Sunday, March 30, 2014

Random thoughts

  • I think I had a bizarre dream every night this week. I can't remember all of them, but I remember some of them. One of them was basically an episode of The Simpsons. In the beginning, they found some mummified bodies in their tree, and they set the tree on fire, which messed with the electricity in their house. Lisa was in her bedroom and decided it was no longer safe in her house, so she decided she would take Maggie and run away. But she had to wait a week, because Patty and Selma were out of town (I wondered why she didn't consider going to Grampa or Flanders instead). Somewhere in there, there were buckets of fruits and vegetables, including artichokes, but there were also some bat heads and pig heads. Before the week was up, Lisa realized that she was just tired of her family's hoarding habits, so if they cleaned up, then she would stay. In another dream, our neighbor Laura Ulmer was really upset because a cat and a turkey had spread out the pile of dirt in their driveway that had seeds growing in it, and because she didn't know where her daughters were. Then last night, I had a dream that I was at the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas concert, where the guest singer was Barack Obama. Michelle, Mitt, and Ann were in the second row (I was fortunate enough to be in the first). 
  • Speaking of The Simpsons, I haven't watched that show for ten years, but I feel a need to defend it. I knew of many households in which that show was banned. But in the realm of nineties sitcoms, The Simpsons actually wasn't that bad. There were a few episodes here and there that were inappropriate, but that can be said about most shows. I knew some parents who wouldn't let their kids watch The Simpsons but would let them watch even worse shows, like The Drew Carey Show. And many of the episodes were very pro-family. It was also very cleverly written. Ten years ago, I purged my TV-watching habits to watch almost exclusively poor-quality but clean 1960s sitcoms. The Simpsons is one that I miss, although I understand it has jumped the shark. (Does anyone even say that anymore?)
  • Call me old-fashioned, but I still like to buy CDs. This week I ordered physical CDs from Amazon, the All the Leaves Are Brown collection of the Mamas and the Papas (four complete albums) and the Killers' Direct Hits--even though it would have been cheaper to just buy MP3 albums or rent music from Spotify. I do occasionally just buy MP3s, such as when the artist is too inappropriate to buy full albums or when I will only use the music for my holiday or hymn collections, but I just like holding a physical copy--even if I only use the physical form in my car. I also like full albums, because often the non-single songs are even better than the famous singles. I have a free two-month trial of Google Play's All Access, but I find I'm not overly satisfied with it. Mostly I've been listening to it to decide if I want to buy the albums I've been listening to--which I can do fairly easily on YouTube, in most cases. Spotify says they're helping the music industry because most people only spend $5 a month on music, so they're increasing it to $10 a month. But I'm not sure I buy that. Since a fair amount of the music I listen to is indie stuff (Cherie Call, Mideau, the Lower Lights), I feel that I should put money into the industry. Some stores no longer sell CDs at all, and gone are the days when you can walk into Media Play and buy just about any CD you would want. Target is probably the best bet for CDs now, since they often have exclusive bonus tracks, although the Barnes and Noble in Orem has a surprisingly wide selection.
  • Some people are complaining about the snowy weather we've been having. A lot of these people are not from Utah. I wish I could impress upon their minds just how important the snow is. It concerns me to look up at the mountain and see it mostly brown. Utah is the second-driest state in the U.S. In Provo, at least, half of our water is from runoff. We need snow for the runoff. Rain doesn't work, it needs to be snow. The other half comes from groundwater. Groundwater is not something I would call a renewable resource, because it takes hundreds to thousands of years to recharge. Believe me, we need snow. I'm still waiting for a year where it snows 9 out of 12 months. We hit 8 in 2010 and 2011.
  • I visited home this weekend, and our apricot tree was in bloom. I love blossoming trees more than I love fall leaves. But I am completely baffled that a silly, super-random song comparing blossoms to popcorn is so wildly popular. Apparently the composer wrote the song because her son said something about popcorn on the apricot tree. So I understand why she wrote it. But it just amazes me it's so popular. "I could take an armful and make a treat"--who comes up with that stuff? I'm not hating on the song--it's a fine song--but it just surprises me. 
  • This morning I had to go to an early priesthood meeting. When I got there, I realized I wasn't wearing a tie, even though I was wearing a suit jacket. 
  • I had weird medical things going on this week. On Monday I woke up with a sore back muscle--latissimus dorsi, I think they call it. It was tolerable, but a little uncomfortable. I went running, and when I got back, I was in so much pain, it hurt to breathe deeply. But it got better. Then on Wednesday, I was watching YouTube videos for class, when I realized I couldn't see all the letters in the words. I was even looking at a picture of a boy standing on a beach, and I thought he only had one leg, because my vision blocked the other leg. I figured maybe I had been looking at a screen for too long, so I put my head down and closed my eyes. I got a really bad headache, which never happens to me. I worried I was going to get sick like I did at the Fourth of July. But I didn't, and both my head and my eyesight have been perfectly fine ever since.
  • I graduate in four weeks. Eek!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

