How ARE Things With Me?

I wasn't really expecting this to be my 100th post, but here goes.

I also wasn't expecting to come up with a fairly tactful response to History-major-turned-Air Force Missile Operator so soon, but here it is:

• I am living alone in a cozy two bedroom apartment a mile North of campus.
• I cantor about once a month at a Mass in my parish, and have various other churchy things I take part in.
  
• I will graduate from Montana Tech in May, with a degree in Software Engineering and minors in Mathematics and Liberal Studies. You will be interested to know that, because of my Liberal Studies minor, I am taking a Contemporary U.S. History course (Eisenhower - Present) this semester.
  
• I am currently undecided about what I will do with my career after college. Ideas range from graduate school (English) to journalism to retail cosmetics, lingerie or books to some type of intelligence work. Recently I've been thinking I wouldn't be too bad at the wife & mom thing, however I would like to contribute a bit more to society then that, at least before having kids anyway.
  
• I have a couple girlfriends who I have coffee or lunch with a couple of times a week, who keep my sanity and female perspective on things.
  
• I have a healthy relationship with a respectful, kind and supportive man. He spoils me and gives me a reason to cook a square meal almost every weeknight.

Irritating Ex-Boyfriends

I had an ex-boyfriend e-mail me today (actually, last night). This fellow is an officer in the U.S. Air Force (gives you two reasons to not like him already, although I don't try to hold that against him) and has, outside of a few phone calls and visits, forgotten I exist after dumping me on Homecoming weekend 2004. In fact, I haven't heard from him since early Spring last year. You can probably already guess what my opinion of him is.

Turns out he just dumped his girlfriend (which he did not mention in his e-mail and I had to check his MySpace profile to find out - AND it turns out his new ex-girlfriend is a reporter for the NBC affiliate in Great Falls, MT. Funny how the world works.) and wants to know how my life is going. I have yet to e-mail him back, mostly because I get the feeling he's hoping my life is as crappy as his right now, and I really don't want to communicate with him at all, since he's not exactly the most positive life influence I've met.

Now I could be rude and treat him as an internet-nobody and not reply, but I don't think that's exactly the right thing to do. I could gush about how totally great life is and how my boyfriend is simply amazing (which is true), but I don't think that's very kind considering he's probably looking for some empathy. I haven't quite dreamed up the appropriate response, but I think I'll wait a few days before sending him something tactful. (If you already have a tactful response prepared, please share!)

The Rumors of My Disappearance Are Greatly Exaggerated

Turns out I had a very busy weekend.

Dinner at the Handley's Chinese New Year Party was very, very delicious.

Wine tasting was fun, but I don't think that I would really want to repeat the experience in Butte. I did learn, however, that both F and myself get a little goofy after slightly too much wine consumption.

I completely botched the Psalm Response at Mass (I was cantoring at Immaculate Conception this weekend) Sunday morning. I only hope that no one besides the accompianist (Madeline) noticed. Of course, I've felt that my voice has been "off" all January, so maybe I won't butcher music quite so badly the next time I cantor.

The internet was down (yet again!) at my apartment Sunday afternoon, so no surfing the net for me!

Oh, and if you're up to reading a very sweet short story, try Vera, by Villiers de l'Isle-Adam.

Samsonite Rocks!

A couple of years ago (Thanksgiving 2003, to be precise), I had purchased a Samsonite 550 Series 3000 XLT carry-on (in green, of course!). For my first outing with this piece of totally awesome luggage, I decided to take it with me on my ill-fated trip to Idaho, where I promptly totalled my ice blue Jeep Cherokee on some black ice just North of Idaho Falls.

Inside most suitcases/luggage-things there is a strap or two to secure the stuff you pack. Part of the clasp thingy on this strap in my new carry-on had broken in the wreck, and it's only taken me two years or so to get the motivation to have it fixed. Most of this motivation comes from the fact that Samsonite is discontinuing their 550 Series 3000 XLT and I've been making purchases (at great discount to me!) to round out my luggage collection, for when I move to Spain for a year or something similar. Hey, it pays to be prepared!

