I Love Christmas

There is something about Christmas that makes me feel wonderful. It's not the gifts, because I could care less if I owned half the stuff I do right now, let alone get more crap. I think what really draws me is the happiness that others seem to express around this time of year. That might also couple with the fact that another semester of college is coming to an end. This excitement is lessened however by the fact that finals are inevitably linked with this event. This cannot completely depress me however because I realize that classes and tests are very small things in the grand scheme of life. Also, life is never going to be perfect, and for that matter you can't assume that it will ever get any better, so you might as well be happy with the here and now.
Another aspect of the season that I love is the Christmas carols that are played this time of year. I could sing them over and over again. I wouldn't even mind playing them all year round. I know a few people that seem to hate these songs and I feel pity for them. They are obviously very bitter about either the joy other people are experiencing or about the lack of joy that they feel in the season. Why must we take something that is meant to be joyful and cause it harden our hearts? Despite these few scrooges, I try to make the most of the season. I have decorated my door with many hours of cutting and pasting and put up lights in my room to bring out a cheery attitude in those who visit me. I think generally what truly makes me happy is making other people happy.

meme tag

Phil has tagged me with a meme. PZ Myers started this on Pharyngula a while ago.

Here are the rules:

There are a set of questions below that are all of the form, "The best [subgenre] [medium] in [genre] is...". Copy the questions, and before answering them, you may modify them in a limited way, carrying out no more than two of these operations:

You can leave them exactly as is.
You can delete any one question.
You can mutate either the genre, medium, or subgenre of any one question. For instance, you could change "The best time travel novel in SF/Fantasy is..." to "The best time travel novel in Westerns is...", or "The best time travel movie in SF/Fantasy is...", or "The best romance novel in SF/Fantasy is...".
You can add a completely new question of your choice to the end of the list, as long as it is still in the form "The best [subgenre] [medium] in [genre] is...".

You must have at least one question in your set, or you've gone extinct, and you must be able to answer it yourself, or you're not viable.

Then answer your possibly mutant set of questions. Please do include a link back to the blog you got them from, to simplify tracing the ancestry, and include these instructions. Finally, pass it along to any number of your fellow bloggers. Remember, though, your success as a Darwinian replicator is going to be measured by the propagation of your variants, which is going to be a function of both the interest your well-honed questions generate and the number of successful attempts at reproducing them.


My Ancestors:

My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparent is A Blog Around the Clock
My great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparent is The Anterior Commissure
My great-great-great-great-great-grandparent is Laelaps
My great-great-great-great-grandparent is Quintessence of Dust
My great-great-great-grandparent is An Evangelical Dialogue On Evolution
My great-great-grandparent is Exploring Our Matrix
My great-grandparent is Sporadic Maunderings
My grandparent is Signs of Insanity
My parent is Craziness


The Questions (and Answers):

1. The best comedy in children's movies is:

Chicken Run

2. The best song that moves me inexplicably in 80s pop is:

We Didn't Start The Fire - Billy Joel

3. The best book appealing to both children and adults in Fantasy is:

The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien

4. The most fantastic movie of all time is found in:

The Princess Bride

5. The best Coming of age movie in Drama is:

Forrest Gump



So now I tag Sarah.

Conflict is My Life

I have a major problem with conflict. When I disagree with someone on an issue I take an unwavering stance and get into easily avoidable conflicts. Then again, even if I don't care about an issue I make a point to start arguments. I decided to defend a subject without thought, just because it is opposite the stance someone else holds. With this outlook on life it is very difficult to create and maintain friendships. Being agreeable does not come easy to me because I have always been taught to question others thoughts and beliefs. I wish I could just relax and let my guard down around people and be open to new thoughts and ideas. Not everything that is different is bad. I just wish I didn't act like an ass all the time.

