Excitement of the Day

Hello there ladies and gentlemen,

I am back in the habit of writing short posts. Today is Monday. There's a Red Cross Blood Drive today that I have been looking forward to for the past 2 weeks. (I like to give blood- I hate the process, but it makes me feel like I did a good deed afterwards). Well, first of all, I got up this morning with a runny-ish nose, and I am highly disappointed. This means I probably will not be able to give blood. I am quite upset with my body right now.

Anyway- I went to class at 9 am. As I was sitting there, my right contact lens started to annoy me, so I rubbed my eye. Well, that proved an unfortunate decision because it displaced my contact into some mysterious, yet ridiculously painful, region of my eye and I didn't see it again for about 40 minutes. I tried to get out my mirror and fix the problem while in class, but that wasn't working. And my eye was starting to tear. I finally decided I had no choice but to go to the bathroom, so I climbed over people and made my way out. They probably thought I was crying. Yes, tax code is just that unsettling.

I went to the bathroom and tried flushing out my eye, but still could not find the contact lens anywhere- except every now and then I'd pull my eyelid as far away from my eye as possible and see this little glossy wad that I assumed was it, but that I could not and did not want to try to reach with my fingernails.

I went back to class for the last ten minutes, after I got the contact lens into a region of my eye that hurt less than the others. After class I thought about how to solve this problem, and decided that since I was in a building close to the hill, I could just walk down and back home to take out the contact and put in new ones- walking around with just one in is disorienting and nausea-inducing.

So I walked down the hill, but decided maybe I could stow my backpack in my locker in the HGB so that I didn't have to bring it all the way home. This is a locker I bought at the beginning of the year. I know the combination by heart, but have yet to open it successfully. Yes, that's right. I fiddled around with it for about 5 minutes and then walked home. (I think the problem is I don't know what to hold on to. You put the code in on the lock, and then there's nothing to pull, nothing to push, and I cannot figure out how to possibly open the locker short of a magnet.)

Anyway- that's not the point. I walked all the way back here, spent about 10 minutes in front of the mirror trying to rub this thing out of its hiding place. Finally saw it in the back of my eye and decided to just dig for it. I got it out of my eye and I was feeling trimphant when I noticed it was only half a contact lens.

Well, who knows where the other half is? I guess we play the waiting game now- if it could come out and irritate my eye and make me cry in the middle of a meeting I have with a professor today, that'd be fabulous.

Back to campus now. In glasses. I'll keep you updated.
-mollie

p.s.- I have a date this Friday :)

No Boys Allowed. REALLY.

so I was just minding my own business in my room when I had to leave to go to the bathroom.

I opened the door just as three men (probably 20-24 range) were walking down the hallway and into my roommate's room, and then shut the door.

Um... excuse me?

I'm sorry, but this is a rule that I see absolutely no reason to break. There was one time my Freshman year when my brother had to come into my room to fix my printer. But I warned my roommates ahead of time, he was there for 10 minutes, and the door was open. Or maybe my dad was there for a bit while I moved in. But other than that, there is absolutely no reason to break this rule. So, roommate, even if you don't mind having 3 guys in your room to hang out, I do.

Brown: Overcoming Obstacles in a Resilient Manner...

Ok...

First, here's three cheers to the peer mentors who will think my title is clever. It is much less clever if you are not a peer mentor. Sorry.

Second, it's time for a story. Oh and by the way, I have tons of pictures from recent happenings in my life- the trick is getting the energy to get them onto my computer. Sorry I'm lazy. Ok really, on to the story.

So, at work the other day, Toni and I were talking about how much we love the movie October Sky. We decided we wanted to have a movie night to watch it on Friday (yesterday). Well, then I had the brilliant idea to have an October Sky party in... OCTOBER! So we sent out invitations to the office and then decided to watch a different movie last night.

And now, I present to you my chronology of good and bad things that happened last night.
Good: I thought I'd plan ahead and reserve the movie (The Soloist) online.
Bad: It was at the redbox about 10 minutes away
Good: I reserved another one at Smith's, near my apartment
Bad: I lost my dollar on the other reservation.
Good: We went to dinner at Cafe Rio
Bad: None. Except for that my water tasted like blood. It was weird.
Good: I have a DVD player in storage at my sister's, so I said we just needed to run over and get it.
Bad: When we got there, the house was locked and the keypad wouldn't open the door.
Good: I finally got in (after about 15 minutes, seriously) by pushing the "Enter" button three times on the keypad and yelling at it.
Bad: When I went to leave, the keypad still was not working to close the garage door.
Good: I figured out I could just push the button the inside of the garage to close the door, and then go out.
Bad: The censors caught me and the door wouldn't close.
Good: I pushed the button again, ran, and jumped over the censor line to get out.
Bad: We got back to my apartment and realized I didn't have the cord to hook the DVD player to the TV
Good: I borrowed a cord from my neighbors.
Bad: We realized the TV did not have a hook-up for a DVD player. Or a VCR. (Seriously- was this TV made in the 50s?)
Good: I have a laptop and we could watch the movie on that.
Bad: The sound on my laptop sucks for three people trying to huddle around and watch a movie.
Good: About half-way through the movie, we discovered subtitles.
Bad: We had to read the rest of the movie.