Browsing Samsonite's website, I find the address and phone number of the closest authorized Repair Center - in North Salt Lake. While I was leery of sending anything to be repaired to North Salt Lake, I called the place and the people were very nice and cool to talk to.

Monday morning I Fed-Ex my carry-on to the repair center, and I called them today to see if they had received it and how much I would owe them (I was told during my previous phone call that it should be about $12 plus shipping). Turns out the clasp thingy is covered under warranty, and Samsonite will pay to have it repaired and ship it back to me. Woo hoo!

Because of this incident (and my general experience from using my Samsonite carry-on -without the clasp thingy- for 8+ flights and countless road trips), I am now a believer that Samsonite produces a quality luggage piece, and that they have a good product repair warranty. I advocate the purchase of any (discounted! Have you seen the Manufacturer's Recommended Price on luggage lately?) luggage from Samsonite.

Geeks Dancing

Find somewhere, online, OK Go's "A Million Ways" music video. (Yahoo has it)

It is, I must say, most hilarious.

Rose Gardening

Woo Hoo! I got my roses in the mail today.

I don't know exactly why I have a fascination with growing roses. Blame my mother and her rose hedge that she had at our house in California. Anyway, I have two matching blue-&-white crackle flowerpots with an Asian motif that were just screaming to be the homes for miniature roses. When they finally bloom (and I actually have the rest of my living room stuff in the living room), I will take a photo of them for all to enjoy.

For those who want to duplicate my gardening experience (with or without setbacks), I bought my roses at Nor'East Miniature Roses, and the variety I purchased is called "Red Mimino".

What I Learned Today

So. . . this education thing, we're supposed to get something out of it, right? Right?

Turns out I successfully learned my share of smarts today.

In Microprocessors. . .
I learned that my prof is probably one of the best Electronics professors I've had the pleasure to learn from. He's direct and explains concepts clearly, shows examples (and points them out to you when he does), and makes eye contact.

In Interpersonal Communication. . .
I learned why my friend wouldn't explain her opinion to me in an argument we had. (The whole thought of me getting into an argument to begin with is so. . . not me. I had no idea the argument was going to happen.) This is the gem: If someone refuses to explain their opinion or their side of an argument, it's probably because they don't sincerely know why they have that particular opinion or have been given said opinion and don't want to lose face by saying, "I don't know why I think that."
Turns out you can learn something from someone as completely nutty as my communications prof.

In Racquetball. . .
I learned how to grip my racquet with a HANDSHAKE GRIP, and how to hit the ball with a FOREHAND STROKE. I also learned about the front, back and side walls, but not with as much force and repetition. Coach Green lectures like a former Marine D.I. I kept wanting to sound off, "Yes Coach! No Coach! Aye Coach! Right Away Coach!" I guess you never get out of the habit.
I also learned that girls/women/females in general are fairly meek and timid when it comes to actually putting into practice what they've learned. Maybe they are all at Tech to get their "Mrs." degree and didn't take Racquetball to learn or play Racquetball. (Gee, what a concept!) It's only mildly frustrating when a girl practically refuses to hit the ball (Guys don't seem to have this problem). It's one thing in a mandatory high school physical education class when the girls don't really want to be there because "girls don't play sports" or whatever misogynistic fluff they've been fed for 18 years. But it's entirely different when the course is completely elective and everyone who takes the class is in it because they sincerely want to get something out of it which happens to not be a fly on the court wall.

And surprisingly enough, my brain is not full.

Shopping For Racquetball

Because it was the only time I could get away from the whole school-to-home-and-back again schedule, I went shopping for my racquetball class this morning.

I ended up dumping more money than I wanted to spend on a racquet. . . hopefully it was worth the money.

If you've ever purchased a container of racquetballs, did you ever wonder why they have that foil "sealed for freshness" cover? Who knows; maybe racquetballs are what the Smurfs eat.

Even inexpensive athletic shoes are not economically priced for the starving college student. (Really, $60 isn't too bad to pay for some basketball/court shoes, but think about how much pizza that could buy) Why couldn't my running shoes be white-soled!?

