Warning: If you want to see the movie, don't read this.
So, I kind of feel like the only person in my news feed on Facebook who doesn't have some synonym of the word "awesome" followed by several hundred exclamation points to describe the Harry Potter movie. And I feel like a cynical, horrible person for this.
Don't get me wrong, I liked the movie. The first 100 minutes of it, at least. But then . . . I don't know. Was I expecting the illustrated version of Harry Potter and that's why I'm disappointed? Well, maybe. It's just such an epic ending. Full of Christian themes and triumphant battles even after they thought Harry was dead and gripping conversations between Voldemort and Harry.
Whereas this, well . . .
HARRY: I'm at King's Cross. But it's clean.
DUMBLEDORE: Oh, that's nice. Well, I've got to go now.
HARRY: Wait! So Snape's patronus was a doe? So was my mother's! Isn't that a bit . . . odd to you?
DUMBLEDORE: That's a really lame question. Didn't you want to know, for example, why you're not dead? Or learn why Aberforth had a grudge against me? Or why I don't have the ponytail in my beard right now? Um, yes. Snape has a doe for a patronus. No, that's not weird. I'm outta here!
Later
VOLDEMORT: (laughing) Harry Potter is dead!!!
NEVILLE: No he's not! He's alive in here! (points to his torso).
VOLDEMORT: In your stomach?
NEVILLE: No! In my heart! In all of our hearts! So what if he died? We can still fight you. He wasn't that good, anyway.
(murmurs of approval from the crowd)
HARRY (Pretending to be dead in Hagrid's arms): (thinking) Okay, this is getting out of hand. Hagrid's not even crying! The only one who cried was Ginny. That's it. I'm rolling out of Hagrid's arms this minute and putting these people in motion.
NEVILLE: Hey, a sword!
HARRY (to Voldemort): Tag, you're it!
A great chase scene ensues between the two. During the chase scene Voldemort hangs Harry, but he lives and manages to escape.
HARRY: Let's finish this how we started it. Together.
VOLDEMORT: What does that even meeaaaan (starts falling with Harry)
HARRY: Well, he's no Firebolt, but he'll do.
They land on the ground and pick up their wands in what should be an epic duel, or at least a gripping conversation. Instead,
VOLDEMORT: Avada ke--
HARRY: Care bear stare!
Together, they build us a rainbow of red and green.
HARRY: (thinking) Since when have I been able to duel with Voldemort? He must be overrated.
VOLDEMORT: (thinking) I knew I shouldn't have gotten the Elder Wand from that Blue Light Special! Why did I leave my other wand at home?
Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . .
HERMIONE: I don't like snakes! And I'm not very good at blasting them to pieces! Why didn't Neville kill this snake 10 minutes ago? Why didn't Harry tell Neville to kill this snake instead of breaking our hearts when he left to go into the forbidden forest?
RON: Because we had to make this cooler than any Indiana Jones movie! Blimey, I hate snakes too. Oh no, it's cornered us!
NEVILLE: Don't worry, I'll have my moment. I've got to make the ladies cheer! (slices the head of the snake off right when it's about to eat Hermione and Ron.)
Harry comes back in.
HARRY: So, no big deal, but I just killed Voldemort. At first I wasn't sure, but then my care bear stare overpowered his avada kedavra, so I guess that means it hit him. It took him a few minutes to disintegrate, but I'm pretty sure he's gone now.
EVERYONE ELSE: Oh, that's nice. But we want hot cocoa for breakfast so don't bother us.
Later
HARRY: Surprise! I'm the master of the Elder Wand! It's me.
RON: So what are you going to do?
HARRY: I'm going to snap this millennium-old twig in two and toss it into the lake.
HERMIONE: Wait! You won't have any wands after this besides Malfoy's, which you really should return! Can't you at least use this wand to fix your other wand?
Harry snaps the wand in two and throws it as if he didn't hear Hermione
RON: dumbstruck
And then there was the epilogue. My biggest complaint with that was that Harry's parents looked older when they were killed at the age of 21 than Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Malfoy did at the age of 36-37. But now I'm just nitpicking.
Anyway, the rest of the movie was great! I guess I just had such high hopes for the ending when I should have realized that since it was a Harry Potter movie, it had to mess important things up. Now that I know this, I should be more okay with it the next time I see it.