Ok.

Now really. I like to consider myself an organized, planning-oriented person, but last night I was like 0-10. Seriously. I was impressed with my optimism in an effort to overcome all the random challenges, but I'm just going to have to admit here, my attempt at dinner/movie night: FAIL.

I think it goes without saying that the October October Sky party will not be hosted by me.

Going to run errands now,
mollie

And the Award Goes To...

Patrick and Sam. Two guys I work with.

The first to notice (or at least to comment on) my haircut. I got 4" cut off on Saturday.

Alisha, you must have trained him well. As for Sam, I don't know how to explain that, except that he's observant- obviously.

Also, here's a "shout out" to my mom. President Samuelson quoted "Que Sera Sera" as central to his devotional talk today, and I know that song from beginning to end because my mom used to sing it all the time. At least, it seems like it was all the time.

The End.

Rise and shout the Cougars are out!!

ladies and gentlemen,

so last night, BYU beat #3 Oklahoma in Texas. Provo was crazy. At BYU, there were tons of people in the streets yelling and shouting and honking. People were playing music really loud and basically joy-riding around to scream.

well, I caught wind that people were going to the Provo airport because the team was flying back at about 2 am this morning. After some convincing from a couple friends and a sister, I decided I might as well go. Right?

I hate large crowds. I hate the pushing, shoving, and selfishness of it. And I tend to think that the collective IQ of the group loses thousands of points when you get more than 15 people in one place. But, I thought, what the heck.

We drove there and were some of the first ones. We waited at the gate and a guy came around to announce they would let us out onto the runway but if we did not stay behind the cop cars and cones, we would be arrested and everyone would be forced to leave. We ran out and I was in the front- good spot. And then these massive men came and plowed their way through and I was behind them now. For the record, I do not understand fanatic fans (can I use those two words together?). These men were psycho. They're out there yelling and when the guys finally came off the plane and went down the row to shake hands they're all fawning "DUDE- YOU'RE AWESOME. YOU ROCK MAN!" and I just don't get it.

I also do not get the girl fanatics. Who showed up in their short shorts and tank tops (to cheer BYU- morons) and screamed the names of the players as they walked by and then leaned as far as they could in to maybe get one of them to touch their fingertips as they screamed "I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU!!!" I know this because three of them were right behind me.

At one point a girl came up from behind me and said to me, "I just need to get in front of you." Um, nope. You don't. Nice try though. And so then when I said "No" and she probably thought I was a snot, she just pushed into me every time a player came by and her hand was nowhere near making it far enough to be reached- but nonetheless she did her best by leaning over the top of me. Thank you girl. Then her and her friend start pushing.

Now, I'm right behind the guy who's right behind the cones. There is nowhere to go if she starts pushing, except for into the guy in front of me, who will then go over the cones, and get himself arrested and rest of us sent home. Finally I just turned around and yelled at her. "YOU CAN'T PUSH!" As I said. She thought I was rude. But I was getting tired of her.

Anyway- so it did only solidify my hatred of large crowds. But, it was exciting. We watched the plane land and then all the players got off and everyone was cheering and then they walked down the line and shook hands and signed autographs. Bronco gave a speech to all the fans. I'm sure they were exhausted and thought "Oh crap. I just want to go home and now I'm going to be stuck in traffic for an hour trying to get out of here," but oh well.

I took a couple pictures which I will have to put up later. But for now, here is a picture from Deseret News.

I am the little face with the glasses under the white arrow. Crazy pushy girl is under the turquoise arrow, and the two kids I came with are the purple arrows.

Rah rah, rah rah rah, rah rah, rah rah rah, GO COUGARS!!

-mollie

rare political tirade. no, i'm not this crazy all the time.

ADDENDUM TO THIS POST: now this is the headline story of CNN.com. Why?!?

ok.

I try to keep myself out of political discussions at work and elsewhere, mostly because when I moved here, it became very clear to me that I am not a republican, and most people here are- some extremely so.

but I'm sorry, this article : http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7786052 annoys me!