What else did I do today? Went to class, did research and printed out way too much stuff for my History paper (which is on U.S.-Taiwan relations) and now I'm taking a moment's breath before my night class on Fantastic Literature. After my night class, I'm headed to Albertsons' to buy food for the week. I admit, I'm really buying food so I can make the most impressive baked chicken for F tomorrow night, but don't tell anyone. It's a secret.

And this is only Monday.

Books! And Life Pondering

For various reasons, I was having a difficult time at the Montana Tech bookstore when I went to buy my books and I had to purchase my microprocessors kit and history text online this semester. If I had more time, (and known about the problem beforehand) I would have ordered all my texts online.

Anyway, I decided to treat myself to a couple writing tomes to make up for the great headache of dealing with semester book buying. I thought On Writing Well would accompany my Harbrace Handbook wonderfully as a writing reference. And since my writing professor from last semester gave his Writing 2 students sound advice in telling us to write everyday, I bought a couple books on journaling: The New Diary: How to Use a Journal for Self-Guidance and Expanded Creativity and At a Journal Workshop: Writing to Access the Power of the Unconscious and Evoke Creative Ability. (Like I'll have time to journal and get something out of it when semester gets underway)

It would be really nice to turn this writing-and-projecting-opinions hobby of mine into something I can make some money from. You know, so I can pay the bills and buy a toy or vacation every now and then. I've become disillusioned with the newspapering idea, since one of the most annoying people I've ever met apparently has written for every major regional newspaper in Southwestern Montana. Granted, I've never actually read any of the stuff he's written, but if his accent is grating in real life, I definitely don't want to be hearing it in my head. (For those who want to know, Frank McCourt has the most lovely writing style I've read in a long time; you can practically hear a smooth Irish brogue when you read his books)

As a kid (I'm probably still a kid to most people), I remember the whole life thing being so very simple: go to school, get a job, get married, buy the house with the white picket fence and have 2.1 kids and a dog. Now that I'm almost done with the school part, and have a solid relationship with a marriage-material fellow, everything seems much more complicated.

How did it get this way? I have no clue. My first two career choices have turned out to be disappointing adventures (although I wouldn't trade those adventures for anything), and as of yet I haven't dreamed up the next phase of my life. I get done with college in less than 5 months; what do I do after that? The more pressure I put on myself to figure this out, the more stressed out I get. And while the housewife-and-mom idea is tempting, I'd like to think I can contribute a little more to society before I have kids, not to mention the fact I need the ring and marriage license too.

Ahh. To be young again. When all you needed to worry about was when recess and snacktime were.

First Days

Semester started Wednesday, which I was excited about, but now not so much.

Programming Languages is going to be every inch of the bitch I remember from last Spring. My Contemporary History class is more interesting, but the dreaded Josh character from my British Literature class last semester is also in the course, and since there are only five students taking the class, Josh is in a less diluted form.

I'm very excited about my Intro to Microprocessors class, which looks like it will be fun and challenging. My Interpersonal Communications class should be easy, even if I don't agree with my prof. And Racquetball with Coach Green will be fun (whether I want it to be or not).

It looks like I'll have a lot of reading and writing to do this semester, with a little bit of actual "stuff" to do. We'll see how I handle it.

With that, I will leave you with a quote from Coach Green:

"You all have advanced social skills. I know, because I've seen you work on them. At the Vu, The Depot, and the Knights of Columbus. Because you all have advanced social skills, I have a rule for you: No Assholes!"

It is the Return . . .of Ubercreep!

Ubercreep (those who know who I'm talking about, know), of "Come over and cuddle" and "Merry Christmas Sexy" fame, decided to start a text message conversation tonight. While I could just ignore him, something seems borderline rude about that.

