After yet another long hiatus, trying to write every week but failing, at long last I'm writing an update! Things here have been going well, but busy. School and work, as usual.
So first off, school--classes are going well, and I'm really enjoying my classes overall. Differential equations remains the main source of homework, though Fundamentals of Mathematics can provide time-consuming homework occasionally. I've had at least one test for all of my classes (except Math Seminar, which doesn't have tests), and I've had more in Music 101 and French 201. Amidst it all, though, I still find time to spend on work, friends, and of course my adorable wife.
On the work side things are going well. I've had several MCNP codes run and we're starting to learn more about the detector design that we are considering. I'm moving on a bit with MCNP as well, now learning POLIMI which will take my MCNP codes a step further by showing us more about what happens after the neutron is absorbed. Of course, nobody in our group has used MCNP-POLIMI yet, so I get to be the one to figure out how it works...I'll be keeping my fingers' crossed.
In other news, Julie and I are strongly considering a study-abroad this summer in Berlin. We're both excited about the prospect, and hopefully I'll get the chance to tour around Europe a bit (I'll only be in Germany for a month--Julie will be there two). We'll keep posted as things progress.
Well, those are the major details--if I can start posting weekly as I've intended then I'll probably be giving more details, but I figured I better get one out today before another week passes by.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Triweekly Update (9-26-10)
With school well underway now it seems it's just getting harder and harder to write a weekly blog. Still, I suppose the occasional update is better than nothing, and at least spacing posts out more means more to talk about.
Well, I guess the main thing going on with us is school. I've already had my first two tests and I'm getting ready for my next two this week. Classes have been going well though--I'm really enjoying them for the most part. Differential Equations was hard at the start but got to be fairly easy after the first couple weeks; Fundamentals of Mathematics is really interesting and thus far pretty basic, mostly just using and proving different methods of doing things with arithmetic; French 201 has been pretty easy, mostly review with some more vocab and a bit more depth; and Music 101 is very enjoyable, presenting the opportunity to learn about and listen too lots of classical music. My Math Seminar barely seems worth mentioning, just an hour each week where we hear about various careers in mathematics, none of which have really interested me.
Apart from school, work does a pretty good job taking up time as well. Julie has adjusted pretty well to her job as a grader. Meanwhile, work with MCNP has seemed at a standstill until this last week. The documentation has been poor for part of the input, but after many tries I finally had my first big breakthrough this week and had one of my files run. I was relieved before this point by hearing how long it took the student working on it before me to figure out how to get it to run, and now I should be able to better contribute to the group!
Outside of school and work, we still have found some time to have fun. Friday the German Club had "TECHNOfest", which Julie worked long and hard to pull off. It was a lot of fun and we ended up with over 150 people there. There was a really energetic atmosphere and plenty of glowsticks, making for a great time.
To add to the craziness of this weekend, yesterday morning I headed to Draper for my first bonsai class. The store we bought our serissa from has a free quarterly class on bonsai, so I decided it would be good to go and see what it was like. They mostly stuck to basics of pruning, wiring, potting, and bonsai styles, but there were also some interesting tips which should help in further development of our bonsai project. I also took the opportunity while there to get a new bonsai pot which is now housing several of the serissa cuttings I had rooted in the last month, consolidating it a bit more. On a similar note, with the many oak trees around dropping acorns I've tried planting a few for use in bonsai later, one of which just started sprouting today!
Well, that's about all for now. I'll try to get some pictures of the bonsai up on the website for any who are interested in seeing them!
Well, I guess the main thing going on with us is school. I've already had my first two tests and I'm getting ready for my next two this week. Classes have been going well though--I'm really enjoying them for the most part. Differential Equations was hard at the start but got to be fairly easy after the first couple weeks; Fundamentals of Mathematics is really interesting and thus far pretty basic, mostly just using and proving different methods of doing things with arithmetic; French 201 has been pretty easy, mostly review with some more vocab and a bit more depth; and Music 101 is very enjoyable, presenting the opportunity to learn about and listen too lots of classical music. My Math Seminar barely seems worth mentioning, just an hour each week where we hear about various careers in mathematics, none of which have really interested me.