Last Night

So yesterday I was considering going to this A Capella event in Alumni Hall at the HUB. It was part of Penn States Late Night program. It didn't start until 10 pm however, and I didn't really want to be up until 1 am. I also didn't have anyone to go with, and these kind of events are always more fun to attend with somebody, so I didn't end up going. Now the ironic thing is, though I didn't intend it, I actually stayed up until about 1 am, so I could have spent the time listening to music instead of sitting in my dorm room. But all was not totally wasted. I was at first considering how to decorate my room because I have been becoming increasingly depressed with its bland nature. I made the decision that I would like to paint the window into something a little more scenic, so I looked up what kind of paints the job would require. Now it's just a matter of finding a store that sells them and getting the funds to buy them. (I still have a $100 check that needs to be cashed, and not much cash left in my wallet.) Then I got sidetracked from that issue because I remembered that I promised Philip that once I had some pictures from the camera he let me borrow, that I would create a flickr page. So I spent the rest of my time setting up the account and adding a few pictures. You can see this page by clicking here.

The College Grind

So this school year started off pretty bad. Probably not any worse than last year, but not much better either. I didn't have to find new friends, which was a plus, but the homework load for the classes I'm taking seemed pretty intense. Then, less than two weeks into the semester my grandpa passed away. This upset me emotionally and it also threw me further off my hectic schedule. I was getting so far behind I thought I would never catch up. I worked pretty steadily for two weekends straight trying to catch up, and I finally felt like I had succeeded. This Thursday I had nothing pressing to get done and I did not feel the least bit guilty for taking the night off and watching a movie with Karen. (Which by the way, "Good Luck Chuck" is one of the worst films ever created.) However, I have fallen back into that place where I feel I am too far behind to catch up, so hopefully when I go back to studying I will feel like accomplishing a lot and get back to that relaxed feeling once again. But I don't count on it. I wish I was just a little bit less lazy, and then I wouldn't have to go on rants like this. I also wish my life was a little more exciting so my blog entries wouldn't be so boring, but maybe that's just asking for trouble.

Summer

So I'm sorry (to the two people who read this blog, especially Philip) that I haven't been writing this summer. It has been kind of busy. I had to help my dad catch up on all the stuff that had been forgotten because it was not of enough importance to maintain while I was gone. This consumed most of May. Then in June we did our hay. That was not as bad as sometimes because we did the majority in large square bales (3*4*6) that were stacked in the pole barn with tractors instead of hands. This was really nice. I did put in a few long days on the tractor though. The hay got a little wet, which sucked, but it stayed pretty green, so it wasn't a loss. We were done before my birthday, which was nice because too often we have to put in hay that day. I had a pretty nice birthday. Heather took my out to dinner the night before and we watched the Corry fireworks. Then on my birthday we all went to TJ's to play pool in the afternoon and my dad, mom, and I went to Dutch Treat for dinner. A plus was that my mom got out of the hospital on the 29th so she could come with us for all the fun. She seems to have made a full recovery from her stroke, though she still calls Melissa Marlissa more often than she used to. I think I basically wasted July, but maybe that was a good thing. Though I guess I do remember that at the beginning we sold all of our 7 puppies and Philip and Janelle were here for quite a while. Then I went to Canada last week and had a lot of fun. It took about two hours less to get home than it did to get up, which is kind of ironic because the border into the US is usually harder to cross than the one into Canada. I have been picking a lot of vegetables and fruit this summer and freezing it. I hope to eat healthier at college this coming year and I figured that the fruit smoothies that my aunt Dawn suggested my mom make would probably be good for me too. Thus, instead of having to buy a whole bunch of fresh fruit I will have most of what I need in my freezer. Well, that's a pretty good update I think.

College

Schreyer Honors College is the worst honors college in the nation.

Moving Out

The semester is almost over. As I write this I have a total of four classes left. The number of finals to take is even less, that being three. Two of these are on Monday and one is on Friday. Which brings me to a brilliant idea. I found someone who lives near Franklin, who has the same type of exam schedule, and who is going home on Monday. Somehow I got her to invite me to travel back with her. My mom will then hopefully pick me up in Franklin and we can drive back down Friday morning before my final. Then we could pack up as soon as I'm done with my final and be out of this crazy joint as soon as possible. I already have everything that isn't vitally important to survival packed up and ready to head out the door. The only thing that sucks is leaving my room mate, who will probably ball her eyes out when I leave. I guess I should start studying for those exams now because I determined I needed near perfect grades for any hope of even an A- in math or chem, but I don't think I'll worry about that too much.