A laid-back guy

Last month, when I had my interview at the Joseph Smith Papers, they asked me if I preferred a professional environment or a laid-back environment. I said that I preferred a laid-back environment, and they said I seemed like a laid-back person.

That surprised me, because I think of myself as coming across as very boring and serious. If I were to describe myself, "laid back" wouldn't be a term I would think of.

But this week I realized that in some ways, I really am laid back.

Monday was St. Patrick's Day, and I was all decked out in green. I had on a grey St. Patrick's Day Snoopy shirt that's too big for me, green glasses with an eight-year-old prescription, a green hoodie, green pants, green socks with subtle shamrocks on them, and brand-new neon green Vans. Except for the hoodie and the shoes, these are all things that I basically only wear once a year, for varying reasons. All together, I think they clashed a little bit. But it's fun to wear all green. I've seen a few things online saying you shouldn't dress all in green on St. Patrick's Day. Of course it looks ridiculous. That's the whole point--it's the one day of the year you can get away with it. It's like those articles called "How to Avoid Overeating on Thanksgiving." They miss the point.

On Tuesday, I went to the CD release concert for Cherie Call's new album, Homeless Songs. I really like Cherie Call a lot, but if you read my blog, you might have already known that. I think she is really underappreciated in Mormon music, although her latest album is not at all religious. Her Facebook page only has 1,240 likes. On the other hand, Hilary Weeks has 26,978 likes, and Jenny Phillips has 30,540. What?! Jenny Phillips is Boring with a capital B. Cherie Call has some of the cleverest lyrics I know of, and while many singers have similar voices, I know of absolutely no one with a voice similar to Cherie Call's.

On my way to the concert, I missed the turn. I do that a lot. But instead of making a sudden turn or doing a U-turn, I kept driving until I could turn around. But I ended up having to drive in a parking lot to turn around. I got lost going to the same place on Halloween. I get lost a lot, and when I do, I take kind of an "Oh, well" attitude. I find my way eventually.

As for the concert, it was good, but it had its problems. They had a whole band, and the sound system wasn't the greatest, so it was often hard to hear her singing. I find it's often hit and miss when you see Cherie Call live; I think this was the eighth time I've seen her. I like her new album, but I don't think it's her strongest work; if I were to recommend an album of hers, I would do Heart Made of Wind (for non-religious), The Ocean in Me (for religious), or Grace (for some of both). Maybe I'll do a full review of her new album sometime.

On Wednesday, I had a graduation banquet for the Department of Linguistics and English Language. They said it was "Sunday best dress." But I thought, why should I give the same respect to this banquet as I do to the Lord? So I didn't dress like I do when I go to church. I did wear a tie, but the rest of my clothes were things I would normally wear on an ordinary day. I don't like dressing up on a Wednesday.

