Evaluative Conclusion

Wow, it has been a long semester! I feel like I have come a long way in my writing ability! I think that this blog was a great writing assignment, because it was a type of writing style that required a lot of voice and personality (not to mention prayer) to get done. One thing that I noticed was really similar about all of my posts was the date published. They were mostly done yesterday or today. Haha, but really. I think I talk about food a lot. Maybe it's just me, but I guess I'm thinking about that a lot. I think my first post was the best. Maybe because I was the least stressed during that one? That, or I've just become a worse writer by being in English. I think that I had trouble coming up with inspiration for a lot of these topics. I think my goal for a lot of them was to rant about something, but I have trouble coming up with things to rant about. I usually backed up to things that I had learned about.

My biggest lesson from this has to be about procrastination. I definitely should've been working on this a lot more as I went along, but I didn't always think I had the time, or the motivation to get anything done, but now it is about time for it to be due, and I definitely don't have the time now. So I think I'm going to use this experience to stay ahead of my work a little better. I hope you enjoy my blog! I put a lot of effort into this, even if it does seem rushed. I enjoyed it a lot, and I'm planning on keeping it up even though I don't have to anymore. Thanks for being such a great teacher!

Running out of Ideas...

Okay, second to last post. Which means this is my last free post. I need to make this quick, because it is due in an hour. So I think I'm going to talk about Golden Sun. Golden Sun is a video game that I really like that I can talk about for quite a while. So it will make an easy blog topic, right? Anyway, Golden Sun is an role playing game for the game boy advance. It is all about a magic power called Alchemy, and summonable Djinn. Your main character has a magic power called Psyenergy, and he is expected to use it to protect the 4 stars in the Sol Sanctum, but some people come and steal the stars, and intend on lighting the 4 elemental lighthouses with them. It is your job to prevent them from getting to the lighthouses. Along the way, you make friends, and collect more Djinn that make you powerful. I really like this game because it has a really good plot, and awesome gameplay, not to mention captivating music, and impressive visual graphics for the time of its release. The worst part of this game is the fact that it ends on a cliff hanger, so you had better have the second game ready to play if you plan on playing this game. And if you wait too long to play the second game, you will forget a lot of important things about the plot. And I just really like this game. I'm going to play through it again after I make it through finals. So with that, I'm going to tie off this post, and send out my final evaluative conclusion. Good work Daniel :)

Ho Ho Ho!

Last Sunday, in sacrament meeting, someone in my ward bore his testimony on the secular side of Christmas. This was really interesting to me, because everything you hear over the pulpit is always, "Think about Christ this Christmas season." However, this guy expressed how this is a time when we promote a lot of unification and other values that we don't alway exercise the rest of the year. A time when Grinches get larger hearts, and when Scrooges have their eyes opened. And I guess that that part of Christmas is probably really important too. I'm going to go home and be with my family again, and spend some time with them. That probably wouldn't really happen until summer if it weren't for Christmas. I'm really happy to spend family time, and to take a break from studies. I'm also reminded of a story during World War II, when trench warfare was stopped for a day during Christmas, when Axis and Allied powers got together to share stories, and carols, and trade goods. Even though they were there to kill each other, Christmas brought them together for at least that one day. The spirit of Christmas is a really good thing. Even the secular side that is often scoffed by religion. I think we could all use this season to become better people, and love each other a little more. Drink your fill of eggnog, and play in the snow (if you must . . . ), but don't use that as an excuse to forget Christ. Just keep that in mind this Christmas season.

Enduring to the End

Is anyone else sick of work? Maybe I'm just being a whiner, but I feel like I've been working non-stop for several weeks now. And I have not been eating or sleeping healthily lately. At all. Personally, I blame C S 142. I feel like that class gives out way too much work. On top of that, I got homework over Thanksgiving that I didn't do, and I missed a couple assignments in some other classes that I'm doing my best to finish before the semester is up. I'm worried about my finals, but I don't have time to study for them quite yet. I was considering pulling an all-nighter, and getting most of my work done, but, I got a flashback of my last all-nighter, and it wasn't worth it. So I traded six hours of miserable time that I would've spent doing half an hour's worth of homework, sleeping instead. And now I'm starting to feel guilty about it, because I have a lot of stuff due today that is not yet done. But no worries. It's almost Christmastime, and I feel like I've done all that I can for this semester, and as I explained in another blog post, I feel better prepared for next semester. I am so excited to go home! I will be done with my finals on Tuesday, but my ride home doesn't leave until probably Saturday, so I have a while in Provo yet to just relax, and recoup while there isn't really any work that I could do, even if I wanted to :)

I would just like to take some space here to thank all of the people who helped me get through my semester, namely Pandora, Corn Dog Wednesday (and all involved), and my professors too, I guess (but I'm not so sure they count, seeing as they caused the problem in the first place...) And I would just like to say that it has been a great semester! Here's to a better one in Winter!

Facebook is Watching

Facebook is really smart. Not only does it know all the things you tell it (Which is often quite a bit more than you should), but it also seems to know what websites you've been to, and other random information like that. Because it does. Sometimes this seems rather creepy (Okay, it is), but it can be really convenient sometimes. And sometimes it isn't so convenient.

