Hey Everyone,
Sorry I fell through on my commitment to write every week. Again. I feel no shame though, because I have been legitimately busy. My field study prep course is really showing no mercy these days. It has me in a full Nelson, and I think parts of me are going numb. That's what I get for taking the hardest course of my life during spring term, when everything is due in a rapid succession that is twice as fast as the normal rapid succession during the full semesters. I have just finished writing the first draft of a 6 page paper that is part of my final research proposal that I will be submitting to various professors and possible grant donors. The final paper will be about 20 pages I think, including sections describing my proposed course of action, and a fat bibliography. It's already three pages long and I still have almost a month left before the term is over. I expect it to double in length at least once before it's due.
For Memorial Day, I celebrated by doing homework mostly, but I also watched a few movies, stayed out late a couple of nights, played some volleyball, accidentally slept through my grammar class on Friday to start my weekend early, and had a picnic on Saturday morning and Monday evening. This list is not chronological at all.
I quit my job this week. It was kind of sad because I liked it so much, and I liked the people I worked with. I have a funny story to tell about that. On Friday my bishop called me and asked me to speak in church. I told him that I was scheduled to work, and that I would try to get it off, but I couldn't promise him that I would be there. I ended up getting someone to cover my shift, and I made it to church. The topic that would have been assigned to me happened to be keeping the Sabbath day holy. I thought it was ironic. I got a new assignment for a different day now. And I won't ever have to worry about getting Sundays off anymore. I was getting frustrated that I was scheduled to work every single Sunday since I was hired. I got most of them off, but now I have every day off.
I'm really tired, and right now I'm stressed out of my mind. I'm going to go unwind a little because I can tell that any life and energy and creativity I may have had today is completely drained out of me. Have a great week.
Brian
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Anything-but-weekly Update
Hey everyone!
I really have been quite bad at writing every week, just like I thought I might be. The good news is that I have lots of new news this way, and I don't have to struggle to think of things that might be of interest. The bad news is that I'm not sure when my last mass email was, so I don't know how far back to go. On the other hand, I've talked to most of you in the last two months, so I don't think I've left out the important bits in our conversations in person.
I suppose the biggest thing is that I'm still in school for the spring. I'm signed up for classes in the summer too, but I'm almost positive that I'll be dropping them to save money. I just got a job working at the Olive Garden as a busser, and had my first two days of training already. When I get my training done, I'll be able to earn some share of the tips. My trainer is Jose Luis from Ecuador, and I talked to him almost all in Spanish, because it's fun, and it's actually easier for me.
I also got the best single-semester GPA of my life last semester. I really stuck it to the man and just to spite my teachers I got Bs in biology and New Testament instead of Ds like they wanted to give me. I even got a B+ in religion, making it probably my best religion grade yet. I didn't quite get a 4.0 like I wanted before I started the semester, but this is the closest I've been since 4th grade. I got a 3.73 for the semester, which raised my cumulative GPA back above 3.0, which is good. It's nice to not be ashamed of my scholastic career anymore. And, just to make things even cooler, I'm officially a junior now, meaning that now I can finally find open spots in PE classes before everyone else does.
This spring I am only taking three classes: Beginning racquetball, English grammar, and a class whose name I never learned. It's IAS 360R, my prep course to help me think of and develop a research question, and become familiar with Mexico, particularly Irapuato, Guanajuato, where I will be living in the fall to gather data for my research. I will also get a chance to do lots of research here with an amazing library and other resources before I actually get to the field. It's a really interesting class, and we've learned a lot of basics about inter-cultural communication, and interviewing skills, et cetera. But it's also a very difficult class. The first day, we had 45 pages of reading and a paper due, the second day, it was only 29 pages and a paper. They promised me before I signed up for the class that it would be the hardest three-credit class I will ever take at BYU. So far, they have me convinced. It is my favorite class though. Grammar would be interesting if I didn't already know the difference between a verb and a noun. I'm sure it will get a little more complicated soon, but for now it seems like a waste of time to get up in the morning just for grammar. And racquetball is good too, but it's just racquetball. I don't feel like a better person after leaving class. I've learned a ton already in my field study course, just because I've put so much more time into it.
I'm going to South Jordan again tonight, making the third trip this week. I'm going up for my companion's (Michael Marks) wedding reception. This is the companion whose grandmother visit teaches my grandmother. With connections like that, how could we have gotten along less than well? He was one of my favorite companions, so I'm excited to see him.
That's about all I have time to write about in this semi-annual weekly newsletter. I predict a good summer for all, and I put money on it, so don't let me down. Just kidding, but seriously. HAGS! (that was for you, Julie and Scott)
Brian
I really have been quite bad at writing every week, just like I thought I might be. The good news is that I have lots of new news this way, and I don't have to struggle to think of things that might be of interest. The bad news is that I'm not sure when my last mass email was, so I don't know how far back to go. On the other hand, I've talked to most of you in the last two months, so I don't think I've left out the important bits in our conversations in person.
