A Wrinkle in Bekah

I've been trying to think of something that could summarize this week, in order to make a good blog post, but nothing really profound comes to mind, so I'll ramble. It's always fun to ramble.

My Dad came home from his 5 month tour with the navy hospital ship Mercy this last Thursday. I (obviously) wasn't there for his homecoming, but he did call me and left a message on my cell phone in Vietnamese, so I called back and got to talk for a while (in English). I'll see him and my Mom in a couple of weeks, because my little nephew is going to be blessed.

I've been spending a lot of time (probably more than I should, actually) at my internship. It's hard, but it's fun. Sometimes it's a little scary to think that the lives of these people are in my hands, and I have the chance to either hurt them (which would probably break my spirit) or help them change their lives. Sometimes I feel like I'm great at it, and other times I feel totally inadequate. I guess that's the way it is with everything in our lives though.

I've officially decided that I really do like Logan. It's small and rather quiet, but not uncomfortably small, and it's also really pretty. Here's a picture of a sunset that I took from the Spectrum (the sports building where volleyball/basketball games are held) while I was at work. Speaking of volleyball, I got a shock on Thursday when our volleyball team was playing Fresno State. I've never been too good with sports stuff, but I felt pretty confident in understanding how the college volleyball games worked, having attended quite a few with Susie while we were roommates. Lo and behold, at Thursday's game our team lost the first match, then lost the second. Sad, right? Except, then they kept playing. What? Why are they playing another set? Our team just lost...didn't they? Well, apparently in the WAC (and Susie, tell me if I'm getting this wrong) they play best out of five games, with the last set going up to 15. I was pretty confused. And it didn't help that a popcorn vendor told me they may have to go up to fifteen sets. I'm still not totally sure if he was just playing off my ignorance. Whatever, the point is, we lost the game. And I learned that not all college sports rules are created equal.

In case you were wondering what makes a good social worker, it's not all the theories and skills and lessons that you teach. All you really need to know, at least, if you're working with clients in mental health, is how to play pool. Someday I'm going to do a study. I'm going to contrast all the interventions that we try and apply, to the social skills learned while playing pool with the clients. I'm already pretty sure I know which one is going to come out on top. And in case you're already preparing to take me on, I just have to tell you that in the last two years I've gotten pretty dang good. And I spent yesterday and three Saturdays ago playing for three hours straight with a client who, in all honesty, needs to start his own business teaching people how to play pool. He's ridiculously good, and he taught me some pretty handy tricks. Any takers?

I think I might need to name my palm pilot. I didn't use it for two years, after I was done with school, because quite frankly I didn't have that much stuff to remember. Wake up, go to work, come home, read or watch TV, go to bed. Pretty basic stuff. Now that I'm back in school, however, and running around like a chicken with its head cut off, Palmy and I have become great friends. (Palmy is one option. I'm also considering Hal; Macguyver; "It," like the huge brain in a Wrinkle in Time...except that "It" was evil, and my Palm Pilot is not evil; I'm kind of leaning towards Palmy. It goes well with Lappy. My cell phone would be more problematic I suppose. You can't call it "Phoney.")

I would like to openly support NBC's efforts to prevent any unnecessary frustration on the part of their viewers concerning a certain couple on their show, The Office. I would also like to thank the websites for providing their shows online now, as my schedule doesn't allow me to watch certain shows that I like at normal-people times.

Lastly, has anyone else noticed, and felt slightly cheated, when they read the Voyage of the Dawn Treader and realized that Leslie Burke from Bridge to Terabithia wasn't exactly as creative as we thought she was, because she pretty much stole that name from the name of the Island that Prince Caspian and Co. go to? Anyone? Anyone? I mean, that couldn't have just been a coincidence. Still, they're both great stories. =]

Etchings of Fall

I kind of wanted to go to the football game this afternoon, but I can hear the thunder out in the distance, rainclouds are steadily approaching, and my homework is calling. I'm not that excited for winter to come, but I am excited that the leaves are starting to change colors. That's one thing you don't really get in San Diego--red and orange leaves. I feel more like cuddling down with a book today than doing anything else. And textbooks don't count. They're not really cuddle-able.