Apart from school, work does a pretty good job taking up time as well. Julie has adjusted pretty well to her job as a grader. Meanwhile, work with MCNP has seemed at a standstill until this last week. The documentation has been poor for part of the input, but after many tries I finally had my first big breakthrough this week and had one of my files run. I was relieved before this point by hearing how long it took the student working on it before me to figure out how to get it to run, and now I should be able to better contribute to the group!
Outside of school and work, we still have found some time to have fun. Friday the German Club had "TECHNOfest", which Julie worked long and hard to pull off. It was a lot of fun and we ended up with over 150 people there. There was a really energetic atmosphere and plenty of glowsticks, making for a great time.
To add to the craziness of this weekend, yesterday morning I headed to Draper for my first bonsai class. The store we bought our serissa from has a free quarterly class on bonsai, so I decided it would be good to go and see what it was like. They mostly stuck to basics of pruning, wiring, potting, and bonsai styles, but there were also some interesting tips which should help in further development of our bonsai project. I also took the opportunity while there to get a new bonsai pot which is now housing several of the serissa cuttings I had rooted in the last month, consolidating it a bit more. On a similar note, with the many oak trees around dropping acorns I've tried planting a few for use in bonsai later, one of which just started sprouting today!
Well, that's about all for now. I'll try to get some pictures of the bonsai up on the website for any who are interested in seeing them!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Weekly Update (9-5-10)
What a week it's been! It seems the weeks just keep flying by, and that's not necessarily a good thing with school now in session! It's been quite a bit of fun, too, but lots of work.
To get things started, this week has been quite busy with school back in full swing. If you've checked the website recently you'll know I'm taking six classes this semester, and five of them are on Mondays and Wednesday. It's been an interesting way to have things scheduled, so we'll have to wait and see how it all works out. Classes seem interesting enough, but I have been getting a fair amount of homework from my differential equations and fundamentals of mathematics classes.
Apart from school there's really just visiting family this weekend. Julie and I went to stay in Cache Valley at my father's parent's house for Friday night, then we went to the Nielsen family reunion the next afternoon. It was a short visit, but it was nice to see family, especially to see my parents for the first time since the wedding.
And that's really about it for now!
To get things started, this week has been quite busy with school back in full swing. If you've checked the website recently you'll know I'm taking six classes this semester, and five of them are on Mondays and Wednesday. It's been an interesting way to have things scheduled, so we'll have to wait and see how it all works out. Classes seem interesting enough, but I have been getting a fair amount of homework from my differential equations and fundamentals of mathematics classes.
Apart from school there's really just visiting family this weekend. Julie and I went to stay in Cache Valley at my father's parent's house for Friday night, then we went to the Nielsen family reunion the next afternoon. It was a short visit, but it was nice to see family, especially to see my parents for the first time since the wedding.
And that's really about it for now!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
(Sort of) Weekly Update (8-29-10)
Well well, how time flies. It's hard to believe that school is starting again tomorrow. It's probably a good thing though, since it means finally getting back into a schedule. However, it has been nice to have some time to just relax. So without further ado, here's what the last week and a half have been like for us.
Shopping. Lots of shopping. Textbooks, clothes, and a few bonsai supplies. With the new school year coming we figured we'd better get ready beforehand, so that left us out of the house a fair amount. That, and when you're stuck in a small-ish apartment for two weeks with nowhere to go it's nice to get out, and shopping can provide a good excuse. We spent some time on outfits for school, but also a fair amount of time trying to find outfits for the Technofest that Julie is hoping to put on with the German Club to enhance awareness of the German techno and German department. As for bonsai supplies, after checking out several books on the subject and doing some more research it became apparent that we were somewhat...lacking in supplies to keep our trees healthy.
Apart from shopping, we also had lots of time to go through our movie collection. We were able to watch The Lord of the Rings over three nights, Napoleon Dynamite, and the new Indiana Jones movie, as well as Back to the Future II when it showed on Nick @ Nite. We've really enjoyed getting this time to watch so many of our movies--a rare opportunity with school now starting.
And who could forget the bonsai hobby? Since bringing our Serissa home we've gone through its leaves turning from green to yellow and finally back to green. We discovered that Siggy apparently prefers our bedroom on the south side of the house to our kitchen on the north side, so for now he's sitting on my nightstand next to our lucky bamboo. Our other bonsai has since started showing a few signs of illness, so we're working hard to improve its health. We're also trying to plant several cuttings--we'll see how that turns out in the coming weeks and months.