Life Uncut

This week has been a real pain. Last weekend I had a blast visiting with my cousins and spending time with my family. That meant that I did not spend any time doing the piles of homework that I should have done. Instead I worked on assignments the day before they were due, which I know is what most college students do, and what I do a lot of times too. However, it would have been nice to get a little bit of a head start on some things because I had to write a paper worth 25% of my History grade and take a final that was worth 25% of my Chem lab grade. With those things out of the way I guess I can start worrying, and studying, for my finals. What really sucks is that I have my two hard finals back to back on Monday the 7th of May and then I don't have another until Friday. The worst part of it all is that I only need a 75% on the Friday final and I don't plan on studying that hard because it is an easy class anyways. I guess that means I have three days to party! My blog is pretty boring huh? Well, I guess I lead a pretty boring life. Sorry about that.

Dull Boredom is my Life

Nothing exciting ever happens here. My life is a waste of the time that God has given me. I need to do something, live life to its fullest, but I don't think I will.
This past Saturday, Christie and I decided to volunteer with our church. We ended up going to the YMCA for their "Healthy Kids Day." We were supposed to direct confused kids and their parents if they needed direction. It didn't help that we barely knew where things were ourselves. It was pretty much a waste, but we got to know a few people from our church better. I guess that's a good thing. I kind of felt useless however. Oh well, nothing new. Life's just one useless day after another.

Odd Sighting

Today as I exited Boucke, where I had just finished my math class, and was on my way to Ag Business Management, I saw two mallard ducks. Now this sighting wouldn't have been so unusual in itself (I have seen ducks before) except that they were in the middle of campus, just off of the section of Shortlidge Road that has been made into a sidewalk. This is no where near a pond or any body of water (for anyone how doesn't know the lay out of the campus). I think they might have been out and about because of the dreary weather this morning, it being so rainy and all. There was both a male and female and the female was getting a drink of water until they noticed me approaching. I figure they must be fairly tame because they didn't move until I was only a few feet away. I just wanted to pick one up (I don't know, I have strange urges sometimes), but I restrained my urge because I was on my way to class. And what would I have done with a duck?

April Fool's Pranks

Man was that one fun April Fool's day. I think I pulled off some pretty funny stuff. So I started out the day trying to get my room mate Christie by sticking a post-it note to the bottom of her mouse, but she didn't really fall for it because her sister had suggested that she play the same joke on me the night before. She didn't try that, but she immediately knew what I had done so it didn't surprise her. Then, while she was in the bathroom I set her keyboard to dvorak instead of qwerty. However, you have to close all applications and restart them before it will take effect and since she already had her IM started and that was basically the only thing she used all day, it didn't work. I didn't want to disturb it because she would have realized I messed with her computer. Then I told her about it because I wanted to do it to someone else and I needed a little help to get into their room. I was going to do this to Elizabeth, but we decided she might get too upset, so we settled for Jamie instead. Again she already had her IM open, so we didn't shut that down, but when she finally got on the internet she flipped out. She called Elizabeth over to help her figure it out. Kristina told me that the plan had finally gone into effect. We waited a few minutes until we went into Jamie's room laughing. She was wondering what we were laughing about and then she finally understood that we were behind it, although she had already started to shut her computer down so we had to wait for it to reboot to change it back. It was hilarious to see how much she was flipping out. And she didn't even suspect it was a prank. That was wonderfully pulled off if I don't say so myself. Then I wrote an email to my sister complaining about college and telling her that I was quitting and coming home immediately. At the end of the email, at the very bottom I told her it was a joke. She wrote me back that she was totally flipping out. I wish I could have seen her face when she was reading it, but it was pretty funny just reading her email. The last joke of the day was again on my room mate. I downloaded a bluescreen screensaver that makes it look as if your computer has something wrong with it. Then I left the room before she came back in. When I came back in she's like "Becca, what is wrong with my computer?" I couldn't keep a straight face and started laughing, she was sort of hoping that I had been behind it, but wasn't sure. So I didn't get her very good, but I had fun anyway. What a great day!