Last June, I wrote a paper in which I likened language to clothes. I said that different kinds of language are appropriate for different situations, just as different kinds of clothes are appropriate for different situations. But I find that I tend to prefer more informal kinds of both clothing and speech in most situations. Often when I am editing, I will point out a grammatical structure or some punctuation, and I will say, "The Chicago Manual of Style says we should do this, but personally I don't care." I also found it silly to dress up for the banquet. I would like the world to be a more laid back, less formal place.

At the banquet, they gave out different prizes. The only "prize" I got was recognition that I worked on the linguistic student journal Schwa. They gave out prizes for people who had a 3.90 GPA at the end of fall semester. I didn't get one. I had a 3.89 at the beginning of fall, but Groundwater and Geology 210 dropped me down from there. Since academics is the only thing I'm good at, it irks me when I'm not the best, since I'm so conceited like that.

I had a French test this week, and last time we had a test, we didn't have class right before the test. So I thought we didn't have class on Thursday, and I dilly-dallied my way around that morning. My roommate Jordan said he was going to class, and I told him we didn't have it. But he said we did. So he went to class and texted me and said we did have it. So I was ten minutes late. I've never been that late to a college class before! I felt so foolish for having thought we didn't have class. That's why you take classes with your roommate.

Friday night, my ward helped out with the BYU Experience, which is a time for college-age people with Down Syndrome and other disabilities to hang out and have fun. I helped out with it four years ago (!), and it has changed a lot. Last time, it was a two-day thing. The first day we had dinner with them on Friday night before doing karaoke; then the second day, we did bowling, a trip to the Bean Museum, lunch, and a movie. This time around, it was very simple. It was only for a few hours on Friday. There were a few game booths for them, and then the ever-popular karaoke afterwards. I, along with other people, helped out two kids named Bryan and Dylan. I was flattered when Dylan wrote my name down on the coloring tablecloth. I was really impressed that their handwriting is better than mine. The karaoke with them was enjoyable. The MC was a higher-functioning person, and he made funny commentary. One girl was singing a song called "Walking Away," and you couldn't understand most of what she said (I don't think she knew the lyrics), except for "walking away," which she screamed into the microphone. After her performance, the "emcee" said, "Isn't she loud?" After a mere three hours, it was done--much shorter than the two-day experience four years ago.

I took my French test yesterday. I don't think I did particularly well. But since I'm laid back, my thought is, "Oh, well!"

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Dientes de juicio

So, I got my wisdom teeth out this week.

That may surprise some people: "You mean you didn't get them out before your mission?" Before my mission, a dentist said it might be a good idea to get them out, but I didn't need to, and my mom didn't think I should. They weren't messing up my other teeth, and I only had them on top.

But recently I had a trip to the dentist, and he said that I should have them taken out, because they were going to keep coming in--he said they will come in until they touch something, and since I don't have bottom teeth there, they would come in until they hit the gums.

So, Friday was the day. Since they were already sticking out, it was very easy. They numbed me up, gave me laughing gas, and got them out. In fact, I don't know when they came out--I could feel them applying pressure in my mouth, but I didn't feel the teeth come out. Since all I had was laughing gas, there was no YouTube fame for me.

They gave me gauze and told me to bite on it for an hour. When the gauze was no longer red, then I wouldn't have to bite on it anymore. I bit on it and went to my French lab, where I told the TA I preferred not to speak, "car le dentiste a enlevé mes dents de sagesse." I was going to stay on campus and work, but I was still bleeding, and I was running out of gauze. The Bookstore didn't sell dental gauze, so I went back to the dentist (right by where I live) and asked for some more gauze. The hygienist went back to get some more, but the dentist looked in my mouth and told me I didn't need to bite anymore--even as he handed me the gauze they had gotten for me. I ate lunch, took a nap, and went back to campus (since my computer doesn't have Word), where I worked until late.

Really, the operation wasn't eventful. It wasn't really more eventful than the running I did this week (including one that was the longest I'd done since November or December) or stake conference. But it's a once-in-a-lifetime event. And by "once-in-a-lifetime" I don't mean it was significant, I mean it literally will only happen once in my life.

