A long, blabbering passage from the Book of Paco
This music is so hypnotic. I recommend it. I have a picture of the galaxy Messier 101 on my desktop, and listening to this music and looking at it...groovy...
I am officially filing a lawsuit against that old codger Old Man Winter. What a cad; he can't stand not to be heard, seen, or felt here in Utah. It was snowing like CARRRAZZZZY this morning. I woke up and thought, "You have GOT to be kidding me. It's April 6th." You know what April means, right? I mean, what it connotes? SPRING. SPRING=WARM=WINTER IS DEAD=FLOWERS=SUNSHINE=PRETTY SMELLS=POLLEN (IN GEORGIA)=LITTLE BIRDIES=etc. I couldnt believe that I had to go to work and shovel snow ALL MORNING. It literally did not stop for hours and hours. It was the hardest snow I have seen here in Provo. I would shovel a sidewalk, and 30 seconds later you would have no idea that I shoveled it. It was miserable. All of us workers were soaked to the bone, freezing cold, tired, and just fed up with life in general. It was so crappy. AFter I left work (and subsequently skipped two of my three classes this afternoon) it turned into rain, thus making everything a nice, mushy, white/brown, wet mess wherever you go. The thing is, the Temple and my apartment are at a higher elevation than campus is, as well as most eveyrthing else in Provo. Ergo, we got snowed out while the rest of the city got barely an inch with a buttload of rain. I don't know how many inches we got here, but it was TOO MANY.
My shoulders are so tired. My arms are killing me. Oh yeah, that reminds me. By the way, this week I was diagnosed with bursitis and impingement tendonitis in both of my shoulders, it being worse in my right shoulder. I decided I had to go see a doctor and finally did it. I begin physical therapy tomorrow morning. It is seriously something that I have just avoided, even denying that there was a problem for a while. The doctor said that in athletes, this problem is mostly corrected by surgery, as well as in most old people, too. My rotator cuff is inflammed and is "not firing correctly," whatever the heck that means. He said that we would try physical therapy for a while, yet surgeru for younger people is being considered more now. I hope this therapy works. Seriously, my shoulders are so weak. I have these certain areas of my back and side that hurt like crazy. It seems to be because certain muscle packs are compensating for the weak shoulders (though I have always been told I have nice broad shoulders...). Grrrrr. Good thing I'm quitting landscaping in a week (from Saturday).
This week was somewhat hectic. I finished a 16-page term paper for one of my religion classes, took an exam for that class today, took this huge astronomy quiz where you have to know 50 objects in the sky (constellations, stars, visible nebulae and star clusters) by memory, and also a Political Science presentation. Actually, the latter project is a group effort, and my group decided to show "This Divided State," the movie about when Michael Moore came to neighboring Utah Valley State College (about 10 minute from here in oneof the most conservative cities in the US). There was a huge bruhaha about him coming, and many people tried to convince everyone that it would not be a violation of free speech if he was told not to speak. A lot of people were freaking out because he doesn't like conservatism very much (at all). Because he was blantantly anti-Bush and anti-war, he was viewed almost as a heretic, a cheap excuse for an American. It saddened me to know that a lot of Mormons were against his coming. Well, that isn't representative of the whole I don't think. [Shrug]....[shoulder pain] This former student at BYU made the documentary showing the whole thing, including sundry interviews with students and non-students, Sean Hannity who visited too to counter Moore, and Moore himself. It has received rave reviews from NY Times, several film festivals, and others. We wanted to show it (with the maker Steven Greenstreet present) and then have a forum on free speech. There has been a little bit of angst in that regard lately here. There's been nothing violent and will not be anything of that nature, but there have been some protests in light of things that have happened lately. Annnyway, we were shut down by the administration just this afternoon, and our group leader was threatened with disciplinary action. The kid in charge, Pace, is really cool; we worked together planning everything out so that it would not get out of order, so that there wouldn't be any huge protests or anything. Nevertheless, for one reason or another, we were shut down at the last minute. So, what happened is that Steven, a girl in our group, and I went to this other room with some people that showed up (that hadn't been turned away and told to come back some other time) to watch the video ourselves. It is really interesting, and I think I might go rent it or buy it. I had an interesting interview with the reporter for the Daily Universe, the newspaper here, and I was asked about the reprecussions that could come from our viewing the movie unauthorized. Apparently there will be something. I didn't really think that much when we went to go watch it ourselves in another room (big mistake), but now I see that there could be some kind of chastisement. Pace didn't even show up after getting grilled by the deans of this-and-that. Steven left immediately after the end of the movie, and I stayed a little bit with Wendy. I have learned that Wendy is ultra ultra conservative. Well, maybe just one ultra is needed, but still...you get the point. We had an...interesting discussion. I consider myself conservative, also, but definintely not with the Republicans. Given a choice between the two major parties, I usually choose the Republicans, but that doesn't mean I really like them a whole bunch. I thought I was libertarian but have since found out that I can't classify myself with their idealogy anymore. I don't know where I'm at. More and more I am seeing that I don't like a lot of stuff the Republicans are doing, but I don't like Democrat stances, either. Who knows...
