I'm so glad I'm not into BYU Football

I'm so glad I'm not into BYU Football.

BYU's my alma mater.  It was a stressful good time.  But while attending I never went to a football game, though that's all that seemed to be spoken of on campus.  Football, football, football.  (Kinda having a Brandy Bunch moment.)

I wasn't into Football in High school as well.  Only went to two games in which I worked on drawing homework at one game and got to help film for the local TV station at the other.  Turns out I really enjoy football when I have to keep the ball in frame, especially while it's soaring through the air.  Actually, that was a lot of fun.  The only BYU game I attended I didn't see, because I was volunteering at concessions helping to raise money for the Boy Scouts.

The whole BYU VS U of U game seems to be the ONLY game that maters in these parts.  I'm so out of the loop I didn't even know it was happening until I heard the radio dude last Thursday warn about evening traffic due to the game.  Avoid Provo.  Done.

The year I graduated from BYU is one of the last times BYU won against U of U.  The school was so over joyous that a group of students pantomimed the winning play during the graduation ceremony.  Everyone screamed and cheered!  I laughed as I ate a free mint chocolate brownie.  They were having fun.  That's good.

I didn't even know BYU lost to U of U these last eight years!  Last Thursday eight losses turned to nine!

30-12.  U of U won with 30 points.  A nasty thunder storm moved through the valley that night.  I wondered how the game was going, but didn't think beyond that and headed to bed.  Turns out the game was paused for an hour and finished up past midnight after the storm finished raging.

I don't know.  I don't know why I'm just not into sports.  Tried getting into soccer, but found it rather boring.  It's literally possible for no team to score a point in 90 minutes, everyone just running back and forth getting flagged or whatever.

What it comes down to is that I just want the best team to win.  If the winning team played the better, ethical game showing true talent and strategy, they deserve to win.  I can't be mad over that.  And if the team I'm suppose to cheer for rightfully loses, that's how it is.  They deserve it.  Work harder and smarter.  I do admire the strength and resilience displayed by those who play sports, but I just can't get behind a team. 

Maybe I just don't like blind loyalty.  And I don't want to be told who I must be loyal towards.

Funny enough, a few days later I'm still seeing BYU/U of U football memes on Facebook, mainly bashing BYU.  I have friends on both sides of the aisle.  Hope they enjoyed the game.  Maybe one of these years I'll actually go to one.
 

The Power of Faith

"Hope on. Journey on. Honestly acknowledge your questions and your concerns, but first and forever fan the flame of your faith, because all things are possible to them that believe."

~ Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, from "Lord, I Believe" 

A truly powerful talk.

I've been thinking a lot recently about faith and the World.

And I've been thinking a lot recently about light waves, or more specifically the Electromagnetic spectrum. 

We're suppose to believe what we see, right?  Seeing is believing.

And all we can see, what's been seen for centuries, is apart of the visible light spectrum, the classic colors of the rainbow.  That's all we've known.  Yet it wasn't until the 1800's when William Herschel discovered infrared and  Johann Ritter found ultraviolet. Parts of the light spectrum beyond what we can see, yet bees use ultraviolet sight to find flowers.  So, did ultraviolet just come into being in the 1800's because that's when we found out about it, or has this form of light always existed?  It's always been around.

After the discovery of infrared and ultraviolet came microwaves and x-rays and radio waves.  Waves you can hear.  Waves that allow you to see bone.  Finally gamma rays were discovered in the early 1900's, the last part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

But sometimes I wonder if this spectrum is finished.  Are there other waves we've yet to discover?  Are there other waves of light that are experienced in ways beyond sight?

And where does faith come in?  

Do I need a hard defined spectrum of some sort, "spiritual promptings exists at so and so megahertz", to believe promptings of the spirit to be real?  No, I don't.  What I've felt exceeds anything the scientific community tells me.

One of the greatest trials of faith I've experienced was when I tried to get into the music program at Brigham Young University, Provo, auditioning for the classical voice department.  At the time I was attending Utah Valley State College, now a university, and was going to wait a year to finish my general eds and get an associates.  But when my Mom and I were driving by BYU one early Winter day, we both felt, at the same time, an overwhelming feeling that I couldn't wait, I had to transfer as soon as I could.