Here is the conversation:

Ubercreep: What's up? -That Guy-
Me: Not much. You?
Ubercreep: Not too much kinda bored
Me: How were your holidays?
Ubercreep: Was just going to ask you that, but yeah mine weren't too bad and you?
Me: They were all right. I'm ready for semester to start.
Ubercreep: Yeah?
Me: Yeah. I'm a nerd like that.
Ubercreep: It's cool though, besides truth be told you are a pretty good looking nerd so you got that going 4 u
Me: LOL Thanks.
Ubercreep: Yeah it's only the truth I saw the hard evidence and the verdict came back hot so lol anytime
Me: So. . . How is the Human Powered Vehicle coming along?
Ubercreep: Well fairly well thus far I think, i'm sorry did I say something wrong there? I didn't mean to
Me: I'm just not sure how to respond to a comment like that when it's not coming from my boyfriend. I'm glad to hear about the HPV.
Ubercreep: My bad on the comment I do have some good memories from that short time that I like to reminisce on...Thanks on the hpv
Me: I really didn't find it all that memorable but anyway. . .what classes are you taking this semester?
Ubercreep: Didn't mean to offend you just complimenting you that's all...
Me: I know.

He quit texting me after that, so he either got the message or he's waiting to arrive in full creep force when semester starts.

"Hilarious" and "Immature"

Ledger lashes out at Utah, West Virginia

Obviously, Mr. Ledger hasn't lived in Utah for any length of time. "Hilarous" and "Immature" turn into "Ridiculous" and "Insane". What was once amusing becomes frustrating.

Postscript: Utah has made #1 again. In bankruptcies. "The new law in no way changed the fact that people need debt relief." So, poor money management has nothing to do with it? I always thought a mandatory Personal Finance course would be good to take in high school.

Movie Nights Meet What I Did Today

I had a most fantabulous lunch with my friend Krista today. Krista is quite possibly my only friend from high school that shares my same views and philosophies on a wide variety of things. How sad that in my small circle of friends, there is a smaller circle of girlfriends that I have yet to combine as the ultimate pack of sane women to hang out with. (I'm the crazy one)
After lunch, I went on a quest to find a store in town that peddles the Burt's Bees stuff. While I don't care for most of their lotions (which feel too greasy for me), I like their lip balm and cuticle oil. Because I have nothing better to do when I'm doing nothing, I keep myself occupied with little treasure hunts like this. Burt's Bees products can be purchased at Bulloch's Drug in Cedar City, UT.
After my natural skin care quest had ended, I went to Hollywood Video (which is the closest thing Cedar City has to a Blockbuster, and I doubt Hastings will make its way here any time soon) and rented some movies.
Rewind 18 hours. I was bored, and went to Hollywood Video to rent "The Interpreter" and "Must Love Dogs". The last time I tried to watch "The Interpreter" F and I were too tired to follow the very complex plotline, and turned it off. Both movies turned out to be very enjoyable.
Fastforward to the present, and I dropped off the rented videos and picked up "The Constant Gardener" and "Ong-Bak". I wanted to find a nice comedy to round everything out, but I didn't find anything that caught my eye that Dad would want to sit through.
I sense another night at home watching movies and eating large quantities of popcorn. Have I mentioned I think Ralph Fiennes is possibly the most underappreciated actor in Hollywood?

It's All About "Choice"

I just read that uber-Mormon Larry Miller broke his licensing agreement and had "Brokeback Mountain" pulled from his cineplex in Jordan, Utah (Miller also owns the Utah Jazz). The film, which I've never seen although I'm very curious about it (I'm always curious about controversial stuff, anyway), has maybe 30 seconds of what a normal straight person would find disconcerting to see (from what I've read). Reviews I've read by both movie critics and normal people on the web have also stated that the movie is more about societal norms and social repression, as well as being a universal film in many ways.
Just to stick it to "the Man", I might just have to rent the film when it makes it to DVD (since I'm sure its run in Butte is over, and I'll be damned if I'm going to spend $7 to see it here) and come up with my own movie review.

I have so much choice here to operate my free agency on it's scary.

Religous Giving

I really don't give a rat's ass what religion, if any, you follow. I have respect for people's choice of religion. I don't, however, have any respect whatsoever for the LDS religon, among a few others. Fundamental anything, that one cult that believes something about demons in the bathtub, and Scientology also make my "seriously whacked" list. (For those who don't follow, I find a difference between an organization and a member in the organization. Maybe there are people out there who don't.)

I was told recently that the reason why the LDS Church is renovating the ZCMI Center and Crossroads Mall in Salt Lake City (both of which it owns) for $1.5 billion is because the renovation is an investment and the money will be used to help people (so THAT'S why they changed their minds about selling alcohol in restaurants there).