I'm going to go have some hot cocoa for breakfast now.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Disney Channel Movies
Kevin commented the other day that we probably spend more time together than most couples we know. And it's probably true. We now sit by each other at work, so unless one of us has something going on that the other doesn't (think visiting teaching or home teaching), the only time we're really apart is when Kevin leaves for work 20 or so minutes before me (because I'm lazy in the mornings) or for bathroom breaks.
You might think after all the hours together we might get on each others' nerves, but so far that really hasn't happened yet. For one thing, Kevin's perfect, so he will never get on my nerves and he's too patient to ever let me get on his nerves. For another thing, there's not a whole lot from day to day we find to disagree on. Kevin is just as likely to suggest Sense and Sensibility to watch as I am, and I am just as likely to suggest, say, Spiderman as he is. We both like any food Mexican or Indian or Chinese. We have similar long term goals and dreams. It's no wonder that people refer to us as "Kyrvin."
By this point, you probably want to remind me that differences are important to a relationship. We're unbalanced because one of us doesn't hate science and cleave to the humanities. We're not learning and growing because neither of us brought different things to the marriage relationship.
Those statements may have some truth to them, but honestly I'm not worried. You see, Kevin and I might be too much the same, but I've already anticipated what our kids are going to be like.
They're going to be the kind Disney Channel makes movies about.
I can see it now. A fun-loving, easygoing, adventurous kid born to uptight, academically-oriented parents (can you see it already?). And this fun-loving kid will want to become the world's best, um, hoverboarder (because it will be after 2015, and Back to the Future II told us there would be hoverboards in 2015). And of course the uptight, fun-hating parents will not approve, because they don't like the lifestyle and want the kid to go to some magnet school so he can be a "benefit to society." Luckily for the kid, he may not have inherited the parents' love of science and technology, but he did inherit their capability to succeed. So of course he wins all the hoverboarding competitions and becomes the best (junior) hoverboarder in the world. Then he sets his parents aside and has a talk with them about dreams and how he can benefit society by hoverboarding, and the parents ultimately realize that not everyone has to be an engineer, so they totally support him from then on.
I can totally see it. Kevin says the last sentence is the most unlikely part of the story, at least for him. I'm guessing it'll be called Hoverin' Moon or something catchy like that.
I guess my point is, I'm not too worried that we're too much alike.
You might think after all the hours together we might get on each others' nerves, but so far that really hasn't happened yet. For one thing, Kevin's perfect, so he will never get on my nerves and he's too patient to ever let me get on his nerves. For another thing, there's not a whole lot from day to day we find to disagree on. Kevin is just as likely to suggest Sense and Sensibility to watch as I am, and I am just as likely to suggest, say, Spiderman as he is. We both like any food Mexican or Indian or Chinese. We have similar long term goals and dreams. It's no wonder that people refer to us as "Kyrvin."
By this point, you probably want to remind me that differences are important to a relationship. We're unbalanced because one of us doesn't hate science and cleave to the humanities. We're not learning and growing because neither of us brought different things to the marriage relationship.
Those statements may have some truth to them, but honestly I'm not worried. You see, Kevin and I might be too much the same, but I've already anticipated what our kids are going to be like.
They're going to be the kind Disney Channel makes movies about.
I can see it now. A fun-loving, easygoing, adventurous kid born to uptight, academically-oriented parents (can you see it already?). And this fun-loving kid will want to become the world's best, um, hoverboarder (because it will be after 2015, and Back to the Future II told us there would be hoverboards in 2015). And of course the uptight, fun-hating parents will not approve, because they don't like the lifestyle and want the kid to go to some magnet school so he can be a "benefit to society." Luckily for the kid, he may not have inherited the parents' love of science and technology, but he did inherit their capability to succeed. So of course he wins all the hoverboarding competitions and becomes the best (junior) hoverboarder in the world. Then he sets his parents aside and has a talk with them about dreams and how he can benefit society by hoverboarding, and the parents ultimately realize that not everyone has to be an engineer, so they totally support him from then on.
I can totally see it. Kevin says the last sentence is the most unlikely part of the story, at least for him. I'm guessing it'll be called Hoverin' Moon or something catchy like that.
I guess my point is, I'm not too worried that we're too much alike.
