0226

I have had the worst case of writers block ever on my rhetorical analysis paper thing. It really doesn’t make sense to me. I have a difficult time contriving an analysis of something using someone else’s thinking or writing pattern. I don’t think like other people and that has been a challenge for me since my first day of school.

I have been in the worst mood all day from working on this essay. I have been trying to shake it but I just can’t. I wrote a draft the other day and the only thing I want to do with it is throw it away I just can’t figure out where to go with it. That was my second full essay too. Now I’m to the point where I don’t have time to start over and I really think I’ll be wasting my – and whoever reviews my paper’s –  time if I go to the writing lab but I have to if I want a grade so I’ll just bite the bullet there.

I’m going to try and rehash my paper now hopefully this time I’ll have some idea of what to do with it.

0221

First time working overnight on a school day, this is going to be rough. I woke up yesterday at seven and I won’t get to go back to sleep until about eight this morning. Fortunately my evening class was cancelled. I still have to take a quiz today though. I’m skipping my morning class because I am way too tired to go to class after working overnight. Hopefully I don’t miss anything too important. Man I’m already having a rough time thinking straight. I guess I’m not officially a college student unless I pull an all-nighter. I have worked overnight many times but right in the middle of the week is a little much. I have tried to tell my boss that I prefer weekends but he keeps putting me on the schedule. I never understood why people would stay up all night to do an assignment. I know that when I’m up all night, I’m completely useless after about three. Then by nine, I start shaking. I have always been a promoter of going to bed at a reasonable time and then waking up super early. That’s what I do on road trips. When I got my license, I started taking the morning shift on long trips. It always is fun to watch all of my siblings somnambulate to the car and then fall asleep.

0213

For today’s post, I have decided not only to make as long a sentence as possible but also to compose a list of things that make me happy. I feel like a lot of my previous posts have been a little off so I decided to make this post a little happier.

 What makes me happy? My wife, babies (I didn’t think those two would be in the same sentence so soon), free stuff, green lights, music – especially when my wife is making it, people watching (the guy across from me just made a rose – stem included – out of tissue paper then mysteriously left it on a piano…that’s awesome), driving with a purpose (ie. to the Emergency Room. It’s a rush), biking, writing, eating, being a nursery leader (though getting sick after Sophie sneezed in my face was not cool), hanging out with my family, being home in California, vans shoes, trying to start conversations with strangers (I’ll include flirting with waitresses in this category), words (some people like big words but really I think small words are the best (especially when playing Banana Grams)), snow, smiling, action movies, noticing details, critiquing people’s writing, strawberries, BBQ sauce, stories, people, chickadees.

0207-9

I probably shouldn’t write about what I think about when I have nothing to think about but this prompt is too fun to pass up.  I hope this doesn’t come across as being too mean. I think about people; more specifically their appearance, and on occasion what they’re thinking or doing. This habit began when I was in high school. My older sister and I both dabbled in sign language for a while. My sister went on to major in deaf studies and I took a few years in college so I can sign to some degree (I am very good at “listening” which can be dangerous because my facial cues make deaf people think I understand way more than I really do).  My sister and I would practice signing all the time. Especially in public because it is so funny to see how people respond when they see people signing. Our practicing generally consisted of picking a person as a subject and then analyzing them (the great part of signing our comments was that we could be in close proximity to our subject and they would never know). This was great fun so we continued to do it and might I add got pretty good at it.

My theory is that people dress up to impress others (this seems to be more true in California than here (until I went to the university mall, I had never seen someone in camouflage at a mall)).when they go outside so reviewing their style choice is not at all wrong because they set themselves up for it. And I’ll add that I don’t place any final judgments on one’s character based on their choice of habit.

0207

Going over the word of wisdom is always an interesting topic because everyone has differing opinions on how it should be interpreted. I have always wondered how the “caffeine battle” came to be. There is nothing written in the word of wisdom which points either way and yet it has somehow been amended and revoked from so many people’s interpretation of the word of wisdom. It really bothers me that so many students are trying to make themselves martyrs for the cause by encouraging BYU to sell caffeinated beverages when there is no explicit doctrinal support for either side of the claim. BYU simply does not want to sell caffeinated drinks and to bring religion into the argument is a complete misapplication of doctrine even if this is a “religious” school.

If anyone wants to counter BYU’s decision they should do so without in any way appealing to religion and then they actually might have a leg to stand on.

0205-#8

The Italian job made an impact on me. My driving has never been the same since. I remember watching it when I had my permit and thinking about how fun they made those mini coopers look. I never actually took drivers education so I always tell people that I learned to drive by watching the Italian job. Those who have been passengers when I’m driving realize that I’m not completely joking.

I drive to get places. No matter what the weather or traffic conditions are (and I have experienced severes in both), I do everything I can to maintain my usual traveling speed. This is something that frightens some people but I thoroughly enjoy it.

Man I had to leave half way and forgot where I was going with this. Now I just have to write until I meet a word requirement. How great is that. I still have fifty words left  but this is just lame so I’m going to stop now before I really start wasting time. 

0201

It has been a while since I heard a car horn that wasn’t mine. I don’t get it. For some reason a car’s horn seems to be the least utilized part of a car around here (blinkers are a close second but I won’t rant about that right now).  It honestly is super weird to me to drive in silence everywhere. Cars still have horns for a reason. That reason is to get people’s attention. Why is it that around here, there is such a stigma against horn honking?

The other day I was behind a car at a red light. When the light turned green, I counted to three then honked. I thought this was a perfectly normal response but as I made my left turn, there was a college student standing on the corner glaring at me as if had just committed some awful crime. I being a slightly more assertive driver than most, laid on my horn for the rest of the turn then waved at the guy as I drove past him. That moment got me thinking about horns and how their message is so often mistaken as rude or aggressive.

I’ll be the first to admit that I am biased on this subject but I will make one thing clear; horns are for getting people’s attention. The person texting at a stoplight that has just turned green, the car that is -careening towards a not-so-visible pedestrian, or the two cars that - by some terrible timing on both their parts - have both begun to back into each other at the same time, or the weaver on the highway, you’ve seen all of these (unless you’ve been all of these in which case there is a severe awareness problem going on that needs to be addressed). My horn has saved me, and others, from many close calls. So why is it that so many people fear their horns?

The main reason I’ve heard is the general public’s acute fear of road rage. Sure there are occasional issues with this but from my perspective that fear is way over-exaggerated. I’ve had my fair share of honking spats (including several in LA) and my car does not have a single bullet hole.

Honking for me is a safety thing just like using my blinker or turning my flashers on when I am going slow. Hearing a horn honk should be a welcome sound to people because it means that they could have been kept from a dangerous situation that someone else saw and they might not have.

When I hear someone honk at me I typically wave (with all my fingers) and respond accordingly. I’m not saying I’m the perfect role model but I’m saying that I appreciate horns and hope everyone can learn to do that as well.