Under the Skin

So, I was thinking about this topic, as it came up last night on the floor. Many girls hold that the first proposal of Pride and Prejudice is the most heart-breaking thing in literature and cinema. This proposal and subsequent refusal can be seen here. But worry not, because this is the end result of this relationship: Anyways, I would contend that this is not in fact the most depressing proposal in Cinema/literature history. I submit a second contestant of a refused proposal, this one just makes me want to cry, that between Margaret Hale and John Thornton of "North and South:" This one too ends well, as seen here: But I find the reasons of refusal more sad. It's not a "you proposed very badly" but "I believe that you're a jerk because I'm a stuck-up fool who doesn't understand why you do what you do, even though you have to, and you're business-class and I'm upper-class, so leave me alone." It mak...

November ended, I once again completed the National Novel Writing Month challenge, and I realized that December was upon us. I realized that this means one thing. Only two more weeks of classes before finals, and subsequently GOING HOME! I thought I'd let you know that I have the following feelings about finals in each of the classes. 1) Rel A 121: The Book of Mormon, Part 1. So, I have been studying the Book of Mormon since I was a small child, yes. But I'm a little nervous about this exam. Why? Because exam questions are sometimes things such as, "Which of the following was not cited as a sin of Israel by Jacob, the brother of Nephi?" (Disclaimer: This wasn't an exam question, but a practice question that could have been on a final). I see questions like this and think, "duhhhhhhhhhhhh...," mouth hanging open and looking as stupid Tom the cat from the Tom and Jerry cartoons. There are always the give away questions, (things along the lines of, ...

For sacrament meeting today, we combined half of the Helaman Halls wards into one and just had testimony meeting because not enough people were back from Thanksgiving yet. The girl next to me was writing a list of 100 things she was thankful for as the meeting continued. So, I thought I'd follow suit right now. 100 Things I'm thankful for: (And don't feel compelled to read them all if you don't want to) 1. Mom 2. Dad 3. Carol 4. Sam 5. Marina 6. Beth 7. Caleb 8. Sarah (yes, family would have sufficed, but I'm grateful for the family unit as well as each individual person in it) 9. Jesus Christ 10. Heavenly Father 11. The Holy Ghost and the Gift thereof 12. my extended family (I'm grateful for them individually as well, but that'd take up WAY too much space) 13. heated rooms 14. blankets 15. computers 16. the internet 17. email 18. cell phones 19. modern medicine 20. BYU 21. The fact that I don't have to be a Ute 22. colors 23. language and communicatio...

On Tuesday, my classes ended earlier than most Tuesday, because what was known to the rest of the world as Tuesday was known as Friday here at BYU. Therefore, my last class ended at 1:00. I had said goodbye to my roommate before leaving for that, as she was leaving for California (her home). After the class ended, I then returned to my dorm, thinking I'd find Beth as that is what usually happens on Fridays. I'm done with class at 1 and she's done with work at 1, so we go on outings. However, she started work earlier, so she got off work at 12 instead of 1. I therefore walked to her apartment where we ate pasta, gingerbread families (father, mother and siblings), and hung around. Then, I returned to my dorm in order to pack, engage in a friendly game of Apples to Apples with ward members and then returned to Beth's apartment where I slept. At 10:03 AM, we boarded the bus for Orem. Unfortunately, we took the wrong direction and ended up in a different part of Provo....

So, I haven't written in awhile, and when I have written, it's not really that much about my life. So, I thought I'd let you all know that BYU is going well. My days are spent with classes, studying, goofing off with people in the dorms and volunteering. I love all the service opportunities around campus! And since it's November, I couldn't go a November without National Novel Writing Month. True, I'm somewhat behind, at 23,000 words. But I'm catching up, as I used to be even further behind. And still, I have not been as far behind at any point as I was at times last year. And I still made it last year. My dorm room has been decorated all nice and pretty for Christmas. We have a snowman figurine, Christmas lights, a tiny little tree and a nativity scene--those were all the decorations that I had, and Michelle (my roommate) had none at all. But we are well decked out for Christmas, and are complimented on the decorations everytime someone's in ou...

So, when my mom was at Walmart with me, buying laundry soap before I was left on my own, she also bought me some other laundry items. You know, Febreeze, stain pretreaters and the like. She also bought me a set of Stain-Be-Gone Mini Pens (a set because they come in twos). Anyways, I hadn't the chance to use these for awhile, because for some reason, I've ceased staining myself now that I'm equipped. So, today, I had the chance. Because I had gotten a nosebleed in Nursing 180 (I know, a great place to start bleeding), I had bloodspots on the sleeve of my jacket that had escaped the tissue. I thought, "Oh no, my jacket is ruined." But then I remembered the Stain-Be-Gone Mini Pens. And I thought: "no better time to try it. " Ladies and gentlemen, you can no longer tell that my jacket went through a sanguine episode. It is repaired! And the Stain-Be-Gone Mini Pen is now my friend. Who knows what next testimonial will be! Maybe Mr. Clean Magic Erasers,...