One feature in Facebook is personalized ads. Facebook will advertise to you based on which websites you look up on the computer. Your web browser will download a "cookie" (you know, like the ones the dark side has?), which will help your computer perform faster on that website. Facebook can then use that cookie to recognize that you have been to that website (where else would you get that cookie?), and then presume that you are interested in the things on that website, and then give you advertisements for similar websites. This is usually fine and dandy, but I have recently started getting ads in Korean and Japanese (but not Chinese, for some reason) in excess, and I cannot figure out where I've been that would give me these obscure ads that I can't read.

Another feature of Facebook that I discovered just this morning, is that it will recognize a changed password. It turns out that an old password won't get you into your account no matter how many times you try it. And Facebook will tell you that you are trying an old password. And when you changed your password. At first, I thought that Facebook was just sassing me: "You changed your password at 9:38 last night. Duh." But then I realized that that was a really cool feature. If someone else got onto your account and changed the password without you knowing, you could see that there was a new password, and you weren't just having a typing error.

Probably my favorite feature about Facebook is creeping. You don't need to know a person to know everything about them! Although, depending on security features, a mutual friend helps. Seriously though, I have looked up so many people that I have never met before by using Facebook, and it's a little bit creepy. But oh so useful. Your roommate has a new girlfriend? Facebook stalk. You conveniently saw the name on the top of the paper of that cute girl in your biology class? Facebook stalk. Everyone does it, so of course it is socially acceptable! Right? ....Right?

Corn Dog Wednesday

During the semester, my roommate and another guy and I started a tradition called Corn Dog Wednesday. It is a weekly event that we hold (usually on Wednesday) where we make corn dogs from scratch. As in we mix up batter, and put it on the hot dog, and fry them ourselves. We don't actually kill the animal or any of that. But we have developed some mad skills for creating corn dogs. And it's actually pretty fun, so I'm going to make a link to the recipe I use. I take out the pepper, and add a bunch (to taste) of honey, but other than that, I just follow the recipe. There are a lot of intricacies to the process, but after a couple of tries, it get's pretty easy, and the corn dogs are pretty good. We have even been investing in various types of sauces to better enjoy our corn dog experience. We recently got some J Dawgs special sauce, and some Famous Dave's sweet and zesty barbecue sauce.

Corn Dog Wednesday has because a highlight of my week. There's nothing really special about our corn dogs, and it's really more work than it's worth to make them from scratch, but it's an awesome excuse to put down work for a while and just relax. I get to catch up with my friends and actually feed myself, which is nice in the middle of the week. Those are luxuries I usually reserve for my weekends. The downside to Corn Dog Wednesday is that I don't usually work any more during the day that we have it. The upside is that I'm usually refreshed and ready to get more work done for the rest of the week. I am particularly excited for Corn Dog Wednesday this week, because I have been so stressed with deadlines and finals lately.

Moral of the story? Corn dogs are beautiful things, if only for the fact that they let me take a well earned break from work once a week. I'm fairly certain that everyone needs a Corn Dog Wednesday in their life, whether it's a knitting club, or reading a book. Making time for yourself is just as important as making time for your studies.

Fun With Technology

The other day, all of the printers on campus were down, so I asked my friend if I could borrow his printer. He agreed. So I went over to his place, and plugged in the printer into my USB port. The printer said that it needed to download some software (Okay, so it didn't really say that. A box popped up on my computer screen.). They were drivers. Of course it needs to install software. I told it to download them. The estimated remaining time started at three hours. Then it went to four hours. Then five hours. Then 28 minutes. And from there, it bounced around everything from 2 minutes to an hour for the next 5 minutes. After which it became apparently stable on 8 minutes. At that point, I turned to my friend.

"Do you think we've earned ourselves 15 minutes of Tetris before we go back to work?"

"I want to say no, but I really want to!"

And thus we played Tetris for 15 minutes. The most glorious 15 minutes that have occurred in my life since Thanksgiving. I won, of course. We returned to the printer, and saw the estimated remaining time sitting at 14 minutes. After another 5 minutes or so, it was done. I saw the download box disappear, and went to add the printer to my computer. When I did that, it asked me if I wanted to download the software for that printer. Didn't I just do that? Apparently not.

"You know, we've been stupid," said my friend. "Just email it to yourself, and we'll print it off with my computer." I had already emailed it to myself, so I just plugged the printer into my friend's computer, and downloaded the paper. And then I went back to my computer to change the file format, so I could open it on his computer. After that, I tried printing off the paper. And halfway through the paper, my friend's computer ran out of paper. So we had to get his power cord, and plug it in, and restart the computer, and then re-download the paper, and then print off the two pages that didn't come out.

That was by far the most work that I have ever been through to print a single paper.

Hell is Cold

Provo woke up this morning to a wintery surprise. And not the good kind, in my opinion. I didn't even see the fresh white blanket until I left my apartment. I hadn't planned on walking through it that morning, which made me pretty grumpy (I seem to feel that way a lot lately...). Back at home, my mom is very particular about the language we use around the house. And one of the words she doesn't like to hear from us is the 4-letter "S" word. She tends to get downright nasty toward my siblings and I when we say the word "snow." She doesn't like it, you see. It is a vile thing. You have to shovel it, and avoid slipping in it, and it makes everyone drive like they're in bumper cars. Also, the snow sunburns your eyes, and makes everything wet. Especially when it all melts off in the spring.

Something that everyone says around here is, "If it's going to be cold, it might as well snow." Why? I would much rather suffer as little as possible. If it's going to be cold, we might as well have some sun to make it a little less miserable.