After some research I found out that the music auditions were at the end of January, so I had about a month or so to prepare.  And I had to be academically accepted by BYU as well, which I doubted would happen.  I didn't feel smart enough to get into BYU.

Long/short of it.  I auditioned.  Cried after the audition because I thought I messed up, and failed the listening portion by a single point, only to learn I didn't have to take the auditory test due to the fact I completed two semesters of music theory at UVSC.  Got accepted by BYU.  Earned a 1/2 tuition academic scholarship.  And then . . . around March or so I found out I was on the waiting list for the school of music.  I emailed and was told if I didn't hear anything by April/May, to assume I wasn't accepted.

What was I to do?  What was I to say?  I knew I needed to go to BYU, because I felt the spirit so strongly.  What should I study?  I didn't hear anything from the music department, so I signed up for English courses.  The whole Summer passed, I did telemarketing to earn money, and it broke my heart every time I told someone I was going to major in English instead of Music.

The only thing that kept me going and focused, and that I was on the right path, was when I prayed sometime in the middle of Summer.  I pleaded to God, begging to know if I was doing the right thing.  I loved UVSC.  I wanted to go to BYU, but was intimidated.  Then, as I was praying about English, I couldn't say the word in my mind.  I didn't even try to speak it.  I couldn't.  And then, all of a sudden, with my eyes closed, I felt the most amazing feeling of love pour over me.  It was sudden and powerful.  So overwhelming that it felt like I was bathed in light.  That's the only way I can describe this feeling, it was the most exquisite outpouring of love and light.  All my fears were calmed and I felt peace. 

Then, a week before the Fall semester started, a FedEx guy knocked on the front door, handed me a large expedited envelope to sign for, where I found a smaller envelope inside, return address: BYU School of Music.  Shaking I opened the letter, my acceptance into the School of Music, voice department showing in bold letters.  I had 24 hours to accept, or it was going to the next person on the waiting list.  That day I headed to campus, accepted my entry into the music program, met a councilor, changed my schedule, and marveled over the power of faith.

I know God lives.  I have a testimony in the power of the Holy Ghost.  And during this Christmas season I celebrate our Savoir and Redeemer.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

When I Met James C. Christensen and Saw His Art Studio

Around a decade ago my Mom, brother Steven, and I had the opportunity to visit James C. Christensen in his home.  It was thanks to a family friend who had been Christensen's home teacher for a few years that helped make this happen.  When we went I thought it was just to chat with him, and that would be it, but thankfully it wasn't.

He was so generous with his time.  Gracious.  Humble.  For those who don't know James C. Christensen, he's a painter known for his whimsical fantasy art, inspired by the renaissance.  Honestly, I don't own any of his pieces, though I wish I could.  I first learned about him when I was much younger, visiting my favorite beach town in Central California named Cambria.  There were a few art galleries down its quaint main road, one of which housed several of Christensen's art.  At first I didn't even know he was LDS, I was just in awe of his imagination, and every time we would visit I always went to look at his new pieces on display.

When I transferred to BYU in the early 2000's there was a collection of his latest paintings featuring woman of the medieval/renaissance, encased in the most gorgeous frames.  It was on the main ground level of the Harris Fine Arts building, H-FAC for short, where rotating art displays are shown year around.  My Mom and I marveled over thirty minutes looking at each piece, wondering who the artist was, until we discovered it was James C. Christensen.  We were both amazed.  They were all so beautiful.

When we visited with Christensen we got to sit in his living room, and he just let us ask all these questions.  My Mom and Steven asked him several questions about art and its process.  I spent most of the time just listening.  But there was one thing he talked about that has stayed with me.  He talked about when he was younger he always feared that once he used up his good ideas there wouldn't be any more.  But he has found that as he's created, more ideas would come, and after he used those ideas, even more came after that.  If you're afraid to use ideas and keep just those to yourself, that's all you'll ever have.  You have to be willing to create.  Don't be afraid of running out of ideas.  This is a fear I have now as I've started writing fiction and working on stories, so this advice from someone so creative is very inspiring.

