Demetria's Autumn Concert

Trained a rat, went to classes, got some homework done, did a bit of writing, studied- the works.

I also went to Demetria's autumn choir concert tonight. Music isn't really my thing, but it was actually very enjoyable. The first two songs especially blew me away. The first sounded . The second was sort of tribal and African. Both very neat.

Demetria sang later, of course, and midway through there was another song that was neat and involved makeshift instruments like a wooden box, a metal pail, a can of rice or beans, and a hammer. That hammer would clang against metal, and all of the sounds combined really sounded like chains.

Also, a couple of the songs used large bells that really donged and sounded like they belonged on the fronts of ships plowing through fog. Very inspiring for writing.

And Remy Didn't Get Forgotten This Time

Well, a bit of slightly sad news. I only scored 86% on my behavior exam, so I missed about three questions. That means I'll have to take the final for the class (our teacher said he'd let anyone who scored about 90% on both exams skip it). But, that's all right. Psychology's my passion, so taking another test on it won't be so bad.

On the upside, my chocolate essay is done! Now I've got to finish those two Connections projects.

One of the things I did this afternoon was watch this video Butch Hartman shared of him doing a massive drawing with 112 of his characters and one he borrowed, some of whom he hasn't drawn for ten years, all in ink, on the same sheet of paper. No sketches, no erasing, no planning- just sitting down for three and a half hours, diving straight into it, and making them all fit. I thought it was really neat. How does he do it?

Horticulture Vocabulary

One struggle that I'm really having with my horticulture class is that my teacher seems to assume all the incoming students have a good grasp of plant knowledge. I technically didn't even take high school biology- I took a middle school AP class (either that or Honors, but I assume it was AP). So biology was awhile ago, and even then, we talked more about animals than we did about plants.

My teacher talks constantly, and often not about the information on his slideshow. As a result, we all have to scribble down what we read in addition to different information that we hear... all in the brief amount of time he stays on that screen. For someone you might think is rambling, he sure can get through each one fast. My notebook contains twice the notes for horticulture as any other class, because you never know what's important until the quiz arrives and it's too late, so you write down everything and try to absorb more information at a time than you can really study.

I have never had to look up so many vocabulary words in any one sentence. For example, the other day we were given the phrase, "Gibberellins can substitute for a vernalization or photoperiod in flower induction" with little additional explanation (Translation: Plants can make hormones to help them grow flowers even when they receive little light). Even the SpellCheck on this post rejects these words.

Most of my notes go like this. In other news, abscisic acid promotes stomata closure in addition to working against gibberellins (which can also delay senescence in a plant), and zeatin, kinetin, benzyl, and adenine are natural cytokinins that cause cells to remain meristematic. That same day, we also discussed the influence of auxins during apical dominance and phototropism, and yesterday we talked about germplasm, acid scarification, and why it is that dioecious plants cannot self-pollinate.

But additionally, my chocolate essay is almost entirely done. I only need to look up a couple of facts like names, percentages, and accented letters to fill in the blanks I left, but the entire thing is structured and written otherwise.

108%

It would seem that I picked a really good group to work with in my rat-training class. I'm with all the boys and they work hard, stay focused, and don't babble and then stop watching the tiny blurry gray and white camera screen. I approve of this.

I was able to get a lot of work done today. There's still more to do, but I'm pushing through it a bit at a time. I finished reading that boring chocolate book today, so that's a plus. Now I just have to write an essay.

It looks like I got a 96% on my Lifespan Development test, which means I missed two questions out of fifty. Bit of a shame- I was really confident on getting a hundred. But the extra credit I did boosted my grade so that now I have a 108% in the whole class, so I guess that's acceptable.

When The Cat's Away

The rat lab began today. I'm glad I was able to make it in plenty of time. We broke into groups - mostly there are groups of three, but we're a group of four and so I'm working with three boys - and we were introduced to our rats. We decided to train ours to climb some stairs made of blocks, pass through a hoop at the top of them, then come down and touch a dangling ball with its nose. It's a couple of steps, but it should be fairly simple.

Otherwise, it was a busy day with several classes, and lots of homework to be done. I was finally able to complete that online safety and sexual consent course (I'm pretty sure it took longer than the promised 45 minutes). Then there was a lot of reading to be had. I squeezed out just a bit of writing as a break too. Tomorrow, at least, will be a lighter day that should lend me the opportunity to get my work done.

Nice that I have a printer now, seeing as I need to print off various papers for the rat lab every day.

From Cabin to College

Today began as most last days at the cabin do: With breakfast and with cleaning. Surprisingly, we managed to get all cleaned up and out of there by noon, which meant that we arrived at random 1:00 ward of a church in Wyoming. When it ended, I said good-bye to the rest of my family, and Dad carted me and my friends back to Utah State. Tomorrow, we start school again.

We dropped Alison off at her place first, and Dad stayed in my room for a bit to help me get the printer set up. I printed off my garden essay, so it's prim and ready to be handed into my teacher tomorrow. The deadline isn't until right before Thanksgiving, but now I don't have to fret about it- which will be especially nice now that my rat-training lab starts tomorrow, and will run every morning for the next month.

When Dad left, Demetria and I had a bit of a cool-down time before we were summoned to church for an auxiliary-training meeting. I wasn't sure what to expect, but we started with a brief opening meeting in the chapel and then split into different areas based on our callings. I'm a visiting teaching supervisor and headed to the room with the other relief-society callings. I sat next to Eliza (first counselor for our ward's relief society presidency, I think). When the whole thing was over, we got donuts and chocolate milk, and I managed to find Demetria again. After a bit more time spent chatting with Eliza, we headed back for Blue Square.

Home again. Meetings done. I did some laundry and things tonight and that was nice too. I also ate a lot of those Mini Chewy SweetTarts.

Hopefully I'm up in plenty of time for that rat lab tomorrow and I haven't missed anything. That's always a worry floating around the back of one's mind!

Happy Early Birthday to Me

My family decided to celebrate my birthday today! They won't be seeing me again before I turn nineteen, so this worked out. They picked up this cake for me, and my Mom managed to scrounge up some candles we had around the cabin:

My sister got me some Mini Chewy SweetTarts, and my family got me a great printer too:

That will definitely be nice to have on hand.