Monday, June 6, 2011
My heart with raptor thrills
It all started when I saw those billboards. I didn't believe them for a minute, especially because the end of the world was supposed to happen on my sister's birthday. In my mind it was the perfect day for a party, not for the end of the world.
Then as May 21st got closer and closer, I started thinking about funny Facebook statuses I could put about the day of rapture. The Thursday before the "rapture," I jokingly informed everyone that
"Kyra Moon is thinking about having a "raptor" party on Friday or Saturday. We'll watch Jurassic Park and play pin the wing on the raptor, all in preparation for the day of raptor (or rapture)"
Well, I meant it as a joke. I didn't like Jurassic Park, after all. But then when people started saying they would attend, I started to actually consider having a party. When Liz said she'd bring the brownies, it was settled.
The raptor/rapture was going to happen.
The first activity was the raptor rapture. It involved coloring pictures of raptors (both the dinosaur and bird type) and taping them to the ceiling as if they got raptured. These were some of my favorites:
Peteraptor and Jimmeraptor --- the only Mormons to get raptured.
By the end, the ceiling looked like this (only with a couple more, since some fell down before I took pictures):
Throughout the party, we nibbled on amazing raptor/rapture-themed treats. Liz made absolutely amazing brownies:
Can you believe that? It's a raptor brownie! Of course, as the party progressed it looked less and less like a raptor . . .
and more and more like a whale. Also, Kevin and I made earthquake cake, which is actually super easy the way we do it. (Instructions: Bake a cake. Don't let it cool all the way. Get frosting out of the fridge. Attempt to frost. The resulting cake will look like an earthquake struck.)
Then we played pin the wing on the raptor. The goal was to get an eagle's wing (or was it a hawk?) on the right spot on the velociraptor. Kind of arbitrary, but still lots of fun.
Since there were a lot of things I forgot to do at the party, I'm so glad we get to celebrate again on October 21st. This time, I'll make sure to:
~ Play rapture the rag. I haven't decided on the rules yet but I think they'll be like capture the flag except awesomer.
~ Have awesome rapture/raptor-theme based music in the background. Right now the only one I can think of which is about both raptors and raptures (or apocalypses) is the one I learned in 1st grade about eagles having no friends and no sky and no land. This reminds me . . . Kevin wanted me to post this and this. Hooray for politics.
~ Watch Jurassic Park, 2012, Armageddon, etc. Actually none of those sound appealing, but whatever.
In closing, here's a great quote from Joseph Smith:
and a great picture to go along with it, taken May 17th:
Happy rapturing!
ps: kudos to anyone who can tell where my title came from. Here's a hint: you've sung it before.
Then as May 21st got closer and closer, I started thinking about funny Facebook statuses I could put about the day of rapture. The Thursday before the "rapture," I jokingly informed everyone that
"Kyra Moon is thinking about having a "raptor" party on Friday or Saturday. We'll watch Jurassic Park and play pin the wing on the raptor, all in preparation for the day of raptor (or rapture)"
Well, I meant it as a joke. I didn't like Jurassic Park, after all. But then when people started saying they would attend, I started to actually consider having a party. When Liz said she'd bring the brownies, it was settled.
The raptor/rapture was going to happen.
The first activity was the raptor rapture. It involved coloring pictures of raptors (both the dinosaur and bird type) and taping them to the ceiling as if they got raptured. These were some of my favorites:
By the end, the ceiling looked like this (only with a couple more, since some fell down before I took pictures):
Throughout the party, we nibbled on amazing raptor/rapture-themed treats. Liz made absolutely amazing brownies:
Can you believe that? It's a raptor brownie! Of course, as the party progressed it looked less and less like a raptor . . .
and more and more like a whale. Also, Kevin and I made earthquake cake, which is actually super easy the way we do it. (Instructions: Bake a cake. Don't let it cool all the way. Get frosting out of the fridge. Attempt to frost. The resulting cake will look like an earthquake struck.)
Then we played pin the wing on the raptor. The goal was to get an eagle's wing (or was it a hawk?) on the right spot on the velociraptor. Kind of arbitrary, but still lots of fun.
Since there were a lot of things I forgot to do at the party, I'm so glad we get to celebrate again on October 21st. This time, I'll make sure to:
~ Play rapture the rag. I haven't decided on the rules yet but I think they'll be like capture the flag except awesomer.
