The Blessing of iTunes

So, I'm not much up on technology. Some of you may remember that it's only been about two years since I got my first cell phone, and only at my parents' insistence. (It's been a great experience since then, so thanks Mom and Dad).

Well, two Christmases ago I decided that I wanted music. I'd started keeping a list on my handy cell phone notepad of songs that I heard on the radio and really liked. I am, however, quite opposed to buying CD's. Here's why: I only ever end up listening to the two or three songs that I enjoy. The other ones are completely useless (although I admit that sometimes you find a song rarely played on the radio that you hear and your first reaction is "Hey! Why don't they ever play this one? It's GREAT!"). So why should I pay ten to fifteen dollars extra for all these songs that I'm never going to appreciate? Anyhow, I decided that an iTunes card was the way to go. I got two, and used one of them. Then I saved the other and decided to wait until my list got longer. So then this last Christmas I got another one, and the other night I decided it was time to break out the cards and my list and google the songs to find out who the singer was if I didn't already know (I know, what kind of lame person doesn't know who's singing the song that they like? Well, that lame person would be me. I'm sorry, it's just not a talent that I stood in line for in the pre-existence. I must have been preoccupied with other things, like lecturing David about not wandering off when it was his turn to come down).

Anyhow, I just got tired, so here's the long and the short of it: I downloaded 42 of my favorite songs, and I'm sitting blissfully listening to them right now. (And, if you'd like the breakdown, that's 2 alternative, 20 country, 1 hip hop/rap, 9 pop (though I don't know why "I Can" by NAS isn't rap...), 1 pop latino, and 9 rock)

Now all I need is an iPod, or the equivalent...

My First True Love

Books: Number the Stars. I think it was the first young adult novel that I read. It was scary and beautiful and daring and real, and it introduced me to the world.

Babies: My brother, Mikel. When he was born and my grandma told me that I finally had a brother, I cried. I wanted them to take him back. I wanted a sister. But then my parents brought him home from the hospital, and I got to hold him first. He was so tiny and brownish-red and had these adorable chubby cheeks and tiny hands. So I figured brothers might not be all that bad.

Movies: Space Camp. It taught me to dream.

Boys: Robert. I can't remember his last name. I was in kindergarten. He was mean, so I'm not sure why I liked him. That's how kindergartners flirt, right?

Nature: The tree in our front yard. I couldn't begin to even guess how many hours I spent up there playing, reading, sleeping, and dreaming.

The Earth: La Jolla Cove. I learned to snorkel there, and when I figured out what was underneath the surface of the ocean, I never really came back to dry land.

Popular Music: "Running just as fast as we can," by Tiffany. Hey, I was in third grade.

Classical Music: Mozarts' 12 Variations on "Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman." It's the tune that "Twinkle, twinkle little star" is based on. In master class one week when I was 10 or 11, Patrick D. played this piece, and I was entranced. I have the sheet music, and someday when I have my own piano and a lot of time on my hands, I'm going to learn how to play it. Here's a link if you want to listen to it.

Movement: Ballet. I still love to do ballet, even though I am chubby. I just do it in the privacy of my own home. Besides, aren't ballet slippers adorable? They just make your feet look great.

Musicals: The Music Man. A close second is The Sound of Music, but we watched the Music Man ALL the time growing up. I loved every song, every hint of quaint small-town Iowa life, that Marian was a librarian ("Marian"), and it was so funny too!

Science Fiction/Fantasy: Star Wars, hands down. The originals (4-6). I want to live with the E-woks.

Art: Ceramics. Squishy clay!

Stuffed Animals: Muncheechee. Thanks to my siblings that scoured the garage not too long ago, I have him once again. He's a stuffed monkey that I got from my grandpa. David cut his hair, so he has a little bald patch on top. It adds character, I think.

Dessert: Anything strawberry. Strawberry ice cream, strawberry and rhubarb pie, strawberry short-cake.

That's all I can think of. Try it, it's fun!

If you find my motivation, send it to apt. 401 instead of 404

So I gave in and moved. My RA came and helped me, as did my trusty sidekick, Alise (my single's ward companion, building-mate, and choir buddy. We also go to Wal-mart together.) Whenever I move, even if it's just across the hall like yesterday, I am reminded of how much junk I really have. Mind you, I did go through my clothes and get rid of a TON of stuff that I just keep keeping more out of habit than out of the fact that I actually think I'll wear it someday. I patted myself on the back for that one.

As for school, well. You know. I'm sort of still trying to be motivated. Last semester I was all on top of everything. Sure, I was crazy. But now this semester I am both crazy and unmotivated. Sad combination. The only thing that saves me is precariously balancing the number of times I go to the pool and swim laps with the amount of chocolate mint brownie ice cream I allow myself to consume. In case you were wondering, grad school is very liberating in that sense. =]

Have I ever told you all my 70 year plan? It's getting closer to a 60 year plan now, but I'm progressing within the plan, so I don't feel bad about that gap narrowing. Okay, so here it is. In my 20's and 30's I'm going to be a social worker (Check. I'm in grad school to be a social worker. Good job Bekah). Then, in my 40's and 50's I'm going to be a writer. I like to write, but I figure it will probably take me until I'm that old to get something pretty good published. Okay, then comes the fun part, because when I "retire" from social working and writing (around 60's and 70's), I'm going to be an oceanographer. I know, I know. Why don't I just do that now? Well, I really do like social work and writing. And you want to know a secret? I'm really not that good at science. Sure, I did pretty well in geology, but chemistry was never my thing. I might study it sooner than that (note: University of West Florida has a bachelor's program in oceanography you can do distance learning--what what!), but I'm talking about full-on living on a boat in the ocean for months on end. Besides, then I would definitely be the coolest grandma ever, because my grandkids could be like, "Oh, wanna know what I did this summer? My grandparents came and picked me up in their boat and then we sailed to Australia and snorkeled/scuba dived near the Great Barrier Reef." Maybe by then my dream of everyone having their own submarine will be fulfilled, and I can take them down in that too. Awesomeness ensuing.

