C'est ma vie

florida

2012-01-21T17:37:00.000-07:00

Things I like about living in Florida:
- The warm weather. It's January, and I've been wearing shorts.
- Palm trees.
- FSU campus is pretty. My building:

-Nearby beaches.
-This isn't really a Florida thing, but there's this place with fantastic gyros.

my good day

2011-11-07T18:09:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day, even though it was a Monday. I'll admit that when I woke up I did not expect it to be a good day because I had to get out of bed earlier than I would have preferred. But then I went to campus, and good things happened.

First, I talked to Dr. Freiberg about my Renaissance Rome research. He's so helpful. I feel like I have a good foundation to keep building my research on, plus he was encouraging and even a bit praiseful. It's always nice to hear that you're doing well. (I would post photos of the stuff I'm working on, but there are very few good images of it. Anyone going to Italy soon who would be willing to take some photos for me? Or take me with you? Please?)

Then I went to the Pitaria and ate a gyro with pita fries. You can never have a bad day after eating one of their amazing gyros. Seriously, best gyros I've had in this country. And only a 3 minute walk from campus!

I did have to work for 4 hours, but it wasn't too bad. I made two new work friends as well as finished my current transcription project.

I have quite a bit of reading to do tonight, which isn't the most exciting way to spend an evening, but I'm reading about Renaissance Rome while listening to the Sabrina soundtrack. Not a bad way to spend an evening at all.

By the way, the FSU Art History annual graduate symposium was this last weekend. It kept me busy all day Friday and Saturday, but the sessions were enjoyable and enlightening. The keynote speaker, Dr. John Paoletti, was spectacular. He talked about Michelangelo's David. How could I not love that? He was also engaging, entertaining, and compelling - and still firmly grounded in good research. He discussed how Michelangelo's David may not actually depict David at all! (gasp!) Good talk. P.S. Guess who's taking a Michelangelo class next semester? That's right, a whole semester devoted to Michelangelo!!! I knew you would be excited!

I feel like I need to leave you with an image of some sort (I do eat, sleep, and breathe art, after all), so here's this for your viewing pleasure:

musings

2011-10-27T18:48:00.001-06:00

I love sparkles. Such as seen here:

And here:

I don't think I could ever wear such things, but they sure do look pretty. SPARKLEZZZ.

There's a dorm at FSU called Cawthon Hall. Whenever I see it, I think it sounds like it should've been Carson Hall, but the person who named it had a speech impediment.

I want a leather jacket, kind of like this:

I like the asymmetry and the collar. I would also like a blazer.

I find Feminist Ryan Gosling hilarious. Illustrated below.

This one always gets a laugh from me too:

I find the original French title of the Gauguin work "Soyez amoureuses et vous serez heureuses" to be much more descriptive than the English translation. In English you lose the feminine emphasis.

I like this video clip. It's funny. You should watch it, especially if you speak French. I'm pretty sure you'll get it even if you don't.

michael and michelangelo

2011-09-27T07:31:00.003-06:00

I'm taking a class this semester on the Renaissance in Rome. I am the discussion leader for one of the readings for today's class. At the risk of sounding nerdy, I quite enjoyed the reading. Of course, it helped that it was about Michelangelo. I'll write more about this later when I'm not frantically trying to finish all of my reading before class, but I just had to share this image that the internet bestowed upon me as I was searching for an image that had been included in the article.

Amazing, no?

whoops

2011-09-01T20:23:00.001-06:00

Today I had a job interview in the main FSU library, the Strozier Library. My interview was on the 3rd floor. As all of you BYU people know, the BYU library's main entrance is on the 3rd floor. The Strozier's entrance is on the "main floor." They also have a "ground floor." Yeah, confusing, I know. So I went up to the 3rd floor, had my interview, and tried to leave. I had taken the elevator up because that was how the interviewer sent directions and I didn't want to be lost, but on the way back down I figured I could take the stairs. And I got lost. I went down, turned where I thought I had come from when I entered, and found myself somewhere completely different. Their signs are no use as they only point to the "annex." Then I realized I was only on the 2nd floor. Crisis resolved.

P.S. Oh, how the HBLL spoiled me...

the move

2011-08-29T14:03:00.003-06:00

Hello everyone, I am writing from Tallahassee, FL! My mom and I drove here from Utah last week. It was a VERY long drive...three long days of driving. But it was still pretty fun. Nebraska is a long state, and unfortunately there were detours and closed roads due to major flooding. The drive included my first excursions into Kentucky and Tennessee, which were beautiful. For some reason I didn't expect those states to be pretty, but they were gorgeous. And everyone has a lovely accent. Also, I saw two confederate flags in Georgia. Interesting place. Oh and everyone is so friendly and polite here! It's delightful.

Since arriving in Tallahassee, it's been pretty crazy getting ready for school. I have to establish Florida residency, so it's been a whirlwind of jumping through governmental hoops - new driver's license, voter registration, declaration of domicile, etc. Plus I got my FSU ID and attended two school orientations, one for the grad school and one for the art history department. Let's take a look at my class schedule for this semester: 3 classes, 9 credit hours. Classes on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, with my earliest class at noon (guess who will sleep in all semester?). And as for the classes themselves, I couldn't be more excited! (No, I'm not being sarcastic, I'm just a nerd.) I'm taking classes on the Renaissance in Rome (which means MICHELANGELO), Disney (best way ever to take care of a modern requirement), and Methods (okay, this isn't exciting, just required). Aren't you super jealous????

Anyway, classes start tomorrow! I'm really excited!

i missed it

2011-08-07T19:18:00.002-06:00

I missed Shark Week. My excuse is that I was busy packing and such because I came back to Utah this week. This is what I wanted to share during the week (and it happens to be in the Boston MFA!) :

snapple

2011-07-08T08:53:00.002-06:00

Winston came to town last weekend and we had a few adventures. On Saturday, we spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon shopping. I am his fashion consultant.

We headed back to his apartment in the afternoon (his friend Nate had joined us by this time) and decided to take a short detour. Near his apartment, there is a small store. In the window they display things you would normally find in a small convenience store. We walked in, and it was this tiny, dimly lit room with very few products. A table occupied about 1/4 of the room. At this table sat a man with his laptop. To the side of him, along the back wall, was a Snapple vending machine. But it really WASN'T a Snapple vending machine. We stood in front of what appeared to be the vending machine, and it slid to the side, revealing a doorway to another store! We entered and discovered a clothing store (that sells the kind of clothing I do not wear. Thinking back on it, I don't think they had any women's clothing at all. But really, I mean it was slightly gangsta clothing). So we looked around for a minute, long enough that we didn't just walk in and back out, then retreated through the Snapple vending machine, through the tiny dark room, and back to the street.

The end.

the flaw

2011-07-02T16:30:00.003-06:00

I'm having trouble thinking of things to write blog posts about, which is pretty ridiculous considering that I'm living in Boston with an internship at the Museum of Fine Arts.

There's something I've been thinking about lately though. I've been moving around and traveling kind of frequently. Of course, there were the four years of September to April in Provo (excepting the semester in Paris), but I went on two study abroads (studies abroad? I don't know), spent last summer in DC, this summer in Boston, visited California and New York, and I'm moving to Florida this fall. I love traveling. I love exploring new cities and places. There's something I'm starting to not love though. I get so attached...and then I miss all of these wonderful places. Europe is constantly missed, though at times the longing is more ardent. I miss the beaches in California. I miss museums (and more) in New York. I miss a lot of things about DC. I'm even missing some things in Provo. And I just know that as soon as I leave Boston, I'm going to miss it. Naturally there are people in each of these places that I miss, but it's also the place itself that I miss. So I'm starting to wonder whether my wanderlust is really going to just cause me more heartache in the end. I don't think I can stop though...

favorite chihuly

2011-06-11T22:36:00.001-06:00

things i have done in boston

2011-06-05T21:41:00.002-06:00

I've been in Boston for 3 weeks now. This isn't a comprehensive list, but these are things that I have done and that I have photographic proof of. Sadly, for some reason blogger won't upload my pics, so I will try again tomorrow. Still, here is a list.

I took a tour of the USS Constitution. I love this ship.
I went to the Boston Public Gardens. It's really pretty and they have group swan boats.
I went to the North End and got the best cannoli I've had outside of Italy at Mike's Pastry shop.
I went to Plymouth and saw Plymouth Rock.
I went to Cape Cod and went to the beach and saw the cute little towns they have there.
I went to the MFA (where I have my internship!). In addition to their great permanent collection, they currently have an amazing Chihuly exhibition. Photos of that are definitely going to be posted, because it's awesome.
I helped Winston's best friend propose to his girlfriend. She said yes!
I finally received a book I ordered 2 weeks ago! (I'm rather frustrated with the USPS right now.)
I met nice friends in the ward here. Be jealous.
Winston and I were once again confused for being a couple. We were walking down the street and this guy walking toward us shouted out, "Now there's a great looking couple! I can tell you two are going to be together for a loooong time!" It reminded me of high school when everyone assumed we were either twins or boyfriend/girlfriend.
I searched (unsuccessfully so far) for a part-time job. If you have job contacts in Boston/Cambridge, let me know!

I really like Boston. In fact, if you are reading my blog, you are invited to visit me!

official

2011-05-09T23:11:00.003-06:00

summer:

fall (and next unknown number of years):

i only like ny as a friend

2011-02-19T21:47:00.007-07:00

I went to New York a couple weeks ago. It was my first time and I quite enjoyed it. I don't know if I could live there for a very long time (which may be an option for this summer), but visiting was fun. I definitely didn't have enough time to do a lot of things. I had time to go to a few museums (the Frick is AMAZING and the Met is pretty awesome too), the CAA conference, Mary Poppins on Broadway, and a couple other tourist-y things. And then I missed my flight home. And then I had to take 3 tests when I got home. And I have 3 more tests this week. But now, some photos for your enjoyment.

In the Met. They have some great art (David, Caravaggio, etc.) and some great spaces (especially loved the Greek/Roman galleries).

Have you seen You've Got Mail? You know the part where they're supposed to meet and she puts the rose and book on her table? This is that café.

This me and Sarah at that café. We had amazingly delicious dessert there one night.

CAA is celebrating their 100th year and had a centennial reception in the Met. Yeah, it was really cool. It was in the Egyptian wing (as you can tell) and they had cool lighting and fancy drinks and nuts.

Me at the Guggenheim. The architecture is fabulous, but the art...well, let's just say it wasn't my favorite.

