves were on the tree. I have seen some hornet's nests up on the trails, and I thought that was unique, but maybe not if they're in the neighborhood too. 

And in similar news, I took down this dormant wasp's nest from our house this week. As I've said before, I might like to be an entomologist in another life.

janvier

Ugh. January, amirite? I spend time looking at the Valentine's aisles in grocery stores, looking for something to bring some brightness to January, but Valentine's Day is still more than a month away, and even then it's not a great holiday. This month is so boring and bleak that I considered making a post just ranking the months of the year.* Luckily, there were enough things going on to make a regular post, though I can't guarantee it's very interesting.

On Monday, I got to go to the governor's mansion for an awards ceremony for the Utah Historical Society. I helped pick some of the publication awards, and it's weird for me to wield such power. The governor's mansion is the Utah equivalent of the White House. It's weird to be in this building that is a venue but also someone's home. Governor Cox even spoke briefly. It was a lovely edifice.

"The desert shall blossom as the rose"

We've had off-and-on snowstorms this week. I don't really like shoveling snow (except at Christmas), and I don't like that snow piles up on parking spaces, and ice is my archenemy. But! I welcome as much snow as we can get. I value the Great Salt Lake, and I value wildflowers, and I remember how awesome last year's runoff was. (I mean "awesome" in both its slang meaning and its original meaning.) And even if it's not snowing, January's still dark and cold and smoggy, so it might as well be white as well. I honestly have been disappointed there hasn't been more snow. 

I've still been recovering from my illness. I have a little congestion still, but other than that I'm mostly good now. I've had extra free time, since I only have one part-time job, though I have been doing some work for Faith Matters as well, and I have another opportunity coming up. 

Last week I mentioned that we changed the setup of our record player, and it didn't work, but my dad did a different input and got it to work. And I was using our weight machine, and one of the cables started fraying, so my dad is ordering a new cable. We've had the machine for more than thirty years. I should be ripped since we basically have a gym in our house, but I much prefer cardio.

Every winter, I like to make a taco filling with beets. This time I made it as a loaf, which gives it a perfect name: beetloaf! It's ideal for carnivores, because if you mix meat with beef, you get beet. But it's still more crumbly than an actual loaf. Aren't beets a splendid vegetable?

And then I took a hike on the Wild Rose Trail in the snow. I'm glad I can do that, but it's still not the same as a trail run. It was fun, though, to see dried-out mulesears peeking through the snow. Four months from now, it will be absolutely stunning.

January...

...versus May.

*Maybe a full post about the months will come another time, but here is my ranking without explanations:

12. January
11. February
10. March
9. August
8. July
7. December
6. April
5. June
4. November
3. May
2. October
1. September

Friendly Neighborhood Jerkface

As I have mentioned at other times on this blog, I am great at convincing myself that people don't like me. But last year I came to a realization: this belief often leads me to treat others unfairly. It leads me to be a jerk.

If I am assuming someone doesn't like me, I'm going to harbor some resentment for them—even if I just made up that they don't like me.

An illustration of this principle goes back to my sixth birthday party. We were playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. Since it was my birthday, I went first. I got the tail pretty far from the donkey, so all the kids laughed. But soon I noticed that the kids weren't laughing at the other kids, even when they put the tail farther away. Now I know this is because it wasn't funny anymore—the novelty had worn off. But I took it personally and hid under my bed. When the kids came to get me, I yelled at them (except for the boy I had a crush on). I was treating them unkindly even though they hadn't done anything wrong, simply because I had assumed they were laughing at me. But they weren't.

I have started to notice instances where this concept affects me as an adult.

As many of you know, I long had a tradition of unfriending people periodically on Facebook. I was on a three-year cycle: one year I'd unfriend one person, the next year I'd unfriend one person a month, and the next year I'd unfriend one person a week. 

Now, if someone unfriended me, I couldn't help but feel surprised or hurt. Why did they do that!? But I thought it didn't apply to me. If I unfriended someone, they wouldn't notice; and if they did, they wouldn't care. In fact, they might be glad.

Last year (2023), I was dutifully unfriending one person a month. But then I realized that I was often thinking of who I should unfriend next, and I was looking for reasons why I thought they didn't like me. Or worse, I was looking for reasons why I should resent them. That really was not fair for them. So, in August, I decided to quit my decade-long tradition. I may still unfriend individuals on an as-needed basis (if they hurt me, or if there really is no relationship at all between us), but I'm no longer systematically unfriending them. And I'm no longer looking for reasons to.

I suppose this thinking has affected my in-person life as well. I might seem distant or uninterested when people interact with me, because why would they want to be my friend? And then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: why would someone want to be friends with someone who is distant or uninterested?

But I'm working on not being a jerk anymore, even if it was accidental all along.

The Festive Season

 Since the last Sunday in December is typically time for my year-in-review post, the first Sunday in January typically describes the last two weeks, including Christmas and New Year's. And this year is no different.

Instead of opening presents at our house, we took our presents to my sister's/grandparents' house on Christmas morning. I got a t-shirt with Reggie from my sister.

My niece got me cat magnets, but the wrapper included a tiny toy of feta cheese, because I absolutely hate feta. Like, I can't even be in the same room.