The Role of Women in Latter-day Saint Religion and Society I have had many questions, accusations and false-assumptions directed towards me in reference to my religion and my role as a woman in my religion. Sometimes these illocutions truly are questions—people just wanted to know. However, sometimes they are prejudgments or negatively charged sentiments that they have disguised as questions. In response to all of these illocutions, I have composed this treatise on the role of women in the Latter-day Saint, commonly known as Mormon, religion. Before we begin, I will let all know that this is an informal treatise, but all the same, an academic one. All my sources will be cited, but I will be sure to let you know the nature of the source at the same time. Not everything stated in this treatise is an official standing of the church. Some of it comes from members of the church, many of the well-learned and well-read. However, those coming from official chur...

Since leaving Seattle, I've begun to compile a list of words only people from Seattle seem to be able to pronounce. Most of these are proper nouns, but here we go. I haven't thought of them all, I'm sure (I've just been writing them down as they come to me), but here it is so far. Also, if you want to try saying them, transcribing the pronunciation and then checking your work, feel free. Sequim Puyallup Skoomuchuck Wynoochee Stillaguamish Skokomish Nisqually Snoqualmie Chamokane Klickitat Squillamish Snohomish Stillamish Issaquah Skykomish Willamette Enumclaw Spokane Kalaloch geoduck

I eat my words! BYU has beaten University of Oklahoma. This is unbelievable. And you should see Provo tonight. Crazy doesn't even BEGIN to describe tonight.

As I sit in my dorm on this somewhat cloudy day that has promised us thunderstorms later tonight, I feel happy that I am here. I love Brigham Young University. I love the classes, I love the atmosphere and I've already watched two sporting events. Yes, one was on tv, but for me, that's a big thing. So, last night I watched Women's soccer on BYU TV, which was fun and frustrating. And I learned a lot about soccer from my very soccer-knowledgeable roommate. Let's just say that BYU didn't yield any score...but many almost scores (almost 20+). And basically the only time that William and Mary got near the goal they made it (and were the epitome of off-sides but it wasn't called). Then this morning, I went to Cross Country to watch my roommate run. Yes, I have an athlete roommate. She finished 25th in Women's 5k in a time of 19:36.9 or something like that. The winning time was in the mid 18s, they say because of the elevation all the times were high. And ...

Some pictures that I took on my way to BYU!

So, when the going gets tough, write testimonials. As I prepared myself for church this morning, I realized just how much I love this one product: That's right, Static Guard. Static Guard is my best friend. I have always had staticky legs. Any dress with even somewhat knit fabric would be clinging to my legs in a ridiculous manner. Fly-away hairs was always a problem, and I shocked everything I touched. When I had a digital watch, I would have to reset it multiple times a day because it would go to zero everytime it touched anything with static on it. But then Static Guard came to the rescue. You can spray it on your dress, on your clothes and static is gone! My favorite trick, spray it on your brush and your fly-away static hairs are GONE. I love Static Guard.

I have writer's block. In general. My novels have gone no where since March and even my editing abilities that were tiding me over shut down in April. My blog looks like I've died, and even my journal entries are pitiful. Unfortunately, IB testing fell inside this writer's block. For those who aren't familiar with IB testing, it's pretty darn essay-based. I still managed to pass everything, though not with the scores I would have liked, nor would have expected to tell you the truth. In some subjects, I was expecting better to tell you the truth (English Literature, French, MAYBE Biology), and some I'm thanking my lucky stars (Calculus, Chemistry). Think not that my writer's block has left. It has not. I spent 1 1/2 hours in front of my computer screen this morning as I do every Sunday, trying to force some fiction into ANY of my novels. It didn't work. So, I guess the best thing to do would be saying what I've done this week. I worked! And I...

Yes, it's true. My family is moving. My dad and Sam have both been transferred to Upstate New York, so we will be up there in Palmyra area. But it has a population of 2500 basically, and they have humid summers and grotesque accents. All the same, the historic sites will be great, and I for one am looking forward to come home to snowy Christmases.

So, my mom and I were at target, where we slowly get things I'll need for college. Today one of the items was a new comforter. I have a gingham bedspread that my mom and I made together many, many years ago that is still functional. But the comforter is dying. So, I got a new one. This is what my bed looks like during the day: But then, when the bedspread is removed for the wonderful time called sleeping, this is what happens: And just so you can see the other side of the bedspread: I like it. Why do the little boys get all the cool stuff?

Hello all! I have neglected you all for quite some time and I apologize. I suppose that I should probably just glory in the natural and small things in life and not worry that nothing huge happens in my life. I am going to try to be better about letting you know what's going on, but I've just been quite stressed as my high school life draws to a close. So, what happened today? So, I went to school. The biggest highlight of today's school was that we had our "IB DONE Party." It's like Sr. Breakfast, except that it's just for IB Diploma and IB Certificate of Merit students. We even have awards a la Sr. Breakfast. Like the "most likely to develop warts in the future" style awards. Except that the IB ones are all fairly nerdy. I won three, which is a lot. Some people didn't receive any. I guess I'm just extreme. I received, "Most Likely to Read Neil (our textbook) for Fun," "Most Likely to Become a Diplomat," and ...