As a disclaimer, I did grow up in Southern California, where we never got snow at all. The weather was beautiful every year during Christmas. And I loved it, but I really didn't appreciate it before I moved to Rexburg. Christmas in California is a beautiful thing, and you can go to the beach if you want, or play in the green grass. You really can't blame me for not liking the snow at all...

Making it in the Big World

There are a lot of things that have intimidated me about college that I never should've been intimidated by. I think I've learned this semester that I should use the resources around campus, and not be so scared of them. One thing in my CS classes that I've learned to use more resourcefully, are the TAs. I guess the TAs intimidated me because they were so much older than I was, and I liked doing my work alone, when possible, so I never talked to them. I think I would've been much better off during the semester if I had taken advantage of their help. I think that, next semester, I am going to do a much better job of getting to know the TAs, and using their help when I need it.

I also don't think I spent enough time with my professors. I think in high school, teachers were overwhelmed by students wanting so much individual attention, so I learned to mainly take care of myself. I learned in college, though, that most of them are willing to help out if you let them know what's going on. But the teachers can't help you if you don't talk to them. I think that, next semester, I am going to do a better job of contacting professors in classes I need help in.

The last thing I think that I should work on using the resources of are the buildings on campus, particularly the library. I was afraid of going anywhere in the library at first, because I wasn't sure where I was allowed. Which seems ridiculous to me now, because I am paying tuition/tithing to use everything here. I have started to study in different areas of the library, just to see what I should be using in the building. I have also found that there are computer labs in the Talmage building, specifically set aside for one of my classes, and it is a really nice place to work. Much better for focusing than at the apartment.

Basically, I think that this semester was a huge adjustment period for me. I feel much more prepared to continue in college now that I have learned so much about my surroundings. I'm sure that my classes next semester will be harder than the ones I have now, but with better preparation, I am hopeful that I will be able to handle them better than I handled my classes this semester.

The Spirit of Elijah

Last Saturday, whilst going to and fro on campus, and from walking up and down in it, I found inspiration in the form of a quote by N. Eldon Tanner. I didn't have any paper on me, so I wrote it on my arm. The quote was this: "Service is the rent we pay for living in this world of ours." I thought about this quite a bit, because since I've been at college, I haven't been that into service. Sure, I sit at my computer to index for family history every once in a while, but besides that, everything is about me. I need to do my homework, I need to feed myself, etc. This has been a huge change since my last year in high school. I had 2 callings in church, and I volunteered in different organizations. But it just doesn't seem like I have time anymore to take care of anyone else's needs along with my own. Well, last night was FHE. I wasn't going to go, because of all the homework I had (still have . . . ), but we were doing a ward FHE, where we all came together to do indexing together. And there was free pizza. That might've influenced my decision a little, considering I hadn't eaten anything that day except for a bowl of cereal at 8:00 that morning. When I went, I saw that they had a paper up of the top indexers in our ward, and I was sixth place. Which surprised me, considering I didn't think I had actually done that much of it. But apparently, everyone else had done less. It felt kinda good to be doing service though. I was glad I went. I ate an entire pizza while I was there, which was nice too. I think next semester, I'm going to do more service. I can definitely apply myself to do more in that category, especially toward the beginning of the semester, I think. And honestly, I think indexing is a really cool thing. I definitely feel the spirit of Elijah when I'm going through name, groaning at how young the girls got married, trying to figure out what occupation they had, and trying to make out the old fashioned hand writing. As hard as it is, I really feel connected with my ancestors when I do it. And I recommend it to everyone else.

A Sunday School Misadventure

Today in Sunday school, someone that I didn't really know sat next to me. This made me kinda grumpy. I don't like having to deal with people that I don't really know. I really knew I was in trouble when she addressed me by name. This put me in an awkward situation, because I didn't know hers. As long as I responded casually, and pseudo-enthusiastically though, there was no need to know it. Initiate small talk.

Unfortunately, priesthood lets out 10 minutes before Sunday school starts. It takes me 15 steps to get to my seat in priesthood to my seat in sunday school, and the only excuse for me to delay getting there is a trip to the drinking fountain, which is nullified on fast Sunday. I usually sit next to my roommates to avoid awkward contact like this. And by "awkward contact," I mean sitting next to people who smile too much. Because that just isn't natural.

First item of conversation: ward choir. She was the pianist for ward choir, and I was one of about 4 boys who regularly attends ward choir. Which is the only reason we even recognize each other. Quite honestly, I didn't expect her to talk to me at all, because she seemed so quiet in choir. Probably because she is always taking orders, and is never singing. We make short work of the common ground between us. Once we talk about the piece we're working on right now, and the Christmas program next week, we've about covered the entire spectrum of possible conversation related to choir. I strategically end the topic in a way that puts her in a position to either end the conversation, or come up with a new topic. Unfortunately, she chose the latter.

That day in choir had not been the best. It had started snowing in the middle of practice. Everyone else was happy, because it complimented the Christmas songs we were singing so well. But not me. The snow is cold, and dangerous. Almost like Ke$ha. Luckily, I got to leave choir early on account of an appointment with the bishop. As fun as it is to sing, ward choir isn't quite a party. So I made my escape.