Additionally, I worked on some homework and my Dad and I taught my friends how to play Pillage and Plunder. I went from riches to being absolutely broke to destroying a Level 2 merchant loaded up with gems and rolling a six in prize money, and won the game shortly after when we cleaned up in favor of listening to the Women's broadcast of General Conference. Uchtdorf had a nice talk about the missionaries who introduced his wife to the Church. She was the very last door they knocked on after working their way through the entirety of a four-story building, and things in the world would have been very different if they had given up before making it that far.

When that was over, Mom and I each drove a four-wheeler up to Steve and Sharon's cabin, and my friends picked out some movies. We took more than we figured we could watch, just in case we chose something that had been damaged or in case we had time to watch tomorrow. 

As Dad, Preston, and even Stockton played Pillage and Plunder (For Stockton, this was his second time ever, even though Dad created the game), Demetria, Alison, and I watched the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. Even Anne watched some with us. She can't resist a "bad guy movie"!

I had never seen "Pirates" before and I thought the movie was interesting and clever. Demetria headed off for bed after it was over, but Alison and I watched "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". I figured it was a classic that ought to be watched while we had access to it, and I knew there was a scene that authors of "How to write strong scenes or good characters"-type books or Internet posts often cite where Sundance refuses to jump off a high cliff into a river, so I wanted to see that. Indeed, it was nicely done.

It was a relaxing day consisting mainly of staying inside, but my friends seemed to enjoy playing games, watching movies, and just having time to relax from college life, so it was great!

Star Valley Reaches

Dad came up to see me after my classes were over. While he was here he fixed my scanner and my speakers, and I finished that essay about the Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point, so that worked out nicely. 

We ate out at Angie's for lunch (I had a grilled cheese with four kinds of cheeses on it- that was really good) and split a cinnamon scone. After that, we waited for Demetria to come back, then swung by and picked up Alison. With both of them loaded up in the Jeep, we were on the road.

We drove through Cache National Forest (I hadn't been that way before) and arrived at the Star Valley temple in plenty of time to walk through it during the open house. It's a small place, but had some very nice features. I got to see the rest of my family, plus my uncle Matt, his wife Sam, and of course little Anne and Jeff. Sam is pregnant with their third, but it's much too early to know if they'll be joined by a boy or a girl.

From there it was up to the cabin. Demetria, Alison, and I played Dominion with Matt. I was winning for the entire game, but when it ended, Matt was very close behind with all his Dukes and Duchys. Thanks to Explorer, I was able to buy Provinces almost every turn after awhile, and they constantly replaced the money I lost thanks to Noble Brigands. There's a reason Explorer is probably my favorite card.

We got everyone to bed after that. I hope my friends enjoy their time up at the cabin! They seem to be liking it so far.

First Exam of College

Eleven pages of extra credit work, done. Scantrons, bought. Number 2 pencils, sharpened. Buses, on time. Hit me with your best shot.

I had a simple day today. I worked on the essay I need to write for my garden visit (It's almost done) and did some studying. This afternoon I took my first real exam of college, and I think I got all fifty questions right (There was only one question that I was somewhat iffy on). I guess we'll find out. Of course, it was lifespan development, so it was pretty simple stuff.

Additionally, I got an e-mail saying that because no one had transferred out of Wave 1 in the working-to-train-a-rat lab that's supposed to start next Monday (Our TA forgot to put a cap on the class and I guess no one wanted to switch over), the data was wiped out and we would pick again first-come first-serve. Luckily, by the time I got to it, there were only three other people in my time slot. I think there can be eighteen.

Otherwise, I hung out at my dorm. Mom called and we talked for a few minutes about the weekend, and I did some dishes, ate food, talked with Demetria, and worked on work. Things are good.

In Other News I Attended Another Study Session Today

Wow. I can't believe I was raised by parents who don't believe in preserving the sanctity of marriage. What awful people they must be. I now understand why Dad always acts surprised when one of us kids separates him from Mom at the movie theaters. 

How dare my parents allow their children to sit between them on the church benches? Don't they realize that the bonds between husband are wife are sacred and ordained of God and that they should be sitting next to each other at all times? That their children sitting between them is disruptive to the spirit and not something to be admired, but instead something to be frowned upon, and fathers should be proud of shifting their seated children away from their mothers so two loving spouses may intertwine their fingers and share their moment together?

(Citations: My institute teacher)

This is hardly a joke. This is the knowledge I came away from class with today.

Help me.

I'm Still Laughing at "Sippy Goblets"

One month. Officially one month into college. Weird.

I made the mistake of joining a study group that one of my classmates wanted to put together and that she and I and another boy had been talking about for a couple of days. Today in Lifespan Development, we'd agreed to meet in the Geology building, so I clarified several times to make sure I knew where it was, then went straight to Connections.

After my Connections class was over around 5:45 this afternoon and I had caught Alison up on our weekend plans, I headed out to find that Geology building. It was supposed to be close by. As I walked, however, I got a text saying that the study session would now be in the Natural Sciences building "just across" from it. When I asked where this was, I was told, "Right by the Geology building". I almost texted back, "You're describing locations I've never been using buildings I don't know and method of loci doesn't work with me!"... but I refrained.

So I tried to search out the Natural Sciences building. My peer mentor from Connections walked me to it. Only, when she left, I walked in and it was the Math and Statistics building. I got directions from another girl and took a walk from the quad towards the center of campus. Aha, things finally started to look familiar! I found the Biology - Natural Sciences building and...

... waited.

I circled the place several times until I got a text from my classmate asking where I was. In the Natural Sciences building, of course- it was the one near University Inn, wasn't it? Yes, and where exactly was I? In the lobby. What did I see nearby? A mural. I even texted her a picture of it. She sent me her location, so I turned on Google maps and headed outside. I ended up standing outside University Inn, with no other buildings around me, thoroughly lost.

Now, I'm not supposed to be out in the sun until Saturday due to the leg hair removal thing. It was getting late and I was getting frustrated. Abandoning texting, I called and asked for more specific directions. Finally my classmate realized that she had confused the University Inn with the Conference Center. Easy mistake- they're both large black buildings covered with tightly-aligned panels and windows, and the sign outside the Conference Center reads both its name and the name of the inn. Why... I'm not sure.

Turns out, the study session was being held in the same building I'd had my Connections class in. It has two labels. If you approach from one direction, it's called the Agriculture building, which is the name I knew it as. From the other, apparently it's the Natural Sciences building. Which is distinct from the Biology - Natural Sciences building. Well, at least I'd made it.