I suppose the biggest thing is that I'm still in school for the spring. I'm signed up for classes in the summer too, but I'm almost positive that I'll be dropping them to save money. I just got a job working at the Olive Garden as a busser, and had my first two days of training already. When I get my training done, I'll be able to earn some share of the tips. My trainer is Jose Luis from Ecuador, and I talked to him almost all in Spanish, because it's fun, and it's actually easier for me.
I also got the best single-semester GPA of my life last semester. I really stuck it to the man and just to spite my teachers I got Bs in biology and New Testament instead of Ds like they wanted to give me. I even got a B+ in religion, making it probably my best religion grade yet. I didn't quite get a 4.0 like I wanted before I started the semester, but this is the closest I've been since 4th grade. I got a 3.73 for the semester, which raised my cumulative GPA back above 3.0, which is good. It's nice to not be ashamed of my scholastic career anymore. And, just to make things even cooler, I'm officially a junior now, meaning that now I can finally find open spots in PE classes before everyone else does.
This spring I am only taking three classes: Beginning racquetball, English grammar, and a class whose name I never learned. It's IAS 360R, my prep course to help me think of and develop a research question, and become familiar with Mexico, particularly Irapuato, Guanajuato, where I will be living in the fall to gather data for my research. I will also get a chance to do lots of research here with an amazing library and other resources before I actually get to the field. It's a really interesting class, and we've learned a lot of basics about inter-cultural communication, and interviewing skills, et cetera. But it's also a very difficult class. The first day, we had 45 pages of reading and a paper due, the second day, it was only 29 pages and a paper. They promised me before I signed up for the class that it would be the hardest three-credit class I will ever take at BYU. So far, they have me convinced. It is my favorite class though. Grammar would be interesting if I didn't already know the difference between a verb and a noun. I'm sure it will get a little more complicated soon, but for now it seems like a waste of time to get up in the morning just for grammar. And racquetball is good too, but it's just racquetball. I don't feel like a better person after leaving class. I've learned a ton already in my field study course, just because I've put so much more time into it.
I'm going to South Jordan again tonight, making the third trip this week. I'm going up for my companion's (Michael Marks) wedding reception. This is the companion whose grandmother visit teaches my grandmother. With connections like that, how could we have gotten along less than well? He was one of my favorite companions, so I'm excited to see him.
That's about all I have time to write about in this semi-annual weekly newsletter. I predict a good summer for all, and I put money on it, so don't let me down. Just kidding, but seriously. HAGS! (that was for you, Julie and Scott)
Brian
Monday, March 26, 2007
Brian's still alive part II
Hey everyone!
Again, I had a great week. I don't think I've had a bad week since school started. I really enjoy being in Provo, and everything that goes along with it. The good news for this week is that I took my tests, did well in Spanish and not so well in biology. And I did in fact finish my paper for international relations, just in time for a lunch group before class. It was pretty fun. I like writing, but I do wish that I didn't have to cite three pages of sources in the actual text. It's such a pain. It was pretty intense trying to expand on a very simple proposal and make it into a paper long enough to qualify for credit, but I managed to say the same thing in more ways than I thought were possible. I even found quotes from other people that said basically the same thing I was arguing, so I was able to use up a good half page with each of those, and ended up with a 13 page paper, which definitely clears the 7 page minimum limit.
My stake roadshow turned out great. We practiced a little bit more on Saturday morning, then we practiced in the afternoon and had the performance in the evening. I felt like we performed with more energy than we had practiced with, and the microphones decided to work for us. We were all a little nervous that they wouldn't after not being able to hear a word we were singing during the dress rehearsal. We got lots of noise from the audience, and a complete absence of rotten fruit, so I guess we did all right. It was a lot of fun, all in all.
The trees all have flowers on them now, but it's a little cloudy. So it looks a lot more like spring, but it doesn't at the same time because it got cloudy today too. I heard that it's supposed to rain/snow(?) this week. I'm looking forward to a sunny weekend though, I'm supposed to go camping and I want to not wash down the mountain in the night.
It was also great to see so many of my family at grandma and grandpa's house in South Jordan. It was a blast, our family rocks. And for those of you not in my family, I encourage you to consider joining and pick up an application. The induction process does involve some fairly serious commitment, but you'll have a good time.