And that's about it for now. We're looking forward to seeing some of the family next weekend, and hope all is well for everyone!
As a side note, I have been working a little on the website and there are a few pictures up. Hopefully it'll be coming together more completely soon!
Shopping. Lots of shopping. Textbooks, clothes, and a few bonsai supplies. With the new school year coming we figured we'd better get ready beforehand, so that left us out of the house a fair amount. That, and when you're stuck in a small-ish apartment for two weeks with nowhere to go it's nice to get out, and shopping can provide a good excuse. We spent some time on outfits for school, but also a fair amount of time trying to find outfits for the Technofest that Julie is hoping to put on with the German Club to enhance awareness of the German techno and German department. As for bonsai supplies, after checking out several books on the subject and doing some more research it became apparent that we were somewhat...lacking in supplies to keep our trees healthy.
Apart from shopping, we also had lots of time to go through our movie collection. We were able to watch The Lord of the Rings over three nights, Napoleon Dynamite, and the new Indiana Jones movie, as well as Back to the Future II when it showed on Nick @ Nite. We've really enjoyed getting this time to watch so many of our movies--a rare opportunity with school now starting.
And who could forget the bonsai hobby? Since bringing our Serissa home we've gone through its leaves turning from green to yellow and finally back to green. We discovered that Siggy apparently prefers our bedroom on the south side of the house to our kitchen on the north side, so for now he's sitting on my nightstand next to our lucky bamboo. Our other bonsai has since started showing a few signs of illness, so we're working hard to improve its health. We're also trying to plant several cuttings--we'll see how that turns out in the coming weeks and months.
And that's about it for now. We're looking forward to seeing some of the family next weekend, and hope all is well for everyone!
As a side note, I have been working a little on the website and there are a few pictures up. Hopefully it'll be coming together more completely soon!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Weekly Update (8-17-10)
Yes I know, it's not a Sunday. Why late? Because of a weekend reunion for my wife's family near Morgan, UT! More on that later, but first let's explore the rest of the last week.
So as I mentioned last time, last week was the last of summer term here at the Y. I had my French test and Julie had a test and a paper, and with Julie working at graduation it's been quite busy with school things. My test went fairly well overall I'd say--it's amazing how much you learn in so short a time when you're taking class in the summer term. Julie commented that she was very proud of how much she got done, reading over 8 books in 7 weeks.
Alongside school has been work. I've completed my first MCNP code, though it apparently had a few bugs in it. It is interesting work since I don't actually run it myself, but rather have to send it to the professor. I don't know why, but I guess the people who made it only wanted the professors to use it. :P Aside from that little oddity, though, it's nice to have things settling in there. And while I'm just settling into my job Julie is finishing her time working as an usher for University events, with her last time being graduation last week. She will however be looking forward to being a grader for one of her German professors, and the work will at least provide more hours and at least equal pay.
Of course with school over, we haven't slowed down much yet. We headed out Saturday morning toward Morgan for Julie's family reunion. We made a stop along the way to a nursery in Salt Lake City called Cactus & Tropical where we got yet another bonsai, a serissa which we have affectionately named Siggy (after some deliberation). We'll be sure to get pictures up within the next few days. So after our pit stop in Salt Lake we kept on our way to the reunion, getting lost a bit and ending up taking about an extra hour or so before we arrived there. It was a big get together with groups from Julie's maternal grandmother's descendants. It was an interesting experience, but fun since I know some of Julie's cousins already since I grew up in the same ward as them! We had fun being outside, camping, stargazing, and having a fun program put on by some of the people there. We stayed through the late morning the next day.
Even with the reunion finished, our family visiting wasn't over. We went from Morgan to visit Julie's brother Adam along with the rest of Julie's immediate family. We had fun talking, sharing dinner together, and going to the local elementary school to play some basketball, foursquare, and to hit up the jungle gym with the younger kids. We then went with Julie's other brother, Robert, back to Provo to spend the night.