I have very limited experience with study groups, so maybe my expectations were too high. My classmate had a list of vocabulary words given to us by the teacher. Just. The words. As in, the same words that could be found in my notes with all their corresponding definitions. Maybe I shouldn't have pointed that out- I think I embarrassed her. But I was honestly confused. Had I come all this way for vocabulary words?

No, of course not! We were also sharing (copying?) answers for the extra credit assignment. The extra credit assignment that was downloaded and halfway finished on my desktop computer back at Blue Square. The others in the group were stunned to hear that I didn't have a laptop. Weird that in 2016 you actually have to explain twice what a desktop computer is and that no, it's not in my backpack, and no, I couldn't pull the assignment up on Google Docs. It was a Word file. I probably should have put it on Google Docs, but I hadn't thought about it.

What boggled my mind was... Why were we sharing answers? It's not like the assignment was hard. It's structured like a test with matching and fill-in-the-blank sections. I've actually loved doing it, because it's helping me study for the upcoming Lifespan Development exam, AND it's going to get me extra credit points.

On top of that, each question provides the page number where we can find the answers. Literally all we have to do is turn to the page in our textbook, skim through a section that we should have already read if we've been keeping up with our work, pluck out the (usually highlighted) details we need, and then type the answer into the file we downloaded and change the color of our text so it stands out. I don't know. Cheating just seems so... pointless? I did arrive late, so maybe they weren't cheating, but I'm still scratching my head about that one.

I pulled out my notebook and tried to read through my Lifespan notes while we waited for one of our group members to return from the bathroom. That turned out to be more difficult to do with all the talking going on. The others started asking questions and I answered just about all of them, quick and fast and easily. 

Maybe it was helpful, but I was mostly getting antsy because I felt like I'd be covering more ground if I worked on my own. Especially if I spent the evening working on the extra credit assignment like I'd originally planned to.

The Supplemental Instruction or SI "super session" for the behavior psychology class was supposed to start at 6:30, so we packed up and made our way over there. As we went, my classmate told me that she hoped in the SI session we covered the graphs again, because she'd chosen not to attend class yesterday. Interesting. I asked her what her preferred method of studying was. She said cramming the night before a test. The worst method possible. Between those details and the sharing of answers on the extra credit assignment, I was starting to guess why having a study group was so important to her.

There was nothing inherently wrong with the study group- I just don't think it's for me and my learning style, and I don't think I'll be attending it again unless I'm really desperate.

SI was fine, only... not... super helpful. I hadn't really expected it to be- I regularly sit right next to the woman who teaches it, and occasionally I glance over as she's taking notes to watch her draw stars next to certain sections and write 'Use in SI'. I always think, "No, don't star that! That's an easy concept! Save your stars for something else!" Plus, I just think it's really funny how she flapped around her comparison graphs about why her class worked on the same day we went over "correlation doesn't equal causation".

So in SI, I sat in the front and called out the answers to the questions as they came up on the Powerpoint, after our instructor had read each one aloud (that seemed to be the system we were working with). "Willed actions! Science! Triangle! Charles Darwin!" - I'm the only one who got that one - "Pavlov! Digestive system! The body and soul! Metaphysical! Watson! Radical behaviorism! Skinner! Thorndike's cats and puzzle boxes! Actions of an organism! Topography!" ... I'm curious to know if the people around me thought I was showing off, since it looked and felt as though they kept stealing sharp glances at me as we went along. No, friends. I am just trying to learn things like you.

I bailed from SI early when the group activities came into play. Partially because I hadn't had the opportunity to eat since lunch and it was starting to get late. I still wanted to review my syllabus for my rat lab class since we're supposed to have a test on it tomorrow; I'd only looked at it once, and that was about a month ago. I guess I have my cramming habits too.

Demetria and I made some dinner and talked, and then watched the new "Star" episode that came out yesterday. There was a really cute quote in it that went something like, "I know it's hard to be the oldest one at the little kids' table, but you're not ready yet to be the youngest one at the grown-ups' table". 

Once it had ended, I read through the 23 pages of my rat class syllabus and pulled up my extra credit review work after that. Attending those study groups put me way behind schedule- I'd expected to finish the thing by now... but it's getting so late. I can catch up on it tomorrow. Maybe tonight... I'll just sleep...

Fanfiction vs. Canon

Did you know you can get hired to write fanfiction? Well, to work on TV shows, but same thing.

I did a lot of note-reading, book-reviewing, and homework today, and near the end of it (probably as my focus was drifting towards the fact that the promised "Fairly OddParents" episode never aired tonight) I randomly had the idea to Google "How does one get to write for a cartoon?" Dad kind of brought the concept up when I went home this weekend, but I'd brushed it off in the same way I'd brushed off Demetria's suggestions that I try turning one of my ideas into a graphic novel- it just didn't seem like my lump of sugar.

Curiously enough, it looks like most show writers get picked up for writing fanfiction (well, "specs" or "speculation scripts"). Hey, I can totally do that! Specs are episode scripts, usually about a show that's currently running (it looks like you're better off not messing with those that have gone into retirement). How very interesting.

I'm not 100% sold on the idea of the wonderful world of Hollywood yet, and I always like to do more research before setting my heart on anything, but I got slammed in the chest with a bunch of warm fuzzies from the moment I started reading through the How-To sites to the moment I pulled myself away to write this post, so I'll keep it tucked in the back of my mind. 

Protagonist For Hire might be an idea I want to keep as a good ol' fashioned novel, and I wouldn't dare slide in my superhero story Silverfish into the fray right now with "Avengers" and "Suicide Squad" and "Miraculous Ladybug" running wild, and Carrie and Franny's story about a selfish protagonist and a repeating day (How to Tell a Lie) is currently out of the running thanks to "Looped", but I wonder if there's any potential in pitching the tentatively-nicknamed Stars and Finches to Cartoon Network or Nick or Disney XD one day? After all, I have a world built and characters designed, but I am struggling with finalizing a plot for a single story. Maybe I could look at it from a new angle and think up "stand-alone episodes" about (cough well deserved cough) magical sexism and less-deserved magical animal racism problems. 

