Ears, but Not of Corn

The other day I was listening to a new compact disc I received for Christmas, Day and Age by the Killers. That's a terrible, homicidal band name, but don't let that deter you from their musick, which is quite spectacular. I dare say they are my favorite artists who use Erik Weiss as their band photographer, and that is saying a lot! Anyway, I was jamming to "Neon Tiger" and surfing the web when I opened up one browser, ESPN, and another browser occupied by a fellow resident of blogosphere. And then the dither and brouhaha began, as a result of the interwebs. ESPN started playing a portion of Sports Center on a disproportionately small screen considering how much gabber there was, and the blog started singing to me some lyrics that were not decipherable. With two clicks of the mouse there was more music streaming from my computer than there is in all of Estonia. I was just glad I wasn't still on my library tour; those librarians would have had a field day with me. I enjoy listening to sound on my own terms, but automatically playing videorecordings and eavsdropping on one's playlist is just a violation of my agency! Quietude is preferred over a collage of noise, to my ears.

A Christ-Centered Christmas

Merry Christmas one and all! This is a great holiday, on many accounts. For one, it comes with an entire season, which is pretty special if you ask me. For another, it is all about the Son of God, which is even more special than an entire season. The music of the Season spans the entire spectrum- fast, hip songs, slow, reverent songs, 50's, 60's & 90's Christmas music (I don't think they celebrated the Birth in the seventies or eighties). This year, my favorite Christmas song was All I Want For Christmas by Vince Vance & The Valiants (1990). I also love Christmas cookies, clementines and Christmas food. But anyway, I've strayed from my post intentions already. What I really wanted to write about was how grateful I am of Jesus Christ and His birth. I am humbled to think that the Son of God was willing to come to Earth as a little babe wrapped in rags with a donkey as His suitemate. He was so inviolable and so pure. I hope that I can be much more selfless this upcoming year and remember that "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also"(Matthew 6:21). In addition, charity and giving is a way of life, not a product of wealth. If you are generous now, you will be generous when you have the Benjies. I love Jesus Christ and I am thankful for this annual reminder of His birth.

The Etymology of 'Concussed'

There was a story in the Boston Globe today about a Boston Bruin who was 'concussed' late last week, which makes people of all etymological backgrounds wonder, "What exactly does it mean to be concussed?" If you have a linguistic background, you are probably thinking it means with cuss words from the spanish con meaning 'with' and cuss meaning 'cuss.' If you have a background in marine biology slash Native American heritage, you likely saw it as meaning Conch shells with us, from the aquatic vernacular, conch shell, a type of shell found in the ocean, and us, refering to you and me. If you are a Bostonian you likely assumed I actually said "Corn Cursed" and you are scratching your head wondering what exaclty a corn curse is, and how one is hexed with a corn curse. If you were trained in the field of logos (not to be confused with Legos, of which I am a big fan, but of which I am not refering to here) then you probably saw concussed and thought of bad swear words, a double negative referring to happy, flowery words. If you have a background in Hockey, well, then you probably know exactly what it means, having experienced it firsthand. Well time to be revealing, 'concussed' means you got a concussion.

Done Period

My T9 Word texting on my phone is not able to perform acts of punctuation, so in order to avoid driving Lynne Truss to insanity, I sometimes rely on spelling out my punctuation to get the point across- like in the title of this post. But, punctuation is not the topic of this post, because really, can you ever be done with punctuation? Never, no never. What you can be done with, though, is a semester. And that, my friends, is what I have accomplished. I worked my tail off this past weekend (which spilled onto Monday and Tuesday) in order to finish all my finals and grant myself relaxation the rest of this week. I had a Theory of Analysis test at 7am on Monday morning which restricted my sleep drastically on Sunday night. I suppose that's why it is referred to as a day of rest and not a night of rest, eh? After celebrating my learning with assessments (a.k.a Finals in the pessimistic world) I celebrated my accomplishments with a full day of SLC skiing at Brighton with my brother (coloring in all those letters was tedious; please pretend to enjoy it to help me feel better about the time I spent doing it). We had a delightful time (skiing, not coloring in those letters). There was good snow and good skiing the entire day. As always, we had more spills than a 4-year-old making a fruit smoothie for Jamba Juice. Thursday I will be back on the slopes, and Friday I am preparing to go H-O-M-E!

The Hottest Thing in Provo

Do you know what the hottest thing in Provo is? It can't be found in any singles ward, and it isn't the omeletes at the Utah Valley Medical Center. Since that really narrowed it down and you have it figured out (actually, if you really knew me you might actually be able to guess it) I will just say it: The Dollar Theater. I am not talking about the one by Costco, if that one is even still there. The last time I was there the much-motivated cleaning employee swept up approximately six kernels of popcorn before retiring to... somewhere else. Then the theater was packed with young adolescents and the movie started 20 minutes late. But, the Cinemark dollar theater in Provo is da bomb. Four years ago I attended the theater twice a week, seeing such blockbusters as Princess Diaries II and Anacondas 2: Search for the Blood Orchid staring J.Lo, in her prime. I have since backed down to only weekly attendance, but the enjoyment is still in full bloom. Thanksgiving week I saw Ghost Town and City of Ember, last week I saw Batman: The Dark Knight and this week I went to Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Space is not sufficient to review all those flicks, but I will say it's hard to not be satisfied for getting 2 hours of entertainment for $1. I mean really, no matter how bad the movie is, (and Nick and Norah's Infinte Playlist was pretty bad) you can always walk away and say to your friend, well, I think that was adequately priced! As long as you are patient, all movies will come to the Dollar Theater. They will be worth the dollar. Trust me. And if you are ever looking for something to do in Provo, just hit me up and we'll go see a movie, on me. Smiley Face!

Smile More!

<---(Who is that good-looking man?)

Smiles are a wonderful thing. Did you know it takes more muscles to frown that to smile? Of course you did, everyone and their mother's dog knows that. People smile at me on campus all the time, and it always makes me feel better. I am not sure why they are smiling at me, but I do have some pretty good ideas, such as the following: I have toothpaste on my outer lip, my fly is down, or they are just nice people who walk around smiling. Other possibilities are that they aren't in fact smiling at me, they are just squinting at the sun in a curved-lip-sort of way, they are scared of me and my big sweatshirt and are trying to befriend me because they think I am a lost soul in need of a warm gesture, or they are really smiling at their friend walking uncomfortably close me. Those are always weird when you smile back, and they say, "Hey Jack!" to which you reply, "Um, my name is David?" and they say "ohhhhh K. Nice to meet you David. Now do you mind if I talk to my friend Jack who is standing very close to you?" Anyway you have it though, a smile is a powerful tool, whether you are the intended recipient or not. <--- You don't need teeth to have a great smile! When I was in high school I had a good friend share a story with me about smiling that just warmed my heart like an anti-repungent hotpot. She told me that when she moved to Massachusetts she didn't know anyone and no one knew her (which opens the possibilites for all sorts of fun, like, perhaps changing your name?). But, she told me later that during her first week of school, when she was in the abyss of adolescent loneliness, I flashed a smile at her and her entire countenance changed. After that she said to herself, and outloud which made it awkward, "Hey, that boy just smiled at me! Maybe Massachusetts won't be so bad after all! Plus, I do love baked beans..." Actually, she didn't say that outloud at the time and I ad libbed some of that quote, but the comforting message of the story is still there. Smiles are great, so please, let's smile more. Make everyone know you are having a great day! That way they can either resent you and your happiness or share in it themselves!

<--- No seriously, that is a good smile!