It's the headline story of ksl news, and it's talking about President Obama's address to the nation's students next Tuesday at noon. All schools are encouraged to take time to watch it, and it's supposed to be about 15 minutes. And the story is about how Utah parents are "concerned" that the address will be "offensive" and "too liberal" or "pushing a leftist agenda." School districts are putting "guidelines" in place for students if teachers want to include it as part of their curriculum, and students will be allowed to "opt-out" and do something else so they don't have to watch it.

Seriously? This isn't an R rated movie, or comprehensive sex education, or a discussion about abortion which I could see people having legitimate concerns about. But really. It's the President of the United States. He's taking time to address the school children in our country for 15 minutes, and there are parents so "concerned" that they won't allow their children to watch it?!?!

What could he POSSIBLY say in 15 minutes?!

Something like "Now is the time to focus on your education. To search for your own answers to today's questions and problems that you will soon inherit. You are the leaders of tomorrow and our future is in your hands. Some of you will hopefully find alternative energy sources. Some of you will hopefully solve the 'healthcare crisis'. Some of you worry about your future- perhaps your families are struggling. I can assure you with hard work our country will again become financially secure- we will come out of the recession. Some of you may even be the President of the United States. You need to take advantage of the education you're receiving to learn as much as you can to become responsible citizens. And while we're at it, it will take the help of all of you to stop school violence. To keep each other safe. Make good decisions. Don't throw away your future."

... that was as "leftist" as I could possibly muster for a presidential address to students in the country, all of whom are under voting age (therefore I don't think President Obama is going to be 'campaigning' to your 6 year old), and most are elementary and middle school students who probably don't understand the difference between Democrats and Republicans.

Maybe high school students are different, but most little children do not care that their president is a Democrat or Republican unless their parents told them to care. Most elementary school kids think "cool, he's the President!"

And really? You're going to keep your kids home from school so they don't have to see the President speak directly to them? Heaven forbid your kid get a viewpoint different than your own, and heaven forbid your kid feel like President Obama is "their" president- after all, they LIVE in the United States. Seriously. If nothing else, your kid will feel like the President cares about them, that they have a responsibility to contribute to the world, and maybe their view of the world will be a little bit wider. And not even a lot wider, because I can't imagine what President Obama could say to an audience of 6-17 year olds that would "push his leftist agenda".

Urgh. It just bothers me. "Please, no, we don't want your children to hear what the President of the country has to say! After all, we didn't vote for him! Therefore we must ignore and avoid every interaction our children could possibly have with him. We don't want them getting crazy Democratic ideas!" Well, maybe your children can stop chanting "kill Obama" or whatever it was in Idaho. Yeah, that would be a shame. Because that really gives the Republican West a good reputation.

But I really don't even care if you disagree with President Obama's "agenda". That's not even what matters here. He's the President, and he wants your 8 year old to take 15 minutes to hear what he has to say. And you say no? I just don't get that! If your children are in high school, you should be able to trust that they will make their own good decisions and you can stop protecting them from the President. If your children are younger, as I said, they're not going to pick up any of his "leftist agenda" because they'll be too busy passing notes to each other and thinking the President is "cool", and probably little else.

I mean, my parents (sorry, I'm calling you out here) didn't exactly like President Bush there for a while, and I was in high school. But did they tell us we couldn't watch his television addresses because they didn't want us picking up his "right-wing agenda"? No. Because children should be informed. And be exposed to other opinions. And make their own political decisions. And know what's happening in their own country.

Anyway. ok. I'm done now.

I'm just saying. And it's my blog, so I can. I'm just hoping getting to voice my opinion here will keep me from getting uppity about it at work, etc. But anyway- I guess that's the beauty of living in America- crazy parents can keep their children from seeing the President speak if they want to. But I'm just sayin- disagreeing with someone's political stance is not a good enough reason to keep your children away from them, and it's not a good enough reason to ignore what they have to say.

-mollie

wait, what?

I realize I really need to start posting pictures or you all go into a coma before you get to the end of my posts. Sorry about that.

Well, I have had my first day of classes, and my second day. It is going to be a busy semester and I am struggling to find a routine when I have classes all over the place and don't get out of class until 8:30 on Tuesdays, 6 on Wednesdays, and 8 on Thursdays. Also, I teach my first section of "psychological testing" on Friday, and I'm a little bit terrified.

Anyway. I'm wanting to share a few stories with you.