Times Square. I may or may not have gone in the Disney Store.

The Cloisters. It was pretty cool. The courtyards are beautiful; it would have been fun to be there when it's a bit warmer and the weather is nicer. Did you know that the Merode Altarpiece is there? I didn't either.

the [first] end

2010-12-22T16:49:00.003-07:00

My second-to-last semester of my undergraduate career is over! Let's review how the semester turned out.

Maya Art and Culture: Unexpectedly, I loved this class. LOVED it. I also like his exam style. On my term paper he wrote, "Outstanding exploration of the nature of female sacrifice. Sensitively and eloquently written." Yay!
18th century / Grand Tour: I really liked this class too. It's the second graduate art history seminar I've taken, and I think I will enjoy graduate school. I did my final project on Simon Vouet, his travels, and his students. Mark (Magleby) liked it...and then he spent about 15 minutes saying bad things about Poussin. But that's ok. Poussin isn't my homeboy.
French Civilization to 1715: Honestly, I didn't enjoy this class much. The art historical inaccuracies drove me crazy. In reality, there was a Northern Renaissance, Poussin is not the best painter to ever live, etc. I went to talk to my professor during finals week about my research paper and also to look over my old exams before I took the final (my grade was on the brink between an A- and an A). He wasn't exactly the most helpful person. I took it as a challenge. I got 100% on the final. I got an A in the class.
Humanism and Reform in Renaissance France: I enjoyed this class, but not as much as I enjoy art history classes. I liked that the professor allowed (encouraged, actually) our semester projects to coincide with our personal interests. I pretty much wrote an art history paper with a strong French emphasis. I learned a lot in this class.
Senior Thesis: Other than some difficult questions from a professor at my presentation, I liked this class a lot. It was interesting, beneficial, enjoyable, and sometimes even fun. We had breakfast at Mark's house one morning. This is how you may summarize this class: last week in the Grand Tour class I asked Mark whether he had graded our senior theses yet. He said he had not and I asked if I was going to get an A. His reply was, "Caroline, of course!" Ahh. Such nice words.

This was a busy but good semester. Along with 5 classes, I worked 2 jobs. I've worked at the HBLL since my freshman year, but this was my first semester as a research assistant. I really like working with Heather. She's just plain awesome. I've also been applying for graduate programs. So far I've applied to UC Berkeley, Penn, and Columbia. I also plan to apply to Princeton, Duke, and Johns Hopkins (those are certain, there may be a couple more). One of the difficulties I have encountered is that very few scholars specialize in the French Baroque period. I generally just look for a member of the faculty who specializes in Baroque, but some schools don't even have that. It has drastically narrowed which schools I'm applying to.

Hmmm. I feel like this post needs some humor. What does a French hen say when you kick it in the stomach? "Oeuf." Hahahaha. (oeuf = egg)

Or what about the student (true story) who was using an online English-French dictionary to try to say "social customs" and ended with "douane sociale." haha (douane = customs, like when you enter the country)

Or the student (another true story) who wanted to say that her boyfriend was really cool and was okay if she went out in jeans and a t-shirt. She thought the vocab "un jean" sounded too Americanized, so she looked up "pants." Unfortunately, she ended up with the British version of pants, "culotte." In American, her boyfriend is really cool and is okay if she goes out in her underwear and a t-shirt. He must be very low-key.

baby, i like it

2010-12-04T20:30:00.004-07:00

Although my post title is a reference to an Enrique Iglesias song, I wish to share with you a song by Coldplay. It's their new Christmas single and I love it.

they seek him here, they seek him there

2010-11-23T21:58:00.003-07:00

About a week ago I attended a performance of The Scarlet Pimpernel (the musical) at the Hale Center Theater in Orem. My high school performed this show and I absolutely loved it, so I was very excited to see it again. It was fantastic. The cast, singing, music, costumes, staging, everything, was extremely well done. If it weren't sold out, I'd tell everyone who lives in the area to go see it. The only part I didn't like was the guillotine because it was gory and yucky, but it was also well done in that it was realistic enough for me to dislike it. I love the music for this show and I plan on buying it when I find a good soundtrack. If any of you have leads on that, I'd appreciate it.

P.S. My friend Mallory wrote a very lovely blog article. If you haven't read it, do so now.

P.P.S. We were supposed to have a huge blizzard here tonight. There's some snow and wind, but it isn't the Snowmaggedon they promised. So disappointing.

the wait is over

2010-11-05T13:07:00.003-06:00

To my fellow current and former BYU art history students:

I know what the first J stands for. The mystery is solved. I win.

la renaissance du nord

2010-10-24T11:48:00.002-06:00

Warning: this is a rant post. If you don't want to read it, stop now.

Here we go! In my French civilization class this last week, one class period was dedicated to the Northern Renaissance. My professor started the class by saying that he didn't like the name "Northern Renaissance" because he didn't feel that there really was a renaissance in the North and that it was more of a continuation of the medieval. At this point, my jaw dropped. I was in shock that anyone really denies that there was a renaissance in the North. My professor continued with his objections....too much drapery...too much emotion...not enough like Italian art...single point perspective wasn't perfect...etc. I was furious during pretty much the whole class. There was a Northern Renaissance! My professor even used a bogus quote from Michelangelo, and I can't bear to have Michelangelo, as my all-time favorite artist, degraded in such a way. Is anyone else outraged by this class lesson? Some students tried to argue that there was a renaissance, but my professor dismissed their reasoning. I need to set Martha on him.

In other life news, I took the GRE on Friday. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the time for graduate school applications has arrived. If it seems like I don't have a social life for the next couple months, it's because I don't. Also, I am presenting my art history senior thesis in December, so if any of you are in town, you're invited!

3 weeks in

2010-09-18T12:27:00.003-06:00

After 3 weeks of school:

I got 100% on my first exam!
I got 9.5/10 on my first writing assignment!
I have learned that 2 jobs and 5 upper level classes means I have very little free time.
I'm noticing my French professor's southern accent less each day.
I'm starting to get stressed about grad school applications.
I have an awesome little button (campaign-style, not clothes-style) with a detail from David's Coronation of Josephine on it.
As I am now a research assistant, I have a new office in the Art History department offices (I share it with the grad students, but we don't mention that).

Other cool things:

Mark M. brought delicious orange rolls to senior thesis class yesterday.
I'm going to apply for an ORCA again so I'll have extra money to go to Europe next summer.
I discovered that you can get Swedish Fish that have dolphins and puffer fish and seahorses.
My parents got me a beautiful pea coat for my birthday and I'm excited for it to get cold so I can wear it.
I'm probably going to New York City next February.

Now you're mostly/kinda updated on my life!

magical new ward

2010-09-06T13:16:00.003-06:00

Last Sunday (Aug. 29) was my first Sunday in my new ward. We have Relief Society first and just as I was sitting down, I heard someone say my name. I turned and who was it that I saw? Brianna! She's in my ward! That totally made my day, especially because I hadn't seen her since she's been home from her mission and she's just generally awesome. And yesterday was even more amazing. I was called in to talk to one of the Bishopric counselors before church and was called as the Relief Society 1st counselor. I got to talk to Brianna before Relief Society and her parents came to Sacrament meeting and everything and it was fun. Of course they had a lot of new sustainings in my ward yesterday, and whose name was called as the 2nd counselor in the Relief Society? BRIANNA!!! I'm so excited to be able to work with her. It's so fun because we can talk about Europe and Thailand (since my brother is there now) and art history and professors and school and church and everything!

les mots-croisés

2010-08-26T18:10:00.004-06:00

First of all, I changed my blog design and I love it. I have a sculpture on my background! Nobody else seems very excited about it, but I'm ecstatic. Look at his hair! Anyway, now onto something more interesting. Maybe.

Over the summer, one of my coworkers left me presents in my cubicle. These presents are foreign newspapers pinned to my cubicle wall, sometimes with comments written on them in sharpie. Yesterday I removed a French newspaper from my wall and noticed that the back included the "game" section or whatever you call it, with sudoku and a crossword puzzle and something else. I discovered that the sudoku and crossword puzzle were partially completed. Now, was this the work of my coworker, or was it the work of some French person in the shipping department of a book company? I took the newspaper to my supervisor and we carefully compared the handwriting with examples we had on hand from my coworker (he had gone home so I couldn't just ask him). We concluded that the handwriting on the newspaper did not match the handwriting of my coworker. This means that someone in France partially completed a sudoku and crossword puzzle before crumpling up the newspaper and using it as cushioning stuff in a box of books coming to BYU. Also, the newspaper was dated 2007. And one of my favorite parts is that one of the crossword puzzle guesses is simply an "A" in the middle of a blank line. I don't know why they thought "A" was a good guess.

What else have I been up to? Well, I returned to Utah from DC on Aug. 13. The next morning my family left bright and early for a week at Newport Beach, California! We spent the week on the beach, at Disneyland, and at the Getty Villa. It was a very nice vacation, except for the sunburn. Totally worth the pain though.

In conclusion: don't you wish you had my job?

crazy town

2010-07-17T08:32:00.002-06:00

The other day I was waiting for the train on my way home from work. I was standing along the platform when a guy walked up and started talking to me. He was black, and I mention this because it will become pertinent. His opening line was, "Do you have a boyfriend?" to which I replied that I do because I have learned that it is never good to tell random guys that you're single. He was rather disappointed, I believe, because he responded with, "Dang, you're every black guy's dream," as he leaned back and lifted his sunglasses in order to more noticeably check me out. He continued with, "I'd be proud to have you on my arm." Then he continued his way along the platform. The end.

seen in DC

2010-06-16T19:50:00.003-06:00

- Tonight I was on the metro coming home and I was sitting close to the doors. At the stop before mine, 2 women with a little girl got up to get off. The little girl ran smack into a pole. I guess she was distracted or something. Kinda sad, yet funny.

- On my metro ride to work yesterday, the guy sitting in front of me needed to tie his tie. He was also wearing a lanyard that had become intertwined with his tie. So he just tied his tie with the lanyard in there too. By how he seemed to be trying to untangle his lanyard afterwards, I don't think he meant to do it like that.