~ Have awesome rapture/raptor-theme based music in the background. Right now the only one I can think of which is about both raptors and raptures (or apocalypses) is the one I learned in 1st grade about eagles having no friends and no sky and no land. This reminds me . . . Kevin wanted me to post this and this. Hooray for politics.
~ Watch Jurassic Park, 2012, Armageddon, etc. Actually none of those sound appealing, but whatever.
In closing, here's a great quote from Joseph Smith:
"I have asked of the Lord concerning His coming," the Prophet also said, "and while asking the Lord, He gave a sign and said, 'In the days of Noah I set a bow in the heavens as a sign and token that in any year that the bow should be seen the Lord would not come; but there should be seed time and harvest during that year: but whenever you see the bow withdrawn, it shall be a token that there shall be famine, pestilence, and great distress among the nations, and that the coming of the Messiah is not far distant.' But I will take the responsibility upon myself to prophesy in the name of the Lord, that Christ will not come this year, . . . for we have seen the bow." (Teachings, pp 340-41.)
and a great picture to go along with it, taken May 17th:
ps: kudos to anyone who can tell where my title came from. Here's a hint: you've sung it before.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Sleep Adventures
For my birthday, my mom sent me some books, which I appreciated a lot. One was a retelling of the tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon, which is sort of like Beauty and the Beast. (Incidentally, I just accidentally wrote Beauty in the Beast instead of Beauty and the Beast, which sounds like a self-help book or something.) Anyway, one crucial element of the story is that while the girl is living in the palace, every night some mysterious man gets in the bed and shares it with her.
Well, I guess it was on my mind or something because the night I was up in Boise I woke up all of the sudden not quite sure who this strange man was who was sleeping next to me. Should I go get help? Should I turn the light on to see who it was? After sitting in the bed for like half a minute I realized it was Kevin, and he was supposed to be there. I looked at the time. 11:56. Then I went back to sleep and told him the story in the morning.
The next day we drove back from Boise and listened to a book on CD called "Till We Have Faces." It was actually kind of weird. Maybe it's because the first CD was scratched, so we had no idea what was going on for the first fifteen minutes of listening to the second CD. Anyway, the main girl's sister was sacrificed to the gods but it turned out she was fine, and every night she would go to sleep and then a man would join her in the darkness.
Again, I thought? What's up with all these mysterious men?
And again, last night I woke up suddenly, not quite sure who was next to me and if I was in danger or not. Then I realized it was Kevin. I checked the time. 11:56. Seriously. Then I went back to sleep.
I think I need to read different books.
Well, I guess it was on my mind or something because the night I was up in Boise I woke up all of the sudden not quite sure who this strange man was who was sleeping next to me. Should I go get help? Should I turn the light on to see who it was? After sitting in the bed for like half a minute I realized it was Kevin, and he was supposed to be there. I looked at the time. 11:56. Then I went back to sleep and told him the story in the morning.
The next day we drove back from Boise and listened to a book on CD called "Till We Have Faces." It was actually kind of weird. Maybe it's because the first CD was scratched, so we had no idea what was going on for the first fifteen minutes of listening to the second CD. Anyway, the main girl's sister was sacrificed to the gods but it turned out she was fine, and every night she would go to sleep and then a man would join her in the darkness.
Again, I thought? What's up with all these mysterious men?
And again, last night I woke up suddenly, not quite sure who was next to me and if I was in danger or not. Then I realized it was Kevin. I checked the time. 11:56. Seriously. Then I went back to sleep.
I think I need to read different books.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Lately . . .
So besides doing a random post on my birthday about a weird thing I did as a child, I haven't blogged about life in a while.
And quite a bit has happened. But rather than blathering on and on about everything and every thought I may have had about everything, I'm going to save that for my journal and just share a couple of highlights. Occasional pictures. And I'll try to keep to the 6 word limit Ernest Hemingway kept one time (as shown by my wonderful cousin here), though I may have longer parenthetical remarks.
Here goes . . .
Garden
Just ask Jillian: I like dirt.
(or ask Kevin. I also like peas and onions and lettuce and marigolds and garden soil and watering cans and getting dirty and then getting clean. We don't have high hopes for the peas since it's finally warmed up, but it's still fun)
Finals
3 scheduled finals within 24 hours. Done.
(okay, that was 7 words. And those were just the scheduled finals!)
Graduation
At least my cap didn't fall off.