The next day we headed north once more, this time to meet up with everyone at Lagoon. After some issues meeting up we got in the park by noon and stayed until almost 10 that night. There were lots of fun rides for all of us. The more adventuresome of the group rode the Sky Coaster, the Rocket, and Colossus while others of us (namely Julie and I) rode the ferris wheel, Flying Aces, Hydro Tube, and Paratrooper. Julie and I also had some fun playing the midway games where we won a few fun prizes, including a stuffed alligator and a stuffed dragon. By the end of the day we were all exhausted, and at last we said our farewells before going our separate directions.
For the last bit of news, I thought everyone should know that our website is up and running a bit more now, and should be getting those pictures up before long!
So as I mentioned last time, last week was the last of summer term here at the Y. I had my French test and Julie had a test and a paper, and with Julie working at graduation it's been quite busy with school things. My test went fairly well overall I'd say--it's amazing how much you learn in so short a time when you're taking class in the summer term. Julie commented that she was very proud of how much she got done, reading over 8 books in 7 weeks.
Alongside school has been work. I've completed my first MCNP code, though it apparently had a few bugs in it. It is interesting work since I don't actually run it myself, but rather have to send it to the professor. I don't know why, but I guess the people who made it only wanted the professors to use it. :P Aside from that little oddity, though, it's nice to have things settling in there. And while I'm just settling into my job Julie is finishing her time working as an usher for University events, with her last time being graduation last week. She will however be looking forward to being a grader for one of her German professors, and the work will at least provide more hours and at least equal pay.
Of course with school over, we haven't slowed down much yet. We headed out Saturday morning toward Morgan for Julie's family reunion. We made a stop along the way to a nursery in Salt Lake City called Cactus & Tropical where we got yet another bonsai, a serissa which we have affectionately named Siggy (after some deliberation). We'll be sure to get pictures up within the next few days. So after our pit stop in Salt Lake we kept on our way to the reunion, getting lost a bit and ending up taking about an extra hour or so before we arrived there. It was a big get together with groups from Julie's maternal grandmother's descendants. It was an interesting experience, but fun since I know some of Julie's cousins already since I grew up in the same ward as them! We had fun being outside, camping, stargazing, and having a fun program put on by some of the people there. We stayed through the late morning the next day.
Even with the reunion finished, our family visiting wasn't over. We went from Morgan to visit Julie's brother Adam along with the rest of Julie's immediate family. We had fun talking, sharing dinner together, and going to the local elementary school to play some basketball, foursquare, and to hit up the jungle gym with the younger kids. We then went with Julie's other brother, Robert, back to Provo to spend the night.
The next day we headed north once more, this time to meet up with everyone at Lagoon. After some issues meeting up we got in the park by noon and stayed until almost 10 that night. There were lots of fun rides for all of us. The more adventuresome of the group rode the Sky Coaster, the Rocket, and Colossus while others of us (namely Julie and I) rode the ferris wheel, Flying Aces, Hydro Tube, and Paratrooper. Julie and I also had some fun playing the midway games where we won a few fun prizes, including a stuffed alligator and a stuffed dragon. By the end of the day we were all exhausted, and at last we said our farewells before going our separate directions.
For the last bit of news, I thought everyone should know that our website is up and running a bit more now, and should be getting those pictures up before long!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Weekly Update (8-8-10)
I didn't think you were supposed to get sick in the summer, but this last week has proven me wrong! It certainly has made the week feel sluggish, though, as both Julie and I didn't feel very well. We've managed to make our way through it though, and things are looking better for the upcoming week.
The week wasn't completely uneventful, though. As I mentioned last week I am starting the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) programming research. So after my email last week, Dr. Rees brought me a notebook full with an instructions manual and a primer, so I have a lot of reading ahead of me. And on top of it all, I'm also supposed to get my first project (really just playing around with MCNP) done by next Tuesday.
On the school side, Julie has been busy with papers and getting ready to finish the semester, as have I. For our courses that has meant tests this last week, but at least on my end they seem to have gone well. It's incredible how fast Summer Term has gone by--tomorrow is our last day of class before Finals. Then Julie has work ushering for the graduating students Thursday and Friday, and then we're heading to Morgan for the weekend for Julie's family reunion.