Classic Spring Fever

I know it might be getting a little old to talk about the weather, but that's what is affecting my life right now. I have tons of homework to do and no willpower to do it. I just feel like sitting out in the sun, but I tell myself I need to do work so I stay inside and don't end up getting anything done anyways. What a waste of life. I have all these ideas, but nothing ever comes of them. I think I might get this from my dad. He is a dreamer and comes up with elaborate plans to change his life. Yet he still milks cows every day and hasn't gotten up the nerve to take a risk and try something. Right now I think it would be better for him to take a risk and lose than to stay where he's at because he just keeps digging himself into an ever larger hole. I hope that I will be able to take the risks I need to so that I can accomplish something with my life. I really don't want to waste it because we only get one. This kind on reminds me that I need to do something this summer. I suppose I could just work on the farm, but I should be doing something else. I just don't have the initiative to come up with something. I hope I come up with something soon. If not I'll just spend another year wasting my summer. I guess the choices we make are our lives. I just hope I don't make the wrong ones.

Cardinals

Yesterday I met a few cardinals. They were both males, which is probably the only reason I knew they were cardinals. As Christie and I were waiting for the van to pick us up for church one landed in a tree above us. It was whistling, so I whistled back. We had a nice long conversation, about five minutes long. He completely outdid me with one of his calls. It was like a chortle, which is like impossible to whistle. He finally figured out he wasn't finding a mate very quickly so he moved on. The other cardinal was very brief in his stay. I saw him as I was walking back to my dorm from supper and gave him a few whistles but he didn't answer. I guess he was more popular than the other one or something. He definitely was brighter red. But regardless it was fun to see them whether they wanted to see me or not.

Springtime

Well, today is officially the first day of spring. It is pretty nice outside right now and the sun is shining brightly. The birds are beginning to come back. When I was home my grandmother was commenting about seeing robins, a sure sign that spring is here. Spring also means that school is coming to an end, and I can't wait, but it also means exams. I don't want to worry about them though, so I guess I'll just not think about them. I am working on scheduling my classes for next semester though, and it looks like a real mess. I talked to my advisor today and I might change a few things, but I don't think it will turn out much better. Oh well. I can't wait til Robbie's wedding. I know I was just there, but I really want to go back home. I did start missing a few things available at college when I was home though. I guess eventually I will like college better. I mean even right now I like the no siblings part better.

Spring Break!!!!

Well, I guess you might be aware that spring break is coming up pretty soon. Every PSU student knows the countdown in days if not hours, minutes, and seconds at this point. I personally am looking forward to the week off of school. I'm not doing anything special, just going home to work on the farm. I will probably still need to do some homework, which will take away from the whole point, but at least I will get to milk some cows! I have a couple of tests this week that are putting a bit of a damper on my excitement, but I don't let it get to me too much. I plan on getting a lot of things done at home (most of which probably won't happen). Maybe I will suddenly become more efficient and get everything worked into my schedule :) I guess if I don't get everything worked into this break there is always the summer. There hasn't been that much exciting going on in my life lately, except maybe the popping up of my multiple personalities, but that really isn't important and I don't want to explain right now. Well, I guess I hope I don't go crazy before I get home. Smell ya later, gator.

Blues?

Blues? What blues? Sometimes I just like to be in a state of depression. I kind of like the feeling, though I'm not sure why. Maybe it has something to do with my dysfunctional brain. However, though I have had a series of events that would seemingly cause me to be in a bad mood, I do not feel this way. I figure that I shouldn't worry about it though because, by the time I locate a source that might provide me the answer, it will probably be over. Thus, I will try to take advantage of my good mood before all the bad things in life catch up to me and overwhelm me. Don't forget the old adage, when life gives you lemons make lemonade.

By the way, I was watching a season two episode of the Office and heard this joke. Of course it's better when said out loud but I can't speak through the computer.

Jim: Is it just me or does it smell like up dog in here?
Michael: What's up dog?
Jim: Not much. How 'bout you?

New York City

Have you ever gone on a trip which took longer to get there and back than the stay actually lasted. Usually I don't like to go on these types of trips because I really don't like riding in a car all that much, but this is what I ended up doing Sunday anyways.