"So, have you done anything special, or fun, or exciting, or anything like that recently?" What? What kind of question is that? Are you going to the same school as me? Because I've been working for every waking hour for the last couple of weeks. "Haha, no, not really. I've just been preparing for finals. How about you?" I put on an amiable façade. No point in burning bridges. But wasn't it time to begin class yet? The clock started making a weird cracking noise, giving me an excuse to look at it. I knew by now that that was a fairly normal sound from the clock, but I turned my head anyway. Three more minutes. Three long minutes. And then I was saved by the person on the other side of my assaulter. She asked her a question, and I was free to return to my introversive tendencies.

Okay, for the record, I'm really counting on the person about whom this is never finding this, because she really was conversational, and nice. I was just in a grumpy mood today.

10 Things I Hate About Blogging

1. Coming up with topics: I'm pretty sure I have a hundred things I want to talk about when I'm in the shower/late for class/watching a concert, but when I sit down at my computer to blog, I can't come up with anything worth writing about.

2. Reading other people's blogs: Usually, this is because I have a lot of fun reading other blogs, and seeing what insight people have on certain topics. Blogs are a harder target than Facebook to blame a lack of work on, especially since I need to do some stuff on it for actual homework.

3. Reading other people's blogs: Okay, let's face it. We don't all have perfect grammar. Which is something I'm pretty OCD about. People don't draft blogs and go through several times checking to make sure that things make sense. So it bugs me when I read a post that has terrible grammar, logic, etc. Not that I'm perfect myself, but I obviously expect everyone else to be ;)

4. Formatting: What is wrong with a solid white background, with solid black text? And while we're at it, can we make it Courier, and 10 point font? In my opinion, that is how most of the best information on the web comes. But instead, blogs need to be "cute."

5. The fact that I haven't been doing it: I need to have 20 blog posts in by Tuesday. For my English class. Which means I will be writing a lot this weekend. And I am really beginning to wish that I had been doing it earlier in the semester. But that's okay. I like blogging. So this is good.

6. It isn't hand written: I really like writing things by hand. They just seem way more personal that way. And I feel more accomplished when I see something that I brought about with my own hands. Okay, so I type with my hands too, but it isn't quite the same. When I have something physical to show for my time, I think I put myself into the project more.

7. The name: Blog? Where did that word even come from? It is so cacophonous. Just say it out loud a couple of times. Slower. What kind of name is that?

8. The fact that I have to do one: I'm pretty sure I would enjoy doing this about 10 times as much if I did not have to do this for an assignment. At the same time, I doubt I would even be doing a blog without the assignment. Anyway, I'm planning on maintaining it after the class is over, so we'll have to see how that works out for me.

9. Writing creatively: I consider technical writing more of a personal forte than creative writing. Putting voice in writing just bugs me. There's a way to do it, but I'm pretty sure that it should be reserved for professionals. Just because anyone can write for the world to see, doesn't mean that just anyone should.

10. Time: Blogs are a time commitment, and it's hard to say just how long of a commitment it's going to be. Math is pretty objective. You can sit down, figure out what you're supposed to be doing, and get up in an hour or two and be done. On a blog, you just sit down, and write until you feel good about what you've done. Which is usually never for me. Hence my low number of blog posts.

And that's about it, really. Not that I even particularly care about any of these, but it was a good topic for me. I got to figure out for myself just why this assignment annoyed me so much. Hopefully it inspires someone.

Easy as 3.141592. . .

This is the final (and mostly true) draft of my personal narrative.

There were more pocket protectors in the room than you could count on the fingers of one hand, and there wasn't a single person in the room who couldn't give you the first 20 digits of pi. With a state championship on the line, every nerd had their pride to defend.

The Scholastic Team at my school was a gathering place for the intellectually elite. Less prestigious than debate, Scholastic Team was the invisible escape for those who wanted to share the speed with which they could return random trivia. However, the Scholastic Team would be invisible no more.

“We made it to the Finals!” exclaimed Mr. Call, the coach for Scholastic Team. He was wearing bulky glasses and a Star Wars tie, and had the largest bug collection I had ever seen. He was, in every way, the epitome of the stereotypical nerd. “We will be on Idaho Public Television for our match tomorrow morning!” True, that wasn't a very large audience, but a public appearance of any kind made us almost a sport. “Just remember that whether we win or lose this match tomorrow, our sportsmanship will be the most important thing.”

It was true. Our school, Madison, had just won a state championship in basketball, and while we didn't have a single “star” on our team that year that was particularly impressive, the coach of every team that our school had played had noted that we were their favorite team to play, because our basketball team had such great sportsmanship. It was our turn to defend this legacy.

Our opponents for the championship the following morning would be Hillcrest. They were the reason we hadn't made it to the championship last year. But this year was different. We had defeated them at the qualification tournament a few weeks ago, just to make it to where we were. We rested easily on this knowledge that night.

“Which author, in the play Our Town, defined. . .”

“Thorton Wilder.”

“Whose assassination in 1968. . .”

“Robert Kennedy.”

The bus ride to the Television studio was filled with the sound of random trivia. In ideal situations, we would be able to answer the question before it was done being asked, so the other team would have less of a chance of being able to answer the question. Haylee, our captain, was issuing commands and strategies. We reviewed hand signals, levels of aggressiveness while playing, and specialties of the front row players.