I remember well getting my tonsils out--waking up at 1:00 p.m. in pain, Slurpees that were supposed to soothe my throat but often made it worse, watching old reruns of Family Feud. But my wisdom teeth were not like that. I refrained from running Friday and Saturday, but other than that I'm fully functioning. I no longer have gauze in my mouth, so I can talk. I eat whatever I want and go wherever I want.

I'm glad that it went well and that I'm not in pain. But I'm a little sad I didn't have an excuse to sit around and do nothing.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Steep hills and stressful dreams

This week I started working for my new job. It's been very easy; I've just been reading through a book that's kind of an anthology, checking for potential mistakes. This week I will have to look up the original sources and verify whether the mistakes are mistakes or not, and it will be a little harder, but it shouldn't be bad. I worked from home every day but Tuesday. I thought working from home would make it harder to focus, but surprisingly I found the opposite to be true.

I was thinking about what a non-stressful job I have--that when I worked at the Distribution Center, I would frequently toss and turn at night, having stressful dreams about boxes and conveyor belts. Once I even dreamed a conveyor belt was going around my bed. That doesn't happen with editing. But this week, I tossed and turned a lot, even when I was dreaming about editing. If I had to guess, I don't think it was the job but one of the student journals I'm working on, because the Track Changes feature this week was driving me crazy, and I despise APA style for citations. I'm hoping I won't continue having these stressful dreams.

This week I also had to write a paper for my French class. We had to analyze a poem, which I find to be nonsensical. I wrote a paper all about what the poem meant, even though I don't think that most of the ideas were intended by the author. I'm not an English major in part just so I can get away from literary analysis, which seems so pointless to me. Sometimes I wonder why I'm taking French--it occurred to me that every person I've ever spoken French with also speaks English. I've only spoken French with other students or instructors. When I worked at Walmart, occasionally I had to use my Spanish skills for customers, but I've never had to speak French. I've continued in French instead of other languages because it required the least amount of schoolwork for me out of all the language classes I could take.

Last summer and fall, there was a lot of construction, so I ended up going running on different routes. It ended up being pleasant, and I went running in the "tree streets," residential streets named after arboreal plants. The drawbacks were some places without sidewalks and steep hills. Running up hills is no fun, but there's a great sense of accomplishment when you get to the top. Anyway, at one point I wanted to see if I could find the trailhead to the Y, since I've lived in Provo four years and don't even know where it is. Anyway, I never found it, and steep roads deterred me from searching for it. Yesterday, I wanted to run up to Rock Canyon, but my running didn't go as planned, so I took the liberty of doing a mixture of walking and running. I decided to explore some places I'd never been to before, and soon I found myself at a trail. I went on this trail, and I could see at the other end was a parking lot, Could that be the Y trailhead? So I walked/ran down the trail, past all the limestone pebbles, until I got there. And indeed, it was the trailhead! I was glad to see a drinking fountain, and I got a good long drink. I decided to try to hike it, but shortly after I started I realized that I probably didn't have the time or energy to do so (since I had already been exerting myself), so I turned around.

I was going to get a drink again before I took off. But there were these two men cyclists standing right in front of it. The man who looked like a woman was directly in front of it, straddling his bike, and they were just chatting away. Of all the places they could have stopped to talk, they chose six inches from the drinking fountain. I'm not assertive enough to ask them to move, so I sat on a bench and judged them until someone else asked to get a drink. I try to be conscious of not being in the way of things, so I'm surprised when others aren't so considerate. I mean, I feel bad if I'm sitting in front of a building map so people have to look over my head--the thought of standing right in front of a drinking fountain is unthinkable!

On my way back, I discovered that on previous runs I had come very close to where I had just been. I just didn't want to go up the very steep road that gets near to it. In fact, I had come down that road many times. Now I know where it is. It's very steep, so I don't know if I want to go running there, but now I know where to go if I decide to hike the Y!

