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.

BYU Beyond Stone-Cold Sober

(A picture of a Picture, but this is me as a BYU graduate)

Everyone knows BYU (Brigham Young University) always gets the top spot as the Stone-Cold Sober school in the Nation.  You can thank our strict honor code for that, but College Magazine now has BYU under two new categories, and it actually gave me quite a laugh, and cringe a little at the same time.  It's true though, even if I fall out of one of the categories.

BYU is ranked #2 as the Best Place to Find a Husband.  I guess it's a kind of merit that I managed to graduate single?  That I put studies and long hours in the Library over . . . yeah.  I tranfered into the school at 21, when most guys get home from their missions.  Maybe I was in the wrong program.  I probably would have met more guys if I spent more time around the computer science building or business school . . . why didn't I do that?  

In the Music Program all the guys that I met were married, and those that weren't married, two guys (I can only remember two guys who were single) were too busy dating 19 year-old's.  I'm not bitter.  And when I transferred I had finished all my general education classes, save a couple.  Nah, I should have spent more time with the French Club.  I actually went to a few meetings.  Could have met a cute guy who spoke French!  Sexy! 

West Point, the U.S. Military Academy, beat us out at #1.  Interesting.  Who doesn't like a man in uniform?  Makes me think of Pride and Prejudice. 

and BYU ranked #4 as most stressful school.  This I believe!!!!  I've attended four colleges: Porterville College, College of the Sequoias, Utah Valley State College (now Utah Valley University), and Brigham Young University.  So I can say I've experienced a bit of an upper education spectrum.  PC, COS, and UVSC were easy fits for me.  I studied hard, the classes were tough, but I was relaxed.  There was an ease in the air.

 

Then I transferred to BYU.  There is stress in the air!  It's true, and you can feel it.  All the students are over achievers with high morals, and freak outs come often.  I'll never forget the time, hanging out with other music students in the HFAC, when one of the voice majors came over eating an ice-cream sundae.  She was going at it, and all our eyes bulged.  She then went on to explain that she just failed a test and needed some solace.  We all had a good laugh then, and suddenly I realized I needed ice-cream too.

 

And we all have that one moment where we crack.  That time came my second year there.  Everyone knows how stressful finals week is.  This one week trumped even that!  5 tests in 4 days amongst a full class schedule, packed with homework, quizzes, and essays.  I didn't think I would survive!  I almost didn't.

 

The testing center is a monstrous room packed with desks going in straight lines and then around the perimeter.  I would like to know the dimensions of that room; I only know I felt overwhelmed each time I entered.  Of course that could be because of the test I was about to take.

 

The testing center is upstairs, and when coming out of the room there is a smaller room where you give your test to someone to scan.  By the time you're down the stairs there's a set of computer screens, and on it you search for your student number to read the score.  This was at the end of the week, having taken other tests I failed.  Then I saw my score: 55%.  I lost it!  On the spot I just started laughing!  And I kept laughing as I walked out of the door, sunset, walking the long trek to my car.  Laughing is good for the soul.

 

MIT ranked #3 and Harvard was #5.  Sandwiched between MIT and Harvard!!!   

Death to my Coolpix

(Image Info)

My Nikon Coolpix s8100 digital camera is official dead. 

Date of death: October 2, 2012

Time of death: 7:00 pm

Death location: Institute parking lot at UVU

Cause of death: Accidently dropping it from a height of 1 1/2 feet
Proof of Death:  Lens error

 My camera gave me the dreaded "lens error" a couple days ago!  Of course dropping a camera is never a good idea, I don't recommend it, but it wasn't that far of a drop, and it was in its case.  Depressing.  This isn't the first time I've been through this.  A few years ago I had an earlier version of the Nikon Coolpix.  The camera was laying on my desk, lens down, when I went to pick it up.  My finger graced the "on/off" button, and the camera turned on, pushing the lens out, only to come back in.  Refusing to work.  Needless to say, I'm never getting a Nikon again.  They're fragile.

Now I'm going through "I don't have a camera with me at all times" anxiety.  My cell phone is an old, basic model, and takes really bad pictures.  Someday I'll be able to afford a nifty smartphone complete with a great data plan.

R.I.P my poor camera.

Some of the websites I visited that had good tips, just none that helped me.  It's nice realizing I'm not the only one fated with the ill "lens error":

http://milepoint.com/forums/threads/nikon-coolpix-s8100-lens-error.38891/

http://www.fixya.com/support/t11586800-nikon_coolpix_s8100_lens_error_clicking

http://amanmusthaveaproject.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/nikon-coolpix-s210-lens-error/

http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2007/12/fixing-lens-error-on-digital-camera.html

David McCullough at Utah Valley University

This week marked the opening of Utah Valley Universities Center for Constitutional Studies.  To celebrate the event UVU kicked off Constitution week with the guest speaker David McCullough. 

David McCullough is best known for his work on 1776 and John Adams, and he's a two time Pulitzer Prize winner, two time winner of the National Book Award, and has a Presidential Medal of Freedom.   

His talk was amazing.  He said we're raising a generation of spectators, which is true!  We spend our days on Facebook and watching television, watching others live while we sit back, listening to the sound of time whoosh by.  We need to get out and live!  Experience!  Learn!

And we need to remember how Human history is.  These are real people, living, making history in their present with no clue how things were going to work out.  When the Founders of the United States of America signed the Declaration of Independence, each one of them knew they were committing treason with England; As far as they knew, they were going to their death with this action.      

One thing I love about our founders is that each of them were lovers of knowledge and learning, many of them collecting books (it was Benjamin Franklin who invented the Library).  And they knew their history!  Classical history (much to our benefit).

And one final thought that McCullough said that I loved: "I don't know what I think until I write."   

I first developed my love of the Constitution through my Grandpa A.  He received his Juris Doctorate in Constitutional Studies.  He loved this country, deeply, and it's a love he's passed on to my family. 

Sarah

Building a Studio

We've been clearing out a spot in our house to have a studio.  A place, really, where back drops and green screens can easily be put up and lit correctly.  It's a huge, great family project.  Cerulean Jade is apart of Talea Studios, and we have a lot of plans and goals with Talea. This is just the start.  I like something I read on Cinemablend.com about Joss Whedon of Serenity/The Avengers fame.  The blog post was about what Joss said at San Diego Comic Con:

"One of the earliest questions in the panel came from a self-described failed comedian who asked Whedon if he had any suggestions for struggling artists and the writer/director had some very simple advice: just make something. Commenting on the studio system, Whedon said that Hollywood is slowly starting to eliminate the 'middle movie,' only making either big blockbusters or tiny budget affairs like Paranormal Activity, so he suggested that the only way to break in is to just do it yourself. He added that with today’s consumer video equipment and the internet, there is a great amount that one can just do by themselves to get noticed. He joked that he had an easier time with it because he happened to be friends with Nathan Fillion, but 'even without Nathan, there’s so much you can do now and you have to because it’s so much harder to do it for somebody else.'”   

So Steven and I are doing it ourselves.  We believe that if we create great works we'll get noticed and build an audience.  Of course there's a lot of patience and time involved, hard work, but it's rewarding hard work.  And it's fun dreaming something up and seeing it come to life.

Sarah