I had to wake up at five-thirty in the morning, which wouldn't have been that much of a problem since I planned to go to bed at ten, but that didn't happen. First I was talking to my brother until eleven and then I couldn't fall asleep once I was in bed. I was able to rouse myself when my alarm went off however and made it to the bus by the time it left at 6:30.

On the four and a half hour bus ride I tried to sleep but was only able to do so for about half an hour. I tried reading for my English class which helped me get a little more drowsy and sleep for another hour. After this nap I was able to read for the rest of the trip.

I do have to say that the New York skyline is pretty impressive. We traveled through the Lincoln tunnel and passed Giants stadium we also saw the bay, but there were no ships present at the time. As we made our way through town we passed the site of the world trade towers and battery park city. After getting honked at by taxi drivers, making a wrong turn, and backing up on a New York street we finally made it to our destination, The Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.

At the museum we were given a tour and learned some interesting things that we hadn't heard about the Holocaust. We were given some free time to look around the museum on our own too. There was a rock garden that overlooked the bay on one floor. It was pretty neat because from that point you could see the statue of liberty and right behind it was the sun. It would have been an awesome picture but I didn't have a camera.

After we had been at the museum for about five hours we took the long bus ride home, which took extra time because the audio on the video we wanted to watch was not working so the bus driver tried to fix it and just succeeding in losing power to the VCR completely. Oh well, I had already seen Schindler's List anyways.
By the time we got back it was nine and I was really tired, but I finished my homework and then fell sound asleep.

Live it up!

Life only happens once. This seems to be something my experiences have been pointing at lately. I have spent so many years worrying or thinking about the past, but this is really useless. I mean, sure it's good to know what the past is so that you don't go doing the same stupid things repeatedly, but life is about now, not yesterday. Besides, if you want to be able to look back on your life and consider it good, you have to have fun. Worrying is not fun let me tell you. If you have never worried about anything in life you are lucky and should be happy not to know what it feels like. Anyway, I think that everyone should start doing something today that will mean something at the end of their life. Sitting idly and watching others success wishing you could be like them is a waste of time. Instead work today at something you enjoy so that it will be a great work of art to tell you grandchildren about tomorrow.

Some Days

Some days I feel like quiting
It seems so hard and rough
But when I think it over
It's not so very tough

I could sail across the ocean
Or soar over the land
Like a ship without a harbor
Or a bird that needs a hand

I have so many options
Sitting right before my eyes
The decision is a hard one
So what would you advise?

I wish I had no worries
As in the times of yore
But since that time's behind me
I'll forget them ever more

For looking at the past
Won't get you very far
And hoping for the future
Won't get you that new car

So live within the present
Forget about all else
Praise the living Savior
And make something of yourself

Money, money, money!

I'm rolling in it! Not really though. After I get done with college I will probably be left in debt up to my ears. But I was thinking, since right now I have a few thousand dollars, that maybe I should invest it by purchasing some land. It would be smart to invest my money to make interest on it because, if I am forced to take out a college loan, it would have low or no interest. I could thus be making more money on an investment than I am losing on college loans. I don't know why people don't take out loans during college and invest money at the same time so that when they are done the money they have made will have created interest and helped them pay off their debt in full or at least helped them significantly. Maybe I'm missing some important information that would not allow this, but it seems like a good idea from where I stand.

These are my plans for my future house. They might be hard to understand but they will probably change anyways.

The College Experience Continues

Well, I got back to PSU at about 6:15 p.m. on Sunday. Originally my ride wanted to leave at 5 a.m. to beat the traffic, but luckily Jenn Prather offered to take me down later in the day so I was able to go to church and spend a little more time with my family. Not to mention the extra hour or two of sleep I got. It really sucks to come back after such an extended vacation. I can't wait til summer! When I was home I had no obligations or actual responsibilities although I did do chores every day. I had a lot of fun and did whatever I felt like. Well, now I'm back to a schedule and routine. Yesterday I went and purchased all of my books. It cost me less than $250 so I was pretty happy. I also went around and looked for some of my classrooms. Today was the first day of classes. It was my easiest day because I only had two classes and was done by 12:05 but tomorrow will suck with four classes. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to deal with it. I hope I can learn to be a little less pessimistic sometime soon. I can always look forward to spring break in March!