Backtracking just a bit, I thought I should mention one more thing. For us the weekends have probably been at least as eventful as the weekdays, and usually more fun. Last Friday we headed to Salt Lake to pick up a book for Julie. While down there we went to The Blue Iguana, a crowded little Mexican restaurant that was lots of fun! They had amazing food and great entertainment with an older Hispanic couple singing songs the whole time. It was very entertaining and it was nice to realize just how much Spanish I still remember! It was right in downtown Salt Lake City with just a sign on the sidewalk pointing the way there, but definitely a must-see for those of you who crave Mexican food!
The week wasn't completely uneventful, though. As I mentioned last week I am starting the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) programming research. So after my email last week, Dr. Rees brought me a notebook full with an instructions manual and a primer, so I have a lot of reading ahead of me. And on top of it all, I'm also supposed to get my first project (really just playing around with MCNP) done by next Tuesday.
On the school side, Julie has been busy with papers and getting ready to finish the semester, as have I. For our courses that has meant tests this last week, but at least on my end they seem to have gone well. It's incredible how fast Summer Term has gone by--tomorrow is our last day of class before Finals. Then Julie has work ushering for the graduating students Thursday and Friday, and then we're heading to Morgan for the weekend for Julie's family reunion.
Backtracking just a bit, I thought I should mention one more thing. For us the weekends have probably been at least as eventful as the weekdays, and usually more fun. Last Friday we headed to Salt Lake to pick up a book for Julie. While down there we went to The Blue Iguana, a crowded little Mexican restaurant that was lots of fun! They had amazing food and great entertainment with an older Hispanic couple singing songs the whole time. It was very entertaining and it was nice to realize just how much Spanish I still remember! It was right in downtown Salt Lake City with just a sign on the sidewalk pointing the way there, but definitely a must-see for those of you who crave Mexican food!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Weekly Update (8-1-10)
Hello all and happy Sunday! It's been a long time coming, but I figured I had better get to posting more consistently on the blog. I will try to put up a post weekly, probably on the weekends, to keep you updated on the goings on here in Provo or wherever we may be. I am also planning to start a website for things like photos and more of a general "where we are, what we're up to" kind of page, but we'll have to see how that turns out. If you want to keep an eye on it you can follow the link here. I will probably try to mention any major updates in future posts on the blog, though. Also as a final note before I go on, I hope to still occasionally post some of my thoughts as they occur, so don't be surprised to see multiple posts! Hopefully you will find them interesting, and possibly entertaining. Now without further ado, the weekly update:
The week has been pretty good to us overall. We got to spend last weekend in Logan and the surrounding area, visiting both sets of grandparents. It was nice to see them and to have time to chat, and I really wish we could have had more time to spend with them. We also got to visit Aunt Jane with Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen, and that was quite entertaining (especially having her bird Tink pecking and biting at us for the first little bit). We didn't get to see much else in the way of family, and we had to head back after lunch on Sunday so we could get settled back in before school on Monday.
The following week was fairly typical for us--lots of school! Well, more so for Julie than for me. I have my French 102 class every morning during the summer and Julie is taking African American Literature and Literary Analysis. She's done well in them so far, but she has lots of books to read and papers to write--I suppose that's part of the job description of an English Minor. My class is also going well and I've been really enjoying learning about the French language and culture. It's interesting to see the similarities and differences between French and Spanish. I also noticed this week how my ability to speak in French is developing somewhat differently from how I learned Spanish: my vocabulary in French is probably more well rounded, and what I know in each language seems to be more comprehensive in different aspects. Certainly there are things I could talk about in one that I couldn't talk about as well in the other. It will be interesting to see where things are at by the time I get through French 202.
Aside from school, I'll add just a bit about work. For those that don't know I'm currently working as a research assistant here at BYU, working for Dr. Rees and Dr. Czirr on the Neutron Detection Project. For me it's just been a matter of figuring out what exactly they're doing and where I can fit in. Dr. Rees suggested to me that I look around, but eventually seemed hopeful that I would take over the Monte Carlo programming, basically simulating experiments that they are considering. The program simulates the random paths and interactions of the neutrons we're trying to detect, letting us know what experiments and designs would be worth trying. After a while of weighing my options, though, I've finally decided to go with that, so I'll probably be taking over once the student working on it graduates in a few weeks. It should be an interesting challenge, but I'm glad that I get the chance to have the work.
