painful sight

so, i'm leaving class...and i witness something very hard on my eyes.

it starts with a girls...innocent enough.

then she has a pink notebook...relatively normal-ish.

she's also wearing a huge pink sweater...kinda scary.

and...to top it off: a bright, shiny, barbie-pink macbook...ouch!

some colors are just best used over small areas.

going abroad

well...maybe.

and no, this is nothing like going a viking. i already have a wife.

what this does mean is that i am seriously looking at doing an internship in europe for the spring/summer time period. or maybe "the islands."

this is a very exciting prospect for me. it would not only send me back to europe, and most likely france (really...the most important part of the whole endeavor...), but it would also look super good on a resume!

there are a couple of options i'm looking at:
     1) "the islands" - info meeting tomorrow to figure out what that means... it has something to do with the church...
     2) united nations, european union or british parliament internship - any number of places around the old world
     3) french internship - this would put me somewhere in the great nation of cheese and balls (uh...no. not that. well, yes...that too...but i was referring to the game "boules"...translated "balls") - working for government, business or tourism. yea! :)

so...i'm basically really excited at this possibility. i'm starting to find all sorts of info regarding how people will give me free money for this too...which is even better. why go to europe at your own expense when someone else is willing to pay you to do it? i mean, honestly....

subliminality

last night i made ratatouille.

no...this had nothing to do with innate murine culinary talent. that's so pixar!

but...it did involve couscous. this was enough to make my soul want to burst with joy and excitement!

and...the tablespoon or so of butter i added to give the sauce a little extra oomph aside...it was probably the most vegan meal i've eaten in months!

it was a meal greatly appreciated by all who partook...and really...who didn't want to partake?!

who wouldn't want to partake?!

need we really ask these questions...i mean...this is COUSCOUS!

ahhhh....i need to move back to france.

under construction...

i've decided--since there is a distinct possibility that this blog will be acquiring a greater readership--to redo all the labels and stuff.

mostly this is because as people peruse the archives, they may encounter strange things from the origins of the blog. mostly it's going to be in an attempt to make myself look like less of a creepy weirdo. i fully realize this is a rather daunting task...but sometimes you just gotta bite off more than you can chew.

sadness

i was strolling to class this morning, and, as i was going past the library i started looking at all the beautiful flowers--something that i think people need to do a lot more of--when i noticed the most amazing spiderweb, all covered in dew.

i pulled out my phone and snapped an image...but i don't think this picture truly captures the beauty of what i saw. i need to carry nick around in my back pocket so he can take all my pictures for me.

as i crouched over the plant i had two thoughts/impressions:

1) how many people think i look silly hunched over on the sidewalk, staring at this random plant...
2) how many other people actually do things like this?

the second got me to thinking a little bit.

i've never seen anyone doing something similar. and it made me sad for all the other people passing by...some rushing somewhere, others just walking along. but...none of them stopping. none of them looking. no one taking the time to admire all the beauty around them.

maybe this is all because 3 minutes earlier i had seen an advertisement for employ with the byu ground crew that said something to the effect of "come help us beautify our campus..." but how many people actually take note of the wonderful things that are being done around them? and not just on the plane of landscape architecture... how many of the natural beauties that surround us each and every day are people missing out on because they are so pressed, so worried, so busy and stressed out with school, work, home matters--and all the crap that modern life shoves down our proverbial throats. how many people stop to listen to the wind blowing through the trees? probably not many...it's too much effort to take out the earbuds and pause the ipod.

as much as i love technology and am an advocate of using it and having it help us in our everyday... i often feel it saps humanity of so many of the characteristics that make us just that--human. it's leeching away from so many the ability to appreciate the inherent beauty of one's surroundings. it seems to rape so many of the charitable and virtuous qualities...leaving only the questions "what's in this for me? how will i be benefited?" leaving only the search for a quicker fix and more convenient way of reaching the end goal. what of the journey which ought make getting from point to point the reason for wandering?

granted, these are things that have always existed as part of human nature...but that doesn't make it any less sucky. and there seems to be an increase in such things... perhaps not. i can't say.

all i know is that the flowers do look nice these days.

welcome to the jungle...

major issues

sometimes i sit and ask myself dumb questions...like, "what the devil am i doing majoring in french?"
usually these come up after i've had a particularly interesting time in one of my french classes.

today, for example. i'm just all sorts of tired and not wanting to be awake. yet, i find myself waking up at 5 am (subconscious worry that my alarm won't go off), then again at 6:15 (when my alarm actually does go off), to be early for an 8 am class (so i can finish up my homework...). i don't really even want to be in this class! i wanted to be in the noon class...but, as cited by the officials and powers that be over such situations, it was canceled due to "the low number of students enrolled." silliness. pure, unadulterated silliness...

i hereby post my formal complaint.

mostly i'm peeved at this whole thing because if i'd've been able to have the other section, i would have only had one 8 am class--a lab on monday--and i would have had only one class on tuesdays and thursdays--men's chorus at 4 pm. just pause and reflect upon how marvelous that would have been! i would have been perfectly happy with my solid 6/5/3 hour block of classes on monday/wednesday/friday starting at 8/9/11, respectively. but, alas, there is no such luck for a lowly sophomore majoring in the french language. sadness overwhelming!

otherwise, things are coming along smashingly.

depravity

my face is naked.

i don't like it.

my upper lip shrank.

i look young...and funny.

my wife doesn't like it either.

i want a beard card something fierce.

grrr...