OK. Help People. That sounds like an honorable enough cause.

Church Sends Medical Goods Back To LDS Church
Nation To Tighten Regulation of Donations

You'd think a religion that can afford to spend $1.5 billion on a mall can afford to buy $29,000 worth of new medical equipment and bedding to donate to people who need it.

A revelation occured to me, and I went to the Give.Org website. Give.Org is the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance website. On it are a list of the BBB Charity Standards, Tips on giving money to charities, and a list of charities that's BBB approved. Among the religiously biased organizations, I find Catholic Relief Services, United Methodist Committee On Relief, and Lutheran World Relief, among others, on the website that happen to also meet the BBB Wise Giving Standards. (None of the B'Nai Brith organizations meet the standards)

I can find no LDS affliliated charity listed AT ALL on Give.Org. Huh. So I requested an inquiry to "LDS Philanthropies". FYI, the LDS Foundation "recently" (September 2005) changed its name to "LDS Philanthropies". It's website, located on the LDS official website, also says that 100% of donations go to its programs. So, no money goes to admin or fundraising at all. That seems fishy to me. Maybe all the admin and fundraising are pulled from the church's admin and fundraising, which are funded by the 10% gross income (tithing) it gets from its members.

In a form e-mail that the BBB Wise Giving Alliance e-mailed me, this is what they said regarding charities whose reports were not listed on their website: "If the organization does not appear on this list it may be that due to lack of inquiries the BBB Wise Giving Alliance has not developed information on this organization. Please note that your inquiry will be logged and if we develop a report in the future, a copy will be e-mailed to you."

The e-mail later continues, "If your request needs an additional reply, or if action is required, we will respond to you directly as soon as possible."

So we'll see if I hear anything more on this. I HIGHLY doubt it.

I Hate It When I Can't Sleep

Whenever I visit my parents, invariably my sleep schedule gets seriously whacked. I don't know if it's my room being seriously dusty (the whole house is dusty, thanks to the wind blowing all the time and Dad insisting on using a coal stove for heat), keeping me awake, or that I catch up on my sleep and then serious insomnia sets in, or a combination of both.

Therefore, since Cedar City tends to roll up the streets around 2100 (that's 9:00 PM), and the sleeping isn't happening, I've decided to complain about the not sleeping.

Besides blogging, I've also started a pre-moving project for my parents. I've purged both my library and my wardrobe (I can't believe I used to be a size six. . . what have I been eating since high school?!?) of "stuff" to minimize the amount of stuff my parents get to move. They have enough stuff of their own to move, why should I force them to move stuff that I'm just going to get rid of anyway?

When I moved to go to college, my parents decided to take over my room. Which normally I'm fine with, because I'm not visiting my parents the majority of the time. But somewhere along the line, my stuff and their stuff started to mingle. And sorting through all that is frustrating.

I can't wait until I get back to Butte. I have major plans that need to get implemented regarding my apartment.

A Visit to Cedar City's Cemetery

Everything was fine this morning until the middle of Mass, during the intercessions, when the deacon said something about the friends and loved ones we've lost.

Today had to be it. I had to go and visit Kody today. I put it off long enough.

After Mass I drove to the cemetery, found the little map and where Kody was supposed to be buried, drove over to the plot, wandered around, drove back to the little map and looked at it, drove back to the plot and wandered around some more. Kody, in his infinite twistedness, would have been amused.

It would have been better if the cemetery actually had markers or something in the cemetery that gave you an idea of where you were.

Anyway, after a half hour of searching, I finally did find his grave. He has a nice headstone. And someone brought him plastic flowers.

I'm trying to understand why I'm so grieved over his death. We weren't exactly close, although I liked and admired him. He was the most funny kid I knew in high school. I liked the idea that he kept in touch with me after he got married and joined the Navy.

I'm not angry with him, because I'm familiar with that personal hell people face before they commit suicide. I don't want to know how he did it. I wish so many things that could have brought about his still being with us today.

I told Kody once about my conversion to Catholicism, and he e-mailed me, "Maybe God will be good to you." I hope that God, in His kindness, has mercy on Kody's soul.