Aside from work and school, this weekend has been quite a bit of fun for us as well. After wanting to get some more furnishing done for the past few weeks, we finally headed out yesterday and got it done. We ended up getting a rug to cover some of our "church carpet" in the living room as well as a bookcase from Walmart, so now we should finally have places to put everything. Also exciting (for us--a bit sad that it's exciting, really) was getting three plants to add to our decor: lucky bamboo for our bedroom, a bonsai tree that's currently in our kitchen, and a hosta for our patio! We may be just a bit crazy to be as happy as we are to have it, but I figure it's the closest we'll have to pets or a garden for quite a while.
And that should bring you up-to-date. This coming week will be our last week of classes, so we'll have to see how that goes. Until next time, have a great week!
--Brian
The week has been pretty good to us overall. We got to spend last weekend in Logan and the surrounding area, visiting both sets of grandparents. It was nice to see them and to have time to chat, and I really wish we could have had more time to spend with them. We also got to visit Aunt Jane with Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen, and that was quite entertaining (especially having her bird Tink pecking and biting at us for the first little bit). We didn't get to see much else in the way of family, and we had to head back after lunch on Sunday so we could get settled back in before school on Monday.
The following week was fairly typical for us--lots of school! Well, more so for Julie than for me. I have my French 102 class every morning during the summer and Julie is taking African American Literature and Literary Analysis. She's done well in them so far, but she has lots of books to read and papers to write--I suppose that's part of the job description of an English Minor. My class is also going well and I've been really enjoying learning about the French language and culture. It's interesting to see the similarities and differences between French and Spanish. I also noticed this week how my ability to speak in French is developing somewhat differently from how I learned Spanish: my vocabulary in French is probably more well rounded, and what I know in each language seems to be more comprehensive in different aspects. Certainly there are things I could talk about in one that I couldn't talk about as well in the other. It will be interesting to see where things are at by the time I get through French 202.
Aside from school, I'll add just a bit about work. For those that don't know I'm currently working as a research assistant here at BYU, working for Dr. Rees and Dr. Czirr on the Neutron Detection Project. For me it's just been a matter of figuring out what exactly they're doing and where I can fit in. Dr. Rees suggested to me that I look around, but eventually seemed hopeful that I would take over the Monte Carlo programming, basically simulating experiments that they are considering. The program simulates the random paths and interactions of the neutrons we're trying to detect, letting us know what experiments and designs would be worth trying. After a while of weighing my options, though, I've finally decided to go with that, so I'll probably be taking over once the student working on it graduates in a few weeks. It should be an interesting challenge, but I'm glad that I get the chance to have the work.
Aside from work and school, this weekend has been quite a bit of fun for us as well. After wanting to get some more furnishing done for the past few weeks, we finally headed out yesterday and got it done. We ended up getting a rug to cover some of our "church carpet" in the living room as well as a bookcase from Walmart, so now we should finally have places to put everything. Also exciting (for us--a bit sad that it's exciting, really) was getting three plants to add to our decor: lucky bamboo for our bedroom, a bonsai tree that's currently in our kitchen, and a hosta for our patio! We may be just a bit crazy to be as happy as we are to have it, but I figure it's the closest we'll have to pets or a garden for quite a while.
And that should bring you up-to-date. This coming week will be our last week of classes, so we'll have to see how that goes. Until next time, have a great week!
--Brian
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Memories in Music
So I know I just posted, but we'll consider this to be making up for not posting for over a month before that. This is actually a topic that just came to me on the fly and really had me thinking tonight. Especially since the mission, music has been a fairly big thing in my life. Even before my mission I could feel the draw that music has, melding with and extending emotion. It's been particularly important in my time writing, at times bringing with it inspiration for where to take a story or what details to give. Music has carried me through both hard times and good times, and considering all this I felt it would be appropriate to blog about the topic.
What really started me thinking about the subject of music was listening to an Elton John cd that I had listened to fairly often this past summer. I had discovered it in one of my parents' cars and started listening to it because it reminded me somewhat of my childhood. The meaning I placed on these songs would change fairly abruptly, though, as I listened to it last summer. It was a time of struggle and difficulties, working through many of the trials that came from trying to readjust to home life after the mission. This transition transcended everything in my life, from my relationship with my (then) girlfriend (now fiancee) Julie; to my family relationships; to my role in Church and in the lives of my friends; and even to my books. Listening to the songs I listened to last summer, I can't help but relive some of those feelings and events, remember the difficulties I had to go through to get to where I am now, happily engaged to the most wonderful girl in the world.