When we got there, the buzzers were lined up, and Hillcrest was waiting. The reader for the match walked in with a big cheesy grin. He was wearing a suit above the waist, but jeans below, because the camera was designed to catch him at an angle so no one else would see what pants he was wearing.

“That is so tacky,” we all whispered in turn. We took our seats and prepared for the match to start.

“Today, we will have the Idaho State INL High School Scholastic Team State Championship!” The reader had a charismatic “TV” voice. “On the left, we have Madison High School from Rexburg, and on the right, we have Hillcrest High School from Idaho Falls!” He continued to explain the rules of the event. The rolling cameras made us all nervous. We were all anxious to get started. Finally, it was time to begin: “On with the first question. Your category is 'Eye Examination.' What instrument. . .”

Buzz! Hillcrest knew the answer after 4 words. “Ophthalmoscope.”

“Correct. I'm glad you said that, so I didn't have to!”

Ophthalmoscope? I didn't even know that was a word before this point in time. That was only the first question though. We could come back. But Hillcrest got the next question. And the following one. And the one after that. It wasn't until the forth question that we got a chance to answer. And the answer was incorrect, resulting in a subtraction of 5 points.

It was hard to remain composed. Why did we miss that one? We knew what the answer was. We just didn't pronounce “Oedipus” right. And for that matter, neither did the judge. But we all thought about the many talks about sportsmanship that we had had in school, in practice, and at the end of the last round. No one likes a bad sport. Pronouncing the answer is part of the game. We all stayed competitive, and respectful.

“We are now halfway through the first half of the round, and the score is 55 to 5, Hillcrest!” announced the reader. Mr. Call in the back of the room was giving us exaggerated gestures from where he couldn't be seen by the camera. He was desperate for us to get Hillcrest off of its streak. And at that point, something with our team clicked. An obscure Russian history question was asked, and quickly answered by the history buff on our team. After that, our team was ready. We started answering every question. By the end of the first half, we tied up the score, 80 to 80.

“It is now time for the lightning round! The score is exactly tied, so we will need to toss a coin to determine who will go first!” The tension in the room was almost tangible. Madison lost the call, meaning we would compete first. Mr. Call was the most nervous of all of us. He looked like he has started to hyperventilate during the last question that tied the score. Both teams answered the lightning round questions, which brought the score to 115 to 135, in favor of Madison.

From that point forward, Madison remained ahead. We switched our game tactics from “catch-up” to “stay ahead.” Mr. Call was almost in tears as our team became 30, 40, 50, 60 points ahead. The final score was 225 to 165.

“And that's it! We have a Class A state champion! Congratulations, Madison!” As soon as the camera was off, we broke into excited cheers, and gave high fives all around. Mr. Call, looking somewhat frazzled, ran up to hug us all.

“I knew you guys would win the whole time.”

“Wait, guys,” came Haylee's voice, “Can we get 3 cheers for Hillcrest for being such great opponents?” Most of us had forgotten about Hillcrest already. We all cheered and applauded them. After all, they had just given us the best match we had had all season. It was clear that they were disappointed about the loss, but they smiled in acceptance of our appreciation of their performance. We then shook their hands individually, and, instead of congratulating, thanked each other.

Our team left the studio as State Champions. We were all content during the bus ride home in knowing that we were the biggest nerds in high school in the entire state of Idaho, but that wasn't the most rewarding part. We had defended our school's honor, and our principal, who had been secretly watching from the other room, came out and congratulated us. He told us how impressed he was of our performance, as well as our sportsmanship afterward.

The bus ride back to Rexburg would be about 6 hours long, but none of us cared. For many of us, this would be the highlight of the entire year. But instead of sitting by ourselves in the back of the bus, like we had on the way up, we sat intermingled with the Hillcrest team. Instead of awkward silence in the bus, we shared stories and smiles throughout the return trip.

Personal Narrative Draft

There were more pocket protectors in the room than you could could on the fingers of one hand, and there wasn't a single person in the room who couldn't give you the first 20 digits of pi. With a state championship on the line, every nerd had their pride to defend.

The Scholastic Team at my school was a gathering place for the intellectually elite. Less prestigious than debate, Scholastic Team was the invisible escape for those who wanted to share the speed with which they could return trivia. However, the Scholastic Team would be invisible no more.

“We made it to the Finals!” exclaimed Mr. Call, the coach for Scholastic Team. He was wearing bulky glasses, and a Star Wars tie. “We will be on Idaho Public Television for our match tomorrow morning!” True, that wasn't a very large audience, but a public appearance of any kind made us almost a sport.

Our opponents for the championship the following morning would be Hillcrest. They were the reason we hadn't made it to the championship last year. But this year was different. We had defeated them at the qualification tournament a few weeks ago, just to make it to where we were. We rested easily on this knowledge that night.

“Which author, in the play Our Town, defined. . .”

“Thorton Wilder.”

“Whose assassination in 1968. . .”

“Robert Kennedy.”

The bus ride to the Television studio was filled with the sound of random trivia. In ideal situations, we would be able to answer the question before it was done being asked, so the other team would have less of a chance of being able to answer the question.

When we got there, the buzzers were lined up, and Hillcrest was waiting. The reader for the match walked in with a big cheesy grin. He was wearing a suit above the waist, but jeans below, because the camera was designed to catch him at an angle so no one else would see what pants he was wearing.

“That is so tacky,” we all whispered in turn. We took our seats and prepared for the match to start.