I think I'd actually be more interested in exploring the economies, trade routes, ongoing wars, and tentative alliances I've put together in the background of my current draft than in what's supposed to be happening in the foreground. But, that's why one of my protagonists is an ambassador in training in the first place! Half-elf with all of the weaknesses, none of the strengths, and a horrible accent on top of trying to pierce the language barrier of a tourist trap country full of skeptics who are iffy about trusting him and his people? I can work with that.

This is a guy who's coming from a third-world country and will do anything to avoid getting sent back. He's enjoying clean water and year-round warm weather way too much. Maybe he has potential in a cartoon after all. Imagine all the tiny culture difference details I can slip in, like the fact that in his home country, everyone shares plates at meal times and eats from any one of them. And food poisoning problems. And breaking into hives after coming into contact with magical items. And trying not to touch any girls because they could potentially steal his soul if he did. Ooh, and holiday episodes! They practically write themselves.

Really, is there any scene more fun to write than important figureheads arguing around the dinner table and trying to ignore the fact that one of them is a deer who can't use silverware and is obsessed with being a "martyr" about it? Or the fact that there is only one embassy in the host country and so the entire building is divided up into sections that are technically the territories of other countries, leaving all the ambassadors to hopscotch their way down the hall without stepping into the wrong places uninvited and starting random wars? 

Maybe I could promote Ethel to a position where she does a lot of travelling around this fantasy world, too... Then, she's got all her issues about Weber's Law of Just Noticeable Differences and being so overloaded on magic that her detection thresholds are all messed up and she can't tell the difference between the feel of lukewarm water, boiling temperature, and freezing.

And there's always the option to fall back on another concept of mine about Riddle and Kima attending magical glowy college to learn how to be story-skipping personifications of authors despite one being so obsessed with mimicking his host that he's forgotten his original personality and the other breaking character every five minutes because she can't maintain a straight face or unkind attitude no matter how much they pay her... Chasing the well-meaning and technically dead runaway who "Nope"d out of Heaven and stole the golden quill pen that can rewrite history in any of "Mom"'s story universes, yes... 

That one would work a lot better as a show than a book. Which is great, since I wasn't intending to pursue it, ever. Maybe I'll have to think about this.

Apparently, original pilot scripts are selling a lot better than they used to these days, and agents would much rather read them than a spec from a show they've read a hundred times before. I'll have to give it more thought, but I guess I'd better keep my ears pricked for networking opportunities. I do not think my psychology major will be hurting me here.

Hour After Hour Without Moving

I wasn't tired at all today, which was great considering that I had some trouble falling asleep last night. Demetria and I attended church as usual. The second speaker today gave a pretty neat talk. He spoke about Moroni living on the run alone and not having any materials to expand the plates, so everything he wrote was crucial, and how one of the things he decided to write with his limited resources were the sacrament prayers.

Upon returning to Blue Square, my day consisted mostly of working and reading. I finished all my Connections homework and was able to review my notes for a decent while. I seem to be doing pretty well. I have several quizzes and exams coming up over the next week or two, so here's to hoping!

Thanksgiving Point

The reason I went home over the weekend was so that I would be able to attend my laser hair removal appointment. Mom and I went to that this morning, and it at least went better than last time. 

We took a bit of a break, and I saw the new "Fairly OddParents" episode from yesterday. It was excellent. Possibly the best for two seasons, or at least it's up there. We finally got to meet Chloe's parents, and it turns out that my prediction of their personalities was pretty spot-on! I was pleased with myself for that. Chloe's parents are exotic veterinarians/adventurers/"professional heroes" (hence the reason why she had so many "pets rescued from poachers" in her debut episode, like a kangaroo and a dolphin). 

The part of this episode that got me was when Timmy pointed out that Chloe's parents were both so scatterbrained that they'd put their pants on backwards. Chloe smiled and said that her parents don't have time to pay attention to "the little things in life". Apparently, she's one of those things. And yes, she did have a total meltdown when her father suggested that she might have done something that was not a good idea (which would be letting a bird eat Mexican food). 

Apparently this breakdown lasted an hour, and Timmy was left behind to help her through it while her parents meandered off. And then of course they took her pets (i.e. Cosmo and Wanda) and left for the rain forest the following morning without so much as a good-bye. Ah, poor silly child, plugging her ears and screaming "La la la" when Timmy reminded her that Cosmo and Wanda don't have their wands and are stuck in their flightless bird forms and out there without any camouflage from predators...

Anyway, I have an assignment for my horticulture class that requires me to visit a Utah Garden or similar such park area. After eating grilled cheese sandwiches, Mom and I headed up to Thanksgiving Point. I couldn't remember ever going there before, so it was neat to see, and we got some good pictures.

Shortly after our return from Thanksgiving Point, Mom brought me back up to Utah State since I had decided not to stay another night. I showed her a cool pizza place that I had eaten a sample at during Taste of Logan (the underground one), and after we'd eaten, she dropped me off and made sure I got settled in with the things we'd bought. 

Dad had pulled out some new speakers and headphones for me. I followed all his instructions to plug the speakers in, but it looks like they won't play if the broken tip of the old headphones is still wedged into place up front (because it thinks it should play out the headphones). Too bad. At least the headphones work in my phone, which will play videos if I need to, and I can borrow Demetria's laptop if necessary. I'm grateful the rest of the computer is still in working condition, at least. If something had to break, I'm glad it wasn't the memory containing years of files.

We ran my dishes through the dishwasher, and Mom took a bunch of cardboard boxes that we had laying around home with her. Of course, once she left I realized that I left my nacho chip pottery bowl back at home. Ah, well.

First Time Home Again

Mom picked me up after my classes today. Just before she arrived, I was plugging my headphones into my computer when the tip snapped off in the jack. Uh-oh! I tried pulling it out, but it didn't budge, and I ended up pushing it in. Since my computer speakers don't work (and haven't for years), using my headphones was the only way to play sound on my computer. Maybe Dad will have to look at it when he comes up next week.

After some grocery shopping and a stop at Sonic, we made the long drive back home. The kids didn't act super thrilled to see me, but I have been around for all their lives, so I guess that makes sense. 

Dad's been hard at work in my absence. He's putting together a huge square table in the kitchen. That will be even cooler when it's all done.

Mom and I went shopping again, this time for more plates that could go in the microwave and in the bottom rack of the dishwasher. We also picked up some salt and pepper shakers shaped like pumpkins with swirly designs carved into them.

Dad made spaghetti for dinner as per my request, and Stockton showed me his Happy Ball 4 game. I slept in my old bed again, with my old blankets. And my tree was still alive too, so that's always a cool plus.