Well, to avoid distraction, I guess I'll end here for now, leaving this time with a question for you, the reader: How has music affected your life lately? Have you had any significant feelings/events that have become intrinsically tied to some song, cd, or artist?
What really started me thinking about the subject of music was listening to an Elton John cd that I had listened to fairly often this past summer. I had discovered it in one of my parents' cars and started listening to it because it reminded me somewhat of my childhood. The meaning I placed on these songs would change fairly abruptly, though, as I listened to it last summer. It was a time of struggle and difficulties, working through many of the trials that came from trying to readjust to home life after the mission. This transition transcended everything in my life, from my relationship with my (then) girlfriend (now fiancee) Julie; to my family relationships; to my role in Church and in the lives of my friends; and even to my books. Listening to the songs I listened to last summer, I can't help but relive some of those feelings and events, remember the difficulties I had to go through to get to where I am now, happily engaged to the most wonderful girl in the world.
Well, to avoid distraction, I guess I'll end here for now, leaving this time with a question for you, the reader: How has music affected your life lately? Have you had any significant feelings/events that have become intrinsically tied to some song, cd, or artist?
Sunday, March 7, 2010
The MoM
And no, I'm not talking about my mother. It's been a while since I've posted, what with life being as crazy as it has been as of late. It feels like a whirlwind of things happening all around me, yet I've still managed to find some calm spots along the way, most specifically with a real honest-to-goodness return to writing, and hence the main topic of this post.
As an aside before getting to the major topic, the business isn't without its good times. Since I last wrote I have since gotten engaged to a wonderful lady. I proposed January 17, and the wedding is to be held on June 12. Spending more time has become more important, though with the drawback of even less free time for doing other stuff, like updating the blog! Classes have been good overall--especially my Modern Physics class! If I've learned one thing there, it's that quantum mechanics is hard, at least when you're first starting into it. The conceptual part has mostly settled in by now, but that doesn't make the math any prettier. :P
Anyways, on to today's main topic: The Legend of the Staff: The Marvel of Matanu. I've been working on this volume of The Legend of the Staff series since before my mission, and now it is finally nearing the end! There are now just four chapters left, which may still sound like a lot, but the one I'm working on should go by fairly fast and the next chapter is the climax of the story where Matanu will have to face his most difficult challenge yet. As you may have guessed, I'm very excited to see the book come to an end so that I can get on to the next book: The Legend of the Staff: Kedron's Tale. It's been a lot of fun working on The Marvel of Matanu, and I'd love to tell more about it, but I don't want to spoil the story for any who would like to read it. And speaking of which, if anyone were to want to read it or any of the other Legend of the Staff books, send me an email and I'd probably be willing to send you a copy or at least part of a copy of one of them!
Well, it's getting late and school's in the morning, so I'll end here for now.
As an aside before getting to the major topic, the business isn't without its good times. Since I last wrote I have since gotten engaged to a wonderful lady. I proposed January 17, and the wedding is to be held on June 12. Spending more time has become more important, though with the drawback of even less free time for doing other stuff, like updating the blog! Classes have been good overall--especially my Modern Physics class! If I've learned one thing there, it's that quantum mechanics is hard, at least when you're first starting into it. The conceptual part has mostly settled in by now, but that doesn't make the math any prettier. :P
Anyways, on to today's main topic: The Legend of the Staff: The Marvel of Matanu. I've been working on this volume of The Legend of the Staff series since before my mission, and now it is finally nearing the end! There are now just four chapters left, which may still sound like a lot, but the one I'm working on should go by fairly fast and the next chapter is the climax of the story where Matanu will have to face his most difficult challenge yet. As you may have guessed, I'm very excited to see the book come to an end so that I can get on to the next book: The Legend of the Staff: Kedron's Tale. It's been a lot of fun working on The Marvel of Matanu, and I'd love to tell more about it, but I don't want to spoil the story for any who would like to read it. And speaking of which, if anyone were to want to read it or any of the other Legend of the Staff books, send me an email and I'd probably be willing to send you a copy or at least part of a copy of one of them!
