Why the Delay?

Because I have to spend my time writing things like, "Met-enkephalin and leu-enkephalin are two endogenous opiate peptide neurotransmitters. From previous studies, it is known that RLS patients may be dopamine and iron deficient in the substantia nigra. Low iron levels have been known to lead to the death of dopaminergic cells in animal models of RLS. All of this information implies that iron, dopamine and opioids are all factors in the onset of RLS" or, "A lack of endogenous thalamic opioids causes pain stimuli from spinothalamic levels to be changed and the body feels an urge to move, which is the characterizing symptom of RLS. Since the levels of tyrosine hydroxylase in the substantia nigra were the same in RLS patients and the control group, RLS must not change dopaminergic activity in that brain area" instead of telling you about my life. And if I did try to write about the million things going on in my head at the present time, it would probably sound like I was talking about enkephalins and endogenous thalamic opioids anyways. At least I'm off to go paint for enhancing creativity, which has so far been one of my favorite classes.

Love is...

Compliments of eight-year-old Robert

1 John 4:7-8

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.

Galumphing. All the Cool Kids are Doing it

Each semester I have to take an honors course. Last year I took the english classes, remember? This fall I registered for Perspectives in the Creative Arts because it sounded slightly more interesting than Great Ideas of the East. I was surprised to find on the first day that the class was actually Enhancing Creativity. 

The class looks like it's going to be a lot of work, but I’m actually excited. First, we were able to choose which textbook we wanted to use. I picked the one that is somewhat spiritual, because I think it’s nearly impossible to understand yourself or anything without questioning your spiritual beliefs. We have to go through the text on our own time and journal all the exercises we do. Then during the semester we have to complete two large creative projects and journal during the process. 

My favorite activity that we have to do each week is called galumphing. It is something we do simply because we want to. It can’t benefit us or anyone else, or be something that we’ve had on our to-do list for months. Coloring would be an example. Or as one student did, buy a red leather dress and test drive a ferrari.

Galumph: a joyful, celebratory, or just for fun activity; preparation for adulthood

As our professor was explaining galumphing, people (including me) were already freaking out about how they don’t have time to waste on something that really has no purpose. How sad is that? We are all so focused on accomplishing tasks that we have forgotten how to have fun without having an agenda. 

Our professor told us to be selfish when we were thinking about what our galumphs would be. The suggestion that made me think the most was that it could be something we no longer do because we realized we weren’t as good as someone else. 

Can you think of an activity you used to love, but stopped doing because you weren’t the best?

There are many times when I find myself wishing I could just be young again. If only I were playing at my grandparents house or in my backyard with my dog, I would be much happier. I would be content with life. I think everyone feels that way at some point. Except at that time a person has two options: they can either find some way to experience that satisfaction with life again, or believe that it’s only attainable in childhood and then continue to live a oftentimes miserable adult life. 

From what I’ve read so far, this class isn’t really about becoming an artist. I’m not expecting to become Picasso in 12 weeks. I think it’s more about finding the dreams you’ve buried, because at one point the world told you it was a dumb idea, and you listened. Silly world, everyone should keep their dreams alive.

Otown Chapter 2

Well I’m back in Ogden, and it’s crazy how quickly you settle right back into the routine of going to school. I’m not exactly thrilled about the idea of spending hours on homework, but that’s just how things work at college. Unless you’re the student who doesn’t do any studying or work. Why are they even going to school in the first place? Did they just have a few thousand dollars lying around that they didn’t know what to do with? 

On top of school, I’m working as an academic tutor and chemistry lab assistant. Those don’t start until next week, and I’m pretty excited. Mostly because I get to be in a chem lab six hours a week, and a majority of the people who come for tutoring need it in math and chemistry. Both of which happen to be my favorite classes. 


I am slightly concerned about trying to balance everything, but it won't be impossible. I do think this year will be tougher than the last though. I'm going to be stretched and tested, because I simply will have a lot to do. So much that I'm feeling overwhelmed just thinking about it.

Enjoy the various pictures from around town and my dorm. And the cactus? His name is Javier.

1 Peter 1:6-7

In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Fluffy

For my father's birthday we went to Vegas to watch Gabriel Iglesias. He is an overweight Mexican comedian who consistently makes me laugh/cry. Enjoy this sample of the hilarity that is Fluffy...

Baseball Extravaganza

A couple of weeks ago my family went to the FanFest for the All-Star game down in Phoenix. It was baseball heaven. There were booths everywhere with memorabilia and stations where you could do some sort of baseball activity. There was an area devoted to the Diamondbacks, which was exciting because I love them. It was five hours of pure happiness. It’s the kind of like how you feel when you listen to this song. 

Yep, I was up there for a couple hours until some
other beast chick beat my score

Check out this commercial, and this picture will make
a little more sense

Whoever said Sewing was Relaxing Never Made a T-Shirt Quilt

You are well aware of my sentimental personality and pack rat tendencies. If you’ve known me since at least middle school you are also aware that 80% of my daily wardrobe is a t-shirt and jeans. So it really shouldn’t surprise you that over the past 10 or 12 years I have collected a large amount of meaningful t-shirts. Ones that are from cool places, teams, or those than I wore so often they are half as thick as a normal shirt. Well, I decided to make them into a t-shirt quilt. Which according to multiple websites is “fun and easy!” Maybe if you have a pre-made pattern and only use 15 shirts, not if you have to make the pattern yourself from 50 something shirts. 

Putting together the pattern was a two day project that was
similar to putting together a puzzle without knowing what the end result
would look like.

The most difficult part was actually cutting up my t-shirts. This part of the process was slightly traumatizing. I only took comfort in the fact that I was still going to have a piece of my shirts, and that now I “can wear them all at once.” Before I could really think about what was happening, I quickly threw out the scraps. Well, I did save some of my favorites. Hey, I might make a pillow case later or maybe even a t-shirt out of t-shirt scraps.

Next came sewing everything together. For anyone watching my mom and me, this was the most entertaining part. It took us four or five different attempts to realize that my sewing machine made the fabric bunch up, and my mom’s machine didn’t. Then it took me four or five failed attempts to figure out that I had to pin pieces together or they would be all jacked up. And jacked is not something you want to be when quilting.

Now I’m sending away all the t-shirts sewn together and the back to someone with a giant machine that will quilt them together with far less frustration than I would experience if I attempted to put it together myself. The back is navy (my favorite color, especially for a shirt) minky, which is basically the softest fabric on earth. Seriously, go to the nearest store that sells fabric and rub your face on some minky. It’s like putting your face on a cloud. Actually, I don’t know what that feels like, clouds are just the first thing I thought of that would be soft. But that made me think of soft metals, which is something in the category of lead. Please don’t rub your face in lead, because you will die and I’ll be sad. Except I will have something soft to dry my tears, but that won’t make up for your absence. Wow, can you tell I wrote this at 1 in the morning?

I will post a picture of the completed project soon. Try not to fall off the edge of your seat, because I know that’s where you are right now.