(7 words again. And it almost did 4 years ago in high school while I was giving a speech. This time my name was just mispronounced in front of thousands of people [though I made sure they pronounced it right when I was getting the diploma]. I'm over it now. :D
One of my favorite parts (and the most nerve wracking) is shown in this picture. I felt so honored to play a musical number at convocation. Also, Kaylie is very good at curling my hair into ringlets.)
Anniversary
Love Kevin. And Old Rock Church.
(okay, 6 words just can't do justice. This has been a wonderful wonderful year and Kevin is remarkable. I could go on and on about just how wonderful our anniversary was, going back to the inn where we spent our first night, watching the Importance of Being Earnest while eating breakfast in bed, let alone all the wonders of this past year and how it's changed me as a person and helped me remember who I was before I became a angsty teenager . . . but I will refrain. Just know that marriage rocks.)
Carl Bloch
The Savior loves us dearly.
(I feel like saying much more would be irreverent. It was a very humbling experience and the paintings were magnificent. I'm so glad the Church discovered Bloch's artwork.)
Work
Done by 5! No homework ever!
(and no other girls either, for that matter. Goodness . . . some days I look forward to grocery shopping just so I can talk to another female face-to-face for the first time that day!)
Birthday
Snow. Steak. Cake. Friends. Happiness. 21.
(Some of my high school friends had a party up in Logan [not for my birthday, just for fun] and it was good remembering how awesome they are. And my family fed us steak and cake for dinner, which was also awesome. I think it was one of the happiest birthdays I've had in a long time.)
Tulip Festival
I love tulips. Still use WordPerfect.
The festival promised "eye candy" and I think this picture definitely has a lot. :)
Wicked
Flying. Singing. 6 years of waiting.
(yeah, it was awesome. I sorta wish I hadn't known the songs quite as well going in, but it was still amazing. And Kevin liked it. And Boise was wonderful and I have the most wonderful family up there. And I liked the zoo.)
So that's some of the amazingly fun stuff I've been up to!
Honorable mentions: party at Joaquin (which ended with a missing wedding ring [not mine]), a wonderful lunch date with a dear friend of mine who didn't seem to mind that I can't eat Subway sandwiches like a civilized being, my obsession with cleaning windows and baseboards and floors and "owning" the apartment, my friend finding her ring after 2 weeks (i.e., today), giving me hope that I won't keep on dreaming she's found it since those are really depressing dreams when I wake up, baby blessing of my youngest cousin which made me feel old, induction into the Provo Married Student 34th ward (long name with unattractive acronym), family dinner, Kaylie's amusement with the "oompa loompas" in the cleanroom . . .
Yeah, life has treated me well.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Bathroom Sink Spaghetti
Last night while I was cooking pasta for dinner, I remembered a game Leslie and I used to play when we were little.
It was called Two Orphans/Widowed Mother and her Daughter/Teacher and Student/Princesses. The premise was this: there would be some hardship, and we'd have to deal with it. All alone. There would be invisible villains we'd have to fight and hide from and help each other escape from.
And when you are working so hard fighting evil, you get a little hungry. So Leslie made this brilliant discovery that if you fill the bathroom sink with hot (or lukewarm) water and then get some noodles from the pantry and put them in the sink, by the time you're done fighting the villains the noodles are now nice and soft and cold and delicious.
And I don't think we ever cleaned the sink out before we did this.
Yeah, I'm surprised Leslie and I ended up as okay as we did. Minus her getting cancer, of course. (But according to her that's from eating old ground beef.)
It was called Two Orphans/Widowed Mother and her Daughter/Teacher and Student/Princesses. The premise was this: there would be some hardship, and we'd have to deal with it. All alone. There would be invisible villains we'd have to fight and hide from and help each other escape from.
And when you are working so hard fighting evil, you get a little hungry. So Leslie made this brilliant discovery that if you fill the bathroom sink with hot (or lukewarm) water and then get some noodles from the pantry and put them in the sink, by the time you're done fighting the villains the noodles are now nice and soft and cold and delicious.
And I don't think we ever cleaned the sink out before we did this.
Yeah, I'm surprised Leslie and I ended up as okay as we did. Minus her getting cancer, of course. (But according to her that's from eating old ground beef.)