I know that I haven't posted in a while. This is why I have decided to tell you about what it is that has caused me to have to not talk with you all recently. IB testing. I had told you about the terrors of IB scheduling, and here is how it's going so far. One thing you have to know about IB tests: some years, one subject is killer and another is not that bad. In fact, the IB teachers classify the years sometimes as "the year that the Japanese test murdered" or "that one year where the History questions were gorgeous." So, we'll go in chronological order: English A1 HL Paper 1: You get about a page of prose and an approximately page long poem (give or take). You pick one or the other, and you have 2 hours to write a commentary on it. That means describe the general feel, reference the literary techniques that achieve this effect and kind of tie it all together with what this means in the larger scheme. The "why do we care?" aspect. This went...

I love "Puff the Magic Dragon." And the Peter, Paul and Mary recording cannot be beat. It is awesome to the 270th degree. But I cry each moment I hear it defiled by people saying it's about drugs. It's such a sad song. The little boy has his friend but then he grows up. And when Jackie doesn't come anymore, Puff doesn't have any reason to live, and it's so sad. And sometimes I cry. But why do we have to destroy the way that see Puff and his friends? Talk about depressing. And then people try to ruin it with drug connotations, and it makes me sad. Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honalee, Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal puff, And brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff. oh Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honalee, Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honalee. Tog...

This Tuesday, I was asked to help with a late St. Patrick's Day Irish dance show at a nursing home called "Overlake Terrace" in Redmond. I said that I would be able to help, and it was a fun experience, but there were several mishaps and disasters. I went to work and knew that if I was able to get to Overlake Terrace by 6:00, which I had thought to be the call time, I would need to be sure to leave work by 4:45 or so. I did so, and I went onto my email to get the address for the venue. When I got home, I learned that the call time had been changed to 5:45, but I had been at school or work all day and I did not know this. So, after the due panic, I managed to say, okay, if I leave by 5:20 or 5:25, I'll still be okay, as I knew that Overlake Terrace is approximately 20 minutes away. I typed Mapquest into the browser, but doesn't it always turn out that the browser goes slowest when you need it to go fastest? Why is that? So, as I bounced up and down saying, ...

The IB Chemistry kids spent all of today in the Chem lab, building Rube-Goldberg machines, and I made a documentary about it. Note: the upload of the video failed. We'll see what I can do. :-) Update: 3/15/09- I've tried again, but it didn't work again. I'm going to try to see if it's a format problem. I don't understand, I've done this before.

Throughout our school-days and even after that, I would assume, we are informed of the perfect stupidity of old-fashioned medicine. We are informed of the complete idiocy of doctors through their beliefs in bleeding and the four humors and all that good stuff. When we're in elementary school, we're just told about them, then when we get to middle school and high school, the teachers, in an attempt to "further inform" their students of the idiocy of past doctors, blame it all on Galen. Galen was the guy who came up with the four humors, for sure, and he was quite the advocate of bleeding. But was the idiocy really all his fault? True, throughout the Middle Ages, Medieval Era and Renaissance, Galen was followed, but in many ways, the beliefs of Galen, with the exception of bleeding, were fairly harmless. True, they helped no one, but does it really hurt you to eat flour and water when you have the flu? It's moronic, but it's not really harmful. I would argue...

I had forgotten to tell everyone: I'm officially a BYU Cougar. Class of 2013!

In an attempt to make Grandpa and Clarine able to come, Sam and Marina have changed their wedding to April 16.

As the Russell with a blog, I'm here to tell you that Sam will be getting married on the 23 of April. Mark your calendars, it's going to be here in Seattle. Come if you can!

So, just got back from Bellingham MUN, and I'm still thinking in third person (you never say, "I feel..." in MUN, you would always say, "Romania feels..." or whatever country you are), but it was fun. It was kind of funny because as I was coming back on the bus, I actually thought to myself, "Romania would like to make a motion to sleep for a period of 15 minutes." I then said to the guys next to me on the bus, "Are you still thinking in third person?" Their response was, "Yeah, I'm still thinking of myself as Bahrain/Saudi Arabia." Someone on the bus actually said, "Point of Information: When are we getting back to Inglemoor?" I received best diplomat in the ECOSOC (which was exciting), and I was the sponsor of two draft resolution (one went through to resolution, but the other...the meeting was adjourned right before it was about to go into voting bloc). One of them, was a resolution on providing relief to sexual v...

Well, what's up? First item of business that I'm very sad about: I don't get to go to Washington DC. So, there weren't enough people who had paid their money because of snow stuff and things, so we're not going to DC. However, the air-heady juniors in the club are happy now, because they had never wanted to go to DC anyways. The whole time they'd wanted to go to California, which was our other out of state option. Why? They said that they were worried about the between conference activities--they said there wasn't anything to do in DC. WHAT? HELLO! There are millions of things to do in DC. Did our full itinerary of things we were going to do mean nothing? Capitol Building, White House, Lincoln Memorial by night, Holocaust Museum, Library of Congress, and SO MANY OTHER THINGS! And actually, these are the girls that had voted to go to the Six Flags. You're in DC, and you're going to go to Six Flags? Who are you? Now I see that they were talking ...