- In art museums, I have now heard claims of three different paintings being the first ever example of psychological portraiture (for my non-art history readers, psychological portraiture shows more personality and emotion, rather than simply a likeness). The National Gallery claims that their painting of Ginevra by Leonardo da Vinci is the first ever. In the galleries there, I heard someone say that the portrait of William Grant by Gilbert Stuart (aka The Skater) is the first example of psychological portraiture. And in the National Portrait Gallery, I heard one of the docents tell their group that a portrait of Abraham Lincoln was the first. Okay everyone, can you really look at a portrait bust of the Roman emperor Caracalla and tell me it isn't psychological portraiture? I'm not saying that he's the first example, but he definitely predates any of the other people's claims. Psychological portraiture started long ago. Art historical misinformation bothers me.

In other news, my internship is going well. I enter a lot of records for the Catalog of American Portraits. I've also been working on another project that involves a lot of scanning to update the costume catalog used to date portraits. And I've been published. Everyone should read this because I wrote it. Or really, you don't need to read it because it's a biography of James Monroe and not too exciting, but just be aware that I was published on the NPG's official blog.

overheard

2010-06-12T10:14:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I went to the National Gallery. It closes at 5:00 Monday-Saturday, so I don't get to go there on days I work. I just changed my schedule to have Fridays off. It was very nice to see some lovely European art. The NPG and American Art Museum are both great, but American art jut isn't really my thing. So yesterday was awesome for me. I saw works by Vouet and Lorrain and Le Nain and Poussin and Canova and Rubens and Van Dyck and Velasquez and Raphael and Botticelli and etc. and it was soooo nice. I have discovered that it can be quite entertaining to listen to some people's views on art, especially those who are not very educated in the world of art history. For example, yesterday I was looking at a Vouet when a couple (probably around my age) came into the room. They paused at a painting by Ribera and the guy said, "That guy looks like that one actor!", to which the girl heartily agreed. As they moved on (they didn't really stop at any paintings, just walked continuously through the gallery) the guy was trying to remember the actor's name. As he named a movie the actor had been in, the girl exclaimed, "Oh! I thought he looked like Sean Connery!" Yes, they relate to paintings via movies, and they weren't even thinking of the same actor. And for the record, I looked, and the man in the painting doesn't look like Sean Connery.

And now an example of poor museum etiquette that I witnessed yesterday. I was in one of the 15th century Italian rooms. A lady walked in while talking loudly on her cell phone. She told the person she was talking to that this place is just full of paintings of naked babies. Umm...yeah, these are Madonna and child paintings, not just paintings of naked babies. As she talked to her friend on the phone, she leaned her elbows down onto a table that was in the middle of the room. A table that just happens to be a 15th century French masterpiece. The guard told her to not lean on it, so she started to walk into the next gallery. As she passed the guard he told her that it would be best if she didn't talk on the phone in the smaller galleries. She completely ignored him and started yelling for her kid, who had apparently run away. I witnessed the whole thing with a mix of amusement, horror, and awe.

And finally, one more rather puzzling experience. I stopped at the NPG on my way home yesterday because it's open until 7:00 and I had left the NGA at 5:00 when it closed. I was standing in front of a portrait when a man walked up next to me and took a photograph of the portrait label. Then he reached out his arm, at a 90 degree angle from his body, to try to get a photo of the painting. Of course, I stepped back so he could get in front of the painting and get a better photo, to which he objected with, "Stay right where you are, I'm a photographer, I know how to work with angles and stuff." Yeah, ok. But if you're a photographer, why are you using a tiny digital camera? And why did I see, when I glanced up at your hand, that you had only gotten about 3/4 of the painting?

Oh, if you were wondering about my internship, it's going well. They started me on the main project I'll be working on this summer, which is entering records in the Catalog of American Portraits. I've already done about 10 records for Benjamin Franklin. Super fun.

week 2

2010-06-05T14:50:00.002-06:00

I started doing real work this week. That means I entered information about paintings that had previously not been cataloged by CAP (the Catalog of American Portraits) on the museum's database (cleverly named The Museum System). It's more interesting than last week, but the records I had to enter were kind of old and didn't have too much information, so from here things will get more complicated but also probably more interesting. I think they'll also be training me on how to scan images to add to the database. So that's work lately. Two other interns in my department started this week, so there are four of us now. They all seem pretty nice and such.

In other news, my uncle is in town on business and yesterday was his birthday, so his coworkers took him to dinner and he invited me to dinner. We ate at the District Chophouse, and it was fabulous. First of all, this is going to sound odd, but their cornbread is fantastic. Their onion rings and calamari were also very good. I had stuffed flounder with steamed asparagus and white cheddar mashed potatoes. AMAZING. That place is really good. (It's also a bit expensive so I don't think I'll be going there on my own.)

And finally, to end with, I love art and museums and art museums. I think I might live in a museum one day.

DC says hello to you

2010-05-30T14:05:00.006-06:00

I'm here! My internship started last Monday, May 24. To be honest, it's been a little boring so far. I work M-F 10-4. So Monday and Tuesday were spent doing paperwork (one of the joys of working for a government-run institution). The rest of the week was mostly training, which isn't too exciting. I think I'll finish with the training this week, so then things should hopefully become a bit more interesting.

Since I don't have anything exciting to share about the internship yet (other than I have an official Smithsonian ID badge that I wear on a lanyard, and I have an official Smithsonian email address), I will share a photo I took that I like quite a bit. The Jefferson Memorial is my favorite. I'm loving my camera and there are so many cool thing here to photograph. The heat and humidity can be killer though. I don't even bother to try to straighten my hair because even my curls get curlier. On the bright side, I'm working on a rocking flip-flop tan.

time to go

2010-05-16T22:23:00.002-06:00

Well, I leave for DC on Wednesday. That means I've started packing. That means I've been shopping for the last couple weeks. That means I've bought 10 pairs of shoes, 4 skirts, 5 pairs of pants/shorts, and 7 shirts in the last two and a half weeks. I like new clothes, but my oh my, that much new stuff gets expensive. However, I'm still very excited for this upcoming adventure. I'm going to visit all the monuments and museums and other cool places. It's going to be awesome.

heaven in a jar

2010-04-29T21:00:00.003-06:00

This post is dedicated to:

Today I was thinking of things Nutella is good with. This is what I came up with so far.

waffles.
bread. Just Nutella on bread is good, Nutella sandwiches, or Nutella and jam sandwiches. Croissants and all that good stuff fits in this category too.
pretzels.
fruit. Bananas are my favorite with Nutella, but the pineapple was really good too.
ice cream (of course gelato too)
crepes. My favorite combo is Nutella and banana, but just Nutella is wonderful too. Especially if the crepe guy puts the Nutella jar next to the stove so it gets all warm and soft. Mmmmm.

Of course, I also like to eat it plain. By the spoonful. In Paris I always had a large jar of Nutella (which I sometimes kept in my closet to hide it from Madame) and I had quite a bit left in the jar when it was time to leave Paris...so I ate it while I packed. There was a lot. But it was good. Nutella-flavored gelato is also wonderful. Or if you want to make something truly amazing, try waffle + nutella + gelato + banana or strawberry.

The one sad thing in this post is that American Nutella isn't the same as European Nutella. They are extremely similar, but after eating such a large amount in Europe, my palate has discerned a slight difference and my heart yearns for European Nutella.

I think I'm going to go eat some pretzels dipped in Nutella. I encourage you to do the same. And add a little happiness to your life every day in the form of Nutella.

drumroll please...

2010-04-16T19:02:00.002-06:00

I have chosen. I will be at the National Portrait Gallery this summer. It will be awesome and I'm super-duper excited (that might have sounded sarcastic, but it isn't. I'm seriously so excited). I have to get fingerprinted for this internship. Awesome, huh? It's like I'm going to be important and trustworthy and stuff.

Do you know what else is awesome? I FOUND SOMEWHERE TO LIVE! For the summer, that is. It's in Silver Spring, Maryland and will be 20 mins or so on the metro to get to the NPG. If you're interested, here is the apartment complex's website. Yes, it does say there is an Olympic-size swimming pool, tennis courts, a gym, and mini-golf. And free utilities. And I get a queen-size bed to myself all summer (I know that kinda sounds pathetic but it's cool for me). I will sleep in the middle all summer.

All in all, I'm pretty sure this summer is going to be amazing.

results

2010-03-19T21:51:00.003-06:00

Last week I received an email from the Ancient Art Department of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. They were regretful to inform me that I am not in the final group being considered for an internship in that department. I also applied to their European Art Department (I still haven't heard back from them). Anyway, after this I was certain none of the museums would accept me.

Then I got an email from my first-choice department at the National Portrait Gallery (one of the Smithsonians) saying that they were extremely impressed with my application. I thought they would perhaps then want a phone interview, as the other museums had outlined their acceptance process to be as such. But no, they just want me as an intern. I am very happy but a bit overwhelmed. I did not know I was so attractive as an intern.

oooh photos

2010-03-07T01:37:00.007-07:00

(read the post below this one first.) The photo thing decided to work, so here they are. A couple of them are a little blurry cause I wasn't using a tripod and I can't hold still, but I still like looking at the difference my magic lens makes. I never changed where I was standing between photos, it's just the lens. Also, this is the best-looking building on campus.

new toy

2010-03-07T01:18:00.004-07:00

So I bought a new camera. It's a Canon 5D Mark 1 and I love it. I also bought a tilt/shift lens and I love it too. I bought them so I can take better photos when I go awesome places. This week my friend taught me how to use everything so I'll know how to use it when I go to LA this week. When he was advising me on what to buy he said I needed this lens, and I now see why. I was going to add some photos I took tonight, but for some reason that really isn't working, so I will direct you here. That's my friend's photography website and those photos were taken with my lens the other day when he was teaching me how to use it. It's like magic.

scary

2010-01-26T23:03:00.002-07:00

I've now been invited/accepted to present my ORCA research at two research conferences. I will also be presenting at an Art History brown-bag lunch, which James kindly invited to me to do to prepare me to present at the conferences. I'm excited to be able to present, and I know it will be good experience and I'll probably enjoy it, but I'm kinda scared. I'm not very comfortable speaking in front of large groups of people. I guess this means I need to get over that. People aren't going to really pay attention to me, right?

summer wind

2010-01-17T22:52:00.002-07:00

So, this summer I'm going to have an internship in an art museum. I'm applying to the Chicago Art Institute, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and a few of the Smithsonian museums. I'm not really sure which one is my first choice right now. Anyone have any other suggestions of museums to look into?

happiness

2010-01-07T22:28:00.002-07:00

The best part of my day happened around 1:28 pm today. I was sitting in 3112 JKB waiting for my medieval art class to begin when David (from my Paris study abroad) came up to me and, holding a cup out, asked if I would like a hot chocolate. I accepted as he explained that he had gotten two hot chocolates, one for him and one for his brother, but his brother didn't want it so he had an extra. So as MarkJ lectured on the Roman and Early Christian background to the medieval ages, I sipped a lovely cup of Starbucks hot chocolate. It made my day. Thank you, David.

j is for jazzy?