I can't remember how long we talked with him, but it seemed like over an hour, after which he took us to his art studio in the attic.  It was a large space, much larger than I thought it would be, with work tables and art scattered about in various stages and trails.  Large windows letting in delicate light, perfect for painting.  He was working on a painting similar to The Yellow Rose; I just remember him working on a piece with a woman, face in profile, holding a flower.

I'm very thankful for that day and what I learned.

James C. Christensen passed away a couple weeks ago, which has brought all this forward in my memory.  I pray his family is doing okay with his passing.  In heaven I bet he's creating the most wonderful art.

BYU Shot Glass

For the 18th year in a row BYU, aka Brigham Young University in Provo UT, won the No. 1 stone cold sober school award by the Princeton Review.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered a BYU shot glass sitting next to a coffee mug.  I found them at a Walmart in Utah Valley this morning.

More like Imagine my amusement.

Art Deco in Japan at Brigham Young University MoA

 At the BYU Museum of Art there's two Japanese Culture themed exhibits taking place:

DECO JAPAN: Shaping Art and Culture 1920-1945

Running from February 12-July 18, 2015.

and

 Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami

Running from January 29-June 20, 2015

Both are Free.  Visitor parking is free.

 

 The pictures in this blog post are from the Art Deco exhibit.  I've always been fascinated by Art Deco design and shapes.  So unique.  And it's amazing seeing how the Art Deco movement influenced Japan.

 Beautiful glass work.

 I love the square shapes in this bowl.

 This is my favorite piece in the exhibit.  I would love a replica of this box.

 This rabbit was my Dad's favorite piece.

 A sleek Phoenix.

This last picture, which is not apart of the Art Deco exhibit, is an art instillation by Gabriel Dawe called Plexus No. 29.  It's found in the BYU MoA (museum of art) lobby, and will be there through 2016.  It's really cool in person.

Santa's Worst Present Ever

 (Sketch by BYU's Studio C)

And you thought you have a hard time finding your special someone a present!

Santa totally takes the cake :0)

Or takes the cookie?

Heh . . . 

Well, as Kermit would sing, "There's One More Sleep Till Christmas."

(Honestly my favorite Christmas Song of all time)

And all my presents are purchased, but in need of wrapping!

BTW, the traffic was crazy yesterday!!!

And today's going to be crazier!

Merry Christmas Eve

"Sometimes the Only Way To Go is Through"

(Santa Barbara last week.  I miss it already.)

"Do not let your moods maul your faith. . . . Do not let a bad day cause you to think that life is bad. Do not let low self-esteem discount your high blessings. In short, do not homogenize your hopes by mixing and treating them as if all hopes and aspirations are equal. They are not. The hope for a resurrection is guaranteed unconditionally by the Atonement of the Savior. . . .

"Our transitory disappointments are real, but the missing letter from home is not really comparable to the delivered message from heaven, the good news of the gospel. Today’s unmet hunger for a few more friends must not be allowed to obscure the marvelous reality of the forever friendship of Jesus for each of us. Do not let uncertainty about how others seem to feel about you this week get in the way of how God has always felt about you.

"Our intertwining insecurities, the hunger for peer reassurance, and the tendency to be carried on the tides of today’s troubles and disappointments will diminish as we mature. As our understanding of the gospel deepens, it becomes ever more clear that proximate problems need not, and must not, undercut ultimate realities. Thus, as we confront problems which we might shiveringly sidestep, if we could, let us realize, as one poet did, that 'sometimes the only way to go is through.' We go on that journey with justified hopes to help our hunger and with realities to reassure us. And, in the midst of our transitory troubles, we have the knowledge that He is near at hand, and within us there is even the sense that in the dim past we agreed to all this and that now we must perform on that pledge."

—Neal A. Maxwell, All Hell Is Moved

SLC Comic Con, Evermore Park, and Star Trek TNG

 Yesterday I visited my very first Comic Con!!!  The Salt Lake Comic Con.  Yay!

