Space: The Final Frontier

The Astronaut's Guide To Life In Space from NPR on Vimeo.


I found this video on The Kid Should See This. I love NASA and space stuff so I wanted to share this with all of you. It's too bad NASA is losing so much funding. :(


And here's a little space humor...

Photo Blog

This semester one of my dreams came true: 

I got into a photography class. 

So far we have had two assignments. We post our finished products on a class blog but I also wanted to share a few of my photos here. This series was from our second assignment. We were required to take 100 photos of numbers from 0-99 in sequential order. We had to go in order and we could only take one shot of that number then move on––no matter what. Then we had to choose 7 of those 100 to post, untouched and unedited, to the blog for evaluation. These are my top picks, plus a few extras that didn't make the final class cut that I really liked. I hope you enjoy.

 

{forty-five}

{eleven}

{fifty-five}

{Fifty-Nine}

{forty-six}

 {zero.}

{fifty-four}

{six-tea}

{sixty-eight}

.I really liked the concept of this one, 

even though the final product didn't turn out exactly as I wanted it. 

I still think it's pretty cool.

{fifty-too}

{twenty-nine}

.this one made me laugh. gotta love home teachers.

credit: 

thank you to Mike and Jeff for their numerical services. 

my teacher loved this picture.

...Give me some feedback. What's your favorite?

Note: Photos taken with Nikon D90 and Sony Cybershot DSC-H55

A Case of Mistaken Identity

It seems that some of the funniest stories are the ones we can't make up. Now, I don't know if this qualifies as one of them, but it sure gave my family a lot of ammunition to mock me at dinner last night...

Four years ago, at the end of my junior year in high school, I went on a 10-day "study abroad" trip to France with my French class. I stayed alone with a host family in Aix-en-Provence for a week, then met up with my class in Paris for our last three days. As my first trip to a foreign country combined with my high-school level French, a language faux pas was bound to happen. And happen it did.

One of the first mornings with my family we were getting to know each other over breakfast. My mother was asking me about my own family and inquired about what my dad did for his work. Now, my dad is a banker, and I had learned the word in French before, but I just couldn't remember it. My mother knew a little English so I asked her what the French word for banker was. She replied that it was a "boulanger," which is, in fact, French for baker. 


{Note the similarity in English between the word 'banker' and 'baker'}

I realized immediately that something sounded wrong about that, but I was still very self-conscious and unsure of my French at the time, so I assumed that that must be the right word. So, I allowed the conversation to go on...and on....and on....

"Oh he's a baker? What kind of baker?"
"Well, he's a commercial baker, for a company"
"What does he bake?"

[At this point I did understand what she was asking, but all I could think was that was a strange transition in conversation––from occupation to what does my dad make us...]

"Umm, well he mostly just makes us pancakes and breakfast foods. Sometimes bread and stuff..."

I figured out pretty soon that I had made a mistake, but I had allowed the charade to continue so far, that I was too embarrassed to correct her. Thus, my host family believed that my dad was a baker for the next two days. They would make little comments about my dad and his baking and I would just respond as best I could, without correcting them. 

Eventually though I couldn't keep it up. I felt too guilty and, in spite of absolute embarrassment,
I decided I had to tell them the truth...

My mother was just chatting with me and made a comment about my dad and I paused, and said, "Oh, I think I made a mistake...my dad is a banker, not a baker...I was confused..." I probably sounded like an idiot (I know I felt like one) but at least it cleared up the case of my dad's mistaken identity.

One thing I did learn is that lying really is a hassle––even unintentional dishonesty. It's always better to be up front or it can cause acute embarrassment later on. Luckily, that was probably the biggest faux pas I committed on my trip, and I have been careful not to repeat that mistake again.

Word of the Day

My friend once told me a funny story about the unforeseen effects of intelligent articulation. He and another friend went to the housing office of Alpine Village apartments to sign contracts for next school-year. While they were speaking with the receptionist about contract procedures, they discovered that all of the paperwork could have been completed online via their website. Realizing that they had made an unnecessary trip to the office, my friend clarified to the girl,
"So, basically our presence here is superfluous?"
She admitted that it was.


{Insert tangental thought that will be related hereafter...}


Alpine Village, as most who live within the BYU "bubble" are aware, has a reputation for being the housing complex of choice for, shall we say....tools and California hipsters. It is basically the richer and more expensive version of King Henry apartments. It is known for being a community of shallow, superficial, fake-baked, bleach-blonde, plastic, dumb bimbos (male and female). Now, I realize that this stereotype is just that––a stereotype. However, most stereotypes derive from some degree of truth, and I happen to believe that this is a generalization that has some validity. This claim is further supported by what happened next in our little anecdote...

{continue main storyline...}

As my friend says this to the receptionist, a "typical" Alpine Villager walks by.
Description: 
Male.
Fake tan.
Wife-beater tank with shorts.
Shoes? Unknown, but probably flip flops, or barefoot.
Expression: Dazed and confused. (I'm using artistic liberty on this one, but I have a feeling its not far from the truth...)

When this anonymous villager hears him say this, he stops and comments, "Woah. Dude. That's a big word. What does it mean?"
"Unnecessary..."
"Tight. Dude. Word. of. the. Day. Pound it!" (holds out his fist for a congratulatory 'pound').

Now, I realize that some people do not have especially expansive vocabularies. And yet, I find myself rather stunned that anyone would be confident (or, maybe just stupid) enough to admit to not knowing a word like "superfluous."If you have seen Pirates of the Caribbean, then you have heard that word. Jack Sparrow says it in reference to the Dauntless. And I have a feeling most people have seen that movie...especially anyone in Alpine Village. Just a wager. So, forgive me if I seem harsh or judgmental, but....reeeeeeally???

But, to be perfectly honest, I don't really care if the kid doesn't know his words. Maybe he's a math guy....maybe. And, even though I think he is an idiot, and perhaps the world could use a few less of them and a few more literates, at the end of the day, I thank him. I thank him for giving me a story to laugh about. Because after my friends told me this little gem of a story, we have since referenced it many times over. So, I guess what I am really trying to say is this: appreciate life for all its little treasures––even the ones that come from the least of these our brethren. Because sometimes those make the best stories, and when it comes down to it, who doesn't love a good story?

So, thank you Anonymous Alpine Village Idiot. Thank you.

...or should I say,

“     P o u n d    I t !     ”