Saturday, April 16, 2011
What I didn't do at BYU
So now I've finished my undergraduate education. It feels . . . interesting. I don't feel a huge sense of "doneness" because I'm going to turn right around the Monday after graduation and continue my research, and then start grad school in the fall with teachers I already know, research I've already been doing for a couple of years, and even textbooks I've been trying to understand for the past decade. So it doesn't feel all that . . . climactic.
But still, it does feel good to be at least sort of done. Since I've reached an end of a chapter of my life, I just want to take a couple moments to reflect on the experience. In retrospect, perhaps I rushed through too quickly. But I've always been like that (I suppose to make up for being born 12 days late). Skipping grades, teaching myself classes in the summer, piling on the AP classes during the school year . . . so double majoring in math and electrical engineering in just 8 semesters (okay, with a spring and summer term) was nothing out of the ordinary for me. Furthermore, a lot of things that I didn't do were things I never considered doing, or didn't even want to do. Do I regret it? Not exactly. But it's interesting looking back at what BYU had to offer.
Here are a few things that I was never able to fit into my to-do list:
1) Study abroad. I'm beginning to regret this one, but for the first few years of college I just didn't care. Why go to Paris when you can Google images of the Eiffel Tower? Why go to Jerusalem when there are the maps and pictures at the back of the Bible? Why go to England when their beef isn't all that good? All of you who have traveled know how faulty my logic was, and I'm starting to realize that I should have taken advantage of these amazing opportunities. Alas. I try to live vicariously through other people's blogs.
2) Go to the Holi Festival of Colors. While this isn't a BYU sponsored event, a lot of BYU students go. The year I may not have been too busy (freshman year) I didn't go because I had a date with a guy later whose name I didn't know until 15 minutes before the date ended (it's a long story . . . basically we were coworkers but he never wore his nametag). And since then I've been too busy on the Saturday it's held. But ever since I read this: http://stuffbyupeoplelike.blogspot.com/2010/03/18-holi-festival-of-colors.html, I haven't felt too bad about missing it. Again, maybe I'm just too cynical, or maybe I'm just not too thrilled about getting chalk in my hair and staining my clothes. (I'm writing this post during finals week. Don't judge me too much.)
3) Do pretty much anything associated with Homecoming Week. In particular, the True Blue Football. Again, I'm not really into getting all colorful and staining my clothes. I'm sorry I'm so boring. :)
4) See any of the old movies in the library. I still feel bad about missing "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn."
5) Drive on the sidewalk. Ever since I almost got ran over by a police car going down the ramp (which I had previously thought a sidewalk) just south of the RB, I've wanted to drive a car on the sidewalks on campus. Just like the grounds crew. They say there's a $50.00 fine. I say that's a fair price for a thrill ride of a lifetime. But no, I haven't dared. I haven't even gotten so much as a parking ticket. And actually I'm okay with this one.
6) Buy bookstore fudge. I guess it's not too late now to get some.
By now you're probably thinking, what on earth did she do with her time? How could she have gone to BYU without doing these wonderful things?
Well, I guess here are some things I did.
1) Homework. Lots of it.
2) Take the bell tower class. It was a remarkable experience going up those 99 steps every day and playing the bells for all of Provo to hear (I was actually a little bit embarrassed to realize just how far the sound reached . . . I was hiking the Y one time and could hear the bells). And since it was springtime, the bell tower was surrounded by pink trees and green grass and ducklings and strollers . . . it was incredible.
3) Check a book out of the library. It took me 3 years, and it was a music book (as opposed to an actual novel), but I finally got the courage to check out a book and walk past those security guards with it.
3) Write a musical. Well, parts of one. Well, 4 songs plus a couple of scenes. Someday it will be produced. I have faith. At least some of my songs were used for a ward musical.
4) Get married. At the ripe old age of 19.
5) Get a Jamba Juice, go to the Varsity Theatre, go to International Cinema once, Light the Y, hike to Squaw Peak, throw pennies down the SWKT, chase ducks, go to football/basketball/volleyball games, publish a paper, submit a conference paper, go on a date to the library, witness a marriage proposal in the math lab, eat ice cream from the Creamery/Subzero/Malt Shoppe/Wendy's/Baskins&Robbins, attend Divine Comedy/Laugh out Loud/Humor U/ComedySportz, participate in DanceSport (and make it past the first round, just like BYU basketball in 2010), start the Honors Program, not finish the Honors Program, . . . and the list continues.