* And There Was Much Rejoicing *

Last October was the very first, drawing 75,000 attendees, making it the highest attended first year Comic Con, ever, which is amazing.  This year they're anticipating 100,000.  There's going to be ANOTHER comic con in September.

Yeah, we're a bunch of nerds.

True story: The TV show Psych had a University/College competition a few years ago, with the school who submitted the most votes getting a mention.  Brigham Young University, BYU for short, naturally won.  The "mention" we got was a couple of girls in a bar ordering drinks while wearing a "Y" shirt, which, to someone not in the know, could easily be confused with Yale.  I'm fine with that.

 We got there around 1:00, and the line was crazy!  Then someone recommended a couple of us go to the other side of the building, the other entrance, where the line was next to nothing.  Several blocks later and we were practically at the front of the line.

 It didn't take long for people to figure out the secret.

 The curtained off Photo Op area.

 The first panel my Mom and I went to was Ioan Gruffudd of Horatio Hornblower fame, Fantastic Four, Amazing Grace, etc.  He was absolutely delightful, respectful, and down to Earth.  My respect points for him went way up.

Then my Mom and I went to a panel featuring Sean Patrick Flanery, who was Indiana Jones in the Young Indiana Jones series.  Apparently he was in this movie called The Boondock Saints, which he is now known.  His vulgarity, F-bombs, immoral stories were so disgusting, my Mom and I got up within in the first 5 minutes and walked out.

I don't know if I can watch the Young Indiana Jones now without thinking of his awful speech.  It's going to be hard separating the real man from the character.  Feels like the curtain rising in Wizard of Oz.  Makes me sad, but it was absolutely horrid.

 I heard Evermore Park, a soon to be Victorian Theme park in Pleasant Grove Utah in Summer 2015, had a booth, but I didn't know they were going to have a full scale model.  I'm so excited!!!  Charles Dickens at Christmas, Jack the Ripper during Halloween, fairy festival, pirate ship, caves, 3 high end restaurants, Victorian shopping square, beautiful gardens, etc.  If they can pull this off Evermore is going to be amazing.  And everyone working there is going to be expected to act and be in character at all times.

Makes me think of a real life Austenland, but cooler.

 And I love the advertisements posed as vintage postcards.

 My Dad got a photo of himself with Adam Baldwin.

One of my Dad's friend gave him a Photo Op $30 voucher, and he tried to pass it off to one of us kids.  I'm introverted, perfectly fine watching panels, so the idea of getting a photo with a celebrity doesn't interest me.  Goodness, I went to a few performances of Alien Voices in L.A. with members of Star Trek, and even then I didn't autographs after the show.  I sat in the middle of an emptying theater, and my Mom grabbed my Midsummer Night's Dream scrip, getting me autographs from John D. Lancie, Leonard Nimoy, Roxann Dawson, and Ethan Phillips.  She said I would thank her later, and I do, but I'm just kinda like that.

And my Dad's like that, too.  I get it from him.

(My Mom still loves to tell the story of a photography convention in L.A. back in the 90's, and Leonard Nimoy was sitting at a booth by himself, showing his photography.  My Mom and Dad were walking in that direction.  My Mom stopped and had a solid, quality 15 minute conversation him him; my Dad, seeing what she was about to do, kept on walking, watching with worry from the distance.)  

When we finally made it to the photo op location, around 5:00, it was too late to get a photo op with any of the TNG cast.  But Adam Baldwin, from Firefly and Chuck, was starting at 6:15.  My Dad really respects him.  Because the Star Trek TNG panel was at 6:30, in which all but my Dad paid $25 above entry fee to see, we couldn't do the photo op.  We talked my Dad into it.

You can have up to 4 people per photo, and my brothers REALLY wanted to join my Dad, Michael particularly, but we wanted to make the panel.

Turns out the conference was running late!!!  At 6:45 my Dad finds us in line and shows us the photo, beaming, Michael bummed, and then showed the photo to another Baldwin fan in the Muppet panel line who really wanted a photo, but couldn't afford it.  So she quickly asked her friend to take a picture with my Dad holding the photo.  It was pretty funny, and my Dad was having a great time.