2010-01-03T00:40:00.004-07:00

First of all, I need to make a little note about one of my recent posts. One of my friends who doesn't go to BYU read my post about mjj and said it sounded like he was a guy I had a crush on. So to clear up any misunderstandings, he's my professor. And now he knows my name and says hi to me in the hall, which is a big deal because he's a rather reserved gentleman. Also, he's happily married and I'm happily single.

So. On the topic of mjj, he has a dry sense of humor that comes out wonderfully during his lectures. I took two classes from him last semester (well, I took one and TA'd one) and kept notes on his jokes at the top of my notes. Unfortunately, I just wrote down the keywords for these jokes and some of them don't make sense afterwards. I would to share, however, some of the ones that do make sense.

-Discussing the Hedgehog/Bear Vase -- "Would you care for a drink?" "Oh, it's so cute!" (said in probably the funniest voice I have ever heard him use)
-Discussing the eye design on Kamares Ware -- "We'll paint this here and call it an eye, then they'll think it's an animal!"
-Discussing the warrior with an arrow wound on the pediment of the Temple of Aphaia -- (because the warrior still displays the archaic smile) "Oh I'll just take this arrow out and be fine!"
-Discussing the east pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia with the story of Oinomaos and Pelops -- "As a father, I can understand Oinomaos. He didn't want his little girl getting married and going away."
-Discussing the labors of Herakles, specifically that of cleaning the stables -- "He had to divert a river through there to clean that place. You know, you never catch up on cleaning stables because horses just don't stop."
-One day he came into class and turned off the main lights, and the dim lights were darker than he usually dims them. -- "It's Northern Ren dark in here!" (Martha makes the lights quite dim)

Okay, so there were lots more that still make sense to me, but they would take some explaining to make sense. I was impressed with some of his jokes though, because after studying abroad with him I had not caught onto his sense of humor. It makes me quite eager to take his Medieval class next semester, even though I'm pretty sure that class won't be as interesting to me simply because of the subject matter.

Now, I was also a TA last semester. I love when the students write funny things on their exams and essays. I started keeping notes of these gems.
-Written on the front of a bluebook -- "requirements for reading this: 1 magnifying glass, 1 enigma machine, 1 sympathetic heart"
-On an exam question regarding the importance of Bernard of Clairvaux and Thomas of Aquinas -- "Guess who doesn't know anything about either of these guys. I know that Bernard was from Clairvaux, so he was probably French. Thomas of Aquinas was made a saint, and his writings were mentioned in the film, "Seven", starring Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. That's about all I know about them. The good news is that it leaves me with more time and more space for the final exam essay. Tally ho! On to the final!"
-On the same question, a different student -- "I have no idea who Bernard is. -5 pts"
-In an essay on an exam -- "To be honest, I didn't pick a work from the Migration/Carolingian/Ottonian period, but I sure like the cathedral Charlemagne had built for himself (name escapes me)."
-"I have not covered all 7 topics because my memory just can't hold so much information."
-Regarding the Bayeaux Tapestry -- "This work has no significance. If the figures were shown in twisted perspective, the style would match New Kingdom Egyptian."
-"Art has been used for political purposes since some guy traveled from central Europe to England in order to impress people with Stonehenge. [citation] --> How art made the world, episode 3 'the art of persuasion'"

I would like to thank the students that keep their sense of humor when they take exams. It makes grading them so much more enjoyable. On to the next semester of TA'ing!

second thoughts

2009-12-15T11:04:00.002-07:00

Yes, it's finals week. Yes, I have a Northern Ren final in four hours. No, I'm not ready for it. Yes, I do most anything to avoid studying. Anyway, I was just accepted to the Paris study abroad. I might not go. Probably not.

unbelievable

2009-12-09T14:58:00.002-07:00

mjj (aka PJ, MJ, MarkJ, or even Prof. Johnson) and I have made great strides this semester. As a student on his study abroad, I'm pretty sure he never knew my name, even though we spent six memorable weeks together in Europe. I believe he became aware of me when I made the news multiple times for my ORCA grant. However, this semester I have taken one of his classes, as well as TAing for his 201 class. This may come as a shock, but...HE KNOWS MY NAME. He said it the other day, and knew who he was talking to. And, even more amazing, I just passed him in the hall, and he smiled and said hi to me. I never thought this day would come.

P.S. Possible internship at Versailles? Sure!

new assignment

2009-12-08T14:12:00.002-07:00

Next semester's TA assignment: James Swensen's 202. I'll also be taking a class from him for the first time next semester. Awesome.

please enjoy

2009-11-27T00:31:00.003-07:00

expect the unexpected

2009-11-19T09:28:00.003-07:00

So...Spencer got his mission call (and yes, I'm aware this is about 2 weeks late). It's kind of weird that my little brother is old enough to go on a mission. Anyway, I thought he would go out of the country and was kinda getting the Oceania vibes. I was wrong (but closer than most other guesses). He's going to Thailand! I think that'll be cool. I know some cool people there. So I'm going to have to tell him to look for Brianna, and I need to write Brianna and let her know he's coming. And a guy from my home ward is there on his mission. And Martha (Peacock)'s son is in the MTC right now to go there. So it's gonna be like a little BYU/Provo/Orem/Springville/people who know Caroline party in Thailand.

pumpkin carving as an art history major

2009-11-02T19:01:00.005-07:00

this just in

2009-10-21T15:07:00.002-06:00

I may be going back to Europe. Paris, to be exact. On my 3rd study abroad.

Also, I seem to have successfully dealt with all that stuff I listed last week. Except I still need to write that 10 page paper, and I need to grade exams. It will be a busy weekend.

just keeps going and going and going...

2009-10-12T12:10:00.002-06:00

My life is ridiculously busy right now. It doesn't really feel like it though, I only remember how busy it is when I stop and think about all the things I'm supposed to do. For example, today I have 2 classes, I'm scheduled to work in the library, and I have to finish grading art history essays that we are supposed to give back tomorrow. There's FHE tonight and my visiting teachers are coming on Thursday. I also need to make an appointment for me to go visiting teaching. Either today or tomorrow I have to make a wax sculpture so it can be turned into a bronze sculpture in my art class. I think I'm going to make a triumphal arch, cause I'm cool and continental like that. Tomorrow morning I'm supposed to be at a meeting at 7 a.m. (who decided that was a good time?!), then I have 2 classes, my TA class, I need to enter the essay scores online, and I'm supposed to work and meet with a girl who wants to talk about her exam score. Next week is the first midterm in Martha's Northern Ren class, which means preparing 6 essays. We also have to have the rough draft done of the 10 page research paper for that class, for which I have a topic but have not done any research. I need to confirm my research topic for my Greek art class by next week too. And the research paper for my D&C class is due this week.

In summary, would anyone like to write a research paper for me? :)

legit

2009-09-21T12:46:00.002-06:00

Last Friday, during my office hours, three students came to see me. I ended up staying half an hour longer than scheduled. I am a real TA.

you're welcome, mjj.

wait! i'm not done with last term!

2009-08-31T12:28:00.003-06:00

Fall semester started today, but I haven't finished sharing things from last term! So here are 2 that I can remember right now. I think there are at least one or two more, but I don't have my little list with me.

When our first midterm was returned to us, the score was written out of 50 possible points. Of course, I easily converted my score to a percentage in my head. Apparently, this isn't common sense to everyone. I overheard the girl who sat two seats in front me of explaining to the girl sitting directly in front of me that her husband, who was a math major, had told her a little math secret. If you double the score when it's out of 50, this will give you the percent! Unfortunately, lamented the secret-giver, she didn't have a calculator with her. She would have to ask her husband when she got home.

One day the professor was explaining a new concept and giving an example on the board. I did not find it particularly hard to follow, but Ken (of "sbat" fame) did. I watched as he turned around and asked his back neighbor if she understood (she didn't), then he turned back around and my professor stopped his lecture and said, "What?". Ken, ever eloquent, said, "Huh?" and my teacher replied, "You were shaking your head." Ken said that he hadn't understood, so my professor asked which part he didn't understand. Ken said, "Well, about the last 15 minutes." So my professor started the lecture over again, pausing occasionally to ensure that Ken was understanding it all.

Now that I think of it, I have another Ken story. We were discussing valency in my class, which is based on how many arguments are needed for a verb. For example, 'sleep' has a valency of 1 because it only involves one argument, or person, and 'hit' has a valency of 2 because it involves a hitter and a hittee (nice word.). My professor said that an easy way to decide how many arguments a verb has is to think of a sentence and see if it makes sense without a direct object. For example, you can say "Jack slept" with no confusion, but it makes less sense to say "Jack hit" because you wonder what or who he hit. My professor asked the class how many arguments were required for the verb 'tickle'. A couple people said 2, but Ken replied that it had a valency of 1. My teacher asked him to use the little test he had recommended, and Ken decided to prove that he was right by saying, "Well, if you think of it like your facebook activities, it makes sense. You can say that you like to sleep, but you wonder what they mean if they say they like to hit. But can't you say, 'I like to sleep, I like to read, I like to tickle...'?" My professor gave a small laugh, looked at Ken like he was crazy, and said that 'tickle' had a valency of 2.

Ahh, Ken. He brought pleasure to many a boring class period. Hopefully I will have a Ken II in at least one of my classes this semester.

on the apricot tree

2009-08-24T15:43:00.002-06:00

Time for another linguistics post. I still have a few others to share, but here's one for now.

Since each class period was 2 hours long (yay summer term), we always got a short break after the first hour of class. Quite a few of my classmates would either buy something from a vending machine or eat a snack they had brought with them. One day, as class was restarting following the break, I smelled what I thought was popcorn. This was a little confusing because I was pretty sure that they don't sell popcorn in the vending machines. The girl who sat to my right always bought something during the break and I could hear a little bag rustling in her direction, so I tried a couple times to discreetly glance in her direction to see what she was eating that smelled like popcorn. I couldn't tell what she was eating, but I happened to glance at the girl who sits one in front of and to the left of me (the one of fan fame). She had a small pile of POPCORN on her desk. I watched as she finished her little pile, reached down into her backpack, and I saw a ziploc bag of popcorn. She reached in, got out a handful, and put it on her desk to eat. This may seem like a small event, but really, who brings popcorn to class?

napoleon, je t'aime

2009-08-16T13:33:00.004-06:00

Cher Napoleon,

Je t'aime.