“Today, we will have the Idaho State INL High School Scholastic Team State Championship!” The reader had a charismatic “TV” voice. “On the left, we have Madison High School from Rexburg, and on the right, we have Hillcrest High School from Idaho Falls!” He continued to explain the rules of the event. The rolling cameras made us all nervous. We were all anxious to get started. Finally, it was time to begin: “On with the first question. Your category is 'Eye Examination.' What instrument. . .”

Buzz! Hillcrest knew the answer after 4 words. “Ophthalmoscope.”

“Correct. I'm glad you said that, so I didn't have to!”

Ophthalmoscope? I didn't even know that was a word before this point in time. That was only the first question though. We could come back. But Hillcrest got the next question. And the following one. And the one after that. It wasn't until the forth question that we got a chance to answer. And the answer was incorrect, resulting in a subtraction of 5 points.

“We are now halfway through the first half of the round, and the score is 55 to 5, Hillcrest!” announced the reader. Mr. Call in the back of the room was giving us exaggerated gestures from where he couldn't be seen by the camera. He was desperate for us to get Hillcrest off of its streak. And at that point, something with our team clicked. An obscure Russian history question was asked, and quickly answered by the history buff on our team. After that, our team was ready. We started answering every question. By the end of the first half, we tied up the score, 80 to 80.

“It is now time for the lightning round! The score is exactly tied, so we will need to toss a coin to determine who will go first!” Madison lost the call, meaning we would compete first. Mr. Call was the most nervous of all of us. He looked like he has started to hyperventilate during the last question that tied the score. After both teams answered the lightning round questions, the score was 115 to 135, in favor of Madison.

From that point forward, Madison remained ahead. Our team left the studio as State Champions. We were all content in knowing that we were the biggest nerds in high school in the entire state of Idaho.

Eating like a Hobbit

Okay, I could've sworn I wrote this blog entry last night, but it didn't show up on my blog. So I'm going to rewrite it. Which is a good thing, because it was terrible last night. Anyway, yesterday (Actually, a while ago now. I found this post half finished), on a whim, I decided to eat like a hobbit for a day. In retrospect, not one of my better ideas. I feel really sick right now, and I don't know if it was from that, or not. Either way, I still have not eaten since supper last night, and I hope to never eat again... The following will be a documentation of my day as a hobbit

I woke up at 6:30. This was very convenient, because, in accordance with missionary week, all residents of Herritage Halls were encouraged to keep mission hours that day. So I got up, got a large bowl of cereal, checked Facebook, got in the shower, etc. Completely normal day. The bowl of cereal filled me up in its own artificial way, but I didn't have a whole lot of time that morning, so it fulfilled its purpose.

After class, I returned home, hungry again. So I warmed myself up some lasagna. I had 2 pieces. And after that, there were only 2 pieces left, which was hardly worth putting the pan back in the refrigerator for. It wasn't worth the space. And it definitely wasn't worth making more dirty dishes by putting it on something smaller. So I ate the other 2 pieces. Satisfied, I updated my status to talk about my second breakfast. It was then that I spawned my idea. After a little research, I found out that hobbits had 7 meals (not including snacks) every day. At that point, it was 10:00, meaning I only had 1 hour before it was time for elevenses. That was right during devotional, so I cooked myself up a couple of quesadillas for the trip over there, and a bag of cereal to eat during the talk. A most hearty meal.

Luncheon was right before my 1:30 class. I didn't have much time, so I got a granola bar and a bag of goldfish out of the vending machine, and ate them during class. I wasn't even that hungry yet. But I ate them anyway. I was ready for a nap during class, because I was comfortably full. I daresay I might've dozed off a little that day, because the auditorium was strangely warm and comfortable. My next class was English at 3:00, which left me with just enough time to get Afternoon tea on my way to class. I went back to the vending machine and got grapefruit juice and a danish. I figured that was about as close to an afternoon tea meal as I could get here at BYU. As Elder Holland said, "You shouldn't be serving tea anyway."

At this point, I was stuffed, and still had 2 meals to go. I decided to have breakfast for dinner, and I made myself 4 large scrambled eggs, and 3 medium potatoes worth of hash browns. That was a lot of food. I went to ward choir that night, very uncomfortably full, and planning one more meal. I decided to make some fried rice to top it off. I probably ate 3-4 cups of (cooked) rice with chicken and eggs and veggies. I invited my friend over to my apartment, and we both shared this meal together.

And thus ended my day as a hobbit. I don't think I'll do it again anytime soon, but it was a fun experience. And if there is a next time, maybe I'll work on snacking more.

Research Is Like Dating

Or so they say. They being the unmarried librarians at the Harold B. Lee Library. Something about looking around for desirable characteristics before deciding on a topic that you want to be with. And if research is like dating, then the paper is like a bad girlfriend that you just can't shake. If you're lucky, you will find a topic that you really like that you will dedicate your life to, and be with for time and all eternity.

In my opinion, research is like homework. And the paper is like an assignment that you can't skip, or else you'll fail the class. But that's just me. For my English class, we are required to write an 8-10 page research paper on a new media topic, which is, all at once, too broad, and too narrow. After much contemplation, I thought I had found a good topic. It was about the transformation of the English language through social media. The original motivation for the topic was a comment on a Facebook wall post between myself and a couple of people whom I consider to be intellectuals. One of the contributor's little sisters then posted the following comment: "You guys talk wayyyy to formally. This is Facebook, not a spelling test! Say... Yo ya I would love ta!" Needless to say, this left a bitter taste in my mouth, and I left a very sarcastic reply (One that was not perceived as such...). However, as I began to research, I began to realize that I had little scope for what I was actually looking for, and no idea of how to narrow it. So I reluctantly left the topic. I definitely had a crush on it, but we just didn't understand each other. There was never a real relationship.