I don't understand why we still have the antiquated system of daylight savings time. I do like the extra light in the evening, but I think the drawbacks far outweigh the benefits:
  • The entire nation is forced to change their sleeping patterns and biological clock. (Not that biological clock, you weirdo.) 
  • With changed sleeping patterns comes increased fatigue.
  • It's now dark in the morning for children going to school.
  • It makes time differences complicated for logical states like Arizona.
  • You have to remember to change your clocks, which can be difficult to do on older car clocks or cheap watches. 
  • Our whole idea of time is arbitrary, but DST just makes time seem even more artificial. 
  • Motivation can be destroyed because it seems a lot earlier than it actually is. 
  • Since the change in 2007, many children go trick-or-treating when it's light!
I really don't understand how they thought it wise to change DST back in 2007. It's not that I think the new system is worse. I just think that if they're going to go through the trouble of changing it, why don't they get rid of it altogether?

Sunday, March 2, 2014

A job I never applied to

Two weeks ago, I wrote about how I had interviewed at the Joseph Smith Papers and didn't get the job, and my rejection made me question my abilities in editing and people skills.

But some out-of-the-blue events this week gave me a little boost of confidence.

On Monday, I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize. I figured it was mostly likely from 1) my apartment management, since they were doing an inspection; 2) the dentist, since I had just rescheduled an appointment due to insurance issues; or 3) BYU Magazine, where I had submitted a resume over the weekend.

Instead it turned out to be Reid Neilson, the managing director of the Church History Department. Apparently, the JSP gave my resume to him. A long time ago, he worked for BYU Studies when he was at BYU, so he knew some of the people there and has a soft spot for it. He called one of the editors, Jennie, to ask her about me. He said that she said that I was one of their best interns. So he called me up and wanted me to meet with him. We arranged a breakfast interview for Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday, I talked to Jennie, and she seemed quite excited at my prospects. That night I drove home so that I could easily get to my 7:30 breakfast interview.

On Wednesday, I met Reid at the Nauvoo Cafe in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, where he bought me breakfast. He told me about the job and offered it to me. And I accepted!

Here are the duties and implications of the job:
  • He spends a lot of time managing, but the rest of the time he writes things, so I will be editing the things he writes.
  • This is another internship. It starts at four months, but it may extend to a year and may lead to a permanent position. 
  • Because it is an internship, there are no benefits. But a job with no benefits after I graduate is better than no job with no benefits. 
  • I will make considerably more money than I have at BYU Studies. 
  • It is based out of Salt Lake, but he is allowing me to work remotely while I am still in school. I don't know what will happen after I graduate. I think he likes to have his interns work up in Salt Lake.
  • I will be working the same amount of time that I have been working (20hrs/week), and I think I can increase my hours after I graduate.
Because I am not allowed to work at BYU at the same time I work at the Church, on Thursday BYU Studies had a potluck lunch to say goodbye to me. I'm rarely the guest of honor at a party!

Friday was my last day at BYU Studies. I started there spring 2012, making it the longest job I've ever had. Thus it was a little sad. Jennie wrote me a glowing letter of recommendation, which said, among other things, that I wrote abstracts better than any other intern and that she would hire me as a permanent employee if there were an opening. It was good to hear those things. The people at the office seemed excited for me, but they said they were sad to see me leave. I had been there a long time. Two other interns came and went during my time there. Also, all this time I thought I was working for the same hourly rate, but apparently I got a couple of raises I never knew about. Then I had to drive up to Salt Lake to meet with HR. It was the fifth time I had to drive to the Salt Lake area in a three-week period.

Tomorrow is my first day on the new job, even though I'm not going anywhere. On my mission, I always thought I'd want to work for the Church. After I came home, I changed my mind. But I think the Church History Department will be more exciting and interesting than, say, the Ensign. These are exciting times in Church History, as a lot more research is being done and they are no longer shying away from sensitive issues.