I had heard about you for a time before we became better acquainted. You were briefly mentioned throughout grade school and middle school, but it was in high school, in my Modern Wars and European History classes, that I first became aware of your great genius. Your military prowess and natural leadership ability gave me a great respect for you. In my Art History class in high school you were discussed but not in great detail. While I greatly respected you throughout high school, it was not until college that I really fell in love.

Our acquaintance became more intense in my Art History 202 class. I enjoyed learning about your influence on art. You are absolutely amazing. I fell for you head over heels, however, when I went to Paris. We have so much in common. We share a love for classical architecture and art, and I believe we also share a brilliance and great determination. I loved visiting the monuments and buildings you had built to show your power, often in the Roman style. I also enjoyed viewing many paintings you had commissioned to display your power. You did great things for France. I especially enjoyed visiting your tomb at Invalides, the Napoleon wing of the Louvre, and seeing the changes you made at Versailles.

One of my favorite memories of you is when I took my mom to see your tomb and there was a display of your papers. One was a mock proclamation to England which you had jokingly written up with your brother. I enjoyed this because it sounds like something I would do with my brothers, and demonstrates that you, as I strive to do, mixed your genius with humor. I also loved the final phrase of a military letter you had written to a general in which you outlined which regiment should be outfitted with which weapons. The final line was "In short, everyone must be armed." I enjoyed it because you were able to beautifully sum up your letter and make the point clear. Everything I learn about you makes me fall deeper in love with you.

I was able to write a paper featuring you and art you commissioned in one of my art history classes and I loved learning more about you. You were an amazing leader. I especially liked reading your memoirs and quotes. One of my favorite quotes is "When it comes to conspiracy, everything is permissible."

Napoleon, I want to wish you a happy 240th birthday (yesterday), and tell you again that I love you. Je t'adore.

Bisous,

Caroline

that one class

2009-08-11T17:57:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was the last day of classes for summer term, which means it was the last day of linguistics. I have a list of things I observed in that class that will show up on my blog eventually. I just wanted to share one really quickly though. Remember I said there was a girl who loves to ask questions, which are designed to show how intelligent she is? This is about her.

The classroom is in the basement of the JFSB and is always freezing. I've only been warm once in that room and that was because the AC was broken. However, one day that one girl apparently thought it was too warm in the classroom. When I walked in, she was already in her seat (she sits one seat in front of and one to the left of me). As I was getting out my notebook, she began to fan herself. No biggie, right? It was July and it's hot out. Sometimes I get hot enough that I fan myself with a piece of paper. But was she fanning herself with a piece of paper? No. She was fanning herself with one of those fans (Japanese? Chinese?) that fold up all cool and have drawings/paintings of flowers/birds/Asian women on them. Yeah, she carries it in her backpack for emergencies like this. Incredibly prepared.

lions, tigers, and students

2009-07-13T20:51:00.002-06:00

I've been making a list (mostly during my linguistics class) of stuff to write about, but I've just got time for one right now. So, the other day I was leaving the Clyde on my way to class, and one of those little golf carts for visitors drove by. The driver was telling the passengers about the buildings, etc. It kind of reminded me of the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland, and I'm one of the creatures in the display for the visitors' amusement. It felt like a mix between Jungle Cruise and the zoo.

linguistical endeavors

2009-06-22T12:35:00.004-06:00

I'm taking linguistics 330 this term, which is an introductory course. I'm considering minoring in linguistics, so this seemed like a good place to start. I think it will also be a good place for blog material. Here are the things I found amusing that happened in just one two-hour class period.

- You know that person in your class who asks too many questions that they think they already know the answer to, and which are designed simply to make them look smart? I already found that person. She's pretty annoying, and today was only the first day. She asked at least 6 questions which she obviously thought she knew the answer to. By the end of the class period the professor was ignoring her raised hand, so she decided to shout out her question. Ugh. But kinda funny.

- There's this guy who's pretty good looking, but I think of him as Ken, from Barbie's world. Nice face but no brain matter. We got a 5 minute break since the class period is 2 hours long, and he decided to talk to his neighbor, who sits in front of me. He mentioned that the professor was using some big vocab words. He must have meant words such as "ambiguity", "meaningless", and "utterance" because those were the biggest words I could find in my notes. Kick it up a notch, Ken, you're in college now. Also, we were supposed to do this anagram thing with 4 letters and there were only 3 real words possible, but Ken gave his best try with the word "sbat", which he demonstrated in a sentence: I sbat on the ground.

- My professor told us that he sits in his office, reading comic books and playing on facebook all day because that's what happens when you get tenure. This is why I'm considering becoming a professor. Except I don't like comic books much, so I'll have to figure out something else. Maybe books about Michelangelo.

As a side note, there are all these people on campus who just got out of high school a couple weeks ago and are taking classes summer term. Most of them still think they're in high school. It's kind of annoying, and I wonder why some of them signed up for a class about marriage when they're right out of high school. Impatience? Hopeful wishing? BYU legend?

d-day

2009-06-06T17:32:00.012-06:00

Today is the 65th anniversary of D-Day. I've always felt a deep respect and gratitude to the people who gave their lives for their country, but today means a lot more to me somehow since visiting Normandy while I was in France last semester. We went to a D-Day museum that was incredible. There was a section of the museum about the Holocaust, and I've never felt so awful in my life. The Holocaust always makes me sad, but I could literally not stay in that room. The next day we went to a couple sites of historic importance, including Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach, and the American Military Cemetery.

Pointe du Hoc is the point where Allied forces came up over the cliffs to take out German artillery that would threaten the beach invasions. This place was incredible. The Rangers had to scale sheer cliff from the sea below to reach this point. The whole area is covered in craters from the fighting and there are still ruins from German fortifications.

Then we went to Omaha Beach. For me this was a little weird because it looks like a normal beach now. I had a hard time reconciling this with the knowledge that hundreds of men died there. To be honest I was very disappointed with the behavior of my group at Omaha Beach. Most of them were just taking [jumping] pictures and wading and acting like it was a normal beach. To me, that is not a normal beach at all. I didn't have a relative who died there or anything, but I believe that a place like that deserves more reverence and respect for the life that was lost there and the sacrifices of even those who didn't die. It was beautiful and there are a couple memorials there. One of them was rather abstract, and although I don't normally like abstract art, I found memorial fitting because there's no way to express with words the sacrifice that was made there.

We also visited the American Military Cemetery at Normandy. It was an amazing place, with white crosses as far as you can see. There's a memorial there as well. The cemetery overlooks the invasion beaches.

That was a very emotional day for me. I don't cry easily and had been able to hold back the tears until I read the inscription on the cross above. In case you can't read it, it reads "Here rests in honored glory a comrade in arms known but to God."

Today I am grateful to all the troops who lost their lives in the name of their country, fighting for a people they had never known and who lived on a completely different continent. I am also grateful for all the military men and women throughout history, not just those who fought on June 6, 1944, and those who still fight for their country today. I have such a great respect for all those who judge the freedom and well-being of others, the preservation of rights, and the honor of their country as more important than their own lives.

des choses de ma vie

2009-06-04T22:12:00.006-06:00

I haven't posted in almost a month. That means that this post will be rather random. Here we go.

1. I have ridiculous amounts of homework. I'm only taking 2 classes (6 credit hours) but I think I have more homework than any other semester ever. I'm glad that I'm finally to a high enough level of French that it isn't every day anymore. Also, I really like Voltaire.

2. The other day Liz and I were at the creamery for lunch and heard interesting snippets of conversation from the booth behind us. The best exchange was "Well I don't think Mary and Joseph could live together and not have any more children. I mean, it's not like they had Jesus and that was it." This was answered with, "Yeah. They didn't really have birth control back then." Hmmm now that I type it out, it isn't that funny. When we were listening to it though, Liz and I almost died from trying not to burst out laughing. Like that time I did while I was presenting about Harold B. Lee in religion class...

3. Spencer graduated from high school last Friday. That kinda made me feel old because there were all these kids who were just little sophomores when I graduated. I saw this one kid who was in my German class. He was funny back then...but I think he turned out kinda weird, which is sad. Anyway, congratulations to Spencer, who was the Valedictorian. It's a good Larson tradition.

4. Remember that lovely Vera bag I blogged about? In Mediterranean White? It's now on sale. For about $20 less than I paid.

5. Today at work I got a DVD and couldn't find the record for it no matter how I searched. I could tell that it was either in Spanish or Portuguese (very similar to Italian) so I translated the title into English and searched using that and found the record. Turns out that the actual DVD was in English, it just had a Portuguese cover. Weird. And Italian is so useful.

6. Also at work today I got a book that smelled like cigarette smoke when I flipped through it. It was yucky. Then I got one that smelled like soap. It was a nice soap, very clean smelling.

7. Seven is one of my favorite numbers. I like the line of the numeric version and the sound and the way it looks when spelled out.

8. I'm allergic to almost every fruit and vegetable known to man. I used to only be allergic to melons, but in the last 2 years or so it has gotten much worse. My reactions have also gotten worse. I can only eat grapes, broccoli, lettuce, and berries (except blueberries, which make me sick). For a while I thought I was allergic to strawberries, but then I found out that I'm actually allergic to raw sunflower seeds, which I had eaten right after eating strawberries on the night I had a reaction.

9. The picture for June in my Michelangelo calendar (from Rome) is of David. I changed my calendar a day early so that I can look at him longer.

10. I was in Europe at this time last year. In fact, I think I was in Paris on this day a year ago. I love Paris and I really miss it. I got a book at work yesterday that was full of pictures of Paris and it made miss it so much. I need to go back soon. Anyway, back to the fact that it's been a year since the art history study abroad. I'm very grateful for the friends I made on that trip and the experiences I had and the amazing things I was able to see.