I worked in the dish room yesterday. I don't recommend it to anyone. I usually work on the grill, but it was closed yesterday and I had to be reassigned. I heard that being a "cook's help" is the easiest job, and least taxing, and that the dish room is by far the most miserable. I can't speak for the "cook's help" but I would be willing to put money on dishes as the worst job available anywhere on campus. I think working at the grill tonight is going to seem a lot nicer now after having gone through yesterday. Tonight's shift will be shorter too, only four hours instead of six. Four is nice, grill is nice, Monday is nice.
Again, I had a great week. I don't think I've had a bad week since school started. I really enjoy being in Provo, and everything that goes along with it. The good news for this week is that I took my tests, did well in Spanish and not so well in biology. And I did in fact finish my paper for international relations, just in time for a lunch group before class. It was pretty fun. I like writing, but I do wish that I didn't have to cite three pages of sources in the actual text. It's such a pain. It was pretty intense trying to expand on a very simple proposal and make it into a paper long enough to qualify for credit, but I managed to say the same thing in more ways than I thought were possible. I even found quotes from other people that said basically the same thing I was arguing, so I was able to use up a good half page with each of those, and ended up with a 13 page paper, which definitely clears the 7 page minimum limit.
My stake roadshow turned out great. We practiced a little bit more on Saturday morning, then we practiced in the afternoon and had the performance in the evening. I felt like we performed with more energy than we had practiced with, and the microphones decided to work for us. We were all a little nervous that they wouldn't after not being able to hear a word we were singing during the dress rehearsal. We got lots of noise from the audience, and a complete absence of rotten fruit, so I guess we did all right. It was a lot of fun, all in all.
The trees all have flowers on them now, but it's a little cloudy. So it looks a lot more like spring, but it doesn't at the same time because it got cloudy today too. I heard that it's supposed to rain/snow(?) this week. I'm looking forward to a sunny weekend though, I'm supposed to go camping and I want to not wash down the mountain in the night.
It was also great to see so many of my family at grandma and grandpa's house in South Jordan. It was a blast, our family rocks. And for those of you not in my family, I encourage you to consider joining and pick up an application. The induction process does involve some fairly serious commitment, but you'll have a good time.
I worked in the dish room yesterday. I don't recommend it to anyone. I usually work on the grill, but it was closed yesterday and I had to be reassigned. I heard that being a "cook's help" is the easiest job, and least taxing, and that the dish room is by far the most miserable. I can't speak for the "cook's help" but I would be willing to put money on dishes as the worst job available anywhere on campus. I think working at the grill tonight is going to seem a lot nicer now after having gone through yesterday. Tonight's shift will be shorter too, only four hours instead of six. Four is nice, grill is nice, Monday is nice.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Brian's still alive
Dear Family and Friends,
Well, It's been another week. I've done nothing but play in the last couple of days, and it's been a blast. Since Friday I have gone running, bowling, camping, and played racquetball once and ultimate Frisbee three times, and danced for two hours on Saturday. I also had a little root beer and ginger ale drinking party with some wardies out by the pool wearing green on St. Patrick's Day. I also saw three movies. What I didn't do is homework, and I feel totally fine with that.
I did make myself slightly injured in the end. By Saturday afternoon my right hip was hurting (possibly from sleeping on a rock the night before?) and whatever muscle is found in my right shin was aching pretty badly from all the running. And I woke up Sunday morning with a headache that even ibuprofen couldn't relieve, which still hasn't gone away, and might not until this Thursday. Why Thursday, you ask? Well, the truth is that I get out of class at 1:20 pm on Thursday, and don't have to go back until Monday morning at 9. And on top of that, I will have taken three tests and written one final draft of a 7 page paper, so I won't even have those classes hanging over my head like a guillotine like I do this week. The rope looks a little frayed at the moment.
I have to confess that I only got a 63% on my New Testament test this morning. I studied for it yesterday by reading in the Bible Dictionary, and I studied my notes and handouts from class this morning right before I went into the testing center. And guess what, it was really really ridiculously hard. I don't know how someone can even think of questions that hard. I studied everything I could think to study, and yet, there was more. I hate religion classes at BYU. This is my third one, and the third one I've been slaughtered by. I haven't missed class yet, you'd think I would have picked something up from lecture.
But my other tests are looking good. I got one back today from Hispanic Linguistics, and I got another 96%, which dropped my average in the class about a third of a percent. I have another Spanish test this week, which shouldn't be too bad, and a biology test which just might dig my grave and put me in it all at once. I tried studying a little bit this morning and I asked the girl next to me in lecture if DNA and chromosomes are the same thing. She laughed at me and offered me a quarter to ask it in front of the class. I take that as a no? I'm getting really close to understanding what a cell actually IS while the rest of the class is diagramming the Krebs Cycle and cellular respiration. I honestly wish I could drop the class and try again when I'm a senior in hopes that I will have picked up some brains on the way to graduation. Also, I petition that genetics should be changed to allelics, because I have a diagram in my book that labels the same yellow and green segments of the chromosome (apparently NOT also known as DNA) as both genes and alleles. I'm not sure why. I blame the artist's rendition of real life for all misunderstandings related to biology.