It then occurred to me to research a topic about video games. Truth be told, this topic occurred to me much before this moment in time, but I was now behind, because of the failure of my first topic. I really didn't want to do video games though. It was (is) so cliché... and I didn't really like either side of any video game argument in existence. So I set it aside, judging it to be a thing of naught. I moved on to education. How does new media effect our education? Well, that one might've worked out, except it was hard. And I don't have time or willpower to do hard things. So I dropped that idea. The day of a deadline came, and I needed a topic to work on my annotated bibliography with. With about an hour to work on it, I chose to do a video game topic. It took me about 15 minutes to find 8 working sources, and another 5 minutes to put them into a works cited page. Another half hour to scan and annotate my references, and then I printed it. So my research topic is about violent video games as a cause of aggression in teenagers/children. And that's about it. Once again, the easy course of action overcomes the best one.

Roughing It

Right after you close your door is a very bad time to think, "I don't have my keys. I wonder if my door is locked." Especially when your roommate has gone home for the weekend.

My life was flashing before my eyes. My very first thought was that I had to document everything I still had. I had food and dishes, a toothbrush and some toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, the clothes I was currently wearing, and a PS2 with Kingdom Hearts 2 (which is ironic, because the game revolves around keys, which happened to be something I was missing at the time.). I had no other worldly possessions in the entire state that weren't locked in that room. At that instant, my survival techniques kicked in. I needed to eat. I wasn't hungry. In fact, I felt sick to the stomach with myself. But who knows how long I might end up being without my computer? I needed all of the energy I could get. And there really is nothing like snickerdoodles to unleash the inner feral mountain man. The fact that I hadn't shaved in the last 3 days also helped me channel that. But then again, even if I had wanted to shave this morning, my razor was in my room, and I didn't think shaving with a butter knife would've ended well for anyone.

After my inner survivalist was fed, he realized that he left the room in the first place to go to the bathroom. Which brought back a flashback of one time when my roommate opened the bathroom door on my other roommate. How did he do it? With a metal coat hanger. All of my coat hangers were in the room. I looked at the lock on the door and though back to the bobby pin that I picked up off of the floor the night before. Where was it again? In my wallet, in the pocket of my jeans right next to jeans. Inside my room. Windows? On the third floor, and not openable. AC ducts? On a scale of 1 to 10, that's about the same as shaving with a butter knife.

At length, I had to admit defeat. It was time to call in some reinforcements. I had to go next door to the apartment of the Resident Assistant (RA). His name was (still is, actually) Austin. This was his first week in the building, but I was already on good terms with him. A couple of days prior, he failed everyone except me on a cleaning check of our apartment. I had one foot out of my door when I thought back to the last door I closed. I didn't have a key to this one either. This is a much better time to think, "I don't have my keys." I ran back inside and propped the door open with the trash can and went to my RA's door.

*Knock knock knock* No answer. And again, slightly louder. Nothing. My next instinct was to give him a call. With the phone that was in my room. And with the phone number on the piece of paper that was thrown away the night before. I dejectedly walked back to my apartment, powerless to work or play without my laptop, from which I had been separated for all of half an hour. If I left my apartment for any significant amount of time, there was a very good chance that I would not be able to get back in. And without my shoes, I couldn't go very far, anyway. There was nothing for it, but to eat some more, and play some video games. My alternative options included meditating, walking around in circles, and doing dishes. Somehow, video games won out. That ensued for about an hour, during which time I tried to ignore the seemingly high possibility that the couch that I was sitting on might be my bed for the night.

After the space of a time, I proceeded to the door of my RA. He came to the door, and I asked him a very important, but hypothetical question. He understood. We went together down to the office where the spare keys are kept. He had the key to the key box, and the key to the room with the key box, but his key to the room was electronic, and didn't give him access. So many keys, and I can't manage to get into my room. The RA called the Hall Advisor, who could get the key I needed. So I returned to my room to wait for him to bring it.

A couple of minutes later, the Hall Advisor walks in. And what does he notice? A BYU grounds sign on our table. I mumbled something about Andy bringing it in, and he asked permission to take it, because BYU grounds wants those signs returned if they are found in our apartments. As though I had a choice! I told him he could take it, and he told me to pass the message along that we shouldn't take those. He let me into my room, and I promptly unlocked my door. Much thanks, and goodbye, and if I needed any help again to just stop by his place.

Next time I leave my room, my laptop is coming with me. Oh yeah, and my keys too.

Awesome Conference Analysis that I Need to do for a Grade

I found the conference address by Elder Dallin H. Oaks from the Sunday afternoon session of general conference to be particularly interesting. Although the group to which he was speaking was primarily composed of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he specifically addressed all Christians at the beginning of his talk. This change of audience gives a unique twist to his talk. He talks about the basic qualities and characteristics of Jesus Christ that are essential to his identity as our Redeemer.