I Was Still on Time

Mmm... lots of homework today. Nice to have only one class and lots of time, though.

I went to see my Connections teacher in the Special Collections and Archives room at the library. I arrived five minutes early, but she was in a back room or something in the employee access area and I guess was waiting for me to show up there. I had told the receptionist when I walked in that I wanted to see her, but she looked at me like I was nuts. 

Then, about five minutes after our appointment, the receptionist told me that my teacher was waiting for me back there; my teacher had called the desk and said that she was expecting me. So it probably looked like I was five minutes late, but oh well. Connections is almost over and that will be nice.

Chipping Away

Lots of classes, lots of homework. Technically I don't have any homework due for about a week, but if I can see it on my to-do list, I like to take care of it. Plus, when everything is due on the 20th, you're not going to want to wait until the last minute.

Season 10 episodes for "Fairly OddParents" are airing for the next two weeks, so I got to watch the newest two tonight, and they were really cute and fun. And thus the list of illegal or problematic things that Chloe has done and the times that Timmy has mocked her for it steadily grows.

I also watched a video of Butch Hartman drawing various cartoon characters like Steven from "Steven Universe" and Dipper Pines in the "Fairly Odd" style. Which doesn't really matter to anyone, but it's a thing that happened and that was fun. He's a humble guy and I like listening to his commentary about all the things he loves about the other cartoons he sees out there alongside his own show.

Also maybe Mom would like to know that I've been making my bed everyday since I've been up here.

Cartoon Talk Ahead

As it turns out, we actually do get "Fairly OddParents" up here! Maybe when I was flipping through all the TV channels yesterday, I forgot to account for the time zone difference. I thought I did, but apparently not.

It's true that the newer episodes of this show definitely have a different feel to them than the older ones, and seem to be following a theme of "less character development + more action scenes + more cartoon physics that are very difficult to explain in terms of previously-established universe realism", but that can happen when the show's been on air for fifteen years and the writers have been swapped out several times. I still enjoy them. I've been waiting for "Blue Angel" for awhile now and it did not disappoint. Not much, anyway. Villains pretending to be friends with the heroes to manipulate them are always fun to watch- especially when that villain is a toddler with awful social skills masquerading as a popular schoolgirl.

Season 10 introduced a new major character named Chloe, who is fascinating in herself, and whose creation reminds me of another cartoon story. Several years ago, there was apparently a boy who wrote a fanfiction about the show "Total Drama", and wrote all the characters out of character (although in his defense, I believe only one season of the show was out at that time). His story grew popular, however, and dozens upon dozens of fans wrote to the producers insisting that they make their version of Ezekiel more like his Ezekiel. 

This went on for awhile. It got to the point where the show creators were so annoyed by the criticism of canon Ezekiel "being out of character" and being "poorly developed" and "a waste of opportunity" that in Season 3, Ezekiel underwent some character development just as drastic as the fans had demanded. Only... in the negative direction. As in, Ezekiel was so desperate for attention and friendship (which was always his biggest personality trait) that he hid himself in the cargo hold of the jet for the entire third season, surrounded by animals... and episode by episode spiraled into a semi-feral state.

Lots of fans were furious, but I found the psychology of Ezekiel dissolving into insanity incredible, and I especially thought it was hilarious that this was the creators' response to fans demanding that they change this character that they had designed and worked so hard on. Sounds like something I would do. Anyway, I feel like a similar thing happened to Chloe. When her design was revealed about a year ago, apparently there were tons of fans who complained that "they could already tell she was going to be a Mary Sue" (a relatively flawless character whom all the other characters shower with love and anyone who doesn't is portrayed as just a jerk) and they were going to hate her no matter what.

So Butch Hartman pretty much made her the most absolutely nicey-nice and stereotypical Mary Sue girl he possibly could.

On the surface, anyway. Here's the amazing plot twist: Chloe isn't actually a Mary Sue. She seems like one at a glance, and lots of people still insist she is, but if you really watch her, you can tell that she isn't. She does bad things. She outright ditched her best friends when they were being mauled by magical beasts and needed her help. She was responsible for the deaths of her friends and other acquaintances back in her home city (which is why she had to move to Timmy's town in the first place). I've been keeping tabs and when things go wrong, she will pass easily through every stage of grief, including Acceptance, but she gets completely hung up on Denial. When bad things happen, she denies and denies and denies. Very unhealthy.

Her parents haven't appeared on-screen yet, but they obviously don't care about her very much. They didn't even throw her a birthday party. No presents, no cake- apparently they didn't even notice that she didn't go to bed the previous night because she wanted to one-up Timmy and that she was super delirious and tired that entire episode. Then, she's been raising herself on a "Barney"-esque TV show meant for five-year-olds her entire life (Second plot twist: In Season 8, you find out that Timmy wished for time to stop back around the tail end of Season 4 so that he wouldn't ever have to grow up and lose his fairies... and he's been keeping this secret for fifty years).

So you have Chloe, who for fifty-five years and counting has worshipped a show that flat-out preaches, "You're not good enough unless you're perfect, and if you make mistakes then you're a horrible person", and it's so terrible and amazing because it totally explains why she tries so hard to be good and I can't help but love that, and it's hilarious to me that the other fans of this show seem to be oblivious to these pretty major details and write her off as Sueish and perfect and all that.

Because she's not. Chloe has blatantly committed multiple illegal acts (one of them being participating in insider trading to make her friends rich) in addition to other not-illegal but still problematic acts (such as outing Timmy's best friend in tonight's episode - against their pleas - as an alien in disguise so she could get a good score on her extra credit project, and consequently getting him captured by the government for testing).

It's just super fascinating to me, since I'm hoping to major in psychology, to see how much she's focused on "following the rules"... despite the fact that she's hurting people and rarely seems to care (Supposedly she's also a super fan of their universe's version of the Hunger Games and in one of the upcoming episodes she's going to wish it was real, so this should be interesting).

And on top of all this, it's been vaguely hinted that Chloe has a darker past to her, and that she was guided to Timmy specifically to wean him off his fairy godparents and teach him how to actually function in the world without magic as he gets older. And that he may not even be the first one she's done this to. I dunno, man, but something's not right about the way she has all those weird animals at her house when godkids who lose their fairies get their minds wiped of all memories involving magic and have their fairies replaced with mortal pets.