So, we may try to get a screening approved next week, the last week of classes, as well as the aforementioned forum. I hope it works out, but I'm not so sure now. I doubt I will get any penalization for this, but things smell a wee bit fishy right now...Speaking of fish, I had sushi tonight.
With my personal life, I can't complain. Things are going amazingly well with Wendy, perhaps too well. You gotta watch yourself. Don't think I am saying that anything bad or questionable is happening between us. I just am finding that things are not going as I had thought they would. They are going down a totally different route, one which I like, but at the same time is intimidating. I'm so wary of romantic relationships now. I mean, I like them and love having them, but getting emotionally involved can be a very dangerous endeavor. I don't want things to get screwed up. Well, I think everything will be okay. This summer I don't really plan on dating that much; just working my butt off and hanging out with friends and fambly will suffice for me during the 4-month break.
I'm so excited to go home. You have no idea. However, my excitement and axiety for my departure has lessened a teeny bit this last week. Not enough to keep me here for now, but who knows how these last weeks will pan out. I will definitely go to Georgia for the Summer, though. Make no mistake about that.
I really should have gone to bed an hour ago.
I am officially filing a lawsuit against that old codger Old Man Winter. What a cad; he can't stand not to be heard, seen, or felt here in Utah. It was snowing like CARRRAZZZZY this morning. I woke up and thought, "You have GOT to be kidding me. It's April 6th." You know what April means, right? I mean, what it connotes? SPRING. SPRING=WARM=WINTER IS DEAD=FLOWERS=SUNSHINE=PRETTY SMELLS=POLLEN (IN GEORGIA)=LITTLE BIRDIES=etc. I couldnt believe that I had to go to work and shovel snow ALL MORNING. It literally did not stop for hours and hours. It was the hardest snow I have seen here in Provo. I would shovel a sidewalk, and 30 seconds later you would have no idea that I shoveled it. It was miserable. All of us workers were soaked to the bone, freezing cold, tired, and just fed up with life in general. It was so crappy. AFter I left work (and subsequently skipped two of my three classes this afternoon) it turned into rain, thus making everything a nice, mushy, white/brown, wet mess wherever you go. The thing is, the Temple and my apartment are at a higher elevation than campus is, as well as most eveyrthing else in Provo. Ergo, we got snowed out while the rest of the city got barely an inch with a buttload of rain. I don't know how many inches we got here, but it was TOO MANY.
My shoulders are so tired. My arms are killing me. Oh yeah, that reminds me. By the way, this week I was diagnosed with bursitis and impingement tendonitis in both of my shoulders, it being worse in my right shoulder. I decided I had to go see a doctor and finally did it. I begin physical therapy tomorrow morning. It is seriously something that I have just avoided, even denying that there was a problem for a while. The doctor said that in athletes, this problem is mostly corrected by surgery, as well as in most old people, too. My rotator cuff is inflammed and is "not firing correctly," whatever the heck that means. He said that we would try physical therapy for a while, yet surgeru for younger people is being considered more now. I hope this therapy works. Seriously, my shoulders are so weak. I have these certain areas of my back and side that hurt like crazy. It seems to be because certain muscle packs are compensating for the weak shoulders (though I have always been told I have nice broad shoulders...). Grrrrr. Good thing I'm quitting landscaping in a week (from Saturday).