My brother gave me money in a Chinese envelope,

and my parents got me a stand for the record player.

We briefly returned home, and while everyone else was napping or playing video games, I thought it was appropriate on Christmas to run to Sugar Plum Lane and Sugar Plum Court. This was the first time I have ever been running on Christmas Day. But I was disappointed that my Garmin app didn't have a special Christmas badge like they do for Halloween.

We had Christmas dinner and a low-key evening. A relaxing day, if not a super memorable one.

On December 26, my Church job was closed, but I had to do some state work.

On December 27, I went into the Church History Library, and my badge didn't work, even though I distinctly remember telling the badge lady that my last day was December 29. Rather than figure out the logistics of getting my badge to work for just three days, I decided to pound out the last work project I had that day. I managed to make my way to my desk, and I wrapped everything up. And then my job was over. 

This smiley face stain in the parking garage stairwell was there when I started back in 2014.

It's kind of wild to think of how much has changed since I started my internship in January 2022. At that time, I was still in school, we were in a COVID surge, Reggie still hid from us, I still hoped to find a wife, and I still wore glasses. When my previous stint with the Church History Department ended in 2017, I was sad, and I always hoped I would end up there again. I did, and I have loved working for the CHD! But I don't know if I will be back again. If I ever decided to get married, it would make me ineligible to work there.

On December 30, my whole family went to the movie theater to see Wonka. This was the first time I had been to a movie theater since I saw The Addams Family in October 2019. I enjoyed the movie, though I didn't think the bad guys met a fate befitting a Roald Dahl story.

And while taking down Christmas lights from the window, I randomly found a dead winged ant stuck to my hand. 

New Year's Eve wasn't very exciting. We took my brother's family to the airport, which is always sad, but it's not as sad as when they were little kids. I just spent the evening with my parents, and we had champagne ice cream at midnight. 

I am firmly anti-alcohol, so I don't want to endorse champagne, but there really aren't any other New Year ice cream flavors. But also, it wasn't very good.

In the morning of New Year's Day, I sewed new pillowcases, confetti and Utah.

The "Happy New Year" pillowcase in the top right is one I've had for more than a decade. I wish there were more explicitly New Year materials like it.

We had our traditional family meal with all of my mom's family. Unfortunately, I had started to come down with something, and I experienced aches and chills on New Year's Day. I felt like I do after an intense workout, even though I hadn't. After lunch, I spent most of the day in bed with the TV on in the background. I had hoped to spend New Year's Day taking down Christmas decorations while listening to my 2023 music collection, but I just didn't have it in me.

The only fun New Year's thing I did was to re-create this picture from 2004. When I was fifteen, I made this Baby New Year outfit for my niece. (I'm embarrassed by most things I did at fifteen, but I like this one.) I thought it would be fun and funny to redo it twenty years later. I made the 2004 sash with glitter, but I made the 2024 version using the Cricut machine I bought in 2016 and have very rarely used.

Twenty years later, the red hat still had the tape in it I used to put the padding in for her little baby head.

(Also, the more I think about it, the more infuriated I am by the concept of scrapbooking!)

Then the rest of the week, I continued to deal with my sickness. I took a couple of COVID tests, which came back negative. But I have had congestion, a cough, and a sore throat. There were a few nights where I woke up every half hour from the pain of swallowing. So then of course I'm tired from a poor night's sleep. Good thing I work from home! But even then I haven't worked much this week. I just haven't had the mental capacity to devote an entire workday. I had hoped that the first week of January would help me adjust to my new situation, with just one job. But it has been an atypical week.

I have been watching TV, things I don't have to pay a great deal of attention to, and I caught the last half of Die Hard on TV (I don't think I would care to see an unedited version). So now I can weigh in on the "Is it a Christmas movie?" debate. Of course it is! There is a lot of overlap between family movies and Christmas movies, so people tend to conflate the two. If you only want to watch family Christmas movies, that's fine; no one is making you watch Die Hard. But just because it's not a Christmas movie you want to watch doesn't mean it's not a Christmas movie. You might say, "Well, Christmas is not integral to the plot." But the same could be said for It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, Home Alone, and literally every Hallmark movie. 

I am getting better, but I'm still not great (watching church online today). Yesterday I felt well enough to put together my new record stand. Back in 2018, on a whim, I pulled out my parents' old record player, but since it's all original equipment, the speakers aren't great. The idea of this gift was to use an adapter to connect the record player to the basement sound system so we don't have to use the old speakers. But it didn't work. The sound quality just doesn't work; maybe the record player is too old.

And after using the record player over the last six years, I really don't get why they're a fad. They might have a nice sound, but you can only use them in a certain room at home–whereas with digital files, you can use them anywhere. With CDs, you can convert them to digital files. (I use iBroadcast, a really wonderful resource that lets you upload all your music collection for digital use, for free!) As an example of records being less convenient—back in 2018, I bought a reissued album of songs inspired by The Munsters on vinyl. But then in 2021, I bought it again digitally so I could add it to my Halloween playlist. Records' alleged sound quality doesn't outweigh their inconvenience. The emperor is not wearing any clothes!

Anyway, I'm hoping this next week can be a little more normal!