That's all for now. I want a Propel water now. I am addicted to those.

my new best friend, vera bradley

2009-05-07T13:30:00.004-06:00

Last spring when I went to Europe I took a Vera Bradley bag with me. It was perfect for the trip because it was big enough to hold everything I needed but wasn't bulky. It was small enough that I didn't have to check it in any museums except the ones that required all bags to be checked, and it was comfortable and cute. The only drawback was that it wasn't waterproof. Other than that, I absolutely loved it. So, when I went back in the fall, I took the exact same bag but in a different pattern. I loved it again. It was small enough to be practical when I was just going out for the evening, but big enough that I could use it as an overnight bag. I now love Vera Bradley bags. So...I bought a new one. Plus something else.

Presenting my newest Vera bag:

The pattern is Mediterranean White and the style is Lisa B. It's adorable.

and because I love both flip-flops and Vera Bradley, I had to combine them in this wonderful purchase:

This pattern is Hope Garden, and these are obviously flip-flops. Love them.

life in the HBLL

2009-05-06T15:17:00.003-06:00

Today I studied on the 5th floor of the library for a couple hours. It's spring term so there aren't too many people around, plus the 5th really isn't the most popular floor of the library, so everyone had their own table. I was deep in German translations when I heard some plastic-y rustling sounds. I look up to see the guy a couple tables away from me opening a package of beef jerky. In the library. He got out a piece (it was teriyaki flavored if anyone wanted to know), put the package down on the table next to his papers, and continued to study. I smiled to myself and looked back down at my assignment, and heard the distinct sound of ripping jerky. That's a first for all my time in the library...

Another librarical adventure to share...I was walking into the atrium of the library from outside one day last week, around 9 a.m. There weren't a lot of people there, but for some reason the security desk I walked by (west side) had not 1, but 2 security guards standing by it, and they were accompanied by an official-looking man in a suit. As I walked through the little beeper things, they all watched me. Out of the corner of my eye I could see all 3 heads turn and watch as I walked in the doors, and all 3 heads followed as I walked into the info comm area of the library. Crazy. Don't they have something better to do than watch me go to work?

P.S. My title reminded me...we have a sheet hanging somewhere in the Acquistions area that has some funny typos, etc., that have been on packages we've received. Once a Japanese company replaced the B with an E...

my latest purchase

2009-04-28T12:39:00.001-06:00

i'm so old

2009-03-15T22:25:00.002-06:00

Today I went to two missionary homecomings for good friends from high school. How come all of a sudden I'm old enough to have friends getting home from missions? I'm only 19 for pete's sake! It's kinda weird. Anyway, they were both great. Taylor, who was pretty much Winston's best friend in high school, went to Sweden and was Winston's first companion. He did a really good job speaking and afterwards he was really eager to talk to us. He saw Winston on Thursday and thought he should tell us that Winston is very skinny and likes to wear pink ties.

David also gave a great talk. He was in Ireland, and to the truth, I'm a bit disappointed that he didn't come home with an Irish accent. Oh well. His talk was pretty funny. One of my favorite parts was when he talked about how his mom would try to disguise FHE when he was in high school so that he would participate, and a favorite quote is, "Words cannot express how much I love this sweatshirt." Yeah, funny guy.

Anyway, it was good to see both of them again. It's just that seeing them again means I'm getting old. I'll be 20 in September! That's pretty much ancient!

les mots qui me font rire

2009-03-03T11:38:00.004-07:00

Last week I processed a huge shipment of French books at work. I used to hate the French books, but now I really love doing them. One of the books was titled "Les mots qui me font rire," which means "the words that make me laugh." This cute little book has categories of words that make the author laugh, such as words that don't have a masculine form, words that don't have a plural form, and my personal favorite, words that aren't pronounced how they are spelled, which I thought was all of French.

answers

2009-02-23T13:09:00.003-07:00

Ok, first of all, they messed up on the little article about me. I did the research while I was there last semester, I don't currently have plans to go back to Paris soon.

Martha had the idea and gave it to me to apply for the grant.

Those aren't the best photos they had of me...so I don't know why they picked those.

And this has me scared to death. People are talking to me about this that have never talked to me before. I am terrified that people are just going to recognize me. This is completely unreasonable because I know people don't just stare at the photos on BYU News and memorize the faces, but for some reason it has me scared.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes, I think the painting at the MOA really is by Le Sueur.

now you know a celebrity

2009-02-20T15:15:00.001-07:00

I think everyone should visit byu.edu and click on the first little blue square in the news stories.

Yeah.

That's all.

in short, everyone must be armed

2009-02-02T13:26:00.002-07:00

Today I had my first French 201 oral exam. I talked to a computer. It was weird, especially because no one else in there was taking the same test as me, so no one else was randomly talking to their computer in a foreign language. I don't think I did too well, so I'm going to retake it. I'm so excited (sarcasm alert!).

I also had an Italian quiz today that was ridiculously hard to understand. Ambiguity is not cool on quizzes.

In other news, I have the rough draft of a research prospectus due tomorrow morning. I don't even have a topic yet. Go me! It's going to be a late night...again... But I'm actually excited about what I think I might do it on. Yeah, I know it's nerdy, but luckily for me, my major truly interests me. And so does Napoleon, who will play a major role in my research paper. I adore that man.

it's to that point

2009-01-20T18:31:00.002-07:00

It's a little sad when you start checking your own blog for new posts, hoping that the blog fairy wrote a new entertaining post.

I guess one sentence doesn't really count as a new post, so I'll share something. I miss Paris like crazy. This morning I really wanted to go the Louvre. Two months ago, no problem, I would have just hopped on the metro and gone to the Louvre. Sadly, those days are over. Also, a pain au chocolat would be simply lovely right now.

fritalian

2009-01-08T13:31:00.003-07:00

J'ai un cours d'italiano e anche un cours de francais. Non mi ricordo tout de ma italien. Je combine questi due langues dans ma tete. Attualmente le francais vince. Fortunatamente, questi deux langues sont molto simile.

don't worry

2009-01-07T13:01:00.001-07:00

I'm not dead. My blog might be though. Stupid school...

i <3 snow (sometimes)

2008-12-19T13:53:00.002-07:00

I spent a delightful Wednesday evening with my good friend Lauren. I drove to her adorable house, which I had not been to before, and was given a mini tour before we drove (separately) to Panda Express. Oh, the joys of American-Chinese food! Afterwards, we went to Mallory's apartment to pay a visit. Mallory was overjoyed to see me (as everyone always is!) and we had a great little chat. Then Lauren and I left and parted ways, which is when the real adventure began. Here is how it went down:

Lauren got to her car first, so I told her she could go ahead and pull out of the parking lot first. By the time she was out from behind me and I could reverse, she was pulling out of the parking lot because we were parked so close to the entrance. When I went to reverse, though, I barely moved before my front tires started just spinning on the snow and ice that covers Wymount parking lots. I tried several different tactics but simply couldn't move. I couldn't go back to Mallory's apartment and enlist her and Jimmy's help because I couldn't remember which complex and apartment were theirs, and Lauren had already gone by the time I figured out I was stuck. So what did I do? I called my parents. Yes, I am an adult and I have lived by myself in Europe, but I called my parents. While they were on their way (only a 6 minute wait), a nice young man in his pajama pants came up, asked if I was stuck, and offered to enlist the help of people doing laundry to push me out. I thought it was very nice, but I declined because by then my parents were almost there, and I didn't want him to get his pajamas wet in the snow. Anyway, my parents came immediately and I was oh so grateful. First my dad tried pushing while I slowly reversed, but I guess he thought I was doing it wrong, so he got in the car, but couldn't get it to move either (I'm really not so stupid, huh?). So he did this fancy driving thing that included driving on the sidewalk, snow flying out from under the tires, and very rapid reversing, and voila! my car was free! My mom drove me home (I swear, bad driving did not get me stuck on the snow and ice!), where I spent a comparatively uneventful rest of the evening. THE END.

P.S. For those of you who were worried about me (I'm sure you weren't but I'm saying this anyway), my ear is no longer numb. My aunt, MD, says it was most likely a virus in my nerve. Huh. If anyone was wondering, it feels very weird to have a numb ear.

home sweet home

2008-12-14T15:10:00.002-07:00

Attention everyone: after touring Europe for over three months, I am finally home!

an odd sensation

2008-12-03T11:35:00.002-07:00

My ear is numb. I don't know why. It has been this way for approximately 24 hours.

city of lights, take 2

2008-10-26T09:11:00.002-06:00

So, back in August I blogged about the things I was worried about with coming to Paris. Just to give everyone an update, I'm going to re-address each of those issues.

1. "I don't know anyone in my group "-- as might be expected, that is no longer the case. Overall, I've got a good group. No major issues.

2. "I found out who my roommate will be, and I don't know her (as stated in #1), but I'm really worried about how that is going to turn out." -- this statement was based on an email sent to me by my professor, and the facebook of my potential roommate. First of all, she's not really my roommate. Second, that girl turned out alright. Third, my roommate rocks.

3. "I will be living with a Parisian family. What if I don't like them?" -- my family is okay I suppose...an older couple whose two sons have moved out. They're getting to the point where they're turning into crazy old people. Oh well. Overall, the situation is good.

4. "I speak hardly any French." -- that's alright. I'm just mute. And I'm improving! That's better than nothing!

5. "The family I will be living with lives in the suburbs outside of Paris. Therefore, it is likely to take longer than I desire to get in and out of the city." -- yeah, this is kind of a pain. It approximately an hour to get from my house to most places I want to go. And church on Sunday requires an hour and a half of traveling by RER, SNCF train, and bus.

6. "The internship opportunities flopped. No internship for me (or anyone else, for that matter)." -- oh well. I can't fix that. I do get to do a pretty cool research project while I'm here.

7. "I don't know what to pack because we will be starting in September, which is still rather warm, but ending in December, which can be very cold." -- it's turning out alright. I have a couple jackets and t-shirts so I can layer. It hasn't been too cold yet.

And of course, the good things I thought of for that post still hold true - I'm in Paris, not in Provo. As we learned from Sabrina, Paris is always a good idea.

...and then my dog died

2008-10-03T13:52:00.002-06:00

Luckily, I don't have a dog. If I did, it would have died on Friday, because that would be the only thing that could have made my day worse.

