Under the Skin

So, it's late, and I need to get to bed, but I'm just being a little bit restless at the moment, even though I've been sort of in a down all day. It's really bizarre. I don't know why, but today has featured a lack of gung-ho-ness, giddy-uped-ness, endorphins and serotonin. However, I'm feeling like I couldn't sleep. So I will post. Yesterday and today in IB Psychology, we learned about a theoretical concept called "Cognitive Dissonance." By the way, though it's still a theory technically because there is no such thing as a law in the world of psychology, it's been used as an accepted explanation since 70s or 80s, and is assumed accurate today. It got me to thinking. For a short explanation: Cognitive dissonance literally translated means "thoughts out of tune." Basically, it's what happens when someone does something contrary to their own beliefs, and therefore experiences a stress that will illicit one of two response...

For those who haven't heard, or those who aren't LDS, the Prophet, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gordon Bitner Hinckley, passed to a more beautiful place last night, due to causes of old age at the age of 97. He will be very missed, but he seemed to be homesick for our Father in Heaven, and after the death of his wife a few years ago, he's seemed to miss her terribly. They're together again, and he is in the presence of our Heavenly Father. I have worked on this this morning as a tribute (no school because of teacher workday...a workday that was canceled anyways because of snow). This is a work in progress. I recorded the background music myself, but I sort of messed up in the second half and got myself off, so I'm thinking that perhaps I'll rerecord it. Opinions?

Over thinking over the week, I have decided on funny moment of the week that I have chosen to share with you all. This does not mean that this is the funniest, the best, the most memorable. It just means its the one I choose to share. The other day in Pre-Calculus (I think it was on Thursday), we were talking about fundamental identities. As our teacher showed us sample problems and we all took notes. Some of the sample problems used the variable of x. Why? Because they can. The kid next to me just says quietly, "How come whenever she says sin x, I think that's she talking about Sudafed's up and coming competitor? That's what it sounds like."

Just wanted to let everyone know something really quick: My brother will be home from his mission in less than a month! On February 20th, we will be standing in Seatac Airport (a portmanteau of Seattle-Tacoma Airport), waiting for him to get off the plan. I am happy for him that he was able to serve the Lord for two years of his life, but I am more than ready for him to get home! I've missed him, and I'm glad that he'll be home. The scary part? Someone brought up to me that after missions comes marriage, and even if I'm ready for the mission to be coming to an end, I'm not ready for sister-in-laws.

Our French penpals were learning about American immigration (in their English class), so their teacher told them to write to us and ask us where are families are from and such. I thought that it's not a bad thing to document anyways, so I roughly translate it here and give it to you, with parts that don't really make sense taken out. Most Americans are not of American origin. Some are of American origin because they are Native American. Most have somebody in their ancestry who was an immigrant. I am a citizen of the United States , but I have many different sorts of heritage. I am almost half English, Scottish and Welsh. On my paternal grandfather’s side, I am Scottish and Welsh, and on my maternal grandfather’s side, the family is mostly English. But somebody on my paternal grandfather’s side married a woman who came from a Cherokee tribe. Cherokees are a tribe of Native Americans. On my paternal grandmother’s side, the family is German. I am almost a German eighth. On m...

So, I find myself in a fix where because of my inability to be able to participate in orchestra this year, I've decreased the amount that I practice. There's probably a strong correlation coeffecient if anyone needs a Math Studies IA (Inglemoor IB joke...if you're not in that social group you probably don't get that. It's okay. Don't feel bad.) Therefore, I have given myself a new motivation. If I do not practice sufficiently, I will find myself embarrassing myself online. I will warn you if a piece is highly "unlistenable," so that if you're not in the mood for bad violin music, you'll know. This week, we have a Gretry Tambourin and a Bach Allegro. The Tambourin has places that could stand improvement, but is generally okay and" listenable". The Allegro, on the other hand, could be described as "Bad Bach." Screeches, out of tune and bad shifts abound. Listen at your own risk. Allegro: Tambourin:

To my cousin-in-law --I begin my nitpicky post with a relationship that I’m not even sure exists—who just posted concerning grammar Nazism. I probably belong to this family. It’s getting to be less so as people learn, but I am known as the comma Nazi when peer editing. I must say that I agree with you to a certain extent. However, I will have to be the first person to admit that my blog is far from perfect. It just seems pointless to proofread a blog. I mostly always have some number of typos in my posts. Why? Because I proofread all day. I proofread my essays. I proofread my writing (creative writing that is). I even have to proofread letters when I mail them to other doctors from our office to a certain extent--that is, I'm suppose to give them a quick look over to make sure that the medical transcription didn't do anything extremely messy. I'm not going to spend time making sure I don't have typos in my blog. I would also be the first to say th...

A funny story for you all that I learned from the Dr. that I work for. Okay, so when he was on one of those dealios where the American doctors go down to Mexico and whatever, he found this extremely poor town. One of the things that the American doctors were doing was taking census. So, he comes upon this family that has twenty-one children. All from the same woman. The doctor I work for speaks fluent Spanish, so he was just talking to them easily and he asks the guy, "Twenty-one?!" The man just says, "Si, senor. Veintiuno." So he asks him what the kids names are for the census. The man points to the kids around the room, one by one and says, "Numero uno, numero dos, numero tres, numero cuatro..." That's the story. I thought it was pretty funny. Also, did you know that the word of the day is a scorbutic. It means "pertaining to scurvy."

Recently, I've begun to consider what I've now learned are called "Post-nominal Letters." I called them the little things after your name before, which is essentially what "post-nominal letters" means. They are the credentials that come abbreviated after the name. For example, I work for Edward LaCava, MD. His wife, the office manager, is Linda LaCava, RN. My Irish dance teacher is Robert Haley, TCRG. They all have post-nominal letters. I just think that they're interesting little dealios. And the thing is, is that unless we respect them they mean nothing. For example, you probably have no idea what TCRG means. In the Irish dance world, it does mean something. It means, " Teasgicoir Coimisiun Le Rinci Gaelacha," by the way. They're given out by "An Coimisiun Le Rinci Gaelacha" also known as "CLRG" or "The Commission of Unpronounceability." Anyways, but basically, they don't mean anything until th...

Okay, so. Inglemoor is up for School of the Rock Battle of the Highschool Bands. Everyone go to schooloftherockcontest.com and vote for Inglemoor. Nobody knows about this, and that's why we aren't winning, because just listen to us, we're easily the best. :-) If we win this, the music department is awarded $10,000 from a local radio station. Come on Inglemoor!

This is Sarah's Christmas figure skating performance. However, we took is with a camera that had no sound, and I just got around to putting sound with it. So, yeah. Sarah's the taller one. She had to sometimes hold the other girl up, but the other girl was about four years younger, so it's all fair. Here go. And yes, the bad taping is my doing.