Here's a picture of the storm moving in from my window. It's just starting to sprinkle now.

It's been an exciting day in Logan, that's for sure. There was a marathon that started out at one section of the canyon, went through town, and then ended at the other side of the canyon. I've been doing my CPR recertification all morning, but during our break I went outside to see the runners go by. There was a guy playing the drums, I'm assuming to encourage the runners along. It was pretty fun. I was kind of looking to see if I knew anyone, because I have some crazy friends that for some reason enjoy running (Alicia...Bishop Johnson...) =] but I really didn't expect to see them during my half hour break.

As for me, things are going pretty well. I almost had a nervous breakdown (or a "come apart" as my co-workers say) Monday/Tuesday this last week, because apparently I'm not taking a class that I was supposed to take--but it's one I've already taken, so my adviser and I got everything ironed out. So life will, indeed, go on. Other than that, it's been school, school, internship, more school, my part-time job (yep, as a janitor. I'm not ashamed. I actually really enjoy it.) and then some more school. Somewhere in there I also go to institute and church and the temple and such.

Delaying homework

I'm putting off my homework. Here's a quiz I got emailed to me from Jenny:

1. Were you named after anyone? The Rebekah in the Bible

2. When was the last time you cried? I don’t know if I want to say…

3. Do you like your handwriting? Most of the time; and when I’m doing calligraphy, pretty much yes

4. What is your favorite lunch meat? Turkey or Ham

5. Do you have kids? No…but I'm really excited to be a Mom someday

6. If you were another person, would you be friends with you? I hope so or I’d be lonely

7. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Yes. But I try not to make it directed at a person, because that's mean. Just at inanimate objects.

8. Do you still have your tonsils? Unfortunately, yes. I’m always getting swollen tonsils. In fact, every time I go to the dentist they ask me if I’m sick, and I never am.

9. Would you bungee jump? I don’t think so. I don’t like the idea of flinging my body towards the ground. Actually, it's probably more the flying up afterwards on the rebound that frightens me. I'd probably be so freaked out that I would break my neck. I do want to go hang gliding some day.

10. What is your favorite cereal? Bran flakes. Weird, huh? When I was little, we would get cereal from Santa. Everyone else would get Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops, etc., and I would be excited to get my Raisin Bran.

11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Tennis shoes, yes. Other shoes, no.

12. Do you think you are strong? Physically, no. Mentally, yes. Emotionally, depends on the day. Spiritually, pretty sure that’s a yes.

13. What is your favorite ice cream? Raspberry sherbet. Or mint Oreo cookie.

14. What is the first thing you notice about people? Height and hair color.

15. Red or pink? It depends on the day. Some days are pink days. Others are red. Today I wore a white shirt and red sweater. Does that equal Pink?

16. What is the least favorite thing about yourself? I refuse to answer this question on my own public blog.

17. Who do you miss the most? I had this glow worm when I was little. I wish I had him back... =]

18. Do you want everyone to send this back to you? It’s on my blog, so…But it would be fun if other people tried it.

19. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? Blue jeans and flip flops.

21. What are you listening to right now? Country music station.

22. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? A turquoise color

23. Favorite smells? Fresh cut grass, rain on asphalt, almost anything baking, and my gardenia lotion.

24. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? Family

25. Do you like the person who sent this? Of course!

26. Favorite sports to watch? Football.

27. Hair color? I like to call my hair color Neopolitan. I have this horrible problem. It gets blonder in the summer, reddish in the fall, and a dull brown in the winter. So it always looks a little weird. I tried dying it a while back, but I think it might have looked weird, so I stopped.

29. Do you wear contacts? Yes. I’m so dorky looking with glasses.

30. Favorite food? Pizza, spaghetti, taco salad.

31. Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings.