So I was going to meet some friends for lunch at Pizza Hut. My roommate, Kelsey, and I were going to leave the house around noon. Unfortunately, Madame decided to take Kelsey on a death run (I escaped because I didn't bring running shoes on this trip) and Kelsey didn't get back till noon. So she got ready as fast as she could, but we were late leaving. So we get to the metro stop where we're supposed to find the Pizza Hut. I hadn't seen the Pizza Hut before, but had been told it was by McDonald's. It isn't. We wandered around looking for it for about 45 minutes. Then we decided we would just go to the Pantheon, which is where we had planned to head after lunch, and meet our friends there. We got off the metro at a stop for the Pantheon, followed some signs to the Pantheon, and an hour later, found ourselves at a different metro stop and farther from the Pantheon than when we started. That was strike two of the day, plus it was raining, so we decided to call it a day and hop on the metro to go home. We were on the metro, 2 stops before ours, the doors opened in the station, and we realized that the station is filled with smoke (not the cigarette kind) and everyone was getting off the train. So we got off and exited the station. From there, we could see smoke coming out of the stairwells. That's how bad it was. So we had no idea where we were, and decided to follow a bunch of other people who looked like they knew where they were going. Luckily, they led us to a metro station and we got home without further disturbances. It rained more though. We had to stop at the grocery store on our way home and pick up some stuff. I got cereal and bread and jam, because our family is running out of breakfast food.

One good thing: in the morning, Madame took us to the house and garden where Napoleon and Josephine courted. I absolutely adore Napoleon (if I don't get married in this life, he'll be one guy I look up in the next), so that was pretty cool.

mon petit ami

2008-09-30T12:35:00.004-06:00

I have a French boyfriend. His name is Pierre. He is 23 years old. We met at St. Michel, where I was doing some shopping. He is studying geography in school. I met him 4 days ago. Yeah, I'm a fast mover.

So I was walking through Pere Lachaise today, one of the coolest cemeteries in the world. While searching for the tomb of Moliere, I got separated from my travelling companion, and a Frenchman started a conversation with me. I don't know the first thing that he said, but it was followed by, "Vous etes Francaise?" (for the non-French speakers, "Are you French?"), to which I replied that I am not. Thus began the longest conversation I have ever had in French. Yes, completely in French; he wouldn't let me speak any English, and wouldn't speak any English to me. I'm quite proud of myself because I pretty much understood what he said, and he even understood me! He asked me a million questions: where I'm from, why I'm in France, how long I've been here, how long I will be here, if I'm going straight back to the US afterwards, if I'm a student, what I'm studying, how many brothers and sisters I have, if they are older or younger than me, if I speak Italian (this followed me telling him that I was going to Italy before I was going back to the US, and when I replied that I do speak Italian, he felt compelled to explain to me that French, Spanish, and Italian are so similar because of blah blah blah), and one of my favorite questions: if I have a boyfriend. Now, I believe he was in his 40s, so I don't think he was hitting on me, but still, I wanted to be safe, so yes, I have a boyfriend. This started a flow of questions: is he French, what's his name, how old he is, what he's studying, how we met, how long we've known each other, where we met, and then he kept saying something about "sortir avec lui" but it wasn't the translation I know, because he asked for what I thought it meant. All in all, a very interrogative man. His last question for me was whose tombs I had seen so far, and I told him, and he asked if I had seen Moliere's tomb. That was what I had been looking for, and I told him so, and he proceeded to lead me to Moliere's tomb, which was very kind of him, but by now I had been talking to him for about half an hour, so I was getting a bit wary. After viewing Moliere's tomb and being reunited with my travelling companion, he led us partway to Oscar Wilde's tomb and directed us on how to get the rest of the way, and I didn't see him after that.

And that is how I got a French boyfriend.

P.S. We got a little lost on the way to Wilde's tomb after the guy left, and I thought it was one way and my friend thought it was another. Naturally, I was right. We got a little lost again on our way out of the cemetery, and I was right once again. Go me!

P.P.S. When I told the guy that I spoke Italian, he hit me (lightly on the arm) with his umbrella. Che buffo!

quote of the week

2008-09-29T13:44:00.002-06:00

"That's like comparing apples to dirt crumbles."

I love it. Apparently, Paris is not to Provo as apples are to oranges; Paris is to Provo as apples are to dirt crumbles. Thanks, Joe!

my travels

2008-09-28T12:55:00.009-06:00

Here is a quick synopsis of where I have been for the last 3 weeks, summarized with a photo of me in each city:

London (with St. Paul's, on the Millenium Bridge):

Bruges (in the market square):

Haarlem (with my Paris roommate, Kelsey, eating delicious little pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream):

Arnhem (with a windmill in the Open Air Museum, which I highly recommend):

Den Haag (at the beach, which was simply amazing):

and I have recently arrived in...Paris!

Cities not represented that I did indeed visit: Antwerp, Brussels, Amsterdam

replacement friends

2008-09-26T15:55:00.002-06:00

They don't work. My friends on this trip are nothing compared to what I had in the spring. It simply isn't fun like this. I'm spending the day in Paris by myself tomorrow. And Molly won't be there with her pepper spray if I get attacked, since I'm a single young woman in a large city. And Lauren won't be there to buy Bounty bars in the RER station. And Brianna won't be there to take amazing pictures with her amazing camera. And Mollie won't be there to be afraid of the pigeons. And Mallory won't be there to teach me how to talk like a gangsta.

foggy london town

2008-09-10T13:46:00.002-06:00

I'm in London! I had some lovely flights yesterday, adding up to about 12 air hours. So much fun! Although I have to say, I had NO ONE sitting next to me on my 9 hour flight, and I loved it so much! The UK customs lady was really rude. I don't like people like that. I then took the tube (yes, by myself. no, I wasn't scared) to the Mowbray Court Hotel (yes, the same hotel I stayed at this spring). There, I was greeted with a hug by Dr. Martha Peacock. How different from MJ, who never learned my name! I went out on the town with a couple other girls who had just arrived. We took the tube, and they didn't believe me about the train not going a certain route (yeah, it was the one that MJ took the wrong one too). You should have listened to me, girls! Then we came back to the hotel (as we were supposed to) for an evening out with the Peacocks. We took the tube to Hyde Park Corner, then walked all the way to Trafalgar Square. Yes, it was a long walk. Yes, it took several hours. Yes, everyone was extremely jet-lagged. Then we took a ride on a double-decker bus (cool!) to the Tower of London. We finished around 6:15 pm, and I decided to go see Lion King with a girl in my group who was in my French 101 class. So we went and got the cheapest tickets they had, which were for a box on the balcony. What crappy seats. We couldn't really see. So we moved to some great seats at the intermission. I returned home around 11 pm, and all 5 of my roommates were asleep. Yes, 5 roommates. Yes, that is extremely inconvenient and impractical. So I woke them up with my loud knocking and went to bed. Except one roommate found it necessary to yell at me to turn off the light (the light that is only above my bed and is extremely dim).

Moral of yesterday's story: I miss my old study abroad friends. What fun we had!

Today we went to the British Museum in the morning. It's cool. I've been there before. We pretty much ran to, through, and from that museum. MJ wasn't really a speed walker. Dr. Peacock, well, is. If it was still in the Olympics, I would encourage her to try out. Then we went to the City of London Museum. It was pretty small, but it was pretty cool too. Then we had about an hour of free-time until we were to meet to go to Evensong at St. Paul's. I went with Liz and Kate and then Cammie joined us, and we stalked Dave and Alex to the British National Library (funny story. No, I'm not putting it here), where we saw pages written by Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Beatles, and last but certainly not least, the burned Magna Carta. We then realized that we had outlasted our hour. So we speed-walked, Martha Peacock style, back to the tube and then to St. Paul's, and made the last 10 minutes of Evensong. But not David and Alex (pretty much the same funny story as above. No, I'm not putting it here); they stayed and I never saw them again. Although I think I'll see them tomorrow. Kate and I then went to Starbucks and I got a delicious strawberries and cream frapuccino. Then we went to Tesco and got sandwiches for dinner and snacks for our day of trains on Saturday. That was it. Now I'm using my ridiculously small but cool laptop, on the ridiculously expensive but convenient internet.

Moral of today's story: I miss my old study abroad friends. It doesn't feel right to be here without them!

playing with scissors

2008-09-05T20:46:00.003-06:00

I got my hair cut yesterday. I've had the same stylist for a few years, and she's great. I guess she was just a little distracted or something yesterday. I asked for her to take off 3 inches, and she took off at least 5 inches. My hair is the shortest it's been in about 15 years. And 15 years ago, I was 3. Hmm that reminds me, my birthday is in 2 days. And I leave for Europe in 3 days. Cool.

go home!

2008-09-02T16:47:00.003-06:00

That is what I want to say to all the students who have invaded campus. I loved how empty campus was during spring/summer. And the library was lovely without so many students around. They been trickling in over the last week, and today they came out in full force. I walked from the Clyde to the HBLL and saw not the usual 5 people, but around 5000. Ok, maybe not quite that many, but way too many for my liking. And I had to deliver books to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors of the library today, and there were SO MANY PEOPLE! It wasn't empty like it has been all summer, and it made me sad. Plus, the cart I was using on the 2nd floor has some major problems with its wheels and is thus quite loud, so I'm pushing this horrendously loud cart through the otherwise silent-yet-full-of-people 2nd floor (which is largely populated by young men). I wanted to sink into the floor and die or something. Or at least have them all go home. Yes, that would be better.

P.S. It was freezing this morning while I was walking to the library, and I forgot my jacket. Yay me!

my newest find

2008-08-28T15:04:00.003-06:00

I found this in the collection of Asian literature: "Larson: Duke of Mongolia." Wow. I was naturally curious, as I could be related to this person who was obviously pretty cool, so I opened up the book. I found out that this guy was from Sweden, the land of my forefathers (which is also where Winston is currently serving his mission. cool, huh?). So, I could be related. But there is of course a huge chance that I am not, as I have been told that about 1/3 of all people in Sweden have the last name Larson. Also, my dad said that if you go to the person who came to the US from Sweden in our family, and go back one generation from there, it is the last name Pederson since they changed last names every generation, depending on the name of their father. So, pretty much I have no clue if I am related to the Duke of Mongolia. But it's still pretty cool, right? Right.

and i always thought he was holding a discus...

2008-08-26T13:57:00.004-06:00

At work for the past few weeks, we've had this huge pile of boxes of books in Asian languages, as well as some books in English about Asia. We have to make copies of the title pages (which is not fun and gets your hands extremely dirty). I was just finishing them up today, since there is nothing else for me to do, and found a couple funny things. First, I found a book that was in some Asian language, but at the bottom of the title page, where the publisher name and logo usually go, it said, "Baseball Magazines," and had a tiny drawing of this (and yes, that is my own picture. you should be jealous.):

Who woulda thunk? One of the greatest works of Western art, showing up in an Asian book. Plus, that book didn't look like what we would call a "magazine" around these parts. And I always thought he was holding a discus...