This week was somewhat hectic. I finished a 16-page term paper for one of my religion classes, took an exam for that class today, took this huge astronomy quiz where you have to know 50 objects in the sky (constellations, stars, visible nebulae and star clusters) by memory, and also a Political Science presentation. Actually, the latter project is a group effort, and my group decided to show "This Divided State," the movie about when Michael Moore came to neighboring Utah Valley State College (about 10 minute from here in oneof the most conservative cities in the US). There was a huge bruhaha about him coming, and many people tried to convince everyone that it would not be a violation of free speech if he was told not to speak. A lot of people were freaking out because he doesn't like conservatism very much (at all). Because he was blantantly anti-Bush and anti-war, he was viewed almost as a heretic, a cheap excuse for an American. It saddened me to know that a lot of Mormons were against his coming. Well, that isn't representative of the whole I don't think. [Shrug]....[shoulder pain] This former student at BYU made the documentary showing the whole thing, including sundry interviews with students and non-students, Sean Hannity who visited too to counter Moore, and Moore himself. It has received rave reviews from NY Times, several film festivals, and others. We wanted to show it (with the maker Steven Greenstreet present) and then have a forum on free speech. There has been a little bit of angst in that regard lately here. There's been nothing violent and will not be anything of that nature, but there have been some protests in light of things that have happened lately. Annnyway, we were shut down by the administration just this afternoon, and our group leader was threatened with disciplinary action. The kid in charge, Pace, is really cool; we worked together planning everything out so that it would not get out of order, so that there wouldn't be any huge protests or anything. Nevertheless, for one reason or another, we were shut down at the last minute. So, what happened is that Steven, a girl in our group, and I went to this other room with some people that showed up (that hadn't been turned away and told to come back some other time) to watch the video ourselves. It is really interesting, and I think I might go rent it or buy it. I had an interesting interview with the reporter for the Daily Universe, the newspaper here, and I was asked about the reprecussions that could come from our viewing the movie unauthorized. Apparently there will be something. I didn't really think that much when we went to go watch it ourselves in another room (big mistake), but now I see that there could be some kind of chastisement. Pace didn't even show up after getting grilled by the deans of this-and-that. Steven left immediately after the end of the movie, and I stayed a little bit with Wendy. I have learned that Wendy is ultra ultra conservative. Well, maybe just one ultra is needed, but still...you get the point. We had an...interesting discussion. I consider myself conservative, also, but definintely not with the Republicans. Given a choice between the two major parties, I usually choose the Republicans, but that doesn't mean I really like them a whole bunch. I thought I was libertarian but have since found out that I can't classify myself with their idealogy anymore. I don't know where I'm at. More and more I am seeing that I don't like a lot of stuff the Republicans are doing, but I don't like Democrat stances, either. Who knows...
So, we may try to get a screening approved next week, the last week of classes, as well as the aforementioned forum. I hope it works out, but I'm not so sure now. I doubt I will get any penalization for this, but things smell a wee bit fishy right now...Speaking of fish, I had sushi tonight.
With my personal life, I can't complain. Things are going amazingly well with Wendy, perhaps too well. You gotta watch yourself. Don't think I am saying that anything bad or questionable is happening between us. I just am finding that things are not going as I had thought they would. They are going down a totally different route, one which I like, but at the same time is intimidating. I'm so wary of romantic relationships now. I mean, I like them and love having them, but getting emotionally involved can be a very dangerous endeavor. I don't want things to get screwed up. Well, I think everything will be okay. This summer I don't really plan on dating that much; just working my butt off and hanging out with friends and fambly will suffice for me during the 4-month break.
I'm so excited to go home. You have no idea. However, my excitement and axiety for my departure has lessened a teeny bit this last week. Not enough to keep me here for now, but who knows how these last weeks will pan out. I will definitely go to Georgia for the Summer, though. Make no mistake about that.
I really should have gone to bed an hour ago.