I guess my real point in these last two paragraphs is that Bio 100 and New Testament are neck and neck for the "Worst Course Offered at BYU EVER Award". Shannon and Andrew, I have the feeling that biology might actually move up on my list that I made last week, and take second-to-last. Does that make you feel any better.... ? :)
I watched Oliver Twist on Saturday night. It's a creepy movie to watch by yourself in the dark. It wasn't the nice musical that I remember as a child, but rather the version that emits evil with ever flicker of light through the film. Well, ok, it wasn't that bad, but it did make me pretty happy that I grew up in the days of child labor laws and adoption agencies. At least in the northern hemisphere. And I'm darn glad I live in the northern hemisphere.
I'm sort of in a weird mood today, it's been a long day, filled with pleasantness, some laughter in the morning, as well as bad news in the afternoon, generic brand mac & cheese (I don't recommend it), and lots of sun, that I really haven't seen much of. I don't really know how to describe today, other than just plain odd. But I hope that everyone who reads this is well and enjoying themselves immensely. Have a great week!
Well, It's been another week. I've done nothing but play in the last couple of days, and it's been a blast. Since Friday I have gone running, bowling, camping, and played racquetball once and ultimate Frisbee three times, and danced for two hours on Saturday. I also had a little root beer and ginger ale drinking party with some wardies out by the pool wearing green on St. Patrick's Day. I also saw three movies. What I didn't do is homework, and I feel totally fine with that.
I did make myself slightly injured in the end. By Saturday afternoon my right hip was hurting (possibly from sleeping on a rock the night before?) and whatever muscle is found in my right shin was aching pretty badly from all the running. And I woke up Sunday morning with a headache that even ibuprofen couldn't relieve, which still hasn't gone away, and might not until this Thursday. Why Thursday, you ask? Well, the truth is that I get out of class at 1:20 pm on Thursday, and don't have to go back until Monday morning at 9. And on top of that, I will have taken three tests and written one final draft of a 7 page paper, so I won't even have those classes hanging over my head like a guillotine like I do this week. The rope looks a little frayed at the moment.
I have to confess that I only got a 63% on my New Testament test this morning. I studied for it yesterday by reading in the Bible Dictionary, and I studied my notes and handouts from class this morning right before I went into the testing center. And guess what, it was really really ridiculously hard. I don't know how someone can even think of questions that hard. I studied everything I could think to study, and yet, there was more. I hate religion classes at BYU. This is my third one, and the third one I've been slaughtered by. I haven't missed class yet, you'd think I would have picked something up from lecture.
But my other tests are looking good. I got one back today from Hispanic Linguistics, and I got another 96%, which dropped my average in the class about a third of a percent. I have another Spanish test this week, which shouldn't be too bad, and a biology test which just might dig my grave and put me in it all at once. I tried studying a little bit this morning and I asked the girl next to me in lecture if DNA and chromosomes are the same thing. She laughed at me and offered me a quarter to ask it in front of the class. I take that as a no? I'm getting really close to understanding what a cell actually IS while the rest of the class is diagramming the Krebs Cycle and cellular respiration. I honestly wish I could drop the class and try again when I'm a senior in hopes that I will have picked up some brains on the way to graduation. Also, I petition that genetics should be changed to allelics, because I have a diagram in my book that labels the same yellow and green segments of the chromosome (apparently NOT also known as DNA) as both genes and alleles. I'm not sure why. I blame the artist's rendition of real life for all misunderstandings related to biology.
I guess my real point in these last two paragraphs is that Bio 100 and New Testament are neck and neck for the "Worst Course Offered at BYU EVER Award". Shannon and Andrew, I have the feeling that biology might actually move up on my list that I made last week, and take second-to-last. Does that make you feel any better.... ? :)
I watched Oliver Twist on Saturday night. It's a creepy movie to watch by yourself in the dark. It wasn't the nice musical that I remember as a child, but rather the version that emits evil with ever flicker of light through the film. Well, ok, it wasn't that bad, but it did make me pretty happy that I grew up in the days of child labor laws and adoption agencies. At least in the northern hemisphere. And I'm darn glad I live in the northern hemisphere.
I'm sort of in a weird mood today, it's been a long day, filled with pleasantness, some laughter in the morning, as well as bad news in the afternoon, generic brand mac & cheese (I don't recommend it), and lots of sun, that I really haven't seen much of. I don't really know how to describe today, other than just plain odd. But I hope that everyone who reads this is well and enjoying themselves immensely. Have a great week!
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