The second funny thing: among all these book titles, "China's Future: What's After Mao?," "Chinese Political Thought," and "Democracy in Japan: Facade?," I found a book titled, "How to Repair Electrical Appliances." Yes, in English. No, not about electrical appliances generally found in Asia. No, nothing whatsoever to do with anything the other books were about. I found it highly amusing.

on y va!

2008-08-20T13:09:00.004-06:00

I am currently very excited to go to Paris. I think I was really depressed by what I saw of my former roommate. I am so stoked now. I figure, even if my roommate isn't exactly what I'm hoping for, it is extremely likely that she is better than my old one and I think I can deal with it. Plus, I'll be in PARIS! I love that city. In fact, I think I'll show you some photos I took in that lovely city.

Voila: Notre Dame, my favorite church in Paris.

Voila: the Louvre, which holds some of my favorite works of art.

Voila: the Eiffel Tower. It's pretty cool.

Voila: l'Arc de Triomphe. I like it. and I like Napoleon (Bonaparte, not Dynamite).

Voila: Versailles. I love the gardens, and the palace itself isn't too bad either.

YES! (for items 1-4)

2008-08-16T22:32:00.003-06:00

1. It turns out that my study abroad coordinator messed up and told me the wrong person for my roommate. I don't remember my "new" roommate from the prep class, but she would have to be pretty bad to be worse than my "old" roommate.

2. Michael Phelps won his 8 gold medals!

3. I bought some cute flip-flops today. I love flip-flops.

4. I got a raise. Not a huge raise, not even a big raise, but a raise nonetheless.

5. Last night, I dreamt that I got married. It was for money, and I don't think I've ever seen the guy I married.

i'm scared

2008-08-14T09:43:00.002-06:00

French is the third language I have studied. I took 4 years of German in high school, 2 semesters of Italian, and I'm finishing my 2nd semester of French. And last night was the first time anyone has ever spoken a foreign language in my dreams. And it was French. In my dream, I was sitting on a couch with someone I don't know, and they said something in French to me, and I understood (I don't remember what they said) and I replied, "C'est vrai, ça."

Now, this speaking-French-in-my-dreams thing scares me. This is definitely the language I have put the least effort into studying (well, maybe German wins that award), but anyway, I have NEVER said anything in a different language in a dream before. It's just more evidence that French is invading my life, and I don't like it.

the city of lights

2008-08-12T14:21:00.005-06:00

As my reader(s) know(s), I will be spending the coming semester in Paris. I'm not really excited for that anymore, and here is why:

1. I don't know anyone in my group.

2. I found out who my roommate will be, and I don't know her (as stated in #1), but I'm really worried about how that is going to turn out.

3. I will be living with a Parisian family. What if I don't like them?

4. I speak hardly any French. (read: none)

5. The family I will be living with lives in the suburbs outside of Paris. Therefore, it is likely to take longer than I desire to get in and out of the city.

6. The internship opportunities flopped. No internship for me (or anyone else, for that matter).

7. I don't know what to pack because we will be starting in September, which is still rather warm, but ending in December, which can be very cold.

As you see, I have lots of stuff to worry about. The good things about going:

1. I'll be in Paris.

2. I won't be in Provo.

I think the cons outweigh the pros. Too bad I already paid my outrageous sum of money for this study abroad.

3/8

2008-08-11T22:46:00.002-06:00

Phelps got gold #3!!! (that requires three exclamation points) He's going for 8, which would break the record for the most gold medals won in one Olympics. I really hope he gets it!

olympics!

2008-08-10T19:48:00.007-06:00

I have just a few things to say about the Olympics right now.

1. Michael Phelps rocks! Not only has he gotten 2 golds for the US so far, he set a new world record!

2. The Brits had awesome outfits for the Opening Ceremonies. I'm still trying to find a photo of the Americans (I haven't had much free time lately), but those Englishmen (and women) looked great.

3. I'm not sure if Beijing was such a great choice. One huge problem is the air quality, but there is also a big safety issue. One person has already been killed.

4. The US currently leads in the medal count!

5. Federer hasn't played yet because of rain. He better win something! He carried the flag for Switzerland, and I was going to put up a photo of that, but it's not cooperating. :(

That's all for now.

invading my life

2008-08-05T21:12:00.003-06:00

I don't really like French. I much prefer Italian. But, as I will be living in Paris for 3 months, I find it necessary to take French classes. And French is invading my life. Today as I waited at a stoplight, I was behind a Ford Explorer. Except I read it as "explorer," the verb for "to explore" in French. I even said it ex-plo-ray in my head. Pathetic.

ce week-end

2008-07-28T11:29:00.004-06:00

Last weekend didn't really turn out like I thought it would. On Friday night, my family and I went to my aunt's house (she lives about 3 blocks from us) because she was having a Mexican family over for dinner, and wanted some help with conversation, especially since my dad can and does talk to everyone. So that was ok, it was a mom and dad with a 6-year-old girl, and they brought 2 boys (ages 12 and 15) who are students of the husband. The dad thought Spencer looked like he was 12 (he's 17 and about 6'). I think it's because Spencer is clean-shaven, while the 15-year-old was...not. The dad also didn't understand why languages would be useful to me in art history. Oh well.

On Saturday, a lady in our ward gave us tickets for the Tabernacle Choir Pioneer Day concert. The Osmonds sang with them, so that was pretty fun. They showed some old footage, which is hilarious, considering what they used to wear. Afterwards, we all went to Ruby River for dinner. If you ever want to go when there is no wait time, go around 9:30 pm. It was good. And we got home around midnight (even if you're one of only two parties in the restaurant, the service isn't exactly speedy). I'm pretty sure the other party was drunk. They came in about 15 minutes after we did, and the party first consisted of a man and a woman, but they were soon joined by another man who looked very alert indeed. The woman crawled into the booth. On her hands and knees. Amazing, I know. I heard her ask the waiter, "You look familiar; are you from...somewhere?" to which one of her dining companions said, "No, he's from nowhere." Such conversation skills!

life in the HBLL

2008-07-25T14:00:00.005-06:00

Today has been a very long day so far, and I expect it to continue for about 10 more hours. I've been at work since 8:00 this morning, with just a one-hour break for my French class at 10:00 (only 3 other people showed up for that class). Then I've just been back at work, slaving away over books, DVDs, and CDs. I have discovered that time seems to go much faster when I'm receiving new stuff than when I am searching the old stuff. And I usually like books better than DVDs and CDs. Sampler is my favorite, though I do love the Italian books. Today at work, there are only 4 other people, only 2 of which are student employees, and only one in my section. It's been a long, quiet day at work.

But I plan on having some fun tonight. I don't have much in the way of homework this weekend, so I think I'll watch a movie or read a good book. I am planning on reading this book soon:

I also plan on finding some mistakes in it. I swear, the Chinese did not ignite the Italian Renaissance!

underground, metro...SUBWAY!

2008-07-23T22:24:00.003-06:00

Two days ago, I ate at Subway for the first time in about five years. Yes, there's a story behind it. And since no one is stopping me, I'm going to tell that story.

I was in Cleveland, Ohio in May 2003 for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. There weren't too many places to eat around our hotel. Okay, none at all except for a Subway across the street. So we went to Subway our first night there, and I think we did the next day for lunch too. Anyway, I got really really sick. Like, throwing up and stuff. I was sick for approximately one week. And I hadn't eaten at Subway since then.

Then I went to the mall with my good friend Molly, and she decided she wanted to eat at Subway. I just got the same thing she did since I obviously hadn't been there often enough to know what was good. Long story short, it was delicious! Thank you for changing my life, Molly!

memories, memories...

2008-07-22T11:10:00.000-06:00

Since I now have an overwhelming readership of 1 person, I decided it was time to solicit reader involvement. So, here we go.

1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

I hope blogger doesn't overload from the huge number of comments that will be made on this post.

look at me, I'm picasa!

2008-07-21T22:39:00.000-06:00

After my European experience, I decided to upload my photos into albums on the internet to share with friends and family. Obviously, this would take a bit of work and sorting through, since I took approximately 6000 photos. I chose to use Picasa because I already have a Gmail and Google account. Bad choice. I installed Picasa, and when it loaded the photos from my computer, it did some very weird things. First, it labeled two of the folders as being from 2006. I didn't even have this computer in 2006. Second, and this annoyed me much more than the mislabeling of folders, Picasa completely reordered two of my albums. The photos were no longer in chronological order, which makes it much harder and more time-consuming to create viewable albums. So I decided to just delete those folders from Picasa and reload them and see if it was better that time. A warning to all Picasa users: when you click on that delete button, it doesn't delete the folder from Picasa; it deletes the folder from your computer, your hard drive. Luckily, I hadn't deleted my photos from my Wolverine, and I think my dad has another copy, but what if I didn't? That would be a very sad day indeed. I uninstalled Picasa last night.

On a completely different subject: I associate smells with people. Sometimes I associate smells with fictional characters, whom I have obviously never smelled. Today I associated a particular smell with a fictional character, who is not good, but that smell is wonderful (at least I think so, I haven't really smelled it lately, obviously. Maybe I've never even smelled that particular combination). And I can't get the smell out of my brain. I feel like I'm smelling it all the time. And I'm not. Is this a symptom of some mental disorder?

the mathematics of my life

2008-07-20T21:18:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking about keeping the main thing the main thing. Being mathematically inclined, I have been experimenting with substituting the "main thing" with something that is the main thing in life. For example, the main thing in my life right now is probably school. So, if we put "school" everywhere that it says "main thing," this is how it turns out:

The school is to keep the school the school.

For someone at the stage of life where work is the main thing, it turns out:

The work is to keep the work the work.

These sentences don't make much sense. Apparently, mathematical rules shouldn't be applied to such gems of wit.

In the Beginning...

2008-07-19T22:37:00.000-06:00

This is my blog. I'll write whatever I want to.

First, I will explain the title (as it currently stands). In the lovely state of California, in Newport Beach, there is a restaurant called Crab Cooker. It is probably one of the best restaurants in the world. Anyway, the owners have a great sense of humor, so you can find funny signs and decorations everywhere, both inside and outside. This sign is on the side of the building where you enter:
I completely agree. The main thing in my life is to keep the main thing the main thing.