 And then the Star Trek TNG panel!!!!!!  What we were looking forward to the whole time.

William Shatner, a huge supporter of the SLC Comic Con, hosted the event.  And from the TNG cast Jonathan Frakes, Denise Crosby, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner were there.  LeVar Burton canceled at the last minute for a film shoot, or something.

And it was announced last night that Patrick Stewart is coming on Saturday!!  I'm not going to be there, but that's cool.  Sad he wasn't there last night, but better late then never.  He's coming because of the fan outreach.

 "Riker" in the captains chair.

 It was a lot of fun!  I'm glad I went to Comic Con :0)

Tale of the Three Tankards

 

It's funny, I don't drink, yet I own three tankards.

 The first tankard I bought was when I graduated from Monache High School year 2000.  I can't remember the company, but when I was looking through the supplied catalog at class rings, I saw this tankard, and I knew I wanted one.  It just looked cool.  And it is cool, looking pretty awesome on my shelf.

 

Next came the Millennium Mickey Class of 2000 Tankard.  Due to circumstance I wasn't able to attend Grad Night at Disneyland, which would have been a lot of fun.  I'm sure they sold these tankards at the event.  My Dad found this on Ebay and got me one.  I love it.

 Did you know that some dude somewhere here in the U.S. copyrighted the phrase "Class of 2000"?  How stupid is that?  And who in their right mind allowed it?  Finding any trinket when I graduated that said "Class of 2000" was rare and hard to find.  Disney obviously bought the rights to use the phrase.

And without any further ado . . . my favorite tankard in my collection.  A BYU (Brigham Young University) Alumni Tankard.  I didn't find this until a couple years after graduation.  I was passing through the bookstore after getting some BYU Creamery Ice Cream in the Wilkinson Center, and saw this, sitting on a shelf beaming brightly at me.  I quickly picked it up, held it close, and just started giggling.  BYU doesn't even sale caffeine-free coke on campus!  And yet they sold this tankard . . . and I bought it.

Battle of the School Parade Floats!

I wonder how many places in the Country have three Universities within 45 miles of each other?  It seems kinda unique.  The close proximity also causes a lot of stereotyping, envy, ridicule, competition, inferiority complexes, superior outlooks, etc, and I've felt them all.  At the Freedom Festival Parade on the 4th all schools made a showing.

 Brigham Young University is my alma mater, so of course I'm naturally biased.  And I love how patriotic the float was.  Though, I must comment, Athletics got two mentions on the float.  BYU is kinda obsessed with sports, and being the academic I am, I kinda rebelled against it.  (The only football game I attended was one in which I volunteered concessions for charity, and I didn't see the game but for a sneak second.)  The School of Music did get a highlight!  Made me proud.

 I love Utah Valley University.  Before BYU I attended this school in their UVSC (Utah Valley State College) days.  The campus has a wonderful feeling, and I love how everything is connected.  UV is relaxed (unlike BYU where it's stress central with abundant over achievers), but that doesn't mean the school is easy.  Au Contraire.  Some of my best academic experiences came from the school, and I went through serious UV withdrawals while at the Y.

I hate the bad rap the school gets in the valley.  There's so many academic snobs here!  (Comes with the competition, I guess.)  On one of the worst blind dates I've been on (well, that's not saying much), this guy stated UV was just an extension of High School.  He went on and on as I watched, and when he breathed for air I gleefully went in for the kill and sang UV's praises. 

 Now the biggest competition is between BYU and the U of U (University of Utah).  They both look down on UVU as if the school doesn't exist, while UVU insists that it's relevant, which it is.  The Football team at U of U is now a member of the PAC 12, after all, and they shower the fact.  (BYU doesn't play on the Sabbath, which limit sports opportunities.)

 U of U is where my brother Michael and Krista met while going to school.  All three of my brothers have degrees at UVU.  And I graduated from BYU.

I really love all three schools.

The pursuit of knowledge is important regardless of where you go: University, State College, Junior College, or self-learning through books.