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!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
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!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Getting Back to Writing...
And no, I'm not referring to the blog so much as I am my books! Sigh...it's been so long since I've had the time to work on them that I began to worry I'd lost my touch. Once I finally had time, I just couldn't seem to come up with what to write. But after much struggle, I'm back, and have finally gotten back into writing! Working on The Legend of the Staff: The Marvel of Matanu. Thus far, it is definitely one of the most involved books I'd say, and certainly the darkest. I'm about half of the way through it thus far, and it has been intense--and will only be getting deeper if all goes according to plan! In this book the hero has a bit more of a dark past than other Staff Bearers, and with the mysterious cult, the dreaded Revelation, things just get more and more interesting as I go along. And now that I'm finally finding inspiration to work on it again, the story will only be getting better! Hurray for free time!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Random Happenings
First off, I suppose I should apologize for not writing for so long. You see, going to college can definitely be...time consuming, to say the least. But now after my six week hiatus, I'm back and better than ever (well, that's the hope, what with finals in a month). Getting started on this is difficult, because it seems like life can be so monotonous while here at the Y, but I'm going to attempt to at least write about something. So...let's pick a theme!
Coming to mind at the moment (that I could actually write very much about) is my physics class. I figure I haven't given appropriate attention to my Physics 220 class as of yet, especially considering that it really is one of those classes that brightens my day. The class itself is quite interesting, and thankfully our book is very easy to follow and so reading assignments don't seem to drag on like they could. Probably one of the best parts of the class, however, are the demos. Every day it seems we have some kind of demonstration to help us understand what we're learning, and some of the demos can be very interesting. And thanks to my pocket-sized digital camera, I've been able to record various demos, and hopefully once I hook my camera to my computer I can post some of the better videos to share the physics phun.
Anyhow, that's pretty much it for now. Hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you enjoy the videos (once I get them uploaded)!
- The L.o.t.S. Writer
Coming to mind at the moment (that I could actually write very much about) is my physics class. I figure I haven't given appropriate attention to my Physics 220 class as of yet, especially considering that it really is one of those classes that brightens my day. The class itself is quite interesting, and thankfully our book is very easy to follow and so reading assignments don't seem to drag on like they could. Probably one of the best parts of the class, however, are the demos. Every day it seems we have some kind of demonstration to help us understand what we're learning, and some of the demos can be very interesting. And thanks to my pocket-sized digital camera, I've been able to record various demos, and hopefully once I hook my camera to my computer I can post some of the better videos to share the physics phun.
Anyhow, that's pretty much it for now. Hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you enjoy the videos (once I get them uploaded)!
- The L.o.t.S. Writer
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