32. Last movie you watched? Marie Antoinette (part of it).

33. What color shirt are you wearing? White

34. Summer or winter? Summer. It’s my favorite time of year.

35. Hugs or kisses? I really don’t think one should have to choose between two such great things.

36. Favorite dessert? Ice cream, pie, cookies…

37. Most likely to respond? Bah.

38. Least likely to respond? Bah.

39. What book are you reading now? Biography of Benazir Bhutto, all my textbooks, scriptures, and I’m sort of still working on Ben Hur

40. What is on your mouse pad? I don’t have one.

41. What did you watch on TV last night? That was the Marie Antoinette thing.

42. Favorite sound? The piano, wind through trees

43. Rolling stones or Beatles? Probably Beatles.

44. What is the farthest you have been from home? Santiago, Chile

45. Do you have a special talent? Plumbing. Weird, huh?

46. Where were you born? Washington D.C.

47. Whose answers are you looking forward to getting back? These types of questions always bug me.

48. What time is it now? 7:45pm Laundry’s done!

49. Favorite quote? I keep a little quote book, so I have a bunch. Here’s one: “Life should be a little nuts. Otherwise it’s just a bunch of Thursdays strung together.”

50. Favorite kind of socks? Crew cut

Mystery Solved!

All over Utah State there are these giant footprints spray-painted on the ground. I stuck my foot in the photo so you could compare the size of the spray painted foot to mine. There are right and left footprints, spread out about 10 feet apart or so. So I asked myself, why are they footprints? The mascot of USU is a bull. Shouldn't we have hoof-prints everywhere, or something like that?

Well, I took it upon myself to solve this Unsolved Mystery. Sorry Robert Stack, but I can handle this one on my own. After a prolonged and agonizing search on the internet (actually, it took two minutes) I found my answer. And here it is: They are the footprints of Paul Bunyan. That's right. Here on my very campus, we have the footprints of Paul Bunyan himself. Or, at least, a statue of him. You see, Paul Bunyan is apparently the mascot of the College of Natural Resources here at Utah State. Some poor sap (pun most definitely intended, and it was actually the forestry students (we have forestry students?)) carved a 12-foot statue of Paul Bunyan out of a giant tree back in 1939. Apparently, every year during College of Natural Resources Week (?) the Engineering students kidnap the statue of Paul and do weird things to it, like hanging him, dressing him in a diaper, or pouring concrete over him. The article that I read stated that the Natural Resources students retaliated by "letting sheep loose in the engineering building" and "filling an engineering classroom with crickets and straw."
A) Where did they get the sheep from?
B) Were the sheep ever returned?
C) This just goes to show you that you should never tick off a Forestry student. They're probably already angry that no one realizes their major exists.


As a side note, I didn't realize colleges have mascots. You can bet I'm going to come up with a great one for the College of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology. My nominations so far are as follows:

*Atlantis (try dressing THAT up in a diaper!)
*A Kiva (It's an archaeological wonder down near the 4-corners-ish. I toured them for three days my freshman year with my archeology class. It's basically a hole in the ground that has either stairs or a ladder going down into it. We think they used them as libraries. Plus, if the engineering students tried to do anything to it, we could just throw them in it and pull up the ladder.)
*An Anglerfish (This is the fish that lives in the deep sea and has a lure attached to its head. The end of the lure glows, which draws its' prey towards it. I vote this one so far, because a) it's the creepiest, b) most people don't know what it is, and c) those who do know what it is, and have watched Finding Nemo, think that it is totally awesome. Which, it is.)
*The NASW code of ethics. (Boring, but if someone tried to do something to it, you would have thousands of social workers, most of whom are liberal and slightly crazy, fighting behind you.)
*Harry Potter (he could be symbolic of all the people we try to help; he belongs to a foreign culture, which we all enjoy studying about; and he is master of the Elder Wand, so he could take out any engineering or forestry student that was feeling even a little bit mischievous. If you haven't read the last book, I just totally spoiled it for you. Don't re-read the sentence and try to understand it. Just go read the book.)