(PS. My turtle, Alvin, was named after the submarine. Not the chipmunk. And only partially for Joseph Smith's brother, Alvin, because he was also amazing.)

=] I'm such a dork. But I love it.

BACK TO HOMEWORK!!!!

Copying Becky-My Crayon and Cookie

What Color Crayon Are You?

You Are a Green Crayon

Your world is colored in harmonious, peaceful, natural colors. While some may associate green with money, you are one of the least materialistic people around. Comfort is important to you. You like to feel as relaxed as possible - and you try to make others feel at ease. You're very happy with who you are, and it certainly shows! Your color wheel opposite is red. Every time you feel grounded, a red person does their best to shake you. The Sandwich Cookie Personality Test You Are Traditional and Dependable You are optimistic, friendly, and cheerful. People appreciate the hopefulness and good vibes you bring to any situation. Your life is all about change. Right now, you may be going through some changes you really don't like. You're easy going and easy to be around. You aren't picky or high maintenance. You seek security in your life. Feeling safe is important to you. I liked these a lot. And I AM happy with who I am! =] Do you think this is why mint cookies and cream ice cream is one of my favorites? Green and Oreos? (And for those of you concerned, I do have water now! Thank goodness!).

What's next? Torches and Pitchforks?

So, I'm having a little run-in with the on campus housing. Either they are doing their darndest to get me out of this building or they are...not organized. That's the kindest way I can put it.

Last weekend we got a notice that the window guys were going to come and check our windows. So I moved furniture away from the windows and even put a sticky note on the one that I knew didn't work. Monday I got home from my internship around 1pm and saw five window trucks parked on the sidewalk by my building. When I got up to my apartment the front door was standing open, and all my blinds were up. In your brain, what is the answer to that equation? In mine, the answer was "window guys are working on my windows." So I left the door open and left for class. Well, when I got home at 7:30pm my front door was still open. The window trucks were long-gone. I didn't want to cause a big hassle, but I did want to address the issue, so I wrote an email to housing explaining the situation, and asked them to please remind the window guys to close the apartment doors when they were done. I got an email back a few days later, saying how sorry they were, etc.

Then this weekend I get a call from my RA (yes, I'm twenty-seven and I have an RA) telling me that I need to either move out of my apartment into another female apartment in the building, or get another girl to move in with me, because I am currently alone in the apartment. Now, normally I wouldn't put up a fuss. I'm generally the type of person that lets people walk all over me--but, mind you, I am fully aware of the fact that they are walking all over me, and I am allowing them to do it, usually because whatever they are walking all over me about isn't that big a deal for me. In this case however frustration for me reigns supreme. I have been in this apartment alone for two and a half months now. If they wanted me to move, shouldn't they have asked me to do so before this semester began? Do they not realize that I am an extremely busy person, who barely has time to check whether or not her clothes match properly, let alone move in the middle of a semester? And, I'm going to be moving out in three months anyways, because when my contract is done, I'm out. Also, why is it my responsibility to get a girl to move in with me? Isn't that the housing office's problem, not mine? I read the housing contract and there's nothing stating that they can just move me from one apartment to another at their whim and fancy. Anyhow, after some bolstering from my family, telling me that I am not just being bratty and that I do actually have just cause to be frustrated, I told my RA that I'd like to talk to the housing manager before I do anything about moving. I guess he noticed my frustration level last night when I talked to him, because he told me he'd already told his boss to expect a visit from me.

So then I went back to my apartment to do some sewing and watch SeaQuest and try to forget about the whole thing for a little while. Well, I get up and go to wash my hands and...there's no water. In my whole apartment. My first instinctual thought was "they are trying to get me to move out by shutting off my water?!?" Then I gathered my senses and went to knock on my neighbors door. Their water was off too, and so were the other people across the hall. If the housing office was maniacal enough to try and get me to move out by shutting off my water, I seriously doubt they would've punished the whole building for my disobedience. I called my friend Alise who lives downstairs, and she did the smart thing. She called on-call maintenance. Apparently there is a water line that needs to be fixed, and it's going to take a few hours. All I'm saying is, we better darn well have water tomorrow morning.

Little do they know, I'm two steps ahead of them. I have two gallons of emergency water in my car. Sure, it's frozen. But with those two gallons I can wait out their hostile takeover of my apartment for at least a few days.

By the way, have you ever gotten your fluids in your car filled in Southern California and then drove back up to somewhere cold--somewhere like, I don't know, Logan Utah perhaps--and then realized that you forgot to tell the fluid-filler-uppers that you need the windshield wiper fluid that can withstand the freezing temperatures? Yup. Welcome to my world. My windshield wiper fluid container is currently a big block of ice. Then again, considering the fact that the container is all cracked on the top and falling apart, I'm thinking it might actually be an improvement...