1) At work the other day, our boss was talking about the economy and how life as a college student is uncertain right now. She was talking about students don't want to graduate, so more are staying on campus, and how there was a general influx of freshman this year, possibly because people don't have the money to send their students elsewhere. She threw out a question to the effect of: "we don't know all the consequences of the financial instability at this point, so this fall semester is going to be different than those in the past." Makes sense, I'm on the same page. I catch her drift. I'm picking up what she's laying down. Then a fellow peer mentor (who is new this year) said "I know. I was talking to my dad and I was telling him, 'You know, it's because of the financial crash that I'm not a y-group leader this year.'[peer mentors used to be y-group leaders at new student orientation]"... all serious and urgent-sounding. ... wait, what? I don't even know how that makes sense in her head. Maybe you do?

2) I went to office depot last night to buy stuff for school after scoping out prices online and determining that they had the lowest ones. I went to a Staples and an OfficeMax first though- thinking they were Office Depots. They were not. Spent about an hour (if not more) scoping out notebooks, binders, and folders. Things in my world have to be color-coded. So each class has a color. Which means for classes that require notebooks and folders, I need to find matching folders and notebooks depending on the color of the class. Anyway- it took me longer than you might think humanly possible and I still had to go to Wal-mart [which I was trying to avoid] to get an orange, green, and purple notebook because Office Depot let me down. Lame. But anyway. I got my receipt back, and I had purposely put off purchasing a "financial calculator" (for about $30, for my Family Finance class) in the hopes of borrowing one from someone. But then I see the receipt and it says "$10 off coupon when you spend $30 or more". Well, my lucky day! I can get my calculator in about a week, and it'll cost me $20 instead of $30.

I held on to the coupon and just now looked at it on my desk. Here's what it says underneath the previously mentioned coupon announcement: "Valid in-store only at the store named on this receipt". Ok, I have to go back to the Orem Office Depot. Not a huge deal. Then, "must present this original coupon to cashier at time of purchase. Photocopies not valid." Ok, I get it. Then, "Not valid for purchases: 1) made in Office Depot outlet/clearance stores, 2) by contact customers with Store Purchasing or Procurement Cards [I don't even know what that means], 3) of gift cards, 4) [and my personal favorite] of any technology or consumer electronic products and accessories or media or software products, 5) of postage stamps, 6) of product protection plans, 7) of HP ink or toner, 8) of wireless, satellite, internet, technology, installation, mailing shipping, or third-party services."

Ok seriously, when your "coupon" is 6" long and 5.5" of that is to explain what you can't get with it, something is wrong. Anyway- I'm guessing my calculator falls under the "electronic products" category. Maybe not.

No but really. I think they should have included a list of what you can get with your coupon; I think it would have been shorter.

3) I went to Psych 358 tonight- Leadership Development. It meets once a week from 6-8:30 pm, and besides the fact that that is an ungodly time slot for a class, I was plenty excited about it. Should be interesting, I assumed. Then I go, find a grad student standing at the podium, and determine this might be less of a good choice than I thought. But, I'm trying to withhold judgment at this point.

We go over the syllabus, and he's talking about our writing assignments (two short ones, one long) and how he'll be grading mostly on organization and not content. So then he spends about 15 minutes explaining the "introduction-last-sentence-thesis-statement-topic-sentence-of-each-paragraph-conclusion" format. Basically how you wrote a paper in 4th grade. I have determined that professors who say they're grading on "organization" are really using code for "I don't plan on reading these and need a quick way to skim over your paper in 15 seconds or less. If you screw with my plan, and I actually have to read your paper to get what you're saying, you lose points." At this point, judgment starts flowing. Slowly.

Anyway. That's besides the point. My favorite part [and when I let all my judgment loose] of the syllabus was the section titled "Team Presentations". It went like this: "The class will be divided into five teams [note, he purposely avoided the word "group"]. Each team will present a chapter to the class. Team members will be given a specific chaper to present on a designated day. Presentations should cover key concepts from the chapter in an interesting way that will help students learn. Each team can use visual aids, digital learning, role playing, case studies, challenge groups, or any other ideas. Presentations should be between one and two hours. Extra journal articles on key topics are encouraged and can be posted by the professor on Blackboard for the entire class to read before your presentation... Be creative and have fun with it, but make sure the entire class will be prepared to be tested on the material you cover. Teams will hand in 5 multiple choice test questions when they do their presentation."

Ok... hold on a minute. This class meets like 12 times throughout the semester. 6 of those will be taught by students. Presentations have to be 1-2 hours long, and the class is 2.5 hours, not leaving much time for professor instruction. So I get it- we're providing lectures for you because you don't want to. Fine. But then it gets better. Not only do we have to do the lectures, but we're also responsible for activities and supplemental readings in class, and [my personal favorite] to provide you with 5 multiple choice test questions at the end of our presentation. So we write your test too?! Really?! ... what exactly do you do mr. grad-student-professor? Seriously?!

Oy.

Well anyway- those are my stories of the day. The end.

-mollie