... Other than TV shows, today was really a normal Tuesday. I did some writing, homework, and laundry, and of course attended class, and that was really all.

Channel Chasers

I paid a visit to my peer mentor today during her office hours, and she helped me clear up a few questions about Connections homework and clubs. She was also able to show me the process of how to find and schedule an appointment to meet with the adviser of the psychology department, so that will be pretty nice to have on hand. She warned me that it's best to speak with them earlier rather than later since when it's time to start registering for next semester's classes, suddenly everyone has questions to ask.

Otherwise, it was a fairly normal day. I came home for lunch planning to make a turkey and cheese sandwich, only to have it dawn on me as I was reaching for the fridge that I'd frozen all the bread yesterday. Demetria can't eat gluten, and with it only being the two of us, I really wasn't going through the loaf very fast. Oh well. I took the bread out to thaw and had my sandwich for dinner instead, along with some strawberries and a bowl of yogurt with banana slices mixed in. Additionally, we had a guest speaker - a retired employee for Hershey's - speak to us during our chocolate class.

The TV up here gets a lot of weird kids channels ("Powerpuff Girls", "Steven Universe", "Amazing World of Gumball", "Elena of Avalon", "Lion Guard", "Sofia the First", "Doc McStuffins", and even "Hey, Arnold" reruns), but no "Fairly OddParents", which was kind of disappointing because there were supposed to be three new episodes coming out tonight, and one of them in particular I've been excited for all summer. I just can't resist drastically different villains who fight all the time teaming up to achieve superordinate goals.

Demetria and I watched the new "Star" episodes instead. Ludo seems to have come to the conclusion that his half of the broken magic wand reacts to his pain, so for an episode there he kind of had an obsession with hurting himself going on. He's doing a tad better since he amassed his mountain of corn, though. Minus the part where he's constantly babbling to himself and has just found out that Star has an instruction manual on how to use the wand. Looks like he's ready to get his head back in the game.

We also watched a couple "ChalkZone" episodes, which was fun too. "Snap Out of Water" is a good one. I'm always here for watching sentient chalk creatures screaming for help as they dissolve in Real World rain.

Church and Church and Back Again

Mom will be proud to know that I spent a lot of today socializing. Demetria and I attended church for the block and picked up some food at the Linger Longer. Then we returned to Blue Square for a bit. I scored a hundred percent on my psychology quiz, which was sufficiently more satisfying than the 90% I got on the last one.

Around six we headed back again for the young adult broadcast. We met up with Eliza there and listened to Elder Quenton L. Cook speak about the physical and metaphysical dangers of our time, which was pretty nice. 

Once it was over, Eliza showed us her place and we stayed there for almost an hour and a half talking about school, art classes, Japanese culture, cartoons, and writing before ward prayer rolled around at 8:30, which was the plan. We managed to score some ice cream sandwiches along with cheese and crackers. Even Demetria found some Snickers bars she could eat (since she can't have gluten), and she introduced me to one of her friends from a music class of hers

It was back to Blue Square again after that. Next week, it's our ward's turn to clean the church. I feel a shred guilty that I won't be there to help since I've already made plans to go home next weekend. The funny thing is, my home ward cleaned the building the week after I left. I guess I lucked out this year. I wonder how it will work out next time.

Shopping on Saturday

Demetria and I rode the bus down to the grocery store today. There's a stop right in front of Blue Square and another right in font of Lee's Marketplace, so that works out pretty nicely. Of course, the Marketplace is the first stop, so when you get onto the bus after leaving the store, you have to ride the whole cycle around and that can take about twenty-five minutes. Is it a perfect system? No.

As we shopped around, and ended up having to call Mom because for the life of me, I couldn't figure out where to pick up turkey slices, of all things. I looked over everything in the meat section four times. There were a few 'turkey breasts' or large chunks, but that wasn't what I was looking for. Ham was everywhere. Too bad my dislike of ham exceeds my dislike of turkey. 

Then I asked an employee, and he sent me to the deli at the front of the store. That's where all the fancy meats were (in addition to the 'order your custom sandwich and buy it right now' thing). Still, I searched it all. That was when I called Mom, asking for aid as I checked out the strawberries. We reviewed the facts of the case and determined that there had to be deli slice turkey somewhere in the store. Lee's doesn't have a frozen food isle in its middle, but there's one on the far edge with the milk and eggs and ice cream and stuff. I walked up and down that aisle twice before I said good-bye to Mom. I simply couldn't find the turkey. 

So I went back to get yogurt. As I was leaving that area, I happened to glance to the left. Meat? In the dairy section? Sure, the meat section I'd searched four times was nearby, but it was past an obvious gap in the shelves created by a wide Employees Only door and several racks and podiums. Plus, the edges of the wall curve. I took another look. Yep- it was my turkey. Next to the yogurt. Go figure.

I also wanted to get corn, but we don't have a can opener in our dorm and none of the corn cans had tabs on the tops of their lids that made opening easy. Maybe next time.

Other than that, my day was fairly relaxing. I have to say, it is nice not to have to worry about giving talks for awhile, or having to plan relief society lessons or something. I've kept up with my homework, but I do hope I can get into some better study habits. My brain can only handle reading information from the same medium so many times before it demands a change (which makes switching between Google Docs on my desktop computer and the Google Docs app on my phone a very helpful thing).

Easier Than High School

So far college has been easier than high school. I've managed to get my homework done on time, and there hasn't been a lot of it. The last few school years, it was a rare weekend when I didn't have homework from at least one of my teachers. Here, it's definitely nice to be told I don't have any. I'm sure it won't last forever, but it's nice to enjoy.

I had the chance to do some more world-building research and writing today. I tried piecing together my magic system for "Stars and Finches" again as well. Something about drawing the properties out of patterns formed by nature and manifesting that power in the form of a colored marking on the skin. Maybe I'll have to go and see this "Kubo and the Two Strings" movie and decide if its magic system is too close for comfort. I also might do a little thing with ultraviolet rays, but I'm not entirely sold on it yet. I think I'll save that for a different project of mine with a magical system I've been struggling to work out too.

Demetria and I watched the last few episodes of "Star vs. The Forces of Evil" that are out and are now all caught up with the series. Frog Dad is having conflicting feelings about his beloved baby tadpoles and his old life of evil. Ludo found corn and he's so proud of himself.