I guess I did more than I thought. Perhaps I took advantage of my BYU undergraduate experience after all.
But still, it does feel good to be at least sort of done. Since I've reached an end of a chapter of my life, I just want to take a couple moments to reflect on the experience. In retrospect, perhaps I rushed through too quickly. But I've always been like that (I suppose to make up for being born 12 days late). Skipping grades, teaching myself classes in the summer, piling on the AP classes during the school year . . . so double majoring in math and electrical engineering in just 8 semesters (okay, with a spring and summer term) was nothing out of the ordinary for me. Furthermore, a lot of things that I didn't do were things I never considered doing, or didn't even want to do. Do I regret it? Not exactly. But it's interesting looking back at what BYU had to offer.
Here are a few things that I was never able to fit into my to-do list:
1) Study abroad. I'm beginning to regret this one, but for the first few years of college I just didn't care. Why go to Paris when you can Google images of the Eiffel Tower? Why go to Jerusalem when there are the maps and pictures at the back of the Bible? Why go to England when their beef isn't all that good? All of you who have traveled know how faulty my logic was, and I'm starting to realize that I should have taken advantage of these amazing opportunities. Alas. I try to live vicariously through other people's blogs.
2) Go to the Holi Festival of Colors. While this isn't a BYU sponsored event, a lot of BYU students go. The year I may not have been too busy (freshman year) I didn't go because I had a date with a guy later whose name I didn't know until 15 minutes before the date ended (it's a long story . . . basically we were coworkers but he never wore his nametag). And since then I've been too busy on the Saturday it's held. But ever since I read this: http://stuffbyupeoplelike.blogspot.com/2010/03/18-holi-festival-of-colors.html, I haven't felt too bad about missing it. Again, maybe I'm just too cynical, or maybe I'm just not too thrilled about getting chalk in my hair and staining my clothes. (I'm writing this post during finals week. Don't judge me too much.)
3) Do pretty much anything associated with Homecoming Week. In particular, the True Blue Football. Again, I'm not really into getting all colorful and staining my clothes. I'm sorry I'm so boring. :)
4) See any of the old movies in the library. I still feel bad about missing "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn."
5) Drive on the sidewalk. Ever since I almost got ran over by a police car going down the ramp (which I had previously thought a sidewalk) just south of the RB, I've wanted to drive a car on the sidewalks on campus. Just like the grounds crew. They say there's a $50.00 fine. I say that's a fair price for a thrill ride of a lifetime. But no, I haven't dared. I haven't even gotten so much as a parking ticket. And actually I'm okay with this one.
6) Buy bookstore fudge. I guess it's not too late now to get some.
By now you're probably thinking, what on earth did she do with her time? How could she have gone to BYU without doing these wonderful things?
Well, I guess here are some things I did.
1) Homework. Lots of it.
2) Take the bell tower class. It was a remarkable experience going up those 99 steps every day and playing the bells for all of Provo to hear (I was actually a little bit embarrassed to realize just how far the sound reached . . . I was hiking the Y one time and could hear the bells). And since it was springtime, the bell tower was surrounded by pink trees and green grass and ducklings and strollers . . . it was incredible.
3) Check a book out of the library. It took me 3 years, and it was a music book (as opposed to an actual novel), but I finally got the courage to check out a book and walk past those security guards with it.
3) Write a musical. Well, parts of one. Well, 4 songs plus a couple of scenes. Someday it will be produced. I have faith. At least some of my songs were used for a ward musical.
4) Get married. At the ripe old age of 19.
5) Get a Jamba Juice, go to the Varsity Theatre, go to International Cinema once, Light the Y, hike to Squaw Peak, throw pennies down the SWKT, chase ducks, go to football/basketball/volleyball games, publish a paper, submit a conference paper, go on a date to the library, witness a marriage proposal in the math lab, eat ice cream from the Creamery/Subzero/Malt Shoppe/Wendy's/Baskins&Robbins, attend Divine Comedy/Laugh out Loud/Humor U/ComedySportz, participate in DanceSport (and make it past the first round, just like BYU basketball in 2010), start the Honors Program, not finish the Honors Program, . . . and the list continues.
I guess I did more than I thought. Perhaps I took advantage of my BYU undergraduate experience after all.
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