Well, it's getting late and school's in the morning, so I'll end here for now.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Bookstore Rants
Hey all (all one of you that read this, that is), I'm back, finally with something to blog about. Now, this is largely based on the experience that my girlfriend relayed, but it impressed me enough that I felt it deserved to be relayed. So for today's blog, I'm going to be talking by-and-large about the BYU bookstore. Those who want to firmly hold to belief that BYU is perfect and has no flaws, now is the time to stop reading. Maybe check out this cool link on youtube or something.
Now, every student at the Y knows that the BYU bookstore charges steep prices for the books, some being upwards of one or even two hundred dollars (thanks, media packs). And many students have likely heard about the possibility of getting cheaper books through the internet (For example, my girlfriend brought up that one of her books that sold for $50 at the bookstore could be purchased for $12 online). Now, one might assume that, since the bookstore will refund your books for the first two weeks of the semester, you could buy your books, look online for a less expensive copy, and if you found one order it and later sell back your text book. Well, it turns out you can't--by BYU's rules, anyways. So while you could return your book for reasons such as dropping a class, if our friends at the bookstore find out that you want to sell your book back because you bought it cheaper online, they won't be happy. Problem there is, since BYU has yet to get its hands on anything to give its employees psychic powers, you could very easily lie to them and say that you're planning to drop whatever course the book is for and go on your merry way. But oh, wait, you say, isn't that against the honor code? Well shoot, you're right--that against the honor code. But.., you say to yourself, they'll never notice, and who's it going to hurt? After all, the bookstore is overcharging anyways, right (seems kind of dishonest to me)? Now, I'm certainly not condoning lying here, but there certainly is a problem to overcome. And it kind of makes you think next time you're in the bookstore looking at that returns line, How many of those people are going to lie just because they need the money they're saving, or how many of them are going to be let down when they discover that they can't return their books? So I suppose the moral of all this is that until the BYU bookstore decides to change its policies, you better find out what books you need well in advance if you want to save money on books. Oh, and I wouldn't be expecting that policy to change any time soon. After all, rather than change their policy due to an article in the school's Daily Universe a while ago, they instead just ceased to advertise in the Daily Universe anymore (which in my opinion seems a bit odd, especially when you consider that there probably weren't ever tons of people reading the Daily Universe for their ads anyways). Anyways, there's my rant. Any thoughts or comments? Feel free to leave one!
Now, every student at the Y knows that the BYU bookstore charges steep prices for the books, some being upwards of one or even two hundred dollars (thanks, media packs). And many students have likely heard about the possibility of getting cheaper books through the internet (For example, my girlfriend brought up that one of her books that sold for $50 at the bookstore could be purchased for $12 online). Now, one might assume that, since the bookstore will refund your books for the first two weeks of the semester, you could buy your books, look online for a less expensive copy, and if you found one order it and later sell back your text book. Well, it turns out you can't--by BYU's rules, anyways. So while you could return your book for reasons such as dropping a class, if our friends at the bookstore find out that you want to sell your book back because you bought it cheaper online, they won't be happy. Problem there is, since BYU has yet to get its hands on anything to give its employees psychic powers, you could very easily lie to them and say that you're planning to drop whatever course the book is for and go on your merry way. But oh, wait, you say, isn't that against the honor code? Well shoot, you're right--that against the honor code. But.., you say to yourself, they'll never notice, and who's it going to hurt? After all, the bookstore is overcharging anyways, right (seems kind of dishonest to me)? Now, I'm certainly not condoning lying here, but there certainly is a problem to overcome. And it kind of makes you think next time you're in the bookstore looking at that returns line, How many of those people are going to lie just because they need the money they're saving, or how many of them are going to be let down when they discover that they can't return their books? So I suppose the moral of all this is that until the BYU bookstore decides to change its policies, you better find out what books you need well in advance if you want to save money on books. Oh, and I wouldn't be expecting that policy to change any time soon. After all, rather than change their policy due to an article in the school's Daily Universe a while ago, they instead just ceased to advertise in the Daily Universe anymore (which in my opinion seems a bit odd, especially when you consider that there probably weren't ever tons of people reading the Daily Universe for their ads anyways). Anyways, there's my rant. Any thoughts or comments? Feel free to leave one!
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