Lunch With Alison

I went to lunch with Alison today. She took me up to the food sciences building, and I found out that I could use my meal plan to eat there, provided the cost was under $6.50. After a sandwich, a cup of milk, a bag of Fritos, and a scoop of ice cream, my grand total came out a nickel short of that, which worked out. Not too bad for a nice outing.

I cut it a little close making it to Lifespan Development today, but I got there. The shuttles have a special phone number that you can text a code word to (the code differs by which stop you're at) and it will automatically tell you which shuttles are nearby and how much longer it will be until the next one arrives where you are. Since I'd memorized Blue Square's code, I texted it while I was in the elevator. 

I got outside just I got back the 'now' text. Hmm... No shuttle in front of the stop. No shuttle up the street. After another few minutes, I texted the number again. It still insisted that there was a shuttle right at the stop. There wasn't. Finally, the next shuttle arrived to take me up to the TSC. I then had about six minutes to make it from there to what seems to be one of the furthest possible buildings. I guess I'll have to leave earlier next time.

This afternoon I did some homework, a quiz, and researched a few things for my writings. These slow Thursdays are rather nice.

Monocots and Dicots

In a week like this, Wednesday is easily my busiest day. I still made it to all my classes on time, though. I'm getting the hang of this.

Still, it was the first time I'd arrived so late to my behavior psychology class (due mainly to the fact that I kept forgetting last week that the class started at 9:30, not at 9:00... whoops). I was still able to find a seat, but it was a bit further back in the room than I usually go for. Maybe it's better to come earlier after all.

Class was fine. The only problem was, we have an assignment due Friday morning: a summary about the first four chapters of our textbook. We have two textbooks for that class, both of which have an author whose last name began with 'M', and I'd mixed them up and been reading the wrong textbook. Oops. I mean, I still had to read four chapters of both books by Friday, but I hadn't realized that we were supposed to have started the second text yet.

Luckily, I'd decided to put off writing my summary until today when I would have the time to mull over the prompt more and study all my notes again. It would've been annoying to write a report for the wrong book and then have to do a second one. That's all taken care of now, and my write-up is polished and submitted.

I also learned a fascinating few facts in my horticulture class that made me really excited to work on my fantasy novel about the intern foreign ambassador and the illegal witch again- the one tentatively nicknamed "Stars and Finches" until I finally pin down something more permanent. My teacher told us about monocot and dicot leaves. The leaves of monocots have parallel veins, while those of dicots spread out.

I stared at the example of the monocot leaf on the projector and thought about how the straight veins flowed like a river. Something straight that occurred naturally like that could probably be used by a practiced witch to summon, say, a straight blast of wind, or heal a broken bone. I think I'll definitely have to keep that information handy.

I've long wanted my witch to be a potion maker who takes forever to set things up precisely and can't do magic on command, and I didn't really want to go the route of mixing herbs and spices because that's been done so many times. But the patterns of natural things like plain, random leaves or the structure of feathers or curl of soft fur... that might be something I can work with.

I keep changing the details of my magic system around because every time I think I have something that works, I end up running across posts on the Internet about magic systems and how the one I'd picked is cliché for this or that reason or used by this other popular author here or there (the previews of that upcoming movie "Kubo and the Two Strings" really stabbed my heart with the placing of the tattoos on other people thing, which was my current system). Anyway, I'm not quite ready to redirect my attention to that story quite yet, but it's always hovering in the back of my mind and I thought the detail was interesting. I might just springboard something off from that.

The teacher of my chocolate class handed us all cocoa beans in tiny plastic bags today. When you open the bag and take a whiff, you can definitely pick up the chocolate smell. It was really strong. She told us as we were leaving that we could either take the beans with us or chuck them. I kept mine, figuring that I'd see if I could squeeze out as much of the smell as I could, just for fun. It was really good, after all.

Back to the Grind Again

It's always nice to ease back into school with a long morning. I read more of my textbook, revised some work, and did some laundry. We talked about child development in my lifespan class today, and after that I headed over to Connections.

For Connections, we're supposed to attend three follow-up sessions, and this one today included a student panel. I didn't learn anything that seemed like it might apply to me, though, unless I want to change my major in the future. I need to figure out who my adviser is and schedule an appointment at some time.

I walked back from Connections with Alison, and we made plans to have lunch on Thursday, which will be great since I don't have class until late. At Blue Square I also ran into a girl named Nyx, whose name I vaguely recognized from that time I walked around the fourth floor reading all the names on the doors and searching for pink cactus flowers.

One evening of research and reading later, Demetria and I ended our night with a couple more "ChalkZone" episodes. And that, really, is all.

Day of the (Not) Laborings

The second week of school begins tomorrow. At least I have a long morning to look forward to still. That always cushions the blow. Although, I have been enjoying my college classes so far from the most part, and especially the only one I have tomorrow.

It was another day of sticking mostly around the room. Mom called me this morning. I also did a fair amount of writing before Demetria and I watched the first couple episodes of "ChalkZone" together. I'd watched the series this spring after not having seen it for several years (and then only a handful of episodes), and I was really excited to show it to her. 

"ChalkZone" has excellent world-building, like the fact that two of the main character trio don't get along, the protagonist can't handle the slightest amount of criticism, the antagonists are all squishy and full of soft spots along with their flaws, it's explained why magic can't solve world hunger (all food tastes like chalk dust to humans) and why no one can build an invincible weapon (if all else fails, every creation dissolves in water), and the "mortal" world starts to become aware of  and afraid of ChalkZone's magic and doesn't turn a blind eye to it whatsoever. 

Anyway, we got to see one of my favorite episodes of the show, where the protagonist, Rudy, tries to hide his dad's birthday present in ChalkZone. The only problem is, that present is a vacuum. And ChalkZone is made of dust. And Snap accidentally switches it on and is responsible for wiping out everyone and everything (his crush included) and runs sobbing to Rudy for comfort for the first time in the series.

There's also a Season 4 episode I like where Rudy is forced to stand by as one of his screaming creations faces a brutal death due to being licked by a dog. This was all after he'd sworn long ago that he'd never draw another living thing because he couldn't handle the responsibility. That always gets me.