Most of the references that he cites come from the Bible. This is an essential characteristic to persuading his broader audience to believe in his topic. If he used references from the Book of Mormon, his Christian audience would not be expected to believe his message, because his source of information is not credible with them. By catering to his entire audience he is rhetorically effective.

Elysium

The more time you spend in a particular area, the better you understand it. This sounds like a very simple statement, but it is incredibly powerful. It is the principle that empowers empathy, governs effective communication, and allows the gospel to continue to teach the leaders of the church. When you devote more of your time and effort into the thing, it integrates itself more fully into your life, and in ways that you would not be able to comprehend before you applied yourself in that way.

For example: Lately, I have been trying to memorize poetry. I am not a huge fan of poetry in general, but memorization helps improve the memory, and the impressed mind is impressive to display, so I decided to dedicate some time toward learning these poems. I am currently working on the poem "Ulysses" by Lord Alfred Tennyson. This is a poem about Odysseus, the Achaean hero from the Trojan war, around whom the story of the Odyssey revolves. The first time I read the poem, it was empty to me. I saw well-written literature that would improve my ability to learn. I now have about three quarters of the poem memorized, and my entire perspective has changed. I now see an emotion-filled masterpiece about the greatest adventurer in Greek mythology. I feel as though Tennyson was good friends with Odysseus, and he spent several hours explaining him to me.

The investment of our time into different things changes us, which poses the question, what do we want to become? We are ultimately in charge of what we are, and this is determined by the way we use our time. Jim Rohn, a motivational speaker, once said that, "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." While this is an arguable statement, it is definitely true that we are highly influenced by the people closest to us, and those closest to us will influence us the most. When we spend more time with them, we become more sympathetic toward their plights; we pick up their subtle mannerisms; we become a part of them. If those we spend time with are such a large part of our life, are we giving enough attention to those most important around us? And are those that are around us influencing us the way we want to be influenced? Beyond that, are we influencing those around us positively? In addition to the people we spend time with, the activities in which we engage also make up a large portion of who we are. When we exercise frequently, we are seen as fit individuals. When we devote our weekends to video games, we are seen as gamers. Our values will be adjusted to what we like doing, and what we like seeing in those around us. In the poem I mentioned about, there is a section that reads, "I am a part of all that I have met;/ Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough/ Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades/ For ever and for ever when I move." Everything we do makes us who we are, and entices us to continue in the same direction.

The way we spend our time has the power to change ourselves, our surroundings, and, ultimately, the world. Our growth comes from the things we dedicate our time to. We need to spend our time with the people and things that really matter, or sacrifice our potential to become more than we are.

The Adventure of Learning

Adventure is one of my top 5 favorite words in the entire English language. It can so effortlessly define an endless range of thoughts and ideas in a mere 3 syllables, and can recall vast worlds to one's memory or imagination within milliseconds. This summer, I learned a lot about adventure. And I learned that, to me, adventure isn't always what it seems to be.

And now it's time to digress to what this assignment is all about: a talk by Elder Henry B. Eyring entitled A Child of God. In this talk, Eyring discusses the habits and qualities of good learners. He focuses on 5 specific points during the talk that can help anyone learn better. Now when I think of learning, the first thing that comes to mind is school, and that is probably about the least adventurous word that comes to mind off the top of my head. But I would like say that learning will be the experience that you make it. Here are the five qualities of good learners that he lists in his talk:

1. Good learners seek correction

2. Good learners make and keep commitments

3. Good learners work hard

4. Good learners help others

5. Good learners are able to grow from resistance

My summer yielded a long, multi-part definition of "adventure", one that I imagine will continue to grow as I advance in life. An important part of adventure that I decided was that, when you look at your experience, you have a new opinion, perspective, or experience that will affect your view of life in general. In other words you learn something. As I read this talk, I tried to consider the advice in it as the words of one wise, experienced adventurer to many younger ones. We are currently in the middle of one long adventure, and have many little adventures every day, and if we apply the council of Henry Eyring throughout our adventures, I firmly believe that our life will be enhanced through them.

I am currently keeping an adventure log for all of my particularly memorable adventures, and after reviewing the experiences I have had, I noticed that I had unknowingly applied at least one of Eyring's 5 tips. One adventure I had this summer involved a hike to the top of Table Rock. For those of you not familiar with the geography of Eastern Idaho, that is a mountain about 11000 feet above sea level. On the trail that I hiked, the elevation went up 4000 feet in 5 miles. That is a pretty rough hike for the casual hiker, and I had to work hard (3) to keep the commitment I had made to get to the top (2). It was mostly flat for about half of the trail, which meant that the other half was very steep. There were several times when I was on the verge of giving up, but at all of the steepest parts, the support from hiking buddies was the strongest. By supporting each other, we were able to become stronger, even when the mountain fought the hardest (5). However, perhaps the best part of the trail was on the way down. At that point, I had been to the top, and I encountered a number of people who hadn't yet. All of them were at different places, and many of them needed encouragement. It was very exciting to be able to help out those that needed the motivation to get to the top (4). Just in this one experience, I have pointed out 4 of the 5 points that Elder Eyring outlines, and I could go on for several more pages about the number of lessons that I learned from this experience. In fact, I will likely talk about some of them in later posts.

I am personally of the opinion that the best way to learn is through adventures. Adventures will take many forms in your life, and it is your responsibility to take them as they come, and to make the most of them.

The full text of Elder Eyring's talk can be found here.