So that was our morning. Demetria and I talked a lot about our respective writing pieces and the interesting Google searches we've sometimes made, and I read from my psychology textbook too. The book is weird because sometimes the author repeats the same thing three times in a row, and I start to drift away, and then I have to focus in and reread the whole thing to figure out exactly what was said and how the third paragraph is any different from the first. Also, there are bunches of questions at the end of each chapter, except they aren't in numerical order. For instance, on one page the numbers go 35, 60, 107, 93, 88, 51, 64, 59, 98, 16 with no explanation. We're still scratching our heads about that one.

This evening, we began Season 2 of "Star vs the Forces of Evil", and I'm really excited by how things are going. This show is full of psychology too, and the plot is running thicker! But geez louise, Ludo is slipping over the edge fast. 

Yeah, turns out that if you tear a tiny bird prince away from his castle and the only family he's ever known and leave him starving and abandoned in the woods for three months, groveling for food by crawling into the nest of a mother bird who's feeding her actual offspring, and force him to eat the body of the only creature who actually spoke to him or else starve to death, then he'll start to tip over the edge. Give him one corrupted half of the wand he was chasing for the entire first season, leave the puzzled princess who relies on magic for everything with the other equally corrupted half, and all chaos breaks loose, cleaving chink by cleaving chink. 

Fun times.

No Clipboard

Demetria and I headed to church early this morning to meet with the bishopric. I've been called to be a visiting teaching supervisor, and she's the relief society activities coordinator. Nice.

Lots of people wanted to bear their testimonies this Fast Sunday. I'd heard that Young Single Adult wards tend to have one person right after another after another, but apparently that's really true. Since last week I gave my talk and so sat up in the 'stands', this was sort of my first official day of not having my clipboard with me to work on one of my 52 Sundays drawings. My mind tends to wander without it, because details about my writing are constantly churning in the back of my head. Drawing during sacrament meeting forces me to pay just enough attention to the paper that I can shut those thoughts down, without getting so absorbed in my work that I don't hear what's being said. I focused in the meeting even without it, anyway.

It was another relaxing day, without much to say. I wrote a few things, and did some drawings while we watched cartoons and anime and Demetria's favorite movie, "Newsies". I made some macaroni and cheese too. I do like my cool red pot.

It is nice not to have school tomorrow. I'm hoping to do some more reading from my textbooks. Lazy weekends are nice, but I want to ensure I stay on top of things.

Didn't Leave at All

This has been the first day of college when I never left the dorm room. It was very nice.

I did some writing and reading this morning, Demetria showed me another anime episode and I showed her a dodgeball episode of a cartoon I like as we ate lunch, and then I vacuumed the floor while she washed the counters. Bathrooms were cleaned and showers were had. While Demetria watched a bunch of Harry Potter movies that I guess were playing in a marathon all day, I did some more writing and mentally steeled myself for Fast Sunday tomorrow.

Then Demetria and I did dishes and talked for a long, long time. Sitting and talking with another girl is a foreign concept to me, but it was also kind of nice. We get along pretty well and it's great to have her as a roommate.

Today just flew by so quickly. It's too bad there probably won't be many more of these in the coming months. All my current homework was done by Thursday, so I have nothing due for almost a month except keeping up on my class readings. I still think about homework a lot and wonder if I should go on to the next projects, though. But there's always that worry of screwing up because the teacher changed their mind about the instructions.

I do want to begin studying every night so I can get in the habit early on, but I guess it can wait until I have a few more notes.

Four-Day Weekend

Having the occasional Monday off is going to turn out to be nice. I don't have Institute on Fridays, and I don't have my chocolate class either unless I have questions I want to ask (My teacher didn't seem to really go for the idea of me sitting in to listen to the questions of others. Maybe later in the year when we aren't dealing with i>clicker technology issues.)

So yeah, I only had my back-to-back behavior and horticulture classes this morning, and came back to Blue Square before noon. Head-start on the long break! Then, on Tuesday, I really only have one class, which starts at 3:00 in the afternoon. So in a way, it's like getting four days off instead of three. Score!

Front Carnival

It's nice to have my own place. It's nice not to have hair in the bathroom sink. It's nice not to have crust around the lip of my toothpaste tube. It's nice not to feel obligated to fold my underwear. It's nice to eat at my computer desk. It's nice to choose my own activities. It's nice to have the quiet. It's nice to pick what food I want to buy. It's nice not to deal with annoying cabinets. It's nice to have a magnetic fridge door. It's nice to be able to leave whenever I want without having to wait for anyone else. It's nice to have long breaks between classes. It just is.

Thursday means it was another day when class didn't start until 3:00 this afternoon, so I got some homework done. I can't decide if I like the college system of knowing most if not all of your reading assignments and work in advance. On the one hand, you can get it done, particularly if you know you'll be out of town or you want to go to a sports game or just don't want to have to do it over the upcoming weekend. On the other hand, there's never not something practical and productive you should be doing.

At around 2:30, I stepped outside to go wait by the shuttle stop. To my shock, there was an entire carnival thing set up in the street right in front of Blue Square. The road had been blocked off! Luckily, I had plenty of time to get where I needed to be. I wasn't sure where the shuttle stop had been temporarily moved to or if it was running at all, so I decided to walk up the hill. It took me about fifteen minutes, and then a little longer to make it to my class in the back corner of campus, but I made it with four minutes to spare.

I'm liking my lifespan development class. I got all five or six questions on my pre-test correct. It would be nice if that pattern continued.

Two girls from Lee's Marketplace delivered the groceries we'd ordered online the other day. Although, I guess they don't deliver to Blue Square rooms. Not directly, anyway. I met them outside. Boy, was it windy! The carnival had disappeared, but road blockers were blowing all over the place! I took a few groceries and used my elevator key to help the Lee's deliverers get up to our room. Demetria made it back just as they were leaving.

We unpacked the food and then ate some of it while we watched a couple of shows. Demetria is an anime fan, so she's been showing me one about a girl who becomes a land god(dess) when the former land god abandons his duties and hears that she's been wandering with no place to stay. His old familiar spirit - he's part fox - is trying to teach her how to fulfill the duties of a land god, but they don't get along terribly well all the time. Possibly because to undo the connection between the familiar and his old master, she had to kiss him against his will and it basically made him her slave. Her grumpy but fiercely loyal pyromaniac slave.

Thus far she's tried to juggle godly duties while attending high school, met a pop star with crow wings, and been accidently betrothed to a snake. Anime isn't exactly my thing so I don't think I really "get" it, but it's interesting in its way nonetheless.